Chapter 96: The Stormtrooper Problem

On Wilhelmstrasse, at the headquarters of the Greater Germany Party, SS soldiers stood on high alert everywhere. Most of them were armed with pistols, and in the barracks behind, there was a guard battalion equipped with rifles. These men were all absolutely reliable members of the Greater Germany Party, ready at any moment to sacrifice their lives for the glory of the party—they had a little-known name: the “Leibstandarte” (Inner Guard Regiment).

These SS guards were all selected from the elite who had sworn personal allegiance to Akado. Even within the Reichswehr, they were the most outstanding warriors. This “Leibstandarte” could be said to be Akado Rudolph’s personal loyal followers. They were more reliable, more fanatical, and more elite than the Reichswehr.

Because Akado cherished his life, he did not want to easily lose his precious life. The enjoyment that money and power now brought him was something he enjoyed very much, a super experience he had never had before. So he cherished everything he had now more than anyone else and did not want to lose anything.

He had obtained everything he had today by relying on an unknown “golden finger.” His strength lay in his perception of the future and his grasp of the personalities of certain great men. And his weaknesses were also obvious: that inner quality of forbearance and scheming required to maintain a vast network of personal relationships.

The key to his current invincibility was his grasp of the “future” and that aura of never having failed. Relying on this unique dominance and numerous benefits, he was able to gather a vast force and stand before the likes of Hitler and Hindenburg without fear—this did not mean he was stronger than these people; on the contrary, it only showed that in certain aspects, he was not as good as them.

Hitler’s Nazi Party, despite successive setbacks, had still grown stronger; Hindenburg, seemingly weak, still occupied the presidential throne, standing firm. This was enough to prove many things. So Akado managed his several nests meticulously, and Anna was almost always by his side, all to ensure his absolute safety.

At this very moment, Akado was in his headquarters waiting for the Nazi Party’s reply. He stared at a young Greater Germany Party cadre who had just walked into his office. Although his gaze was not stern, it still made the cadre tremble with fear.

“Mr. Chairman, we have just received a reply from the Nazi Party. They are willing to hand over the culprits of this incident and have expressed their willingness to restrain their recent hostile actions, and to pay a large sum of money as compensation to the Reichswehr and the families of the deceased,” the cadre reported his work cautiously.

Akado nodded, but his voice was still somewhat cold. “They have agreed to these demands, yet you look so afraid. That means they have not agreed to all the conditions we set, correct?”

“Y-yes, Mr. Chairman… They… their list of… of culprits… did not mention Goebbels, whom we specifically pointed out,” the cadre said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief as he reported.

Power is truly a good thing, Akado thought to himself. He had never possessed any of that bullshit “aura of a king.” This could be seen from the time he had just transmigrated to the battlefield and had fallen into a trench, scared out of his wits. Now, with power vested in him, he could actually achieve the so-called “authority without anger.”

The so-called imposing aura and such, it now seemed, was nothing more than the worshipful reverence born from a disparity in status. To put it simply, it was like when a minor clerk met the mayor; he would naturally feel that the mayor was glowing with a golden light, as if a god had descended to the mortal world.

So Akado narrowed his eyes, nodded, and waved his hand at the young cadre, signaling that he could leave. At the same time, he gave his order, “Have the officials at the minister level and above come to see me. I have some tasks to arrange.”

“Yes, sir!” The young cadre felt as if he had been granted amnesty and quickly retreated. Before long, Krupp and the others arrived in Akado’s office.

Nowadays, Krupp no longer frequently returned to his villa in the Ruhr. He had even brought his wife and children to live in Berlin—he was now the head of the Greater Germany Party’s chamber of commerce alliance, and also the de facto wielder of its power. Even Jellinek Cassia of the White Orchid Group was a step below him. So he was now mainly active in Berlin and did not often go out on business.

Merkel, as the mouthpiece of the Greater Germany Party abroad, was already tacitly recognized as Akado’s spokesperson. He was already the top man in charge of the Greater Germany Party’s “diplomacy” and was also seen by outsiders as the important figure in the party to succeed Stresemann as Germany’s next Foreign Minister. And he also did not often leave Berlin now, because after all, the affairs in the Soviet Union, Britain, America, and other places had all gotten on the right track.

Counting Chancellor Stresemann, who was also Germany’s premier, and the Greater Germany Party’s head of internal affairs, Loic Kater, quite a few people had come together today. But when they walked into Akado’s office, none of them sat down.

“Please, sit!” Akado pointed to the surrounding sofas, then stood up and gave some quiet instructions to Anna. “Go and get everyone something to drink! I’ll have a Coca-Cola. After all, this product is under my name. I have to give them some support.”

Hearing Akado tell them to sit, they did not sit down, but remained standing, waiting for Akado to speak.

After Anna had left the office, Akado began his plan in a very calm and collected manner. “The Nazi Party has rejected my proposal! A very blunt rejection! It seems they want to test me this time, to see how far we can go. Well then, gentlemen, shouldn’t we do something to show them?”

“Isn’t this kind of thing outside our purview?” Merkel asked softly. “You should know, matters in the dark have always been handled by Mr. Reinhard. If we rashly interfere, it would be easy for him to think we are overstepping our authority.”

“Since they think they can bear the loss, then let Mr. Heydrich handle it! He has plenty of men under him… at worst, we can provide the operating funds,” Krupp said after some thought.

“When we wanted to walk the righteous path,” Akado said, taking the glass bottle of soda Anna handed him, his voice still devoid of any emotion, “Hitler’s Nazi Party wanted to play dirty tricks with us.”

He took a few steps, walked to the center of the group, and said with a smile, “So I founded the SS. And it turns out that when it comes to playing dirty and devious, he can’t outplay me.”

He looked at Krupp, then at Chancellor Stresemann, who had not expressed his own opinion for a long time, and continued, “Now they want to see who can be more ruthless! Who is more vicious!”

“Mr. Chairman! I support any decision you make!” Krupp said hurriedly.

“Since you feel that relying on the SS for a counter-attack cannot solve the problem, I am at your disposal at any time,” Merkel also followed up.

Jellinek Cassia and Chancellor Stresemann also immediately spoke in unison, “Then what do you plan to do, Mr. Chairman?”

Akado nodded, very satisfied with their attitude. “This time, we won’t use the SS to crash their party. They won’t learn their lesson unless they suffer a real blow! So this time, we will play by the legal rules with them.”

“Legal means?” Stresemann asked with a frown.

“Correct!” Akado said very proudly. “We will go through the Parliament and submit a topic for discussion!”

“What topic?” Stresemann was taken aback and asked hastily.

“To discuss the dissolution of the Nazi Party Stormtroopers!” Akado said, then嘿嘿 (hehe) laughed.

Merkel’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration, “Brilliant! This method of the Chairman’s is truly ingenious! We will attack them through the Parliament. As long as the law passes this resolution, they will lose the most threatening card in their hand!”

“I’m not as smart as you think,” Akado said truthfully. “I’m just giving Hitler a simple reminder! That we are not opponents on the same level!”

It had to be said, this behavior of responding to someone else’s hooliganism by being an even bigger hooligan was extremely satisfying, so satisfying that it made Krupp and the others involuntarily shudder.

“The Stormtroopers! Or Goebbels! You can only choose one!” Akado took a sip of his soda, placed the bottle on the coffee table, walked back to his desk, and ordered with narrowed eyes, “Go and prepare!”

In the afternoon, the Parliament received the proposal. It was submitted by a middle-aged member of parliament. Although the Parliament did not immediately convene a meeting to discuss this proposal, the content of the proposal immediately became known throughout the city because it was of such great importance.

The Nazi Party learned of the Greater Germany Party’s counter-attack at the first opportunity. This counter-attack seemed crazy and sudden, and its methods were not as sinister and devious as the previous few times. It could be said that they were raising a righteous army, which left people at a loss for a time, feeling a bit out of their depth.

“He’s a bastard!” Hitler once again smashed something in his office. This was the umpteenth time he had destroyed the decorations in his office. Now, he rarely even placed expensive things on his desk, not even daring to use a too-expensive brand of fountain pen.

“My Führer! Mr. Ernst Röhm is outside. He wishes to see you,” Hitler’s secretary, and also one of his most trusted men, Martin Bormann, walked into the room, reported, and began to help Hitler clean up the things on the floor.

“What is he here for?” Hitler looked at his secretary, Martin Bormann, with annoyance, and then repeated the question in a very stern tone, “What is he here for?”

“He has come, most likely, to have you choose between the Stormtroopers and Goebbels to keep!” Bormann said with some resignation.

Hitler once again flew into a rage. “He still has the face to come? If his Stormtroopers could have stabilized the situation, would I need to be enduring this humiliation here? Bastard! Bitch!”

“But! You must make a choice now,” Bormann said in a low voice.

Silence. The room was filled with a terrible silence… After about two minutes, Hitler finally spoke again, “Let Röhm in.”

After saying this, Hitler’s shoulders slumped. In an instant, he seemed to have aged ten years.