Chapter 38 Chapter 6 Beer Hall Uprising (4)

There were also high spirits at the Rowan Blau tavern on the other side of the Isar.In the main hall, in addition to the echoing sound of the two bands, there were also 2,000 members of the "Battle League" and stormtroopers.Only a small portion of the audience were devoted followers of the scarred-faced Captain Romm, but Romm was the main draw.He "called for vengeance and revenge against the traitors and thieves who robbed our people..." Then, Essai, who dragged himself up from the sickbed, walked onto the podium.Due to a change in plans, he did not rush through the passage with a flag and did not immediately declare a revolution.He was waiting for news that Hitler's coup had succeeded.At 8:40 p.m., in the middle of his speech, a short phone call came from Bergblau Tavern: "It has been executed safely!" Rom stepped onto the podium consciously and continued Esser's speech.He shouted that Karl's regime had been deposed and that Adolf Hitler had declared a national revolution.Soldiers of the Wehrmacht tore off the cap badges of the Republic, jumped on tables and chairs, and shouted.The stormtroopers embraced each other.The band played the national anthem.After the noise fell silent, Rom loudly told everyone to head towards the Bergbrau Tavern.People were scrambling to file out of the Rowan Brough Tavern as if it were on fire.Shouting and cheering, the soldiers marched down the street toward the Isar.A motorcycle approached and stopped the team - it turned out that he had brought Hitler's order: Rohm led the team to the University of Munich and occupied General von Lossow's headquarters in Schönfelder Strasse .The stormtroopers went to Santa Ana Square, took out 3,000 rifles hidden in the basement of the monastery, and set up positions in Gisin.Only members of the "Oberan League" go to the Bergbrau Tavern.

As Rohm's procession, accompanied by one of the bands, came down Brienner Street, people gathered and cheered them.Near the front of the line, a fiery young nationalist proudly flies the imperial flag.He was there because of his allegiance to Roehm and Strasser, not to Hitler.His name was Heinrich Himmler.The enthusiasm of the jubilant audience was intoxicating; the soldiers continued like conquerors along the broad Ludwigstrasse to the gates of the military district building.Romm halted the troops and strode through the gate—he had worked there for years.The sentries threatened to shoot, but Roma ignored them in arrogance.Go inside and walk to the officer's room on duty on the second floor.The officer on duty declared that he surrendered only to violence and ordered the doors to be opened to let the rioters in.Romb posted sentries, machine guns at the windows, and barbed wire around the building.Everything is almost ready, just occupying the telephone switchboard.It is unbelievable that he handed over the switchboard to the duty officer, who had no sense of revolution.

In the beer hall, Hess took the "enemy of the people" hostage.He stood on a chair in the hall and named the officials and military officers one by one, including Prime Minister Nilin, Police Chief Mantel, and the political adviser to Crown Prince Luberecht.Those who were called stood up obediently, like unruly schoolchildren—except Judge Gentner, who fled in a hurry and was caught back.At first, Hess locked them in a hut upstairs, but later it was decided that Hess should transfer the hostages to a house near Lake Tegernsee, south of Munich, and keep them under strict supervision.

Hitler's inner circle had its own mission: Max Amann, the diminutive but fearsome street thug, led a team that seized a bank to serve as the central office of the new government.Schebner Richter, Esser, and Hanf Stangl led their respective troops to patrol the streets to check the progress of the revolution.They found that the city was in chaos.Many were happy, many were bewildered, and some were angry.Few knew what was going on—including those involved in the operation, as the Bergbrow Tavern kept issuing contradictory orders. The main figure who made the uprising successful at the beginning was Frick of the Presidium of the Munich Police.He persuaded the police on duty not to launch a counterattack against the insurgents, and he himself stood by the telephone, calming the bewildered police officers who kept calling to inquire about the situation, and tried to wait and take no action.In view of this, the deposed former police chief Bonner came to the police station and seized the police station without resorting to force.One of his first actions was to call a press conference for the major non-Marxist newspapers.Due to the control of the police, Rohm has occupied the headquarters of the military area. Hitler, who is in the Bergbrau tavern, is intoxicated with happiness.Later, reports came from the engineer camp that the rebel troops were arguing with the engineers.Hitler immediately decided to leave his command post and go there to solve the problem himself.This was a serious misstep; followed by another tactical error: General Ludendorff was given command of the uprising.As soon as Hitler was gone, General von Lossow said he had to go back to his office and give his orders.Ludendorff felt that this request was justified, so he allowed Lossov to walk out of the beer hall - Karl and Seisel followed not far away.As soon as Hitler arrived at the gate of the barracks, he was driven away without any effect.An hour later, when he returned to the beer hall, he was surprised to find that the three political giants had been allowed to escape, and he scolded Ludendorff.How could he do such a thing?Losov will destroy the revolution!Ludendorff looked coldly at the former corporal.He said that a German officer would never break his oath!

At 11 o'clock in the morning, as 1,000 troops marched forward, Hitler's spirit was lifted again.This is reinforcements from the Infantry School, an elite student army.It turned out that Lieutenant Gerd Rothbach, a veteran of the Free Corps, had been persuaded to lead them collectively in the uprising (only a few people did not participate).This group of youth troops detained their commander and accepted the leadership of Rothbach (like Roehm, also a homosexual, a thug).They played and played, marched neatly, wore swastika armbands, and carried the flag of the National Socialist Party, and drove to the beer hall.They stood at attention and were inspected by Quartermaster General Ludendorff and former Corporal Hitler.Then, the non-commissioned officers went to occupy the office building of Commissar Karl; the leaders of the insurgent troops drove to the military district headquarters.At Roehm's command post—von Lossow's office—they discussed the future course of the revolution.Ludendorff, in his comfortable seat, suggested calling Lossoff or Seisser immediately.A lot of phone calls were made, but no one could be found.Shibner Richter said he felt something was wrong.Lossov had said that he was coming to the office to issue orders.Where did he go?Where are Carl and Sessel?Ludendorff again protested that the three gentlemen had sworn in full view and were unlikely to change their minds.

At this moment, Major Max Schwanderner, an officer of the Bavarian Army, entered the building.It turned out that he had heard rumors of an uprising, so he came to look for the officer on duty."It was very dirty, very suspicious," said the officer on duty. "We were talking," recalls Schwanderner, "and Rohm, in his old-fashioned military uniform and with all his medals on his chest, burst into the room and asked Lo Where is Sov. I told him immediately that this uprising was in direct violation of yesterday's understanding with Losov. Romm said with sincerity in his voice that everything was going well. Von Losov, Karl and von Seisser both announced that they agreed to all this and that they were going to join Hitler at the regional headquarters. All I can say is, that would be different."

After Rohm left, the officer on duty motioned for Schwandner to come forward and whispered to him: "The uprising has blown." He said that Losov and Kani, together with the commander of the Bavarian army, were in the 19th Infantry Battalion, " Definitely not coming here."Moments later, on a hitherto uncontrolled call, the switchboard received a call from Losov from his new headquarters (the central building of the 19th regiment headquarters), ordering a counterattack against the insurgents he had recently pledged to support, and ordering Austrian The loyal battalions of Gossburg, Ingolstadt, Regensburg, Landshut, and the environ- ments immediately set off by train for Munich.Schwandt immediately called the transport officer, relayed Losov's order to him, and promised to call half the troops himself.This house is planning an uprising, and the next room is plotting sabotage.It was not until late at night that the conspirators finally remembered that the switchboard should be limited to the uprising office, but Losov's suppression order had already been circulated.

While troops marched through the streets and bands played, most Munichites were unaware that revolution had once again broken out in their city.One of the Führer's closest friends, Heinrich Hoffmann, was in the bar next to Fred, unaware that an unusual event had occurred, and did not realize until late at night that a revolution was underway.At this time, a group of jubilant young people were visiting hotels in the downtown area, singing and shouting, celebrating the victory. Inside the U.S. Consulate, Acting Consul General Robert Murphy was drafting a telegram to the Secretary of State:

...According to Hitler, the task of this government was to march on Berlin, attacking at 12 o'clock; he declared that by dawn, either the establishment of a new national government would be his death... (*When Murphy was not authorized to use He asked to meet Hitler in person when the password was generated. "After eight hours of verbal war, I finally saw Hitler at 3 o'clock in the morning. He told me calmly, I can't generate electricity. At that time, I protested, but it was also a It's just a formality, because I have sent people to Stuttgart by car to send this telegram.")

It was a night of terror for those who opposed the coup and were dragged from their homes as hostages.Some had Jewish surnames (found in a phone book) and their homes were patronized by brownshirts.A detachment marched into the Munich Zeitung (which was socialist) and without explanation destroyed the printing presses.Hitler was furious and immediately ordered a stop because he was going to use the printing house. In the regional headquarters, it was clear that the political triumvirate had reneged on their words (none of them seemed to remember that the oath was taken under duress) and that the situation was getting out of control.Schebner Richter took his servant Egner out to look for Seisel, but could not find him.Upon their return, they found Hitler "somewhat depressed".

Eigner was ordered to take Rosenberg to a printing house to print the proclamations of the new government, signed by key partners.Having completed this task, Rosenberg went to the Volk-Observer to write an editorial for the next day's paper.In this editorial, entitled "A Appeal to the German People," he asked the public to hand over Ebert and other Social Democrats "to the National People's Government" "alive or dead." After Egner returned to the military headquarters, his employer asked him to go home to pick up champagne and food, and told Mrs. Schebner Richter, "Everything is going well, don't worry."The situation is deteriorating.Rom finally became suspicious of the next room and arrested the officer on duty.He also ordered the arrest of all officers in the building, but he missed the scheming Major Schwandner - after completing the task of transferring troops to Munich, he was warned by a civilian and slipped out just before the cordon was set up. up the building. In Commissar von Carl's office building, the insurgent troops were not going well.After escaping from the beer hall, Karl went to the office building and found that the machinery for smashing the uprising was already in motion.Understandably, he did not set out to prevent these measures (he had just received an order from the irate Crown Prince Luberecht: "Smash this movement at all costs. Use troops if necessary.") but was helping to command the building defense, despite the constant threats and intimidation by Rothbach and his thousand cadets.Originally, the revolutionary army could have easily carried out Ludendorff's order to take down the building "regardless of the cost" and achieved a major victory. However, the cadets and the police only confronted each other there, and both sides were waiting for the other side to open fire first.No one wants to shed blood.The cadets didn't want to shoot the police, and many of the police, like the cadets, believed in Hitler.They negotiate from time to time.Later, Rosbach, who advocated taking action, became impatient and shouted at the cadets: "What? Are you still negotiating here? You clearly know what Ludendorff's order is, why are you still hesitating? Order the troops to fire!" Finally, the cadets entered the position, and the ambush team advanced in a semicircle under the cover of the machine gun team.The police suggested that three rebels be invited into the building to discuss matters.The cadets accepted this suggestion, but suggested that if the three men did not come out within ten minutes, they would attack. 10 minutes passed.The student army was preparing to attack, when suddenly an order came: "Each company, retreat!" The cadets quickly retreated, and the siege fell through.Battles that could have been won were lost due to poor execution of orders.The main reason was that Hitler's troops were reluctant to open fire on the police who had tried to win them over to become the Allies.What the cadets did was nothing more than besieging Von Karl for a few critical hours. As soon as the cadets withdrew, Karl left the building and went to the 19th regiment to join Losov and Sessel. The glimmer of hope that the three political magnates would not openly oppose the uprising when it was learned at the regional headquarters that General von Lossow sent the following telegram to "all radio stations in Germany" at 2:55 a.m. , it is also shattered. Electric cloud: State Councilor von Karl, Colonel von Seisser and General von Lossow had put down the Hitler uprising.Support posted under the gun is not valid.Please do not misuse the names above. von Lossow At the regimental headquarters of the 19th Infantry, Karl was hunched over an armchair, drafting a proclamation to be posted throughout the city.He finally drafted a notice that everyone was satisfied with.Deception, he said, turned Germany's awakening into sickening violence. "If the blind rebellion succeeds, Bavaria will be thrown into the abyss together with Germany." He ordered the dissolution of the National Socialist Party and other right-wing organizations.He declared that those responsible for the uprising would "be punished without mercy".It has been a long, painful night for Commissioner Carr. It was not until 5 o'clock in the morning that the news of the suppression of the uprising by the three political giants was confirmed and passed to the military headquarters.The news came from the deposed commander of the infantry school.He regretted telling Hitler that the Big Three had not kept their oath because it had been taken at gunpoint.General von Lossow will suppress the uprising by force.If Hitler was taken aback, he didn't express it.He delivered a long speech to his associates, at the end of which he declared that, if need be, he resolved to fight to the death and live or die with the Cause.After obtaining Ludendorff's consent, he ordered Schebner Richter to take his servant (he had returned with champagne and food) to find the new Chancellor Bonne whom they had appointed, and ordered him to bring an "Ottoman" Beran" forces to seize the police headquarters.Bona happily led his troops to set off, full of confidence.He entered police headquarters with only one companion.When they entered the principal major's office, they were, to their astonishment, arrested ("as if clubbed").Bonner's former assistant, Frick, had already been detained. At this time, Hitler, Ludendorff and other staff members were on their way back to the beer hall, leaving only Rohm and his subordinates to guard the military district headquarters.Although Hitler was discouraged, he still did not give up the uprising. "It's fine if it works," he said darkly, "or we'll hang ourselves." It was still dark then.Hitler ordered the insurgents who did not hold their strongholds to gather in the beer hall hall.A cold rain and snow fell as troops poured into the Bergbrau from all sides.The soldiers understood that the situation was not good, but they did not know the details.Even so, at least one stormtrooper sang Eckart's "Stone Reed": "Wake up, Germany! Break your chains!"