Chapter 139: Methods

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“Akado, I’ve been busy helping the White Orchid Group with its overseas business lately and haven’t had much time to spend with you. You’re not upset with me, are you?” There were not many people in Germany who called Akado by his first name, but his fiancée, Mercedes, was certainly one of them. She elegantly cut her steak with her knife, her bright red lips curling into a charming arc.

Akado shook his head gently, a warm smile on his face. “No, of course not. How could I bear to be upset with a girl as beautiful as you?”

“Actually, I’m quite envious of Anna. Unlike Fanny and me, she gets to be by your side all the time… But I’m still very grateful to her. I heard she thwarted an assassination attempt against you recently?” Mercedes put a piece of steak in her mouth and, only after swallowing, opened her mouth to ask.

Akado gave an awkward laugh. “It wasn’t that dramatic. She and the honor guard got the intelligence in advance, so they dealt with the gunman beforehand.”

“My Führer! You must be careful!” Jelinek-Cassia urged from the side. “You are the most important leader of our party and our country. We can’t afford any mishaps!”

“Thank you! I will be careful,” Akado said with a nod. “Actually, there is a very important matter I wanted to ask you two about tonight.”

“Ask whatever you like, my Führer,” Jelinek-Cassia replied immediately. He knew from the beginning that this dinner would not be so simple. If it were just a date, Akado would have only invited Mercedes, not him as well. Besides, he had heard some of the recent rumors.

“I want to know, what is your opinion of the Junker aristocrats?” Akado asked, looking up and staring at Jelinek-Cassia.

Here comes the main event, Jelinek thought. He put down his knife and fork, considered carefully for a moment, and then replied, “They are an obstacle to Germany’s continued progress! If possible, we should curtail their power.”

“Is it possible to eliminate this group?” Akado continued to press.

“To be honest, that involves far too many aspects. If we were to act forcefully, I’m afraid it would cause a backlash,” Jelinek replied. “I suggest you divide and break them up. Find a new class, for example, the emerging petty bourgeoisie, to absorb the benefits left behind by their destruction. This will create a group that supports us. The advantage of doing this is that it will reduce the resistance to eliminating the Junker aristocrats to a minimum.”

“What if, while eliminating the Junker aristocrats, I also expand the scope of the attack and take care of some of the monopoly conglomerates?” Akado asked, continuing to cut the steak on his plate. His expression was very natural, as if he were discussing how to cut a steak.

“To be honest, the power of the monopoly conglomerates is even greater. If we were to strictly differentiate between the big capitalists and them, by that measure, you yourself would be considered a part of the monopoly conglomerates. Your White Orchid Group can undoubtedly be called Germany’s number one monopoly group,” Jelinek said after thinking. “For example, the Krupp Group that supports you, and several of the large aircraft manufacturers, would all be considered part of these conglomerates.”

“It seems that taking them all down at once would indeed be somewhat difficult, wouldn’t it?” Akado asked, his face unreadable.

“I personally feel that it would indeed be difficult! The method I would favor more is to attack some while winning over others, so that all these people are firmly attached to you, rather than being driven to the opposite side,” Jelinek said, taking a sip of red wine and answering solemnly.

“To be honest, it was a waste of talent not to have placed you in my government, Mr. Jelinek,” Akado finally said with a nod of praise. He then asked about another topic that interested him. “Have you heard about the recent cases of the SS massacring Jews?”

“Of course! I’ve heard about it,” Jelinek nodded. “It’s a huge mess right now. You can see Jews protesting on the streets everywhere. But the newspapers say the matter has nothing to do with the SS.”

“Do you believe what the newspapers say?” Akado suddenly asked.

“My Führer,” Jelinek smiled. “I am one of the insiders! Your SS is certainly not clean, and it has indeed carried out several actions against the Jews. The debts from confiscated homes were directly transferred to the White Orchid Group’s accounts… So I know better than anyone which acts were committed by the SS and which were not.”

“That’s right. The SS did not commit these recent murders,” Akado said with a sigh. “Reinhard is also losing sleep over this matter. Generals in the Wehrmacht are even taking advantage of the situation to advise me to disband the SS. I’ve been troubled by this for a long time. Do you have any good solutions?”

“A solution…” Jelinek thought carefully. Akado waited patiently for him. After a few minutes of silence, Jelinek finally replied, “I don’t know if the Führer would be fond of an asymmetrical solution.”

“An asymmetrical solution?” Akado asked with a frown, looking at Jelinek. “What kind of asymmetrical solution?”

“In fact, you and General Heydrich have both been blinded by a fixed way of thinking. On this kind of issue, we don’t need to find the culprit. The key is not who the mastermind is,” Jelinek said with a smile. “The key is who we want the culprit to be.”

“Who we want the culprit to be?” Akado felt a wave of sudden understanding. “You mean…”

“Use this opportunity to move against the Junker aristocrats and the monopoly conglomerates that are not cooperating with us!” Jelinek said, his eyes narrowed. “We can even use this pretext to move against a few more wealthy Jews! Seize our opponents’ economic power and strength! That way, no matter who tried to frame us, they will have already lost!”

“Hmm…” Akado stroked his chin and fell into deep thought. He had to admit, Jelinek made a lot of sense. No matter who the real culprit was, what was truly important was to use this opportunity to strengthen oneself. Revenge was a childish matter, something for children to consider after a fight.

“Führer…” Jelinek prompted.

“I think I should transfer you to work in a government department. Is there any area you would like to develop in?” Akado asked sincerely.

“I would prefer to appear in any position the Führer arranges for me,” Jelinek replied with a smile.

“Let me think about it,” Akado said, glancing at Mercedes, who was smiling as she watched them discuss matters of state. “Let’s eat first! I have to go to a movie with Mercedes later, a new release.”

“Führer, as far as I know, the Soviets are already carrying out their own internal consolidation. For the sake of this consolidation, they have not hesitated to eliminate many generals and politicians who had rendered distinguished service to the Bolshevik regime,” Mercedes said with a smile. “In fact, there are quite a few people holding us back as well. We should also choose a time to properly clean house.”

“I agree with that! To the revival of Great Germany! Cheers!” Akado raised his glass. “I will make the arrangements tonight. Tomorrow, Fanny’s side will launch a public opinion offensive to create a pretext for our next move.”

Mercedes Cassia and Jelinek-Cassia raised their glasses together. “For Great Germany! Long live the Führer.”

The next morning, the Greater German Newspaper broke an exclusive story. The Greater German Party’s SS, following clues left by the criminals, had tracked down the mastermind behind the assassination of the Jewish merchants: an organization called the “German Ghost.” This organization was composed of some Junker aristocrats and monopoly conglomerates, who had colluded with a few wealthy Jewish merchants familiar with the terrain to carry out the despicable assassinations against the Jews.

The goal was very clear: they hoped to use the attacks to destabilize the German economy, thereby achieving their sinister plot of controlling the government and manipulating the people. The Führer subsequently delivered an important speech, deciding to declare war on all sinners who hindered the German people’s self-strengthening, for the sake of the happiness of the German people.

The SS began to strike out in force, arresting more than a dozen representative figures of the Junker aristocracy in one go and executing them by hanging. The remaining approximately 2,000 were sent to concentration camps to reflect on the sins they had committed.

The shares of many companies were confiscated, but most were distributed to small and medium-sized capitalists as repayment for MEFO bills. This method turned them into a part of the Führer’s chain of interests, making them a powerful force that firmly supported the Führer’s new policies.

Soon, voices of opposition arose from all sides. Some German Wehrmacht officers with aristocratic backgrounds began to stir up trouble, but because the core of the military was still firmly in Akado’s hands, these small-scale disturbances were quickly suppressed. Using these minor revolts as a pretext, Akado once again reorganized the army, dividing it into 60 infantry divisions and 10 panzer divisions.

However, once he made his move, the old saying proved true: you don’t know until you try, and when you do, you get a shock. The power of the Junker aristocrats and the monopoly conglomerates within Germany had reached an unimaginable level. On the morning of the second day of the SS’s operation, several hundred prominent figures came to the Führer’s Residence to plead for the people. On the third day, Krupp, from the distant Ruhr industrial region, flew back to Berlin in a hurry to meet with Akado, hoping that Akado would spare certain arrested monopoly tycoons.

Only then did Akado realize that the path he had chosen was long and arduous. According to his current plans, it would take until the end of 1934 to heal from this deep internal wound. But there were benefits. After a great deal of effort, Akado found that his control over the entirety of Germany had risen to a new level.

For a time, both great powers in the East and West began to be swept by purges. The Germans, under the leadership of their Führer, were busy striking down the Junker aristocrats and monopoly conglomerates. The Soviets were busy arresting communist traitors for treason and espionage in their own country. Both nations were fighting to unify their political authority, and the methods they used were very similar: send the disobedient to concentration camps, and let the obedient continue to enjoy the fruits of victory.