Chapter 313: A Man More Like an Emperor Than an Emperor

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The contents of the meeting had been decided, and Akado resolved to execute them immediately. Given his past life as a university teacher, he was not particularly adept at scheming and intrigue. Most of his methods were only on the level of flattering professors and department heads.

Although in this life he had been struggling in the political and military arenas for nearly twenty years, when compared to a mature politician like August, who had watched his own grandfather navigate the corridors of power, his level was only that of a beginner.

But he was confident in his ability to distinguish good advice from bad. At least for now, the advice that August had provided him was very comprehensive and practical. He had no extra time now to think about whether there was a better way, because if he did not take this opportunity to clean house, he would ultimately, like Hitler, fall into a vicious cycle of distrust with his subordinates.

Moreover, in front of so many important figures, he also had to display the kind of decisive power befitting a Führer. Otherwise, how would he command these leaders from all walks of life in the future? One must know that sitting here were the leading figures of the business world, Krupp and Bosch; the political dignitaries, August and Merkel; and also several military generals who were already sweating profusely.

Akado naturally waved his hand, and Anna, who was behind him, walked to the side of the wall, picked up the phone from a table of ornaments, carefully stretched the cord, and walked to Akado’s side with the phone, placing the exquisite telephone in front of the Führer.

Without turning his head, Akado grabbed the phone and said, “Get me the Berlin Garrison Command. Have Division Commander Rein Truman take the call.”

He waited for a moment, and only then did he hear the voice of Division Commander Rein Truman on the other end of the line. Akado did not waste any words and immediately got straight to the point. “This is Akado! As the German Führer, I am now personally taking over command of the Berlin garrison. Any problems?”

“My Führer! The garrison is always your most trustworthy force! I will assemble the troops at once!” On the other end of the line, as one of Akado’s most trusted soldiers, Rein Truman had followed Akado since the beginning of his rise. He was an unwavering supporter of Akado, which was why he was able to sit in the position of commander of the Berlin garrison.

“Immediately impose martial law on the Wehrmacht Army High Command. I am going there now to dismiss all positions in the Army High Command. Any problems?” Akado asked sinisterly.

“No problems at all, my Führer. May I ask if we are to suppress all resistance?” the other end of the line asked without the slightest hesitation.

“I authorize you to suppress all resistance,” Akado said, looking at the officials in the room who were wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads. “Solve all problems before I arrive.”

“Yes, my Führer! Long live Akado Rudolph!” Rein Truman on the other end of the line replied at attention.

Putting down the phone, Akado dialed the number for the SS High Command. Under Akado’s command, Reinhard Heydrich immediately ordered the SS deployed in the Berlin area to begin imposing martial law. After a few years, the smell of blood and smoke had appeared in Berlin once again.

After finishing his calls, Akado pushed back his chair and stood up. He gently patted his trouser legs and said with a smile, “Gentlemen, is anyone willing to go to the Army High Command to watch the show?”

“I am willing to accompany you, Führer,” August said with a smile. “You wouldn’t mind an old man like me getting in the way, would you?”

“How could I,” Akado said, putting on the greatcoat that Anna handed him and turning to walk toward the door. August stood up and, with his hands behind his back and a slight stoop, followed him. Krupp and Merkel also got up and followed, followed by one government official after another.

At the same time as Akado was setting out, in the barracks of the Berlin garrison, the alarm was sounding piercingly. Soldiers with rifles slung over their shoulders rushed out of the barracks. The doors of the warehouses where row after row of trucks were parked were hurriedly pushed open by the soldiers. All the duty officers had already reported to the command post, and the entire defense area was filled with running officers and soldiers.

Less than ten minutes after Akado had put down the phone, the first truck full of soldiers had driven out of the camp gate, followed by a second, and a third. These trucks sped past the roadblocks and onto the highway leading to the city of Berlin.

By the time Akado got out of his Mercedes-Benz, the familiar main entrance of his Wehrmacht High Command had already been occupied by soldiers holding rifles. The familiar gate, the familiar everything. Akado had once worked here for nearly ten years. When he had been a force to be reckoned with here, half of the officers who were now working here had still been in school.

At that time, there had been General von Seeckt here, and General von Hammerstein. But now von Seeckt had died in a foreign land, and General von Hammerstein had long since left the stage of the German army. And now, Akado himself, as the Führer of Germany, had returned to this place where he had once struggled, and he could not help but be filled with emotion.

Seeing the Führer arrive, the soldiers voluntarily made way. Akado walked forward, step by step. When he reached the main gate, he saw a group of general and staff officers standing in the courtyard of the Army High Command. These men had just been silent, confronting the soldiers who wanted to rush in. However, when they saw Akado walk in, they took two steps back, their faces filled with grief and indignation as they stared at the man before them.

“Have I only been gone for a few days? Have so many people already forgotten General Akado Rudolph?” Akado asked, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the officers standing in the courtyard. His gaze was somewhat cold, making one shudder.

The confrontational atmosphere, which had been unyielding just a moment ago, dissipated because of this one sentence from Akado. As his voice fell, dozens of officers and generals immediately retreated to the side, raised their right hands, and shouted, “Heil Führer!”

A tiger’s prestige remains even after its death. Akado had spent ten years at the Wehrmacht High Command, creating the military legend of the youngest general. All the officers who had experienced the darkest days of the Wehrmacht knew what a formidable and ruthless character Akado was. So when Akado had appeared at the door, these men also knew that there was no need for them to struggle any further today.

And the remaining dozen or so officers were mostly young, field-grade officers. Most of them had not experienced the era when Akado was in charge of the Wehrmacht. Of course, Akado also knew that at least more than half of these young men had aristocratic backgrounds. It was precisely because these people had Junker aristocratic backgrounds that they had dared to “hijack” Brauchitsch’s personal will in the Army High Command and form a faction to deal with him, the German Führer.

“The Reichstag has already passed the bill to reorganize the Army High Command and to reform it into the German Army General Staff. Have you all forgotten your own status?” Akado asked softly.

“Führer! We are your loyal soldiers,” an officer said, stepping out of the crowd and staring at Akado. “Your distrust of us is an insult to the honor of us army generals! We have sworn an oath to be loyal to the country, and to you. You should trust us…”

“Trust?” Akado raised his chin and looked at the lieutenant colonel, who was about his age. He just softly repeated this one word, interrupting the man’s endless talk. He looked down at this officer who had stepped forward and, after a long while, finally gave a cold laugh. “Are you and your family worthy of my trust?”

“Your operational plan is indeed too radical! So we should correct your mistake! We are the unshakeable foundation of Germany! And you are just a…” the officer shouted, pointing at Akado, his heart’s words that he had suppressed for many years.

However, he had only shouted a few sentences when a gunshot rang out. “Crack!” The bullet passed through his head, carrying blood far away. Akado looked on, unfazed, as the man in front of him convulsed and fell. And August, not far behind Akado, shook his head and gave a cold laugh.

Anna put her pistol back into the holster on her web belt and then said coldly, “First, anyone who questions the German Führer must die! Second, the Führer is the unshakeable foundation of Germany! Third, please maintain a respectful emphasis when speaking to the Führer! If you can’t learn, I don’t mind teaching you again.”

“Rein Truman,” Akado beckoned to his confidant on the side. When he had come closer, he said softly, “I have authorized you to handle everything. Is this the result of your work?”

“I’m sorry, Führer! Please give me one minute,” Rein Truman said, bowing his head in apology. He then turned around and gave a loud command to the surrounding soldiers. “These people have committed treason. Kill them all!”

“Crack! Rat-tat! Rat-tat!” All sorts of gunshots immediately rang out. The young officers who were still standing in the center of the courtyard immediately fell into pools of blood. Soon, the scene quieted down. The ground was stained red with blood, and the air was filled with a nauseating smell.

Akado beckoned, and an SS officer came over from not far behind, stood at attention, and saluted. “Heil Führer Akado Rudolph!”

“Investigate the identities of these people. After interrogating anyone connected to them, send them all to the eastern district of Poland! There is a shortage of labor there,” Akado said, pointing to the corpses on the ground. He had never been a merciful person. Ever since he had seen the bloody identity tags that had been sent back from the front, he had sworn to be responsible for every person who was loyal to him. And since he had to be responsible, he had to use the most brutal methods to deal with those who did not cooperate.

Just as Akado was entering the Wehrmacht High Command, in a distant building, the Six of Hearts lowered his binoculars and sighed helplessly to Paul beside him. “He… is even more powerful… than that time…”

Two hours later, the Army General Staff was formally established. Field Marshal von Brauchitsch stepped down as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and took up the post of Chief of the German Army General Staff. And the original Chief of Staff, von Bock, was sent to Munich to form a new army group.

Brauchitsch, who had received the notice, had locked himself in a small room in the Felsennest for more than half an hour. He had then refused anyone to see him off, had returned to Berlin alone, and had personally explained his improper behavior to the Führer. And seven families with Junker aristocratic backgrounds had been massacred by the SS, and their children had all been sent to Poland, which had caused strong dissatisfaction in the Junker aristocratic circles. But that is a story for later.

It was much easier than he had imagined. Akado had completely grasped the command of the three armed forces and had become the Führer who held all the power in both the military and political circles, the true number one person in the Third Reich—a man more like an emperor than an emperor.