Chapter 157: The Blueprints

Advanced chapter until 350+ at patreon.com/caleredhair

To be honest, Japanese soldiers were not as intellectually challenged as they are depicted in anti-Japanese divine dramas. They were brave and tenacious in combat, and their marksmanship was superb… Their greatest advantage was that they were easy to feed. Relying on logistical methods similar to those of the Mongols who marched south to destroy the Song Dynasty more than 600 years ago, they were able to march victoriously, beating the armies of several countries to a pulp.

Akado didn’t know if selling something like canned meat to Japan was aiding a tyrant, nor did he know what kind of changes it would bring to the future of the world. But what he lacked more right now was time and money. Since he couldn’t even get past the present, why bother considering the future?

“Sell! Of course, we’ll sell! The technology, the finished products, we’ll sell it all!” Thinking of this, Akado decided not to refuse the business that had come to his door. He said with a smile, “Of course, this time we don’t want raw materials! We want foreign currency! US dollars! British pounds! Anything will do.”

“No problem!” Yamashita nodded excitedly. “The Great Japanese Empire intends to form a strategic partnership with Germany, to help each other in future actions and to coordinate our deployments. As long as our alliance works together with one heart, we can obtain even greater benefits.”

“There’s no problem on that front!” After thinking it over, Akado decided to pull in Japan as a teammate, however mediocre. Although this teammate always caused trouble at critical moments, history had proven that at least this teammate did not supply the enemy… Another reason that made Akado decide was the fact that in World War I, if Japan was not an ally, it would become an enemy and go over to the other side.

Subsequently, the German Foreign Ministry signed a series of secret agreements with the visiting Yamashita Kōnosuke, including the import of the German army’s tactical vests; infantry canned meat; a request for Mercedes-Benz to design a military vehicle for production in Japan; the import of 30 Me-109 fighter planes and 40 spare engines; and the hiring of German experts to help Japan design a new carrier-based fighter.

At the same time, Japan also began to cooperate with Germany, providing relevant intelligence on the Comintern and working together with Germany on the major capitalist issue of anti-communism, striving to eliminate the communist spies who were constantly creating an atmosphere of terror in both countries.

Of course, there was also the most important secret agreement, which was Japan’s entry into the Axis Steel Pact, becoming the fifth member of this group: Führer, Emperor, Duce, General, Conducător… a list that somehow had the disgusting flavor of a group of creepy old uncles taking little children to see goldfish.

That day, Yamashita came to the Führer’s Residence to say goodbye, stating that he had to rush back to Japan to report on his mission. Akado couldn’t very well ask him to stay, so they bid each other farewell. After seeing off the Japanese Yamashita Kōnosuke in the morning, Akado summoned Gascoigne again, and the two of them went over the secret plans recently drawn up by the intelligence department.

“It seems our intelligence war to frame Tukhachevsky last time was a failure,” Akado said, looking at the secret intelligence on the Great Purge that had come from the Soviet Union. He sighed and then said slowly, “Our plan to use Stalin’s hand to kill people can be said to have completely failed. Instead, Stalin used our knife to kill the people he wanted to get rid of.”

“Führer, this is not your mistake. It was the first time we operated like this, and we were a bit too greedy and aimed for perfection! I will prevent this kind of mistake in the future,” Gascoigne said, taking all the responsibility on himself and bowing his head in apology.

Akado smiled and waved his hand. “Gascoigne! I am not so senile as to let my subordinates take the fall for me. This time, it was indeed my lack of consideration.”

He paused and reflected, “Stalin is no fool. On the contrary, for him to be able to stand out from so many people and become the leader of the Soviet Union, he must be an extraordinarily intelligent fellow. I underestimated him! He is indeed a dictatorial tyrant, but he is not stupid!”

The list of personnel last time was too long. This loophole had allowed Stalin to see that there was a problem with the fake documents created by the German intelligence department. Therefore, Akado’s plan to use Stalin’s Great Purge to destroy the Soviet Union’s reserve of scientific and technical personnel went bankrupt. Instead, Stalin used the fake documents provided by Akado to eliminate the military leader Tukhachevsky, who had been holding him back.

“So, we must remember this lesson! Our opponents are much more formidable than we imagine! Be cautious, be meticulous!” Akado said solemnly to Gascoigne. “Your organization is our shield! It is our last line of defense! No failure is permissible!”

“Yes, my Führer!” Gascoigne said, standing at attention. “I will do everything I can to eliminate all enemies!”

“Using the documents from last time, we have caught quite a few Comintern spies hidden deep among us, but many have still slipped through the net, especially that mysterious officer hidden within the army,” Akado said, patting Gascoigne’s shoulder and continuing in a softer tone, “Have you found any clues?”

“Report to the Führer! We have narrowed down the scope and eliminated most of the suspicious individuals. We have now locked down the spy’s position to our internal intelligence section,” Gascoigne said. “However, it is difficult to determine who it is specifically. He has recently ceased all activities, possibly because the Great Purge in the Soviet Union and our destruction of the enemy’s spy network within Germany have turned him into an isolated intelligence island.”

“As it happens, I want to arrange for a set of blueprints to be sent to the Soviet Union,” Akado said after thinking for a moment. “Let’s use this opportunity to see if we can dig this nail out! After all, with a time bomb like this by my side, I can’t sleep soundly.”

“My Führer,” Gascoigne said, bowing his head. “It is my mistake that I have not been able to hunt down and kill all these enemy intelligence personnel. To pay for this with technological achievements and important blueprints would be a greater loss than gain. If we use fake things, the Soviets were not fooled last time, and they will probably be even more cautious this time. Are you sure you want to…”

“Haha!” Akado waved his hand, interrupting Gascoigne. He then walked to a blackboard on the side of the room that was covered with a black cloth and said to Gascoigne with a smile, “Come and see this!” As he spoke, he pulled away the curtain.

“The largest cannon designed by Germany’s Krupp factory!” Akado said, proudly pointing to the superweapon drawn on the blueprint. “An 800-millimeter caliber, a range of dozens of kilometers, four stories high in total. A masterpiece.”

“Does such a cannon really exist?” As the head of the intelligence department, Gascoigne naturally knew that the Führer had just tricked the French and the British with a fake cannon on the Siegfried Line. Now, seeing the complete design blueprints, he realized that this thing had actually undergone design verification and could be produced as a “superweapon.”

“Of course it’s real! This weapon can be fully produced… Of course, I don’t have that much time to produce such a piece of junk,” Akado said dismissively. “So I want to send this blueprint to the Soviet Union! Stalin might like this gift!”

Gascoigne said nothing. He knew that the Führer had a very mature development philosophy when it came to weapons. Guderian, Rommel, Kesselring, Raeder, Dönitz, Lutz, Brauchitsch, and others who had followed his philosophy had all become prominent generals within the Wehrmacht. And Seeckt, who was at odds with this Führer, was still squatting in distant China, unable to return…

“Find a reasonable excuse to get this into that spy’s hands,” Akado said, pleased with Gascoigne’s habit of keeping his mouth shut when he didn’t understand something. He quietly assigned the task. “We get rid of the nail, the Soviets get the blueprints for a new secret weapon. Isn’t everyone happy?”

“Yes! Heil Führer!” Gascoigne saluted.

Akado nodded. “Go.”

After seeing Gascoigne leave, Akado walked back to his desk, pushed aside several financial documents, and carefully examined the real German secret weapon plan on his desk. He suddenly sighed to himself. “Alas, a small country with a small army can only grasp at every minute detail that decides victory or defeat. As a result of grasping too much, I’ve forgotten the problems at the strategic level. Germany itself has quite a few problems.”

Akado opened the file in front of him. It was about the development of German rocket engine technology. To be honest, the progress was not very great, but the advantage was that they had not taken many wrong turns. There was a special team to oversee the entire design, resolutely cutting down on the complex mechanical structures of German design. But for now, the practical combat performance of German rockets was still worrying. Even in another two years, it would not be comparable to the performance of missiles of later generations.

With Akado’s funding, this project had gone through setbacks and failures, efforts and struggles, and had finally produced a sample that could be launched. But unfortunately, this stage of success was still a long way from practical application. Akado had no intention of creating another expensive firework like the V-2 rocket.

It seems there is still a long way to go, Akado sighed. He closed the file in his hand and closed his eyes, recalling his past. It had been almost sixteen years since he had come to this world. He had gone from a young man of twenty to a middle-aged uncle in his late thirties. At the beginning, he thought that transmigration would bring him a wonderful and alternative life, but in the end, he was so entangled in countless official duties that he didn’t even have time to get married.

He had once hidden in his room in weakness, only to find that there was no escape for him. Those generals had become his supporters; those businessmen already took orders from him; the politicians were waiting for him to lead Germany to victory. If he were to fall, they would not pity him; they would only put a few more bullets in his back. The things he had done in the past to change history were like a giant hand, pushing him ever forward… forward without being able to turn back, without being able to retreat!

Next time I transmigrate, I’ll be damned if I become a national leader again! Akado thought resentfully. Hearing Anna push open the door, he opened his eyes, put the file in a drawer with a combination lock, and put on a confident smile. “Let’s go. Time for lunch.”