Although he was mentally prepared for the head of state's vegetarianism, when the meal was served, Hoffman still gasped inwardly. There were only two plates of food in front of him, one of which was candied fruit. It was made of milk, oatmeal, apple puree, walnuts, lemons and other things; the other plate was a vegetable salad. Apart from a few pieces of broccoli and lettuce, it was just peas and lentils, with no meat at all. None of them could be seen. In front of others, delicacies such as caviar from the Black Sea, salmon from Norway, ham or bacon from Bavaria are placed. Hoffman only felt his Adam's apple surging, and he tried his best to suppress the saliva inside. He wanted to yell, "Give me a piece of their lunch," but considering that the current situation was not clear enough, he could only suppress this most basic desire.
"Schmont, do you have any good suggestions on personnel appointments and dismissals?"
"After careful consideration, I believe that General Zeitzler can effectively fulfill this role..."
"Zeitzler?" Hoffman was a little surprised. He knew that historically Halder had served as Army Chief of Staff until September 24, 1942, and then was replaced by Kurt Zeitzler. -Zeitzler). Could it be that the head of state was planning to replace him a month ago?
"General Zeitzler commanded the troops to defeat the British and Canadian attack in Dieppe four days ago. According to the prisoners' accounts, there were 6,000 people involved in the attack, but 60% of them were wiped out by General Zeitzler. He taught them an unforgettable lesson. I think he is an optimistic soldier who has the courage to contribute everything and can become an excellent chief of staff."
Martin Bowman also jumped in: "Although others have different recommendations, Comrade Goering and I both believe that General Zeitzler is a suitable candidate."
"I know him. He has always performed outstandingly when he was the chief of staff of Army Group D." Hoffman nodded. It seems that Goering, Martin Bowman, Schmont and others have reached a consensus. Zeitzler The appointment was probably inevitable. He swallowed a mouthful of candied fruit with difficulty and asked, "Who else can be recommended?"
Martin Bowman and Schment looked at each other, unsure of what Hoffman meant, so they could only answer honestly: "Some people also recommended Marshal Manstein and General Guderian..."
"Manstein has another appointment! As for Guderian..." Hoffman pondered for a moment, and he wanted to consider the use of this man. After the failure of the Battle of Moscow in December 1941, Guderian had a great conflict with the Führer. With the help of others, intentionally or unintentionally, he was ordered to retire from active service and transferred to reserve service. Now he is idle at home. Although Guderian surpassed Zeitzler in terms of fame and military exploits, he had a fatal weakness - he was too cold and aloof, and could not get along with most of the group army commanders on the Eastern Front. This was undoubtedly fatal to the role of chief of staff. of. "This position is not suitable for Guderian. I have other tasks that he needs to complete. It would be too wasteful for him to take a vacation at home. The chief of staff should be Zeitzler."
Schment was visibly relieved when he heard the head of state's coffin conclusion. Although Zeitzler was very capable and had recently achieved military exploits in Dieppe, he was still too young and had little qualifications. He had only been promoted to Army Major General not long ago (quite a lot). Brigadier General of the British and American troops). His recommendation of Zeitzler as chief of the general staff was mixed with personal information, just because the other party was his close friend, and the reason Goering agreed with this recommendation was simply because Zeitzler was not very qualified and easy to control.
Hoffman's mentality has now calmed down. He is determined not to complain about the bizarre time travel and the awkward position he is in. He is only determined to do this position well - in his eyes, this is a real-life version of "Hearts of Iron" ", but the price of failure is relatively high-either a corpse in the bunker of the Imperial Chancellery or the gallows in the Nuremberg court. He is determined to use his professional knowledge and historical prophets to lead Germany to a different path. The adjustment plan had been formed in his mind, and after taking a casual bite of the vegetable salad, he said: "Immediately send a telegram to Zeitzler and Guderian, hoping that they will be here for dinner today, and I want to dine with them. By the way, help me adjust the meal tonight, bring me some jam and white bread, and it would be better if you can add an omelette!"
"As you wish, head of state." Schment, who had just cut into a piece of steak, put down his knife and fork slowly and rushed to the confidential room to explain. Hoffman glanced at his steak, swallowed again, and could only retract his reluctant gaze - he could replace the chief of general staff without hesitation, but he could only make the smallest adjustments to the meal. .
Bowman was obviously a little dazed. He was talking about Zeitzler. Why did he also find Guderian? Before he could recover, Hoffman added: "Send the latest telegrams, battle reports, and letters to the office later. I need to grasp the latest developments on the front line."
It was getting dark, and Mrs. Jung came in to report that General Guderian, carrying a special plane, had arrived and was waiting to be summoned. Hoffman pushed the documents on the table away: "Let him come in."
Guderian's image is almost exactly the same as that in Hoffman's memory. Although he has been transferred to the reserve force, he still wears a straight military uniform with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on his chest, reminding people of his battles in France and Poland. He had made great contributions to the Third Reich, and he raised his hands respectfully, with a little doubt on his face.
Hoffman stood up and stretched out his hand to shake hands: "It seems that you have had a good rest in the past few months. Your face seems to have gained a lot of weight?"
Guderian shrugged. The head of state's opening remarks were not very humorous.
Hoffman asked him to sit down and said, "Tell me, how many times have you scolded me in your mind in the past few months?"
Upon hearing this, Guderian's face turned slightly red, and he was suddenly a little embarrassed. The unhappiness when the head of state angrily kicked him out of the army was still vivid in his mind. Naturally, there were many complaints overt and covert, but now the head of state greeted him pleasantly. , as a pure and aloof soldier, telling lies is a bit against his will, and flattering words cannot be said out loud. He doesn't know how to deal with this.
Looking at his embarrassment, Hoffman smiled: "It seems that there were a lot of scoldings, and I can't count them all at once. But today is not the time for reckoning. Regarding your issue, I misunderstood other people's slander and was too much." I got excited and I have to apologize to you."
"Head of State, I..." Guderian suddenly stood up excitedly. Being kicked out of the army a few months ago was a moment of great shame and humiliation for him. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com But now that the Head of State has personally apologized, everyone His dissatisfaction and anger seemed to disappear all of a sudden, "I shouldn't have said too many words to offend you."
Hoffmann was very satisfied with Guderian's performance. Guderian and Halder were different. The former complained a lot about the Führer after he ordered him to be transferred to the reserve force, but he was still loyal. The latter had always been the Wehrmacht to overthrow the Führer. One of the masterminds was also involved in the 720 Incident. No matter what his difficulties were, since he was standing in the position of the head of state, it was difficult for him to understand and accept this kind of betrayal.
"Let the past be in the past. It's time for us to look forward again." Hoffman had to admit that the head of state was ten times more provocative than him in terms of eloquence and expression. He stood up and waved habitually. He started to ask in a serious and calm tone, "Mr. Guderian, are you still willing to be loyal to me as before? Are you still willing to continue to dedicate all your wisdom and strength to the empire?"
Guderian stood at attention with a snap: "Dear Head of State, I will be infinitely loyal to you, and I will devote all my strength to the sacred cause of the empire, even if I am shattered to pieces."
When the dusty Zeitzler also appeared in front of him, Hoffmann immediately asked Heinz Ringe, the head of state's personal attendant, to inform the restaurant of the meal. After an afternoon of contact, Hoffmann discovered that Heinz Ringe was interested in him. Showing the same attitude as before, without any doubt, even if some habits were not in line with the president's past practices, the other party automatically regarded them as the president's normal changes after vertigo, which made Hoffman feel a lot more at ease - he was very concerned about This time traveling game is getting more and more confident.
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