Chapter 53: A Love Tribulation After a Stroke of Luck

The afternoon sun made one drowsy. The guard battalion of the Reichswehr High Command was running on the small parade ground, shouting rousing slogans that could be heard by Akado and the others in the reception hall, even through the windows.

Fanny had already asked many questions. These questions were quirky and clever, leaving Akado at a loss as to how to respond. For example, Fanny would first ask Akado for his prediction of the Reichswehr’s combat capabilities, a question that was a military secret and forced Akado to remain silent. Then, Fanny’s next question would jump directly to what kind of fruit Akado liked to eat.

However, Akado still said a lot of what he could and had to say. He clearly pointed out that the Greater Germany Party was an advanced political party, representing the interests of the broad working class as well as the bourgeoisie. It advocated for the scientific distribution of labor, the regulation of working hours, and clear labor compensation to guarantee the interests of the broad working masses, while also strongly supporting capitalists in improving their production processes and technical levels to obtain greater profits.

Of course, at this stage, this method of trying to please both sides was obviously somewhat difficult to implement. Akado also admitted to Fanny that during this period, the Greater Germany Party was primarily biased towards the workers, and for the guarantee of capitalists’ interests, the party could only rely on other methods of compensation.

This compensation was very proactive. For example, the Reichswehr would frequently purchase new weapons from military-industrial enterprises, allowing them to make a profit. For example, the Reichswehr would continue to execute Operation White Dove, allowing industries like road and railway construction to continue to prosper.

“What is the short-term goal of the Greater Germany Party? I think many of our readers would like to know a clear answer,” Fanny said, having filled a small notebook with Akado’s words. Her handwriting was very messy. Akado glanced at it from afar and found he couldn’t make out what was written at all. Fanny used a single symbol to represent many words, somewhat resembling a cipher.

It seems that shorthand is not a job everyone can do, Akado thought weakly, then sighed and replied, “The Greater Germany Party will win the next parliamentary election. That is our short-term goal. In addition, the Greater Germany Party is helping the various enterprises that have joined us to improve their production processes, establish new production flows, and increase production efficiency, allowing these supporters of ours to obtain greater benefits.”

“You are a knowledgeable and noble person,” Fanny said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and offering praise.

“Thank you. It is truly my honor to be praised by a beautiful woman,” Akado said, rising with a smile. In his view, this interview should be over.

The two-hour-long interview finally came to an end. Fanny, while getting up, asked, “One last question, Chairman Akado. Some people say that the Reichswehr is secretly expanding its army and preparing for war. Is there any truth to this? Also, what would you like to say to those who are so suspicious?”

Akado thought for a moment, then said solemnly, “The construction and development of our country’s Reichswehr are both reasonable and legal. Those conspirators with ulterior motives are nothing more than jumping clowns and will have no effect on the Reichswehr. The Reichswehr will be a messenger of peace. We do not fear war, but we cherish the hard-won peace even more!”

After Fanny left the reception hall, Anna, while tidying up the documents on the table, looked at Akado and asked, “General, is the Reichswehr really just a messenger of peace? Then what are we all working so hard for?”

“What? Complaining already?” Akado asked with a smile. “This interview is going to be in the papers. Of course, I can only say the nice-sounding things.”

“Then what’s the reality?” Anna asked curiously.

“The reality? In reality, peace will eventually come after all the enemies are dead, Captain Anna. We do indeed count as messengers of peace,” Akado said, then walked towards the main door.

After leaving the Reichswehr High Command, Fanny got into the newspaper’s car. It was a civilian model sedan produced by the Daimler-Benz company, very fashionable and elegant, its black paint reflecting a charming luster.

“Editor-in-Chief Fanny, your personally conducting this interview has certainly given Mr. Krupp enough face,” the bearded photographer in the passenger seat said, turning his head.

“Originally, I only came this time to give Krupp face. But this time, I’ve found a very interesting toy. I have a gut feeling that I can find news on him, world-shaking big news. I can make my reports into news that the whole world must read.”

“Must-read news? Is that possible? That’s such an exaggeration,” the bearded man laughed self-deprecatingly.

“If people don’t read this news, they won’t know what the world will become,” Fanny said with a confident smile. “I want to become his personal loudspeaker, his megaphone!”

The bearded man helplessly turned his head back to the front. “All I see is a little cat in heat. You’ve fallen in love, Editor-in-Chief Fanny.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Fanny said, completely unconcerned by her colleague’s teasing. “He needs me! He needs me to publicize him, to support him, to turn him into a national idol. Of course, he is already my idol now.”

“Are you really sure he needs you?” the bearded man asked with some teasing.

“Of course!” Fanny nodded with certainty. “No man would ever think he has too many beautiful women around him, especially a beautiful woman who is also smart and capable.”

The car drove away from the Reichswehr High Command, carrying Akado’s photograph and the interview manuscript of the Greater Germany Party’s chairman. Akado still didn’t know at this time how big an effect this interview would have.

First, the president of the Daimler-Benz company, Mr. Karl Benz, in an effort to curry favor, helped arrange a blind date with Miss Mercedes. Then, the Reichswehr used the same trick to assign him two beautiful secretaries, Cindra and Anna. Immediately after, he met the charming female reporter, Fanny. Akado had no idea that after just having a stroke of luck with the ladies, it would instantly turn into a full-blown love tribulation.

General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord was a by-the-book Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr. Compared to his predecessor, he was a bit more rigid and lifeless, and lacked much of the initiative and adventurous spirit.

To be honest, compared to Seeckt, General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord’s level was a bit lower. So even though he was reduced to Akado’s puppet, he did not do a good job of it. Many matters that previously did not require Akado’s attention now fell to Akado to worry about personally.

For example, although Seeckt opposed Akado’s expansion of the number of tanks and motor vehicles, he did not oppose Akado expanding the total number of the Reichswehr. So when Akado single-handedly expanded the Reichswehr to 300,000 men, Seeckt methodically served as Akado’s logistics chief. He raised military pay, stockpiled army provisions, arranged promotions, and smoothed over relationships, handling all these trivial matters perfectly.

And now, General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord had thrown all these matters to Akado Rudolph, who was merely a Major General and Chief of the General Staff. So while Seeckt’s departure had opened the door for Akado to restart the German panzer forces, it had also suddenly increased Akado’s personal workload by several times.

But where there are benefits, there are drawbacks, and where there are drawbacks, there are naturally benefits. Akado could now frequently interact with naval officers and even participate in naval military conferences. He, along with a group of admirals and vice-admirals, discussed tactical issues and equipment technology with ease.

So a very strange phenomenon appeared within the Reichswehr: a large group of vice-admirals and even full admirals would gather around a major general to discuss their views. Many times, these generals would salute Akado, who was a rank lower than them. Because in his other identity, Akado was the chairman of the Greater Germany Party, while these generals were merely cadres within the party.

In the evening, Akado also received some good news, news that was exciting enough to stir the soul: the Daimler-Benz company and the Bavarian Motor Works had each developed a new generation of engine systems.

Under Akado’s direction, the Daimler company had focused on developing new aircraft engines. This new engine, named the DB 601 by the engineers, could be called an epoch-making super-power system. Although it was not yet perfect, everyone had high hopes for it in every aspect.

In the laboratory, the power of this new engine, which could not yet be mass-produced, had already reached an astonishing 900 horsepower. The engineers assured Karl Benz that once this engine was installed on an aircraft, all existing aircraft would become obsolete.

And the Bavarian Motor Works had developed a brand-new diesel engine. This diesel engine was full of power, and its structure was compact, small in size, and light in weight. Although there were still some technical problems that prevented mass production, Akado still decided to use this less flammable power system in future new combat vehicles.

These two technological advancements directly put the Reichswehr’s “Plan Blue” (that is, the future air force plan) and “Plan Red” (likewise, the future tank plan) on the right track.

Here, it must be mentioned that these two historically famous plans, “Plan Blue” directly gave birth to the later-famous ME-109 fighter, while “Plan Red” was the research and production plan for the German P-4 tank, responsible for providing the German Army with a reliable and practical advanced tank.

With these two plans, Akado could ensure that the Reichswehr’s troops would be absolutely technologically superior to their opponents before 1940. Only then would he dare to let go and prepare for a new world war. He prepared many new toys for this new world war, for example, the V2 ballistic missile.

The fatal problem was that Germany’s original rocket expert, Wernher von Braun, was still in high school at this time. The only famous German rocket expert he could use was Hermann Oberth. But Oberth was obsessed with solid-fuel rocket technology, causing the more than 500,00_ US dollars Akado had been funding him with since 1920 to go down the drain.

Facts proved that relying entirely on foreknowledge of the future to make advance deployments did not necessarily achieve good results. At least in the field of rocket research, due to immature technology and a lack of technical personnel, Akado had taken many wrong turns.