With a "snap," Hoffman at the Eagles NestStavka switched off the radio, no longer listening to the nagging arranged by Goebbels—it was a long list that took forever to read.
These lists were only published after his approval; rather than hiding them and keeping the public in the dark, it was better to announce them openly to avoid wild speculation and, at the very least, create a deterrent effect.
Facts proved that Himmler's methods and ruthless nature were exceptionally prominent; not only did he use this incident to brand Göring as a traitor, but he also logically staged a scene of suicide out of fear of punishment.
Hoffman knew what the truth was without needing to look or investigate.
Göring had originally been completely unrelated to this incident; the trouble was that he was usually too arrogant.
Not only did no one come forward to plead for him during the handling of the case, but even after the details of the case were announced, no one expressed any doubts—even though everyone knew what was going on behind the scenes.
But for the sake of Göring, Hoffman hadn't slept well for several days in a row.
To tell the truth, he had originally only wanted to strip Göring of his power and hadn't intended to put him to death, even intending to let him keep the title of Reich Marshal.
However, the consequences were cold and ruthless.
It was just a subconscious hint at the time, and the next day, Himmler had already finished the job.
Although he had transmigrated to become the Führer and inherited the Führer's cold and ruthless memories, he was, after all, just an intellectual's soul who had transmigrated, and he could hardly be called a qualified politician.
He had never even experienced parliamentary struggles before, yet now, in the midst of casual conversation, he had cleared away a Reich Marshal and the party's number two figure.
The feeling of having great power in his hands was good, but it was also terrifying—how could he sleep?
The problem was that others did not know Hoffman's original intention.
Whether they were party veterans or high-ranking military officials, they were all awed by the Führer's thunderous methods of purging Göring's forces.
If it had taken great effort to purge the SA and Röhm back in the day, this liquidation of Göring could be considered effortless.
Everyone was overwhelmed by the Führer's authority; even the usually carefree Ribbentrop was now speaking with extreme caution.
Initially, he had still felt a little sympathy for Göring's fate, but after Himmler presented the list of confiscated items from Göring's home, his mood gradually returned to calm.
The list showed that the real estate, securities, diamonds, gold, and cash under Göring's name totaled 50 million Reich Marks, while the value of the antiques, cultural relics, and oil paintings collected by Göring exceeded 400 million Reich Marks—all of which he had scraped together from various places using clever means, paying an extremely insignificant price.
In addition, under Göring's name was the Hermann Göring Imperial Mining and Steel Works; this steel enterprise, which was only established in 1936, had, with the protection of powerful figures, developed into one of Germany's top five steel giants after just a few years of development.
The value of this portion of shares was also no less than 100 million Marks.
The cost of a single Panzer IV tank was only 100,000 Reich Marks; Göring's net worth was actually equivalent to 5,000 tanks.
Hoffman was deeply shocked by this, and the last remaining shred of sympathy vanished into thin air.
"My Führer, Göring may not have committed treason, but his crimes are no different from those of a traitor," Martin Bormann said indignantly, looking at Hoffman's uneasy mood.
"Look at his extravagant lifestyle; even the House of Hohenzollern did not have such a grand display. His fate is not worth the slightest sympathy."
"I know, it's just that the thought of our friendship over so many years makes it impossible for me to face this as if nothing happened."
Hoffman stopped dwelling on the Göring affair and instead changed the subject to instruct Bormann.
"After the Göring incident, your task is also very arduous. You must strengthen the National Socialist education of comrades within the party, guide them to transfer their enthusiasm for getting rich into contributing all their strength to the imperial cause, and pay attention to the evaluation and assessment of cadres at all levels. We cannot bear similar damage again, and we cannot afford to."
"Now, Himmler, Goebbels, you, and Speer are my most trusted assistants. Himmler is in charge of the SS, Goebbels is to be in charge of government affairs, and Speer is to take charge of the economy and armaments. But the core of our cause is the Party and National Socialism, and no one is allowed to trample on or override this principle. Therefore, you must perform your duties faithfully and be humble and cautious."
Bormann nodded, indicating that he understood the subtext of Hoffman's words.
After Göring fell, Himmler's power became too great and had to be checked.
Although the Führer had weakened some of the SS's power by taking advantage of the integration of intelligence agencies, Himmler's overall status had still risen.
To curb this momentum, he had to use party pawns like Bormann—after experiencing the test of the Göring incident, Hoffman had matured quite a bit politically, and his methods of handling problems had also become much smoother.
Bormann and Goebbels were the pawns he used to check Himmler, and they had to be used well.
To avoid having those familiar with him notice any flaws, Hoffman also racked his brains to slowly send away the people around him.
Chief Adjutant Schmundt was promoted by one rank and appointed as a Lieutenant General to the Eastern Front to take over the position of Quartermaster General.
Zeitzler naturally welcomed the arrival of this old friend with both hands.
Dr. Morell, who was familiar with the Führer's body, was also sent to the medical department of the Eastern Front logistics department under the pretext of an assignment—this charlatan who was ignorant and incompetent, and spent all day figuring out how to inject the Führer with drugs and other medicines, was finally swept out the door.
He was also determined to replace other service personnel for the Führer at an appropriate time in the future so as to reduce the risk of his identity being exposed to a minimum.
There was perhaps only one person in all of Germany he could not replace, and that was Eva—Eva Braun.
For the past two days, besides the Göring affair, he had also been racking his brain over how to face this woman who lived in the Berghof villa just a few kilometers away and was the closest person to the Führer.
He could delay dealing with Eva for a few days, but the problem of the Air Force could not be delayed for a single moment.
After Göring's downfall, a wave of purging Göring's remnants also broke out within the Air Force.
Keitel, acting on Hoffman's instructions, had tried his best to control the situation so it would not become too severe, but the wave of purging still inevitably affected the Air Force's number two figure, Air Force Inspector General Field Marshal Milch.
Because his father was Jewish, he had been questioned as early as 1935, and the Gestapo had also intervened in the investigation.
At the time, to protect Milch, Göring had claimed that Milch's father was not the Jewish pharmacist Anton Milch, but his uncle Karl Brauer, and this was guaranteed by a certificate signed by Milch's mother.
Göring had even famously said: "In the German Air Force, I decide who is a Jew!"
But now that Göring had collapsed, the promises and guarantees he had made were also invalid—it was easy for Himmler to find out that the German blood certificate Milch had obtained later was fake, and Milch was a Jewish descendant, through and through.
Facing such a thorny problem, Keitel did not dare to act on his own and could only return to ask for instructions.
As a scholar with a conscience, Hoffman abhorred racism and anti-Semitism and really wanted to change this established national policy, but he also knew deeply that anti-Semitism was a deeply rooted consensus throughout the Third Reich.
Even as the Führer, he could not go against the will of the entire Party.
After thinking for a long time, he finally decided to proceed slowly.
"Obviously, Field Marshal Milch must move to a different position, otherwise there is no way to answer for it within the Air Force."
In Hoffman's memory, Milch's ability was outstanding, but his shortcomings were also quite distinct—he was too power-hungry and was deeply criticized within the Air Force.
Due to his lack of cooperation, the Air Force Chief of Staff was changed one after another, until Milch's former deputy, Jeschonnek, who was only 40 at the time, took office and sat firmly in this position, which showed how poor Milch's popularity was.
Moreover, Milch was better at administrative management and personnel organization than at strategic command, and he had a bias against the development of new aircraft, even delaying the service of the Me-262 because of his poor relationship with Dr. Messerschmitt, which was fatal for an Air Force Inspector General.
"Hasn't the matter of the prisoner-of-war camps been handed over to the Air Force? Let Field Marshal Milch transfer to become the Director of the Administrative Affairs Bureau of the High Command of the Armed Forces, specializing in handling prisoner affairs."
Hoffman instructed, "As for the claim of being a Jewish descendant, do not mention it again. Although Göring has been dealt with, it does not mean that every single thing Göring did and every word he said in the past was wrong. What should be persisted in should continue to be persisted in. The handling of other people must not continue to expand, otherwise only our enemies will be happy. The High Command of the Armed Forces must stand firm; the Wehrmacht is not a subordinate institution of the SS."
Bormann, who was standing by, also nodded repeatedly.
The Führer's words faintly contained a reproach of the SS; it seemed that he did not want to let Himmler run wild either.
Keitel asked, "How should the subsequent personnel and organizational issues of the Air Force be arranged? Currently, the most popular candidate to succeed as Air Force Commander is Field Marshal Kesselring. In addition, Western Front Air Force Commander Field Marshal Sperrle and Colonel General Wolfram von Richthofen both have a certain number of supporters."
"The Southern Front is the strategic direction for the future; Kesselring's position as Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Front must never be shaken. As for the other two..."
Hoffman hesitated slightly and paced back and forth.
These two people had too little seniority, and he was afraid they would not be able to suppress that group of arrogant generals in the Air Force.
He kept turning in circles on the spot, but he still hadn't made up his mind.
"My Führer, why don't you concurrently serve as the Air Force Commander?"
Seeing that Hoffman had not spoken for a long time, Bormann interjected, "As the Supreme Commander of the Empire, you are already concurrently serving as the Army Commander-in-Chief, and you can also concurrently serve as the Air Force Commander—this will help stabilize the situation more quickly."
Keitel had originally been mocking Bormann for being a sycophant in his heart, but upon further thought, he felt it was not unacceptable.
Once the Führer concurrently served as Air Force Commander, it meant completely breaking the state of the Air Force as an "independent kingdom," which was of great benefit to the High Command of the Armed Forces in grasping the overall situation.
Therefore, he also chimed in with a beaming smile, waiting for the Führer to accept it gladly.
Who knew that Hoffman would give a different answer: "Let me consider it first. We will return to Berlin tomorrow. I want to communicate my thoughts on Air Force tactics and aviation manufacturing with the Air Force generals. This is crucial to our strategy."