Hersmann was ordered to come to the General Staff at Koenigplatz, and he felt a hint of relaxation. From the second half of 1918 to the present, Hersmann has never felt the slightest ease here.

He met Lieutenant Colonel Schulenburg in the hall, who beckoned to him and took him to Hindenburg's office, where Hersmann had come to say goodbye to Hindenburg, and today was the day the marshal retired from active duty. The Chief of the General Staff will be replaced by Colonel General Grener, and Hindenburg will go to Hanover for a period of seclusion.

Hersmann knew that His Excellency the Field Marshal would not be out of sight. In a few years he will run in the presidential election and be elected president of the German Empire! And Germany's preparations for rearmament, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, also began after Hindenburg was elected president.

In his spacious office, Hersmann saw Hindenburg standing by the window, one hand on his hip, looking down at a copy of the telegram spread out on his desk—the final version of the Treaty of Versailles from the Paris peace delegation. He raised his head, looked at Hersmann, who was walking briskly, and said with a smile: "Before the Hungarian Bolsheviks are finished, we can have an army of up to 200,000 people, and we can still keep the General Staff...... But other aspects are still quite harsh! ”

Hersmann, of course, knew the latest version of the Versailles Treaty, and the German delegation had his "co-informer" in it. The content of the treaty is not much different from the previous draft of the Treaty of Versailles, except for two major changes.

The first was to allow the Germans to retain the General Staff and 200,000 Army forces until the fall of the Hungarian Bolshevik Party, although the Germans had to guarantee that they would no longer provide ammunition, food, coal, and military advisers to the Hungarian Bolshevik Party. And the Entente will send a military observer mission to supervise it - this is actually a very favorable change! Not for Germany, but for the Junkers military group.

An army of 100,000 men seemed nothing at first glance, and it could not threaten Britain and France with this little men. But that's 100,000 iron rice bowls, and those who can stay in the army after the war are the elite, the best officers and non-commissioned officers. Their stay in the Army could increase the power of the Junckers while weakening the extremist parties.

Because the army can raise 100,000 more soldiers, it means that the SA, SS, Red Guards and so on of extremist parties like the Nazis will have 100,000 fewer backbones! If you count the increase in strength that the Stasi and Courland Defense Forces have given to the Junkers. In the future, when Juncker bargained with the Nazis, he would have several times more chips!

In the future, when the Nazi Party comes to power – and Hersmann already feels that this is inevitable, because the Junker elite is not "their own" of the lower and middle classes of the German population and suffers when it comes to voting, the Junker officer clique can exist as collaborators rather than tools of the Nazis.

The second was to order Germany to hand over all the merchant ships to make up for the losses suffered by the British in Operation Rainbow, and also to take away almost all the cruisers, destroyers and other auxiliary ships of the German Navy, and only allow Germany to keep 6 old cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats. The loss of merchant ships will make the future of Germany's economy worse and more conducive to the development of extremism. The loss of most of the navy gave the British peace of mind that they no longer had to worry about the spread of extremism in Germany......

In addition, the Treaty of Versailles made no mention of the Autonomous State of Courland from beginning to end. It seems that the Entente did not intend to treat the Courland Autonomous State as part of Germany. The strategy of using Olga as a shield has largely been successful.

"Field Marshal," Hersmann saluted Field Marshal Hindenburg, "a harsh treaty will only wake up the German people." And we still have some strength, and it seems that the Courland Autonomous State can be preserved. ”

"We should be able to catch our breath before the French defeat the Hungarians." Hindenburg said and sighed, "But what about after that?" If the French really go all out, the Hungarians won't be able to hold out for long. ”

Germany's current president, Albert, and Chancellor Scheudmann are not Hindenburg's figures, and they will follow the rules of the treaty. Moreover, the German Social Democrats are now far more afraid of the Bolshevik Party than militarists like Hindenburg and Hersmann!

"Marshal, I think that even if we recall all the advisers, the Hungarians will still be able to hold out for several years, they have learned the essence of guerrilla warfare." Hersmann's confidence was a little more than that of Hindenburg, "and it was a landlocked country, the transportation was not very convenient, the railways had been destroyed, and the water transport of the Danube had been blocked by mines." Once the Bolsheviks had consolidated their rule, they would not be easily conquered with their organizational and mobilizing capabilities. ”

"How many years from now?" Hindenburg's brow furrowed again, "At that time, we still have to obediently lay off those 100,000 brothers......"

In a few years you will be the President of Germany, and you will be much more daring than Albert and Scheudman! Hersmann thought to himself, but said, "By then we will have come out of the doldrums, and the French will become even more war-weary." ”

"I hope so!" Hindenburg paused, "But for now, we have to be patient, you know?" As far as I know, neither President Albert nor Prime Minister Scheidman like you very much...... You and the Bolsheviks got too close! ”

"Marshal, I know too much!" Hersman smiled indifferently.

Before the outbreak of the revolution in November last year, Hersmann was ordered to take over the military intelligence service, and a large number of agents were transferred from the Stasi agency to set up an intelligence station in Berlin and began to investigate the SPD, the independent SPD, and the Spartacists.

Today, however, the Military Intelligence Service has set up a political unit dedicated to the investigation of German political parties and politicians. Many SPD politicians, including Albert and Scheidmann, have been secretly investigated, and a lot of black material has fallen into Hersmann's hands.

So Hersmann wasn't afraid of unarmed politicians like Albert and Scheedman, it was parties like the Nazi Party that really worried him.

But after Hindenburg's ouster, and before the fall of the Social Democratic Cabinet – even if there are no posterity memories of the SPD Cabinet that Hersmann knew it would not last long – Hersmann decided to keep a low profile.

"I know how to get along with them, Marshal, you can rest assured." Hersmann finally said something reassuring to Hindenburg.

Hindenburg smiled and said, "Lieutenant Colonel, you are still young and have a great future ahead of you...... Bear with me for a while, a year at most, and there will be changes! ”

A year? Hersman thought about it, it couldn't be a Karp coup, right? Although the coup was crushed, it cost President Albert all face.

"There will be no big deal this year," said Hindenburg to Hersmann in the tone of an elder speaking to a junior, "Ludwig, hurry up and get your marriage to the countess...... It's a good marriage. It allows you to be your own with the famous families of the west and south. ”

"I'm going to marry Chloe within the year."

Hindenburg nodded, "Okay, if it's not convenient for me to go, I'll let Oscar (Hindenburg's son) go to the wedding...... Also, while I'm not in Berlin, you can keep in touch with me through Lieutenant Colonel Schulenburg. Rest assured, I will not give up my responsibilities and I will be back! ”

He'll be back as president! Hersmann thought to himself: It turned out that Field Marshal Hindenburg was already planning to take the presidency of Germany when he was disarmed and returned to the field in 1919.

――――

Vomiting blood in the early morning, Rollo can be regarded as a hard worker, right? Shouldn't you vote for encouragement?