The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1352 - 976 Take Action
Chapter 1352: Chapter 976: Take Action
Chapter 1352 -976: Take Action
So, the question arises, why did the high-ranking Rommel agree to participate in the rebellion against the German Chancellor?
Although the rebellion was led by General Ludwig Beck and Brigadier Hans, they were up against the renowned German Chancellor and the current German government.
Even Rommel himself knew that even if the rebellion could gain the support of most of the soldiers from Army Group B, the chances of victory were minimal.
In fact, initially, Rommel was unwilling to be involved in such an affair.
Opposing the German Chancellor seemed thankless and taxing, and even if victory was achieved, the benefits for Rommel would be minimal.
However, once the former Chief of Staff, General Ludwig Beck, produced an imminent order from the German Supreme Command concerning Rommel, he resolutely decided to take part in the action.
For this order indicated that the Supreme Command was reassigning Rommel from Hamburg to the Kiel Canal to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the German Northern Army Group.
Though the move from Army Group B to the Northern Army Group was laterally equivalent in rank, the disparity in force strength and significance between the two was incomparable.
The entire Army Group B currently possessed nearly a million troops, making it the largest unit in Germany so far, aside from the Southern Army Group that was engaged against Russia Nation.
Whereas the Northern Army Group, tasked with defending against British forces in the Denmark region, was just hastily formed this year from reserve forces, and consisted only of 11 infantry divisions, 3 artillery divisions, 1 mechanized division, and 2 reinforced fire teams.
Even if including all those involved in logistics, such as the internal jestingly named “Bread Divisions” resembling cooking squads, the overall strength of the Northern Army Group was only about 200,000.
For Rommel, moving from the prestigious commander of Army Group B to the Northern Army Group was an insult, and indicated that the German Chancellor no longer regarded his abilities highly.
The root cause of this situation was that Army Group B’s performance in the conflicts against France, Britain, and Australasia was not very commendable.
Rommel had his grievances though. After all, the situation in the Western European theater was very poor for Germany, which was comprehensively inferior in terms of tanks, firearms, and airplanes, and even the basic number of soldiers was only about one-third of the Anglo-French-Australian forces.
Additionally, with naval support from the British and French forces, it was commendable that Army Group B fought strenuously and held the line from Belgium to Luxembourg.
But the German Supreme Command did not care about these details. What the German Chancellor could not tolerate was that the entire million-strong German Army had no opportunity to resist the advance of the Anglo-French forces; they quickly lost critical regions like Brittany, Normandy, and Paris, and the German Army itself suffered too many unnecessary casualties.
The current troop ratios on the Western European battlefield were approximately 4 to 1 in favor of the adversaries. The German forces, having retreated to the line from Belgium to Luxembourg, could only fight a desperate defense, while the Anglo-French forces even began their assaults on cities such as Kortrijk and Charleroi.
Seeing that the enemy was advancing nearly into the German mainland and the Ruhr District, the German Supreme Command was gravely concerned and started considering a change in leadership.
Although Rommel’s military capabilities had been acknowledged by the Chancellor several times, due to his lack of historically prominent victories in North Africa, the Chancellor’s trust in Rommel was ultimately limited.
After much deliberation, the German Chancellor finally nodded in agreement to the transfer order regarding Rommel, assigning him to hold back the British attack in northern Germany.
However, the overly proud and arrogant Chancellor did not consider Rommel’s opinion. For Rommel, who had so far had a smooth military career, being demoted significantly without any fault of his own was a severe breach of trust.
Nevertheless, although he agreed to join the organization opposing the Chancellor, Rommel was still against the plan to kill the German Chancellor directly.
With Rommel’s involvement, the resistance led by General Ludwig Beck achieved great success and momentum.
Within a few days, General Friedrich Fromm, the German Army Chief of Staff, also decided to join the movement against the German Chancellor, encouraged by his Chief of Staff, Colonel Klaus von Stauffenberg.
Historically speaking, these two individuals were also quite renowned. Friedrich Fromm exhibited a fence-sitting attitude during the operation, being fickle and indecisive akin to that of Italy.
And his Chief of Staff, Colonel Klaus, was the main executor in the assassination of the German Chancellor.
It is worth noting that historically, Klaus was just a step away from successfully assassinating the Chancellor.
At that time, Klaus placed the bomb under a table not far from the Chancellor, but since the Chancellor was leaning over the table looking at a map, the thick oak table shielded most of the blast from the bomb, thus sparing him from the assassination.
If Klaus had succeeded then, perhaps, the history of Europe would have seen a significant change.
But for this world now, everything is different, including the outcome of the assassination.
After persuading several high-ranking military officials, General Ludwig Beck, after complex and meticulous planning, resolutely carried out the assassination of the German Chancellor.
The location chosen for the assassination was an inconspicuous venue within Berlin. The reason for choosing this location was because in two days, the German Chancellor was scheduled to visit and meet with several high-ranking military officials.
A number of German soldiers, including Colonel Klaus, who were retired due to injuries, were also invited. This meeting was ordered by the German Chancellor, aimed at boosting the support of high-ranking military officers for the war.
Two days before the gathering, Klaus arrived at the venue early for various reasons and scouted the area.
As Klaus himself was a hero who had been seriously injured and disabled in the service of his country—having lost two fingers on his left hand, his entire right hand, and completely blinded in his right eye—his actions raised no suspicions.
This was normal, after all, who would suspect Colonel Klaus, a warrior who had almost sacrificed his life for his country?
It was precisely because Colonel Klaus had almost sacrificed his life and had seen too many ordinary Germans lose their lives in the war that he resolved to end the conflict.
The two days swiftly passed, and soon the time for the gathering arrived.
Colonel Klaus wore the military uniform he had retired in, and intentionally had the servant pin several medals he had earned for his merits.
He walked slowly yet resolutely towards the venue, with no one aware of what was going through Colonel Klaus’s mind.
“Hey! Klaus!” At the entrance to the venue, Brigadier General Hans greeted him with surprise as he watched Klaus approach slowly, step by step.
“General Hans,” Colonel Klaus slowly approached and then saluted Brigadier General Hans.
“Oh, my friend, stop it. You are the hero here, I should be saluting you,” Brigadier General Hans quickly stopped Klaus’s left hand about to salute, responding with implications only the two could understand.
“Are you ready? This gathering might take a long while,” Brigadier General Hans looked at Klaus’s right hand and eye, as if asking whether Klaus’s body could withstand it.
“All is ready, all of it,” Colonel Klaus nodded, seemingly in response that his body could still manage.
Thanks to Klaus’s hero status, and because today’s gathering was only attended by upper echelons of the German Military, the generals were only subject to a cursory inspection that involved confiscating their firearms without thoroughly checking other items they carried.
This provided Klaus with a certain convenience. Although he could only carry some relatively small bombs, their power was still sufficient to severely harm people within a few meters.
He entered the venue smoothly, where the military’s upper echelons were already in small groups, engrossed in conversation. The generals stuck together, while colonels formed another group.
After a short wait, the German Chancellor, the most distinguished person present, finally arrived.
Everyone stood up to welcome the arrival of the Chancellor and then together raised a toast to celebrate this hard-earned moment of relaxation.
Colonel Klaus clenched the glass of red wine tightly with his remaining three fingers, his anxiety increasing by the moment.
But despite the tension, Colonel Klaus had no intent of regret. Looking at his left hand with only three fingers, then at his empty right arm, Klaus knew, what he was doing was right.
After a simple celebration, the German Chancellor and a few military high-ranking officers settled at a table to start their discussions.
The atmosphere was focused as those present were mostly trustworthy individuals, with few of them being as low as colonel rank.
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Those with lower ranks were much like Klaus, having made great sacrifices for the country and earned various merits and medals to be allowed into this gathering.
The rest, ranking at least as Brigadiers, with many more Major Generals and Generals, naturally did not worry about confidentiality issues.
After all, the Chancellor’s conversation was not about any significant military secrets, just about the current situation of the German Army and strategies to manage it.
This intelligence, even at the Brigadier level, could generally be surmised through various means, so there was no need for extreme confidentiality.
In an unnoticed corner, Klaus pretended to chat with Brigadier General Hans, moving slowly toward a nearby table.
Suddenly, Klaus seemed unable to support himself and collapsed beside the table.
This action drew some attention from the generals, but they merely thought that Klaus’s body was not holding up to the gathering.
Seeing Hans next to him pretending to help Klaus up, the generals stopped paying attention.
With the cover provided by Brigadier General Hans, Colonel Klaus firmly stuck the two small bombs he was carrying to the table, then pretended he was too weak to continue and was helped away by General Hans.
About two minutes later, Colonel Klaus found a marshal from Supreme Command and expressed his desire to leave early.
The marshal, seeing Klaus sweating profusely and thinking his body was succumbing to his injuries, nodded in agreement to Klaus’s request to leave.
Brigadier General Hans, pretending to assist Colonel Klaus, helped him temporarily move away from the venue.
