1300 Conference room in Reichskanzlei, Wilhelmstrasse 77, Berlin
Men seated in their chairs placed around the table could, even through the closed doors, hear sharp military steps pounding the granite floors. Double door opened and two soldiers in black uniforms with double lightning insignia stepped in. Although armed only with holstered pistols, they left no doubt to all present that they could kill anybody in the room should they attempt anything threatening. A second later, Goering stepped in the office. This was his first conference with senior leaders of the Reich in capacity of national leader. Inspite of his momentary desire to assume full title of the Fuehrer, he decided, after careful consideration, not to. If everything went as he planned, he could do it later. First he had to establish sufficient authority and prestige. Besides such fast grabbing of the coveted title would cause all sorts of speculation. Until all conspirators were arrested and responsible persons identified, he would not toy with the powerful forces held at bay only by the iron will and magical charisma of the (late) Fuehrer. He was sure that these forces were slowly awakening from their imposed slumber. All these thoughts crossed Goerings mind as he walked to the head of the table. As he approached his chair, escorting SS-Liebstandarte pretorian pulled it to allow him to sit. Another one placed neat folder on the desk, in front of Goering. Goering nodded at both of them, and they took their positions aside from the desk. Goering came to admire methodical efficiency of the Liebstandarte and their carefully trained coreography of protective detail.
"As you all know" he spoke to the gathered men "the Fuehrer has been killed last night." As he uttered these words, Goering tried to read the faces of men sitting in front of him. He couldn't detect any guilt on the face of the more obvious suspects, such as senior generals or heads of the security services, which took positions closest to the head of the table. All he could see there was deep wondering (presumably about the same thing), as they all tried to detect the same on each others faces. 'Curious', he thought, 'I am sure perpetrator must be in this room.' He continued aloud "Only this morning we received many condolences on behalf of leaders and people of all countries, but those we are at war with. These were quick to send us their assurances that they will maintain current "friendship" with us, we all came to appreciate. Joachim" he looked towards foreign minister, barely able to conceal his contempt "if you please, provide us with details!".
Von Ribbentrop raised his eyes from the folder open in front of him and said "Well, as we expected, Anglo-French coalition is continuing their encirclement policy. My personal belief and of most of my staff is that English are pushing the French further into this war. English sent their proclamation almost at the same time that it was broadcasted on their state radio. French were a bit more subtle and delivered it through Belgium, using mediation of Belgian Foreign affairs. Both proclamation are roughly identical in content and both refer to Ultimatum we receveid on 3rd of September." All present started excited whispering and head waving, expressing their surprise. "Well this is about what one might expect on such a short notice" said Goering. "I believe they expect us to collapse without..." he stopped, unsure how to refer to Hitler. It seemed so undignified to call him the late Fuehrer, and anything else was just grotesque. "Herr Halder from the Oberkommando des Heeres will present our dispositions." Halder stood up, and started walking toward large map of Europe hanging on the wall. He felt eyes of SS troopers on him and he could swear that nearest one has almost unnoticably relaxed his right hand and moved it closer to the gun hanging on the side. "Herr Praesident, meine Herren, You can see on this map current dispositions of our forces, and of enemy formations identified so far. Here, here and here" he said pointing on areas of Germany on the French border "are our army groups A, B and C. Army group A is by far our strongest formation on the West. Currently it consists of 12th and 16th Army and Panzer gruppe Kleist, while 4th army in transit from Poland is also going to be part of this Army group. Panzer gruppe is novel formation, modeled after formidable success Panzer arm of Wehrmacht achieved in Poland. Army grup B consists of 6th Army, formation created in October and currently being trained and 1st Army, already deployed. Army group C is deployed along the French border, covering their forces on Maginot line. This formation consists of 7th and 18th Army. We plan to fully deploy all formations by march 1940. At full strength, we will have 10 panzer divisions and 100 infantry division formations or their equivalents. So far, action on the front has been light. French tried limited offensive toward our Sigfried line, on narrow front. Why they stopped is not known. Our losses during this offensive were light. However, intelligence we received so far, as well as B-dienst have identified over 100 divisional formations active on the french side of the front. Reports from before the war indicated that French army has around 3500 armoured vehicles. Although, admitedly, most troops are deployed in the area of Maginot line our reconaissance flights over Northern France have detected large formations deployed in offensive posture near the border with Belgium." Halder stopped and started towards his seat, whem Goering asked "Herr Halder, can you elaborate our existing plans?" This question caused Halder to freeze. How could he say that German Generalstaff has been unable to device plan that would differ from the one that lost the war quarter of a century ago? What is worse, Goering knew their plans and was involved in most aspects of operational planning. Was he trying to discredit him personally? Or entire army? He decided to stall "Herr Praesident, the plans are still in the initial stages. We were supposed to present the draft of a plan in two weeks from now. That was before events of previous night."
"Herr Halder, please, give us your professional estimate of our options and chances. These people here must have full available information if any rational decision can be made!"
Reluctantly, Halder continued "To be frank, operational possibilities on Western front are limited. We have three basic routes for assault. First, and most obvious one is common border. This option is unfavorable for attack. Rhein river is too wide to be forded easily, especially in spring. On the other side of the river we will be met with Maginot line with its formidable array of fortresses and fortified positions. It would take appaling casualties to even approach this line, and breeching it is near impossible. Second and third option is taking route through flanks of the front, where we share border with small, neutral countries. On the left flank of the front we have Switzerland. We currently do not have plans ready for attack on Switzerland. Level of difficulties involving invasion of this country can only be guessed at without detailed study. My personal feeling is that this operation is perhaps even more difficult than outright attack over common border with France. Our only other option is an attack through Belgium. This operation is easy, Belgium is military highway to France since Ceasar. However, it is also the most obvious route. As I explained earlier, French have deployed strong formations on their north. According to plans leaked to our spies, these forces are ready to start marching into Belgium at moment notice. We are not sure whether they would advance all the way or take positions on easily defensible river banks. Either way, it would mean meeting engagement. Tactical fluidity of such operations is notorious and little control is possible to senior commanders on either side. My colleagues believe that Wehrmacht would have advantage in this form of battle. I myself am reluctant to waive off inherent risk of total loss of control and consequent loss of battle." Halder finished, glad that he wasn't interrupted, wondering if he perhaps was too frank.
"Thank you herr Generalloberst. You may take your seat now." Goering said, in obvious dismisall. Inwardly, he was glad that Halder gave such a briefing. Of course, he knew most of this, but others had to hear it from the mouth of professional soldier to truly appreciate the gravity of situation they were in. "Any comments on this?"
Most present had been stunned. Disparity between the forces of Germany and her enemies at the moment were discouraging. Other senior military officers present included Brauchitsch, Jodl and Kaitel, as well as admiral Roeder and Generalmajor Jeschonnek, Chief of Lutftwaffe General Staff. Jodl and Keitel, while aware of forces arrayed against their country, relied on Hitlers genious to overcome adversity as he had many times before. Their hope was extinguished and now they wondered whether their positions were safe. They didn't have anything to add to Halders expose. Other officers viewed land warfare as distant affair, outside their area of competence, while von Brauchitsch, who discussed all this with Halder earlier, decided to keep quiet unless asked directly. Civilian ministers Fritz Todt and Julius Dorpmueller listened intently, taking notes, had nothing useful to add to discussion. Other minor officials and aides were surprised, but showed nothing on their faces.
It was Admiral Canaris who spoke next "Herr praesident, if I may?" "You have my permission herr Admiral." Goering wasn't sure what to think about this enigmatic person. He knew Hitler was not fond of this former submarine officer. He also knew that Abwehr, which Canaris commanded was quickly becoming superflous organization, that Heydrich strived to include in his growing security empire. This man may still prove useful, he thought. At that moment, Canaris started speaking "Meine herren, my service has indication that western Allies are prepared to pursue this war. Our Foreing armies (West) department has confirmed the numbers herr Halder quoted earlier. We have sources claiming that further divisional formations are on the way from Englands colonies (or dominions as they call it) and that, instead of full offensive, Western powers intend to blockade Germany, cutting us off the world markets."
Goering smiled. This meeting was turning out even better than he hoped. He still had to take care of one more thing on the agenda "Thank you herr Admiral. Well, time has come for even more unpleasant business. Herr Himmler, please continue."
Small man in black uniform stood up. Most people present in the room were afraid of him. Pure evil radiated from him wherever he appeared. He spoke without adressing anyone or without introduction of any kind "Reichssicherheitshauptamt has started investigation into assassination of der Fuehrer almost instantly. Munich was isolated during the night, and nobody but personnel of RSHA was able to enter or leave city. I am happy to report that the man directly responsible for the bomb that killed der Fuehrer was arrested by Munich Gestapo office. Despite interogations both there and in our SS HQ in Berlin, he has not yet uncovered his accessories nor his employers. However, as he is interogated for only 10 hours so far, we didn't expect to uncover anything of value yet. We at SS are certain that he didn't act in isolation, since person in question as you can see from his file, is virtual nobody. Once we uncover his co-conspirators," at this he looked around the table ominously which caused shudders in everyone "we will deal them some good, old fashioned SS justice!"
"Since we appear to have gone over everything on agenda, I propose a break for fifteen minutes." said Goering as he rose up from his chair.
