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TheHyphenated1 said:
Johann Mahler had once asked his high school history teacher what would happen if German soldiers violated the treaty and entered their native city of Düsseldorf. "That," Herr Bischof had said, "would mean another war."
Let's hope not--I've never had it happen.
 
Interesting... some hints of dislike towards the Nazi thugs... good.. good..

My teacher of German is from Düsseldorff, by the way. What a coincidence...
 
Chapter I: Part II

Chapter I: The Hammerblow

Part II


January 2, 1936

In the cellar of the church of St. Matthias in Berlin, Father Martin Kappel awoke from a troubled sleep. He had taken refuge in the church the day before, when the Baron von Yorck had telephoned at great risk to inform him of the failure of Operation Brutus. That the counterblow would be swift and deadly was beyond question. von Yorck had been present in the Berghof late into the night of the attack, and overheard of the arrests of several members of the conspiracy.

Kappel had been forced to assume that the entire membership had been compromised. He had immediately burned most of the Reinickendorf Circle’s papers, and set off on foot for the city center and St. Matthias. Walking the crowded streets in a long overcoat, he would not have appeared any different from the thousands of anxious businessmen, workers and family men that choked the streets seeking information on the events of the previous night.

He had stopped to speak to some of them, hoping to learn some shred of truth about the incident at Berchtesgaden. The rumors were as varied as they were unfounded. Some reported that the Führer was in critical condition, while others attested that he had been in Berlin all along. Some had it that the Führer had been attacked by a car bomb, while others insisted that he had been poisoned by General Beck.

Apparently, Goebbels had taken to the radio at eight in the morning, reading a short statement that there had been an attempt upon the Führer’s life, and demanding the people’s full cooperation in rooting out the perpetrators. No word came from the government until another short statement at four that the army had reoccupied several cities in the demilitarized Rhineland. By then, Kappel was safely in the cellar of St. Matthias.

Kappel blinked. The sharp click of jackboots echoed in the gallery above him. He heard a cold voice demand of Father Heinrich permission to search the cellar. The old priest, by now nearly eighty, could be heard uttering timid protestations. Kappel scrambled off his cot, stuffing his remaining papers into his trousers. The voice again demanded to search the cellar. More muffled mumbling. Then a shot.

It was several seconds before the echoes faded. Fr. Kappel felt a surge of relief when he heard the priest speak. The stonework deadened his words, but Kappel soon heard more footsteps as Father Heinrich led what sounded like several men towards the cellar door.

Before he could flee, the door burst open. Three black-uniformed SS men charged down the stairs. One pointed a submachine gun directly at Kappel’s chest. “What are you doing down here? Back off!” The man gestured with his weapon for Kappel to retreat several steps.

“I is just doing some work for the Father is all, sir. Had me spending the night here to stay out of the cold.” The words were not those of a cultured man of letters, but came out instead as a rough Bavarian accent.

“Where did you get that watch? Isn’t that a bit too expensive for you?” The man with the submachine gun was sneering.

“I –”

“Off with it.” Kappel started to undo the band. “Quickly!” Kappel managed to get the Swiss-made watch off his wrist. The SS man reached out a gloved hand for it, receiving it with a sharp jerk and stuffing it into a pocket.

The three men turned back to Father Heinrich. “Did you play any part whatsoever in a criminal organization called the Reinickendorf Circle?” The priest shook his head. The men began ransacking the cellar – overturning tables, pawing through bookshelves and feeling the walls for hidden panels.

Disappointed at the absence of trapdoors, their leader turned back to Heinrich. “We know that a Catholic priest in this city has been involved. Take us to your residence immediately. My men must search there as well if your church is not to be suspected.”

With that, the four men tromped up the stairs. They had left the cellar in disarray, and stolen his watch, but what else was to be expected from such men? Still, Kappel reasoned, they seemed only to know that a Catholic priest in the city was involved, and Kappel was not officially posted in Berlin.

When night had fallen completely, he slipped out of St. Matthias church and onto the streets in hopes of discovering the fates of the other conspirators. The Nazis did not know everything yet, and he intended to use that to his full advantage.
 
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Those pesky Nazis: not having Hitler giving an speech -he did in on July 20th 1944. Bad, too bad, herr Goebbels...
 
Chapter I: Part III

Chapter I - The Hammerblow

Part III


January 3, 1936

In the Berlin offices of the Völkischer Beobachter, official newspaper of the Nazi Party, Ernst Trommler prepared the final copy for the next day's issue. An under-editor, he had been tasked with bringing up-to-date the articles on the assassination attempt at the Berghof and the troop movements in the Rhineland.

Trommler scanned the working proofs of the January 4th edition. The front page included an obituary for Martin Bormann. The Beobachter was also running a lengthy feature on the upcoming commissioning ceremony of the Admiral Graf Spee, a state-of-the-art warship long in development.

The proof's placeholder article on the Berghof incident had been drawn from Reich Minister Goebbels' initial radio broadcast. The new article was to incorporate details from a special memorandum from the Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda.

Trommler read the text several times and composed an updated lead for the article, under the headline:

Führer Survives Ambush

Late in the evening of December 31, the Führer's limousine was shot at as it entered the town of Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Loyal Leibstandarte-SS bodyguards returned fire, killing all three gunmen. The Führer was unhurt but deeply saddened by the murder of his personal friend Martin Bormann. The Kriminalpolizei have identified the assailants as known criminals Anton Joseph Fröhlich and Bruno Theissen as well as Bernhard von Wexl, a former army colonel who had been dismissed for cowardice at the Somme. Investigations into possible co-conspirators are ongoing.

Trommler passed the typewritten page to the desk of fellow under-editor Fritz Hansen to place at the beginning of the text of the full article. The second memorandum provided details of von Reichenau’s swift movements into the Rhineland. Trommler composed a more strident lead for this article, set immediately below the first.

Wehrmacht Returns to Rhineland

After nearly two decades of foreign-imposed absence, triumphant German soldiers again marched in the streets of Köln, Essen and Düsseldorf on Wednesday last. Men of XII Armeekorps under Generalleutnant von Reichenau swiftly crossed the Rhine bridges in several places over the course of the day, occupying former posts in the Rhineland by nightfall. The army columns were received enthusiastically by citizens in all the towns and cities they passed through. The sight of the banners of the Wehrmacht paraded through the boulevards of our western cities is reported to have brought several strong German maidens to a swoon. Foreign reaction was almost entirely supportive of the Rhineland’s reoccupation. British playwright George Bernard Shaw was quoted in the Times today as saying: “This is no different than if Britain had reoccupied Portsmouth.” Sentiments were similar in the most recent session of the British parliament. Field Marshal von Blomberg, head of the War Ministry, called the move: “A great advance in Germany’s role as an independent and free nation.” The War Ministry states that Aachen will be reoccupied within the week.

Trommler placed this second page atop the first on Hansen’s desk. He turned his lamp off, reordered his papers, and set off for home. By the time he would be asleep, his words would be on their way to nine hundred thousand German households, to be read by several million.
 
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Kurt_Steiner and HKslan - Thanks for your continued interest and comments! Keep it coming! :D

Lord Durham, diziziz - Thanks so much for your interest and feedback! I appreciate each and every reader.

And tell your friends... ;)
 
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Reserved

In the meanwhile, this post serves as a signpost thanking new readers for coming this far. If there are any questions you have or even feedback on likes/dislikes about the AAR, feel free to leave a comment.

As a special incentive for close readers, those who successfully detect a typo and bring it to my attention will be awarded the War Merit Cross for their signatures:
=+


Readers who report to me other errors -- like continuity errors or particularly insightful nitpicks -- will be awarded the Sniper's Badge:
(&)
 
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Striker475 - Yes, the SS were never known for being the nicest fellows...

Hardraade - Thanks! Don't give Trommler too much credit though; the news-spin mostly comes straight from the Propagandaministerium.
 
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i've read and liked it so far. one question: what happened when they shot (at?) the priest? was he wounded, or did they shoot just to scare him?
 
SleucidRex - Thanks! And if I understand your question correctly, the SS did only fire at a column in the church to ensure Father Heinrich's obedience.
 
Chapter I: Part IV

Chapter I: The Hammerblow

Part IV

January 5, 1936

In a high-ceilinged conference hall in the Reichschancellery, Cristoph Scholl sat at the far side of the great oaken table that dominated the room. Around it sat a special conclave of the Wehrmacht’s leaders: Field Marshal von Blomberg, Minister of War, General von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of OKH, General Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, General von Rundstedt, senior field commander of the Army, and Generalleutnants von Reichenau and von Leeb, commanders of XII and IX Armeekorps respectively.

Each man had at his place a closed intelligence dossier, note-pad and pitcher of mineral water. Though neighbors engaged in muted conversation, all eyes flicked periodically to the empty chair at the back of the table. It was several minutes past eleven; the meeting was to have started already.

Scholl had been called into the room scarcely a quarter of an hour prior to take the minutes of what he was told was to be a routine staff meeting. The presence of four Leibstandarte-SS officers flanking the room’s great double doors quickly told him otherwise.

He was nominally Party Liaison to the War Ministry, but in practice spent most of his time assisting Friedrich Hossbach, Military Adjutant to the Führer. Hossbach had been ill for several days, and it therefore fell to Scholl to record the proceedings.

He had entered to find the generals already seated around the table. On the center of the table lay a large map of Europe. Scholl had attempted to not to eavesdrop on the hushed chatter that played about the table, but it was plain that each of these men was trying to learn something of the fall of General Beck.

Scholl smiled. As he carefully arranged his pens, he found that von Leeb was convinced that Beck had been shot. Rummaging idly through his briefcase, Scholl leaned far over in his chair to hear von Fritsch counter with rumors that he was under house arrest. With that, the briefcase spilled its contents at the OKH chief’s feet -- assisted in no small part by a kick from Scholl, who took advantage of the situation to strain to catch von Reichenau’s reply.

With a report like a gunshot, the SS officer guarding the small door at the back of the room locked his boot heels, instantly silencing the generals. The door swung open inwards, followed by Adolf Hitler.

As one, the generals snapped to their feet. “Heil!”

“Heil.” Hitler took his seat. “This is Scholl? Hossbach’s assistant?” None of the generals seemed to recognize Scholl.

“Yes, Mein Führer. Oberstleutnant Hossbach has been ill. I have been sent in his place.” A moment of suspicion flickered across the Führer’s face, but he soon nodded his approval.

“Very good, then.” The Führer gestured to Scholl to begin taking the minutes. “Good morning, gentlemen. I should congratulate you all on a daring opening gambit into the Rhineland. As you can see, my intuition has again proven correct: France and Britain are unwilling to risk war.”

von Rundstedt spoke when it was clear that the Führer had finished. “France and Great Britain have lodged formal diplomatic protests. Lebrun’s government is threatening war, and there is a vocal minority in Britain that supports intervention.”

The Führer did not appear worried. “Has France mobilized, General?”

“Not as yet, but they -- ”

“Then how shall they make war against us? They are content to sit behind their Maginot Line and enjoy their ill-won peace.”

Reoccupation.jpg

The advances into the Rhineland completed by January 5th.


Next it was von Fritsch that spoke. “We have proven our point to the world. To stay in the Rhineland further risks provoking France to a mobilization.”

There was a chorus of assent from all the generals except Göring, who eyed the others coolly over his crossed arms. Looking at Göring and back to the Führer, von Leeb pressed the point. “We are opposed by more than eight full-strength divisions along the French border. IX Armeekorps cannot defend Saarbrücken against even a less than all-out attack.”

“You will hold where you are,” replied the Führer.

von Fritsch balked. “I beg you, Mein Führer! You must reconsider and pull XII and IX Armeekorps back across the Rhine.”

Now Field Marshal von Blomberg joined the exchange. “I have supported you, Mein Führer, with my whole heart up to this point. I have supported National Socialism with my whole heart up to this point. I tell you honestly -- both will fall if France attacks.”

Hitler shook his head sagely. “France will not attack. France is unwilling to attack.”

The finality in his tone settled the generals, but their Führer was not finished. He rose from his chair, slipped out of his overcoat, and stood in silence for several seconds staring at the map.

“Risk,” he began, “must be undertaken by any nation in the quest for its survival. Each nation, each leader, each race must face its own test of will. Are they willing to risk everything? Those who are unwilling are cast aside by history. No! Hannibal at Cannae, Frederick the Great at Leuthen, and Hindenburg and Ludendorff at Tannenberg each took chances. So now we also must take risks which can only be mastered by iron determination.”

He wheeled in place, preparing to launch his masterstroke. “It is just this determination which will be needed in the reoccupation of the Rhineland, the refortification of our western border and the thrusts into Belgium.”

von Rundstedt adjusted his eyeglasses as though not seeing clearly. “Begging pardon… What’s all this about ‘Thrusts into Belgium’?”

“A thrust,” Hitler replied didactically, “a narrow, forceful military advance.”

“Into Belgium?” The other generals were speechless.

“Yes, General, into Belgium.” Hitler had clearly been rehearsing for these moments in the fervid days and nights since the attack.

“A war is what you are calling for, then.” von Rundstedt’s voice was tired now, resigned.

“Open your folders, gentleman,” Hitler said. “Within each, you will find the preliminary plans drawn up by Admiral Canaris. Operation Hammerschlag is the clear response to the incident five nights ago. World opinion will view this action as justified and necessary. Again I say to you gentlemen: France and Britain will not go to war.”
 
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Attacking Belgium in 1936?

I hope that your bet goes on well...
 
Thrilling! I like Hitler's placing himself as the natural next in line to Hanibal, Frederic the Great, Hindenburg etc. It gives him an air of megalomania mixed with greatness :) .

I wonder how Hitler will justify an invasion of Belgium with the assasination attempt the week before?

Looking forward to another update!

:) Jesper
 
yikes :eek: old Hitler really gave them a shock on that one!