Chapter 57: The Great Dutch Merchant

The sound of leather boots tapping on the floor echoed down the long corridor, from far to near. On one side of the corridor, the hurried footsteps stopped outside the door of the Foreign Ministry. A knock sounded on the door: “Knock, knock, knock.”

“Please come in.” Stresemann was in the middle of a discussion with Akado, Karl Benz, and a few others about how to build factories in the forest to evade inspection by the Allied Military Control Commission. Hearing the knock, they had no choice but to pause their discussion and turn their gazes to the door.

A diplomat walked in hastily, then raised his right arm in front of Akado and the others. “Long live the Greater Germany Party! Mr. Chairman, this is news that has just been received.”

As he spoke, he handed the document from his folder to Akado, then respectfully took a few steps back and waited to the side.

Stresemann and the others gathered around. After seeing the text on the document, they were all stunned: This morning, staff from the French embassy had delivered a formal protest to the Foreign Ministry, accusing the German Reichswehr of secretly producing submarines in several shipyards in the Netherlands. At the same time, France had also put pressure on the Dutch government, demanding that the Dutch government help France investigate the shipyards that were secretly helping Germany produce submarines, and to hand over the submarines manufactured by these shipyards.

“This is bad. If the French have evidence, we will be in a very passive situation,” Stresemann said with a frown.

Karl Benz narrowed his eyes, coughed twice, and then said in an aged voice, “This will not be easy to handle.”

Akado frowned and was silent for a moment before speaking. “Haven’t we prepared for this situation? Let’s proceed according to the contingency plan. However, I feel that although the French have received some information this time, they shouldn’t have a complete chain of evidence.”

“Why?” the young diplomat couldn’t help but ask.

Akado glanced at him and laughed. “Because if they had found decisive evidence, it wouldn’t be a diplomatic action, but a military one—they would have rushed in and shot me dead at the first opportunity.”

The diplomat’s face turned red, and he lowered his head, saying no more.

Akado patted him on the shoulder as a sign of comfort, then spoke again, “Go to the party headquarters. Tell the people from the propaganda department to wait for me in the conference room. I’m going over now to give them a meeting and assign tasks…”

He then looked at Stresemann. “The Foreign Ministry is to take full action, deny all of France’s accusations, push all the problems back onto the French side, and say they are slandering us!”

“Send a telegram to Dönitz, who is stationed in The Hague, Netherlands. Tell him to execute Plan C immediately and to take action with his men at once,” Akado ordered his secretary, Cindra, who had just walked in the door. “Call General von Hammerstein at the High Command! Tell him to issue the order immediately, to execute Plan C!”

As one of the drafters of this Plan C, Karl Benz naturally knew its contents. The so-called Plan C was a plan to cover up the truth after the Reichswehr’s Operation Pluto was exposed. This plan consisted of many parts. For example, the Plan C to be executed by Dönitz in the Netherlands was to lead the 5 submarines secretly built by the navy out to sea to hide. And the Plan C to be executed by General von Hammerstein was to temporarily have a portion of the Reichswehr withdraw from their barracks and disperse to hide, to meet the surprise inspection of the Allied Military Control Commission.

After assigning the tasks, Akado walked to Stresemann’s desk, picked up the phone, and ordered, “Get me the president’s office of the Krupp factory.”

When the call connected, Akado asked impatiently, “Krupp, how are your arrangements on the Dutch side? Can you handle a diplomatic crisis? The French know about our business in the Netherlands.”

“I’ve already done what should be done. The result can only depend on how our friends on the Dutch side choose to act,” Krupp said with a heavy tone from the other end. “If they abandon those investments and turn to France, there’s nothing we can do. At that point…”

“At that point, I will take the fall! The future of the Reichswehr will depend on you all!” Akado interjected. “Nothing can stop! It must continue while I am here and after I am gone! This is the mission the German people have given to the Greater Germany Party!”

“Long live the Greater Germany Party!” Krupp said from the other end of the line. “Let’s wait for news! The outcome is still unknown.”

Akado put down the phone and rushed with Stresemann and the others to the Greater Germany Party headquarters located on Wilhelmstrasse. There, they met Matthof and Fanny, who had been waiting for them.

“No need for pleasantries. Do you have any countermeasures?” Akado asked, getting straight to the point as soon as he sat down, his gaze circling between Matthof’s and Fanny’s faces.

“We must clarify this incident and immediately counter-attack in the newspapers! The French are making false accusations! This is slander!” Matthof said angrily.

Fanny, on the other hand, played with her long, slender fingers, a smile on her lips, and said nothing.

“Miss Fanny, do you have any good suggestions?” Akado asked, frowning as he noticed Fanny’s expression.

“I haven’t thought of any good suggestions for now, but I suggest we at least don’t rush to make a mistake,” Fanny said with a sneer. “Clarify in the newspapers? What are you thinking, Minister Matthof? Is our newspaper a mouthpiece for the military? Do we need to come forward to clarify? What will we use to clarify? Are you going to go to the Reichswehr archives and pull out all the classified documents?” Fanny fired off a series of questions, leaving Matthof speechless.

“Miss Fanny, that’s enough! Minister Matthof was just too anxious. The whole party knows he is loyal,” Akado interrupted Fanny, then continued, “Get to the point. What can we do?”

Hearing Akado only mention his loyalty and nothing else, it was an indirect way of saying that Matthof’s ability was indeed not as great as his loyalty to the Greater Germany Party. But this still made Matthof let out a sigh of relief. He was originally just a newspaper editor and had only been placed in his current position because he had joined the Greater Germany Party early and had always been a die-hard loyalist of Akado. He didn’t need any other talent; he just needed to maintain his loyalty.

“The only thing we can do now is to make an issue of the French being bullies, to stir up the German people’s resistance, and to build momentum for the Greater Germany Party. As for the Reichswehr’s side, I think we can only consider countermeasures after the next result comes out. There’s nothing we can do now that will help,” Fanny said after some thought.

“Very good! Let’s proceed according to this plan,” Akado said, rising. “Immediately begin the agitation work. Get the people to boycott French goods and march on the streets. Coordinate with Stresemann’s side of the work and force the government to stand with us.”

…

At the same time, the Dutch government was also holding an emergency meeting to discuss the formal protest raised by France this time.

“Gentlemen, the IVS company in The Hague has been discovered by the French. This leak has brought a very serious crisis to our diplomacy. We need to resolve this incident immediately to prevent it from continuing to affect our diplomatic strategy,” an old politician spoke with a trembling voice, causing the entire hall to fall silent.

“The French are going a bit too far! We are not a defeated nation! On what grounds can they demand that we hand over our submarine manufacturing technology and equipment?” a young Dutch government official said with a frown. “Do they think they are the leaders of the world?”

Another politician, somewhat bald in the middle of his head, retorted, “The French government is quite assertive right now. There is no need for us to offend the powerful French for the sake of the weak Germans.”

“Then what about the interests of the Netherlands? Because France is strong, they can arbitrarily dictate our decisions, take our gold coins and our technology, is that it?” This young Dutch official was somewhat agitated. “This is aggression! Blatant aggression!”

“Hmph! I think you’re only saying this because you’ve taken benefits from the Germans!” the bald politician snorted coldly. “We should be responsible for the entire Dutch people!”

“Do not slander a colleague!” a middle-aged official with a large beard roared, slamming his hand on the table. “We should represent the interests of all of the Netherlands, not be the running dogs of the French! If the French demanded your wife, would you hand her over too?”

“You…” The bald politician stood up, ready to curse back, but the surrounding officials and politicians burst into laughter. The scene was somewhat chaotic.

“Order! This is a high-level meeting! Not a vegetable market!” The leading old politician who had spoken first finally couldn’t hold back. The moment he spoke, everyone fell silent. The entire venue was instantly quiet.

The old politician looked around at everyone, then coughed twice before continuing in a trembling voice, “Since no one can persuade the other, let’s use the most democratic method to decide! Let’s have a show of hands.”

…

Outside the British embassy, Akado stepped out of the car. Anna had gotten out earlier and was waiting by the side. When Akado got out, she reached out and helped him close the car door. Akado took off his leather gloves, dusted off the non-existent dust from his clothes, and walked towards the main door of the old building.

A middle-aged man in a colonel’s uniform walked out of the British embassy with a smile and warmly embraced Akado. “General Akado! Long time no see! It makes me very happy that you have come to visit me. Come, come! Inside, please.”

“Colonel Smith!” Akado also nodded very gentlemanly in greeting. “It has indeed been a long time! Has everything been going smoothly recently?”

“The expansion of Japan in the Far East has been contained, and the interests of the British Empire in China have been extended, so I’ve been promoted!” Colonel Smith said with a smile, pointing to his own shoulder insignia with pride.

“In that case, I have a little trouble right now. Are you willing to tell me what the British government’s attitude is, Colonel Smith?” Akado suddenly stopped on the stairs and stared at Colonel Smith.