Chapter 161 Chapter Twenty-Six With the Family (4)

On May 7, Hitler went to Berlin to attend the funeral of an old comrade-in-arms with a heavy heart.Roma's heir, Victor Lutzer, was killed in a car accident—officially, at least; but some survivors of the Roma rebellion suspected fraud.After the funeral, the imperial governors and local governors went to the Chancellery for lunch.After lunch, the general situation was discussed in detail.Hitler first made a speech saying that Germany in 1939 - a revolutionary Germany - faced only a bourgeois state.He explained that it was easier to bring down these countries because they were inferior to Germany, neither in upbringing nor in attitude.An intellectual state has always been more sharp than a bourgeois state, because it is based on a solid spiritual foundation.However, this superiority ended with Barbarossa.There, Germany encountered a country that also had ideas—though the ideas were wrong.He praised Stalin for purging the Red Army of defeatists and installing political commissars in the fighting units.He also said that Stalin had another advantage: he carried out multiple purges, so that there was no longer a "high society" around him, so that Bolshevism could concentrate its efforts on opposing the enemy.

Another reason for the defeat on the Eastern Front was that Germany's allies, especially Hungary, were behaving badly.He concluded that, because victory in battle was closely related to ideology, only Germany could hold out long-term resistance in Europe.Therefore, anti-Semitism, which had energized party members, must once again become the focus of the spiritual struggle and the rallying cry of the troops.If the army cannot unite as one, the cattle of the East may sweep Europe.Therefore, there must be an uninterrupted focus on taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of European culture. "If it is true that Eastern Bolshevism today is led mainly by the Jews, who dominate Western financial politics, then our anti-Semitic propaganda must begin immediately." Not possible with the Soviet Union This is the reason for any compromise. “They had to be defeated, just as we had to defeat our own Communist Party when we came to power. Compromise never occurred to us then.”

Although Hitler spoke loudly, his health was clearly failing.Dr. Morell doubled the daily dose of the hormone and added another drug, prostacrine, but his health was not much better.Another EKG showed that his heart condition was getting worse.Dr. Morell was afraid that Zabel's over-control of the Führer's diet would aggravate the Führer's condition, so he suggested to the Führer to hire a special chef.They employed a Viennese cook, Mrs. von Eckchener.She must know Austrian tastes.But what neither of them knew was that her natal family had Jewish ancestry. On May 12, Hitler returned to the "Wolf's Lair".To his satisfaction, the retreat that had occurred since Stalingrad was ended thanks to his leadership.However, his complacency dissipated the next day—he learned that the two coalition forces of Germany and Italy with nearly 300,000 soldiers were surrounded by allied forces in Tunisia.This is another Stalingrad.A week later came much worse news that Mussolini's regime was on the verge of collapse.

Among high-ranking figures in Italy, phrases such as "who knows what will happen" in "after the war" have begun to appear.On the streets, the German army has begun to be regarded as the enemy and publicly criticized. In mid-June, Hitler's youngest secretary married his aide Jung.After a short honeymoon together, Jung went to the Eastern Front, and Traudl went back to work in "Wolf's Lair". "You are pale and much thinner," Hitler said when he saw her.This was originally harmless, but unexpectedly it made Traudl very embarrassed-Linge, Xia Bo, Bowman and others were winking there.She was not as innocent as she had been when she first came to Führer's Headquarters.Oddly enough, the day-to-day work at the highest echelons of the Empire brought her a certain kind of depression.She tried to express something in her diary, and then she spoke of her fears to others, especially to the good Heville.Others, she discovered, had a certain vague sense of dissatisfaction and gloom.They are also suffering from "cabin fever", but no one can explain why they are uneasy.

It was only in June of that year that Hitler persuaded Christian Darla to come back with all his talk.She came back with many suitcases with her.Soon, the barracks and the bunker were filled with the excitement and joy she brought.Her singing, jokes and joy lifted the crowd's spirits.By this time, Traudl had lost her maiden shyness.One day, she asked Hitler straightforwardly, why he was so eager to let everyone else get married, while he himself stood still?His answer was that he didn't want to be a father. "I think that in this world, the life of the child of a genius is very difficult. People think that the child of a genius should be a genius just like his father. If he is as mediocre as everyone else, he will not be forgiven." Shi Zhi Today, he was still humble; she was disturbed to hear him declare himself a genius without self-effacing.

Despite the defeat in North Africa, Hitler considered an all-out attack on Kursk—something Milch vehemently opposed.Guderian, an armored vehicle expert, came to Berlin and stated his reasons for opposing the campaign: firstly, the supply of spare parts for the newly added Jaguar tanks was limited; Necessary - where Kursk is (on the southern flank of the central theater), very few people know.Hitler admitted that the thought of this battle lost his appetite, but in the next few days, Zeitzler and Kruger convinced him that there was still time and the battle needed to be fought quickly. On July 1, Hitler delivered a speech to his senior generals and named the battle "Castle".One or the other, he said, was Germany's tenacious hold on the lands it had conquered, or its collapse.The German soldier must understand that he must persevere and fight to the end.He admits that "Castle" is a gamble, but feels sure to win.Although he went against the advice of the military, wasn't he also right about Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union?He also included the Soviet Union, which made the audience's hair stand on end.

Manstein attacked from north to south, and his troops had a total of 18 divisions, but there were less than 1,000 tanks suitable for combat and less than 150 cannons.In the south, General Model had only 15 divisions and 900 tanks.The attack time, as usual, was set at 3 p.m. on July 4th.It was a hot day; thunder rumbled in the distance.At first, the Soviets seemed caught off guard, as the Red Army artillery did not return fire until after dark.However, with the torrential rain, the illusion of quick victory was shattered.By dawn, all roads and roads had become quagmire.Soon after dawn, a heavy rain turned the stream into a big river; it took the engineers 12 hours to build a simple bridge to allow the tanks to pass.

By July 9, the leading German tanks were still 88 kilometers away from Kursk.Everyone was disappointed.Unexpectedly, the next day there was news that the British and American coalition forces had landed in Sicily, and the resistance they encountered was weak.Not surprised, Hitler ordered the offensive, which he reluctantly supported, to stop on July 13 in order to send reinforcements, including the SS Panzer Corps, to Western Europe.Manstein argued that if the Battle of Kursk did not continue, a narrow strip leading to the Black Sea would be in danger. Hitler, the gambler, would rather accept defeat at Kursk and turn his attention to places where victory is more likely.However, judging from the results, "Castle" is not just an unwinnable battle.Since then, the initiative on the Eastern Front has belonged to the Soviets.