On the afternoon of August 25, 1942, in Obersalzberg, the Third Reich's Eagles NestStavka was holding an imperial strategic meeting.
This meeting had been proposed by Hoffman on short notice. Since few people were involved, they did not use the large conference room from yesterday's military meeting, but instead chose a reception room with fresh air and a good view. However, the improved environment clearly did not lift the spirits of those in attendance.
On the contrary, the atmosphere at the start of the meeting was very poor.
As soon as everyone sat down, before Hoffman could speak, the pot-bellied Nazi veteran, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring spoke up first, his tone dripping with sarcasm: "I wonder if the Führer's bodyguard searched everyone's briefcases today. If another bomb goes off like yesterday, the Party and the State will be finished. The Führer has saved the generals once, but it is not certain he can save us again."
Clearly, the events of last night had spread among the high command. Göring's words were aimed directly at the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, not only because the Leibstandarte responsible for security belonged to the SS, but also because the function of arresting conspirators fell under the Gestapo.
Himmler had neither disrupted the rebel organization's actions beforehand nor handled it in time during the meeting; legally speaking, he was completely derelict in his duty.
But Hoffman knew that Göring was mostly using this as a pretext. Last night, he had explicitly ordered the four Luftwaffe field divisions to be broken up and used as replacement units. Needless to say, the Luftwaffe's representative at the Stavka must have relayed the news early this morning. This had touched a sensitive nerve for Göring; he dared not get angry at the Führer openly, so he could only vent his frustration through veiled insults.
The meeting fell into silence. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do. On one side was the disgruntled Göring, and on the other was the sullen-faced Himmler—precisely the number two and number three figures of the Third Reich. Added to that was the calm and composed Führer sitting in the middle, and no one dared to speak rashly.
A moment later, Himmler spoke: "My Führer, I must offer you a solemn apology, because our operational errors allowed the conspiracy of the traitors to reach such a rampant level."
The Reichsführer-SS, who had started out as a chicken farmer, spoke in a low voice, his tone full of remorse and unease, his thin frame standing straight. "However, we have been acting throughout the night and made breakthrough progress this morning..." He appeared quite confident as he spoke, while distributing dossiers to those in attendance.
Tresckow had indeed failed to withstand the Gestapo's torture and had confessed the key figures of the conspiracy that very night. In fact, even if he hadn't said a word, Hoffman already knew the list of all the important figures: the names of the former Chief of the General Staff, General Ludwig Beck, and the former Commander-in-Chief West, Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, were certainly unavoidable. The head of the Abwehr, Admiral Wilhelm Franz Canaris, had also vaguely surfaced, and the Commander of the Replacement Army, Colonel General Friedrich Fromm, and the Quartermaster General of the Army, General of Artillery Eduard Wagner, were also famous names. As for the other small fry, there was a whole string of them.
The turmoil surrounding the traitorous group was growing, and looking at the long list in their hands, everyone felt their scalps tingle.
"It is clear that there are deep-seated reasons for the unfavorable war situation over the past year," Hoffman roared, holding up the dossier. "My Quartermaster General is a traitor; no wonder the soldiers couldn't get rations during the Battle of Moscow and had to fight the Russians in sub-zero 30-degree weather wearing only thin summer clothes. My Commander of the Replacement Army is a traitor; no wonder the Replacement Army, with over two million men, could never replenish the front lines in time. Stalin has had 500 divisions destroyed by us, only to have another 500 appear, while we drag our feet even on providing 50 divisions as reinforcements. My head of the Abwehr is also a traitor; no wonder we invested so much manpower, material, and financial resources only to reap intelligence that was riddled with holes and contradictory! Both commanders of Army Group Center were involved with the traitorous group, and the Chief of Staff was simply a core member. How could such a force even win battles?"
"Hmph! The Army has traitors, the Navy has traitors, the General Staff, the OKW, and even the Replacement Army have traitors. Only our Luftwaffe is the strong bulwark of National Socialism, all of us loyal to the Führer." Following Hoffman's lead, Göring suddenly slammed the dossier onto the table viciously, stood up, and pointed at Zeitzler's nose, cursing, "Speak! Why did you break up our Luftwaffe field divisions and mix the loyal and reliable Luftwaffe units into the unreliable Army? I think you are also a hidden traitor."
Wasn't it said that Göring had lost the Führer's favor after the failures at Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain? How could this fat man dare to be so arrogant and use this as a pretext! Hoffman couldn't watch any longer. He pounded the table in front of him and said loudly, "Watch your language, Field Marshal Göring. Breaking up the Luftwaffe field divisions was my order. We are now discussing the punishment of the traitorous group; do not point the spear of struggle at your colleagues."
Upon hearing this, Göring immediately deflated, grunted twice, and sat back down.
"I think some people don't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth, daring to oppose even the Führer's orders," Göring's constant rival, Martin Bormann, did not forget to add fuel to the fire. "Perhaps because the explosion didn't happen, some people cannot be elevated to Deputy Führer or take over."
Bormann's words had a basis; on June 29, 1941, the Führer had issued an order that should anything happen to him during the war, Göring would be his successor. Seeing the furious Göring about to pounce on Bormann again, Hoffman had to step in and reprimand him: "Bormann, you say less too."
Seeing the meeting reach a stalemate, the mouthpiece of the Third Reich, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, stepped in to smooth things over: "Comrades have all heard about yesterday's events. We all rushed to the Führer's side in great anxiety—fortunately, everything was safe and sound. If it hadn't been for the Führer's brilliant and decisive action on the spot, who knows what kind of disaster would have been brewed. It is evident that the Führer possesses insight and decisiveness far beyond our own. As for how to pursue and handle the traitorous group, it is best that we also obey the Führer's instructions."
Goebbels was indeed a master of balance, but what really moved Hoffman was more than that. He knew that even until the very last moment of the Führer's suicide, the Goebbels couple had decided to follow, not only poisoning their six children with their own hands but also committing suicide together—just for this loyalty, he had to make heavy use of him. Of course, more importantly, it was to change the fate of himself and the entire Goebbels family.
He cast an appreciative look at Goebbels and said slowly: "Facts have proven that our intelligence work has loopholes. Of course, this is not Himmler's responsibility alone; the burden on him is too heavy. Canaris, by virtue of his position in charge of the Abwehr, played a very important role in the traitorous group and successfully deceived us, which shows the necessity of continuing to strengthen intelligence work. I have decided that from now on, the Abwehr will be directly responsible to me, and the foreign functions of the Reich Security Main Office and the Foreign Armies East will be transferred to it, fully responsible for collecting foreign information. Daily work will be assisted by Comrade Bormann; the domestic functions of the Reich Security Main Office will continue to be strengthened to be responsible for monitoring domestic enemies."
After finishing these words, Hoffman looked at Himmler. Unexpectedly, the expression behind the other's spectacle lenses was unusually calm, showing little dissatisfaction. It seemed that the Führer personally capturing the traitorous group had greatly affected him, and he could only grit his teeth and execute the order to reorganize the intelligence agencies. Everyone had originally feared that the chicken farmer's influence was too great, and seeing the Führer personally step in to reduce his power, they all expressed their approval. Bormann had not expected such a big pie to fall on his head; his face flushed red, and his whole body was filled with excitement.
Hoffman was also capable of finding balance. To appease Himmler, he added another sentence: "Over the past year, the Waffen-SS has made outstanding contributions on the Eastern Front; both their spirit of sacrifice and combat performance have been exceptionally outstanding. In addition, judging from the list of this traitorous group, the SS has not been infiltrated by the enemy and still maintains its consistent loyalty and reliability. This is the glory of National Socialism and the Party. I authorize you to form four more Waffen-SS divisions and, at the same time, prioritize reorganizing the Hitler Division, the Empire Division, and the Death's Head Division, currently resting in France, into armored divisions."
"Yes, my Führer." Himmler, who had been sullen-faced the whole time, finally revealed a trace of a smile after receiving the favorable news. Zeitzler was certainly not satisfied with the expansion and priority replenishment of the Waffen-SS, but now that the Wehrmacht had produced so many traitors, it was reasonable for the Führer to increase the Waffen-SS units because he did not trust the Wehrmacht. Didn't everyone see that the Führer had even taken military intelligence into his own hands? This was also a lack of trust in the Gestapo; the Wehrmacht was not necessarily the only one out of luck.