Chapter 111 Chapter Eighteen "Crystal Night" (4)

That night, Czechoslovakia's new president, Amy Hatcha -- who had admitted he didn't know much about politics -- finally made the big mistake Hitler had been waiting for: he dismissed the Slovak government and got troops ready to move into Slovakia .The next day, Friday, Hacha declared martial law. Hitler reacted quickly.He canceled plans to go to Vienna for the Anschluss celebrations in order to prepare for the next invasion.He had feared that the Soviets would rush to Prague's aid, but even that small fear disappeared almost immediately.Even though Hacha had to resort to martial law, Stalin said at the Eighteenth Party Congress that they had to be careful not to allow the West to use the Soviet Union to fuel their fire.This was consistent with the policy of the Soviet Union: they openly declared that the Soviet Union was the only loyal ally of Czechoslovakia, but they were not willing to take any risks.

The excuse for inaction: According to the treaty with the Czech Republic, the Soviet Union could only provide assistance after French action. On Saturday, Hitler's favorite day for rebellion, he acted with usual dexterity.First, he directed General Keitel to draft an ultimatum ordering the Czechs not to resist and to submit to the military occupation of Moravia and Bohemia.He then gave sabotage instructions to secret agents in Czech and Slovak territory.Meanwhile, Henderson is calling Halifax to play it safe.He doubted that "Herr Hitler has made any decisions at this time. I therefore think it highly advisable not to say anything or publish anything abroad this weekend, as it would prompt Hitler to act hastily."

Nothing is needed.That night, Hitler dispatched two Austrian puppet leaders, accompanied by five German generals, to drive across the Danube into Bratislava and storm the meeting place of the new Slovak cabinet.They got the cabinet to declare Slovakia independent, but the new cabinet tried to buy time, saying he had to discuss the situation with the Prague government first.The former prime minister, Joseph Tissot - a Roman Catholic priest - had been imprisoned in a monastery; now he made a sudden and dramatic appearance.It turned out that the obese Father Tissot ("I have to eat half a pound of ham all the time, just to satisfy my hunger.") escaped from prison.He asked the new Slovak cabinet to meet on Sunday morning, March 12.

At this secret meeting, Tissot revealed that he had been "invited" to meet Hitler in Berlin.He said he had accepted the invitation under the threat of occupation either by German or Hungarian troops. At exactly 7:40 p.m. on March 13, Ribbentrop led Tissot into Hitler's office.The Führer's expression was stern and resentful; the two top military leaders, Brauchitsch and Keitel, stood at left and right; orders had been given to the army and air force to prepare them for the invasion of Czechoslovakia at 6 o'clock in the morning on the 15th. "Czechoslovakia," Hitler accused, "is not further dismembered thanks to Germany." But the Czechoslovakia did not appreciate the great self-control displayed by Germany.He raised his voice (either in anger or to show that he was) and asked what kind of game they were playing.He believed that Slovakia wanted independence, which was why he prevented Hungary from occupying the territory.There was a question he wanted clarified "in a very short time".He said the words louder and louder; then he posed the question directly to Tiso: Does Slovakia want independence? "Tomorrow at noon," he said, "I will take military action against the Czech Republic, which will be carried out by General von Brauchitsch." He pointed to the commander-in-chief. "Germany does not want to include Slovakia in its living space. That is why you must declare Slodek independent immediately. Otherwise, I am not interested in its fate. To give you a choice, I set the time for tomorrow Before noon. By then, the Czech Republic will be crushed by this German steamroller!"

Tissot hesitated for a moment, then hung up on the cabinet in Bratislava.And said in German, he hung up the phone in the head of state's office.He asked them to convene a meeting of the Slovak parliament tomorrow morning.When he was sure the bewildered caller understood what he was saying, he hung up.He made it back to Bratislava in time to read the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Ribbentrop, to Parliament.Opposition to the declaration collapsed, and a new nominally independent Slovakia was born. In London that afternoon, Chamberlain single-handedly and heroically answered angry questions in the House of Commons about why the government had not taken on Hitler.Where did the British guarantee to Czechoslovakia go?a critic asked.He countered that that guarantee only applied when the attack was unprovoked."There was no such aggression," he said.

While Chamberlain was looking for excuses in Parliament, Hitler acted and, as usual, made it look like counteraction.The final scene of the play is that of the Czechoslovakian President Hača, bewildered and bewildered by the events of the past few days, who now demands an urgent meeting with the Führer—a fly asking itself into a spider's web. After hours of whetting Haza's appetite, Hitler finally agreed to see him.The psychologically shattered president of Czechoslovakia, accompanied by his daughter and the foreign minister, boarded a train bound for Berlin.He couldn't fly because of a weak heart.

Just as Hacha was leaving Prague, a British journalist who had often seen Hitler up close arrived in Prague.The man was Sefton Delmer.He found that the regular customers of the coffee shop near Wenceslas Square were still drinking coffee leisurely, not knowing what was going on outside.At dusk, the Sudeten German army wearing white socks suddenly descended from the sky.They entered the square in a row of six, holding Nazi flags and shouting: "Long live victory! Long live victory!" Behind them were fascist collaborators flying the Czech tricolor flag.start. People obey orders and salute the Nazi flag.Things were very different later, when workers flooded the square.They do not give way to the marchers.A brawl broke out.The police supported the marchers, who shouted as they marched: "One country, one people, one head of state!" Telafa - on the Polish border - was in fact in German hands.Elite members of Hitler's Guards had occupied the area shortly after dark to protect the modern steelworks from the Poles.

In Berlin, Hitler and his guests are gathered in the drawing room of the Chancellery to watch the film "The End of the World".Sitting next to Hitler was General Keitel.Keitel was ready to issue a warrant for an invasion if necessary.At 10:40 in the evening, the train from Prague arrived at Anhalt station, but it was not until an hour after midnight that Hitler summoned Hacha.He told Keitel that the reason he had waited so long was that he wanted the old gentleman to rest and recover from the fatigue of the journey.However, the delay only added to Hacha's uneasiness.When he and Foreign Minister Chvalkovsky walked in front of the SS guard of honor and entered Hitler's study, his face "reddened with tension".

Hacha made a personal appeal to Hitler, declaring that he had never mixed with politics.He groveled and begged Hitler for forgiveness. “He firmly believed that the fate of Czechoslovakia was already in the hands of the Führer,” reads the official German record, “and he also believed that, as long as it was in the hands of the Führer, it would be safe.” Even if he is so servile, Hacha will inevitably be scolded by Hitler.After repeating the so-called misconduct of Tmasaryk and Benes, Hitler attacked and said, "In New Czechoslovakia, the spirit of Benes is still alive, although it has not appeared." Under Hitler's attack, Hacha, the poor wretch, retreated every step of the way.Suddenly, Hitler - out of sympathy or the need for a change of tactics - added that he did not mistrust Hacha, and that he "concluded that the visit to Germany by the President, despite his old age, might be of great benefit to Czechoslovakia. , because Germany will intervene in a few hours."

Hacha and his foreign minister seemed to be stone figures, sitting motionless.Hitler went on to say that he had no hostility towards any country and that he still believed in Hacha's loyalty.That gave them a ray of hope.But that ray of hope was extinguished when Hitler declared that the spirit of Benesi was still alive and well.On Sunday, Hitler said, the game was settled.The order had been given for the German Army to invade, as had the order to annex Czechoslovakia to the Reich. The two Czechs sat dumbfounded.Hitler announced that his troops would march into their country from all directions at 6:00 am; the Luftwaffe would occupy all Czech airports.

Hitler played both soft and hard ways, threats and promises.With only one simple decision, Hacha can serve Czechoslovakia.He had to act quickly—otherwise, by 6 o'clock the German Army and Air Force would be on the move. "If I carry out this threat, I shall be irreparably humiliated," recalled Hitler a few years later, "because at the time I am referring our airfields will be filled with fog and there will be no aircraft able to go out." He suggested that Hacha and his foreign minister should have a private discussion first to see what to do.Hacha said: "The problem is quite obvious." As soon as this remark came out, Hitler breathed a sigh of relief.Resistance, he admitted, was folly; yet, how could he control the country in less than six hours?Hitler replied.This has to be done anyway.Then he said hopefully that he had seen the dawn of "long-term peace between the two peoples." If you decide to resist, he said sharply, he would see "the annihilation of Czechoslovakia." After Hitler finished these ominous words, the meeting came to an end.Ribbentrop was on the phone to Prague when the two bewildered Czechs were led into the next room.Interpreter Schmidt was ordered to dial again due to a line failure.While dialing, he heard Göring yelling from the next room that Hacha had passed out.So people hurriedly sent word to let Dr. Morell come in—it turned out that Dr. Morell had been called on duty long ago, in case the elderly and sickly Czech President needed him at any time.Xuan Mit thought to himself, if something happens to Hacha, tomorrow the whole world will say that he was murdered in the Prime Minister's Office.At this moment, the Prague line was connected.Schmidt went to call Hacha and was surprised to find that he was awake—thanks to a vitamin shot from Dr. Morell.Hacha came to the phone.After relaying what had happened to the cabinet, he recommended surrender. Meanwhile, Schmidt was typing out a draft of the official communiqué, which had been drafted in advance.The communiqué stated that the President of Czechoslovakia confidently handed over the fate of the Czech country and people to the head of the German Empire.The communiqué was essentially a surrender.Hacha asked Dr. Morel to give him another shot.Hacha, feeling much better after the injection, refused to sign the communiqué—despite the urging of Ribbentrop and Goering.According to official French reports, the pair then pursued the two Czechs relentlessly. "The communiqué was on the table, and they chased Khacha and Chvalkovsky around the table, pushing the papers to them, stuffing pens in their hands, and saying, if they continue to refuse, in two hours Half of Prague will be reduced to rubble, and this is only the beginning. Hundreds of bombers are on standby, and an order will be issued at 6 o'clock in the morning, if you do not sign it." (B Göring at Nuremberg He admitted that he had said to Hacha: "I would be sorry if I had to bomb beautiful Prague." But he didn't want to do it, because "without bombing, the resistance is more likely to fall apart. However, I think an incident like that might serve as an argument to hasten the whole thing. ") Hacha eventually relented.With his face flushed and his hands shaking, he signed at 3:55 a.m.After signing, he turned to Dr. Morel to thank him for treating him. As soon as the signature pen fell from Hacha's numb fingers, Hitler hurriedly left the meeting room and rushed into his office—inside, two middle-aged secretaries were waiting. According to Christa Schroeder, his face was deformed and he shouted: "Quick! Kids, kiss me! Quick!" Schroeder and Ulf kissed him on both cheeks. "Hacha has just signed," he said cheerfully. "This is the greatest triumph of my life! I will go down in history as a great German man!" Despite the depth of the night, Hitler was still awake, savoring the victory. "I feel sorry for the old gentleman," he told Hoffman and other confidants privately, "but, in this case, being emotional is inappropriate and may jeopardize success." Dr. Morel interrupted, saying that the communiqué would not have been signed if he hadn't been there. "Thank God," he said, "I was there to give him the shot in time!" "Go to hell!" Hitler yelled. "You've got the old gentleman in high spirits, and I'm afraid he won't sign it!" Keitel interrupted the celebration momentarily: he reported that the execution order for the invasion of Czechoslovakia had been issued, but with a The condition, that is, not to fire unless resistance is encountered, and even then, there may still be a possibility of negotiation before resorting to force.He asked Hitler to allow him to leave the field.Hitler instructed him to report for duty in a few hours so that he could accompany the Führer on a special train bound for the Czech border.