Chapter 75: Sherman's Duty

In the dim room, Goebbels sat dejectedly, holding a cup of coffee. He himself didn’t know why he had such a powerful aura, that any room he sat in would become so dim and terrifying.

“No matter what moves he makes, he just gets stronger and stronger,” Goebbels sighed, as if talking to himself.

But not far from him, another voice echoed, pale and sinister, “I am not reconciled! I am not reconciled to being defeated just like this! No matter what, I must try again! Try one more time to see if I can defeat him!”

The one speaking was none other than the person Akado was most familiar with, the leader of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. This fanatical orator, who had not appeared in public for several days, seemed somewhat thin at the moment. His pale face made him look a bit like he was recovering from a serious illness, but his spirit was more like that of a dying man.

Although to outsiders, the current Nazi Party was still a strong contender in Germany’s next parliamentary election, and even had a reputation in some remote areas that surpassed the recently prominent Greater Germany Party and the old powerhouse, the Social Democratic Party, Hitler, who understood his opponent, still harbored a trace of panic towards Akado deep in his heart.

His emotions spread throughout the Nazi Party, causing even the head of the Stormtroopers, Röhm, who had always been fierce and menacing, to lose his former ferocity. His seemingly numerous Stormtroopers were beaten by the SS, commanded by Reinhard Heydrich—who was already quite famous in German military and political circles—until they had no strength to fight back.

“It’s alright! I’ve already passed the intelligence I have to that person. I imagine in a few days he will counter-attack for us, right?” A trace of smugness finally appeared on Goebbels’s dejected face. He swirled the coffee cup in his hand and said, “This time, we will stab the Reichswehr in the back again! Let’s see if Akado can turn the tide once more!”

“You mean?” Hitler was taken aback, then looked at Goebbels.

“That person is an out-and-out anti-war advocate! He is one of the few German politicians who completely agrees with the Reichswehr being maintained at a scale of 100,000 men. He even cursed Akado as a traitor to Germany after the signing of the ‘New Treaty of Versailles’ not long ago,” Goebbels said with a smile. “You tell me, if a person like this gets his hands on some news about the Reichswehr’s secret expansion, will he explode on the spot?”

“That’s right! As long as he blows this matter up, Britain and France will inevitably get involved. That will be the time for us to defeat the Greater Germany Party!” Hitler’s eyes lit up as if he had seen the dawn. He hastily sat up from the sofa. “I need to make some preparations to make this incident even more difficult to handle! This way! We can at least grasp the next parliamentary election!”

“This document is a copy of Operation Pluto that the French intelligence department got from within the British government. Although the content is not much, the evidence is sufficient. Akado himself won’t dare to deny it! That will be the time for Britain and France to sanction him!” Hitler rummaged on the table and smugly handed a document to Goebbels.

“Although Britain already knows much of the content of this document, they are pretending not to know! I also know that many constraints ultimately led to this Operation Pluto being tacitly approved by the British and French governments. But if the Germans themselves bring this matter up, and say it openly, then it becomes another matter entirely!” Goebbels said with a nod after looking at the document. “Although it will put Germany in a very unfavorable diplomatic situation, for the sake of building the ideal Germany in our hearts, we have no choice but to sacrifice our temporary interests!”

“Can the government support this? This is almost equivalent to treason,” Hitler asked with some hesitation. After all, he deeply loved this Germany, this motherland he regarded as his soul. He had decided to fight for this country his entire life, to use all his strength to make this country strong. It was just that he felt Germany’s rise must be related to him; it was only because he was unwilling to let others fulfill his own long-cherished wish that he opposed Akado.

“Rest assured, my Führer! The government also hopes to use the weakening of the Reichswehr to regain control over it. These past few years, the Reichswehr has been too independent and too presumptuous! It must be brought back under the supervision and command of the government! This is the consensus of many government officials!” Goebbels persuaded. He knew the minds of the bureaucrats well and was very clear about their desire to manipulate the Reichswehr.

…

“Akado! My old friend, I really suspect that this unit you’re showing me is just your honor guard,” Tukhachevsky said with a yawn, pointing to the incomparably elite-looking soldiers before him. “Compared to the German soldiers secretly training in the Soviet Union, they are simply a group of statues.”

Akado laughed heartily. “Hahahaha, General Tukhachevsky, over in your country, we are training the combat capabilities of the German soldiers. But here, the only thing we teach them is discipline!”

“All I can see here is a group of veterans from five years ago, performing exercises at about the same level as the Soviet Red Army!” Tukhachevsky said with some regret. “They are not at all at the true level that the German army should have. Although this unit can be considered the most combat-effective among the infantry, you have at least hidden two main force divisions. Those main force divisions should be full of tanks and machine guns, and very aggressive.”

The Red Napoleon is truly no ordinary man, Akado sighed helplessly in his heart. His opponents, after all, were not all fools. On the contrary, they had outstanding talents no less than Germany’s. In the future, he would also have to face commanders who were unparalleled geniuses, like Patton, Montgomery, and Bradley. Even with the advantage of having to take fewer wrong turns, it seemed he had no advantage at all in front of these great crocodiles.

Akado had no choice but to nod. “I can only show you this kind of unit. After all, most of our cooperation has not yet been made public, and Britain and France do not wish to see a powerful Germany emerge.”

“En, they certainly do not wish to see a powerful Germany, and of course, they do not wish to see a powerful Soviet Union either! But I believe that as long as the friendship between our two countries lasts forever, then they will see a powerful Germany and a powerful Soviet Union in the not-too-distant future!” Tukhachevsky said very firmly. “I will spread our Bolshevik faith in London!”

He was somewhat elated. He glanced at Akado beside him and explained, “But according to the treaty, we will not carry out any radical actions in Germany. I know you are afraid of our faith, but I still want to give you a piece of advice: having a firm faith is the secret to being invincible.”

“This I believe,” Akado nodded. “I have a faith! My faith is that Germany will be victorious!”

He pointed to the German soldiers leaping down from a low wall nearly three meters high and said proudly to Tukhachevsky, “My faith is right there! With them, Germany will ensure that its interests are not violated in any way.”

“General Akado, to live in the same era as you, only then do I feel my life will be more meaningful! To be honest, I would very much like to face you on the battlefield! you know I was undefeated in the revolutionary war. I really want to prove myself on a larger stage,” Tukhachevsky said, looking at Akado with great solemnity. “You should be able to understand my feelings, that boiling blood of anticipating the challenge of a strong enemy.”

I’m not as perverted as you! I hope that Patton, Churchill, Roosevelt, Bradley, Montgomery, Zhukov, all these people, die young! Really! I wouldn’t lie to you! Akado thought viciously in his mind, but he still maintained a smile. “Believe me, we will never become enemies.”

Of course, Akado would not let Tukhachevsky visit the three main armored divisions Germany was secretly building. But he had no intention of perfunctorily brushing Tukhachevsky off either, because they were all acquaintances who knew each other’s business. The unit currently holding the exercise was the German 1st Division. This unit was now being trained by Akado as paratroopers and could be considered a trump card in his hands.

But clearly, Tukhachevsky was still more interested in the armored forces that Akado had been keeping under wraps. And he was now also concerned about the Soviet submarine force. “Akado, our international friends in Japan have provided us with some intelligence. You are helping Japan manufacture 1,000-ton class submarines. We would also like to obtain this more superior weapon.”

“That kind of large submarine dives too slowly, and the improvement in combat power is very limited. A 760-ton submarine has 5 torpedo tubes, while that 1,000-ton class submarine only has 6, and the extra one is aft-firing. Do you think it’s worth it?” Akado retorted with a smile. “The Japanese have no choice but to do so, because they need to protect and deter the long supply lines in the Pacific. Fortunately, we do not.”

“You have a point!” Tukhachevsky thought for a moment and agreed. “I am also more inclined to focus my main energy on the Sovyetsky Soyuz.”

“I hear it can be launched and put into service in 4 years,” Akado said, with a hint of a reminder, and also in a questioning tone.

“It is the crystallization of your technology and our sweat! It symbolizes the great friendship between our two countries!” Tukhachevsky said proudly.

A first lieutenant ran over in a hurry, stopping next to Akado’s work secretary, Cindra, who was not far away. He leaned into Cindra’s ear and hastily said some news.

Cindra’s face changed slightly. She walked to Akado’s side, glanced at Tukhachevsky, and then spoke, “General! We just received news from the Parliament! The former Prime Minister, now member of parliament, Scheidemann, has publicly condemned the Reichswehr for colluding with the Soviet Union to violate the Treaty of Versailles, secretly training and expanding the army, and threatening world security!”

Akado was stunned. An inexplicable pain spread from his heart. He felt a sweetness in his mouth, the taste of blood almost surging from the corners of his lips. Before this moment, he had never even believed that someone could be angered to the point of vomiting blood, but now he was indeed so stimulated by those politicians who claimed to love Germany that his blood was boiling.

Akado felt extremely heartbroken and wronged! He had been walking a tightrope among a large group of opponents, yet he never expected that the one who would make him fall into the abyss was not his opponent, but a so-called fellow countryman!