Although the war on the European continent had ended, the Friedrich Air Base, the temporary headquarters of the Wehrmacht High Command, had become busier than it had been during the war. Almost every five minutes, an aircraft takes off or lands on the base's three long runways, and transport trucks and cars of all kinds are constantly running back and forth on the base's auxiliary roads leading to the main coastal highway. The corridors inside and outside the bungalows of the offices of the various departments of the High Command were even more crowded, and everywhere you could see officers of all branches of the armed forces holding large stacks of papers and forms waiting to be interviewed, as well as civilian secretaries and staff officers hurrying away.

After the war was over, the workload of the management department increased suddenly, and all the official affairs that had been backlogged due to the war broke out at this time, and the heads of the departments could only work overtime to try to solve the problem as soon as possible before the high command left France. As the supreme command body of the Wehrmacht, it is obviously inappropriate to leave the country for a long time without the cause of war, and there are still a lot of things in Germany waiting to be approved and resolved by these key administrative departments. The daily influx of official documents and reports from within Germany and from the occupied territories was a huge load, which, together with the internal affairs of the various army groups and subordinate units in the theater of operations, was enough to drive the most powerful managers into a frenzy.

The German High Command has a set of management mechanisms unique to Germany, which have been tested by the war, and are indeed meticulous and scientific, but it is a pity that the Germans seem to have only taken into account the stability of the organizational structure, and did not take into account the influence and destruction of the operating rules by the managers. Historically, the efficiency of the Wehrmacht High Command has often been criticized, mainly because Hitler was accustomed to playing political tricks and engaging in checks and balances among various departments of the army and sharing interests equally, which ultimately disrupted the organizational structure. In the later stages of the war, unless it was a project personally supervised by the Führer, the common means of dealing with problems between various departments was to kick the ball with each other, pushing and delaying as much as they could.

Xu Jun, of course, could not tolerate the same situation in Germany under his control. The efficiency of the high command has become a hard indicator, and the degree of completion of daily work has become an important condition for assessing an officer's management ability; all officers who show that they are not competent for the work at hand will be demoted or even dismissed after several accumulations, and those who make serious mistakes will be transferred out of the high command and ordered to be forcibly discharged.

At present, the High Command is anxious to solve a variety of problems, most of which are related to the tasks of the end of the war. A large number of combat units need to be recuperated. Finding a peaceful respite for so many troops became a top priority. Countless meritorious service personnel need to be awarded and rewarded, and officers and soldiers with outstanding performance are also promoted, and the secretaries of the personnel department have scrapped several typewriters just for the transcription of the application reports of the various group armies. War allowances and bonuses for front-line soldiers need to be paid in a timely manner, and the treatment and welfare of the wounded and the bereavement of soldiers killed in battle must also be completed as soon as possible. The temporary cemeteries of the German army in various battlefields needed to be repaired, and the construction of cemeteries for British and French soldiers who died in the war had to be carried out at the same time.

Some of the troops who have been fighting continuously on the front line for long periods of time have received two to four weeks of paid vacation each, and transporting so many soldiers to where they want to go will add considerable strain to the already overburdened transportation network. The spoils of war obtained by Germany had to be sent home. In the same way, Germany continued to send the supplies and machinery needed to rebuild Europe, as well as some supplies necessary for the German troops. At present, the high command has taken over the issue of having been handled and screened by the domestic and various divisions, brigades, and regiments, and has no authority to approve the issue on their own.

Although the following is busy with a pot of porridge, Xu Jun's side has not increased much workload, this is in a way a standard hands-off shopkeeper, he usually just points out a general direction to his subordinates, and the specific way to do it is all up to the departments below to complete it themselves, and he only looks at the final result most of the time. Except for issues of particular interest, it is rare to want to understand the process. However, this behavior of the Führer was taken for granted by his subordinates. Great men should of course think about greater issues, such as world peace and national rejuvenation, and it is a crime against all mankind to let the Führer spend his energy on such trivial matters.

At this time, the infrastructure of the Friedrich base had been relatively complete, and it was originally only a temporary air base built for the British campaign, but at this time it was gradually transforming into a permanent base. The command structure of the headquarters has been transferred from the original wooden longhouses to a row of single-family bungalows with brick and wood structures. The conference room is in one of the bungalows. A lawn was laid on all sides, and two small flower beds were built at the entrance.

"Gentlemen, I've kept you waiting." Xu Jun wore his beautiful marshal's uniform and walked quickly into the door of the conference room with the marshal's cane in his hand.

"Hey! Reinhart! The officers seated around the conference table all stood up and greeted the Führer in a loud voice.

"I hope everyone had a good night's rest last night." Xu Jun took off his military hat. Together with the cane, he handed it to Tysenhofen, who was following behind him.

"It's okay, thank you for your concern, my Führer." Brauchitsch hurriedly replied respectfully, the young Führer's power had been completely consolidated at this time, and his reputation in Germany and Europe was in full swing, and as the number one representative of the army to support the Führer, the army commander-in-chief had also made a lot of money during this time, which made Brauchitsch even more convinced that as long as he followed this apostle of God, he would never suffer.

"To be honest, I didn't sleep well, and my head still hurts." Xu Jun smiled and stretched out his arms to make a gesture to sit down with the standing officers.

"For the sake of the Third Reich, please take care of your health, my Führer," Brauchitsch said with a sincere face, and Halder on the side quickly nodded vigorously in agreement.

"I'll take note, thank you, Your Excellency Marshal." Xu Jun nodded slightly in thanks, and then he reached out and opened the folder that Tysenhofen had placed in front of him.

"I think you already know why I have called this meeting, and this is the telegram, marshal, pass it down and look at it." Xu Jun handed Braunberg's telegram to Brauchitsch.

"My Führer, this is a serious diplomatic incident that can even become the fuse of a war." Jodel had not read the original copy of the telegram, but he had been informed of the general situation from Army Intelligence, and while he was waiting for the telegram to reach him, he gave his personal opinion first.

"So I'd like to hear what the High Command has to say."

"My Führer. Have you already made a preliminary decision? Brauchitsch passed the telegram to Halder, who turned his face to ask Xu Jun.

"Yes, Your Excellency, what do you propose about it?"

"I believe that this is the time to make representations to Japan through diplomatic channels, but the cause and process of the specific incident are still unclear, and I cannot make an accurate judgment on this."

"I think there's a lot of issues involved. Not only militarily, but also German interests in Asia. Halder handed the telegram to the naval liaison officer.

"We have interests in Asia?"

"There's no doubt about that, and we've made good progress on that."

"Can you find time to talk about the specific situation? General Weirle. ”

"It's an honor, General Yodel."

"This is a clear provocation, and these Japanese monkeys will only cause trouble."

"We don't need to get involved in the South Asian dispute, we have a whole bunch of problems to solve here."

"The affairs of the French will be left to the French, and I reserve my opinion."

"How many troops do we have there? 10,000 or 20,000. ”

"About 1,300 people, all Waffen-SS."

"SS or not. The soldiers who died were all German soldiers. ”

"Colonel Dogan, you know I didn't mean that"

"Claire, I need a map of French Indochina."

"A squadron of fighter jets of our Air Force arrived in Saigon yesterday afternoon."

"We also have a squadron of fighters there?"

"Saigon? It's so weird to pronounce, where exactly is this magical place you're talking about? ”

The staff officers and senior officers began to discuss it in a big tongue.

"Gentlemen." Brauchitsch clapped his palms and calmed the officers' debate.

"My Führer, we would like to hear from you." Turning his face, Brauchitsch asked respectfully.

"Germany must show a tough enough attitude towards Japan in the handling of this incident." Xu Jun stood up. Stretched out his hand to stop the subordinates who wanted to stand up with him.

Halder is right, it's not just about military and diplomacy. German interests are also at stake. After Xu Jun finished speaking, he walked to the map wall of the conference room, Xu Jun made a gesture, and Tysenhofen and another adjutant standing on the side hurriedly stepped forward and opened the curtain covering the map.

"Gentlemen, we have gained control of most of Europe." Xu Jun took the whip from Tysenhofen and drew a circle in the European region on the map.

"This is the result of the tremendous sacrifices and efforts of all of you and countless German soldiers." Xu Jun swung his whip and whipped it the map: "So we must maintain this system at all costs. ”

"As leaders and protectors, we have an obligation to protect the rights and interests of all nations within this community. Even if it was a remote Asian colony. If we fail to support and assist the French in this matter, our treaty of alliance will become a dead letter, and Germany's national credibility will be damaged, and we will probably pay a tenfold and a hundredfold to make up for these losses. For Germany, this is completely more than worth the cost. Xu Jun took a step forward and pointed at Southeast Asia with his whip.

And it was not only the French Indochina colony, but also British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, all of which were European colonies, and now the Netherlands and Great Britain had joined the new German order and became allies and protectorates of Germany. These countries are now willing to submit to the leadership of Germany, not only because we have defeated them militarily, but also because they need Germany to protect their rights and interests, including those of their overseas colonies. What would be the consequences if they felt that Germany could not do this because of this incident? ”

"They will turn to other directions to seek refuge." Wehrle says below.

"Yes!" Xu Jun pointed at Weierle with his whip.

"General Weirle is right that they will turn to new countries that can provide security and protection, such as the behemoth on our shore. At that point, the forces on the other side of the strait will be able to intervene in European affairs in a big way, and we may be busy dealing with our neighbor to the east, and the whole system of the new order will fall apart. Even with the impetus of foreign forces, anti-German forces in these countries will re-emerge. Germany will be in a situation where we will lose not only everything we have now, but even everything we have had. ”

"We can limit their diplomatic actions." Yodel said loudly.

"Of course we can, but that would be tantamount to tearing up all previous agreements. We also don't have that many troops, how many troops are you going to put in these countries? Halder immediately retorted.

"We need these countries to cooperate with Germany, and there is only one enemy who threatens us the most." Dougan expressed his support.

"But getting involved in Asia doesn't do much good for Germany. How many troops do we have to move there to stop the Japanese? ”

"They have the second largest navy in the world, and we are completely at a disadvantage in this regard."

"What about the Navy's opinion?"

"The Navy will resolutely obey the Führer's orders, and we currently have a task force moving to the east coast of Africa and can reach Jakarta in the Dutch East Indies in twenty-four hours." Naval Liaison Officer Heinz. Colonel Phil was a surface ship officer and had commanded a medium-sized submarine, and because he was the head of both worlds, he was assigned to the High Command by Raeder, not only as a naval liaison officer, but also as a naval technical adviser to the Führer.

"Singapore, Hinds, let them go to Singapore. On the British side, I will personally negotiate with them. Xu Jun pointed to Colonel Phil and said.

"Immediately contacting Field Marshal Raeder and getting the command of the Navy to give him an order to tell him what had happened and that it was my order, this was the first step in showing Germany's attitude."

"Yes, my Führer." Colonel Phil strode away from the conference table and over to the side telephone table, where a row of dedicated telephones was placed, color-coded to distinguish the departments that were connected.

"We need Asia. Just as Asia needs us too. Xu Jun slapped his trouser leg with a whip and said loudly.

"We all know that. It can also be seen that the market in Europe has shrunk because of the war. There was a boom in the German market, but it was only temporary, because our soldiers brought back a lot of wealth, and we gave them a lot of bonuses. Everyone is rich now. After listening to Xu Jun's words, the officers present all smiled.

"But in the areas under our control, the markets of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, the whole region have been damaged and affected by the war, and the citizens do not have enough money to buy goods, and many people now need food and shelter the most. Want to quickly restore the economy of Europe. We have to look for new markets and sources of materials. Southeast Asia can solve a large part of our current problems, providing the food and energy that Europe desperately needs right now, as well as the abundant reserves of precious and rare metals, and we can not only get what we need, but also sell the backlog of goods and commodities there.

In particular, the Chinese market has a population of 400 million, and before the outbreak of the war, 90 percent of Europe's annual trade turnover in Asia came from this country, but the problem is that now this market has been destroyed by Japan's war of aggression, and the Japanese have adopted unilateral trade protection and dumping tactics in their occupied areas, and have used coercive means to expel a large amount of European capital, which has seriously damaged Europe's political and economic interests in Asia. Although German trade has ostensibly been favoured by Japan, many German companies have said that they have been greatly affected, and that our trade volume has fallen by 70 percent, and direct losses can reach 2,000 to 40 million marks a year, or even more. Xu Jun looked at the officers and marshals who listened with relish behind his back.

"So, my opinion is clear: to put pressure on the Japanese through this incident, to show them the attitude of Germany, to demonstrate the strength of the Third Reich, and to prove to the European countries that we have the confidence to protect the interests of the countries of the system. And we can take this opportunity to open up this closed market and develop this region, so that Southeast Asia can become the most important resource supply for the reconstruction of Europe. Xu Jun handed the whip to Tysenhofen and sat down in his seat.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we can discuss the preliminary plan before we get a further briefing."

On the last day of this month, I ask for everyone's monthly ticket support, and if you don't vote today, it will be invalid, please check it, whether there is a monthly pass left in your hand, please vote for a book, this is the greatest encouragement to the author.

Thank you. (To be continued.) )