September 1, 1939
Saarland, German Western 12th Military District, Wiesbaden – 1st Army Garrison, attached to Army Group C
03:00
In the dead of night, while everyone was asleep, sirens blared and an announcent began to broadcast across the army garrison.
[An ergency has occurred.
The SS has committed treason against Germany. All units, assemble imdiately.
This is not a drill. I repeat.
An ergency has occurred. The SS has committed treason against Germany.
All units, assemble imdiately. This is not a drill.
]
The once-quiet garrison instantly devolved into chaos.
Soldiers, roused from their sound sleep, scrambled to throw on their uniforms, and as lights flickered on all over the garrison, the pitch-black darkness was swiftly pushed back.
General Erwin von Witzleben, who had just arrived from Frankfurt, waited in his command post with a grim expression. Before long, the corps commanders of the 1st Army rushed in.
"What is going on, Commander! Treason by the SS?"
"They attacked a radio station in Silesia, intending to drag Germany into war. They even dressed in Polish uniforms to disguise it as a Polish invasion, attacked civilians, and were about to read a declaration of war in Polish."
Hearing his subordinate corps commanders gasp, Witzleben declared resolutely.
"Their actions, faking a Polish attack on Germany to incite war, are a clear act of treason, and we must suppress them."
"Wait, isn't the SS an organization under the Führer's party! Are you saying they've launched a palace coup?"
The 24th Corps commander, Lieutenant General Walter Kuntze, who was known to be pro-Nazi, vehently protested Witzleben's order.
"Who gave this order, General! I am loyal to the Führer! I cannot follow an order to attack the Führer's party!"
"That is regrettable."
As soon as Witzleben finished speaking, officers standing by the door seized him.
"Y-You traitors! I am loyal to the Führer! Heil Hitl—mmph!"
After Lieutenant General Kuntze was dragged out, a brief silence fell over the command post.
"…Commander.
Is it true that the SS bastards tried to start a war by faking a Polish attack?"
"I swear on God and country, it is true. By morning, all of Germany will know."
Still, doubt and hesitation lingered on the faces of the remaining corps commanders.
"This is an order from Colonel General Beck, who was forced out by the Nazis' dirty tricks. You are my subordinates, so I will be frank. If we let this continue, we would have started another Great War."
The words 'Great War' weighed heavily on everyone's shoulders.
For these n on the Siegfried Line, with far fewer troops than the French, the aning of those words was exceptionally grave.
"We have risen to prevent that from happening, and we will drive out those damn Nazis, using the west as our base."
A rather long silence passed, then the corps commanders saluted Witzleben.
"If it's true that the SS bastards tried to start a war, we would have been slaughtered by the French."
"Colonel General Beck was not a man to be ousted like that. Give us your orders, Commander."
"…Thank you."
Witzleben secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The dissatisfaction with the Nazis brewing within the military, the personal integrity of the generals led by Colonel General Beck, and the fear of war had allowed them to get this far, but their trust was so fragile that it could shatter at any mont if things went awry.
There is no such thing as a perfect plan for a coup, but Witzleben was on edge.
The preparations made by the high command and that reckless captain had better work.
---
September 1, 1939
Central Germany, at the border of the 9th Military District (Kassel) and the 11th Military District (Hanover), a checkpoint across the Weser River
06:00
Just as dawn was breaking.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop!"
The soldiers on duty at the checkpoint were horrified when a swarm of Panzer I and Panzer II tanks suddenly appeared, and shouted for them to stop, but the tanks simply smashed through the barrier and kept going.
"What the! What's happening?!"
The checkpoint soldiers could only watch the scene with stunned eyes, their jaws dropping at the endless procession of tanks and military trucks that followed.
"Hahaha, this is fun. When I was forced into retirent, I never thought a day like this would co again."
Panzer General Oswald Lutz, commanding from inside his tank, laughed heartily at the sight.
He tore open a bar of Scho-Ka-Kola—the German chocolate famous for being packed with caffeine and keeping you awake—tossed a piece into his mouth, and turned on the radio.
"We're not sleeping until we plant our flag at the destination.
Enjoy the Scho-Ka-Kola and stimulants, my Panzer comrades!"
The German-style armored breakthrough, which had sent panzer crews charging on stimulants and Scho-Ka-Kola instead of sleep during the invasion of France, was now heading for Germany's capital, Berlin.
"I look forward to seeing how Guderian, that young punk, will react!"
A mont after Panzer General Oswald Lutz's armored force broke through.
The checkpoint commander, who had been staring blankly at the sight of dozens of tanks and vehicles unilaterally smashing through the checkpoint, finally ca to his senses and shouted.
"This is a coup! Radio it in, quickly! An unidentified armored force is advancing toward Berlin!"
"Gasp, y-yes, sir!"
---
September 1, 1939
Northern Germany, Berlin, Army General Staff Headquarters
8:00
The Army General Staff Headquarters in Berlin was in total chaos.
Staff officers, who had scrambled to work after hearing news in the middle of the night that the Führer had been the victim of a terror attack, were overwheld by coup reports flooding in from all over.
"What? An armored force is heading here?"
The face of the Army Commander-in-Chief, von Brauchitsch, turned pale upon receiving the report, but Franz Halder, on the phone next to him, was also breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Please wait, Colonel General Bock. We are currently assessing the situation…"
[Assessnt, what damn assessnt! Just turn on the radio!]
"Please wait a mont."
Startled by the roar of Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group North for the Poland invasion plan, Halder turned on the radio, and a broadcast began.
[The SS conspired to plunge Germany into war and attacked the Gleiwitz radio station in Silesia. They wore Polish uniforms, attacked German civilians, and had ticulously prepared a declaration of war in Polish, and even prisoners to be disguised as the bodies of Polish soldiers.
]
Halder broke into a cold sweat at the familiar voice coming from the radio, the voice of Ludwig Beck.
He had failed during the Munich Agreent and acted as if there would be no further activity, and now he pulls sothing this outrageous!
[With the threat of war with Britain, France, and the Soviet Union imminent, such a plot by the SS is a grave threat to plunge Germany into another Great War.
Therefore, we, the German ‘New Governnt,’ declare that we will suppress the traitorous SS and normalize Germany.]
Brauchitsch and Halder could only look at each other, sweating profusely.
They knew that Ludwig Beck, along with royalists and restorationists, was plotting against the Nazis.
Considering the possibility that the plot might succeed and Germany would be run under military leadership, they hadn't reported it, but at the sa ti, they hadn't actively joined in, rely testing the waters while not letting go of the Nazis.
[In the na of Ludwig Beck, forr Chief of the Army General Staff and Colonel General of the Reserve, I urge you. The Wehrmacht must join the New Governnt against the villainous horde of the SS that seeks to ruin Germany.
]
And now, they had launched the coup without Brauchitsch and Halder.
They hadn't ntioned the Nazis directly yet, but with the entire German west secured by them and the SS designated as the main enemy, this was clearly a civil war!
"C-Colonel General Bock."
[You heard the broadcast.
What are you going to do!]
Halder glanced at Brauchitsch, sweating, but Brauchitsch couldn't give him a clear answer either.
"I'm sorry. Please give
a mont."
[A mont for what! The atrocities committed by those damn SS bastards are front-page news in today's paper!]
"What did you say?!"
[The personal details of the ones who attacked the radio station are all in the paper!]
"Please wait a mont, Colonel General. The Army General Staff is also assessing the situation."
[You indecisive [email protected]#[email protected][email protected]#%$]
Bock spewed curses over the phone and slamd it down, ending the call.
"What should we do, Commander-in-Chief!"
"I, I don't know. The Führer must give the order…"
That Führer had undergone ergency surgery at the hospital but was now hovering between life and death, and even at this mont, the coup forces' armored division was advancing on Berlin.
But before they could even deliberate, the phone rang again, and Halder irritably picked it up.
"Chief of Staff Halder.
What? You'll join in suppressing the rebels?"
Halder looked flustered, then handed the receiver to Brauchitsch.
"Commander-in-Chief Brauchitsch speaking."
[Commander-in-Chief! This is Walther von Reichenau, Commander of the 10th Army! Please grant permission to advance on Berlin imdiately and crush those rebels!]
Brauchitsch felt a headache coming on.
Reichenau, a notorious Nazi within the Wehrmacht, had, as expected, imdiately stepped up to engage the coup forces.
"Wait a mont. The Army General Staff is still assessing the situation. We can't just make a rash decision without knowing what's going on."
Thanks to Hitler recklessly pushing for war, anti-Nazi sentint within the Wehrmacht was considerable.
The support and charisma of Hitler himself had barely held things together, but with this incident and Hitler's own life hanging in the balance, nothing could be guaranteed.
If he rashly approved the suppression operation now and Hitler failed to wake up and died, the entire Wehrmacht would be shaken.
And if the New Governnt then won the civil war, he would be completely finished. This made Brauchitsch hesitate.
Just then, Brauchitsch heard the sound of the phone being passed over on the other end, followed by the calm, composed voice of a favorite junior, one he was very familiar with.
[Commander-in-Chief.
]
"Model, please wait a mont. Berlin is in chaos due to the terror attack on the Führer…"
[Every minute, every second is critical.
This is a national crisis; there is no ti to hesitate and weigh which side has the upper hand.]
Despite Model being a junior he usually favored, Brauchitsch felt irritated by his rigid words.
"You're only saying that because you don't know the situation here! If it's true the SS bastards really plotted to start a war, then the Wehrmacht has no justification to intervene in a war between the New Governnt and the SS…"
[Commander-in-Chief!]
Brauchitsch, about to offer a la excuse, flinched at Model's roar and shut his mouth.
[We are the military.
The military must serve any governnt in power. No matter what kind of governnt it is, because the governnt is the pillar that supports the state!]
"I know that much!"
[Commander-in-Chief, rember the will of General Seeckt.
]
Model did not back down, and in the end, Brauchitsch clutched his head and replied.
"Ah, I understand. I will issue an order to Army Group South."
In the end, Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group South, reacted lukewarmly to the order issued from the Berlin General Staff.
However, Walther von Reichenau's 10th Army had already completed its preparations to sortie before the order even arrived, and the mont it did, they began their advance to defend Berlin.
---
September 1, 1939
Central Germany, 4th Military District, Dresden (Saxony), Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar
09:00
"Los, Los, Los!"
With sirens wailing and gunshots erupting all over since morning, the Free Corps I was leading was attacking the Buchenwald concentration camp.
"SS traitors! Surrender! If you don't surrender, we'll kill you all!"
"Captain Schacht! The main gate is taken!"
Running around frantically like this while commanding reminds
of the Spanish Civil War.
The only difference is that there's no turning back if we lose, and this isn't soone else's civil war, but our fatherland's.
"Send a runner to the 3rd Platoon! The main gate is taken, tell them to block the rear gate too!"
"Yes, sir!"
Caught in the surprise attack that began at dawn, the SS guards—who were not a frontline unit and only knew how to lord it over prisoners—were being helplessly overrun.
I hope things are going as smoothly over at Dachau, which Lieutenant Colonel Tresckow is handling.
"S-Save ! We surrender!"
"Disarm the ones who've surrendered and herd them to one side! Secure the prisoner lists and ledgers first!"
This place is just as important as Dachau, which holds social democrats and political prisoners who opposed the regi.
"Gag, retch!"
Watching my n vomit at the horrific sights scattered everywhere, I walked quickly and gave instructions.
"Take pictures of all of it. A single photograph is more effective than a hundred words about the Nazis' atrocities."
"Ugh, understood."
I deliberately brought along a few volunteer reporters from the Frankfurter Zeitung when I ca here.
After all, Buchenwald is one of the most horrific camps under the Nazis, second only to the extermination camps.
"Captain! The 3rd Platoon reports they have arrested the camp commandant, Karl-Otto Koch, and his wife!"
"…Good."
It's lucky he didn't get away.
Including his wife, Ilse Koch, those two are among the most vicious, insane murderers in the Nazi regi.
"Check the prisoner list! Prepare to release everyone except the violent criminals and withdraw with them to Frankfurt! As for the reporters, take all the pictures you need here, then head to the commandant's house. There will be plenty to photograph there."
The Nazis themselves probably don't realize it at this point, but there's excellent material there to expose their atrocities, material just as damning as the extermination camps.
That's why I ca all the way here, to secure it. It's my trump card for turning public opinion.
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