Chapter 31: Releasing a White Dove

“Seek refuge with me? You must be joking,” Akado said with a laugh. Gehr stepped aside from the door, allowing the visitor to enter Akado’s apartment. He then stepped outside himself and closed the door.

“It is indeed to seek refuge with you. I feel I should find myself a reliable ally, or a strong leader,” Gustav Stresemann said very politely. “You may not be very familiar with me. Compared to your reputation at the grassroots of the Reichswehr, I am just a minor figure.”

“A minor figure?” Akado smiled and said, “If the most formidable diplomat in the German Foreign Ministry, who also happens to be the German Foreign Minister, Gustav Stresemann, is a minor figure, then a lowly colonel like me is an even more insignificant character. Why have you sought me out?”

Gustav Stresemann shook his head and said in a very sincere tone, “Germany’s diplomacy has always been conservative. We have been at a complete loss against the joint pressure from Britain and France. It could even be said that Germany’s diplomacy has, in fact, failed. Now, we have lost the support of the army on which we relied, and our situation is even worse.”

He walked over to a sofa as if he were an old friend, sat down, and placed his hands on the armrests with a calm demeanor. “In the Ruhr crisis, I saw that having a country without a defense is unworkable. The so-called efforts to defend Germany through diplomacy are also futile. Without a doubt, diplomacy needs the support of a powerful military force. So, at least for now, our positions are aligned. That is, to find a way to build a strong Reichswehr.”

“Minister Gustav Stresemann, you still haven’t said why you’ve sought me out. You could have gone to General von Seeckt, or to the new government leader, Field Marshal Hindenburg. Yet you have placed your bet on a lowly colonel like me. This is something I truly cannot understand,” Akado said. He walked from the door to the kitchen, poured two cups of brewed coffee, then returned to the living room. He placed one cup in front of Gustav Stresemann and then, holding the other, asked his question.

“Field Marshal Hindenburg is beset by crises. With all due respect, whether he can sit firmly on his presidential throne still depends on the support of effective policy implementation. I imagine that most of these policies will come from the hand of his advisor—that is, you,” Gustav Stresemann said with a smile, picking up the cup and taking a sip of coffee.

He placed the coffee cup back on the coffee table in front of the sofa and spoke again, “As for General von Seeckt, although he is still the supreme leader of the Reichswehr, you are already able to stand as his equal. There’s no need to be modest; you already have this strength.”

Akado smiled but said nothing.

Gustav Stresemann continued, “I know that President Ebert died as a result of the Reichswehr’s revenge. And he did indeed betray the Reichswehr for the sake of the fragile economic situation and internal power distribution. No matter what his motives were, he made the situation in Germany worse. So I feel he got what he deserved. And after thinking it over, I believe only you have the ability and the audacity to get rid of the former president.”

He raised his hand to stop Akado from refuting and continued, “Therefore, I am here to express my loyalty to you. I will do everything in my power to help you and support you, because our purpose is completely identical: to make Germany stronger! My reason for submitting to you is simple. We are both striving for Germany’s self-strengthening, and you are doing it better.”

“In that case, on to the next question,” Akado said, putting down his coffee cup. The smile on his face vanished. He looked at Gustav Stresemann seriously and asked, “How will you prove your loyalty to me?”

“How about a written guarantee?” Gustav Stresemann smiled, took a document from his jacket pocket, and spread it open for Akado to see. “This is a document with my signature and handprint. It states that I will unconditionally obey any order from Mr. Akado Rudolph. It also contains a detailed introduction to my personal network of connections, friends, relatives, and all the power I can mobilize.”

“And what do you need me to guarantee you?” Akado asked after some thought. “This will be the last question of our conversation today.”

“Lead us to victory,” Gustav Stresemann said, putting down the document and standing up.

“Then you had better follow me closely, and don’t hold me back,” Akado said with a laugh.

Gustav Stresemann laughed along with him. “What do you need me to do?”

“Carry out Operation Pluto to the end,” Akado said.

…

In the conference room next to the President’s office, a group of people was holding the first provisional emergency meeting after Field Marshal Hindenburg was elected President of Germany. However, it seemed the atmosphere in the room was not so harmonious, even a bit explosive.

“Increase the Reichswehr’s military budget by another thirty percent? What a joke! Even if all of Germany eats black bread and uses margarine, the money saved won’t be enough to fill such a huge gap,” an official from the Ministry of Finance said, shaking his head.

Hindenburg was also helpless. He threw the document onto the table and said with a sigh, “This is the condition for the Reichswehr supporting me as president. I must consider it carefully.”

“Since 1920, Germany’s investment in infrastructure has not exceeded 200,000 Marks. It’s as if we haven’t developed at all since then,” a bearded politician in a suit also complained.

“General von Seeckt didn’t even come to the meeting because he was ‘sick’! How outrageous! Where does he place the new president and us?” a middle-aged politician slammed the table and stood up. “Does he think the Reichswehr is his private band of mercenaries?”

“Calm down, Mr. Dumke. General von Seeckt does support Field Marshal Hindenburg as president. It’s just that he doesn’t want to see me right now,” Akado said with a smile from the far end of the table. He was not of a high enough rank to participate in such a high-level meeting; he had been summoned by President Hindenburg as an advisor.

“That’s still outrageous.” Clearly, this politician named Dumke had no intention of making an enemy of the Reichswehr. He backed down gracefully and dropped his attack on Seeckt.

“What do you think, Colonel Akado Rudolph? You now represent the Reichswehr and also have close ties with the government. If both sides are to be accommodated, is there a way?” Hindenburg’s large mustache moved as he spoke, exuding the authority and presence of a long-time superior.

“The investment cannot be reduced in the slightest, otherwise if the Ruhr crisis happens again, we will still be unable to cope!” Akado said. “It is a fact that the Reichswehr needs more funds. We need a large amount of capital to continue Operation Pluto.”

“Is that your opinion?” a politician sneered, eager to make a good impression on the new President Hindenburg. “You’re trying to drive our President Hindenburg from office!”

“Shut up! Wait until he’s finished, or I’ll throw you out myself!” Hindenburg glared at the young man who had spoken and said fiercely. One was a fair-weather friend who had just shown his support, the other was the advisor who had helped him ascend to the presidency. In Hindenburg’s mind, the two were on completely different levels of trust.

“Perhaps everyone only saw the first seven pages of Operation Pluto and lost interest in reading further. It says here how much money the Reichswehr needs to research new weapons, and there how many warhorses and machine guns the Reichswehr needs to buy. Everywhere you look, it’s asking for money, so of course, none of you would like it very much,” Akado said with a smile.

His humor made a few of the younger men laugh, but most of the old, cunning politicians still looked at him seriously, waiting for him to continue.

Akado was happy to oblige, so he continued, “Operation Pluto has a sub-plan called ‘White Dove.’ Perhaps none of you have read it carefully or understood it. This plan is the key to resolving the current disagreement between the government and the Reichswehr.”

“Oh? How so?” Hindenburg only vaguely remembered the general content of the White Dove plan but couldn’t recall the details.

“Our army needs transport lines like railways, roads, and inland river ports; our navy needs large-scale harbors; our as-yet-non-existent air force needs airports; a new-style army needs large reserves of gasoline and diesel fuel; war consumes vast amounts of grain and steel resources; producing new weapons requires advanced workers and advanced industrial technology, and these things need schools to cultivate,” Akado said, raising a finger with each point he made. By the end, he had all ten fingers extended and was still giving more examples.

“What you mean is?” President Hindenburg asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Building the Reichswehr is not in conflict with national development. On the contrary, these efforts are complementary and mutually reinforcing!” Akado stood up and said, “I believe the new president should immediately order the launch of Operation White Dove.”

He spoke with eloquence, making everyone’s eyes light up. “The short-term part of this plan will build 100 new railways and roads, add new docks to Germany’s port cities, and build 79 airports for peacetime air transport and as a reserve for wartime. The long-term part of this plan will build 20 brand-new factories, 50 assembly workshops, and establish 3 schools to cultivate a large number of high-tech talents.”

“Once this plan is launched, it is expected to create 500,000 jobs for all of Germany. This time, the Reichswehr will allocate a special fund of 2 million US dollars for this plan, and the government will only need to pay 700,000 dollars,” Akado said, then sat back down in his seat.

Buzz! Everyone below began to discuss animatedly. The countless funds they had poured into the Reichswehr were finally showing a return. If this plan was implemented, the German Reichswehr would be footing the bill for Germany’s infrastructure development. The new government would get 500,000 jobs for free. This could be said to be the greatest support the Reichswehr could offer President Hindenburg upon his inauguration.

Everyone was buzzing, excited about this inspiring concession from the Reichswehr. Only in the corner, a pockmarked, bearded man sighed softly.

Half an hour later, Operation White Dove was approved by President Hindenburg. Interestingly, when it came to a show of hands, the one who took the lead in approving it was none other than the Foreign Minister, Gustav Stresemann—a man who, just a few days ago, had been consistently opposing Akado’s Operation Pluto.