Chapter 101: The Act

Inside the solemn Presidential Palace, Akado stood before Hindenburg. Behind him were his loyal subordinates. Today they were the victors, or rather, the incomplete victors. Behind these men was a crowd of reporters. The flashes of cameras flickered nonstop, turning the entire President’s office into a glittering golden hall.

Hindenburg, trembling, completed the inauguration ceremony for the new German Chancellor with Akado. According to tradition, he had to attend and preside over this ceremony. “Former Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General Akado of Germany, can you swear an oath, guaranteeing that you will fulfill the duties of Chancellor to the best of your ability, with the interests of the nation as your priority?”

Akado stepped forward. In front of the priest and Hindenburg, he placed his palm on the Bible and solemnly read his oath: “I am willing.”

“Are you willing to swear to God to uphold the German constitution, support the President, and respect the power of the Parliament?” Hindenburg continued to ask.

“I am willing,” Akado said. His hand, resting on the Bible, trembled slightly. He stared at President Hindenburg, seeming to think for a long time. In the next second, he opened his mouth and answered Hindenburg’s question.

“Then I declare… Mr. Akado Rudolph will become the new Chancellor of Germany. May Almighty God bless you,” Hindenburg said, looking into Akado’s eyes. He seemed somewhat reluctant, but in the end, he still offered his blessing.

“Long live Greater Germany!” Akado gave a German salute to Hindenburg. He did not extend his hand to shake the hand of the aged president, but instead recited his own oath to the world in his own way.

Around him, the flashes began to flicker nonstop. Everyone applauded warmly. The entire nation seemed to be overjoyed at the birth of the new Chancellor.

“Long live Greater Germany!” Many people present excitedly raised their right hands, using the German salute to vent their agitated emotions.

Hugo Jaeger pressed the shutter of his camera beside Akado. The flashbulb went off with a pop, and a photograph was recorded. In this photo, Akado stood proudly beside the tall and slightly plump President Hindenburg. The president’s shoulders were slightly slumped, and his back was somewhat hunched, while Akado’s body, though thin, looked exceptionally straight and tall. In front of him, Merkel, Loic Kater, General von Hammerstein-Equord, and others were all raising their right arms in a German salute.

This photograph was eventually named “The Dawn of Germany” and was printed on the front-page headline of the Greater Germany Gazette that day. However, a small, obscure newspaper in France also used this photo, but the title of the article was changed to “The Fallen Nation.”

Akado’s rise to power marked the complete seizure of power by the Greater Germany Party. His control over all sectors of Germany was brought one step closer.

General von Hammerstein-Equord, as a compromise between the two sides, was reappointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr. But the recently ever-more-dazzling new star of the military world, General von Brauchitsch, was appointed as the Chief of Staff. Coupled with the promotion of a large number of generals loyal to Akado, Akado’s control over the Reichswehr, instead of retreating, advanced.

He now controlled the forces of 24 divisions in Germany, from the 1st to the 29th (with divisions 20 through 24 being vacant). This included elite units such as the 1st Paratrooper Division, the 25th Panzer Division, the 26th Cavalry Division, and the 27th Panzer Division. The number of men in these units was already close to 290,000, more than half of the total strength of the Reichswehr.

And everyone knew that even within the remaining less than 200,000 men of the Reichswehr, there were not a few who held a favorable impression of Akado and his Greater Germany Party. After all, Akado’s army expansion plan had brought promotion opportunities to many more junior and mid-level officers. So now it could be said with complete certainty that the Reichswehr supported Akado—although this support was not “total” support.

Merkel was appointed as the German Foreign Minister, nominated by Akado. His meritorious service within the Greater Germany Party was there for all to see—and his deputy was the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the former Foreign Minister Stresemann. Such a combination made everyone full of expectations for the future of German diplomacy.

The main figure constituting Akado’s economic sphere was a little-known person, a man named Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht. He was not famous within the Greater Germany Party, but he had served as the president of Germany’s national bank throughout the 1920s and had joined the Greater Germany Party as early as 1927.

Within the party, both Krupp and Bosch addressed him as “Mr.” This gentleman had a great dislike for parliamentary democracy, so he was a personal supporter of Akado. He pledged personal allegiance to Akado like a knight of old and was truly prepared to dedicate all his strength to Akado.

Perhaps loyalty alone was not enough, but this Schacht was an extremely talented financial expert. In the 1920s, he had formulated a financial policy of using foreign exchange loans to support the issuance of a new currency, which stabilized the exchange rate of the Mark and supported Germany through soaring inflation.

Therefore, among the star-studded team of Akado’s think tank, Schacht stood out and became the Minister of Economics. In contrast, the previous popular candidates like Krupp and Bosch all tacitly accepted this risky appointment.

The police system was controlled by Reinhard Heydrich. Strangely, almost all countries expressed approval of this appointment. Spokespersons for the police departments of both France and Britain expressed their support for Heydrich taking over the German police force, because they wanted to rely on this strong figure to combat the increasingly rampant international drug trafficking organizations.

Compared to the news of the head of the SS, Heydrich, serving as the head of the police department, the news of a minor figure named Matthof, who had been promoted by Akado and was also absolutely loyal to him personally, taking over as the deputy head of the police department became an insignificant piece of minor news.

And so Akado formed his cabinet government and began to secretly implement his larger-scale military expansion plan. Because he already controlled the government, this time the plan was even larger and even more blatant.

Under his prompting, Schacht invented a kind of “promissory note.” These secretly used notes provided financial support for the entire rearmament plan. What was paid to Krupp and other arms dealers was not real silver and gold German Marks, but this kind of promissory note. This note could be used in place of currency to purchase raw materials and other necessary commodities, could be exchanged for production materials, and could also be issued as wages.

The only difference from currency was that this promissory note could only be redeemed after 5 years at a government-controlled company. And the acronym of the company that redeemed it was “MEFO,” so this promissory note was also called a “MEFO bill.”

The raw materials purchased with these MEFO bills were all bought with the funds profited from “Operation Sewing Needle” during the economic crisis, including a large number of mechanical equipment and raw material ores such as steel. Of course, this kind of promissory note could also be used to exchange for the large quantities of grain and clothing shipped from the Soviet Union, which were the product of the secret Soviet-German cooperation.

And so, the materials of all of Germany began to be consumed at an astonishing speed, turning into all sorts of weapons and equipment at an astonishing speed, yet not a single cent’s disappearance or creation was seen in the government’s financial statements—relying solely on MEFO bills and the verbal promises of military officers, the Krupp factory “profited” by 41 million Marks in 1933. Of course, most of this money was in the form of potatoes and margarine, as well as real silver and gold that could only be withdrawn five years later.

Akado did not go after the Nazi Party and the Social Democratic Party and other parties as soon as he came to power. Instead, he wholeheartedly revitalized the German economy and expanded the strength of the Reichswehr. Under his efforts, the German Reichswehr successively established the 23rd Panzer Division, the 24th Panzer Division, and three motorized infantry divisions: the 20th, 21st, and 22nd.

Subsequently, Akado ordered the Greater Germany SS to form the 1st Waffen-SS Division, personally naming it “Kaiser,” and dispatched Reichswehr officers to conduct systematic training, so that this unit could be equipped with heavy weapons and used as a regular army main force at any time.

However, in the entire process of implementing the plan to strengthen the military and the nation, Akado still felt the dissatisfaction and obstruction from other parties. His plan to expand the German panzer forces was nearly blocked during a secret discussion in the parliament. This expansion of the armored forces was just the tip of the iceberg of his grand plan. Even so, it almost failed to pass. So he knew that until the day he drove these hindrances out of the parliament, he would never be able to truly control all of Germany.

“Mr. Chancellor, you were looking for me?” Loic Kater stood before Akado’s desk and asked. A few hours ago, Akado had suddenly summoned him, and now he had even had his trusted lover Anna leave the office. He could guess that the matter this time would not be so simple.

Akado extended his hand and handed a document to Loic Kater, saying softly, “Here, take a look at this.”

Loic Kater carefully looked at the title on the cover of the document. His frowning brow grew tighter and tighter, because on this document was a title that he felt was very dangerous: “Law to Protect the German People.”

After reading only a few articles, Loic Kater’s face changed. He looked up and stared at Akado’s face. “Mr. Chancellor, this proposal is very dangerous. If we fail in the parliamentary vote, then our control over the entire parliament will be affected. We do not have a majority of the seats. We cannot ensure that this document…”

“I naturally have a way to get this act passed,” Akado said, standing up. A mocking smile seemed to hang on the corner of his lips. He pointed to the act and said, “I will use this act to make those political parties that are hostile to us all shut up! In this way, we can concentrate on building our country.”

“But, Mr. Chancellor, this is still very dangerous,” Loic Kater had no choice but to remind Akado again. “Can you ensure that we will be victorious?”

“Of course!” Akado nodded his head and patted Loic Kater’s shoulder with great confidence. “I can foresee our victory! As long as we succeed this time, then all of Germany will be ours.”

Loic Kater let out a deep breath. “Mr. Chancellor, I believe in your judgment! If you say we will be victorious, then we will surely be victorious!”

“Long live Greater Germany!” Akado said with a smile.

“Long live Akado!” Loic Kater replied.