Iron Cross

"I am ready to change my attitude towards the three Baltic countries and the Ukrainians, support them in establishing an independent country, and adjust the policy towards the surrendered Soviet troops. I will consider forming an anti-Stalin force - the 'Russian Liberation Army' and regard them as part of the future Eastern policy." Hoffman's short sentence was like a 500-kilogram aerial bomb thrown into the meeting hall, causing a commotion.

Everyone knew that this statement was contrary to the political proposition that the Führer had always emphasized and insisted on in the past. The Führer had always regarded these Eastern nations as "inferior nations" and attempted to eliminate them. There had been more than one attempt by front-line generals to recruit "volunteer" troops from captured Soviet troops, but without exception, they were opposed by the Führer and Himmler. Only a small number of captured soldiers were selected to serve as the "Eastern Battalion" for the German army's transportation, guards and logistics forces. Although there were "Eastern Battalions" in almost all the main forces, they had not yet formed a unified whole and did not have the identity of a soldier. At best, they were just servants.

Is the Führer ready to change his course?

Keitel, Zeitzler and other military generals immediately agreed, while Himmler, Goebbels and others waited for Hoffman's follow-up speech calmly. They needed a reasonable explanation.

"Based on the theory of population warfare and previous war examples, we may have to be prepared to sacrifice 3 million or more people to make Stalin surrender, which is too heavy a price for the German people. It is not our German task to eliminate the Bolshevik red threat to Europe. We must let the Russians form their own army to fight Stalin. This will not only save the lives of German soldiers, but also consolidate the power base of the majority." Hoffman said earnestly to these confidants, "Gentlemen, people are the most precious resource. It takes 18 years and untold hardships for a qualified soldier to be produced and grow up, but it only takes one bullet to eliminate him, and it may even be a waste of time." It takes less than 1.8 seconds... The Americans can give the Soviets all kinds of supplies and equipment, but the Americans will never send hundreds of thousands of people to Stalin, and Stalin dare not accept hundreds of thousands of American troops - this is not good for his rule. If we come forward to form a Russian anti-Stalin armed force, the Russian people who are currently under Stalin's control and forced to work for him will see another way out - a way to cooperate with us and eliminate the red threat, which is very beneficial to the disintegration of Stalin's regime. "Goebbels reacted quickly. After Hoffman finished speaking, he linked this decision with the European Union just now, touting this as another good move by the head of state. "Although I have great concerns about forming armies of these inferior nations, in view of the protracted war with the Soviet Union, in order to save the lives and blood of German soldiers, I agree in principle with the Fuhrer's proposal to form an Eastern Army." Himmler, with a gloomy face, thought for a long time before speaking, "But will this cause problems after the war? During World War I, His Majesty the Emperor supported Lenin and the Bolsheviks, but 20 years later they posed a threat to us in turn." Before Hoffman could speak, Bormann immediately retorted: "Whether there are problems depends on ourselves. As long as Germany is a strong and unified empire, these are not problems. If it weren't for the Jews in World War I, The Russians dared not tear up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which led to the collapse of the empire after a stab in the back. "

Everyone else nodded frequently after hearing this, and Hoffman immediately took advantage of the situation to elaborate on his initial ideas for the Russian Liberation Army:

First, the main leadership of this force should be former Soviet generals who agree with the spirit of the European Union. The higher the status, the better, but no pure political commissars are needed. When forming the force, a political organization should be formed at the same time. Similar names such as "Russian Liberation Front" can be considered, and the commander of the force should also serve as the leader of the political organization;

Second, the troops that make up this force should be carefully selected, and non-Russians should be given priority on a voluntary basis. Consider arming the Russian officers and soldiers who were persecuted in the Soviet anti-counterrevolutionary movement with captured Russian weapons. Before the end of the year, three divisions will be formed, and then increased to 6-8 divisions and formed into an army group. Only after it becomes an army group will it consider equipping armored units;

Third, soldiers must hold a public ceremony to break with Stalin and the Bolsheviks before joining the army. Imperial representatives who understand military affairs and management must be stationed in each unit. They are usually officers or sergeants, who are responsible for liaison and supervision. Representatives must be sent to at least the battalion level;

Fourth, propaganda work must be strengthened, outstanding members with outstanding performance must be awarded medals and promoted to higher positions, and Russian representatives who cooperate sincerely must be sent to the army. Send them to Germany for training, show them a good German life, and relocate the soldiers' families appropriately to enhance their sense of identity and centripetal force with the European Union;

Fifth, in the early stage, they mainly undertake tasks such as rear-area security and anti-guerrilla warfare. After the initial formation of combat effectiveness, they can enter the front-line struggle and be led by the relevant German army group. After the army group is formed and fully mature, they can undertake tasks in a certain direction of the battle;

Sixth, a clear future should be drawn - after the victory of the war against the Soviet Union, non-Russian troops will establish a series of non-Russian ethnic states (large in number) and become the national defense forces of their respective ethnic groups, and Russian troops will control (or partially control) the Russian regime.

……

Hoffmann mentioned ten ideas in one breath. Admiral Zeitzler, who had been listening, suddenly came up with a strange idea: This is what the head of state should consider as a political leader, running to the front line as frequently as before and reviewing the battle process. The behavior of gesticulating seemed to be a bit overstepping... In turn, he thought: The head of state was probably worried about Halder, so he took matters into his own hands. He had been serving as chief of general staff for more than a month and seemed to get along well with the head of state. It can be seen that the head of state was not at ease with him. Aren't you a stubborn person who can't listen to other people's opinions? Aren't your attitudes towards the Jews and your Eastern policies changing? If Halder hadn't had the idea of ​​usurping the party and seizing power a long time ago, how could he accuse the head of state like this?

"After this Serbian meeting, I will convene an Eastern Conference to discuss the political arrangements and future development of these countries. The currently occupied Russian territory will also be appropriately distributed to our allies and followers - this holy war cannot just be left to They sacrifice without seeing anything in return.”

Himmler interjected: "If they are allowed to establish an independent country, what will happen to the eastern territories of the empire?"

"Of course we have to keep the best and biggest piece for ourselves, but we can't swallow them all. This will destroy us." Hoffman said with a smile, "As long as the allies and followers get the benefits, they will Grit your teeth and cooperate with us to fight the war to the end.”

Only Speer and Sauker complained that this would reduce the labor force imported from Russia and bring trouble to the management of existing prisoners of war. However, after Hoffman recommended the Jews to them, they did not say much. Anyway, there are currently prisoners of war on the Eastern Front. If there are too many, the transportation will not be completed. It is also conducive to management to liberate a batch appropriately.

After initially reaching a unified understanding, Hoffmann instructed Goebbels to inform the outside world first, and formally decided to wait until the Eastern Conference was held in early October before announcing it. At the same time, he talked about military deployment: "The Eastern Front should use flexible operations. General Zeitzler asked you to lead the Army General Staff and formulate a combat plan with Marshal Manstein as the main leader. Consider using the method of luring the enemy deep into the southern front to fight a battle, and control the scale to 50 Within 10,000, it’s time to spend the winter after this battle..."

"The main issues in combating the United States are counter-air strikes and counter-landings. The counter-landing issues will be discussed at special meetings." Hoffman turned to the Air Force Chief of Staff, General Jeshunek, "How is the recent counter-air raid situation?"

"In the past half month or so, the U.S. Army Aviation and the British Air Force have launched three and four relatively large bombing operations respectively. We seized the opportunity to shoot down and damage many enemy aircraft. Through the interrogation of captured pilots and statistics of the results, we , the enemy's preliminary estimate is that the battle loss ratio is around 12%, which is still some distance from the 15% you requested, but it is much better than a few months ago. Our pilots suffered little loss, and there were almost no losses worth mentioning on the ground targets. The Americans were probably stunned by this loss and have not launched any raids for 5-6 days. The scale of the British night raids has begun to decline but is still continuing. "Jeshunek knew that the head of state was paying close attention to the data after listening to the report, so he had already done so. Prepared a detailed form, "We have begun to expand the reserve pilot team in accordance with your request. The current focus is on fighter jets. All the original flight instructors have been withdrawn to assume teaching tasks and will no longer fly into the sky. At the same time, we also require each wing to deploy 2 qualified pilots. Pilots with more than 50 kill records undertake teaching missions for at least three months, which is very effective and has great demonstration significance.”

"Have the various wings of the North African Air Force also been mobilized?"

"Yes! Among the people they sent was Marceliu, who was the last one to arrive..." Jeshunek suppressed his laughter and introduced the current situation of the "Star of Africa." "General Guderian gave him a free pass..." He was given leave to return to China to get married and complete his teaching duties at the same time. He is currently the youngest and fastest ace pilot to achieve 200 downed records. He has been surrounded by people before he even arrived at the flight school. In the past few months, he has only There were dozens of kilograms of letters sent to the Air Force Command from all over Germany writing letters of love and accompanying photos. Poor girls don’t know that the prince charming in their hearts will get married soon..."

Everyone laughed.

Goebbels added: "There is a movie based on him being filmed, called "Top Gun". He will play a starring role on the screen. There is not much time and it will not delay his normal work. I can guarantee that it will It is a patriotic and heroic movie that shocked the whole country.”

"Very good, please continue to strengthen anti-air raid and reserve talent training." Hoffman expressed satisfaction with Jeshunek's work, and at the same time instructed Goebbels, "Movie actors must be more handsome, and they must be worthy of our Hero, I have to type a line at the end, which is written to the girls who are courting me - 'I love you, but I'm sorry that I'm married, but there are still many good guys in the flying team'..."

Hahahaha, the whole scene burst into laughter.