Chapter 58: The Counter-Attack

Looking back at Akado, Colonel Smith took two steps down the stairs, came in front of Akado, and sighed, “The Reichswehr has really gone too far this time. British intelligence has consistently been able to find traces of you secretly developing your armed forces in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. And this time, France seems to have discovered even more. Your development has made both our countries very uneasy.”

“And what is your personal opinion?” Akado asked, staring at Colonel Smith. “Do you also believe that Germany’s army is a threat, even though it has been completely destroyed by the Treaty of Versailles? Do you think a hundred-odd thousand Reichswehr soldiers can fully handle Germany’s two-front defense? Don’t forget, Mr. Smith, on our eastern border, there is still a newly born communist state.”

“That’s why we have always turned a blind eye to the German Reichswehr’s small clandestine actions. Did you really think you had fooled everyone?” Smith shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant gesture. “You should know that our country’s intelligence personnel, as well as France’s, all know you have an Operation Pluto. This plan aims to secretly expand the size of the Reichswehr so that it can cope with the threat of the French and Polish armies. Moreover, the size of the Reichswehr is already no less than 200,000, but we still pretend we’ve seen nothing.”

“We just want to protect ourselves! Is such a request really too much?” Akado said with some anger. No matter which world he was in, it was an extremely difficult thing for a country to seek dignity from the outside world. If it won a war, it would naturally have dignity. If it lost a war—the fate of Germany and China was the same: humiliation.

“Extremely too much,” Smith retorted with great pride. “You must know that you are a defeated nation. Your life and death are in our hands. Only when we permit you to protect yourselves can you protect yourselves! Understood?”

Akado fell silent. This was the right of a victorious nation, the arrogance and dominance that a country that had won a victory should have. Akado had lived two lives, and both times he was born on the weaker side. This humiliation was etched into his very bones. This time, Akado truly experienced the feelings of those infamous Qing officials when they signed the various treaties—if they had any self-respect at all, this taste would have been heart-wrenching.

However, he was not allowed to back down or stand there feeling sentimental now. So he once again raised his head, continued to stare at Colonel Smith, and asked, word by word, “You? The word ‘we’ you used includes many countries. For example, France! Is the British Empire always one with France?”

“Of course. We always stand with our powerful allies. Oh, perhaps that’s not quite accurate. You could say—we always stand with justice and truth!” Colonel Smith said, wagging his index finger.

“When France might dominate all of Europe, recreating the glory of Emperor Napoleon and threatening Britain’s hegemonic position in the world, I hope you will still say so,” Akado said, turning to walk down the steps. “If Germany is crushed by the French this time, it will only lose an Akado Rudolph. But after the French dominate the continent, the one who falls will be His Majesty, King George V.”

“Wait!” Smith reached out his hand to stop him, also saying loudly, “Please wait a moment.”

Akado stopped his steps, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

…

In the Netherlands, at the Royal Palace, a knock sounded on the door of Queen Wilhelmina’s office. Subsequently, several royal ministers and parliamentary officials walked in together.

“Your Majesty, after studying the condemnation proposed by the French this time, we have decided to ignore it,” a parliamentary official said, taking a step forward. “This decision was made to safeguard the fundamental rights and interests of the people of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We hope you can support it.”

“I have said long ago that the French are a bunch of insatiable fellows,” Queen Wilhelmina said, putting down the fountain pen in her hand and looking at her subjects, speaking slowly. “They once demanded that I hand over His Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm. I refused.”

She stood up, walked in front of her subjects, and said firmly, “So now that they demand I hand over the technology and assets owned by our people, I will certainly refuse as well. Long live the Kingdom of the Netherlands.”

“Your wisdom shines like the stars! Long live the Kingdom of the Netherlands,” all the ministers and officials said, bowing their heads respectfully.

A few hours later, the Dutch government issued a brief statement: “The great Kingdom of the Netherlands has decided not to interfere in the technical cooperation of any domestic company or individual with German enterprises, nor will it interfere in any company or individual forming a joint venture with Germany to serve the Dutch people. The Dutch government will completely ignore the unreasonable demands made by the French government. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is disappointed and regrets the arrogance and self-righteousness of the French government.”

Krupp’s strategy had succeeded. When he initially established the IVS company in The Hague (the famous Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw, or Engineering Office for Shipbuilding), he had sold 49% of the shares of this guaranteed-profit company to Dutch merchants, including major Dutch capitalists like Sir Clark. Now that the French had come hoping to destroy this company and seize its technology and workers, they were of course met with the hostility of these Dutch merchants, who had long been receiving benefits and making a fortune.

To take away a person’s wealth is like killing their parents. This was an irreconcilable feud. The Dutch merchant consortium did not disappoint the Germans. Without waiting for news from Germany, they independently launched a frantic counter-attack against the French, first by condemning France’s arrogance and domineering behavior in the international press, followed by a series of economic threats. This move left the French government, which had thought itself fully prepared and was already planning how to divide the spoils of victory, completely covered in dust and dirt.

…

And at this moment in Berlin, in front of the British embassy, Akado and Smith were still standing on the steps, one above the other. Akado had stopped his departure and turned to look at Smith, who had reached out to detain him. The two stared at each other.

“You’re right, General Akado Rudolph. A European continent dominated by France is not in the interests of the British Empire. You’ve convinced me,” Smith finally broke the silence and said with a nod. “I will send a telegram back to Britain to inquire about how to handle this incident.”

“There is no time to lose. I would like to know the answer now, so that I can have a free hand to deal with the French, who are dreaming of dominating Europe,” Akado said. “You don’t mind if I come in and sit for a while, do you?”

“Of course! At least for now, you are still my, Smith’s, honored guest. Please, follow me! I have prepared some very delicious coffee for you,” Smith said, making a gesture of invitation.

Half an hour later, Akado was still in the room, comfortably drinking the coffee that Colonel Smith had personally ground and brewed. Smith was called out of the reception room by his secretary and was handed a top-secret telegram from Britain—not the original encrypted version, but fluent English sentences.

Smith opened the telegram folder. The document read: “Colonel Smith, the British Empire is unwilling to face an unrestrained France, and even less willing to see a powerful France dominate the European continent. Having a Germany with a certain degree of strength is in the fundamental interests of the British Empire. The Dutch government’s attitude is already clear. The French are unlikely to succeed. We always stand with the victor, so this time the Empire has decided to support the German side. God save the King. Long live the British Empire and His Majesty, King George V.”

Closing the file, Smith handed the folder back to his female secretary. “Destroy this immediately! You burn it yourself!”

Watching the female secretary nod and walk away down the corridor, he then put on a smile and re-opened the door to the reception room. In a very cordial and friendly voice, he said to Akado, who was drinking coffee opposite him, “Would you like another cup? It’s very fine weather today, isn’t it?”

Akado put down his coffee cup and nodded. “It seems you did not receive an order to shoot me dead. Correct?”

Smith nodded and said with a smile, “The French will not receive the support of the British Empire this time! They do not have sufficient evidence on hand, at least that’s what the intelligence received by our British side shows. So this time, your Reichswehr will have a scare but no real danger… Well then, now it’s the Germans’ turn to express their friendship to us. General Akado Rudolph, Britain has helped Germany this time. What benefits does Germany plan to give Britain?”

“The German Navy originally planned to build 5 armored ships. Three are currently under construction. We will cancel the construction of the other two, the ‘Prussia’ and the ‘Admiral Ludwig’, to prove that we have no intention of challenging the British Empire’s sea power in the Atlantic,” Akado said, taking a document from Cindra and handing it to Smith. “Within three years, Germany will not launch any naval vessels larger than a heavy cruiser. How about this proposal?”

“Your generosity exceeds my expectations! General Akado, I truly hope that you will remain in power in Germany for a long time. In that way, the British Empire and Germany will become very friendly partners,” Smith said with a smile, clearly not having expected Akado to immediately offer such tempting conditions.

“Of course, that’s not the entirety of the exchange. This condition also includes that the maximum cannon caliber on German Navy destroyers will not exceed 88mm—in this way, the German Navy will become a regional force, not an ocean-going decisive battle force,” Akado added with a smile. “So Germany will no longer be a challenger to British sea power, but a supporter who relies on British sea power to protect its own rights and interests.”

“A supporter! I like that word very much! Since the Reichswehr side has prepared such a tempting chip, then let’s hear your conditions,” Smith’s eyes lit up as he looked at Akado. He couldn’t help but be excited by this condition, because if the German Navy yielded, then Britain could save more strength to deal with the rising Japanese Navy in the Far East and the watchful US Navy on the other side of the ocean.