c9: Major Akado

Akado had been a Captain for three months and four days when he received a new letter of appointment. As he sat on the train to Berlin, he was still in a daze—so-called happiness had come too quickly, and he was having trouble processing it. He was completely baffled, unable to figure out why an order would come from Berlin promoting a newly-minted captain, allowing him to catch the last train to becoming a true officer as a major in the new Reichswehr.

His promotion speed was arguably the fastest in German history. To a certain extent, it could be said that his rise in rank was a complete violation of regulations, but fortunately for him, he had good luck.

His previous promotion had been handled by a completely illegitimate provisional government. The chaos caused by that government had still not fully subsided, and people were overwhelmed with dealing with the various after-effects of the coup. No one had the time to care about a small matter like a certain lieutenant being promoted to captain.

After all, there were as many as seventeen provisional ministers waiting to be dealt with, and more than twenty major generals and lieutenant generals who had been promoted. A lieutenant becoming a captain was hardly eye-catching.

Moreover, the reason for Lieutenant Akado’s promotion to Captain was Colonel Kluge’s commendation, which made the promotion well-founded and fully compliant with promotion rules and regulations—completely reasonable and legal.

In contrast, Akado’s promotion to Major this time was much more questionable. For instance, Akado’s seniority was far too shallow, having been a captain for just over three months. Furthermore, he had no meritorious achievements or any outstanding performance to his name; it could be said he had been idle in the empty position of the Gas Prevention Team for a full three months.

However, this promotion to Major was proposed by the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, General von Seeckt himself, so naturally no clueless fool would object. Everyone adopted a tacit attitude towards this strange promotion—perhaps this young man named Akado was Seeckt’s godson? Why meddle in such affairs?

Becoming a commissioned officer meant the treatment was different, especially here in Berlin, the heart of all Germany. The moment Akado stepped off the train, a sergeant stepped forward and saluted, clicking his heels together with a crisp sound that was audible even in the noisy train station. “Major, sir! Sergeant Gehr of the High Command Garrison Guard Battalion, at your service.”

Akado was still not used to it. He subconsciously raised his right hand, returned the salute, and then spoke, “Hello, Sergeant Gehr. I am Major Akado from Hamburg, on my way to report to the High Command.”

Sergeant Gehr was clearly a little confused. He was here to pick up Major Akado and had already stated his identity, yet the nervous-looking major in front of him seemed to be introducing himself again, appearing very reserved. This major was also very interesting; he didn’t seem to have the airs of a superior officer, nor did he seem like a nobleman. In short, this major was a far cry from the rumored illegitimate son of General von Seeckt… he was more like, well, like an unsophisticated farmer from the countryside.

After leaving the station, Akado began to grow accustomed to his new identity. A small black car weaved through the crowded streets, parting the dense crowds. Sitting in the back, Akado looked at the towering buildings on both sides, listening to the eloquent Sergeant Gehr in the front introduce the local customs of Berlin, or complain about the “shit-like” Treaty of Versailles.

The car stopped in front of the gate to a building’s courtyard. Two German soldiers carrying rifles walked over, saluted, and reached towards the car window. “Sir, this is the Reichswehr High Command. Please show your identification.”

Rolling down the window, Akado handed over his documents. Through the space under the soldier’s arm, he saw a metal plaque on the gatepost, with “German Reichswehr High Command” written on it in elegant script.

The soldier glanced at the documents, returned them to Akado, and then saluted again. “Welcome, Major.” After speaking, he stepped aside and signaled for them to proceed.

The gate’s barrier slowly rose, and the car started moving again. Akado took a deep breath. He had finally made it here. This, right here, was his stage—the grand stage for realizing his dream of a Third Reich.

“Major Akado, welcome. General von Seeckt is waiting for you. Please put your things down and follow me.” In the outer office of General von Seeckt, a very stout female secretary was holding a coffee cup and joking with a maid who was cleaning the floor. Seeing Akado walk in, she put down her cup, waved Sergeant Gehr out, and then said, “You must be the luckiest person I’ve ever seen.”

Lucky? Akado rubbed his nose and gave a wry smile. A twenty-one-year-old major was indeed very lucky, but the current mess in the German military was truly a thorny problem. He was confident that, besides himself, there were few people in this High Command capable of handling it.

“Do you know me?” Akado asked casually. It seemed everyone here knew him, yet he didn’t know a single one of them.

“I am Second Lieutenant Grace, General von Seeckt’s secretary. You could say you’re quite the celebrity in the High Command recently, so I imagine many people here know you. But, now you know me!” Grace smiled, revealing the unique boldness and competence of a Germanic woman.

Seeing Akado place the briefcase under his arm onto the sofa by the door, Grace walked to the entrance of General von Seeckt’s office and knocked lightly.

“Come in!” A voice sounded from within. The door muffled the sound, and Akado couldn’t hear it clearly, but Grace obviously did, and she pushed the office door open.

Directly opposite the door was a very large desk, extraordinarily large, almost ridiculously so. It seemed this really was the German Reichswehr High Command; even the desks were the largest in all of Germany. Akado had an uncharitable thought: Could it be even bigger than the President’s desk?

Major General von Seeckt heard Akado enter and looked up. He wore the two-pronged mustache characteristic of a Prussian and smiled at the somewhat reserved Akado, reaching up to remove the monocle from his right eye.

“It’s you!” Akado blurted out subconsciously. He was bewildered. He had seen this middle-aged man in his fifties before—on the train to Hamburg that day, this man had been sitting right across from him.

“Yes, it’s me.” General von Seeckt smiled, placed the monocle on his desk, and stood up to stretch. “Now you know why I called you here, don’t you?”

“I still don’t know. You might as well just tell me,” Akado said. He genuinely had no idea why this top commander had brought him here.

“What you said on the train, I believe it was correct. So I brought you here, hoping you can become my assistant,” Seeckt said bluntly. “I need people like you to revitalize the future of the great German nation.”

“Anyone can shout slogans, General. How can you be so sure that I’m the kind of person you need?” Akado shed his nervousness and stared at General von Seeckt.

“Young man, I’ve lived for over half a century. If I can’t even read people correctly, how could I have possibly reached this position?” Seeckt pointed at the chair he had just been sitting in, his tone somewhat teasing. “Are you not confident in your own abilities, or do you think I’ve misjudged you?”

“General, sir, with all due respect, there is no one in this building more suitable for the job than I am! You have found a treasure for the German army!” Akado stood at attention, his voice filled with confidence.

“Don’t be so certain, Major. If you are not up to the task, I will kick you out of my army! Furthermore, I don’t want someone who just boasts. I need people who can actually get things done!” Seeckt pointed at a stack of documents in front of him, his gaze sharp as he stared at Akado. “This is your test!”

Akado walked forward, picked up the documents, and began to read them carefully. On the first page, a line of large characters was written in bold: Reorganization Plan for the 1st Division of the German Reichswehr.

“Tell me your thoughts, Major Akado.” Walking over to a sofa, General von Seeckt sat down, crossed his legs, picked up a glass of water, and took a loud sip.

“General, if we are preparing for a future war, I believe we need a tank force! A ‘tank force’ that, once equipped with tanks, can become a true panzer division!” Akado said after flipping through a couple of pages.

“The Treaty of Versailles forbids us from having tanks, you know that! Why do you still say this?” Seeckt’s eyes lit up. He uncrossed his legs and asked.

A slight smile played on Akado’s lips. “Then we will circumvent the Treaty of Versailles. I believe that is your intention as well, isn’t it, General?”

“Continue,” Seeckt said, stroking his chin with one hand, his brow furrowed. He felt a spark of inspiration, something flashing through his mind.

Akado pointed at the plan and said, “This division must be equipped with at least 60 large-caliber artillery pieces. The infantry, lacking transport, will be temporarily equipped with bicycles. We will secretly train personnel to simulate tank units. Although we have no tanks, we can simulate them by draping canvas over cars.”

“According to your estimate, what would be the combat effectiveness of this division?” Seeckt asked his most pressing question.

“Combat effectiveness?” Akado confidently tapped the plan on the coffee table with his finger and said contemptuously, “This division can tear through a defensive line composed of at least two army corps.”

“Go to the suburbs, find Major General Hammon, and tell him it’s my order. You are to supervise the reorganization of the 1st Division!” Seeckt stood up. “In one month, I want to see a brand-new 1st Division of the Reichswehr!”