I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 102



Only Krnovel

EP.102 Operation Valkyrie (3)

It was just past 8 p.m. when Hitler arrived at the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia.

The Führer ordered an urgent response to the conspiracy in the Central Army Group, but due to the sabotage of Communications Superintendent Felgiebel, the voice from the Wolf’s Lair was not properly transmitted to the outside world.

Hitler had no choice but to rely on a few live telephone lines to get information about his surroundings.

I also confirmed that a coup had occurred in Berlin 30 minutes after arriving at the Wolf’s Lair.

Because information was so slow, the President’s response was not quick.

Still, somehow communication was established with SS Reich leader Himmler.

In fact, Himmler had fled Berlin to avoid arrests sent by Berlin police chief Artur Neve.

Hitler shouted in a very excited voice.

“The traitors are trampling the empire underfoot, and the Gestapo can’t even figure it out. What are they doing?”

“I apologize, Your Excellency the Führer. We in the SS will respond promptly.”

“When will they be able to destroy the wolf’s den before the armed guards return to the capital!”

“Your Majesty, then go to Vinnytsia in Ukraine. I will dispatch armed SS troops to Vinnytsia.”

“That won’t do. There’s no time to waste in heaven right now. Don’t you know that?”

Hitler was annoyed, so he took his anger out on Himmler.

After a while of being excited, he finally calmed down.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t control my emotions.”

“No, Your Excellency the President.”

“Mobilize the fastest units that can be deployed to Berlin.”

“I will do that.”

Hitler then spoke to Goering, the second-highest ranking official in the Reich.

Goering immediately reaffirmed his loyalty and promised that the Luftwaffe would deploy 100,000 troops to suppress the uprising.

“I also know the loyalty of the Imperial Marshal. Well then, thank you for your hard work.”

The Navy has also pledged its loyalty.

Well, what about the army?

How trustworthy is the Army?

‘These are untrustworthy seeds.’

In the first place, all of the rebels who committed treason were members of the army.

Hitler felt his blood boil at the thought.

But if you turn the entire army into your enemy, you will lose even the fight you should win.

After Hitler had barely calmed down, he summoned Adolf Heusinger, the chief of operations.

“Have you called, Your Excellency the President?”

“I would like to know the list of major units in Berlin.”

As Huizinga began to list the names of the various units, Hitler listened in silence.

Then it stopped at one unit.

“The Great German Division?”

“It is currently the most powerful unit in Berlin.”

The GD, or Gross Deutschland Division, was the elite of the German army that had been in action since the beginning of World War II, and its main force was always at the front lines.

The only GD units in Berlin were four companies of the Capital Guard Battalion.

But this small force was able to exert power over all of Berlin.

The Führer remembered how loyal the Capital Guard battalions were to Nazism.

Of course, the coup forces would not leave this situation alone, so it is possible that the composition of Berlin’s troops may have changed.

Still, I thought it would be worth giving it a try.

“If only communication could be restored.”

Hitler ground his teeth.

Soon, the communications supervisor, Felgiebel, who had been disrupting communications in the Wolf’s Lair, was arrested and brought before Hitler.

“Why did you betray me?”

“Mr. President, I have only been loyal to my country as a soldier.”

Hitler stared at Felgiebel without saying anything and then ordered him to be locked up for the time being.

When communications were restored to the Wolf’s Lair after an hour of repairs, Hitler quickly picked up the phone.

“Exchange, Capital Guard Battalion Commander’s Office.”

Major Otto Ernst Remer, commander of the Capital Guard battalion, was shocked when he received a call from the Führer.

I thought the SS’s propaganda that the Führer was alive was a lie, but it wasn’t.

The President was alive and well.

Not only that, he said that the Capital Guard Battalion was being used in a coup.

“Your Excellency, President. I was deceived by traitors.”

“Then, you know what to do, right?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Remer immediately called in his subordinate officers.

“Release the detained SS and Nazi party members immediately. The rest will go to the Reserve Forces Command.”

As soon as Remer received the phone call, he switched over to the Führer’s side.

The coup forces had no idea that one phone call could turn the tables.

‘If we can just capture a few more Nazis, we can force Hitler to fight back, but he won’t have enough men to do so.’

Colonel Stauffenberg, a member of the staff of the reserve forces, was on his way back from the police station to make up for the shortage of troops when he saw trucks heading to the reserve forces headquarters.

Why are the troops being sent to the Reserve Forces Command?

At that moment, Stauffenberg sensed a danger signal.

“Everyone get off.”

Soldiers from the Capital Guard Battalion, who had been part of the coup force and then transformed into the suppression force, poured into the reserve force headquarters.

“Chief, we have to stop them!”

Stauffenberg, together with the Berlin police led by Arthur Neve, attacked the Capital Guard battalion.

Although they were inferior in firepower, the police force was also strong in numbers.

The area in front of the reserve force headquarters quickly became a mess due to the bullets fired by both sides.

“What on earth are those gunshots?”

Mayor Goerdeler, who realized the situation belatedly, asked the attendees with a pale expression.

As a civilian bureaucrat, he couldn’t understand what was going on for the time being.

“It appears that the Capital Guard Battalion has gone over to the Nazis.”

Beck said.

Major General Ulbricht showed a resolute attitude.

“First, I will arm the officers inside the headquarters. If I mobilize all the people here, I will gather 100 men, so I will be able to stop them from entering the headquarters.”

As Ulbricht gave the order, an officer quickly went downstairs.

“Is the situation really so wrong?”

“If we just hold out for two hours, one of our infantry regiments will be deployed to Berlin.”

The reason we haven’t been able to properly mobilize our troops up until this point is because the officers who should be on our side are making excuses and hesitating to take action.

If it weren’t for that, GD would have brought troops into Berlin without any problems.

Ring ring.

Just then, the phone rang.

At Ulbricht’s wink, Colonel Quirnheim picked up the phone.

“This is a supplementary force.”

The caller was Hans Oster of the Counterintelligence Service.

“This coup is over. Tell the participants to get out of there immediately. Communications from the Wolf’s Lair have just been restored, and the entire army knows that Hitler is alive. Hurry up.”

“All right.”

Beck asked as Colonel Quirnheim hung up the phone.

“Who is it? General Franz Halder? Huizinga? The commander of the Third Army District?”

“This is General Oster from the Counterintelligence Bureau. Communications with the Wolf’s Lair have been restored.”

“then.”

If only the Capital Guard Battalion had not betrayed them, they could have held Berlin, gained recognition for their regime, and consolidated their position by persuading their commanders, but the tide of the war was turning.

If this happened, there was a high possibility that the supporting troops who had planned to come would not come.

Is this how our homeland, Germany, loses its chance for salvation?

“Your Majesty. A telegram from the Wolf’s Den has arrived in the telegram room.”

An officer came up and handed over the telegram.

“Kill the rebel commanders on sight?”

Indeed, communications with the Wolf’s Den had been restored.

If things had gotten to this point, there was no chance of winning.

“Your Majesty. Your Highness. Things seem to be going wrong. The mayor should also step aside.”

Ulbricht had the dignity to advise the coup leaders to evacuate.

Field Marshal Witzleben, who was sitting as Madame Face, shook his head at those words.

“The German marshal neither flees nor surrenders.”

Marshal Beck also laughed bitterly.

“That’s what you say.”

“What will the mayor do?”

Mayor Goerdeler let out a heavy sigh.

“How could I be the only one to avoid this situation? I am not a person who does not know honor.”

Ulbricht bowed to them and then handed Goerdeler a pistol.

“Write at the last minute.”

“Thank you, General.”

Ulbricht came down the room and looked around the offices of the reserve forces.

Young officers and men of the reserve forces who had been swept up in the coup were looking at him with anxious eyes, holding rifles.

“Gentlemen, on behalf of Germany I thank you for the devotion you have shown to your country tonight. But now all we can do is end. I and the other generals will fight to the end, but we cannot force such devotion on you. So, those who wish to leave, leave. Whatever your decision, I will always remember the courage of those who stood up for their country.”

Ulbricht gave his men a choice, then went into the room where the commander of the reserve forces, Friedrich Fromm, was being held.

Although it took the form of a pension, in reality there was no one to guard Fromm’s room.

Fromm happened to be smoking a cigarette.

He stubbed out his cigarette when he saw Ulbricht.

“From the very beginning, you had no chance of winning when you appointed a vacillating person like Beck as your leader. I knew this would happen.”

“You speak as if you are safe, General. Operation Valkyrie was launched in your name.”

“What crime have I committed? I am only guilty of being imprisoned by you.”

“Would the President believe that?”

Even Fromm couldn’t guarantee that.

“If the general had cooperated with the operation, we would have succeeded.”

“There are no ifs in life. What’s the point of a failed coup?”

“At least the world knows that not all Germans agree with the Nazis. Isn’t that enough?”

Ulbricht saluted clerically and stepped aside.

Fromm felt pity for his subordinate who had been punishing him and manipulating him as he pleased.

It’s not that I don’t understand the feelings of those who staged the coup.

But you were wrong.

Gambling is only done when there is a chance of winning.

Fromm stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

1:00 a.m.

As the GD Capital Guard Battalion and the SS troops attacked the reserve force headquarters, the isolated coup forces could no longer hold out and collapsed.

Colonel Stauffenberg and General Ulbricht, who had been resisting fiercely, were killed on the spot, while Beck, Witzleben, and Goerdeler committed suicide.

And the remaining conspirators were arrested one after another and taken away.

Fromm, fearing that he would be found guilty of aiding the conspiracy, had officers who might have known of his involvement summarily executed.

As news of the fall of Berlin spread, coup forces in various places also fell silently.

A significant number of the commanders involved in the conspiracy chose to commit suicide.

Major General Treskov, who attempted to assassinate Hitler in Army Group Center, was no exception.

“Long live my homeland, Germany.”

Treskov pulled out a grenade and blew himself up.

Counterintelligence chief Canaris committed suicide by drinking poison just before the Gestapo arrived at his office, and Hans Oster shot himself in the head with a pistol.

Where the conspirators had fallen, the Nazis triumphed once again.

The President first thought that he had something to learn from Lee Seong-jun in the process of crushing the Junkers’ rebellion.

Purge of the nobility.

That was Lee Seong-jun’s greatest achievement.

Hitler also intended to mark the Junkers purge as his greatest achievement.

“End all the traitors who use Von without leaving a single seed behind! Pull them out by the roots!”

Hitler launched a merciless campaign against the Junkers.

A massive purge swept over the German army.

As these purges began to shake the German military, even Hitler’s eternal rival Stalin responded.

“It would be better to finish off the fascists while they are distracted by their own internal strife. Marshal Zhukov, launch the offensive.”

At Stalin’s single word, 8 million Soviet troops on the Eastern Front launched a simultaneous offensive.

The coup d’état ended with a tidal wave of Red Army advancing towards Berlin.