Chapter 19: A Unique Path

“Could this be false intelligence?” a French colonel asked, stroking his chin with a frown.

“Unlikely. Who would play this kind of prank for no reason? Judging by the voice, the person wasn’t young. They wouldn’t make such a pointless joke,” said the French officer who had taken the call.

Another officer also nodded, stating his position, “He’s right. The German Reichswehr has been secretly preserving its strength. That’s something we all know. So this phone call is definitely not baseless. There must be an internal problem. Someone doesn’t want to see the Reichswehr become powerful, so they stabbed them in the back.”

“So what do we do?” the French officer who took the call asked impatiently.

“Dean! Go to the garage, start the car, and wait for us! Don’t tell anyone where we’re going!” the leading French officer ordered sternly.

“Yes, Major Milles!” The French officer named Dean immediately saluted and trotted down the stairs.

Milles glanced at the other two officers and gave another order, “Go to the armory and get two machine guns! This mission will be dangerous. We need to be prepared to save our own lives! Call the men! Let’s move out!”

Watching the two of them also leave the room, Milles picked up his fountain pen, tore a blank sheet from his notepad, and hastily wrote: “Tonight, my three colleagues and I are heading to the garrison of the German 1st Reichswehr Division in the suburbs of Berlin to investigate their over-strength personnel issue! If we have not returned by dawn, please send someone to support us.”

After writing, he used his pen to weigh down the paper, pulled out his pistol to check the ammunition in the magazine, then turned, closed the door, and quickly went downstairs to the garage.

It was a not-so-new Ford sedan. The windows had been meticulously polished until they gleamed, showing the owner’s love and care for the vehicle.

In the back seat, two French officers were checking their pistols. Milles glanced at them, nodded with satisfaction, and got into the front passenger seat. Behind them, a French sergeant ran up and saluted outside the car window. “Sir, the 2nd Platoon has assembled! Ready to depart at any time!”

Milles gave a wave of his hand. The car he was in started up and drove out of the gate of the Allied Military Control Commission. Just a few seconds later, a French truck followed, filled with a full load of French soldiers.

Directly opposite the gate of the Allied Military Control Commission, on the top floor of a small four-story building, behind a slightly ajar window, a pair of binoculars moved slightly.

A bearded man wearing a garrison cap and suspenders called out to his accomplice in a gruff voice, “Captain Lusick! A car just left the gate! Make the call, quick!”

Behind him, a young man who had been dozing immediately sat up straight, tossed aside the overcoat covering him, and snatched the telephone beside him. “Connect me to the Nest! Quick!”

“Hello! This is the Nest! What do you have to report?” On the other end of the line, the pleasant voice of a female secretary sounded.

“Two French vehicles have left the Commission gate! Four people in the lead car! The officers in the back are checking their pistols!” the bearded man snatched the phone and reported everything he saw. “They’re followed by a truck with about 20 French soldiers! They’re all carrying rifles, and they have two machine guns!”

A dozen seconds later, the call was patched through to Akado’s telephone. After hearing the report, a frightening glint appeared in Akado’s narrowed eyes, and the trademark smile that usually graced his face vanished completely.

He spoke, “I understand! Continue to monitor the location! Leave the rest to me!” He then hung up the phone.

He immediately snatched up the phone again and ordered, “Get me tonight’s officer-in-charge.”

The call connected quickly, and Akado had no time for pleasantries. “This is Akado! Set up roadblocks at all intersections leading to the 1st Division’s garrison immediately! Deploy Operation Taurus at the three most critical intersections! If you spot the target, you don’t need to wait for my command! Act at once! This is not a drill! Execute immediately!”

The person on the other end listened carefully to Akado’s orders and replied in a hoarse voice, “Yes, sir! Executing immediately!”

Hanging up, Akado grabbed the phone once more. “Connect me to the 1st Division command post! Quick!” he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand.

The call connected almost instantly. Akado didn’t wait for the other side to speak and said immediately, “This is Akado! Stop the training exercise at once! Disperse the troops! Get the extra men out of the barracks! Hide them nearby! Quick!”

An old man’s voice came from the other end. “Akado! What’s the panic! It’s me! It’s Seeckt! What’s wrong? What on earth happened?”

Akado was stunned for a moment, then immediately explained, “General! Tonight’s training plan may have been discovered by the French! They are on their way to the 1st Division’s garrison right now.”

Seeckt was silent for about two seconds, then spoke, “Understood. I will transfer the extra troops at once! Give me 10 minutes! Your side is to take no rash actions for the time being! Wait for my signal!”

“Understood!” Akado dropped the phone, collapsing weakly into his chair, panting heavily as if all his strength had been drained. In his mind, he thought over and over again, what had gone wrong, where had the information leaked from? Was it a French spy embedded in the 1st Division? Or were there French eyes and ears in the High Command?

Time passed with excruciating slowness. Akado felt as if several hours had gone by, but the minute hand on the wall clock had only moved two marks—less than 10 minutes had passed. If the French got a hold of anything, the Reichswehr would be thoroughly investigated by the Allied Military Control Commission. Once a serious investigation began, many things that couldn’t be covered up would come to the surface. At that point, the German Reichswehr would be finished. Utterly and completely finished.

“Ring, ring, ring.” Amidst Akado’s anxious waiting, the phone finally rang. Akado impatiently snatched the receiver. Seeckt’s voice came through. “My side is taken care of! Cease all intercept plans! Let them come over and inspect!”

Hearing this, Akado let out a deep breath. Thanks to the timely warning, a great disaster had been averted.

Akado put down the phone, then quickly picked it up again. “Get me tonight’s officer-in-charge! Immediately!”

The call connected, but the news was not good. “Lieutenant Colonel, the target was moving too fast. We were forced to execute the Rhinoceros Plan! My men crashed into the first French car with a truck at an intersection and were then hit by the French truck. We have two dead, they have four!”

“It was executed?” Akado couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yes, sir! It was executed! We have two Gestapo agents who were sacrificed!” the person in charge on the other end said.

Akado sighed. “Have your men secure the scene! I’m on my way immediately!”

When Akado arrived at the scene, four policemen were securing it. Bizarrely, there were more than twenty French soldiers with rifles surrounding the area. The front of the French truck had obvious collision marks, and two machine guns were still mounted on it.

In the middle of the road, an overturned truck lay on its side. It had been filled with milk bottles, which had all shattered from the violent impact and rollover, spilling milk all over the ground. Not far away was a small sedan, crushed out of shape. The four French officers inside were covered in blood, their faces unrecognizable.

A policeman walked over and saluted Akado. “Sir! They are soldiers and officers of the Allied Military Control Commission! The car accident happened at around 1 a.m.! They collided with this neighborhood’s milk truck. There were no survivors.”

“What about the milkmen? Did any of them survive?” Akado asked with a frown.

“One died in the crash. The other was shot and killed by the angry French soldiers!” the policeman said, looking troubled, but he still reported the facts.

“Escort these French soldiers back to the Military Control Commission!” Akado ordered. “Tell them we reserve the right to hold the shooter accountable! What about the French officers? None of them could be saved?”

“The leading French officer, according to the French, was named Milles! His rank was major! They were out tonight to carry out a mission!” the policeman reported.

Akado put on his best performance. “Our Reichswehr received no notification of their operation! Therefore, what these men are saying is not the truth!”

“That’s right! We had no idea where these officers from the Allied Military Control Commission were going tonight! They did not notify us that they were going to inspect our army!” Not far away, a man spoke as he got out of a car. He looked up, and all the Germans present snapped to attention and saluted. This middle-aged man was General von Seeckt.

“Don’t get too arrogant! Just you wait for the French ambassador’s note!” the highest-ranking remaining French platoon leader said angrily. “Sooner or later, we will avenge Major Milles and the others!”

Akado swept his gaze, which seemed capable of killing, over the French sergeant who had spoken and suddenly burst out laughing. “Avenge them? Avenge what? Isn’t the driver who caused the accident already dead?”

After seeing the French soldiers off, Seeckt stared at Akado angrily. “Didn’t I tell you not to take action?”

“There wasn’t enough time,” Akado said helplessly. “We were one step too late.”

“The French will definitely retaliate! What do you think we should do?” Seeckt said with a sigh. “Once this blows up, it will be hard for us to clean up the mess.”

“We’ll move a portion of our plan abroad! We’ll conduct training and other work in foreign countries!” Akado suggested, taking a unique path. “That way, we won’t have to be afraid of them investigating us. At least we can expose less of our hand!”

“Easier said than done! Right now, which country isn’t closer to Britain and France? Who would support us Germans?” Seeckt asked, looking at Akado with confusion.

Akado leaned in close to Seeckt’s ear and whispered the name of a country: “The Soviet Union!”