Germany does not seek survival

However, before Albert could stop the chaos of the army, bullets rained down on several other cars. Five cars were blown up almost at the same time, and flames broke out. In the flames, the fire illuminated a new era for Germany.

In the car, William II, who was sitting in the back seat, clutched his chest, from which red blood was spreading. He looked at Count Schulenburg, who was sitting next to him, with disbelief in his eyes:

"No...no...by God...am I still alive?"

Count Schulenburg was also hit by the hail of bullets. He spitted blood and said, "Your Majesty, our era is dead!"

There was a loud explosion and flames engulfed the entire car. Albert stood not far from the Royal Palace Square and watched the nightmare he least wanted to see happen.

"It's over, it's over."

Albert's chubby round face was illuminated by the blood-red firelight and turned a deep red. He opened his hands, wanting to cry but unable to.

"We killed the emperor. The Social Democrats and other revolutionaries are charged with regicide. We are all finished!"

Chapter 165: The Wind Blows to Munich

In the early hours of the morning on November 10, 1918, Munich was still shrouded in darkness, except for the city hall in Marienplatz, which was brightly lit as if it were daytime.

Faust has moved the headquarters of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee from Innsbruck to Munich. In the past two days, he has been working day and night. In a blink of an eye, he has not slept for more than forty hours.

The other office staff following Faust were all exhausted, but Faust was still energetic and seemed to have endless energy. This always made the National Socialists admire their leader.

The Red Army attacked from all sides and in just two days had completely controlled all major cities in Bavaria south of the Danube. The National Socialist Party was systematically establishing its rule in the local area. The administrative departments were taken over, and the National Socialist Party had also begun to send representatives of the National Economic Socialization Committee into major large factories to implement socialized restructuring.

After the revolution, many factory owners fled and production in many companies in Bavaria has come to a halt. The current task of the National Economic Socialization Committee is to allow managers and workers to return to their posts and continue working to resume production.

In order to reward the workers, the National Economic and Socialization Committee has issued a temporary decree in the name of the government of the Bavarian Revolutionary Republic. All employees, regardless of whether they are managers in management positions or front-line workers in charge of production in the workshop, can get a considerable portion of the factory shares that have been confiscated by the National Economic and Socialization Committee as long as they return to work in the factory on schedule.

According to the expropriation decree previously issued by the Revolutionary Committee, any assets, whether land or factories, that are not reported to the revolutionary government within the prescribed time will be investigated and confiscated by the Revolutionary Committee.

Because Faust did not want to intensify the conflict too early, the asset declaration announced by the Revolutionary Committee was relatively long, and it was within the declaration period until February 1919. In other words, if the revolutionary government wanted to confiscate undeclared assets on a large scale, it would have to wait until after February of the following year.

However, the assets of some people who were listed as counter-revolutionary public enemies by the revolutionary government were not required to be declared on time, but were now directly confiscated by the National Economic and Socialization Committee.

These counter-revolutionary enemies were mainly the old aristocrats who were directly involved in planning against the Wehrmacht, and some were members of the upper class of the old empire who conspired to organize subversive activities in Munich.

The Stasi had already monitored some of them, while another part of the old aristocracy organized their own free corps in the local area to fight against the Wehrmacht. After their defeat, the Wehrmacht also found a lot of names of participants from their headquarters.

Hitler followed the list and the map and led the Cheka to search for counter-revolutionary enemies in the city of Munich. This was naturally a bloody storm, especially since Hitler's style of doing things was very radical. It is no wonder that there are still some people in the National Socialist Party who feel that Hitler should not be allowed to control the Cheka, an important agency with such great power.

This is exactly what Faust had in mind when he put Hitler in charge of the Cheka.

What he needed was a fearless blade to cleanse all the filth left over from the old empire. Who else but Hitler was most suitable for such a task?

"Your Excellency! News from Berlin!"

Faust was still holding a meeting at the Marienplatz Town Hall. Many important members of the Revolutionary Committee stayed with him all night. Scattered on the conference table were some of the black bread and canned food that everyone was used to eating in the trenches.

Germany has convenient transportation and its communications are world-class. Although the revolution destroyed many transportation roads and communication lines, any major event in a city can spread throughout the country within a few hours unless it is deliberately concealed.

Berlin Revolution!

The Berlin Revolution that Faust had long anticipated finally broke out. The eye of the storm of the German Revolution indeed put on an unprecedented grand performance for Faust at the last moment!

At the meeting of the Revolutionary Committee, every People's Commissar opened his eyes wide and held his breath. Except for Faust, no one could have anticipated that the Berlin Revolution would develop to this extent.

Only Faust was unusually calm. Since 1916, his various plans and arrangements had gradually directed the grand drama of the Berlin Revolution from all aspects.

It can be said that although Faust was in Munich, everything that happened in the Berlin Revolution on November 9 was part of his plan.

News reports have begun to be sent from Berlin to all parts of the world. In the early 20th century, a revolution with a strong socialist color broke out in the capital of the most developed and important highly industrial country in the world.

The influence of the Berlin Revolution surpassed that of the Moscow Uprising in the Soviet Union from the first hour of its birth. This had nothing to do with the revolutionaries, but was purely because Germany's status and influence at that time were indeed much more important than Russia's.

All over the world, in Washington, London, Paris, Rome, Moscow... all eyes are watching the developments in Berlin. What is the whereabouts of Emperor Wilhelm II?

The Allied Powers should be concerned about whether the new government that came to power in the revolution after the collapse of the old empire will continue to abide by the Compiègne Armistice Agreement signed on the front line?

As for the Soviet government, it was more concerned about whether the new government would be an ordinary republican regime or a socialist regime that could ally with the Soviet Union.

The old imperial government seems to have collapsed in a radical left-wing revolution, but who is currently in control of the new regime?

News from all sides also confirms that there is still an army loyal to the monarchy on the outskirts of Berlin, which is confronting the revolutionary masses in Berlin. It seems that this major revolution, which may affect the entire world and the future and destiny of all mankind, has not yet been settled.

What the future holds, no one knows.

Except Faust.

Faust calmly distributed the relevant documents to every People's Commissar of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee who attended the meeting. The development of things did not go off track beyond Faust's expectations. The events in Berlin seemed chaotic and complicated, but they were all within the established track arranged by Faust for all parties and were unfolding as scheduled.

"The Stasi's intelligence is much more reliable than those newspapers."

Faust tapped his fingers on the table, drawing everyone's attention. "It's almost certain that Kaiser Wilhelm II died in the melee in Berlin. The 1st Mobile Division of the Potsdam Rapid Force is reportedly still besieging Berlin, while the 2nd Mobile Division, under the command of our old friend Manstein, is currently moving to East Prussia by rail."

"The German army's hesitation and failure to fully attack Berlin can be said to be the fundamental reason for the royalist defeat. This is enough to conclude that the royalist siege of Berlin, although not yet completely over, will inevitably end in humiliating defeat."

The people's commissars present were shocked at first. The emperor died so hastily in the chaos of soldiers. For a country like Germany with a history of monarchy for thousands of years, this was indeed horrifying. But seeing how calm and composed Faust was, everyone was influenced by him and gradually calmed down.

Hitler spoke first: "Wilhelm II betrayed his country! He instructed the Western Front Army to sign the humiliating Armistice of Compiègne with the Allies. He betrayed his country and us German soldiers who fought on the front lines for four years. He has lost his qualifications as head of state. Wilhelm II's death is his own fault."

Hitler went on to say: "Now that Wilhelm II is dead, the country cannot be without a leader for a day. Germany needs a new leader, a new head of state. We should quickly support Mr. Faust as the head of state of the new Germany."

Faust took Hitler's words as a joke. He said seriously, "The outcome of the Berlin Revolution is still uncertain. If the Potsdam Rapid Unit, under the pretext of revenge for Kaiser Wilhelm II, were to invade Berlin, a massacre would be inevitable."

Paulus and Rommel immediately put forward their views on military matters. Paulus took out a map and used a red pencil to outline a transportation line from Munich to the outskirts of Berlin on the map.

"Comrades, there is a direct railway from Munich to Berlin, a distance of approximately 500 kilometers. The specific route is through Munich, Nuremberg, and Leipzig all the way to Berlin. According to our army's current railway dispatch capabilities, a train can carry a battalion of soldiers and their equipment. We can dispatch 20 military trains daily. If we carry less heavy artillery and coordinate fuel supplies and route priorities, we can transport an entire Wehrmacht division to the outskirts of Berlin in about two days."

Germany's domestic railway network is very developed. By 1914, a double-track railway system covering the entire country had been formed, connecting major cities in the country. At the beginning of the war in 1914, the German army mobilized 1.5 million troops within six days through the domestic railway network.

Of course, the time and cost required for the National Socialists to mobilize a division today would be much less.

The trouble was that because of the revolution, the situation in major cities in Germany was turbulent and the railways were not completely unobstructed. For example, Nuremberg was not in the hands of the National Socialist Party, but was controlled by the hostile old aristocracy. To pass through this node, you might have to fight, which would take a lot of extra time.

If they did not want to use these two extremely precious days to fight against the local old aristocratic armed forces, they could only choose to bypass the cities where the hostile train stations were located, take a long way, and go to Berlin through a relatively neutral train station.

Time is precious!

Chapter 166 Funeral Games

At the end of the war, even if the revolution had not broken out, Germany's domestic logistics system was already on the verge of collapse due to being overwhelmed, and the transportation speed was not as fast as at the beginning of the war in 1914.

Rommel added: "If part of the army uses trucks or requisitioned civilian vehicles, the speed can be even greater. Our biggest concern is that the railway in the Leipzig area has been paralyzed. In that case, we would have to get off the train and march on foot. This would take too much time. At best, it would take two days."

"Two days? That's too slow."

Faust made the final decision, "This mission should be assigned to the Großdeutschland Division. They don't need to carry heavy weapons; they should all be lightly equipped. The troops must reach Berlin as quickly as possible."

Paulus, always cautious, asked, "Sir, what should we do if we encounter hostile armed forces along the way?"

Faust raised a finger and said, "We will raise a new banner. In every city the train passes, we will tell them that our army is heading to Berlin to mediate the chaos."

Paulus was still worried: "It's hard to guarantee. If we encounter enemy troops at any train station, we may not be able to reach Berlin. Is it necessary to invest so many resources in Berlin at this critical time?"

In fact, many people in the Revolutionary Committee did not want to get involved in the mess in Berlin. The various forces in the imperial capital were intertwined and for the young National Socialist Party, it was a place with undercurrents. It was far better to continue expanding in Bavaria and actually control some territory.

Faust had completely different considerations: "Berlin's political influence was enormous, and its historical significance was extraordinary. Whether it was the Kiel Sailors' Rebellion or the Tyrol Uprising, compared to the Berlin Revolution, honestly, not many people cared. The National Socialist Party had to participate in the Berlin Revolution because we couldn't stand aside and watch at this turning point in German history."

Berlin is the center of Germany's political stage. Even though the revolution that took place here was later than that in Kiel and Tyrol, its influence was undoubtedly much greater, not only on a national scale, but also on a global scale.

As a small political party that was born not long ago, the National Socialist Party was beginning to have a national influence even after the Tyrol Uprising. However, if it wanted to become a truly large national party in Germany, or even have an influence in Europe and the world, it had to go to Berlin.

Even if Berlin is a pool of muddy water, even if Berlin is a den of dragons and tigers, Faust must go and try it.

Germany's strength lies in its industry. Most of the industry is not in rural areas, but in cities. Germany is also a highly urbanized country!

Therefore, the German Revolution could not be based in rural areas with small populations and weak productivity. It had to focus on cities. Only by seizing cities and winning the support of urban residents could the revolution have hope of victory.

The Tyrolean mountains were originally part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their economic level was much lower than that of Germany, and their industrial base was incomparable. As for Munich, although it is the second most populous city in Germany, its industrial level is relatively weak. The entire Bavaria region has a large population and developed agriculture, but its industrial economy ranks at the lower end of the country.

Faust defied all the opposition and said, "To Berlin! We must go to Berlin! We must go to Berlin!"

"Northern Expedition! The Wehrmacht must march north, the National Socialist Party must appear on the Berlin stage, and we must have a place on the Berlin stage."

Faust did what he said. While marching north to Berlin, he did not intend to give up the National Socialist Party's base in southern Germany. Bavaria and Tyrol had become the National Socialist Party's strongholds, and Berlin had to be taken. Berlin was just a stage and could not be the National Socialist Party's base.

Faust did not believe that after the victory of the Berlin Revolution, the civil war in Germany would end, and a new revolutionary government would be able to make a brilliant debut and immediately gain the allegiance of all parts of Germany.

On the contrary, the victory of the Berlin Revolution will most likely be just the opening ceremony of the next stage of a larger-scale civil war.

"The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games has begun. Can we miss this?"

Faust was moved. "Comrades," he said, "does the current situation resemble the situation 323 years before the birth of Christ? After Alexander the Great's sudden death, the successors, the Diadochi, abandoned his body and attacked each other, turning the imperial funeral into a sports competition. Perdiccas' victory in Babylon was merely the prelude to the Wars of the Diadochi that would unfold over the next twenty years."

Hitler, who was well-versed in European classical history, pondered: "Should we be Ptolemy or Seleucus?"

Faust said decisively: "We want to be a successful Eumenes, and the National Socialist Party wants to gain a complete Germany!"

The Wehrmacht still maintained the extremely high mobilization efficiency of the German army in the early days of the war. Once the Supreme Revolutionary Committee made the decision to march north to Berlin, the officers and soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Division immediately got ready.

The soldiers boarded the train in battalions. Before dawn on November 10, dozens of carriages set off first, and Faust also boarded the train. Due to time constraints and limited transportation capacity, the Wehrmacht's mobile forces were also limited. Faust regarded Berlin as a stage to showcase the image of the National Socialist Party, and it was impossible to use all the troops in Berlin.

The remainder of the Wehrmacht, three additional divisions, were to remain in the south to continue consolidating the National Socialist bases in Bavaria and Tyrol.

This time, Faust also left Hitler, Rommel, Tito and others in the rear, allowing them to continue to preside over the work of the National Economic Socialization Committee and continue to confiscate the property of the counter-revolutionary public enemies.

The main military commanders were also left behind by Faust. Kesselring and Scherner were responsible for defending Tyrol and guarding against invasions by Italian or Austrian armies. Guderian, Thomas and Model were all transferred to Bavaria to guard major cities.

Among the important cadres of the National Socialist Party, Faust only brought Sorge of the Stasi on the "Sword in Hand" trip, because in Faust's view, after arriving in Berlin, the most important thing was not military force, but intelligence capabilities among the various forces that were intertwined.

Moreover, Sorge still retains his membership in the Spartacus League, and he can serve as a communication channel between the National Socialist Party and the Spartacus League.

The Northern Expedition advanced rapidly, and Faust was sitting in a carriage of the train. The situation in Berlin had developed step by step to its present point under his behind-the-scenes direction, but when Faust thought about stepping into the grand theater of the imperial capital, he couldn't help sweating in his palms.

The situation in Berlin has become a Gordian knot. Who will cut it off?

Faust is not afraid of gambling, but he is afraid that the bet will not go as planned.

With the sound of the train whistle, the Northern Expedition Army was getting closer and closer. The train deliberately bypassed Nuremberg. The local old aristocratic armed forces had blocked the train station, so the military train went directly from Regensburg to Weimar. The Independent Party had a great influence in Weimar, so Faust was sure that he could pass through Weimar quickly and safely.

After passing Weimar and then Leipzig, you will soon see the Potsdam military camp, and then the imperial capital Berlin.

What Faust was most worried about was wasting time along the way. Fortunately, except for the extra time spent on detouring Nuremberg, the Northern Expedition went smoothly. The train passed through Weimar quickly, and the local garrison did not stop it. The Wehrmacht moved smoothly, even faster than Paulus and Rommel had expected, and arrived near Leipzig during the day on November 10.

Faust looked out of the train window and saw red flags flying in most of the train stations along the way. The number of people supporting the revolution was overwhelming. This made Faust even more convinced that the royalist siege of Berlin would definitely fail.

The royalists certainly had a stronger mass base in East Prussia. Manstein was much smarter because he had been reminded of this by Faust. After Manstein planned the attack on Berlin himself, he took the lead in running away to East Prussia. He took control of the army and then took priority in controlling the regimes of East Prussia and Courland. In the future "Funeral Games" of the German Empire, he had a great first-mover advantage.

The Social Democrats controlled the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Councils in Leipzig, but they did not block the railways to prevent the Wehrmacht from advancing north.

After all, the SPD had just taken over the Berlin government when it was attacked by the German army, so in the eyes of local SPD members, the German army in Potsdam must be their most vicious enemy.

Faust was able to pass through Leipzig immediately under the pretext of going to Beijing to mediate the civil war. By the evening of November 10, the vanguard troops of the Wehrmacht's 11st "Greater Germany" Grenadier Division had approached Potsdam in just twenty hours.

Faust could see the statue of the goddess of Victory standing tall on the spire of Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam through the car window.

"Berlin, I'm back."

Chapter 167 Knight Duel

In the vast blue sky of Brandenburg's cold winter, several Fokker D.VII fighters were flying in the air, sometimes circling over the Wehrmacht positions, and sometimes diving down quickly towards the Wehrmacht trains. The thin aluminum wings and the glass on the canopy sparkled in the sun.

Anti-aircraft machine gun tracks, dim in the sunlight, continued to fire at the Potsdam Rapid Force's planes from both ends of the train, leaving a series of shadows in the blue sky.

The German Fokker D.VII fighter plane had an Iron Cross pattern on its wings with a gray background, while the locomotives of the military trains used by the Wehrmacht had a pure black Iron Cross steel badge. Iron Cross versus Iron Cross, fratricide, that's all.

A red Fokker D.VII fighter with the markings of "Richthofen Wing" rushed down towards the Wehrmacht train more and more steeply like a wasp with its body stretched out. Its onboard machine guns kept firing, and the bullets hit the side of the train carriages, quickly shattering the glass windows, and some stray bullets had already entered the carriages.

The 1st "Greater Germany" Grenadier Division of the Red Wehrmacht was lightly equipped, with limited train transport capacity, and carried very few heavy weapons, and even fewer anti-aircraft machine guns for air defense. For a time, it really had no way to deal with the Potsdam Army's aircraft.

The red fighter plane of the "Richthofen Squadron" soared into the sky again. Inside the cockpit, the pilot flying the plane was none other than Hermann Goering, the second commander of the "Richthofen Squadron" after the death of the Red Baron.

Goering wore goggles on his face. Before he gained weight due to taking medication, he did have a face that was enough to charm rich women. No wonder in the early days of the Nazis, people said that half of the funds for Nazi activities came from Goering's bed.

Goering continued to drop an aerial bomb, which fell next to the Wehrmacht train, only about one meter away. Fortunately, the bomb was a dud and did not explode, but the Wehrmacht train was temporarily stopped due to the harassment of German aircraft.

The other four planes followed Goering, and dense strings of bullets flew down the carriage. The side door of the carriage opened, and some Wehrmacht officers and soldiers were running out.

“Shoot…shoot!”

The Wehrmacht soldiers who rushed out of the carriage half-knelt in the snow. They fired at the enemy planes in the sky with their rifles, but the bullets had a large deviation, and the Richthofen Regiment's flying skills were indeed amazing. Goering's plane rose rapidly in the air, turned around facing the sun, and immediately shook off the Wehrmacht officers and soldiers' shooting into the sky.

"Damn it, that red plane is coming again!"

Goering's plane turned in the air and flew towards the Wehrmacht soldiers who were desperately firing at the air on the snow. He almost brushed the roof of the train, and then dropped the bomb. Near the train, the air wave rolled, the bomb exploded, and the ice and snow on the ground rose into the air like a whirlwind, and many Wehrmacht soldiers were injured.

"We can see you clearly from the plane. Don't stand in the snow. Get back to the carriages!"

Faust was wearing a white snow cape over his gray military coat. He strode over the snowdrifts, ordering the officers and soldiers to retreat to the carriages. On the other hand, Faust himself was carrying an MG08 machine gun.

Faust did not place the MG08 machine gun on the snow, but lifted it up with one hand and aimed it at the red plane diving down from the blue sky.