Rise of Australia

Chapter 977 Action
So the question is, why did Rommel, who was in a high position, agree to participate in the rebellion against the German Prime Minister?

Although the rebels were led by General Ludwig Beck and Major General Hans, they were fighting against the famous German Prime Minister and the current German government.

Even Rommel himself knew that even if the rebellion could gain the support of most of the soldiers in Army Group B, the hope of victory would be slim.

In fact, Rommel was unwilling to participate in such an incident at the beginning.

Resisting the German Chancellor seemed a thankless task, and even if Rommel could achieve final victory, he would not gain much.

However, after the former Chief of Staff General Ludwig Beck took out a transfer order regarding Rommel that was about to be issued from the German High Command, Rommel resolutely participated in the operation.

Because this transfer order showed that the German High Command wanted to transfer Rommel to the Hamburg-Kiel Canal line to serve as the commander-in-chief of the German Northern Army Group.

Although the transfer of Army Group B to Army Group North was on the same level, the gap in troop strength and importance between the two sides was completely disproportionate.

The entire Army Group B currently has nearly one million troops, and it is also the largest organization in Germany so far, except for the Southern Army Group that fought against Russia.

The Northern Army Group, which is responsible for defending the British army in Denmark, is a reserve army hastily formed this year, with a total of only 11 infantry divisions, 3 artillery divisions, 1 mechanized division and 2 firepower reinforcement regiments.

Even if we take into account all those doing logistical work, including the kitchen squad that was jokingly called bakers within the German army, the entire Northern Army Group had only about 20 troops.

To be directly transformed from the glorious commander of Army Group B to the commander of Army Group North was an insult to Rommel, and it also meant that the German Prime Minister was no longer optimistic about Rommel's abilities.

The fundamental reason for this situation is that the entire Army Group B did not perform well in the operations against France, Britain and Australasia.

However, Rommel also had his own grievances. After all, the situation on the entire Western European battlefield was very bad for Germany. Germany was at a comprehensive disadvantage in the number of tanks, artillery and aircraft, and even the number of basic soldiers was only about one-third of the British, French and Australian armies.

In addition, with the support of the British and French armies and the navy, it was already very good that Army Group B was able to fight hard and hold the defense line from Belgium to Luxembourg.

But the German High Command didn't care. What the German Chancellor couldn't stand the most was that the one million German troops had no chance to resist the attack of the British and French troops. Not only did they quickly lose important areas such as Brittany, Normandy, and Paris, but the German army itself also suffered too many unnecessary casualties.

At present, the ratio of troops between the two sides in the entire Western European battlefield is about 4 to 1. The German army retreating to the line from Belgium to Luxembourg can only fight back, and the British and French troops have even begun to attack cities such as Kortrijk and Charleroi.

Seeing that the enemy was about to attack Germany and the Ruhr area, the German High Command was extremely worried and came up with the idea of ​​changing the commander.

Although Rommel's military ability was recognized by the Prime Minister many times, the Prime Minister's trust in Rommel was ultimately limited because he had no outstanding historical record in North Africa.

After much consideration, the German Chancellor finally agreed to Rommel's transfer order to northern Germany to resist the British attack.

But the German Chancellor, who was too proud and arrogant, did not consider Rommel's opinion. For Rommel, whose military career had been smooth sailing so far, the act of demoting himself drastically without any fault on his part was a serious lack of trust.

However, although he agreed to join the organization that rebelled against the Prime Minister, Rommel still opposed the plan to directly kill the German Prime Minister.

With the addition of Rommel, the resistance led by General Ludwig achieved great success and progress.

Within a few days, German Army General Friedrich Fromm, at the instigation of his chief of staff Claus von Stauffenberg, also decided to join the action against the German Chancellor.

These two guys are famous in history. Friedrich Fromm showed a fence-sitting spirit comparable to that of Italy throughout the operation, with an inconsistent and indecisive attitude.

His chief of staff, Colonel Claus, was the main executor of the assassination of the German Chancellor.

It is worth mentioning that in history, Klaus was only one step away from a successful assassination.

Klaus placed the bomb under the table not far from the Prime Minister, but because the German Prime Minister was leaning over the table to look at a map, the heavy oak table blocked the main damage of the bomb explosion and he escaped.

If Klaus' assassination had succeeded at that time, perhaps European history would have ushered in a huge change.

But for the world today, everything is different, including the outcome of the assassination.

After winning over several senior military officials, General Ludwig Beck, after complex and careful thinking and planning, finally resolutely launched the assassination of the German Chancellor.

The assassination took place in an inconspicuous meeting place in Berlin because the German Prime Minister would come in person and hold a meeting with several senior military officials in two days.

Many German soldiers who had retired due to injuries, including Colonel Claus, were also invited. The gathering was organized by the German Chancellor and its purpose was to increase the support of senior German officers for the war.

Two days before the party, Klaus arrived at the venue early and surveyed the terrain for various reasons.

Because Klaus was a hero who was seriously injured and disabled while fighting for his country, and he lost two fingers on his left hand and his entire right hand, and his right eye was completely blind, no one suspected him. This was also normal. After all, under normal circumstances, who would doubt a warrior like Colonel Klaus who almost died for his country?

But it was precisely because Colonel Claus almost died for his country and witnessed too many ordinary Germans losing their lives because of this war that he made up his mind to end the war.

Two days passed quietly, and soon it was time for the party.

Colonel Claus wore his military uniform before retirement, and had his servants put on him several medals he had won for his meritorious services.

Walking slowly but firmly towards the venue, no one knew what Colonel Klaus was thinking.

"Hey! Klaus!" At the entrance of the meeting venue, Major General Hans shouted in surprise to Colonel Klaus who was walking slowly towards him.

"General Hans." Colonel Klaus walked forward slowly and saluted Major General Hans.

"Oh, man, stop. You are the only hero, and I should be the one saluting you." Major General Hans quickly stopped Colonel Klaus's left hand from saluting, and responded to Colonel Klaus with meaningful words that only the two of them could understand.

"Are you ready? This party may take a long time." Major General Hans looked at Colonel Klaus's right hand and eyes, as if asking whether Colonel Klaus's body could hold on.

"Everything is ready. Everything." Colonel Klaus nodded, as if to answer that his body could still hold on.

Thanks to Klaus's status as a hero, and the fact that only senior German military officials were invited to today's party, the inspection of these generals was rather casual. They only collected the guns they carried, and did not carefully check the belongings they carried.

This also facilitated Klaus's actions. Although he could only carry some relatively small bombs, the power was enough to cause huge damage to people within a few meters around him.

I walked into the meeting place smoothly. The senior military officials were already gathered in groups of two or three to talk. The generals were in one group, and the colonels were in another.

After waiting for a short time, the German Chancellor, as the most important person, finally arrived.

Everyone stood up together to welcome the Prime Minister, and then raised their glasses to celebrate this hard-earned moment of relaxation.

Colonel Klaus held the wine glass tightly with his only three remaining fingers, and he became more and more nervous.

But despite being nervous, Colonel Klaus had no regrets. Looking at his left hand with only three fingers, and then looking at his empty right arm, Klaus knew that what he did was right.

After a brief celebration, the German Chancellor and several senior military officials sat around a table and began to talk.

The conversation between the few people was quite focused. After all, those present were basically trustworthy people, and there were not even many at the colonel level.

Those with lower military ranks are almost all like Klaus, who have made great sacrifices for the country and won various merits and medals before they were given the opportunity to participate in the party.

The lowest rank among the remaining people is major general, and there are countless lieutenant generals and generals, so there is naturally no need to worry about confidentiality.

After all, what the Prime Minister and others talked about was not any major military secrets, but just the current situation of the German army and how to deal with it.

Even if it is just a major general-level officer, these information can basically be obtained through various means, so there is naturally no need to keep it too secret.

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Klaus pretended to chat with Major General Hans and approached the table next to the palmistry at a slow pace.

Then, Klaus seemed to be unable to hold on and slumped down on the table next to him.

Although this behavior attracted the attention of some generals, they all thought that Klaus's body could not support the party.

But when the generals saw Major General Hans pretending to help Klaus up, they stopped caring.

With the cover of Major General Hans, Colonel Klaus stuck the two small bombs he carried with him tightly to the table, and then pretended to be exhausted and was helped away by Major General Hans.

About two minutes later, Colonel Klaus found a marshal of the Supreme Command and expressed his desire to leave early.

The marshal saw Klaus sweating profusely and thought that he could not bear the pain in his body, so he nodded and agreed to Klaus' departure.

Major General Hans temporarily left the meeting place by helping Colonel Klaus.

(End of this chapter)