Chapter 47: Sharp Fangs

A man in a suit walked up to the high platform at the front of the hall, coughed twice, and announced loudly, “Ahem! Ahem! On behalf of the Speaker of the Parliament, I now announce that, due to a majority vote by the members of Parliament, the Parliament has made the following decisions!”

He scanned the members of parliament around him once, then lowered his head to look at his script, appearing very solemn and devout. His somewhat hoarse voice then echoed throughout the great hall of the German Reichstag.

“First! The Parliament recognizes the Greater Germany Party as legal. The German People’s Party is to be dissolved, and its entire membership is to be merged into the Greater Germany Party.”

“Second, 7 independent members of parliament have announced their intention to join the Greater Germany Party. 133 members of the Social Democratic Party have renounced their party affiliation, and all have joined the Greater Germany Party.”

“Third, the Chairman of the Greater Germany Party, Major General Akado Rudolph; Vice-Chairman, Mr. Gustav Krupp; and Vice-Chairman, Minister Gustav Stresemann, will immediately become special honorary members of Parliament, possessing the right to vote and propose legislation. This decision is effective immediately.”

“In my personal name only, I congratulate the Greater Germany Party on becoming the second-largest party in Parliament! I also congratulate the Chairman of the Greater Germany Party, General Akado Rudolph, on achieving such an extraordinary accomplishment at such a young age.” After speaking, the middle-aged man put down his script and began to applaud.

Clap, clap, clap. Thunderous applause filled the entire hall of Parliament. The Greater Germany Party had just appeared on the scene and had already caught the old-guard Social Democratic Party completely off guard, achieving an unprecedented victory on the battlefield of the Parliament.

…

“President Hindenburg and the Reichswehr High Command jointly issue the following order,” Akado announced loudly on the High Command’s parade ground, holding the letter of command. “We recognize the status of the Greater Germany Party within the army and support the comprehensive popularization of the Greater Germany Party in the Reichswehr. The spread of all other political parties besides the Greater Germany Party within the military is forbidden.”

After he finished speaking, he raised his head and looked at the officers and soldiers of the guard battalion below with his sky-blue eyes, saying no more. He was waiting, waiting for the officers and soldiers below to give him an answer, to give him the answer he wanted.

After a period of waiting, someone among the officers and soldiers below finally reacted. “Long live Greater Germany!” an officer finally broke the silence, shouting the slogan at the top of his lungs.

“Long live the Greater Germany Party!” More and more soldiers and officers shouted, not quite in unison. Soon, the voices shouting this slogan from all directions converged, becoming more and more uniform, louder and louder.

“From this day forward, the national army will begin to implement a new standard of etiquette. The old, traditional military salute is abolished, and a new military salute is to be implemented. The new military salute is uniformly a high raising of the right arm to 45 degrees, with fingers held together and pointing forward. The meaning is ‘Germany, its people, and its interests above all else!’. When saluting, one must shout ‘Long live Greater Germany’. This salute is to be named the ‘German Salute’,” Akado said, picking up his speech draft and continuing his address.

To his left, Gehr immediately raised his right arm, stood at attention, and shouted, “Long live Greater Germany!”

All the officers below raised their right arms, as neat as a suddenly appearing dense forest. At the same time, countless voices also shouted, “Long live Greater Germany!”

And at the same time, in the military barracks in the suburbs of Berlin, at the garrisons of the 1st and 15th Divisions, countless soldiers raised their right arms high, stood at attention in unison, and shouted, “Long live Greater Germany! Long live the Greater Germany Party!”

Standing on the viewing platform, Reo looked at Hauck beside him. “You see? This is an army. This posture, this aura, it just feels right.”

“It’s not just this that makes you feel good. It’s also the 20 new cannons in the equipment depot behind the barracks, isn’t it?” Hauck glanced at Reo and made a little joke.

“I heard that it was Chairman Akado who proposed standardizing weapon specifications and simplifying logistical support. He’s really no ordinary person,” Reo said with a smile.

“At the end of 1918, when Chairman Akado Rudolph was serving as a second lieutenant in our regiment’s gas defense team, I already knew he was destined to be a great man,” Hauck said with some emotion. Back then, he was already a regimental commander, while Akado was just a second lieutenant. How times had changed; Akado was now his direct superior.

“Of course, the Chairman is not someone you or I can compare to. Back then, it was you who introduced me to him. I am still very grateful for your introduction at that time,” Reo said, looking at his old friend Hauck with great solemnity.

“Let’s not talk about it. Today’s morning flag-raising ceremony seems to be over,” Hauck waved his hand, cutting off Reo’s thanks. “There’s nothing to be grateful for. Aren’t we brothers?”

“Right, let’s not say such formal things. From now on, we fight side by side for the great Germany,” Reo also laughed magnanimously.

The two of them raised their right arms together.

The men below also raised their right arms in unison. The parade ground once again echoed with the deafening slogan, “Long live the Greater Germany Party.”

On the parade ground of the Reichswehr High Command, watching as everyone before him raised their arms and became a member of the Greater Germany Party, Akado smiled. He smiled very happily. His Greater Germany Party had finally surfaced, revealing its sharp fangs like a flood dragon.

“Read all about it! Read all about it! The Greater Germany Party was founded yesterday! It will improve the people’s standard of living! It has become the most influential political party in Germany!” a newsboy shouted, waving the newspaper in his hand. His father, a skilled worker at a factory, had joined the Greater Germany Party during yesterday’s parade and had instructed him this morning to help build up the party’s reputation.

So he began to shout, and just a moment ago, he had even gotten several of his fellow newsboys to help him shout. Now, the entire street echoed with the voices of these children.

Because of the decisive victory in the Parliament, President Hindenburg had approved another secret procurement plan for the Reichswehr. On this very day, Akado once again secretly purchased 60 P-2 tanks from the MAN company. This sum was paid for by the government’s secret funds, which saved Akado another expense.

The private funds Akado saved were transferred to the Reichswehr’s secret accounts. Coupled with the down payment for weapons from China, the Reichswehr secretly procured an additional 60 P-2s. In this way, Akado added a full 120 P-2 tanks to Guderian’s and Rommel’s two panzer divisions, giving both divisions something of the appearance of a true armored division.

Now, Guderian’s 25th Panzer Division had 100 tanks, which was more than half of its designated strength (Akado had planned for the division to have 160 tanks at full strength). Although Guderian’s unit served as the training force for the entire Reichswehr’s armored corps and these tanks were still severely insufficient, the situation was no longer as desperate as it had been.

And the newly formed 26th Reichswehr Division, just established, already possessed 80 tanks. The division’s advisor, Rommel, was using exercises to test the combat capabilities of the armored force. This newly created panzer division was stationed in the famous German city of Hanover, far from the French border.

Furthermore, Akado equipped his three main infantry divisions—the 1st, 15th, and 22nd—with a new weapon: the 88mm long-barreled anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun. This cannon could easily penetrate more than 50mm of steel armor at a distance of 1000 meters and could also serve as anti-aircraft defense for field units.

Although it was only on an experimental basis, with each division symbolically equipped with about 20 guns, and they were all publicly referred to as 88mm field guns (to conceal their true purpose, these German divisions even had 4 fewer 150mm heavy cannons each), these weapons were indeed equipped to the troops in broad daylight, completely ignoring the officers of the Allied Military Control Commission who were watching like tigers.

Another very new item was not prioritized for the German Army. The new M25 steel helmet, personally designed by Major General Akado Rudolph, began mass production (the historically famous M35 German Army standard-issue helmet). The first batch of helmets was shipped on 15 newly launched Hercules-class transport ships to the distant land of China, to equip the forces of Chiang Kai-shek, who were in urgent need of arms.

It was also because of this order that Akado had the money to procure tanks and new anti-aircraft guns for his troops. And it was precisely because he sold 50,000 helmets to China that Akado had the money to equip the German troops with an additional 300 long-range radios.

The M25 helmet, due to its excellent shape and exquisite workmanship, also attracted other foreign customers. Spain purchased 100,000 of these helmets for its own army. These orders made the German helmet factories earn a fortune and also made them increasingly supportive of the party that backed military industry, the Greater Germany Party, and its leader, Akado Rudolph.

In any case, by the end of February 1925, Akado had once again brought about a world-shaking change in the Reichswehr. More than half of the soldiers and officers within the Reichswehr had joined the Greater Germany Party. This force was equipped with 180 new P-2 tanks, nearly 200 aircraft, and had a total number of soldiers exceeding 300,000.

And before this, at the end of 1924, Akado had done something even more important for his own destiny. Through his connections, he had the Bavarian Supreme Court accept a prosecutor’s protest against Hitler’s early parole, causing Mr. Adolf Hitler, who was supposed to be released from prison on December 20, 1924, to remain in prison until the end of February 1925.

Although that book, Mein Kampf, was still published, and Hitler still received the sympathy and support of many people, Akado had achieved the one thing he cared about most: he had artificially delayed the reorganization of the Nazi Party that was supposed to have started immediately after Hitler’s release.

In any case, Akado had already drawn his sword at the beginning of 1925, like a fierce tiger baring its sharp fangs. From now on, it remained to be seen how the Nazi Party, the Social Democratic Party, and that Allied Military Control Commission would respond.