Chapter 8 : Warm-Up
Reichskanzlei, Berlin - 1938, May the 15th - 1530
The Führer meets Abwehr Chef Admiral Canaris (Head of Intelligence).
- "Admiral Canaris, ich grüsse Sie. Have you brought up the last report from Spain ?
- Jawohl, mein Führer... and the one from China as well.
- Sehr gut, Admiral. I'm all ears...
Spanish Front - May 1938
- Mein Führer, once again, the situation in Spain is very confused. I have to point out that our nationalists friends aren't very cooperative about sharing informations. Our evaluations aren't, therefore, not very accurate...
To our big surprise, the main nationalist offensive north of Madrid has been almost stopped by the Republicans. Apparently, they've managed to commit some troops from their southern front. However, the Nationalists are about to outflank them eastward of Bilbao.
- Madrid ? What about Madrid ?
- Mein Führer, there are heavy fighting north but the city itself is defended by strong International brigades. I don't think the Nationalists have the required strength to take the capital with a frontal assault. Several offensives south of the city have been pushed back by the Republicans. They even launched a counter-offensive which didn't went far but inflicted heavy casualties among nationalist troops.
- So... Once again a stalemate !!!
- Not quite, mein Führer. Apparently, knowing the Republicans commited troops in the North, the Nationalists have launched a major offensive in the South and it seems to be successful. If the Republicans are caught off-balance", it might be the turning point of this war...
- It's about time ; this war lasts for over 2 years now... And what about China ?
Southern China - May 1938
- The Empire of Japan declared war to Communist China, mein Führer. We know that the USSR is about to offer some help to their chinese brethrens but it would be a wonder if the communist forces ever resisted the japanese Army. In a couple of months, at the upmost, everything will be cleared...
- And about nationalist China ?
- Their troops are in full retreat, mein Führer. Wuhan has fallen on May, the 2nd and Changde, Guangzhou and some other major chinese cities are in japanese hands by now. The troops of the Land of the Rising Sun are still pushing forward and despite this critical situation, chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek stubbornly refuses peace. May be he's expecting some foreign help, from the USA mainly...
- I don't think the USA will move. These american guys are quite too busy earning always more money and building refrigerators..."
MarineMinisterium, Berlin - 1938, June the 2nd - 0900
Meeting between GeneralAdmiral Raeder, CinC Navy (OberBefehlsHaber der Marine) and KonterAdmiral Günther Guse, Chief of Naval Command Office.
- "Guten Morgen, Admiral.
- Moin, moin, mein lieber Guse. Na ? How's your trip in
Wilhelmshaven ?
- As usual... Admiral
Saalwächter sure get out of the wrong side of the bed every morning. May be he should seriously consider to move his furnitures. I caught both him and
Dönitz right in the middle of a meeting.
- Hey, hey... Sure they were "plotting" behind my back. Same ol' sealines interdiction song, gell ?
- What else, Admiral... Our U-Boats construction plan will be completed by beginning of 1939 and Kapitän zur See
Dönitz would like to start the construction of 18 new boats : 12 of type VII and 6 of the type IX.
- Does
Dönitz know about our current production difficulties ? Steel won't grow on trees, so far I know.
- Yes he does, Admiral. But so far I could see our construction plan goes pretty well :
Both battlecruisers
Scharnhorst and
Gneisenau are almost ready and they'll start their sea trial very soon.
The construction of the Battleships
Bismarck and
Tirpitz are running according to the schedule, even a bit ahead.
The heavy cruiser
Lütsow is also on schedule and I have good hope that it will be the same for the
Prinz Eugen and the
Seydlitz. We even have completed 6 brand new destroyers and the construction of the remaining 12 in underway. Obviously, the Führer did listen to your recommendations, Admiral.
- Almost, mein lieber Guse, almost... The aircraft carrier
Graf Zeppelin is still waiting for materials. What about the training programme ?
- It was completed too, Admiral. Actually, I have to admit that the skills have strongly improved. Of course, we're far from being a match for the Royal Navy but our men are doing very well. Another training cycle is to be desired next year but...
- Budget, mein lieber Guse, Budget !!! I've already ask a complete study for a new class of torpedo boats. I'll see what possible to get but right now, I'd prefer to get steel for the constructions. Besides, I want the Führer in a good mood when I'll present him our Z-Plan so there's no need to p... him off.
- That's why I would also recommend you to grant Dönitz what he wants for X-mas. The Führer's interest for U-boats is growing a bit more every day so it would be better to have the Führer der U-Boote on our side rather as an opponent. Btw, Admiral
Saalwächter just started the conversion of some cargo ships into ocean raiders ; he calls them "Hilskreutzer". Because of their high range, they could be useful in South Atlantic or Indian Ocean and since this conversion doesn't cost much, I assumed we could let him do.
- How many of them does he want ?
- 11 are planned so far. I guess we could have 2 or 3 done per year. The first two, the
Orion and the
Atlantis will be ready by the end of the year.
- Well, I guess you're right. Let him play with them. What about our transport flotillas ?
- On schedule, Admiral. All together, we should soon have 16 of them which will be enough for our needs. I case of emergency, we could always requisition some ocean liners.
- Sehr gut, mein lieber Guse. Things are going well so we can go back to work on our Z-Plan..."
OKH Hauptquartier Wünsdorf - 1938, July the 3rd - 1100
Meeting between GeneralOberst von Brauchitsch, Chief of the Army and General Ludwig Beck, Chief of the General Staff.
- "Guten Morgen, General Beck. Is the organisation plan of
von Rundstedt for "
Fall grün" ready ?
- Jawohl, Herr GeneralOberst. But it's not just about "
Fall grün" ; this hypothetical invasion of the Czechoslovakia is only a part of a complete restructuration of the Heer (Army). I've also worked General
Fromm, because a reorganisation of the Heer was unavoidable : too many divisions, not enough command structures.
- Did you have come with something ?
- Aber sicher doch, Herr GeneralOberst ! Of course it's provisory and what I'm giving you here is a broad outline of the new structure :
In the West, the
Heeresgruppenkommando 2 will still be in charge but we're to create 4 sub-command units : the
1., 5. and 7. Armeen plus a special structure, also Army-level, the
Armee-Abteilung A. All Army Corps commited to the Western front will be attached to this structure and won't no longer respond directly to the
OKW as it is now.
In East-Prussia, we're going to create the
3. Armee. Because it is a remote location, this command will be in charge of all military units in this area except for the ones of the Wehrkreiss 1.
- It sounds good to me. Have you thought of the officers in charge of all these commands ?
- The choice of the commander of the
3. Armee is quite obvious, Herr GeneralOberst and...
- General
von Küchler, gell ?
- Jawohl, Herr GeneralOberst. As former commander of the
I. Armeekorps up there, he knows the region and the men.
- Granted ! And for the other ?
- We're still unsure. We need men who know their job but it would also be a plus point if they know the region as well. General Curt
Liebmann could be one of them, as well as Kurt Freiherr
von Hammerstein-Equord. There are other potential candidates but we have to wait the evolution of "
Fall grün" to decide. Hopefully nothing wrong will happen...
- You still disagree with that ?
- Herr GeneralOberst. I don't mind "saving" our compatriots of the Sudetenland but honestly... is this worth a war ?
- The Führer is quite sure neither France nor the UK will lift a finger and...
- Um Gottes willen, Herr GeneralOberst !!! The Führer is just a guy, a mortal like you and me ! May be he was right up to now but have you thought of the consequences IF he goes wrong ? Believe me, this man will lead us to a catastrophe. Frankly, I don't want to be held responsable for that.
- If it's the case, may be you should consider resigning, Herr General Beck.
- I'm thinking about it, Herr GeneralOberst, I'm thinking about it..."
Abwehr Hauptquartier, Tirpitzufer-Berlin - 1938, August the 1st - 1045
Meeting between Admiral Canaris, Abwehr Chef (Head of Intelligence) and Generalmajor Hans Oster, Head of Central Division.
- "You wished to see me, Admiral ?
- In der Tat, Hans. I met a young officer of the Heer a few days ago, the Hauptmann (Captain) Theodor von Hippel. Does the name sound familiar ?
- Not at all, Admiral.
- Anyway. This man served under General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, Commander of our East African theatre during the Great War. Needless to remind you the brilliant guerilla warfare General von Lettow-Vorbeck conducted against the Allied colonial troops.
- What's the point, Admiral ?
- Hippel propose to create some small, elite units, highly trained in sabotage and fluent in foreign languages, which could operate behind enemy lines and wreak havoc with the enemy's command, communication and logistical tails. He first approached the Reichswehr with this new concept but his idea was rebuffed. Apparently, the traditionalist Prussian officers saw this clandestine form of warfare would be an affront to the rules of war...
I would like to hear your opinion on that, Hans.
- Admiral, I find this idea quite brilliant. The main concern still remains : todays Army Top-Brass are as narrow-minded as the ones of the Reichswehr. I don't see anyone of them giving a go-ahead for this project... May be we should try to approach the Luftwaffe or, even better, the Führer himself. We all know he likes everything which is "unconventional".
- Excellent suggestion, Hans ! Get me an appointment ASAP. And tell Hippel to scour the Reich to find Slavs, Poles and other ethnics willing to fight for Germany. Every recruit had to be fluent in at least one foreign language.
- Zu Befehl, Admiral !
- Oooh, btw Hans, I've got here our last SitRep (Situation Report) from Spain...
Spanish Front - 1938, August the 1st
- Things aren't going well for the Republicans, Admiral...
- Yeap. Their southern front collapsed and our agents reported that nationalists columns are advancing toward Almeria without meeting any resistance. The fall of Madrid is a matter of days either.
- It seems our friend General Franco finally gets the upper hand. I'm quite sure the Führer will love that. A good opportunity to "sell" your concept, Admiral.
- Don't count your chickens before they are hatched, Hans..."
ReichsLuftFahrtMinisterium (Reich Aviation Ministry), Berlin - 1938, August the 5th - 1430
Meeting between Reichsmarschall Göring, CinC Luftwaffe, and Erhard Milch, Secretary of State.
- "Ahhh... Milch ! Nice to see you. You're still fighting against
Udet, I've heard...
- Herr Reichsmarschall. With all due respect, the man is not up to the task and he has no sense of reality.
- Herr Staatssekretär !
Udet is a decorated hero and a former ace of the Great War !
- Jawohl, Herr Reichsminister, and you pointed it right : he WAS a great fighter pilot... 20 years ago ! But he's not suited for being responsable for airplane production. The next war will have nothing to do with the one he fought in and he doesn't seem to be aware of it. He...
- That's enough, Milch ! Look what currently happens in Spain. My opinion is that things are going on exactly like Udet sees them. All what we need is a fast and reactive air force to support the ground troops.
- May be you're right, Herr ReichsMarschall... but may be not. And what if you're wrong ?!!
- That's why you're still here, mein lieber Milch. Just in case... And that's also why I gave the authorisation to finance this study on the Strategic Air Command you've ordered in my back.
- .....................
- For the same reason, I supported you by the Führer when you asked Messerschmidt and Focke-Wulf companies to develop some 4-engine airplane. I may not be agree with you but some of your theories might find some interesting developments in the future : heavy transport planes, long-range reconnaissance aircraft... Who knows ?
Anyway, how are things going on in MY Luftwaffe ?
- The production of new models is giving satisfaction but we still haven't be able to replace our old models. And I'm talking about a third of our Air Force ! Again,
Udet is far more interested in building new aircrafts, or better said new "toys", rather than to have a functionary Air Force as a whole...
Some new airplanes to build II/KG 1 and KG 40
Transport planes are also a cause for concern. I took upon myself to requisition some Lufthansa airplanes to compensate our production deficiency. This way, we could be able to form another TransportGeschwader ; we also have some long-range aircrafts of type FW-200, which could be very useful for maritime reconnaissance, provided we are given time to convert those civilian airplanes to military use and to give proper training to the crews. They will form a brand new Kampfgeschwader :
KG 40. Anti-ship warfare is right now out of question because the promised air-launched torpedoes aren't available yet.
We also have initiated an all-around training programme for our pilots, which will be completed before the end of the year. Adding this to the turn-over of our crews in Spain, we can expect very promising results. IF we can manage our production deficiencies, you should get a very sharp tool within the next 2 years, Herr ReichsMarschall.
- I'm glad to hear that, mein lieber Milch. And what about our airborne force ? You very well know how much the Führer wants it ready !
- I'm fully aware of that, Herr ReichsMarschall. But we only begin to have enough airplanes for training purposes. Most of our Fallschirmjäger-Regiments are still learning. The
Sturm-Regiment is the sole unit being combat-ready, at least partially : we're still lacking special equipment for its Pionier-Bataillon.
The Army unit, the
22. ID, has just begun its training. So... yes, we are on the right way but it will takes a year, may be two, before the Luftlandekorps becomes a reality.
- Thank you, Herr Staatssekretär. I'll keep the Führer informed..."
OKW Hauptquartier Wünsdorf - 1938, August the 18th - 1600
Meeting between GeneralOberst von Brauchitsch, Chief of the Army and General Franz Halder, newly appointed Chief of the General Staff.
- "General der Artillerie Franz Halder reporting for duty, Herr GeneralOberst.
- At ease, General. First of all, I'd like to congratulate your for your promotion as Chief of the General Staff. As you know, in the past months, there have been severe differences of opinion between the Führer and your predecessor, General
Beck...
- Yes, I've heard about that.
- Anyway... In the interests of the State,
Beck's resignation has been kept as discreet as possible. For the world abroad, we can't afford to let dissensions appearing. Therefore, I'll ask you to keep a low profile within the next months. Time will take care of the rest...
- Zu Befehl, Herr GeneralOberst !
- Und jetzt, zurück zur Arbeit : "
Fall grün" preparation is underway but there's still a lot of work to be done..."
