Chapter 28: Bearing Fruit

“Lieutenant Colonel Akado, I find that I can see through you less and less,” Seeckt said, sitting in the swaying car and looking at Akado in the passenger seat.

“How should I interpret the meaning of that statement? Is it praise or a reprimand?” Akado asked, turning his head with a smile.

“As far as I know, you were just a private three years ago, not even considered a grassroots officer. Your file says you are an orphan. Your father was only a middle school teacher, and your mother was a servant; both died in the early days of the war. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to open old wounds. But the talent you have displayed surpasses even those old, calculating fellows from the old Army General Staff,” Seeckt said with some fatigue. “I sent people to investigate you, but I simply cannot figure out where you learned these abilities.”

“I was born with them,” Akado replied with a smile. “I firmly believe that Germany will be strong, so I do my best to strive for it.”

“Many people work hard, but they don’t reach your heights, Lieutenant Colonel Akado,” Seeckt said, closing his eyes, seemingly waiting for a reasonable explanation from Akado.

“I was stationed in Hamburg for a year. I studied the ancient Chinese Art of War by Sun Tzu and read Clausewitz’s On War. Unfortunately for them, I understood them. I understood them thoroughly. So I know more than anyone else, and the future I see is more distant than anyone else’s,” Akado said, noticing Seeckt’s eyes open and stare at him, a look of shock and curiosity on his face.

“So I believe that if I was sent by God into this world, then it was to revitalize the Reichswehr! There is no need to question this,” Akado said in a firm tone.

Seeckt looked at Akado for a while, then laughed. “Germany needs people like you. I will write a letter to Marshal Hindenburg. He will nominate you for promotion to Colonel of the Reichswehr. Congratulations, Akado Rudolph.”

“Thank you, General von Seeckt!” Akado said with a standard Prussian military salute.

“Also! I very much liked what you said to President Ebert today!” Seeckt said smugly. “I very much liked you saying the Reichswehr stands with me!”

The next day, under dual pressure from within and without, President Ebert declared a state of emergency, expanding General von Seeckt’s authority and granting him enormous powers, making him a near-dictator.

Seeckt did not disappoint President Ebert’s expectations. He immediately ordered the 1st Reichswehr Division out of Berlin to suppress the right-wing elements in the state of Bavaria. This action received the support and welcome of local patriots and the masses.

The local people warmly welcomed the arriving German Reichswehr, guiding the soldiers and helping them capture the local right-wing elements. With their help, the Reichswehr’s operation in Bavaria was exceptionally smooth and could be described as an instant success.

And photos of the Reichswehr riding on tall horses through the streets were reprinted by reporters from various countries, becoming for a time the promotional posters for the Reichswehr.

France was left completely speechless. The French military’s claims that Germany was secretly manufacturing tanks and cannons were not confirmed. On the contrary, the bicycles and warhorses the Germans were equipped with were indeed very backward.

The impression the Reichswehr gave was that it had no tanks, no cannons, and pitifully few motor vehicles. The troops basically got around by bicycle and horse, no different from their level at the outbreak of the First World War. It didn’t look like a modern army at all. Even its backward neighbor, Poland, had a military force a hundred times stronger than the Reichswehr.

Thus, after the Reichswehr’s operation in Bavaria ended, the Allied Military Control Commission was, at the suggestion of Britain and Belgium, downsized by a third. The most hardline member, France, was even forced to withdraw nearly half of its military observers.

Germany was permitted to produce civilian aircraft, allowed to develop new armored cars to equip its police for suppressing riots in various places, and allowed to possess more firearms and ammunition to deal with the increasingly dangerous border situation with France.

The French troops were forced to withdraw from the Ruhr region. The person in charge of this operation and its proposer, Colonel de Gaulle, was demoted and assigned to be a deputy regimental commander in France’s newly formed tank unit. And the French government unconditionally granted a Christmas amnesty to the already-sentenced “Cannon King,” Gustav Krupp.

In the following three months, Germany eagerly launched two destroyers and established two “new” infantry divisions. Furthermore, through an agreement with Britain and Belgium, they amended the clauses in the Treaty of Versailles regarding the number of Reichswehr personnel. The revised number for the German Army was raised from 100,000 to 120,000, and the Navy from 15,000 to 17,000.

Do not underestimate this small change. Historically, this revision never actually happened. This difficult negotiation was proposed by Akado and the diplomatic offensive against France was personally arranged by Seeckt through his Foreign Minister, Gustav Stresemann. Although the treaty did not change much, this revision was very important.

First, because of this revision, the Reichswehr’s arsenal, which had been continuously decreasing, began to slowly strengthen. This increased the workload of the Allied Military Control Commission—which had previously only been destroying weapons—by dozens of times, because they now needed to frequently calculate the difference between the number of weapons destroyed and manufactured. Coupled with the reduction in their own personnel, this made their supervision work even more difficult.

Second, because the number of Reichswehr personnel increased, the container that held Akado’s “Operation Pluto”—the Reichswehr itself—was enlarged. This made the water inside deeper and murkier, allowing the Reichswehr to escape even more supervision and constraints. Records show that by the end of 1923, the actual number of Reichswehr personnel had reached 230,000, approximately twice the official German total.

And Akado finally got his chance to command troops. In November 1923, Akado was ordered to Bavaria to suppress an armed uprising led by the German Communist Party. This appointment was a complete formality. Akado was sent to Bavaria; he had just boarded the train from Berlin under orders when the troops he was supposed to command had already begun their operation. And just as Akado arrived at the office prepared for him by the newly formed 2nd Reichswehr Division in Bavaria, the document rewarding him was mailed to him.

Because of his “excellent performance in this suppression,” he was nominated by Hindenburg and approved by the Reichswehr High Command to be officially appointed as a Colonel of the German Reichswehr.

…

At the Allied Military Control Commission, a young French officer, newly transferred here, was writing something at his desk.

“Lieutenant Snesset, here are some documents. Please help me deliver them to Colonel Grudo from Belgium! He is waiting for them,” the young female officer said, placing the files in her hand on the young man’s desk. She then turned around and started flirting with a handsome French officer beside her.

The lieutenant named Snesset picked up the files. On the first page, he saw the news of Akado’s promotion to Colonel of the German Reichswehr. He also saw the familiar face in the photograph attached to the document.

As he walked, he casually flipped through the thick stack of files, frowning as he committed the contents to memory. Every page of this file seemed to be about Akado, recording in great detail his involvement in the German Reichswehr’s suppression of the Communist Party in Bavaria in recent months.

And the last page mentioned that a mysterious phone call had twice been made to the office of the Allied Military Control Commission, reporting on the Reichswehr. Lieutenant Snesset’s pupils contracted sharply. He then very naturally closed the file and delivered it to Colonel Grudo’s office.

On November 5, 1923, Akado, who was eating breakfast in his office in Bavaria, received a phone call from Berlin.

“Colonel Akado! This is Major Gascoigne. Congratulations on your promotion to Colonel!” Major Gascoigne’s voice came from the other end of the line.

“Thank you,” Akado said with a smile.

On the other end, Major Gascoigne’s voice suddenly became heavy. “Agent Falcon has sent back a message. Someone on the inside has leaked information. The ‘Rhinoceros Operation’ that we were forced to execute last time was because of one of those calls, and the other call was to alert the Control Commission to keep an eye on you.”

Akado said nothing, as if he were in a daze. If it weren’t for the sound of his breathing, Major Gascoigne would have thought the line had been disconnected. After a few minutes, Akado finally spoke. “Investigate the source of the calls immediately! The Gestapo’s internal affairs must also be investigated! Find this rat who has betrayed the country!”

“Yes, sir!” Gascoigne said on the other end.

Hanging up the phone, Akado checked his pistol, then shouted loudly, “Gehr! Gehr! Come in!”

Gehr entered, stood at attention, and saluted. “What is it, Colonel?”

“Prepare ammunition for my pistol! The intelligence department says we’ve been targeted by people from the Allied Military Control Commission recently! Be careful!” Akado thought for a moment and continued, “Pack our bags! We’re heading back to Berlin! I intend to personally supervise the matter of the traitor.”

“Yes, sir!” Gehr turned and walked out of Akado’s office.

Akado rushed back to Berlin overnight. At the train station, he called Colonel Hauck, commander of the 15th Division’s 103rd Regiment, and Colonel Kluge, commander of the 105th Regiment, both stationed in the suburbs of Berlin. The order was simple: “If you receive an order from Akado, immediately move into Berlin and use armored cars to control all important facilities and departments.”

Afterward, Akado took Gehr and rushed to the Reichswehr High Command, where he met General von Seeckt, who was waiting there.

“This discovery proves that our espionage work has been very effective,” Seeckt first praised Akado’s Operation Thumbtack. “Your work in creating the Gestapo has been truly successful.”

“There’s nothing to be praised for, General, sir,” Akado said with a frown. “We’ve only just found a nail embedded in our own bones.”

At around 8 o’clock in the evening, the results of the telephone company’s investigation were finally delivered to the Reichswehr High Command. At this time, Akado and Seeckt were sitting together, waiting for this result.

Major Gascoigne opened the folder, so shocked that his speech was somewhat incoherent. “The… the call… the call was… was made from… from the President’s secretarial… office… to the Allied Military Control Commission.”

“What did you say?” Seeckt stood up, staring blankly at Gascoigne standing before him.