Chapter 149: The Economic Lifeline

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The negotiations with Smith would not make any progress; this was something all German diplomatic personnel knew. Even if Akado personally intervened, he could not expect Germany’s few dozen destroyers to make the British honestly pay reparations and apologize. However, the British knew they were in the wrong, so they sold Germany one hundred thousand barrels of crude oil at a fifty-percent discount as a condition for Germany’s promise to push east.

After the meeting, Akado hurried from the Foreign Ministry building back to his Führer’s Residence, because he was to meet two very important aides there: one was Bosch, the president of the IG Farben company, on whom Germany’s economic future would depend, and the other was the de facto controller of the Krupp factory, Krupp himself.

As soon as he arrived at his residence, Akado tossed his overcoat and gloves to Ger, who was walking toward him, and then asked the Führer’s work secretary, Cindra, who was following behind Ger, “How long has Mr. Bosch been waiting?”

“Führer, Mr. Bosch has also just arrived,” Cindra replied immediately.

Akado nodded. It seemed both of them were the type of people whose time was tight, clearly unwilling to waste their time on empty formalities. So, under Cindra’s guidance, he walked straight into the pre-arranged conference room.

“Heil Führer!” As soon as Akado entered the room, Bosch stood up and gave Akado a standard German salute.

“How is the progress at the factories?” Akado asked immediately, waving his hand to signal Bosch to be at ease and waiting until he had lowered his arm.

“Report to the Führer! The IG Farben company has already begun mass production of synthetic rubber in various locations. Although the quality is slightly inferior to natural rubber raw materials, it is now completely fine for use in manufacturing parts,” Bosch said proudly, and he had every right to be. This was the result of the research of the team he personally led.

“What about the output? Is it enough to supply the troops?” Akado asked with a frown.

“I’m afraid not, my Führer,” Bosch said cautiously. “Right now, to solve the problem of the rubber shortage, the entire industrial chain has been improved, but the demand for rubber is still an enormous number.”

“I know this. In order to produce more equipment with less rubber, the tire width standards for civilian cars have been reduced twice in a row. Some people are even researching smaller diameter tires for city use,” Akado said helplessly. “I even heard that although there are no explicit regulations, the width of military vehicle tires has been secretly reduced by one centimeter, is that right?”

“Yes! The High Command had no other choice. According to your instructions, the number of vehicles in our army should be at least doubled again to equip more newly formed infantry divisions. But we really don’t have many ways to increase production.”

“Is there no way to get a little more?” Akado asked.

Bosch nodded helplessly. “Tires and many other rubber parts are consumables, my Führer. The only way is to reduce the inventory of spare parts to increase the number of rubber products in frontline service. But if a situation arises where we need to replenish them, we will find ourselves in a tight spot.”

“Release one-tenth of the spare rubber products!” Akado decided decisively. “We have to let the soldiers use them first before we can worry about the problem of consumption later, right?”

“In that case, the production of cars and tanks can be a little higher for the next two months,” Bosch nodded. “My situation is a little better, because the British Navy has only blockaded oil imports from the Middle East and has not blockaded rubber raw materials on a large scale.”

“I thought that by getting rid of the Allied Military Control Commission, we could expand our armaments without restraint. It seems I didn’t think it through beforehand,” Akado suddenly felt that having a conservative diplomat like Stresemann, who often disagreed with him, in the Foreign Ministry wasn’t such a bad thing. But it was too late to say anything now.

After seeing Bosch off, Akado saw the travel-worn Krupp, who had rushed to Berlin. The two men walked into the conference room together. For a moment, Akado was reminded of the days when he used to chat and laugh with Krupp, and he felt a sense of loss that time was passing so quickly and would not return.

“We’ve been moving a bit too fast lately, which has led to partial chaos throughout the country. It’s thanks to you running around that military production hasn’t been affected on a large scale. I thank you on behalf of the German people,” Akado said, pouring Krupp a glass of wine and handing it to him, then pouring one for himself.

“My Führer, I have to say, you have been a bit too hasty recently,” Krupp said with a sigh. “To declare war on the Junker aristocrats in one go, and then to take down some of the most enormous monopoly conglomerates along with them… This is a dangerous move that not even the German Emperor would have dared to try so lightly. Why didn’t you discuss it with me beforehand?”

“This plan was also a last resort,” Akado said with a helpless smile. “They assassinated Jews in an attempt to split the Greater German Party. The SS was at a loss as to how to deal with this, so we had to take a risky move.”

He took a sip of wine and continued, “Fortunately, I have maintained control of the situation. The monopoly conglomerates are not a monolithic bloc. For example, you are standing on my side, because you have the vision to see the future development prospects of the industrial world, instead of being hidebound like those fools.”

If you hadn’t decisively distributed the benefits to the petty bourgeoisie and protected a large number of monopoly conglomerates that support you, then Germany would have long since descended into chaos, Krupp thought. Not to mention the group of monarchists and Junker aristocrats fanning the flames, and the Nazi Party taking advantage of the chaos. The only reason things are still stable now is that the Wehrmacht has not yet made its position clear.

“Now that things have come to this, there’s nothing more we should do. This cleansing process has already begun, and it will not be stopped easily,” Krupp said with a helpless sigh. “But the results are also obvious. The prices of most goods have begun to fall, industrial costs continue to decline, and because capital has been dispersed and broken up, the market is also more vibrant than before.”

“This is what we wanted to see, Krupp!” Akado said very happily. “The Greater German Party exists to serve businessmen like you who contribute to Germany’s strength!”

“But the situation with our oil is very bad recently, so these enemies are also beginning to use this opportunity to counter-attack. Places that had already returned to peace are now showing signs of riots again,” Krupp said angrily. “Once production is delayed, all the efforts we have made will be in vain.”

“The SS is not to be trifled with! If I dared to throw 14,000 of Germany’s parasites into prison and make them produce the tactical vests we urgently need, then I don’t mind arresting 20,000 more!” Akado said fiercely. “We’ll see whose bones are harder, theirs or my SS’s bayonets!”

“But with half our oil gone in an instant, it really makes us feel uneasy, Führer,” Krupp said anxiously. It concerned the income of his entire group, so it was no wonder he was so worried.

“How is the oil extraction in Austria progressing?” Akado asked after a moment’s thought. “You have a considerable number of shares in the Austrian oil fields. You should pay more attention to it.”

Krupp’s spirits immediately lifted. It was as if he could see piles and piles of banknotes beckoning to him. He stood up and replied, “My Führer, approximately 200,000 US dollars in funding is already in place, and the oil extraction in Austria has fully entered the operational stage. However, it will probably be at least 1935 before a large amount of oil can be extracted. Including our total oil reserves, we will be short a full nine months of oil before our domestic production can meet our needs.”

“The key is still Romania,” Akado said with a nod. “It seems our success or failure depends on Merkel’s harvest in Romania.”

“That’s right,” he said, remembering another matter for which he had summoned Krupp back. “Krupp, how are the improvements to the Panzer IV going?”

“My Führer, the improvements are going very smoothly. Most of the newly produced tanks have already been fitted with the long-barreled 75mm cannon. We have tested it, and it is sufficient to penetrate the front armor plate of any active-service tank,” Krupp began to speak endlessly when it came to his own products. “In addition, we have improved the observation and aiming systems, giving the gunner an independent periscope for all-around vision. We’ve improved the turret traverse mechanism—all of this was done on the basis of simplification. We have not made the Panzer IV more complex.”

“What about the early production tanks? Is it difficult to retrofit them?” Akado asked.

“My Führer, to tell you the truth, what we lack now is the quantity of weapons, not their quality. We must equip a large number of tanks on both the eastern and western fronts to hold our defensive lines,” Krupp said, showing off the half-baked military knowledge he had picked up from the army generals.

“That makes sense,” Akado also felt that now was not the time to be busy improving tanks. What he wanted was more tanks. Only with more tanks could he fight an even more spectacular blitzkrieg on the battlefields he had long planned in his mind. “Then let’s not retrofit the already produced Panzer IVs for now. Issue them directly to the troops! Old models for the SS, new weapons for the Wehrmacht! What about the rifles? Are they proceeding smoothly?”

“My Führer,” Krupp’s expression became even more relaxed when he spoke of the rifles. He replied with a smile, “The G43 is being produced by Krupp and several subsidiaries of other gun companies. The production speed is still very fast. We have successively provided the Wehrmacht with about 110,000 of these rifles, mainly to equip the paratroopers of the 1st Division and to be issued to the squad leaders of every infantry squad.”

Akado nodded and concluded the meeting. “Go to Hanover for me. The oil extraction there has been going on for some time. Although the output and reserves are very small, it’s still an income. Go and see what needs to be improved and give me a report when you come back.”

“Then I will take my leave. Heil Führer!” Krupp retreated to the door and saluted.