Chapter 51: A Competitive Relationship

These businessmen really won’t get up early unless there’s a profit to be made. Akado shook his head helplessly and saw Krupp off. Although these businessmen only pursued profit, getting along with them only required providing profit. In this way, it was very simple, which left Akado with a difficult choice.

Rest? This word was now something unattainable for Akado. He couldn’t even clearly remember how long it had been since he had returned to his own apartment. Three days? Or four?

Akado felt he was on the verge of a breakdown. What he had fantasized about, or rather, what he had always hoped for, was to lead the army of the Greater German Empire to sweep away those familiar opponents, and then to stand at the pinnacle of world power, looking down on the world. But what he had now was an almost endless stream of calculations and reports.

He had established an immense business empire, with his industries all over Germany and even as far away as the United States and China. But besides bringing him wealth, these industries also brought him countless trivial matters. He had to look at financial statements almost every day, checking the income and expenditure of the various companies under his control, in order to earn the most money to subsidize the bottomless pit that was his Reichswehr revitalization cause.

The Reichswehr revitalization cause seemed to be progressing very rapidly, but it was a force of a full 330,000 soldiers who needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. These soldiers were equipped with nearly 200 tanks, several thousand trucks, and several hundred of the latest model field artillery pieces. Unfortunately, most of this equipment could not be known to others.

The pitiable thing was that he still had to deal with his own government, lobbying various ministers and even the president for his plans, thwarting all sorts of provocations and obstructions from his own people, both overt and covert. At the same time, he had to face the Allied Military Control Commission, composed of countries like France, Britain, Japan, and Belgium.

Others didn’t know, but he himself was very clear that he also had to face a powerful opponent who could rise at any time: the Nazi Party. He had to be on guard against this opponent at all times, because if he failed, he might just be paving the way for someone else—this time, with his efforts, if the Nazi Party came to power, it might really be possible for them to conquer the world.

From the time he was promoted to colonel, his daily sleep had not exceeded 6 hours. Sometimes, he only rested for a little over 2 hours. He really wanted to take a vacation for himself, to throw aside the mess of things in his hands, and also to let those damned opponents see who else could manage this terrible mess besides him.

And indeed, no one was willing to take over his job, because every month he had to use the dividends from the companies under his name to subsidize the Reichswehr to the tune of 150,000 US dollars. In other words, if he were to quit his job in the Reichswehr now, he could become one of Germany’s few wealthiest men in less than five years.

His only motivation now was to hold on until 1930. When the world financial crisis broke out and spread, he could ride the tide of events, advance triumphantly, and begin the great plan he had been brewing for so long.

Akado picked up a document from the table, gave up his complaints with a wry smile, lowered his head, and continued with his work.

The document contained very bloody news: the Reichswehr had sealed off five businessmen who were secretly supporting the Nazi Party, thrown them into prison, secretly executed them, and confiscated all their property. After the Reichswehr High Command had issued a small stipend to all officers and soldiers, this property was completely used up.

He turned to the second page. On it was the report on the Gestapo’s secret seizure of 15 speculative merchants. These secret police, based on intelligence provided by Krupp, had taken out these speculators in one fell swoop, directly executing them for treasonous crimes such as engaging in espionage and disrupting the domestic market. The funds seized from these people were directly paid back to the MAN company and the Krupp company to offset the final payments owed by the Reichswehr for tanks, artillery, and other equipment.

The third page was even more cold-blooded and cruel: 21 businessmen and entrepreneurs from the Social Democratic Party had publicly opposed the Greater Germany Party, and persuaded others not to join. Three had even fired workers who had joined the Greater Germany Party and refused to let workers who supported the Greater Germany Party take breaks.

The Greater Germany Party did not let these people off. They quickly organized a strike. The enraged workers directly beat a dozen or so entrepreneurs to death. Two others were assassinated on their way home. The rest were arrested by the police on charges of murder. And the money of these people, just after being confiscated, was still in the Reichswehr’s warehouse, amounting to about 1.7 million US dollars.

The fourth page of the report detailed the distribution plan for this money and factory equipment: the factories and equipment would go to the Krupp company; 800,000 US dollars would be allocated to the Rheinmetall company to continue producing the new, universal 88mm cannon; and the skilled workers in these factories would belong to the Daimler-Benz company—the remaining 700,000 US dollars would be for the Reichswehr’s own procurement, but they must purchase no less than 200 motor vehicles from the BMW company. The final two hundred thousand was to be directly deposited into the accounts as the Greater Germany Party’s public relations funds.

Akado was speechless looking at these few pages of the report. Under the leadership of the capitalists, the Reichswehr had ferociously confiscated the property of at least 50 people, obtaining benefits worth at least 10 million US dollars. But these businessmen and the Reichswehr had instantly distributed these benefits, even taking into account the interests of all parties.

Look at this distribution: 200,000 in public relations funds to bribe President Hindenburg; the Reichswehr got 700,000 worth of equipment; the factories were given directly to Krupp; the factory technicians were sent to Daimler-Benz; even he himself could get a good deal of benefit from the profits of the 200 BMW cars.

Presumably, the Social Democratic Party, having bled so much, would be denouncing the Greater Germany Party in all the major newspapers tomorrow. Unfortunately, the various major powers who had received benefits would not pay any attention to this kind of painless denunciation. The grassroots laborers had won their strike and would not cause any more trouble—in less than two days, everything would return to calm, as if nothing had happened.

A knock sounded on the door again. Akado frowned, put down the document in his hand, looked up, and said, “Come in.”

The door was pushed open. The first to enter was the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr, General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, followed by his secretary. But the group of people who entered immediately after made Akado jump in surprise.

Seven women in German Reichswehr uniforms entered in succession. These women were all second lieutenants. They looked at Akado curiously, most of them with sweet smiles. Some even had two charming dimples.

“My God, General von Hammerstein, what are you doing? Are you bringing a group of beauties here to arrest me?” Akado covered the document and asked with a broad smile.

“Haha! General Akado, I have come on the suggestion of many people, to bring you some subordinates,” General von Hammerstein also laughed twice and said.

“Bring me subordinates? Who told you I need subordinates?” Akado was taken aback for a moment, then quickly waved his hands. “I don’t need any subordinates. You should take these beauties back with you.”

Kurt von Hammerstein threw up his hands and laughed twice more before speaking, “Haha, believe me, General Akado, at least four generals have reported to me.”

He mimicked the gruff voice of those generals and said, “General Akado’s schedule is too chaotic. He should be assigned a work secretary, and a life secretary.”

After speaking, he pointed to the female soldiers he had brought. “These girls were all selected from within the Reichswehr, from different departments. Don’t be fooled by their beautiful appearance. Each of these girls has at least one specialty.”

He pointed to one of them and said, “She knows 4 foreign languages. She is a diplomatic liaison officer for the Reichswehr, very professional.”

He then pointed to a beautiful second lieutenant with stunning long blonde hair and a curvy figure and said, “This one I admire the most. She is a combat expert, and her marksmanship is also good. Most importantly, she won’t lose you face when you take her out.”

“You might as well be honest. What exactly did you come here for this time?” Akado asked, covering his face with his hand in resignation.

“President Hindenburg, myself, and many other generals of the Reichswehr have heard about something,” General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord said, finding a sofa and sitting down. “We’ve all heard that those politicians and businessmen have introduced a woman to you, named Mercedes.”

Akado sighed and said, “Phew, yes, that’s right. But I haven’t had the time to see this Miss Mercedes yet.”

“So we are preparing to arrange two secretaries for you. Inseparable secretaries,” Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord said with a smile. “Impartial, right?”

No wonder you all ultimately lose to that fellow Adolf Hitler in politics. With you only knowing how to copy others’ tricks or only playing such low-level political games, it’s a compliment to call you political idiots, Akado thought with some resignation.

However, he did indeed need someone to help him arrange his time. And that curvy beauty was indeed very pleasing to the eye. Bringing her out on certain specific occasions was indeed much better than bringing Gehr, a grown man.

“Alright! I agree to keep two people. But you all should not interfere with the blind date that Krupp’s side has arranged for me. They also need a balance,” Akado said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry—when a man couldn’t even make his own decisions about his marriage, he really had a reason to not know whether to laugh or cry.

“General Akado is truly understanding and righteous. Your Greater Germany Party will also have a smooth path within the army! Although we older officers do not approve of the army having a political faith, letting the Greater Germany Party become a bridge between the arms dealers and the military, I personally think is very good,” Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord said with a smile.

He paused for a moment. “Ahem, about this, the Reichswehr will not interfere in your private life. If that Miss Mercedes is truly as beautiful and moving, as gentle and virtuous as they say, then it would be a perfect match for a young general like you.”

His words represented the compromise of the entire Reichswehr high command towards the business forces within the Greater Germany Party. One side now hoped to sell more arms, and the other hoped to equip more weapons. They were in a very sweet period of cooperation.