Blitzfreeze by Sven Hassel

Author:Sven Hassel [Hassel, Sven]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, War & Military, General Fiction
ISBN: 9780727806741
Google: 1uReEfxVUgwC
Amazon: 0304366870
Publisher: Cassell
Published: 1975-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

‘It is no longer necessary for the Courts to give a decision. An order from the Führer is sufficient where the execution of criminals, for crimes against the state or for parasitism, is concerned.’

Reichsführer Himmler to Police President

SS-Gruppenführer Kurt Daluege, 3 January 1942.

At Headquarters Hitler raged for the third hour without pause. ‘Cowards, traitors, bunglers,’ he howled, at the officers sitting in silence along both sides of the heavy oak table.

Marschall Keitel fiddled with a pencil. General Olbricht watched a fly crawling around on the great war chart. It edged its way between the coloured pins and flags and stopped on a large red spot: Moscow. General-oberst Jodl leafed through documents concerning the disappointing tank production. Reichsmarschall Göring sketched ideas for new uniforms. SS-Reichsführer Himmler noted energetically the confusion of orders flowing from Hitler.

‘Guderian is to be dismissed!’ he roared. ‘Hoepner, that criminal dilletante, must go too!’

‘Very good!’ mumbled the Chief of Personnel, General der Infanterie von Burgerdorf, making a note in a pocket diary.

‘Have I not ordered the troops to hold on and to fight fanatically to the last bullet?’ screamed Hitler. ‘And what happens? No sooner do these untermensch begin to fire back at them my miserable soldiers flee like frightened hares! I blush for the German people. If I did not feel myself called to lead them I would resign immediately!’ He kicked viciously at a chair sending it flying across the ankles of General Fellgiebel, who could not restrain a half-smothered exclamation of pain.

Hitler sent the Liaison Chief a deadly look.

‘Fieldmarschall von Bock is to be removed from his command, and I forbid him ever again to show himself in uniform. Halder has informed me that we have lost one million and one hundred thousand fallen and seriously wounded, but it is no more than they have deserved! Catastrophe I hear? No, a weeding-out! Only cowardly swine let themselves be annihilated by these untermensch. I forbid that any man from the middle echelon be decorated or promoted until such time as he has rehabilitated himself by service on other sections of the front!’

Hitler ordered thirty-eight more generals removed, twelve to be executed.

Ruthlessly he raged on, demanding the blood of others in payment for the failure of his own reckless plans.

Panzer General Model came close to losing his life when he explained that Napoleon’s armies had also attacked Russia on 22 June and were in Moscow by 14 September, 86 days later. And this was done on foot whilst, by 14 September 1941, Hitler’s Panzer Troops were still 220 miles from Moscow.

For fully five minutes Hitler stood like a stone statue staring at the little general. Then he exploded into a long wailing scream and threw a bundle of documents at his head.

‘Do you dare to say that the Führer of Greater Germany is inferior to that comical little Corsican gangster? A person who only became an officer by reason of the times he lived in! Only the degenerate French could be proud of such an individual.

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