36

night of the long sword

October 10, 1938.

German troops advanced into the Sudetenland.

Germans in the Sudetenland warmly welcomed the German army and waved Hakenkreuz flags.

Bells rang in every church across Germany, and people poured into the streets to shout hurray.

Following the Rhineland and Austria, I took over the Sudetenland without shedding a single drop of blood, becoming an absolute presence in Germany.

Germans were not the only ones who cheered the results of the Anglo-German summit.

I promised the security of Czechoslovakia in exchange for the transfer of the Sudetenland, and Chamberlain returned to England with a pledge signed by me and was welcomed by the British people.

"Dear citizens! I have just returned to my home country from a meeting with German Führer Hitler. This pledge that I now hold in my hand contains the signature of Führer Hitler. I believe this is peace in our time. True peace has finally come in our time!"

The French, as much as the British, cheered that they had safely escaped the crisis of war.

Only Czechoslovakians are angry that their territory was taken away without even firing a gun.

Benesi resigned from the presidency, taking responsibility for the helpless loss of the Sudetenland. Emil Haha, a former lawyer, succeeded Beneš as president of Czechoslovakia.

While everyone except the Czechoslovakians was in a festive mood, I quietly prepared for the next task.

"Heydrich, how are they doing?"

"As His Excellency the President said, several suspicious movements have been detected among them. If you look here..."

The document handed over by Heydrich contained detailed information on the activities of the surveillance targets on the list.

One thing is certain. As expected, the right answer was to leave it to this guy.

"What about the evidence? Did you secure it?"

"We have secured it. "I captured one of their subordinates and gave him a few blows, and he started pissing his pants and blowing his ass off."

"Did you kill him?"

"I saved it for now."

"Take care of it after the 'cleaning' is finished."

"All right."

Since there is clear evidence, all justification is provided.

In preparation for any emergency, I strengthened security at the Presidential Residence and summoned key executives.

Preparations for deployment of military forces have also been completed.

Let's begin.

***

October 24, 1938.

Berlin, Germany.

"Hitler, I never thought he would do it again. Even the sky is indifferent."

Beck was already smoking two packs of cigarettes. Cigarette butts that had been roughly rubbed together were piled precariously in the ashtray, as if they would fall apart if the wind blew.

Beck, who was an experienced soldier in the military, could not understand.

Why are all the strategies developed by Sergeant Naburaengi a huge success?

Is he really receiving God's grace like his henchmen say?

no. Beck shook his head vigorously. That can't be possible.

There is no way such a shallow and ignorant instigator could be receiving God's grace. No problem.

To calm himself down, Beck poured himself a glass of strong cognac and drank it down in one gulp. As the alcohol hit my stomach, I felt a faint pain.

When he first heard the name Hitler, Beck paid little attention.

Are there one or two people who call themselves a revolution and cause riots that are like child's play? After three days of hearing Hitler's name, Beck had completely erased it from his memory.

When Mein Kampf became popular, Beck didn't even notice.

Also, there are so-called prophetic books that contain useless nonsense.

However, as the Great Depression broke out and Japan invaded Manchuria, Hitler's followers rapidly increased.

As supporters of Hitler and the Nazis emerged even within the National Guard, Beck gradually began to become wary.

Hitler was not as unremarkable a person as he thought.

He was a much more insidious and dangerous person.

Beck wanted to expel officers who had joined the Nazi Party from the National Guard, but was unable to do so due to opposition from President Hindenburg.

Hindenburg, a war hero and living legend of the German military, had long since fallen in love with Hitler and turned into his faithful supporter.

Hitler had already grown to the point where Beck could no longer do anything about it.

"······Should I have killed him then?"

When Hitler tried to force the reoccupation of the Rhineland, Beck even planned a coup.

Under Hitler's pressure, he made the mistake of agreeing to his argument, but from Beck's point of view, it was a 'sufficiently recoverable mistake'.

If the occupation of the Rhineland failed and pressure from the English came, Beck planned to stage a coup and oust Hitler.

In any case, there was even a thought of handing Hitler over to France as a sacrifice.

Just thinking about it.

With the bloodless occupation of the Sudetenland, Hitler emerged as an absolute figure in Germany.

The people chanted Hitler without anyone, and even the Wehrmacht was filled with Hitler's followers.

Even juniors who once couldn't even make eye contact with Beck have now started to stay away from him.

What a bunch of fucking opportunists.

Beck got angry and hit the table with his glass. The bottom of the glass cracked, leaving a scratch on the table.

It is said that the stupid Reichenau guy hung a portrait of Hitler in the master bedroom of his house. He's such an asshole.

What about Guderian and Keitel? These hunting dogs are busy licking Hitler's shoes.

Just as Beck took the last cigarette out of his pack and was about to light it,

An uninvited guest came.

"Sir, a guest has arrived."

The maid who served Beck approached quickly and spoke.

"Guest? someone?"

"They say General Witzleben sent it."

"Witzleben?"

"yes."

For what reason did Witzleben send someone at this late hour? The maid asked Beck, who tilted his head.

"Shall I send it back?"

"no. "Please take us inside."

There were two messengers sent by Witzleben.

Both were adult men of sturdy build, wearing trench coats and fedora hats on their heads.

"So, why did Witzleben send you to me?"

"General Witzleben sent us because he had something urgent to tell you. "We need you to come with us right now."

"now? "At this late hour?"

"That's right."

"If you have something so important to say, why don't you say it over the phone?"

"They sent us because of the risk of wiretapping."

Something was strange.

Beck rolled his head.

Although Witzleben did exchange information with him through messengers, he used the telephone for urgent business. If it was really urgent, I would have definitely used the phone.

But suddenly they sent a messenger saying there was a risk of wiretapping? It didn't make any sense, but it still felt like something was fishy. At least that's what Beck's intuition told him.

"dismissal?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time. "You must go now."

"······I understand. But wait a moment. "I happened to have someone to call."

"Your Excellency, the danger of eavesdropping-"

"Shut up. "It only takes one minute."

The moment Beck picked up the receiver, messengers said to have been sent by Witzleben took out pistols from their arms and aimed at Beck.

The moment Beck saw the muzzle of the pistol, he froze, forgetting what he was going to do.

"If the old man speaks kindly, he will quietly follow. "You're annoying people."

***

Same time.

Uninvited guests also came into Witzleben's house.

In the case of Witzleben, he sensed something suspicious before Beck and tried to take out the Luger that had been stored in a drawer. But the Gestapo agents were faster.

"Khaak!"

A bullet from a Walther PPK pistol fired by a Gestapo agent hit Witzleben in the shoulder. Witzleven fell backwards, clutching his shoulders.

"Don't even dream of doing anything foolish. "If you mess with me one more time, I'll put a bullet between your eyes."

A Gestapo agent with a knife wound on his chin said with a grin.

Witzleben could not say anything until he took handcuffs from his arms, fastened them to his wrists, and placed a hood over his face.

The trapped Witzleben was thrown like an object into the rock-cold truck bed.

Canaris was different from the previous two.

As the leader of Afbear, he noticed it long ago and attempted to escape through the back door.

"Run away!"

"Chase!"

However, Gestapo agents were also quick to notice. As soon as Canaris ran, Gestapo agents followed closely behind him.

Although Canaris was taken prisoner by the British during World War I, he eventually escaped to Germany, but even he could not overcome his age.

As I passed the age of 50, my once light body suddenly became heavy and limp, and my lungs and heart became weak. It doesn't seem like I've run much, but I'm already out of breath.

"Damn it."

Canaris, who had reached the limit of his physical strength, gave up fleeing and chose to fight.

He had no intention of being caught as gently as a rabbit. I need to take at least two of them as companions on the way to the underworld.

He aimed his Walther PP at a Gestapo agent and pulled the trigger.

"Ahh!!!"

"hey! Gerder!"

As the agent who had been shot in the thigh fell, another agent approached to help his fallen colleague.

Canaris fired again, but this time he failed to hit.

"Canaris! You are surrounded! "Surrender calmly!"

"Drop your weapons!"

"It's funny and embarrassing. Himmler's henchmen."

Canaris scoffed at the Gestapo's recommendation to surrender and aimed at the next target.

The next target was the guy hiding behind the tree and watching the movements.

Just before I pulled the trigger, a bullet flew out of the darkness and hit my hand.

"Ugh...what the fuck...."

A sniper who had been waiting on a tree in advance shot Canaris in the hand.

If it had been a battlefield, I would have aimed for the head, but since there was an order to capture him alive and bring him back if possible, I deliberately aimed for his hand instead of his head.

The shock of being shot caused Canaris to drop his pistol.

I tried to give him the gun with my left hand, but the second bullet flew out and even penetrated my left hand. A scream of pain came from his mouth.

"catch!"

"Pounce!"

When three or four lively Gestapo agents rushed at him at the same time, Canaris was trapped like a wild boar caught in a trap, unable to use his strength even once.

"This dog -like baby. "I finally got it."

***

"All three, Ludwig Beck, Erwin von Witzleben, and Wilhelm Canaris, have been arrested."

Good good. You're doing great.

With the three most troublesome guys captured, the game was already over.

I feel relieved now.

Satisfied with Heydrich's report, I immediately ordered a cold Coke to be brought. Krause placed a tray of cola and a glass of ice in front of me.

"I can't not have a drink on this beautiful day. Krause, you too."

"thank you."

Perhaps because I was nervous, I was hungry. After refreshing my mouth with cola, I was eating buffalo wings when new news arrived.

"Mr. President? Hans Oster was also captured."

"Good. "I am very satisfied."

Hans Oster was an officer belonging to the Afwehr, and in the original history, he was arrested and executed for plotting to assassinate Hitler.

September 1938, at the height of the Sudetenland crisis.

Oster, who was a lieutenant colonel, planned a coup to oust Hitler and the Nazis and establish a new government if Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia.

This incident is called the 'Auster Conspiracy Incident', and contrary to the conspirators' expectations, Youngf gave in to Hitler's threats and war did not break out, and Auster's plan came to nothing.

Auster, who later attempted to assassinate Hitler, participated in Operation Walküre on July 20, 1944, and was arrested by the Gestapo and executed before the end of the war.

As can be seen from the description, in 21st century Germany, Oster is revered as a soldier with a good conscience. I also hired Oster in the past because of that.

Until that guy came to get me.

In the previous regression, it was Oster who shot Hess and Goebbels to death and handcuffed my wrists.

On the day of my execution, there was this guy at the scene as well.

Know that you will never die well.

Not only Beck, Canaris, Witzleben, and Oster, but also Franz Halder, Hans Jürgen von Blumenthal, Henning von Treshkopf, Erich Felghibel, Friedrich Ulbricht, and Karl Goerdeler participated in this plot or had previously participated in anti-Nazi meetings. Everyone who participated was arrested.

The captured traitors were imprisoned in the basement of the Gestapo headquarters at 8 Prinz-Albrecht Straße.

When the arrested traitors gave out a new list after being tortured, the newly captured traitors gave the names of other comrades.

Within a day of the start of 'Operation Mole', the Gestapo basement was full.

Since the principle was to accommodate one prisoner per cell, it was impossible to accommodate all involved in the Gestapo basement alone.

As a matter of urgency, prisoners were imprisoned in nearby police stations and in the National Defense Force barracks, and sentries were set up to strictly monitor them.

Himmler took pictures of imprisoned prisoners and brought them to me.

Faces stained with despair, fear, and emptiness. His eyes were swollen, his lips were torn and bleeding, and his arms and legs were bruised. Some had teeth marks on their forearms, as if they had attempted to harm themselves.

The traitors looked like pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

"Himmler."

"Yes, Mr. President."

"No one will know how long I've been waiting for this moment."

The morning of October 25th.

Heydrich reported to me that Operation Mole had been completed.

The purge, which would later be called the 'Second Night of the Long Swords', was successfully completed.