“I suspect what’s ‘at stake’ for you and your associates is at greater risk at the moment than is the case for the Party,” Martin Bormann, Reichsleiter of the NSDAP observed with just the hint of sarcasm. The man’s so far provided the Reich with a string of runaway successes, and placed us on the verge of victory against the greatest Imperial Power the world has ever known… how much of this dissent revolves around his reluctance to attack the Bolsheviks?” The forty-year-old Bormann, a cold, hard-faced man with a personality to match, was effectively the equal to Kurt Reuters in terms of the power and access to Hitler that he commanded, and as such, his cooperation in whatever Zeigler had planned was vital.
“I don’t deny for a moment that his obstruction of the Neue Adler Directors’ designs for the USSR have influenced our plans,” Zeigler replied testily, fully aware of Bormann’s own personal dislikes of Reuters, and that the man was playing games for no other reason than his enjoyment of manipulating people. “Would you deny the Reichsmarschall’s extremely close association with Reichsführer-SS Himmler has been a continued source of discomfort for your own activities, and that of the Party’s?” The observation struck home, and Bormann gave no answer, although the flash of fire in the man’s eyes showed Zeigler how close he’d come to hitting his mark.
“We’re all here because we have issues with Reuters,” Hess cut in, mild exasperation in his tone, “but ‘having issues’ isn’t the same thing as an act of treason! What you’re suggesting is tantamount to staging a coup-d’etat against the head of our own military!” The deputy Führer was probably the most controlled and — truth be told — also the most sane of the group, but he was also a pragmatist, and had no love for the Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht. Like the rest of them in that room, he’d felt his own power and access to Adolf Hitler diminished and marginalised by the emergence and incredible success of Kurt Reuters. “How do you think the Führer will react if we make a move to decapitate the Wehrmacht?”
“You can leave those details to Neue Adler,” Zeigler assured with cold confidence. “We’ve collected some significant and quite damning evidence about the Reichsmarschall’s personal life that will be more than enough to convince the Führer of the rightness of our intentions in this.…” he gave a smug grin “…some of the ‘evidence’ we have is even true…!”
“I always believed the rank of Reichsmarschall was rightfully mine,” Göring snarled darkly from his seat to Bormann’s left. “I’d thought it perhaps just normal jealousy on my part, but you now tell me I’m actually correct! That I would be Reichsmarschall, were it not for this man and his meddling…” The commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe could find many justifications to hold a grudge against Kurt Reuters, but the ‘theft’ of that one honour and promotion had been the greatest insult to his honour and pride. That being said, the man was neither stupid nor foolhardy, and as much as he’d like nothing more than to see Kurt Reuters dangling from a rope, he also recognised that making a move to topple a figure commanding such power was a dangerous game indeed. “Himmler will stand by Reuters… they’re too close now for him to back away from their alliance… and probably Goebbels too. That toxic little dwarf has been working desperately to get back into favour with The Führer for years — when he can find time away from shagging everything wearing a skirt that strays within reach — and we know he’s had a tendency to throw his lot in with Himmler of late.” He shrugged. “He could be a ‘dark horse’ to watch too… his wife and bloody kids are popular at Berchtesgaden, and it’s hard to gauge how much little things like that might sway The Führer toward a given way of thinking…”
“And who can we count on…?” Zeigler asked pointedly, coming to the most important question of the night. “One can’t turn over a rock in Grossdeutschland at the moment without finding someone who thinks our esteemed Reichsmarschall is wonderful… who can we rely on when we make our move?”
“Keitel and Lammers have indicated they’ll stand with us,” Bormann began in a blunt, emotionless tone. “We can of course expect the Party to fall into line with whatever direction I choose, but the feel I have is there’ll be precious few from the Wehrmacht willing to come across: certainly Canaris, Raeder and Dönitz will side with Reuters, and I suspect there’ll be some like Jodl and Von Brauchitsch who’ll sit on the fence and stand with whomever comes out on top at the end.”
“I know we have Von Ribbentrop in our camp,” Göring continued, adding “more’s the pity…” softly under his breath. “…And Herr Bormann’s quite correct about not seeing many allies in the military.” He gave a rueful smile that carried little real humour. “I doubt there’d even be much support from my own Luftwaffe, such has been the man’s meteoric rise. I think Milch is with me, but you can forget Üdet and the rest… most of them would kiss his arse given half a chance. You can forget about Speer too… he’s made it quite clear on several occasions that he considered Reuters a personal friend, and he’s another one we need to keep a close eye on: he’s a relative unknown, and he’s popular with The Führer as well.”
“Ultimately, gentlemen, our success really depends on how quickly and how comprehensively we carry the whole thing off,” Zeigler observed after a long, thoughtful pause. “I’ve no doubt we’ll come up against resistance, but in the end, there’ll be significant numbers who’ll change sides without a second thought if we can prove we hold the upper hand… feel free to correct me if I’m wrong…” He left the statement open for discussion, but there were no takers.
“After the British Surrender, you think…?” Bormann queried, not so confident in the timing of military matters.
“I doubt we’d have any opportunity before then,” Zeigler shrugged, “and I should think the Führer would definitely block any move anyway… Reuters has him so terrified of a free Britain he’d pay any price to see the country knocked out of the war for good.”
“And you don’t think the increase in prestige and accolades that brings will make things more difficult…?” Hess this time, with what seemed an extremely pertinent question, at which point Zeigler simply turned to glance at the man beside him.
“Take it from me, gentlemen,” Strauss answered without hesitation, “with the documented ‘evidence’ we’ll be able to bring to bear upon Kurt Reuters, the Lord himself would doubt the man’s honour!”
Schiller was still listening at the gap between the doors as he suddenly heard the ring of approaching footsteps from the far end of the corridor. His reaction was instinctive and immediate, and as a guard on patrol appeared around the corner, he was already standing upright once more and moving as if he’d been walking toward the man the whole time.