Chương 30: 30
Chang's era (1)
April 13, 1937.
Mussolini announced the annexation of Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government led by Selassie went into exile abroad, and the Ethiopian military advisors also returned to Germany.
On May 12, Chiang Kai-shek declared the completion of the 6th Operation First Attack.
The Chinese Communist Party, which had barely saved its life through a grandiose show called the Long March, was officially 'eradicated'.
The communist army fought fiercely against the National Revolutionary Army, but could not change the outcome.
The whereabouts of Mao Zedong, the head of the Communist Party, and his subordinates are not exactly known.
It is said that during the battle, the building containing Mao Zedong and the Communist Party leadership was blown away by artillery fire from the National Revolutionary Army, so there was no way to confirm whether they were alive or dead, but Chiang Kai-shek seemed certain that they were dead.
It must be so for the sake of humanity.
On the same day, the coronation ceremony of George VI, who became King of England in place of his older brother who abdicated, was held at Westminster Abbey.
I sent a congratulatory telegram to King George VI in the name of the German Führer, and received a reply ten days later.
I sent a congratulatory message and wrote as much as I could to express my gratitude, but there were no complaints.
The congratulatory telegram I sent was the same.
Ten days later, the Great Purge began in the Soviet Union.
Great purge.
Just listening to it brings to mind the image of Stalin scribbling down the names of his victims in his Death Note with a smoking pipe in his mouth.
Due to the Great Purge, the Trotsky followers and communists who opposed Stalin remaining in the Soviet Union were completely exterminated, and Stalin's one-man dictatorship was completed.
The Great Purge is known as one of Stalin's representative evil deeds, but as time passed, a new perspective also emerged.
A representative argument is that even though many people died due to Stalin's reckless purges, thanks to them, corruption and bureaucracy were eradicated throughout the Soviet Union and high-ranking military officials who insisted on old-fashioned tactics and strategies were eliminated, resulting in the development of the Soviet military.
This is not entirely wrong.
Before the Great Purge, the corruption and negligence of party members in the Soviet Union was such that Stalin expressed concern and anger several times, and the state of the military was not much different.
The corruption problem in the Soviet Union was so serious that even the police and military police, who were supposed to crack down on it, worked together to commit corruption.
However, it is true that the Great Purge was an opportunity for corrupt officials and high-ranking military officials who had committed corruption to fly away, reducing corruption, reorganizing the administrative system, and changing the tactics and strategies of the Soviet military leadership.
However, we must not overlook the fact that this is an argument pushed by Stalin's followers in order to rationalize Stalin's evil deeds.
Just like the crazy claims made by neo-Nazis that the Holocaust was a necessary evil for Hitler's seizure of power and national unity.
It is true that a large number of corrupt officials who committed corruption were purged through the purge.
The problem is that many ordinary party members and officials were also executed.
If you look closely, you will see that the statement that the Soviet military grew qualitatively by eliminating hard-headed, incompetent assholes who were only busy earning their salaries and holding on to their positions is contradictory.
While Grigory Kulik, a star among stars who is credited with delaying the modernization of the Soviet Army by five years, was on a roll, Mikhail Tukhachevsky, one of the greatest generals in the Soviet Army, was executed after being tortured, and Konstantin Rokosov, a great general who later played a major role in the German-Soviet War. How can we explain the fact that Ski became a half-baby after being tortured mercilessly and was sent to the Gulag?
Stalin's reckless purges, which went far beyond the limit, did not improve the quality of the Soviet military but instead caused a huge disaster.
The Soviet army, with its officers shattered, continued to show disgraceful performance in the Winter War and repeatedly suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the German army in Operation Barbarossa, which took place a year later.
And what about not only the families of those targeted for purge but also the innocent people who were executed for being acquainted with them?
What about the ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union, such as Ukrainians, Jews, Central Asians, Caucasians, and Koreans, who are far from the high-ranking Soviet elite?
What on earth did these people who were just workers, office workers, farmers, and students do to die?
Therefore, the claim that the Great Purge was a necessary process for the modernization of the Soviet Union and was ultimately beneficial to Soviet society can be seen as nonsense.
I've been talking for a long time without realizing it.
In any case, there are many theories as to the reason for the military purge. One theory is that Stalin was deceived by a German operation, the other is that the NKVD, which aimed to strengthen its authority by purging the military, incited Stalin to do so, and the last theory was that it was a German operation. There is a theory that it was Stalin's plan to use this as an excuse to carry out purges.
It is not known what the direct reason for the Great Purge was, but what is certain is that it is true that Germany was somewhat involved in the Great Purge.
How come you know that?
I saw it myself.
***
"How do you feel, Mr. President?"
"Hmm."
Heydrich and Canaris stood motionless and waited for my judgment.
Because the plan was so thick, it took some time to read it all.
I put down the plan and looked at their faces.
Although SD Director Heydrich and his former boss, Afweer Director Canaris, were in competition with each other, I heard that their private relationship was not bad.
Not only did we compete, but we also cooperated when we needed to.
This was until Canaris was pro-Nazi.
Canaris, who had turned anti-Nazi in 1938, began to hand over various secret German information to Britain, and Heydrich, who was a sharp-witted person, began to secretly monitor Canaris.
But now it is 1937. This was a time when Canaris still supported the Nazis (as far as I know).
That's probably why the two can cooperate with each other and come up with a plan together.
My answer was OK.
"Okay, I give permission."
"thank you."
There is nothing more enjoyable and rewarding than making communists kill each other. Anyway.
As soon as my permission was granted, Afbear and SD immediately began work.
He deliberately leaked information to the Soviet Union so that the NKVD would gobble it up and the NKVD's report would end up on Stalin's desk.
Stalin receives the report, puts his stamp on it, and it's over!
How about it? It's easy, right?
The Great Purge began to proceed according to the process I knew.
On the first day of the Great Purge, Tukhachevsky was arrested on suspicion of being a spy for Nazi Germany, followed by Rokossovsky.
A little later, Aleksandr Yegorov, Marshal of the Soviet Army and close friend of Stalin, was arrested by the NKVD and stripped of all positions.
In 1939, even Vasily Blukher, who was involved in the execution of Tukhachevsky, could not escape the clutches of the purge.
While the bloody wind of purges was blowing in the Soviet Union, the Lu Gouchao Incident occurred in the Far East on July 7.
A self-made drama created by the dark independence activist Renya Mutaguchi for his own advancement.
Contrary to popular perception, the Lugouchao Incident was not a ploy by the Japanese government and military to create a justification for invading China, but rather a minor skirmish arbitrarily initiated by a single leader. However, this soon led to a confrontation between China and Japan, and eventually Japan completely invaded China. came to attack.
It was the starting point of the Pacific War and the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, which was comparable to the German-Japanese War in terms of cruelty and barbarity.
***
"Japanese troops occupied Beijing (Beiping) and Tianjin."
"It is said that the Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria is also crossing the border and moving south."
"The Chinese Navy is virtually annihilated. Chiang Kai-shek's government seemed to have completely abandoned the navy and integrated all remaining troops into the army."
The Japanese army continued its victory streak across the front, pushing back against the National Revolutionary Army.
Not long after the first operation ended, the National Revolutionary Army did not have the strength to deal with the Japanese army.
Although the first attack itself ended in victory for the Kuomintang, it was expected that it would take some time to recover due to the significant consumption of troops and materials, but the Japanese army suddenly attacked and they were unable to respond properly.
Even in the original history when the 6th first attack operation did not take place, we were pushed back by the Japanese army. What a shame.
China filed a complaint against Japan at the League of Nations and asked Britain to mediate, but it was a futile effort.
As I said before, the League of Nations was nothing more than a bright apricot and was of no help, and Britain did not show much enthusiasm for mediation itself.
The British government was more interested in the Spanish Civil War that broke out right around the corner than in the conflict in the Far East, and they wanted to avoid unnecessary friction with Japan as long as their interests in China were not infringed.
When Britain was of little help, Chiang Kai-shek asked for help from the United States. However, America's attitude was no different from that of Britain.
As long as America's property and interests are not infringed, there is no reason or need to intervene in the conflict.
Japan, embittered by the successive rejections from Britain and the United States, became even more furious.
On September 20, the capital Nanjing was attacked by Japanese forces.
Britain, France, and the United States protested to Japan, but Japan consistently ignored them.
Only then did Britain intervene again, but the result was the same.
In desperation, China also asked Germany for help.
The judgment was that if Germany was maintaining friendly relations with both China and Japan, Japan would also not agree to negotiations.
Opinions within Germany were divided over the dispute between China and Japan.
Falkenhausen and Kriebel in China were of the opinion that China should be helped, but the majority opinion was that neutrality should be maintained.
Himmler made me angry by suggesting that we should cut ties with China and become closer to Japan.
Anyway, this guy often turns people inside out. A few days ago, he was whining about needing a budget to research ancient Aryan history.
I can't even hit it, really.
Although I was already emotionally rooting for China, my true intention was to avoid getting into trouble with Japan.
One day we may cut off Japan, but not now.
In Germany, Japanese naval officials were still assisting in the construction of warships.
What about torpedoes? If there was a rift with Japan, Japan would immediately withdraw its engineers, and the reconstruction of the Kryxmarine would also be delayed.
For this reason, naval generals, including Raeder, agreed with Himmler's opinion. You don't know people's speed.
"Both China and Japan are important trading partners for Germany. So, I think it would be a somewhat hasty judgment to only take one side."
Surprisingly, this is what Göring said.
Perhaps thanks to the fact that his intelligence did not deteriorate due to his morphine addiction, Göring has shown very common sense in his words and actions.
Himmler and Raeder, who insisted on supporting Japan, looked at Göring with disapproval.
"Goering is right. Both China and Japan are indispensable to our Germany. "If we side with China, there will be a setback in the reconstruction of the Crixmarine, and if we side with Japan, minerals imported from China will be cut off."
Himmler and Leder fell silent at my words. It seems like I've finally realized this important thing.
Ugh.
"Ribbentrop, what do you think?"
Ribbentrop had remained silent until now, perhaps because he had already realized my intention. When given the opportunity to speak, he spoke as if he had been waiting.
"I also share the same opinion as Mr. President. "There will come a time when we will have to choose between the two countries, but for now I think it is better for Germany to maintain the current relationship."
"yes. He is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs. "You read my thoughts correctly."
It was just a compliment, but everyone's gaze towards Ribbentrop turned into jealousy.
Even Goering. Anyway, they're so upset because they can't eat each other. Can't we just be a little closer?
"But since we cannot just refuse China's request for mediation, it seems reasonable to initiate mediation for now. "We are careful not to make Japan think that we are taking China's side."
"Good, very good. I want you to meet with Ambassador Dogo and talk to him. "Let's trust and leave this matter to you."
"I understand, Mr. President! "I will definitely live up to Your Excellency's expectations."
With just a few words of praise, Ribbentrop's clown was on the verge of ascending to heaven.
The rest of the humans glared at him as if they were going to kill him even more.
Aren't you tired of it? Life is so tiring.
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