Imperial Elite

Chapter 137 Who am I and where am I?

Manfred, nicknamed the Red Knight.

If Joe was the master of armored forces during the great war, then Manfred was undoubtedly the king of the skies.

Throughout the war, Manfred was the first pilot in human history to shoot down more than 100 enemy pilots and was the recipient of the highest military honor in the Teutonic Empire.

Although the Teutonic army was disbanded after the war, even during the Rhine Crisis, the worst period for the Teutonic economy, the Red Knights did not worry about making a living like ordinary Teutons.

While ordinary Teutons were worrying about bread for their tables, Manfred was in the Caucasus Mountains, eating stewed beef with an oriental flair, training pilots for the Lucia military government and the Black Army.

From the day the war ended, apart from a brief encounter with Joe during the disarmament period.

The rest of the time, Manfred stayed in the mountains of the Caucasus to train young pilots for both countries in order to maintain the training of Teutonic Air Force pilots.

On many occasions, Manfred would even personally pilot the plane into the air to give these youngsters a little bit of the Red Baron's awe.

Because he had lived far from home for many years, Manfred had little interest in politics, so it didn't make much difference to him whether the Republican government or the National Socialist Party came to power.

For Manfred, the only two changes the rise of the National Socialist Party to power brought to his life were his return from the Caucasus mountains to Germania.

At the same time, he became the Air Force Commander, and now he is in charge of the entire Teutonic Air Force.

This is a good thing for Manfred.

After all, as a frontline pilot during the war, he had strong opinions on the weapons and composition of the air force. However, although he was an ace at that time, the Teutonic Army had its rules. The Imperial Air Force could refer to the opinions of the top ace, but reforming it was not so simple.

Now, he can build the Teutonic air force according to his own wishes.

However, it's not all good news. Now that the National Socialist Party is in power, not only does the head of state have an armed guard, but the air force is also inevitably subject to politicization.

Under Manfred, the deputy commander, was another ace pilot from the war, Hermann, who also served as deputy commander.

However, unlike Manfred, who was captivated by the sky, Herman's interest in power was clearly greater than his interest in the sky.

If Manfred hadn't been so highly regarded, during the post-war Black Army era, the Shadow Air Force's training force consisted entirely of Manfred's students, and Hermann, as a close friend of the Führer, might very well have been able to directly sideline Manfred and take control of the Air Force.

Although he was able to carry out his will in the Air Force, Manfred, who did not want to engage in a power struggle with Herman, would leave Germania whenever he had free time to inspect various air force bases and avoid the annoying Herman.

However, Manfred now finds himself unable to escape the devilish thing called politics.

Five minutes earlier, a captain had found Manfred, who recognized him as the son of an old friend.

If that old friend hadn't died in Paris, he would now be a member of the Air Force Command.

Out of friendship for his old friend, Manfred met with the captain. However, Manfred did not expect that the captain was not there to reminisce or seek any career advancement.

Instead, they told themselves bluntly that the Teutons were on the verge of disaster, that this leader was leading them into war, and that they must now set things right, save the collapsing empire, and bring the Teutons back to the right path.

To save the Teutonic Kingdom, Manfred doesn't need to do anything; he just needs to wait for the new government to be formed and then continue doing what he does best.

Upon hearing his old friend's orphan's words, Manfred was momentarily at a loss for words; such political matters were somewhat beyond his comprehension.

Just as Manfred was in a daze, the phone rang in his office.

Amid the shock of the coup that had taken place in Germania, Manfred answered the phone, and a familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar voice rang out from the other end.

“Manfred, it’s me…”

Upon hearing the Führer's voice on the phone, Manfred immediately thought of his old friend's orphan, who was still behind him, and for a moment Manfred didn't know what to say.

However, just as Manfred remained silent, a hint of sadness lingered in the Führer's voice on the phone.

"The rebels stormed the Air Force headquarters, where Hermann fought to the last moment..."

Manfred was stunned when he heard this.

Overall, Herman was hardly Manfred's friend, and even his colleague was a stretch.

Otherwise, Manfred wouldn't have frequently left Germania to inspect air bases throughout Teutonic China, becoming his wandering commander.

But there was one thing Manfred always remembered: when he first met Herman, Herman had told him, "Anything you want, anything the Air Force needs, tell me, and I'll get it for you."

Although Manfred and Herman parted ways almost on bad terms after a brief honeymoon period, Herman always kept his promise, even though they had some different views on the organization and development of the Air Force.

But whenever the Air Force needed it, whenever those young men in the Air Force needed it, Herman could always get them what they needed.

A moment later, the head of state put down the phone and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Caught off guard by the rebels, the only reliable fighting force the Führer could muster at this point was the armored divisions of the three armed guards on the outskirts of Germania.

As for Manfred, who was not deeply involved in politics, the Führer's best expectation was that he would remain neutral in this coup.

However, the leader did not expect that this war hero would make such a choice, which made the huge weight on the leader's heart lighten a little.

However, after the rebellion, the Führer had lost trust in many things, so after hanging up the phone, he made several more calls.

Although the head of state's guard is divided into two categories, only the armed guard has field combat capabilities, the head of state can no longer worry about that now.

All guards near the air force base must now proceed immediately to the base to protect it from insurgent attacks.

Of course, if there are any unusual movements in the air force, then these guards will be the head of state's last line of defense.

After making arrangements for the air force, the Führer picked up the phone again. It was time to reassure the army generals, especially the troops on the western front. Those armored divisions absolutely could not be exposed now.

Once the actions of those armored divisions are exposed, leading to Gallic intervention, everything will be over.

While the Führer was making arrangements at the headquarters of the Levant, the royalist rebels in Germania, who had intercepted his telegrams and broadcasts, were thrown into chaos. Although they were dissatisfied with the National Socialists, the National Socialists had indeed been elected to power by the Teutons, and their economic reforms after taking power had not only reduced unemployment but also satisfied the Teutons with social welfare benefits.

Therefore, although the royalists have influence in the upper echelons of the army, it is a question of how many troops in the lower ranks would be willing to obey them rather than the head of state after hearing news of the coup.

After all, maintaining neutrality on political issues has always been a tradition of the officer corps.

Therefore, with each passing minute, the leader's strength increases further.

If nothing unexpected happens, the three armed guard divisions around Germania have already begun operations.

Although no one knows the exact combat capabilities of these three divisions, all three divisions are equipped with tanks, while the troops mobilized by the royalist rebels are mostly infantry.

Even though they have temporarily taken control of Germania, they have only acquired some armored vehicles and artillery as a supplement.

Furthermore, they are at a significant disadvantage in terms of numbers.

Unless the National Defense Forces on the Eastern or Western Fronts declare defection now, given some time, their only fate is annihilation.

With things having progressed to this point, the royalists naturally only had two options left: first, to continue to garner support from the Germanic armed forces, and second, to find a way to assassinate the Führer and accomplish the task they had failed to achieve at the outset of the coup.

As for seeking help from foreign powers...

Impossible. They want to save the country, not to start another Seven Years' War in Teutonic Kingdom.

Moreover, if foreign interference is introduced now, the National Army will immediately and firmly stand on the side of the Führer, and the entire Teutonic community will think that they are merely agents of foreign powers, here to disrupt Teutonicity.

Even if the Führer died, the National Socialist Party would still control the Teutonic Party.

Therefore, after the position of the head of state was determined, the royalists immediately made a decision.

While the main force began to set up defenses throughout Germania, it continued to maintain contact with the troops on both the eastern and western fronts, striving to gain their support.

At the same time, troops were dispatched to find a way to kill the leader.

At this time, the only Royalist force capable of completing this task was Hans's paratrooper unit.

Hans didn't say anything, after all, it was his fault for failing to capture the Führer, which led to the current stalemate in the coup.

Then it should be up to him to solve this problem; it's just the guard's camp.

No matter how strict the defenses are, can they be stricter than those of Paris back then?
Why don't I go in and out several times?
Hans hopped onto the half-track and led the paratroopers toward the Levante camp.

Meanwhile, Holz had already completed his deployment. Although Germania was vast, there were only a few routes that could be used to mobilize a large force.

At the same time, Holz's guard was not just a simple guard organization. Since purging those brown-shirt thugs, the guard began to expand uncontrollably.

From counterintelligence operations to contracting projects in the fields, there was no business the guards didn't participate in, and no task they couldn't do.

Therefore, although many organizations fly the flag of the guard, they are not actually military-trained organizations.

However, there was no time to worry about that now. Under Holtz's orders, these guards, who had little combat capability, were mobilized to block all access routes to Germania. And waiting near these thin blockade lines were armored combat groups of the armed guards.

Because the front lines were too long and there were too few reliable troops, Holtz had no choice but to use those incapable of fighting as human tripwires to complete the blockade of the Germania outskirts.

After all, Holz's two most reliable and elite armored regiments had already entered Germania and were advancing toward the broadcast building and the army headquarters.

Even if Holtz couldn't capture the broadcasting building or the Army headquarters, he wanted his troops to destroy the communications and broadcasting facilities there so that the rebels could no longer broadcast illegally.

After that, the National Guard mobilized from across the country, even if they were just a pile of them, was able to drown the rebels in blood.

Holz felt that the two armored regiments should be able to meet this minimum requirement.

After completing all the deployments, Holtz wondered why the rebels seemed to have gone quiet after seizing the Army Headquarters and the Broadcasting Building. Now that he had basically completed the outer blockade, they had not taken any further action.

While they were waiting for reinforcements, what were they waiting for?

Somewhat worried, Holtz decided to take his men to inspect the blockade line to ensure that not even a fly could escape from Germania, let alone a group of rebels.

Meanwhile, Hans was scratching his head while holding the map in his hand.

As it turned out, even though he had become a colonel-level officer, Hans had not made any progress in determining his own location using a map.

On his way out of the city with his troops to deal with the Führer, Hans once again encountered the same little problem he always faced in the past.

Before setting off, I would look at the map and feel confident that I would be fine. I thought that with such a simple road, I could never get lost.

However, after setting off, I quickly found myself wondering who I was, where I was, and what I was doing.

This was true in the past, and it remains true now.

The only good news is that, although they got lost, they have now successfully left Germania.

We encountered no obstacles along the way.

This prevented the paratroopers from realizing that Hans had gotten lost again.

However, even Hans, who is quite experienced in getting lost, has a solution.

He took a pencil out of his pocket and stood it on the map.

Wherever the pencil was poured, Hans would walk in that direction.

With the help of a pencil, Hans quickly returned to the road. At that moment, Hans noticed lights on the road in the distance, indicating that troops were marching.

(End of this chapter)