Germany does not seek survival

Hitler was still very clear about the situation. The defeated soldiers could retreat, but they could not be allowed to run around indiscriminately to the rear. On the one hand, it would affect morale. On the other hand, if the enemy caught up with them, the reserve positions in the rear would be in trouble.

These defeated soldiers were mainly Red Guards. They were somewhat ashamed after being yelled at by Hitler.

However, looking at the dense heavy artillery fire behind them, it was impossible for them to counterattack against the heavy artillery of the National Army.

Only one officer stood up. He was Albin Cohn of the Soldiers' Committee of the People's Marine Division. Before the November Revolution, he was just an ordinary sailor in the High Seas Fleet. Because of his outstanding performance in the Kiel Uprising, he was elected as the leader of the People's Marine Division by the sailors.

Cohen wiped the soot from his face, his expression extremely grim. He almost cried, "Comrade, sir, Chairman Liebknecht is still in the Wilhelm Church, and the rebels are besieging Breitscheid Square. If they break in, Chairman Liebknecht will be in danger. Where are the reinforcements? Are there any more? When will they arrive..."

Hitler's face was grim, and he waved his hand violently. "My responsibility is to defend Kurfürstendamm. The fighting on Breitscheidplatz has nothing to do with me! If you want to rescue Liebknecht, I have a suggestion: Regroup here, rest briefly, and then fight back to Wilhelmskirche."

Previously, Cohen led his troops to fight near Breitscheid Square, but the combat effectiveness of the People's Navy Division was not as good as that of the Great Germany Division. Under the assault of heavy artillery and elite infantry of the National Army, it was quickly defeated.

Cohen himself was swept up by the fleeing soldiers and retreated all the way to the Kurfürstendamm. Some of the fleeing soldiers had already lost the courage to counterattack. When they heard what Hitler said, they started to make a commotion:

"The rebels' artillery fire is too fierce. No one can withstand it. Going back now would be suicide."

"Please, sir, please let us pass. Look at the hell ahead. Whoever goes up there will die."

"We are all revolutionary comrades, why are you stopping us here?"

"Chairman Liebknecht, Chairman Liebknecht, what shall we do with him? We cannot abandon the Chairman."

……

There were all kinds of voices and a lot of noise. The number of fleeing soldiers was much greater than the number of troops Hitler had. If they really tried to charge, Hitler was worried that he would not be able to stop them. He could only take a deep breath and calm down.

Hitler told Cohen: "Comrade, don't worry. Our National Socialist Party's Her Excellency Faust will be able to bring reinforcements in at most an hour... no, half an hour. Don't worry, rest here for now. I will provide you with heavy firepower. Let's hold on a little longer."

"Half an hour? Really just half an hour? Reinforcements will arrive soon."

Hitler grabbed Cohen's hand, raised it together, and said to the fleeing soldiers, "Half an hour! Everyone, hold on a little longer. Reinforcements will be here soon!"

Hitler took a breath and spoke calmly, "If we retreat even one step, the revolution will fail. All the gains we have made will be lost, all the lives we have sacrificed will lose their value, and world war will resume. We will live a few more days, but thousands more of our compatriots will die. If you don't retreat, stay here with me. You, you, and you, comrades, our cause will usher in a great victory before sunset today."

"German history is watching you and me. Don't be cowards, comrades."

The rebels began their action in the evening of Christmas Eve. After a whole night of fierce fighting, it was already past midnight and the sun had risen. Hitler glanced at the clock at the Vorwärts newspaper office and it was already past eight o'clock in the morning on Christmas Day.

Rays of sunlight shone on the fleeing soldiers, and they temporarily stopped their retreat. Hitler finally breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to lead dozens of his temporarily armed logistics personnel to shoot at so many fleeing soldiers!

After stabilizing the situation, Hitler replenished Korn's defeated soldiers with a batch of heavy weapons and ammunition. The Wehrmacht disarmed many Peace Army troops. Although there were no heavy artillery, a lot of machine guns were seized.

Then it’s counterattack!

Hitler himself was unable to command specific operations. Several actions in the previous Tyrol Uprising had already exposed Hitler's inability to fight. He finally did not insist on his own opinion and handed the counterattack mission to Guderian.

Guderian was a little unsure: "We have no reserves. Can Your Excellency Faust really bring reinforcements in half an hour?"

Hitler whispered in Guderian's ear, "Who knows when your Excellency will arrive? Don't worry about it. These defeated soldiers are your reserve. Charge them all in. How can we hold out longer? Whatever you have planned, I'll do whatever you say."

Guderian smiled bitterly: "What else can we do? We can only fight back and launch a short counterattack. Maybe it can scare off some of the rebels."

"Comrade Guderian, then do as you say!"

The National Army's infiltration assault formation was very similar to the squad tactics of the Grossdeutschland Division. Both advanced in relatively independent skirmish groups, and the company organization was very similar. An assault battalion had two to four assault companies, one to two machine gun companies, a light mortar company that could follow up and support, and a flamethrower platoon that could exert its power in street fighting.

During the assault, these units were organized into several assault teams of about 50 people, and the offensive forces were deployed in echelons. The front-line assault teams would first conduct a thorough reconnaissance of the enemy's defense line, and even launch a tentative attack. After finding the weak link, they would deploy an entire assault battalion to open a breakthrough, penetrate further into the enemy's territory, or turn to attack the flanks.

Guderian was already very familiar with the skirmish and commando tactics developed by Faust. The flaws of this tactic were also obvious. The commando itself was weak in manpower, and the firepower of the scattered infantry groups was also relatively lacking. If a large amount of firepower was concentrated to provide cover and a dense formation charge was carried out at the cost of casualties, it would be possible to break through the evacuated infantry groups.

Of course, normally, if such a counterattack is launched on an open battlefield and encounters an enemy's prepared machine gun or artillery counterattack, the casualties will be particularly serious.

But the current situation is that the battlefield of street fighting is narrow and there are many obstacles. The heavy artillery firepower of the National Army is actually greatly weakened by the many sturdy buildings on the Elector's Street. The heavy artillery bombardment is more of a psychological blow to the People's Navy Division and the Red Guards.

These defeated soldiers themselves lack fighting spirit, so a concentrated charge with people standing next to each other can somewhat improve their sense of security and boost their morale.

Guderian had no other choice but to resort to this last resort. He gathered all the defeated soldiers, replenished their ammunition, and then transferred veterans who could operate machine guns and mortars to him, pouring all the firepower at once, with the aim of covering this intensive charge.

Cohen of the People's Navy Division was a veteran after all. When he heard that Guderian was going to launch a concentrated charge, he was dumbfounded. According to the experience of World War I, wasn't this just suicide?

But the chaotic fleeing soldiers were difficult to control. Guderian yelled and shouted for a while, then ordered everyone to gather together and rush out in a group. Cohen could no longer object.

"Go, go, go, go!"

The dense column of defeated soldiers rushed towards the rebels among the collapsed ruins of the Elector's Street like an ancient Greek phalanx.

Then the heavy firepower of both sides were greeting each other, and streams of fire were passing back and forth among the ruins. Hitler had no expression on his face, and the sweat in his clothes had already flowed into streaks. Would Guderian harm himself?

In a short period of time, the rebels, who were divided into a large number of scattered groups, did not expect that when they were about to attack the Metropolitan Theater and the Vorwärts newspaper office, the most important strongholds of the Wehrmacht in Kurfürstendamm, suddenly thousands of people rushed out in a dense formation.

A lot of the rebels' machine gun fire was blocked by the ruins of the buildings and could not be harvested at will. Waves of bullets rained down, mostly hitting the ruins of the Elector's Street, stirring up clouds of dust and smoke.

A large number of defeated soldiers, who had regained their courage, rushed forward and retreated to the position halfway along the Kurfürstendamm in an instant. Even with this elite group of veterans selected by Ludendorff, they were caught off guard and could only retreat to the Kurfürstendamm again.

Hitler finally smiled: "Guderian, you are a military genius, Guderian, you are a military prodigy, a genius, a prodigy, I love you so much!"

Then, a signalman shouted, "Comrades, reinforcements are coming! Comrade Faust is here with them!"

Amid the sound of gunfire, Hitler was so excited that he jumped up on the spot. Behind Hitler, Faust, riding a white horse, had already arrived at Tiergarten Park with another regiment of troops.

The white horse galloped forward quickly, stepping on the snow that had not yet melted on the Avenue of Triumph. Faust pulled the reins and flew over a bronze statue lying in the middle of the road. The statues of Prussian kings of all generations lined up on both sides of the Avenue of Triumph, as if they were saluting Faust.

A new regiment of the Republican Division arrived, and when Hitler saw Faust riding a white horse, he almost burst into tears.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency!"

Faust did not dismount. He trotted up to Hitler and said with a smile, "Comrade Adolf, you defended well. You defended really well. You have been able to hold out in front of Charlottenburg Palace until now. You only have two regiments, and you have been able to hold out for so long. You have done a great job."

Hitler also knew that the situation was still difficult. He explained frankly: "Chairman Liebknecht of the German Communist Party is trapped in the Wilhelmskirche. I wonder how long they can hold out? The rebels have at least 40,000 to 50,000 troops and a large number of heavy artillery. If we continue to fight like this, our chances of victory will be..."

Faust extended his hand and said, "We've captured Noske. Albert's whereabouts are unknown. He's probably hiding somewhere in Berlin. I've dispatched troops to search for him. I suspect Albert isn't among the rebels, otherwise they would have resorted to this tactic long ago. They only have a martial law order with little legitimacy. If a stalemate were to occur, Ludendorff would lack political legitimacy, and the rebels wouldn't dare to delay."

Faust's judgment was very accurate. The six divisions of the National Army were divided into two routes, and one route attacked Potsdam, but it did not work. Rommel was in charge of the overall situation in Potsdam. There were still many heavy artillery of the Wehrmacht there. The Wehrmacht was unwilling to use heavy artillery to flatten Berlin, but it was still very courageous to use it to bomb the rebels who were besieging the city in Potsdam.

The other Nationalist army, which was Ludendorff's main force, was blocked by the left-wing coalition armed forces at the Charlottenburg Palace line and could not enter the city of Berlin.

Unable to enter the city for a long time, Ludendorff began to worry as day broke. He asked Scheidemann to contact Albert, but he could not get through to him. Without the support of the Provisional Government, once the Second Battle of Berlin became a stalemate, the National Army would really become a "rebel army."

At the martial law headquarters in Spandau, General Groener tentatively asked, "Generalissimo, we still can't contact Albert. If he's dead in the city, should we form a new government ourselves?"

Ludendorff gritted his teeth and said, his face livid: "According to the plan, we have to enter the city and find Albert's body first. Now we can't get in, what's the point of talking?"

At the Vorwärts newspaper office on Kurfürstendamm, Faust said calmly, "If we hold on for another half a day, the rebels' anger will fade. Then we'll have enough bargaining chips to negotiate with them... Berlin has been bombed into this state, and it would be a huge burden to throw away for anyone."

There was still constant noise on the battlefield.

Faust said calmly, "We are using fighting to force talks. The rebels... I wonder what Ludendorff wants?"

Ludendorff gritted his teeth and said, his face livid: "All the reserves, attack with all your might. We must take the city, otherwise... we'll have to talk to Faust."

Chapter 207 World Spirit

It was already noon, and the sun was shining on the snow-white Berlin. Although it was winter, the city was burning with raging fire and hot winds were sweeping through. In the fierce battle, people could not help but sweat profusely.

"Our commander has arrived! His Excellency Faust has arrived!"

Thousands of steel helmets rose and fell, and in a sea of ​​gray military uniforms, Faust rode a white horse through the army. Wherever he passed, teams of soldiers stopped and saluted Faust in standard military posture, everyone slightly raised their chins, and looked at this great leader who had saved Germany and the revolution many times.

In Hitler's eyes, the word "hero" has been embodied to the extreme. All the wild and aggressive dreams of German romanticism are concentrated on Faust at this moment.

"The spirit of the world on horseback."

In an instant, Hegel's evaluation of Napoleon popped up in Hitler's mind. Seeing such an individual, who controls the world and dominates the world, but is focused on one point in front of him, riding on horseback, really gives people an incredible feeling.

Hegel's philosophy expounds on absolute spirit.

In Hegel's view, the entire history of the world is the history of the self-alienation of the absolute spirit and its return to itself from this alienation. As a subject capable of thinking and practicing, man contains divinity within himself. Only in man can God and spirit enter into a relationship with the world.

This absolute spirit is the free spirit of self.

Today, Faust on horseback is the most brilliant representative of this spirit of freedom.

Hitler said that Faust was the world spirit on horseback.

Faust said that this world spirit is not unique to Faust, everyone can become Yao and Shun.

More than a dozen MGO8 machine guns blocked the intersection of Kurfürstendamm. The reinforcements brought by Faust moved forward with dozens of machine guns and mortars. The soldiers marked the firing routes, installed canvas belts, and set the semi-locking devices for adjusting the firing speed. The spare belts were sorted out and ready to be loaded into the gun chambers at any time.

The mortars were all in place, relying on the many sturdy buildings and their ruins on the Kurfürstendamm to form one hidden firing point after another.

The rebels infiltrated in small groups, but faced with such dense firepower, they had no choice but to continue bombarding with heavy artillery.

But the reinforcements brought by Faust were all veterans, and they all knew how to use cover to protect themselves.

Take the buildings on Kurfürstendamm. Although they have flashy neoclassical styles on the outside, they are all made of industrial reinforced concrete on the inside, which is in no way inferior to the bunkers on the battlefield.

Even if a 150mm or 200mm grenade is fired at close range, it cannot bring down a building like this.

Even if you are lucky and a few buildings collapse, the result will only turn the original square building into a pile of ruins that is even more rugged and difficult to navigate.

Ludendorff also realized that his opponents had changed. The Wehrmacht was not the People's Navy Division or the Red Guards, and the Wehrmacht could not be scared off by heavy artillery.

The Nationalist army had a large number of troops and was originally at an advantage on the open battlefield. However, after being repeatedly plowed by heavy artillery, the terrain of the originally wide Electoral Street had become complicated. A large number of buildings were half-collapsed, dividing the four-lane road into small roads no more than two or three meters wide, greatly limiting the Nationalist army's troop advantage.

The war situation is developing towards the stalemate predicted by Faust.

This is definitely disadvantageous to the national army.

Ludendorff was very angry and furious. At the martial law headquarters in Spandau, he repeatedly ordered Scheidemann to find ways to contact Ebert, but to no avail.

Ludendorff himself felt a little regretful. He should have sent some infiltration teams earlier to pick Albert up first.

Originally, Ludendorff had two plans. The first plan was to let Ebert be captured by the Wehrmacht, and then the Wehrmacht would attack Berlin in the name of saving the president.

Another plan was that if Albert was not caught and really escaped, he would be controlled in Spandau.

As a result, Ludendorff did not expect that Albert was neither caught nor escaped, but simply disappeared. What a strange thing!

Furthermore, Ludendorff did not expect that the Wehrmacht's resistance would be so fierce and tenacious that it would be difficult for him to break the situation by force in a short period of time.

"How to do how to do?"

Ludendorff's face turned pale. When he was on the Eastern Front, whenever he was at his wit's end, he had to rely on his military advisor Hoffman for advice and Hindenburg to appease the people. But now, Hoffman was in Courland and Hindenburg had gone to East Prussia. Two of the three horses were missing, and Ludendorff himself exposed his stubborn and conceited shortcomings.

General Groener suggested, "We've captured several prisoners from the Volksnaval Division, and they say Liebknecht is trapped in Kaiser Wilhelm Cathedral. Why not capture it first? If we can capture Liebknecht, we'll at least have more leverage."

Ludendorff could not think of any other solution for a moment and could only agree to General Groener's idea. The National Army then began to shift the focus of the attack, with a large number of main forces moving from Kurfürstendamm to Wilhelm Church in Breitscheid Square.

Breitscheid Square was also more open than Kurfürstendamm. As soon as Ludendorff took charge, he immediately organized ten battalions of troops and formed four echelons of attack waves with small groups of scattered soldiers. He consumed a lot of ammunition and distributed it all for use, preparing to fight until all was used up in order to achieve success.

The Nationalist army encountered repeated setbacks on the Kurfürstendamm, but the situation changed dramatically after the troops were transferred to Breitscheid Square. The People's Navy Division was unable to withstand the fierce offensive of the Nationalist army.

On the Nationalist side, General von Hutier, who was in command of the front line, found it easy to open a gap in the enemy's defense line here, so he no longer held back and sent all his reserve troops forward, one wave after another, willing to sacrifice lives to fill the gap in the Wilhelm Church.

Several Central Committee members of the German Communist Party, including Liebknecht, Thälmann and Pieck, were all in the Wilhelm Cathedral. Although they were not trembling with fear, they were all quite pessimistic about the future and fate of everyone.

Inside the church, the atmosphere was low. Even Thälmann, who had previously been the most enthusiastic fighter, began to panic: "The main force of the People's Navy Division has been defeated... Chairman, the responsibility for this failure lies entirely with me, the military leader."

Thälmann smiled bitterly and pointed his pistol at his temple. "I greatly underestimated the rebels' fighting power. What a pity! We should have stayed out of this situation and waited until the situation between the National Socialists and the rebels became clear."

The German Communist Party officers and soldiers in the church were either wounded or covered in gunpowder smoke, and each of them looked extremely embarrassed. Their enthusiasm could not be despised by anyone. However, their enthusiasm and morale could not turn them all into supermen on the battlefield.

Several Red Guards were furious and quickly held down Thälmann and snatched the gun from his hand. Then Liebknecht stepped forward and supported Thälmann.

"Comrades, participating in the Second Revolution is my decision. As for responsibility, as the chairman of the party, I am the only one who can bear the primary responsibility."

Liebknecht was such a person. When the situation was chaotic and unclear before the war, as a senior intellectual with a doctorate, he could easily make the mistake of thinking too much and was always hesitant. However, once the war broke out, the revolutionary part of Liebknecht's personality would seize the high ground, and he would burst out with a firm courage.

"Everyone, if you feel that the situation is over and you want to leave, if you want to retreat, then go ahead. But I, but I have to be responsible for the German Communist Party. I can't leave."

Under the immense pressure, Liebknecht became calmer: "Anyone can leave, but I cannot. The reputation of the entire party is on my shoulders. If I flee, how will the people view the KPD? Even if the monarchists are eliminated and the SPD is overthrown, we, the KPD, will always be suppressed by the Faustian National Socialism."

Outside the church, the sounds of artillery fire and explosions continued to be heard. From time to time, a few shells hit Pope William. The worship hall was shaking, and large amounts of smoke and dust fell from the dome.

"Are you afraid of death? Comrades, are you afraid of sacrifice in joining the revolution?"

"sacrifice."

Thälmann gritted his teeth and said, "I am not afraid of sacrifice. I am only afraid that the sacrifice will not be worth it, that the sacrifice will not bring victory to the revolution."

Liebknecht shook Thälmann's hand and said sincerely, "It will be rewarded! Even if we all die, even if the KPD is wiped out, Faust, the National Socialists, and the Red Army will liberate all of Germany."

"We are not afraid of sacrifice! Chairman, since we have joined the revolution, we are not afraid of death!"

Liebknecht's sincere statement boosted the morale of the German Communist Party. The power of will cannot change the material reality, but it may be possible to delay a little longer and buy a little more time for the Wehrmacht.

The soldiers of the People's Navy Division and the Red Guards were guarding the entrance of William Cathedral. The battle in front of the church corridor was extremely fierce. Both sides fought hard, and it didn't take long before the battle turned into a hand-to-hand fight with bayonets drawing blood.

A large number of Red Guards fell down, and their bodies were piled up layer by layer at the bottom of the steps in the corridor of William Church, only reaching the height of the knees.

Liebknecht and the KPD proved themselves to be revolutionaries no less than the National Socialists.

It is so awe-inspiring, but that’s all it is.

The courage of the revolutionaries had already been proven by the German Communist Party. What remained was to prove it in real combat on the battlefield.