Chapter 1
Chapter 1
January 3rd, 1936
Berlin, Germany
The gleaming black staff car began to slow as it turned down Voss Strasse, in front of the massive Reich Chancellery. As the car came to a halt in front of the entrance, a suited man exited the car and began to head quickly up to the building. Hjalmar Schacht looked at his watch as he began walking up the steps, mindful of the time. He knew the Fuhrer would start today’s meeting precisely on time, and he didn’t want to be late. This particular meeting would be extremely important for the minister of armaments. Hitler had called for a special meeting to occur on this day, in which the major heads of state and armed forces would be in attendance.
“Through here, Herr Schacht. The Fuhrer is expecting you.” The secretary made a robotic motion to a large reception room as she fumbled to take dictation by phone. As Schacht walked through a doorway guarded by two SS sentries, he noticed several figures talking as they waited for the meeting to begin. First to greet Schacht was commander of the navy, Erich Raeder. “Good morning, Herr Schacht. The cold hasn’t chilled you too deep, I hope?” “Not on this morning… My preparations for this meeting lasted well into the evening. Even the cold had difficulty in waking me“. Raeder gave a short grin and nodded as he turned to continue speaking with Ludwig Beck, the general serving as OKW chief of staff.
Schacht turned to a small table containing glasses and a coffee pot, to which he promptly walked to and began to prepare a cup for himself. Something in him sensed he was being watched, pierced by someone’s eyes. It was Wilhelm Frick, head of internal security. Frick was speaking with de-facto Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Walter Wever, who accompanied Herman Goering to the meeting this morning. Schacht ignored Frick and continued.
“The Fuhrer is ready to receive you, gentlemen!” The adjutant cried out as he opened the oversized double doors to Hitler’s meeting chambers. The men all ceased talking amongst themselves and began filing in to their pre-arranged seats.
Adolf Hitler sat with his back to the remainder of the individuals in the room, gazing intently at a huge map on the wall. Goering took his place at Hitler’s right, with Frick at his left. The remaining civil servants and soldiers also took their respective places. All sat silently, looking intently at their leader, waiting for him to open the meeting. Hitler didn’t move at all. “Germany must rise”. The Fuhrer slowly spoke, as is speaking to a crowd of millions. “She must rise up and take her rightful place as master of Europe”. The men all listened now with great attention as Hitler turned his chair to face them. His face was like granite, locked and serious. “Yet as of now, we still remain restrained by the pitiful terms of the treaty. You all know why I have called you here today. I have told you to expect war soon, and to begin proposals for how you will prepare your respective areas for the coming war.”
“My Fuhrer… My Luftwaffe will be ready within a short time to strike at our enemies at your will!” Goering was quite jovial this morning, yet all in the room knew his boasts were quite unrealistic. “My Fuhrer, if I may…” Schacht asked quietly. “I believe that at this point, we must concentrate on expanding the industrial base if we are to reach realistic war capacity within a reasonable time”. The Fuhrer nodded. “Of course research must continue, but we must be realistic about our production capacity”. “We must agree.” Admiral Raeder interjected. “Without the proper industrial base dedicated to ship production, the German fleet will be unable to challenge the Royal Navy for supremacy”. “We can do that without the Navy, my Fuhrer. My air fleets can pummel the British into submission on their own!” Again, Goering continued with his bombastic statements. “It will take a stronger army, however, if we are to challenge France or Russia. This is a task that the Luftwaffe alone cannot tackle”. The army chief interrupted.
Hitler began to become irate, knowing that the meeting was quickly going nowhere. “What I must know is what preparations are being taken to prepare Germany”. All looked again at the Fuhrer, and General Wever began to speak. “I have prioritized within the Luftwaffe the development of a strategic arm as paramount, that we may strike our enemies’ means of production. The RLM is also working with several manufacturers to develop a modern monoplane fighter to replace our obsolete He-51s, and the groundwork is being laid for the development of the new airborne forces to aid the army with lightning strikes from the air, in conjunction with modern dive bombers”. “Likewise, the army is continuing development of better combat equipment for our troops, and the development of modern tanks proceeds steadily at your request.” The army chief announced.
“And the Navy?” Hitler queried. “My Fuhrer, we are developing a plan for a surface force that will rival all others, but this will take some time”. Admiral Raeder was confident in his assessment. “However, the production capacity allotted us is completely insufficient for development of a sizeable surface force”. “Then we must look to other methods to deal with the British”. Hitler said. “They only serve as a nuisance to our progress in continental Europe and cannot be decisive with their Navy alone, for when we become self sufficient and no longer depend on others for resources, their navy will be of no consequence to us”. “We must build more U-Boats to contain the British, as we did during the Great War. That is the solution”. Raedar could say nothing to this, and simply nodded in agreement. “And our strategic bombers could aid the U-Boats in doing this even from Germany, my Fuhrer. This also gives us a flexibility in the east, should the need arise”, Wever added.
Hitler was becoming visibly satisfied. “Very well then. Proceed with these plans and continue with your expansion. We will meet again at a later date to discuss progress”. With that, the Fuhrer rose from his chair and faced the map once again as a sign that the meeting had ended. With an eerie silence, the men left the room. Yet as the foreign minister left the room and passed the secretary’s desk, she abruptly stopped him. “Wait Herr von Neurath. The Fuhrer wishes to speak with you personally”. Constantine von Neurath turned back to the hall and walked back in, the doors closing quietly behind him.
So hopefully, with all this in mind you all dismiss the fact that it's one of several. Now, on to the AAR:
