Chapter 117: The Commission's War

Colonel Grewdo had been having a rough time lately. The budget for their Allied Military Control Commission had been cut yet again. The economic situation back home meant that none of the countries were in the mood to care about foreign affairs, so the Commission’s activities had become exceptionally difficult.

Due to tight funding, many inspections and patrols had been forced to be canceled. Now, even many of the reports submitted on time were being shelved. The Control Commission’s role in supervising and regulating the German Wehrmacht was becoming smaller and smaller.

A comparison of data from several periods shows just how much the Commission’s role had been compressed to an almost non-existent level.

At the end of 1919, the Allied Military Control Commission had more than 900 active personnel. If you included hired clerks and bought-off informants, the total number exceeded 2,000. At that time, almost the entire German military industry and army were on the Commission’s records.

There is a report that proves just how detailed the records were at the time. The report concerned the resignation of a colonel in the new German Wehrmacht due to illness. It detailed the cause of the illness and the outcome, the name of the officer who replaced him, his former position… every effect of this single promotion was recorded.

Once, in order to monitor Akado Rudolph, who was already a colonel in the Wehrmacht, the Commission pulled his personal file. It had records from his performance during his service in 1918 to his promotion when he became a member of the new Wehrmacht’s gas prevention team in 1919. There was even a special mark next to the entry about Akado’s transfer to the Wehrmacht High Command.

If you still recall, you should remember that due to the Commission’s intervention, the Krupp factory was forced to destroy more than eighty percent of its production equipment. They even destroyed several thousand cannons that had already been produced, and when the number was not enough, they had to produce more to make up the shortfall.

By 1925, the Wehrmacht had gradually seized the initiative. Much information was being concealed or distorted, but the Commission still held an absolute advantage in many areas.

At that time, most of the weapons and equipment produced by the German army had to be done in secret, with much of the equipment disguised for civilian use. At this point, Germany, at least on the surface, was still very concerned about the Commission’s attitude. There are two sets of data here as well, proving that although the Commission had lost some of its monitoring power, it was still the authoritative body set up by the Allies in Germany.

The first is an internal statistical report from the German intelligence services. The data shows that between 1925 and 1927, German intelligence captured a total of 427 spies providing information to the Commission, obtained 2,913 pieces of intelligence on the organization’s activities, and successfully thwarted over 2,100 such operations.

Another report shows that at the end of 1925, the Commission launched a large-scale surprise inspection, shutting down a shell factory under the Krupp company. They confiscated over 5,000 shells and twenty 150mm cannons. These weapons were all destroyed on-site the next day. The Germans paid a fine of 70,000 US dollars for this violation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal apology to relevant countries like France and Britain.

This shows that at least before 1927, the Commission, led by the French, British, and Belgians, was still exercising its functions and had achieved a certain degree of success. At least during this period, the expansion of the German Wehrmacht was severely curbed.

However, things took a turn in 1929. The British, due to the economic crisis, had effectively withdrawn completely from the Commission. Without British pressure, the French government, also pressured by its domestic economic situation, reined in its aggressive stance. The agency’s deterrent effect on the German Wehrmacht had clearly weakened by more than a little.

Subsequent data shows that the organization had almost completely lost its ability to restrain the German Wehrmacht. In the year 1920, the Commission conducted 9 surprise inspections of German military enterprises and 2 of the army. In 1930, the same inspections were carried out a pitiful 1 time, and only against a military enterprise.

The result of this one inspection also showed the decline of the Commission. This time, the Commission’s officers found 41 unregistered 150mm cannons and over 7,000 unrecorded shells in a new Krupp military factory near a suburb of Berlin. But this time, not only did the Germans not apologize, they didn’t even destroy the weapons. They simply added them to a form and hastily concluded the matter.

“We can’t go on like this,” a French officer sighed with emotion. “A few years ago, we could go wherever we wanted to inspect. Now, if we want to go to these places, we can’t even get in the door. We have our credentials, and they have submachine guns!”

“That’s nothing. In the past few months, our people have been intimidated and beaten. Now we have to carry guns when we walk on the street, otherwise a group of men in SS uniforms will come and start trouble, and those damn German commoners will cheer them on from the side,” another officer said.

Colonel Grewdo tossed the file in his hand onto the desk and shook his head helplessly. “The report I submitted to France and Britain was returned.”

“Returned? We provided such detailed evidence!” the first French officer said angrily. “A lot of the evidence can prove that Akado is the main culprit behind the expansion of the German army.”

Another officer nodded in agreement. “That’s right! From the warning of that mysterious phone call, we’ve been monitoring Akado. Although as his status got higher and higher, monitoring became more and more difficult, we still obtained a large amount of evidence.”

“In 1925, he went to Munich, and soon after, there was evidence that the Germans had opened up a secret military base in the mountains south of Munich! They were training tank troops there!”

“He has always had close contact with a general in the Wehrmacht named Kesselring, and this General Kesselring has now become the supreme commander of the Wehrmacht’s air force. This is enough to prove that he is actually the mastermind behind the Germans’ restoration of their air force!”

Once the topic of Akado and the German military expansion was raised, everyone started talking at once. Everyone here knew that this Akado was actually the soul of the German Wehrmacht, because almost every verifiable instance of military expansion had the shadow of Akado Rudolph behind it.

“We all know this man is guilty! But now he is no longer a character we can deal with! Gentlemen! Our governments have tolerated this devil for the sake of certain international relations. Now he has grown powerful, and our countries are no longer strong enough to deal with him!” Grewdo said dejectedly. “This is the third report I have submitted demanding the trial of the dangerous German element Akado Rudolph, and it will be my last report in office. I am about to resign from my position as the head of the Allied Military Control Commission.”

“Colonel Grewdo? You’re going back home?” The officers present were all somewhat dejected and asked in a flurry of voices. Colonel Grewdo had always been their leader, kind and methodical, always taking care of all the officers in the Commission like a patriarch, so he was also deeply loved by them.

“The Belgian Ministry of Defense has informed me that after the New Year, Belgium will give up stationing Control Commission officers in Germany. I am to be transferred back home. This report is the last counter-attack I can make against Akado,” Grewdo said with a regretful sigh. “Even though many peace-loving people have stepped up to help us, we still haven’t been able to stop the approach of war.”

“Colonel! Let’s take our men and go directly to their… what is it, Führer’s residence! Let’s fight it out with him! If he’s willing to submit to the law, we’ll accept it even if we die! If he dares to resist, at least our countries won’t just watch us die like this! Then…” an officer said emotionally.

“No one will go to war for us! The Germans see this more clearly than we do! They knew we had become a mere decoration even earlier than we did ourselves,” Grewdo said with a bitter smile. “Even if a group of Germans were to storm in here right now, I wouldn’t find it strange at all.”

He spread his hands helplessly. “And now it’s even less likely! The British government, in order to make Germany focus on the east, has already tacitly accepted Germany’s ambitions for the Sudetenland! And Austria has also become a victim of this plan! To balance the power of France and Germany, they have given up two countries. What do we matter compared to that?”

“So we’re just going to watch the Germans grow powerful and do nothing?” a young officer said, standing up indignantly.

“Of course we can’t just watch them rearm themselves!” Colonel Grewdo stood up and said solemnly. “Gentlemen! This is a war! A war without smoke! And you are the soldiers fighting on the front line! You must protect yourselves well and do your best to record every crime the Germans commit in trampling the peace treaty! One day, the international situation will undergo a fundamental change! At that time, these crimes will be the evidence that exposes the ugly face of the Germans!”

He straightened the military cap on his head and walked toward the door. “When that day comes, someone will remember the sweat and blood we paid for this! We will be engraved on the monuments of heroes by our motherlands! Our friends and relatives will be proud of us! Long live peace! Long live freedom!”

At this very moment, in Berlin, just a few kilometers from the Allied Military Control Commission, at the Führer’s residence, Akado was standing by a map with his general, von Brauchitsch.

“My Führer!” Brauchitsch said, pointing to the southeastern border on the map. “The soldiers are all ready! We are just waiting for your order, and we can move into Czechoslovakia. I pray the Czech army will not resist, otherwise our army could very well get bogged down in a quagmire of war.”

Akado was wearing a black SS officer’s uniform. On his shoulders were two crossed holy swords, the new design for a marshal’s insignia. Although the Wehrmacht did not officially recognize it, they still tacitly accepted Akado wearing this special insignia on his SS uniform. He stood there listening to Brauchitsch’s explanation, slowly fiddling with a large globe beside him.

“Notify the generals!” After listening to Brauchitsch, Akado stroked his chin in thought for a moment and then ordered, “Convene an army military conference! To fully discuss the operational plans for entering the Sudetenland!”