Chapter 358: Bodyguards

After the military parade in Berlin, the guard team around Xu Jun expanded again, to be precise, it should have returned to its proper scale. During Hitler's reign, in addition to the Führer's flag guards, he also had two elite teams responsible for his security when he attended public events or traveled.

One was the Reich Security Group (RSD), which was subordinate to the Reich Security Directorate, and its commander was SS Major General Johann Bush. Ratten Huber.

The RSD was originally born out of a Bavarian police team, mostly composed of experienced criminal agents, whose duty was to protect the Führer's personal safety around the clock while Hitler was operating in Bavaria. Hitler recognized the work of this group, and when he extended the RSD's mandate to cover the entire territory of Germany, the defense was extended to the entire Nazi leadership.

After 1937, all members of the RSD joined the SS and wore ordinary SS uniforms for their missions, with the exception of diamond-shaped insignia with the letters SD sewn on the cuffs.

In addition, they also had the status of the Wehrmacht, which was a very rare exception at the time, and the High Command granted them the same authority as a gendarme, allowing them to join military units and to investigate, inquire and arrest any member of the F-FDTL service.

Usually when Hitler traveled, the RSD would inspect the route and all the buildings and institutions along the way, and they had the right to mobilize the local Gestapo to investigate rumors of the Führer's assassination, identify potential dangerous elements, arrest them, and even execute them on the spot.

In addition to guarding the Führer, the RSD is also responsible for the security of other high-ranking Nazi officials, and as long as there is a large-scale event infested by high-ranking Nazi leaders, the black figures of RSD members must be indispensable at the scene.

Another Führer's guard unit is called the "Führer's Guard Command", or FBK for short. The team was founded in 1920 as an eight-man SS squad in charge of the Adolf Mission. When Hitler was out, he served as the leader's personal bodyguard.

At that time, the name of this unit was "Leader's SS Escort", and it was not until Hitler came to power that it was renamed "Führer Escort Command", and by 1940 the total number of this unit had grown to thirty-seven.

FBK was Hitler's most trusted bodyguard, and he allowed them to carry pistols with them when they were around.

Hitler was suspicious by nature and attached great importance to hierarchies, and even Goering and Himmler had to disarm before the audience.

The scope of responsibility of the FBK was originally extensive, and for such a small unit, the workload seemed a little heavier. So when the RSD appeared, it took over most of the field work, so that the FBK could concentrate on the close guard of the Führer.

At first, the unit selected only from the old SS soldiers, most of whom were veterans of the First World War, but after all, the years were unforgiving, and by the mid-thirties, the old guys began to be overwhelmed. So the unit began to absorb young new blood, and by the year 40, the members were basically selected from the 1st SS Panzer Division.

As mentioned earlier, the FBK is responsible for the close security of the Führer, and this task is usually carried out by a team of thirty-three people, who are then divided into three teams of eleven on rotation. The members of the FBK, who were not selected for the Guards group, were given other "important" tasks, they became chauffeurs, attendants, servants and heralds at the Führer's side, and finally the remaining ones were selected and sent to the Führer's residences in Germany to serve as security guards in empty houses.

The RSD's performance in the conspiracy that killed Hitler was very suspicious, and Himmler claimed that the unit had been infiltrated by Heydrich. Rattenhuber has been overshadowed by that conspirator. This was clearly an attempt to relieve Major General Rattenhuber of responsibility, and it was heard that the hapless former Bavarian policeman had a good personal relationship with Himmler.

However, Xu Jun did not think about letting Ratten Huber go at that time, so the SS major general was shot in the backyard of the Berlin military prison on the fourth day after Hitler's death.

While there is no direct evidence that RSD members were involved in the conspiracy, there is also no evidence to clear their name. Hitler's route in France and the movement of the Flag Guard were top secret, and the list of persons entitled to this information at the time did not include Reinhard. Heydrich.

Moreover, at the time of the incident, Rattenhuber did not follow the Führer as before, but stayed in a luxurious villa on the outskirts of Berlin, and according to his self-proclaimed hemorrhoids, Hitler agreed to return to Berlin to recuperate, but he could not produce the Führer's approval and the doctor's certificate.

Regardless of whether the major general was guilty of hemorrhoids or not, Rattenhuber's ass would never be clean, and as for why he colluded with Heydrich, with all the parties dead, it may have become a mystery that can never be solved.

Xu Jun didn't have much interest in exploring this truth, anyway, it was nothing more than a question of desire, ambition, power, and eternal interests.

At the time of Hitler's death, there were only a small number of RSD members around him, and in addition to those who were killed on the spot, those who survived were also summarily executed. In the ensuing purge, the RSD bore the brunt of the purge and became one of Hitler's funeral victims.

The second month after the incident, the organization that once held enormous power ceased to exist, and all the members who remained at the headquarters in Munich were arrested and imprisoned in the Stammheim prison, where they tried all the methods they had used against the "dangerous elements", and finally managed to make it to the people's court, all of whom were iron-clad heroes, and then the judge sent them to the gallows with admiration.

A team of eleven FBKs who followed Hitler fought for the Führer to the last breath, as their oath said. Although they have undergone rigorous combat training, under the overwhelming automatic fire of their opponents, the PK pistols in their hands alone will not make much use at all.

The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Bruno, cleared his name from the FBK with his death, but was unable to save the unit from the ensuing political purge.

These people were all diehard Hitler's loyalists, and Xu Jun was not prepared at all, and he did not have the energy and time to carefully screen this force.

However, for the sake of Himmler's intercession, the original FBK was only disbanded, and all the personnel were returned to their original units, and in the last few years, they have been under the surveillance of the Gestapo at all times, but so far, no one has been found to be dissatisfied with the new Führer.

After Xu Jun came to power, the security work was basically taken care of by the adjutant office around him. The personnel came from the SS and army guard battalions, and many people followed him during the Battle of Dunkirk, and Xu Jun trusted these soldiers quite a lot.

However, when he returned to Germany, the guard duties were taken over by the newly formed Führer Guard Flag Brigade, although the members were loyal, but compared to the RSD of the year, they lacked the experience of sniffing out danger.

In addition, Xu Jun's personal guard force is also a little weak, and there are many affairs around him, and Daogen and Randolph alone can't keep them busy.

After careful consideration, Xu Jun finally agreed with Himmler's opinion and ordered the General Security Bureau and Odin's Eye to take the lead in rebuilding these two units.