Chapter 355: Dinner

Although she had already seen the appearance of the Führer’s Residence from the outside, and countless newspaper photos had already made the appearance of this building no longer a mystery, very few people could still walk into it, and still very few people could truly come into contact with the core of the Reich.

Although she had made all preparations, and had even thought of the worst-case scenario, Wilhelmina was still quite curious about the Führer of the Third Reich. After all, her Netherlands was now also a “sacred and inalienable part of German territory.” This sentence was spoken by that Lord Führer and was full of unreasonable and arrogant dominance.

Stepping out of the beautiful Mercedes-Benz luxury sedan and just briefly looking at the German Führer’s Residence under the night sky, Wilhelmina was ushered into the great hall of this building, surrounded by servants. When the serving attendant opened the main door and this former Queen of the Netherlands entered, she was still so shocked by the sight before her that she could no longer speak.

In the great hall, there was a uniform and elegant white marble. The walls were white marble, the floor was also white marble, and even the pillars were white marble. And on this white background, there was an even more luxurious and maddening color. All the decorations were all golden yellow. With Wilhelmina’s eye, she could naturally see that those golden yellow decorations were all made of very thin gold foil.

From the dome of the great hall hung a huge crystal chandelier, adorned with hundreds of white-light electric bulbs. On it, there were naturally also various crystals and other ornaments, which would emit a light as bright as day at night. Wilhelmina, who had seen this huge chandelier before, naturally knew how much it was worth, because this chandelier had been dismantled from her own royal palace in the Netherlands and transported here.

The huge crystal chandelier illuminated the entire hall as if it were daytime. And the exquisite velvet curtains by the windows, the exquisite murals, were all of great value. What was most astonishing was the complete set of precious antique furniture. Wilhelmina had also seen this furniture before, because it was the most beloved treasure of the King of Denmark. The precious furnishings, combined with the silk fabrics of various colors around them, suddenly gave one the feeling of having entered heaven.

“The great Führer really knows how to enjoy himself,” Wilhelmina said sarcastically with a frown, and at the same time, she couldn’t help but sigh secretly in her heart. Not to mention the snow-white marble wall and floor tiles used in the entire building, just the furniture and various decorations in this great hall, which had been plundered from several royal castles, were already beyond people’s imagination of luxury. Wilhelmina couldn’t even accurately calculate how much money it would take to complete such an art palace, which had gathered the treasures of the royal families of various countries.

In fact, Wilhelmina had misunderstood Akado. After all, he had no energy to inquire about the value of some of the furniture and chandeliers that were just for show, because there were many more things waiting for him to decide on one by one.

These art treasures, which had been transported from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark, were all plundered from various places by the SS and some of the great nobles in order to please the Führer, or purely to be “dedicated to the beloved Führer.” Although they were priceless on the outside, they had really not cost much effort.

Akado had even admonished Heydrich and others for these things, telling them to try not to do such insignificant things. Although this had, to a certain extent, prevented the continued plundering of the art treasures of other countries, Akado himself also knew that this could only alleviate it slightly and could not fundamentally prevent such things from happening.

The distinguished guests invited today were of all kinds. There was the Italian ambassador to Germany, the ambassador of the Republic of China to Germany, and all sorts of political dignitaries. But compared to the few great figures who were about to arrive, these people seemed to be of insufficient weight in the core interests of the Reich.

The great figures who had received an invitation this time included the former Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, His Majesty King Christian X of Denmark, the former King Leopold III of Belgium, and of course, King Haakon VII of Norway, who had just been sent to Berlin. Although the war in Norway was still going on, Germany’s victory was already a foregone conclusion.

Of course, apart from King Leopold III, the person who had come from Belgium was also the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Belgian Expeditionary Force, the former Belgian Major General, and now a General of the Third Reich, Grewdo. This Belgian anti-German element, who had turned his coat at a critical moment and had screwed over the Anglo-French coalition forces, had now, after propaganda and packaging, been forced to become the representative of the pro-German Belgian military.

Apart from these captured European royals, there were also the rulers of Germany’s vassal states. Among them, the most important ally was the “Conducător” of Romania, Antonescu, who had provided Germany with more than half of its oil resources. As one of Germany’s most important allies, Antonescu’s seat was arranged next to the Führer, Akado Rudolph.

Coming in with the former Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was also the ambassador of the Republic of China to Germany. He simply couldn’t believe his eyes. Was everything he was seeing before him real, something he could see and touch? Was this kind of luxury and exquisite beauty really created by a country that had just been defeated in the First World War? It seemed that as a victor of the First World War, China’s current situation was not even a tenth of this defeated country’s.

From the moment the servant of the Führer’s Residence who was leading the way pushed open the main door, the gasps of surprise from the ambassadors and nobles of the small countries had never stopped. Even after entering the great hall, these people were still like a group of country bumpkins who had never seen the world, from time to time being amazed by some small detail that suddenly appeared. Apart from amazement, the only thought in everyone’s mind was to ask each other about some seemingly insignificant little thing, to find out from which royal palace this treasure had been plundered.

On a long table directly opposite the main door, a beautiful silk tablecloth was spread. On it was a tower of wine glasses made of transparent crystal glasses of the same size. A servant in full dress was pouring wine into the wine glass tower. The red wine, originally from France, was slowly filling the tower of glasses.

“Gentlemen! Ladies! I believe that no one doubts any longer that Germany can sweep across France and, in the end, just as in the past, win the victory of the war. Now, among those present, most are already a part of the German Third Reich, so this honor belongs to every one of you!” Akado said, raising his wine glass and beginning his toast. “The Reich will be invincible, and you all will become the new nobility of the Reich who will witness its rise!”

“To the Führer! Cheers!” Krupp on the side raised his wine glass and said with a loud laugh. “To our Führer’s health!”

“To the Führer! Cheers!” Everyone had no choice but to raise their own wine glasses. Here were either the ambassadors of countries that were asking for something from Germany, or the vassal states that relied on Germany’s whim, or the nobles of a fallen country. Who would dare not to give this Führer, who was at the height of his power, face?

“Thank you, esteemed guests!” Akado said, raising his wine glass in response. “Today is a memorable day. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, and other regions have reached an agreement with the German Third Reich to merge into the Holy Greater German Third Reich. From today on, this Reich will take as its goal to become the world’s number one power. It will be invincible in our hands.”

“Heil Führer! Long live the Holy Greater German Third Reich!” all the leading figures of the Third Reich stood up, raised their right hands, and saluted at attention. Among them were the giants of the business world, Bosch and Krupp; the big shots of the military, Field Marshal von Brauchitsch and General Gubo; and the head of the SS, Heydrich, who was described by outsiders as a devil. Of course, there were also the Führer’s staunchest loyalists, Jelinek and the Foreign Minister, Merkel.

What is this? A military threat? The kings and queens, who had no choice but to stand up and salute along with them, all thought with hatred in their hearts. The army has already taken control of the entire territory of these countries, and even the special governors who rule these occupied territories have been sent out. If we, these prisoners, do not agree to sign and merge into that so-called ‘Holy Greater German Third Reich,’ won’t you just slaughter us to make an example of us?

But thoughts are one thing; they would absolutely not dare to say it out loud. Even if there were still resistance elements in some parts of these countries, even if there were still a small number of areas that had not yet been occupied by the German army, now that they were really sitting here, they had to consider their own personal safety. This damned butcher, Akado Rudolph, when he was being civilized, called himself the Führer and was like a refined gentleman. But when he turned his face, he did not care in the slightest what royal family or noble you were. If you didn’t believe it, the former German Emperor Wilhelm II was a prime example.

Just as everyone was exchanging toasts, just as Akado was chatting and laughing with General Grewdo at the party, flanked by his three beautiful women—Mercedes, Anna, and Fanny—whose auras were strong enough to make people give them a wide berth, an SS officer came over.

He walked to Akado’s side and said softly in his ear, “One of the British female spies has been found. She was killed while resisting. The other is still at large.”

Akado nodded, then continued his topic of how to jointly govern Belgium with General Grewdo. “Mr. Grewdo, as I was just saying, I have decided that when conditions permit in the future, to arm 200,000 Belgian troops to, together with the existing army, manage the French region.”

Grewdo had already considered it while Akado was listening to the report, so he immediately responded, “I believe that the future French region, under the management of the Holy Greater German Third Reich, will develop even more beautifully.”

Akado smiled, a very happy smile. He once again raised his own wine glass. “Let us raise our glasses again. The Reich has just cracked a British spy case. The female spy who was the leader has been killed. The Reich… is still as solid as a rock!”

“Cheers!” everyone, willingly or unwillingly, raised their glasses.