Empire in Progress

Chapter 39: negotiation

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They insisted that embezzlers, drunken troublemakers, and promiscuous homosexuals should not be allowed to participate in major rearmament events.

At that time, Hitler could not offend the Army, so he did not support Röhm's suggestions. This is indeed the case. On February 21, he also informed the British Foreign Secretary Eden who came to Berlin to discuss the disarmament deadlock. He was willing to reduce the number of SA troops by two-thirds and agreed to implement an inspection system to ensure that those who remained were not subject to military Not trained, nor armed. After this suggestion was leaked, the resentment between Röhm and the stormtroopers was further fueled.

If Röhm had not overestimated his capabilities and tried to escalate the battle between himself and Hitler into a battle of lines, Hitler might still have spared Röhm's life, but Röhm made exactly this mistake.

Within the National Socialist Party, a new and ruthless struggle for power was also going on. Two of Röhm's most powerful enemies, Göring and Himmler, united against him. On April 1, Goering appointed Himmler, the head of the black-shirted SS Security Service who was still under the command of Röhm, as the head of the Prussian secret police. Himmler immediately began to build his own secret police empire. Göring himself had been promoted to general by President Hindenburg last year. Göring instantly transformed from a National Socialist Party cadre to a general. As a member of the general class, Göring was involved in the struggle between Roma and the Wehrmacht. Zhong suddenly sided with the Army.

Lin Wei looked calm on the surface, but in fact he had already begun preparations secretly. Just when Goering and Himmler were colluding together, a guest came to Linwei's villa outside Berlin. They talked for several hours in the villa until Lin Wei sent him out of the villa in the evening.

From then on, Lin Wei seemed to be a different person. If Roma and Lin Wei had a conflict in public before, Lin Wei would usually let Roma go. But from that day on, Lin Wei had a big fight with Röhm at a meeting of the National Socialist Party, announcing that his conflict with Röhm came from behind the scenes to the stage.

During the meeting that day, Röhm was as arrogant as usual. He once again mentioned the demand for a second revolution to oust Juncker, the representative bourgeoisie within the National Socialist Party. Of course, he was talking about Lin Wei. However, to everyone's expectation, Lin Wei did not give in at all this time, and directly targeted the SA in a tit-for-tat manner, proposing to clean up the SA to avoid tarnishing the reputation of the National Socialist Party.

These words stung Roma, and Roma became furious. There was chaos on the scene, and Goering and Himmler stood behind Linwei. In the end, the scene returned to calm under Hitler's suppression, but Röhm's eyes seemed to tell people that things would not end there.

After this meeting, Goering and Himmler suddenly became very affectionate towards Linwei, and Linwei did not mind wearing a pair of trousers with them. In this way, every time there is a meeting from now on, the senior officials of the National Socialist Party can see two young men and a short fat man yelling at each other, while a fat man next to them is quarreling.

Lin Wei didn't care at all whether Roma would retaliate against him now, because at this time Roma was already in a situation where he was surrounded by enemies on all sides, but he still didn't realize the danger. However, his enemies had already begun to secretly concentrate their firepower and prepare to fire at him. This was not a confrontation of equal magnitude at all. Rom was already dead.

Goering, Himmler and others continued to stir up trouble in front of Hitler. Goering's secret police and Himmler's security department were deliberately trying to find evidence that Röhm was plotting evil, and continuously sent it to Hitler's office.

Röhm was in such a dangerous situation but did not care and still went his own way. When he entertained his subordinates at the Kempinski Hotel in Berlin, he boasted again: "Adolf has betrayed us. He fought fiercely with the counterrevolutionaries and only believed in Prussia." Generals! He was once my student, but at heart he is still a civilian, a penman, and a dreamer." These words were reported verbatim by the secret police to Goering, who was reporting to Hitler.

Hitler knew Röhm very well and did not take seriously Röhm's angry words. However, when Röhm saw that he could no longer get what he wanted from Hitler, he began to seek cooperation from organizations outside the National Socialist Party. This was exactly what Hitler could not tolerate. But this requires the support of the Defense Forces.

Opportunities for confidential discussions with the Army soon presented themselves. On April 11, Hitler, accompanied by Commander General Blomberg, Commander-in-Chief of the Army General Fritsch and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Admiral Raeder, set off from Kiel on the cruiser "Deutschland" and headed for Königsberg. Participated in spring maneuvers in East Prussia.

After Hitler informed the commander of the army and navy that Hindenburg was critically ill, he bluntly proposed that he would succeed Hindenburg as president with the support of the Wehrmacht. In return for the military's support, he promised to suppress Röhm's ambitions, greatly reduce the number of stormtroopers, and ensure that the army and navy would continue to be the only weapons-owning organization in the Third Reich.

Hitler also pointed out to Fritsch and Raeder the prospect of a major expansion of the army and navy. For Raeder, who was obsessed with flattery, there was no problem with his willingness to support Hitler. However, Fritsch is a more difficult person to deal with. He first needs to seek the opinions of his senior generals.

The consultation meeting was held on May 16 at the Nauheim Baths. After telling them about the "Deutsche Agreement", the senior German army officers unanimously agreed to support Hitler as the successor to President Hindenburg.

This political decision elevated Hitler's dictatorship to supreme status. After the death of the stubborn old marshal, after the possibility of the restoration of the Hohenzollern royal family was eliminated, once he was the head of state and government, he could do whatever he liked without restraint.

By this time, it was already too late for Röhm to regain Hitler's friendship. Hitler had already decided to sacrifice the stormtroopers in exchange for his friendship with the Wehrmacht.

Of course, Hitler's attitude could not be concealed from Göring, Himmler and others who were waiting for Hitler's statement every day. They have now mobilized their troops and prepared to fight. Of course, they did not forget to invite Linwei. While Hitler was negotiating with the Wehrmacht, Goering and Himmler were also inviting Linwei to dinner. In the end, Linwei, on behalf of the SS Staff Department, agreed to have dinner with them. Get rid of Rom together.

In early June, Hitler had a showdown with Röhm. According to Hitler's later report to the Reichstag, the showdown lasted nearly five hours and lasted until midnight. Hitler said this was his "last attempt" to reach an understanding with his closest friends in the movement.

A day or two after this conversation, Hitler ordered the SA to take a month's leave, during which they were not allowed to wear uniforms or hold parades and drills.

After careful consideration, Röhm decided to accept this suggestion. On June 7, Röhm announced that he himself had taken a leave of absence, but at the same time issued a tough warning: "If the enemies of the Stormtroopers wish not to leave after the leave is over, The stormtroopers will be called back to the team again, or some of them will be called back first, so let's let them hope so for the time being. When necessary, in the necessary way, they will get their answer. The stormtroopers are and will be Germany’s lifeblood.”

Lin Wei knew that Hitler had decided to take action. The price of Rohm's compromise this time was his own life, and no one could save him.

At this time, even the air in Berlin was filled with the smell of conspiracy. Von Schleicher, Papen and others also stepped up their activities, but they did not know that their every move was under Hitler's control.

*It is always so cruel, the winner gets everything, and the loser often has to pay the price with his life. It was obvious that Lin Wei did not want to give his life. In fact, Lin Wei was more afraid of death than many people. So he needs to make careful preparations.

June is a pretty good day for Lin Wei. Why do you say that? Because his wife Linda is pregnant. Lin Wei naturally would not miss this opportunity and invited his staff to come to his home for dinner.

After drinking and eating, these usually serious and rigid staff officers also showed rare smiles, and some of them started to be unrestrained. Of course, once they got into the mood, they were all stern soldiers.

When they arrived in the living room, Lin Wei and the staff members all stopped smiling. They all knew that Lin Wei's visit to them at this time would definitely not be about reminiscing about old times, but there must be something important.

Sure enough, Lin Wei raised his head and asked, "How is the situation inside and outside the party now?"

"Captain, Röhm has started taking leave in accordance with the order of the head of state. As for the forces outside the party, people like von Schleicher and Papen have been very active during this time." In the end, Heinz answered Lin Wei's question.

"Oh? What happened to von Schleicher and Papen?"

"Deputy Prime Minister Papen was entrusted by President Hindenburg to deliver a speech at the University of Marburg in the name of Deputy Prime Minister. He demanded that the "revolution" be stopped and normal order and press freedom be restored."

Lin Wei pondered for a long time and said to these staff officers, "Some forces outside the party have colluded with the traitors within our party in an attempt to split the National Socialist Party. This is doomed to be in vain. And what we have to do is to track them down." , find them and destroy them."

Hitler was furious after hearing the Marburg speech. In a speech delivered in Gila that same afternoon, he denounced "dwarfs who think they can bring to a halt the great renaissance of a country's people's life with a few words."

Papen was also annoyed because he was blocked from speaking. He went to see Hitler on June 20, stating that he could not tolerate "such blockade measures taken by a junior minister" and insisted that he was speaking "as a client of the president". Then he submitted his resignation and wanted to take the matter Tell President Hindenburg.

This threat apparently worried Hitler, for he heard that the president was unhappy with the situation and was considering declaring martial law and handing power over to the Army. To gauge the magnitude of the danger that threatened the continued existence of the Nazi regime, Hitler flew to Newteck the next day, June 21, to see Hindenburg.

The reception he received only made him more worried. He was received by General von Blomberg, and he immediately saw that his commander's usual groveling attitude towards him had suddenly changed.