Chapter Eighteen: The Mysterious Beginning

  Under Hitler's call for 'A German Austria must return to the great German Motherland', a workers' uprising broke out in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Dollfuss ruthlessly suppressed the uprising, making him even more unpopular among the people. The vast majority of Austrians spoke German. Therefore, Hitler wanted to take advantage of the situation and launch a coup to overthrow the Dollfuss government and annex Austria. Nazi Party members assassinated Dollfuss, but the coup failed, and Austrian troops regained control of the order. Due to Mussolini's opposition to this coup and deployment of troops at the Brenner Pass on the Alpine border between Italy and Austria, Hitler had to temporarily abandon his invasion of Austria.

  Today, the 3rd Armored Division also welcomed its first batch of junior officers and soldiers. These young officers and soldiers all graduated from the military academy and were assigned to serve in the 3rd Armored Division. Under the watchful eyes of the conservatives, they enthusiastically launched their new training exercises.

  Rommel was requested to take command of the 1st Panzer Regiment in the 3rd Armored Division, he did not disappoint Xu Yang's expectations and quickly got into the role. Rommel and Guderian had one thing in common, that is, they deeply understood the importance of mobility of armored forces, he repeatedly emphasized that time was the key to victory, many times, he did not take seriously the protective armor of tanks, but valued the mobility of tanks.

  This long-suppressed regimental officer was very down-to-earth, liked to get along with the lower-level soldiers, and had no pride like that of the nobles. He was deeply liked by the soldiers. Now, he led the first batch of supplies, which were 97 Type I tanks and 135 M-2 armored cars for a regiment.

  Under Hitler's repeated emphasis, the troops of the 3rd Armored Division were drawn from the National Defense Force and the Party Guard. This year, the Third German Empire had just implemented a system of compulsory military service, and a semi-military department called the "National Labor Service Corps" was established by government departments. It stipulated that young people generally have more than one year of military service obligation before entering society after completing their education. In name, it was an organization for highway construction to solve economic difficulties, but in reality, it provided military management and placed great emphasis on physical training. It can be said that new recruits were trained with shovels instead of rifles. With such experience, young people will quickly adapt even if they are suddenly recruited into the army.

  Another measure is to set up state-run military academies in various regions to educate young people on wilderness survival skills and conduct military training.

  With the two organizations mentioned above, it can also be said that German youth have already completed basic training when they formally enlist, allowing military training units to provide more advanced military training in a short period of time after enlistment.

  After the implementation of conscription, men who reached the age of 20 in that year were required to undergo a physical examination in the autumn, and those with no major physical or mental disabilities would be enlisted immediately. In order to achieve the goal of cultivating a large number of reserve forces (i.e., reservists) in a short period of time, the military initially announced a one-year term of service but soon extended it to two years. This was mainly because the training period for new recruits at that time was half a year, and if the term of service was only one year, from November next year onwards, there would be half a year without fully trained active-duty soldiers serving in the troops.

  After serving the term of service, they were immediately listed as reservists until the age of 45. If the state had a recruitment, there was an obligation to re-enter the camp. Even if the state issued a summons order, if the regular troops did not lack at that time, they would be incorporated into the local defense team. In East Prussia, where friction was severe, there were also local impact teams composed of retired soldiers from 45 to 55 years old, which were used to prevent Poland's sudden attack.

  At present, the Third Reich is facing an embarrassing problem. The International Olympic Committee's Athens conference decided to restore the ancient Olympic Games system, and during the games period, from the opening date to the closing ceremony, the Olympic flame will be burned in the main stadium. The World Sports Festival (just know, can't write the full name) will be held in Berlin in 36 years, and Germany, which has invested all its resources in military construction, has not even built a single competition venue for the sports festival.

  Germany currently hopes to have a peaceful gesture, under the approval of the parliament's appropriation; A grand peace propaganda campaign has begun. The government spent a huge amount of money designing sports venues, planning to build a large stadium that can hold 100,000 people with granite and marble, a swimming pool with 20,000 seats, as well as gymnastics halls, basketball courts, etc., also plans to build an Olympic village more luxurious than the Los Angeles Olympics.

  All this is inevitable, the current Germany gives people a sense of awakening to the danger of beasts, and she urgently hopes that this movement will change the international community's view of Germany.

  ……

  A larger conspiracy is brewing, the Streck family's butler reports; Heinze, who had fled to Poland, secretly returned home and is currently in Munich contacting former party comrades.

  "What does he want to do?" Xu Yang looked puzzled.

  Heinz, once a trusted aide to Stormtroop leader Rohm, narrowly escaped with his life during the purge of Operation Weiss, and then fled to Warsaw, Poland, where he went into hiding. Various intelligence reports indicate that after Heinz arrived in Warsaw, he maintained contact with some individuals back home, but was discovered by the Gestapo, who sent agents to track him down in Poland. After the tracking team mysteriously disappeared, Heinz also lost contact. Now, three years later, he has reappeared - what does he plan to do?

  Xu Yang didn't know if he should report this information to the First Bureau of Imperial Intelligence. Judging from the current situation, Haynes was already a traitor, and intelligence showed that he was making some kind of deal with the Polish government.

  Xu Yang's political instincts were extremely keen, and he linked some recent actions by the Junker class and the Wehrmacht to conclude that Germany was about to experience another major upheaval, and a plan that had been underway for 7 years would be restarted. In the end, he decided not to share this intelligence with the Intelligence Agency, as if the Gestapo detected Heinz's return home and took action, it would implicate too many people and could lead to an irreparable split between the Wehrmacht and the Nazi Party, making civil war unavoidable.

  Xu Yang fell into deep thought, he understood better than anyone what Harl was doing, this seemingly weak but inwardly strong family head had tied himself to a train that could fall off the cliff at any time, he was gambling, and the stake was the future of Germany.

  Xu Yang didn't want to understand what the National Defense Army and the SS were up to, he had too much on his plate right now. The soldiers of the National Defense Army who were said to be from the SS were not actually from the SS but rather another branch of the National Defense Army, these soldiers were completely loyal to the country of Germany, not the Nazi Party. What was even more puzzling was that all of Xu Yang's companions had been transferred into the 3rd Armored Division and assigned to various important positions.

  The national defense army seems to be worried about something and is desperately accumulating strength. An armored force that is absolutely loyal to the country is taking shape!

  Hitler has been planning something recently, and since Manstein was summoned to the General Staff, he never returned to the garrison of the 3rd Panzer Division. The 3rd Panzer Division seems to have become Xu Yang's 3rd Panzer Division, with all preparations being handled by him personally under the intentional assistance of the Supreme Command. Materials and resources are constantly transported from various places to Berlin and then distributed. In less than half a year, the 3rd Panzer Division will form combat effectiveness.

  Ding ding ding......

  The sudden ringing of the phone pulled Xuyang out of his contemplation, he picked up the phone...

  "Is Count Károlyi von Stakkenberg here?"

  "Hello! I am."

  "I am Helena, it's great to meet you."

  "What's it about?"

  "Our coup in Austria has failed, the Führer wants to hear your views. Please come over to the Chancellery at once."

  "Got it."

  ……

  ……

  He, a man with too much fate on his shoulders, was destined for greatness.

  I'd rather owe the world than have the world owe me.

  Ji Dao Xiang Zhang