Chapter 331: Operation Blackout

The plane continued forward, and the golden coastline came into view. Groups of German soldiers were already playing and frolicking on the b

The plane continued forward, and the golden coastline came into view. Groups of German soldiers were already playing and frolicking on the beach, while looking westward, the icy water stretched as far as the eye could see.

“Chief of Staff! There is no doubt that we have already encircled the Anglo-French coalition soldiers in Belgium. Their situation must be very bad right now,” Rommel said, pointing to the English Channel in the distance. “I hear they’ve been tied down by Army Group B and are still struggling in Belgium.”

“God bless Germany! We have completed the mission assigned by the Führer!” the Chief of Staff replied with a smile.

“Send a telegram to Berlin! We have reached the English Channel. Heil Führer!” Rommel said loudly, pointing below. “Let the troops rest for two hours, then begin to search and attack to the north!”

“Yes, General!” the Chief of Staff immediately accepted the order.

At the same time, in the German capital of Berlin. In a room in the Führer’s Residence with floor-to-ceiling windows and a huge balcony, Akado was sitting in a chair, quietly smiling at a large bed. On the bed lay a beautiful woman in a nightgown. Although her face was a little pale, the smile on her face was still very charming.

“Akado, this place has almost become your office! I don’t want you to delay your own career just to see me,” Anna said softly to Akado, her pair of azure blue eyes narrowed with a smile.

“It’s alright. The matter in France is a sure thing. There’s nothing to worry about at home right now. Mr. August is in charge of the economy and construction. Mercedes is on the corporate side. Jelinek and Krupp will help me with the other things. My most important task now is to take care of you, my lifesaver,” Akado said with a smile, then pointed to a plate of fruit on the bedside table. “Want some?”

“Mm…” Anna’s voice rose and fell, and she shook her head coquettishly. “No, otherwise my wound won’t have healed, and I’ll have more fat. Then how can I protect you?”

“In the future… I will protect you,” Akado said seriously.

He truly meant it when he said this, because that was what he had been doing these past few days. It was not as calm as Akado had appeared. These past few days, the entire interior of Germany had been thrown into a bloody storm by the SS.

It was truly a bloody suppression that made one afraid in hindsight. The Junker aristocrats who had not immediately stood with Akado, especially those prominent great nobles, had all been suppressed by Akado with the most brutal methods. The families of these people had been sent to concentration camps to perform hard labor, and the property of these people had been completely carved up by the forces that supported Akado.

In this purge, Akado had strictly distinguished between the Junker aristocratic groups, dividing this seemingly unbreakable and entangled massive interest group into several parts for differential treatment. With the help of August, he had established a strategic policy of attacking one part, roping in another part, and assimilating a third part, and had beaten the decadent Junker aristocratic group half to death in one go.

Akado had used the Greater German Party to assimilate the Junker aristocrat officers, using an iron will and various propaganda methods to make these middle and lower-ranking officers become his loyal followers. He had treated this group of people differently, assimilating them in various ways, making these people break away from the traditional Junker group and join the “New Nobility” group advocated by the Greater German Party. At the same time, Akado had ensured the economic interests of these minor Junker aristocrats and had protected their legal property during the purge, winning their support.

And for a portion of the high-ranking officers and big businessmen with Junker status, Akado had adopted a method of co-option to force this group to compromise. For example, Field Marshal von Brauchitsch and others. Akado had, on the one hand, appeased them, and on the other, had used various means to strip them of their real power, while ensuring their high official positions and generous salaries. This veteran method had come from August and others, and this move had indeed successfully won over a batch of relatively obedient old Junker aristocrats.

Of course, the remaining part was those stubborn fellows. In the face of these old Junker aristocrats who disregarded the life and death of the country for their personal interests, Akado had shown no mercy. He had used the support he had gained from a portion of the Junker aristocrats, as well as the people’s fanaticism for the Führer, to easily raise the butcher’s knife against these non-cooperators. The entire society and the “New Nobility” group had all become beneficiaries of this slaughter, so a nominally very cruel and bloody suppression operation had actually been easily glossed over as “a crusade against feudal die-hard forces.”

There is no clear record of exactly how many people lost their lives in this operation, but the SS’s statistics are about 67,000, while the civil administration’s statistics are that about 91,000 people went missing or died, and another 170,000 were relocated to concentration camps and the western Polish region to work.

Wilhelm II had been secretly executed for colluding with the old nobility in an attempt to assassinate the German Führer, Akado Rudolph. This matter was publicly announced as him having died violently in his own apartment due to an assassination by British spies. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was so angry when she learned of this matter that her face turned pale. Her request to see Akado was rejected on the grounds that the Führer was recovering from the bombing attack.

Subsequently, the SS had visited the residence of this former Queen of the Netherlands and had placed a confession and evidence of the Wilhelm II family’s involvement in the bombing attack on the Queen’s table. But this still could not make Wilhelmina swallow her anger over the death of the German Emperor.

It was not until a family that Queen Wilhelmina knew had moved into a house next door that the Queen had, as if resigning herself to her fate, regained her composure and had issued a statement condemning the despicable actions of the British government. You might be curious as to who had such great influence. In fact, the ones who had moved in were none other than the family of the Danish royal family, who had surrendered to Germany not long ago.

“Knock, knock, knock.” A knock came at the door of the room.

“It seems there is some important news,” Akado said, glancing at Anna, who was covering her mouth and snickering. He sighed helplessly. “Come in.”

The work secretary, Cindra, holding a telegram, pushed open the door after Akado had given his permission and walked in. She stood at attention at the door and saluted. “Long live Akado Rudolph! My Führer, a telegram from General Rommel from the front. Earlier today, our army’s 7th Panzer Corps had already advanced to the English Channel. Operation Sickle Cut has been victoriously completed.”

“You see! I knew that Rommel and Guderian would not disappoint me,” Akado said with a smile, standing up. He walked over, took the telegram from Cindra’s hand, and examined it carefully. He then nodded. “Send a telegram to General von Rundstedt. When he has annihilated the defenders in Belgium, that will be the time for him and Keitel to be promoted to Field Marshal!”

“Führer… this matter, will there not be a meeting to discuss it?” Cindra was taken aback for a moment, then asked softly.

“This was decided long ago! There is no need for further confirmation. Send the telegram out at once! I am waiting for their good news of victory!” Akado said after a moment’s thought. “In addition, call Raeder and Kesselring. Have them come to the Führer’s Residence to see me at once.”

Watching Cindra walk out of the room, Akado said to Anna, a little embarrassed as he scratched his head, “It seems I can’t accompany you today. In the afternoon, pay attention to moving around a bit more. Be careful not to pull your wound. I may not be able to come back to have dinner with you—speaking of dinner, I’ve already asked someone…”

“Alright, alright,” Anna said, covering her mouth and laughing for a few moments before continuing. “Your Majesty, my Führer! You really concern yourself with a lot of things! I know. The nurse will help me in a little while. You don’t need to worry about me. Go and be busy.”

Akado fled in disarray and returned to his own office. There, he personally opened the door of the heavy safe in the adjacent compartment, took out a pre-written plan, and then casually closed the safe door, scrambling the code with a clatter.

Walking back to his own desk, Akado, sitting in his chair, opened the plan and began to carefully read its contents. About an hour later, when Cindra knocked on the door to remind him that Raeder and Kesselring had arrived, he finally closed the document.

Holding the document in his hand, Akado stood up and went straight to a conference room next to his office. Inside, Raeder and Kesselring were waiting for him. As soon as the two saw Akado, they both stood up, stood at attention, and saluted. “Heil Führer Akado Rudolph!”

Since the Junker aristocrats had been divided and suppressed, many high-ranking generals, when they saw Akado, liked to shout the Führer’s full name when performing the greeting, instead of the simple “Heil Führer” of before. They used this method to express their personal loyalty to Akado, to distinguish themselves from those Junker elements who were not loyal to Akado personally.

“I have called you here today to tell you that Operation Sickle Cut has been completed,” Akado said, placing the document on the conference table and sitting down. He then waved his two hands downward, signaling for Raeder and Kesselring to sit. “So I have called you here to confirm with you the specific matters of carrying out ‘Operation Blackout’.”

“My Führer! The air force is fully capable of carrying out ‘Operation Blackout’ and has long been prepared for the mission,” Kesselring replied immediately. “In addition, 40 heavy four-engine bombers have already been equipped. This type of bomber can fly at a very high altitude to drop its bombs, is extremely fast, and is equipped with powerful defensive weapons. These bomber units have been kept as a secret weapon and have not been used. They can carry out the mission at any time.”

“My Führer! The navy is not correspondingly prepared. The High Seas Fleet commanded by Lütjens is currently participating in the offensive against Norway in the Norwegian Sea. And the submarine force, which is under the command of General Dönitz, is in the North Atlantic, strangling Britain’s transport lines. We really don’t have any spare forces to carry out ‘Operation Blackout’,” Raeder said helplessly, bracing himself to reply. “If we recall Lütjens’s fleet, then will the Norwegian Sea be attacked by the British?”