Chapter 147: Fifteen Years of Waiting

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“The Panzer IV has undergone several improvements in service. First, the internal ammunition total has been reduced, changing the original 79-round basic load to 70 rounds. The side armor plates have been sloped inward by 15 degrees. Second, the barrel length of the 75mm cannon has been extended to compensate for the problem of our tanks’ insufficient firepower, which was exposed in the Spanish Civil War,” the army equipment advisor replied.

“That’s right!” Akado seemed to have suddenly thought of something. He looked at his military advisor and whispered in his ear, “Have your designers create a huge super tank! Equip it with a 105mm cannon! Thick armor, a complex running gear!”

This was, in a sense, the antithesis of the German tanks the Führer had always pursued: huge, cumbersome, and difficult to produce. The advisor was bewildered. “My Führer, the Panzer IV can already fully meet the needs of tank warfare. Why create another weapon that is inconvenient to produce?”

“What if someone wants our tank blueprints? And we don’t want to give them the Panzer IV? What then?” Akado asked with a smile.

“Can’t we just give them the Panzer III?” the army equipment advisor asked, confused.

“We give the Panzer III to our allies! As for our enemies, we…” Akado, knowing that these technical personnel didn’t think in such convoluted ways, had to spell it out.

“Ah! I understand!” the advisor nodded quickly. By now, their whispering had drawn many others closer, so Akado immediately changed the subject.

He glanced at his army equipment advisor. “There is no one who can stop you from expanding the army’s arsenal now! So you must be bolder!” As he spoke, he turned to his air force equipment advisor with a smile and began to tease the army general. “This colleague of yours is too timid, asking for five cannons yesterday, one tank today…”

The several military advisors and technical personnel around him all laughed, and the atmosphere instantly became very relaxed.

“Dr. Einstein! What progress has been made on the two important projects at Berlin University: computers and atomic research?” Akado asked, looking through the laughter toward the famous scientist Albert Einstein, who was standing on the edge of the crowd.

“Mr. Führer,” Einstein looked somewhat ashamed. He handed a form to Akado and replied, “In fact, our progress on computer technology has been very slow, and the results can only be described as mediocre. Even with some intelligence from Britain and the United States in this area, we are unable to develop a practical computer system before the deadline you mentioned.”

“Then what about the atomic research?” Akado asked with a smile on his face, addressing his former close friend, Dr. Einstein, who could be considered a treasure of the German scientific community.

Gascoigne had reported to him more than once that Einstein was deliberately delaying German technological research. Two German scientists had already complained in private more than once that Einstein would lock away already completed experimental data in his own safe and then fob off Akado’s inquiries with a pile of worthless things.

Although Gascoigne’s Gestapo had already infiltrated Einstein’s residence, photographed and backed up those documents, and were continuing the relevant experiments in secret at other research bases, this had still delayed Akado’s military industrial development plan. But due to Einstein’s great fame, killing him would do more harm than good.

As expected, Einstein’s answer was the same classic lines. “Mr. Führer, due to insufficient equipment and the backwardness of our heavy water facilities, the atomic weapons program cannot be started at all. I am planning to prepare a new project for the utilization of atomic energy. I must once again remind you, Mr. Führer, that this type of weapon should best never appear on the battlefield.”

People are sometimes so wonderfully mysterious. When Einstein was in America, he paved the way for the Manhattan Project, but in Germany, he was a stumbling block to the German atomic bomb. Akado suppressed the urge to curse him out, nodded at Einstein, and walked over to another scientist.

He had no choice but to emulate the ancient story of “buying the bones of a thousand-li horse.” He had to use this Einstein, who was of almost no help, to attract the world’s scientific elite to work in Germany. This was an important part of his talent acquisition plan, a policy that had been set from the moment he had won over Einstein. So he still had to keep Einstein. Although he wasn’t of much use, he still had to be kept.

Rubbing the bridge of his slightly sore nose, Akado sighed helplessly. He really wasn’t the protagonist of those novels. How he envied and was jealous of those protagonists who had everyone’s support for whatever they did. He himself had to hold four military conferences, replacing three heads of the naval equipment department, just to persuade the navy to abandon its battleship plan and gradually stabilize the situation.

And those famous historical figures, those renowned geniuses, were each more troublesome than the last. Stresemann, who had died in a plane crash, had disagreed with his political views until the very end, and they had clashed several times. And this Einstein before him was opposing him at every turn, even daring to obstruct several of the most important scientific research projects… His confidants in the Wehrmacht had all been slowly cultivated, and many of the old officers still made things difficult for him. Why wasn’t there the legendary cheap deal of underlings bowing in submission?

But speaking of historical figures, Akado suddenly thought of another famous German general, Manstein. He had thought of this general a few days ago. An investigation revealed he was serving as a divisional commander in Army Group B under the command of General Wilhelm List. In terms of experience, he was about ready. He could be brought out and cultivated as a key talent, adding another person to his own team of generals. Thinking of this, Akado was afraid he would forget again, so he reached out, pulled the fountain pen from the pocket of the stunned Einstein, wrote Manstein’s name on the palm of his hand, and then stuffed the pen back into Einstein’s pocket.

This action left Einstein a little bewildered, but the Führer clearly did not intend to continue the conversation with him. Einstein suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He realized his back was already drenched in sweat. The man with whom he had once discussed the great path of science had now become a ruthless Führer who was imposing without being angry. A trace of doubt suddenly arose in him: was he right or wrong, as a scientist, to try to stop him from developing weapons of destruction, to stop him from starting a war?

“How is the navy’s plan progressing?” Akado turned and began to question someone else, leaving Einstein to the side. The scientist also sensed the Führer’s lack of warmth toward him, sighed, and stepped back.

“My Führer! The navy’s two Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers are currently being fitted out. The hulls were completed very quickly, but due to lack of experience and technical issues, the installation of the ship’s equipment is not fast,” the man said cautiously, seeing that Führer Akado’s face was as cold as ice, his mood clearly not as high as when he had first entered the room.

Akado did not discuss many military secrets in this kind of technical meeting. For example, that he had already prepared a huge production capacity to equip Germany with 1,500 high-speed Fw-190 fighters and 1,000 Stuka bombers in one go. For example, that his navy’s submarine force in fact already possessed 69 submarines, all of which were ocean-going submarines of over 1,000 tons, and 13 of which were super submarines of this era, with a displacement of up to 1,900 tons.

He had not yet let anyone know that Germany in fact already possessed more than 14,600 vehicles of various models, over 2,700 150mm cannons, and over 3,100 tanks. An army of 970,000 men was equipped with over 70,000 G43 semi-automatic rifles, over 20,000 light machine guns, and over 4,000 mortars.

Just from these figures on paper, Akado could already roughly know that his current military strength was fully capable of re-enacting the classic German opening of World War II, taking out Poland and France in one breath. The only reason he was still waiting was simply that he wanted the wings of his navy and air force to be more fully fledged.

It was truly a somewhat frustrating wait. He had been waiting since 1919, waiting until today in 1934. He had waited for a full 15 years, from a 20-year-old young soldier to the nearly 40-year-old Führer of Germany.

And what awaited Akado next was the awkward situation of the Middle East being cut off by the British. Once it lost its oil resources, this nearly perfect war machine of Germany would lose its power and ultimately be dragged into the awkward predicament of a war of attrition, defeated by the United States and Britain with their worldwide resources.

Although Akado knew that IG Farben was working hard on its synthetic gasoline and artificial rubber, the output was really not considerable. This “better than nothing” situation could not meet the rearmament needs of a country preparing to fight on four fronts—it couldn’t even meet a tenth of them!

“You have all done very well,” Akado said, encouraging the scientists and advisors. He then turned and walked out of the conference room. There were more important things waiting for him to do. He had to personally deploy the battle for Middle East oil, and the diplomatic battle to secure the Romanian oil fields that would follow.

There was still a series of problems to be dealt with, but whether there was still time to deal with them, whether he had the ability to deal with them, no one could know. How could he, in the impending war, fight for the most perfect opening for the Germany in his hands? This was truly a difficult problem.

Akado looked at the tall floor-to-ceiling windows along the corridor, and through the glass, he looked at the dazzling sunlight and sighed with some helplessness. Anna, behind him, squeezed his hand. “My Führer, everything will be alright.”

“Let’s hope so,” Akado forced a smile. “It will get better and better.”