PROLOGUE;
It is the year 1918,for four long years the great war has plunged the world into a slaughter and devastation undreamt of,hundreds of thousands of germans,french and englishmen,and soldiers from belligrents around the world have died to the meatgrinder of the static trench warfare of the western front.
Germany on the verge of victory in the battle of frontiers in 1914 was denied by the miracle on the marne and then slowly the allied blockade and the massacre of the western front has withered her down,the usa has entered the war and germany's great offensive for 1918 operation michael has failed.
Germany is tired but not yet defeated.
These are the thoughts going through the mind of baron manfred von richtofen,at only the young age of 25 the hero of germany and the scourge of the allied air forces in the western front,with officially 80 victories the highest scoring fighter ace of the war as he boards his infamous red fokker triplane on route to a sortie.
It is april 10;30 am april 11 1918.
Richtofen wounded in the skull the previous year is by now a far sober man than he was when he started out,his brush with death having opened him to a new grim outlook on life,he never believed in luck but he was lucky.As he zeroes in on the enemy fighter desperately trying to shake him off,he lost in his thoughts and the battle above ,plunges too close to ground,an allied anti aircraft gunner spots his triplane and fires....
The Plane shakes violently for a second and richtofen feels a stabbing pain in his ribs and shoulders,he knows he is hit and its a bad wound .
But keeping his mind ,with all the effort in his will ignoring the pain,he turns his plane around and mustering all his skill lands near the german lines,
As his triplane elegantly touches down and his blurring vision catches the german infantrymen rushing towards him..his last words before the darkness takes him are-'kapput'.
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In another part of the front..corporal adolf hitler volunteers to carry the message to the nearest command post,his heart burning with the desire to serve germany and earn fame, and with hatred for the enemy.
The withering french bombardment continues unabated ,but hitler is unmoved and inflexible.His belief in his destiny and luck supreme.
He rushes onwards the command post is in his sight ,then suddenly there is a great explosion .....and corporal adolf hitler's world goes black.
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The clear blue sky ...how beautiful and oblivious to the miseries of man it is....thinks the red baron.
He is lying on his bed in the hospital in his home country of silesia.
He is still recovering from his wounds,but the wounds on his heart are more profound.
He has heard about the shameful capitulation of the german imperial government,abandoning his kamaraden and stabbing them in the back.
He thinks about all his fellow comrades that fought and died...only in vain.
He thinks of indomitable voss,killed by seven raf aces together,even after he shot some down.and of boelcke,the great master and originator of the german air force.
He too should have died......but he didn't ...
and as long as the red baron lived he would see to it that his comrades didn't die in vain..and that germany's humiliation was set right.
Germany failed..but under this wekling of a leadership they were bound to..he reasoned....under someone with more steel,the german people would definitely
find their place in the sun.
The goddess fortuna was with him afer all...2 times now.
'Let's not go for three' he mused.
Finally free from his wounds richtofen travelled to berlin,nerve centre of germany.
The situation aroused great resentment in him,germany was in disorder.
The country was in total disorder ,there was total lack of even the most basic necessities.
He saw wounded soldiers begging in the streets,it made his blood boil.
Meanwhile massive war reparations demanded by the allies,he occupation of the rhineland and the saar by the french the disbanding of the army.
The prohibition of use or development of air forces or mechanised forces all angered him.
Meanwhile the country was in threat of being taken over by the bolsheviks,
This had to be stopped he resolved as he made the first fateful steps towards the freikorps.
The freikorps were a group of disbanded german soldiers who had banded together for repulsing the communists.
They were honoured to have the red baron.
For three years they combatted the communist threat and watched the weimar govt make a mess of things.
Richtofen made stinging remarks on the 'slave treaty' of versailles .everywhere he was a hero.
But his soul was disturbed...despite all his feats the war had been won and lost on land..thus to change the condition of the german people he had to understand land warfare.Not too tedious...his prussian upbringing had familiarized him with the art of war in the war academies.And he had been a cavalry officer.He noticed the rise of the motor and wondered what effect it would have on the future of warfare.He read up all on the teachings of moltke,schliffen and clausewitz.He read the campaigns of napoleon,caesar and alexander.
He also learnt of the italian air exponent drouhot who championed strategic bombing as the surefire means to victory in the next war.He reasoned -'the bomber would always get through'.Being a fighter pilot the red baron smiled silently at the assertion.
Then on a dinner party at the great hall in berlin he met for the first time generaloberst hans von seeckt,the now head of germany's tiny 100000 men reichswehr.His conversations with seeckt gave richtofen hope,here was a man who understood germany's problems and had a vision.
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Seeckt had been reforming his tiny army with new doctrines and concepts.
Training in the reichswehr was the toughest in the world,in essence seeckt wanted to create a new german army an army of officers,he trained them in anti aircraft and anti tank warfare using dummies and with tanks and aircraft in secret exercises with the soviet union.
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Together seeckt and richtofen talked and talked and finally they had in the other found a man who would restore germany to her previous greatness and beyond.
It is the year 1930,the weimar government is in its last legs...inflation has reached ridiculous levels in germany,unemployment and shortage everywhere.
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Seeckt and richtofen have resolved it is time to take matters into their own hands.They have garnered the support of general ludendorff who is to win over his former colleague field marschall hindenburg,the now head of the weimar government.
Together with richtofen's freikorps and seeckt's reichswehr they have the support of the military,Richtofen is a great hero to the people but the old field marschall is still held in great esteem by the german people.
FInally as 1932 draws to a close with ludendorff's help,they gain assent from hindenburg who invites them to take the reins of government and set matters right for a germany that needs hope.Hindenburg remains president as the red baron is sworn in as chancellor.
He has the support of seeckt's reichwehr which incorporates the freikorps.The german people rejoice to see their hero finally come to their salvation.
Immediately after ascending post of chancellor the red baron starts with the construction of roads,and various new projects to reduce unemployments he also starts secretly the expansion of the army.hindenburg dies in the fall of 1933 and seeckt and richtofen are now the co rulers of germany.
Richtofen has publicly blasted the allieds several times and derided the versailles treaty as dead .He announces a naval reconstruction programme and
the creation of a new airforce,the luftwaffe and the reintroduction of conscription.He has restored pride to the german people and they now wait eagerly to see thier new fuhrer's intentions......and so we come to 1936.