Chapter 72: The Joint Chiefs of Staff

“I feel we cannot let him grasp any more power. He is too young and acts impulsively. We cannot entrust the future of Germany to such a brat,” a thick-browed old general said, leaning back in his chair.

Beside him, a middle-aged man in a brand-new lieutenant general’s uniform looked dismissive. “We are all old. He has accomplished things that we very much wanted to do but could not. We should support him.”

“How much more support can we give him? What he has done, in my younger days, would have been enough to hang him dozens of times! We did not pursue the matter and even gave him more and more power,” an old lieutenant general with a large white beard and a bald spot in the center of his head said, slamming his hand on the table.

“But his several recent diplomatic efforts have been quite successful. We cannot ignore his contributions just because he has done some out-of-line things. Germany is gradually becoming stronger because of him. This is what we all hope to see,” President Hindenburg said, his eyes narrowed. His health had not been good recently, and he was a little breathless after just a few words.

“Having General von Hammerstein in the Commander-in-Chief’s position is still reassuring for all of us. It can also put some pressure on Major General Akado, to make him more cautious in his actions,” the thick-browed old general who had spoken first said after some thought.

“En! We cannot casually replace the Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr. Hammerstein is our man and is reliable at critical moments. There is no need for a replacement,” the middle-aged general who had initially opposed him nodded and said. “The troops we control are decreasing. We cannot give him any more real power.”

“If you are not at ease, then give the navy to him. It’s clear he is a rare talent, proficient in the combat of many different branches. I have no objection to giving the navy to him. Besides, the navy only has less than twenty thousand men. This is a reward we can afford,” Vice Admiral Raeder, the de facto head of the German Navy, said from his seat in a corner of the table.

The bald old general in the center snorted with a laugh. “Hmph, you’re quite willing to put down a stake! The naval part of Operation Pluto has brought you, the naval commander, back to life, and now you’re supporting that lowly major general with such dedication? Giving him all the power in your hands?”

“Watch your words!” the thick-browed old general who had spoken first said with some annoyance. “We are discussing how to deal with the problem of Major General Akado Rudolph. What does this have to do with Vice Admiral Raeder?”

“How else can we deal with it? We promote him to lieutenant general? What a joke! Have you ever seen a German lieutenant general who is not yet 28 years old? Go and look in the Reichswehr! How many colonels are there at the age of forty? A major general at fifty is already considered a ‘young turk’! How are we nobles supposed to conduct ourselves? Saluting a general who is younger than our own sons?” The bald old general became more and more furious as he spoke, complaining as he slammed his hand on the table.

“Do not slam the table in front of me! In my entire life, only one person has been able to slam my table, and that is His Majesty the Emperor!” Hindenburg opened his eyes and slowly said this sentence. The room immediately fell silent. No one dared to speak loudly again.

“All of the Reichswehr’s current exercise plans have been formulated by his hand. More than half of the weapons and equipment were ordered by him. The future development program was also proposed by him several years ago and has been gradually perfected to this day…” Speaking seemed to be a very physically demanding task for Hindenburg. He spoke a sentence very slowly, then stopped to take several deep breaths.

He then looked around at the generals under him. Most of these men had followed him into battle across the land; they were the core of his direct subordinates. “We are all old! One day, we will have to hand over the power in our hands to the young people behind us. What we need to do is simple: just choose these successors well for Germany.”

“I myself am a lieutenant general,” the middle-aged general said, standing up. “But I know myself that I have not done as well as General Akado. So for me to salute him is nothing shameful. If he can lead us to victory, I will salute him! Salute him with the German Salute that he has popularized throughout the army!”

“Then let’s do it this way this time,” Hindenburg nodded. Supported by his secretary, he slowly stood up. “In my name, promote Akado Rudolph to Lieutenant General of the Reichswehr, responsible for the establishment of the Reichswehr Joint Operations General Staff, which will have authority over the army, navy, and air force. He will serve as the first Chief of the Joint Operations General Staff. He will be responsible for the establishment and reorganization of the army, navy, and air force units of the Reichswehr.”

Swoosh. With a neat sound, everyone stood up from their seats, snapped to attention, and saluted. “Yes, sir!”

Since the matter was completely decided, the meeting was declared over. Hindenburg was the first to leave the conference room, supported by his secretary, while the others also dispersed in twos and threes.

“A commander of the three services who isn’t even 28 years old. The German Reichswehr will become the laughingstock of the world! The old Field Marshal, he is, after all, getting old,” the bald general complained to the thick-browed general of about the same age as he shuffled towards the corridor outside the conference room with a frown.

“Compared to that, I am more worried about the expansion of the Greater Germany Party within the army. I am not afraid of a Reichswehr lieutenant general. What I am afraid of is a dictator who controls both military and political power, and is unrestrained by any checks on that power. Once this person makes a mistake, Germany will be doomed forever,” the thick-browed old general said with a sigh.

“I knew you saw farther than me back at the Battle of the Somme. I’m just a brute soldier, without so many twists and turns in my head. But I just don’t like this Akado. On what basis has he become a high-ranking general at such a young age? This lieutenant general of mine, I earned it with my life! When I was fighting wars, he was still just a grunt! Damn it…” the bald, bearded general grumbled as he walked further and further away alongside the thick-browed old general, his voice gradually fading.

The middle-aged general watched the two of them walk away, stopped his steps, and waited for Raeder to walk abreast of him before asking, “I heard that you and Lieutenant General Akado knew each other two years ago, and your friendship is quite good. When you have time, I’ll host. Shall we all have dinner together?”

There is never a shortage of clever people in this world. After personally witnessing Akado’s unstoppable rise, this lieutenant general, who held command of two Reichswehr divisions near Leipzig and Dresden, finally decided to choose a side early. Sometimes life is a huge gamble. If you win, you will soar. If you lose, you will be doomed forever. But if you’re going to gamble, you have to place your bet early, because only by “sending charcoal in a snowstorm” can you reap the benefits. “Adding flowers to a brocade” can easily lead to being settled with accounts later on.

Lieutenant General von Bock was a clever man. He knew that his own smooth promotion to lieutenant general of the Reichswehr was all due to Akado’s Operation Pluto expanding the size of the army. In 1920, he was still a colonel on the Ministry of Defense staff. In just 5 short years, he had followed the footsteps of Akado’s army expansion to become a “young turk” lieutenant general of the Reichswehr.

Originally, he was determined to repay President Hindenburg, who had promoted him, with Prussian loyalty. But when he saw Hindenburg’s aged body about to fall, the thought of finding another way out lingered in his mind. And after comparing the various factions, he decided to bet his life on the newly rising Akado Rudolph group.

“That’s no problem. General Akado has always wanted to meet General von Bock, but has just never had the chance,” Raeder was taken aback. Among the people attending this meeting, only he had close ties with Akado, and only he had spoken up for Akado so forcefully. If he hadn’t represented the navy’s opinion, he probably wouldn’t have even been invited.

“Thank you! I have a bottle of Château Margaux wine from France in my collection. It’s quite old! Come to my house tonight! I’ll have Marie prepare her specialty salad and soup,” Bock said, adhering to the principle of “there’s no time like the present.” He didn’t want to waste this opportunity. He wanted to immediately establish a friendship with Raeder. And his home was in Berlin, not at his army command’s garrison in Dresden.

Raeder, also with the aim of building connections, nodded happily and agreed. “Of course. I would be delighted to go! You know me, I’m a drunkard. When I hear there’s good wine somewhere, I can’t bear to leave. Hahahaha.”

He laughed as he walked forward with Bock, then lowered his voice and added, “If you don’t mind, General Akado and the Vice-Chairman of the Greater Germany Party, Mr. Stresemann, might both be free tonight. Why not invite them as well?”

“Of course! Absolutely no problem!” Bock smiled even more happily. To be able to meet Akado directly meant that in the future, under Akado’s command, he would at least be on the same level as Raeder. The benefits would naturally not be few. So he added, “Since we can invite so many distinguished guests, just serving salad and soup would be too neglectful. I’ll go back and make a call right now, have the servants choose some high-quality steaks and prepare a roast chicken.”

In the evening, Akado, Stresemann, and his trusted confidants Merkel and Jellinek Cassia, followed Raeder to Bock’s home in Berlin. The group of them talked and laughed until after eight o’clock at night before dispersing.

The next day, Bock secretly joined the Greater Germany Party and hurriedly returned to his command post in Dresden to begin deploying tasks, preparing to receive the armored cars and new artillery that Akado had secretly allocated to him.

Moreover, at a regular meeting of his regimental-level commanders, that is, a meeting attended by officers at the rank of regimental commander and above from the 9th and 10th Reichswehr Divisions, he personally announced that he would no longer interfere with the development of the Greater Germany Party within the troops. When this news reached Berlin, Hindenburg, after hearing it, sat alone in his chair in silence for more than ten minutes without saying a word.

Because just a few hours earlier, he had just issued an order to establish the Reichswehr Joint Operations General Staff, with authority over the army, navy, and air force, and had appointed the newly promoted Lieutenant General Akado Rudolph as the first Chief of the Joint Operations General Staff.

For the first time, the troops controlled by Akado had surpassed more than half of the Reichswehr in number. In other words, even if Hindenburg had the intention of replacing Akado, he would no longer receive the same level of support from the Reichswehr as before.