Chapter 182: Not Everything Goes Smoothly

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“Report!” an officer knocked on the door of Akado’s office.

“Come in!” Akado said without looking up, busy reading a financial report.

The officer walked to Akado’s desk, stood at attention, and gave a German salute. “Heil Führer!”

Akado finally looked up. “What is it? News from the Polish front?”

“My Führer,” the officer said with his head bowed. “News just came in. The destroyer Z43 was sunk off the coast of Poland. We have 95 officers and men killed in action. The number of wounded is still being tallied.”

Akado frowned. He realized that since the war with Poland had begun, he had rarely smiled. Economic growth had slowed, the people’s mood was low due to the war, the British and French sanctions had made Germany’s energy problems even more prominent, and now the military was having issues.

He sighed, stood up slowly, and asked, “What are the specific circumstances? Why was it sunk? Did a destroyer go inshore to duel with coastal artillery? Do the naval commanders not have brains?”

“Führer, when the operational plan was being drawn up, the army requested that the navy provide as much fire support as possible. At that time, you were attending the economic innovation conference organized by Speaker Krupp, so you did not participate,” the officer said, a little apprehensively, seeing Akado’s bad mood.

“How could Raeder be so absurd?” Akado said, walking around his desk. “A new warship that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build, my officers and sailors that I have painstakingly accumulated over a dozen years! Given to the enemy for free just to save face for the army?”

“Führer! I don’t think that was the generals’ intention…” the officer hurriedly tried to placate him.

“Not their intention?” Akado glanced at the officer. “What did I say in the technical development guide I gave to the navy? Hmm? What did I warn them about? How did I require the navy to draw up their operational plans?”

Akado suddenly felt a great sense of powerless exhaustion. He felt that he could not control such a large country by himself. He didn’t know if Hitler had also been unable to control every detail back then.

Akado even had a strange thought: was it that those generals had also paid lip service to Hitler while disobeying him in secret? Had they really held Hitler back, leading Germany to an uncontrollable outcome, an outcome that no one wanted to see?

“My Führer, please calm your anger,” the officer weakly advised, and then didn’t know what else to say.

“Go. Go and bring General von Brauchitsch here! I want to hear his full report on every aspect of the war against Poland,” Akado said with a wave of his hand. He knew in his heart that it seemed he needed to maintain an image of thunderous authority, to make everyone nervous, to inquire about every matter, and to reduce losses to an acceptable level.

Originally, when he was designing the Z-class destroyers for the navy, he had not considered the mission of shore bombardment at all. In his mind, shore bombardment was a task for naval aviation, not for dueling with naval guns.

Therefore, the Z-class destroyers were only equipped with 88mm cannons as their main armament. This was all in the name of strengthening every aspect of anti-aircraft defense. Akado hoped that these warships would stick closely to the aircraft carriers, providing the most effective anti-aircraft and anti-submarine protection for Germany’s vulnerable carriers. As for anti-ship attacks, that was to be handled entirely by carrier-based aircraft.

That was why Akado had felt at ease building his destroyers and cruisers with civilian technology, because these warships did not need to consider how to withstand the damage from a gun battle. Their enemies would all be destroyed by naval aviation from beyond visual range, so these warships, including the carriers, did not need a robust physique.

However, these destroyers and cruisers, with their first-class construction speed and powerful anti-aircraft fire, and even Germany’s aircraft carriers, all had a flaw: their defense against direct-fire weapons like cannons. So this time, a problem had finally erupted. A destroyer, after being hit just once by a heavy cannon, could not be saved and sank directly.

Germany lacked steel, and the armor used for shipbuilding was even scarcer. To save this armor, German destroyers had almost no decent armor protection, and cruisers only had armor plates installed symbolically in key areas. In a helpless trade-off, Akado had chosen quantity and construction speed, abandoning the usual standard of defense. This practice, which went against the German navy’s shipbuilding tradition, was personally formulated by Akado, and no one was allowed to question it.

Even the aircraft carriers only had armor protection installed in some necessary places. Most of their defensive measures were based on the premise of sinking the enemy’s warships first. It could be said that the entire German High Seas Fleet was a meat bun with a thin skin and a lot of filling: powerful firepower and first-class attack, but its defense could only be considered second-rate.

Akado knew better than anyone that if such a navy were taken out for a fleet engagement on the high seas, relying on the technical advantage of large-scale use of naval aviation, it might achieve some results, and even gain an advantage over a traditional navy. But without the core of the aircraft carrier, this fleet was a toothless tiger, not even a sick cat.

The problems exposed by the navy made Akado infinitely expand the shadowy parts of the empire that he could not control. It made him feel uneasy and forced him to start considering every detail he didn’t know. He now, more than ever before, desired the sense of security that came with being in control of everything.

Brauchitsch was late in arriving. As soon as he entered the door, he was frightened by Akado’s icy face. “Heil Führer! You summoned me because…”

“Who requested that the navy provide fire support to the Danzig region?” Akado’s first words were a cold question. “As the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, did you or did you not know of the existence of this plan? Why did you not report it to me?”

Brauchitsch was taken aback. He had not yet received the news of the warship’s sinking. But requesting naval support had always been a traditional method for coastal operations. Such a small matter had never required reporting to the Führer’s level before, had it?

However, he saw some clues in Akado’s unfriendly face and had no choice but to bow his head and explain, “My Führer! Requesting the navy to provide limited support when necessary has always been a tradition in coastal operations. This kind of tactical issue has always been decided by the General Staff. To send it to you would be bypassing the chain of command, wouldn’t it?”

“The destroyer Z43 has been sunk,” Akado also knew he had wrongly blamed Brauchitsch, but the feeling of losing a warship in an instant was really not good. “Which idiot sent a warship to provide inshore support? The destroyer only has 88mm dual-purpose guns. Was it sent to the coast to die?”

“My Führer! We are to blame for not considering this matter thoroughly,” Brauchitsch immediately admitted his mistake. He knew that the loss of a destroyer was indeed due to poor planning, but he did not elevate the matter to the level of losing control. “I will have the officers of the General Staff review this matter, make a detailed report, and put an end to the continued occurrence of such incidents.”

Akado nodded, and his anger subsided somewhat. After all, Brauchitsch was someone he had personally promoted, and his loyalty should not be in question. He really shouldn’t vent this anger on the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. “I’m sorry. The thought of soldiers on the front line sacrificing their lives because of our mistakes makes me feel that I have not done my best.”

“My Führer, even the most perfect operational plan will encounter various problems during its execution. This is unavoidable. You need not blame yourself too much,” Brauchitsch said, an expression of emotion on his face that was hard to read. He nodded and comforted him, “My Führer, our army has now achieved the most glorious victory in the history of human warfare. You should be happy for the officers and men on the front lines.”

“In the future, there must be complete and unreserved communication with the navy! All branches of the service must cooperate in this way!” Akado said after a moment’s thought. “This kind of thing, where you compromise with the lives of soldiers out of consideration for face, is absolutely not allowed to happen again! Do you understand?”

“Yes, my Führer!” Brauchitsch said, standing at attention.

“How are things on the army side?” Akado asked, pointing to the map hanging on the wall in front of his desk. “Give me a brief overview of the war situation.”

“The air force’s results have not yet been sent to me, but based on my analysis of the intelligence sent from the various army group command posts, the air force has already won the battle for air superiority. They have carried out destructive interference against the Polish army, which has made our advance very smooth.”

“General Model’s Army Group D has already advanced to the Sell Bridge and has established a bridgehead there. I have already ordered them to continue their advance on Kraków,” Brauchitsch said, pointing to the south.

Then he pointed to the middle. “In the central region, we have only conducted holding actions, so the results are not significant.”

He then pointed to the top of the map, glanced at Akado, and continued, “In the north, Rommel’s 7th Panzer Corps has already linked up with Army Group P from East Prussia, but the Polish Pomeranian Army has escaped.”

“Are the plans for the next step ready?” Akado asked casually.

“Of course, but the plan is too complex. Which aspect does the Führer wish to know about?” Brauchitsch replied. “The logistics plan is very large. Our army has captured 17 Polish locomotives and is currently repairing a portion of the railway that was destroyed by the air force.”

“What about the main front?” Akado asked again. He didn’t understand many of the details of the operation, and you couldn’t expect a second-rate military fan like him to be well-versed in the art of leading troops into battle. So he had to ask casually to show his concern.