January 3, 1933. The temperature in Berlin had long since dropped below zero. Outside the window, a cold wind mixed with snowflakes beat against the German Presidential Palace where Hindenburg resided. The firewood in the fireplace crackled and burned, the bright flames plating the furniture in the room, as well as Hindenburg and the others, with a layer of gold.

The 86-year-old Field Marshal quietly listened to the report from the German Army intelligence officer he trusted regarding the "rumors" about himself. Hindenburg, of course, knew the rumors were true, but he had no intention of expressing any objection. The best way to quell such rumors was to express no opinion on them at all. Moreover, von Schleicher had no power to topple him.

Hindenburg could be certain that these rumors were released by the upper echelons. Just during the day today, Hindenburg had seen news in the papers that the current Chancellor, von Schleicher—whom Hindenburg had single-handedly supported—intended to form a majority coalition with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the German Left.

Von Schleicher had long wanted to break free from Hindenburg's control; Hindenburg was very clear on this. Combining this with von Schleicher uniting with the Left, and the leak of news regarding Hindenburg lining his own pockets in the "Eastern Aid Act" scandal, a very reasonable logical line presented itself.

The sharpest contradiction between the German Left and the Junkers was the issue of Junker land. The KPD and the Left had pushed policies to confiscate Junker land. It was only because the Nazi Party, seen as populist, withdrew from the joint party proposal that this proposal failed to pass. Now that the Left's power had greatly increased and von Schleicher had obtained the support of the centrist parties, to secure his position as Chancellor, von Schleicher must have promised something to the Leftist parties. Undoubtedly, taking down Hindenburg was the most presentable bargaining chip von Schleicher could offer.

If it were just this matter, Hindenburg might have been able to tolerate von Schleicher a bit longer. But right now, the von Schleicher cabinet was already swaying in the wind and rain. Hindenburg saw no reason to let von Schleicher continue as Chancellor.

If von Schleicher was not to be Chancellor, among the current candidates, only Hitler remained with significant support. The moment he thought of that Bavarian corporal, Hindenburg immediately felt disgust. Even if it meant letting von Schleicher continue as Chancellor, Hindenburg did not want to let Hitler gain this position.

Thinking of this, Hindenburg waved his hand, signaling the reporter to leave. The old Field Marshal sat in his chair for a long time before finally standing up to rest. The next day, Chancellor von Schleicher was relieved of his duties.

With the Chancellor's position vacant, the German upper echelons one after another recommended their preferred candidates. Through Hitler's efforts, the German upper class began to believe that the anti-communist, anti-union Hitler was a good choice for the moment. Although the Nazi Party contained many socialists, in 1933, governments claiming to be socialist were plentiful; even France claimed to be a socialist country. Parties claiming to follow a socialist line were innumerable across the world. If it didn't involve confiscating land, quite a batch of young Junker aristocrats were willing to call themselves socialists.

In the current German political arena, the German upper class found their only remaining choice was Hitler. Moreover, the German economy was currently destitute. The number of unemployed could not be accurately statistically determined, but the general view was that 70% of Germans were in a state of unemployment. In other countries, one out of three workers being unemployed would be a sky-falling catastrophe. But in Germany, only one out of three workers was *not* unemployed. With the situation like this, even if they temporarily chose Hitler, the situation couldn't get much worse.

Large numbers of upper-class figures began to recommend Hitler to Hindenburg. They were well aware of Hindenburg's dissatisfaction with Hitler, so these people also shifted their strategy, moving from individual recommendations to joint petitions. Letter after letter of recommendation was sent to the Presidential Palace. Every letter was covered in names, so much so that the number of signature pages was longer than the main text.

At this time, while expressing his loyalty to the old Field Marshal through Hindenburg's son, Hitler also ordered Röhm to lead the Stormtroopers (SA) to begin various shows of strength in Berlin.

Restricted by the Treaty of Versailles, the German Wehrmacht numbered only 100,000. The SA already claimed a number of 2 million. In the current pervasive unemployment, Hitler received funding from big German capital. He took out money to support the Nazi Party's grassroots organizations and various social groups. Although these groups couldn't provide employment, the Nazi Party grassroots groups provided food and arranged housing for the unemployed, effectively taking on the work of social management and social relief.

Every night, Hindenburg could hear the military songs sung loudly by the SA during their collective actions. The SA's important work previously was to cause trouble at other parties' rallies and to protect Nazi Party rallies from being disrupted by people sent by other parties. Now, these Stormtroopers marched through the streets every night holding torches, maintaining order while displaying their strength. Petty thieves were immediately caught if discovered by the SA, beaten up, and paraded through the streets. Very quickly, Berlin's public order became unusually good.

Röhm was extremely excited every day. The SA's march routes seemed chaotic, but they were actually routes carefully designed by Röhm, centering on the Presidential Palace and slowly pushing in from the outside. The SA claimed 2 million across Germany, but in Berlin, there were actually only about 300,000.

However, all the military and police in Berlin added together barely exceeded 30,000. In terms of numbers, the SA held the absolute upper hand. The reason Röhm ordered the SA to approach the Presidential Palace so cautiously was to probe. Röhm was also a soldier of the Great War in Europe, having reached the rank of Captain. He knew very well that if Hindenburg really ordered the dispersal of the SA, even if the SA's numbers were ten times that of the regular army, they would still be beaten to a pulp. So the probing had to press in step by step; they absolutely could not casually provoke Hindenburg.

There was a gap of nine military ranks between a German Captain and a Field Marshal. For a Captain to approach and encircle a Field Marshal bit by bit like this, exerting pressure on the Field Marshal—such an action brought Röhm immense excitement and satisfaction.

On January 10, Hindenburg received news that Hitler had firmly rejected Papen's request to form a "dual leadership." Hitler's demand was very simple and brisk: he wanted to become Chancellor, and he would be a Chancellor who solely held the Chancellor's power.

Facing the adjutant preparing to read the letter, the old Field Marshal's voice was full of irritability. "No need to read it." After speaking, the old Field Marshal stood up and walked towards his bedroom. Although it was broad daylight, the old man decided to lie down. This feeling of helplessness was extremely rare for Hindenburg; he had only felt such powerlessness when the German General Staff discussed whether to accept the Entente's armistice requirements and the massive amount of domestic economic data was laid out on the table.

At that time, although Germany did not look bad on the surface, the domestic economy had already been drained dry. In 1919, the German infant mortality rate approached 30%. The entire country didn't even have grain to fill stomachs; admitting defeat was the best choice at the time. This was also one of the reasons the old man Hindenburg detested Hitler: this brat who didn't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth spent all day yelling about the "November Criminals," believing Germany's defeat was due to domestic enemies stabbing them in the back. The old Field Marshal thoroughly loathed these poor boys from the bottom rung of society; these people completely failed to understand affairs of state.

After lying down, the old Field Marshal only felt half-awake. One moment he seemed to be on the battlefield; the next he dreamt he was listening to lectures under Field Marshal the Elder Moltke. Sometimes he saw Wilhelm II again—a still reasonably young Wilhelm II, discussing how Germany could achieve victory. Until Elder Moltke saw General Schlieffen, wearing glasses, walking towards him with a cold expression, asking in that signature mocking tone: "Why did you choose to start the war in 1914? Don't you know the Schlieffen Plan's last version was from 1906 and hadn't been updated since?"

Marshal Hindenburg felt both aggrieved and fearful in his heart, and in his desperation, he suddenly woke up. Post-war Germany had conducted a comprehensive review of the war. Although every campaign had its gains and losses, and every campaign had its reasons, overall, the German army's performance was passable. Until someone raised a question: If war was to be waged, why not start it in 1908?

Looking at the data in hindsight, if the Schlieffen Plan was to be adopted, they should have made their move in 1908. At that time, French strength was far from its 1914 level, especially since the internal combustion engine had not developed far enough to provide the French army with large-scale road transport capabilities. And Russia's several trunk railways hadn't been completed either. Even if Russia launched an offensive, they would have to rely on manpower and animal power for transport.

Since they gave up on starting the war in 1908, then they shouldn't have started it in 1914 even more so. If Germany had just delayed until 1919, its strength would have been enough to thoroughly overwhelm France. This view caused a huge shock to Hindenburg. Although the old Field Marshal sniffed at it on the surface, inwardly he had to admit this view made a lot of sense.

Getting out of bed, the old man saw he had only slept for a little over two hours. He didn't want to sleep anymore. Hands behind his back, he walked to the desk and casually picked up a letter. This letter was written by Krupp, or at least it was a joint letter initiated by Krupp.

In the letter, Krupp implored Hindenburg: the KPD's power was growing larger and larger, and with the economy so poor, Germany very likely faced a nationwide revolution. With the current 100,000 Reichswehr troops, even combined with the police, it was impossible to immediately suppress millions of workers. Regardless of the final outcome, Germany would be thoroughly destroyed by this civil war. Krupp emphasized again that only Hitler could solve these problems. At least Hitler had the ability to solve the Communist Party.

Things having reached this point, Hindenburg had no other choice. The reason he was still dragging his feet was the expectation that another candidate would appear, but he hadn't expected that the majority of these powerful upper-class figures supported Hitler. Hindenburg truly couldn't figure out what ability or virtue this Bavarian corporal had to actually be able to obtain so much support.

Since it had come to this, Hindenburg had no way out. Almost abandoning himself to despair, he made the decision: let Hitler be Chancellor for now.

On January 19, 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor by Hindenburg. That night, Nazi Stormtroopers held massive torchlight parades all over the country. In Berlin, the Chinese Ambassador looked down at the Brandenburg Gate from a rented high-rise building. At this moment, the square had become a sea of torches. In the center of this boiling sea of people, a swastika composed of hundreds of torches was the most eye-catching.

Outside the center of the reverse swastika was a large circle. As the marching Stormtroopers holding torches advanced in formation, the center reverse swastika and the outer ring rotated in opposite directions. Visually, it was very attractive. Embassy staff had already set up cameras to film all of this.

The Chinese Ambassador to Germany watched for a while, then walked back into the rented room. Although this liveliness was good to look at, the Chinese government would have to react next. The Ambassador already knew some of the content. Fortunately, the German economy was so terrible; although the number of Chinese students in Germany was significant, the total number of Chinese expatriates in Germany was very small, no more than two or three hundred. He hoped the Nazi Party wouldn't lose its reason out of anger and attack these Chinese in Germany.

Amidst his worry, the Ambassador also spawned a thought: If the Germans really attacked China, it would actually prove that the Nazi Party was a through-and-through racist party. At that time, China could exactly utilize France's influence to launch a fierce attack on the Nazi Party in Europe.

On January 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China published an article: *The Great Outbreak of European Racism*.

"...For European nations, the racial arrogance accumulated during the Age of Discovery has prevented them from noticing the racist nature of the Nazi Party. regarding this, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers this a disappointing national limitation.

"Marked by Mr. Hitler becoming the German Chancellor, racism is developing to an unprecedented degree. If in the Age of Discovery, Europe still determined high and low status by skin color, then in the future, Europeans will see that even within Europe, a hierarchy based on race will appear. Racism will backlash against Europe. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs can only hope that the Nazi Party's rise to power in Germany will not cause new tragedies in Europe."

French newspapers immediately reprinted the Chinese Foreign Ministry's article, but it didn't trigger any strong repercussions. Just as the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, racism was fundamentally not an issue worth paying attention to in Europe, because European nations were all racist. Not to mention looking down on each other between nations, even within the same country—for instance, inside France—the French in Algeria also had their own exclusive title, "Pieds-Noirs" (Black Feet).

European nations all noticed the Chinese Foreign Ministry's article, but they just felt the Chinese Foreign Ministry was really making a fuss over nothing.

The country with the biggest reaction to this article, besides Germany, was naturally the United States, the country with the second biggest reaction. After Roosevelt was elected, he focused his attention domestically. although he sent envoys to China, diplomacy was still not Roosevelt's main task at the current stage. But the Chinese Foreign Ministry's article mentioned that the Nazi Party had conducted in-depth study and on-site inspections of the United States' racist policies and their execution methods, and would fully implement American racist policies in Germany. This left Roosevelt feeling a bit dazed, a sense of incomprehension like suddenly being punched by someone for no reason.

Roosevelt's Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, was also greatly puzzled. What the Chinese Foreign Ministry said should be true, and the United States was indeed a racist country, possessing systematic policies of racial discrimination, effective laws, and firm public opinion. However, these seemingly had nothing to do with Sino-US relations. At least China and the US had signed agreements, and the contradictions in this regard between the two countries had been resolved. Cordell Hull couldn't figure out why China would bring this matter up to discuss at this time.

Compared to the United States' confusion, the Little Mustache was genuinely angry. He cared a lot about outside views, so he had considered responses to the reactions of European and American countries. However, before the European and American countries had even opened their mouths, China—who the Little Mustache thought shouldn't have opened its mouth at all—jumped out first. Moreover, what the Chinese Foreign Ministry attacked wasn't how Germany wanted to break free from the Versailles system, but the Nazi Party's racist policies. This made the Little Mustache feel like he had suddenly been slapped in the face for no reason.

The current Foreign Minister of the Hindenburg administration was not a Nazi. Hitler decided to personally summon the Chinese Ambassador to Germany.