Chapter 1000: The Berlin Platform

While the high command of the German Army was speculating about which marshal Akado would promote first, Akado himself was on the platform of the Berlin railway station, watching with a smile as a military train slowly pulled to a stop in front of him. Every day, such trains returned to Berlin, bringing back wounded soldiers and lucky ones home on leave. This was stipulated by the German frontline rotation system, to prevent soldiers from developing rebellious emotions from long-term combat.

Another aspect was to let these men, who had fought and bled at the front, see for themselves what a beautiful state their homeland was now in. This proposal had come from the propaganda department, and its effect was quite obvious. Germany, through continuous expansion and annexation, had accumulated a terrifying amount of wealth. The entire original territory of the Third Reich had been built up to be magnificent, making people feel a deep sense of pride in their country.

Compared to the blood and cruelty of the front, life here could be described as peaceful and brilliant. There were more tall buildings than in any other city, and real estate developers were everywhere, building one structure taller than the next to adorn the splendor of the Imperial capital.

The sewers were so spacious they were almost grotesque, the roads so flat they were hard to believe. Compared to the mud and despair of the Russian plains, everything here was so pleasing to the eye. Everyone who saw it would exclaim from the bottom of their hearts: “Only a city like this is worth fighting for.”

All those who enthusiastically joined the army would enjoy the welfare benefits of the Third Reich’s expansion. Their children would have the right to a free education all the way up to university, and the state would arrange employment for their families. If they were wounded, disabled, or even sacrificed, their families would receive a lifetime state pension for their service.

Unfortunately, even with such good welfare benefits, after the initial rush of enlistment to avenge the last war, and after a series of quick victories against France and Britain, Germany’s war potential had been largely depleted. The number of new recruits had dropped sharply. Only the fanatics recruited by the SS were still in sufficient numbers.

In fact, when you thought about it, it was understandable. Anyone who saw the countless wounded men walking or being carried off the hospital trains every day would lose their enthusiasm for enlisting to fight at the front.

The train slowly pulled to a stop at the platform. The doors were pulled open by the soldiers waiting, and a swarm of men—some with bandaged arms, some on crutches, some simply grimy and disheveled—poured out. The platform instantly became crowded, except for one section.

That was the section of the platform where the officer’s car had stopped. Compared to the ordinary soldiers’ cars, the car prepared for the officers was more comfortable, with beds and compartments, and even train attendants to bring hot water or some fruit. Of course, the position where these cars stopped was also relatively further ahead than the soldiers’.

“Hey! Look! There’s a whole honor guard over there with a flag… Which big shot is on the platform?” a sharp-eyed corporal, with his duffel bag on his back, said to his comrades. “So impressive! More impressive than those colonels and generals at the front!”

“Stop looking… no matter how impressive those big shots are, it has nothing to do with us little guys. If you ask me, it’s got to be a Lieutenant General or a full General,” another wounded soldier with his arm in a sling said admiringly, looking at the SS honor guard who were standing with their hands behind their backs, forming a human wall to separate them from the ordinary soldiers.

“That’s not right! That’s an SS honor guard… My God! It’s the Führer! It’s the Führer!” a more astute soldier realized the difference. Only the Führer would use an SS honor guard when traveling. The big shots in the SS, like Heydrich and the others, wouldn’t dare use it due to the Führer’s sensibilities, and the bigwigs in the Army used their own honor guard.

“Heil Führer!” The soldier, facing the open platform, piously raised his right arm and gave a German salute, even though he couldn’t clearly see if the person over there was the Führer.

The few people around him also quickly stood at attention and raised their arms. Perhaps some of them had also recognized the Führer’s honor guard, or perhaps they had just heard someone shout “Heil Führer” and had, out of habit, involuntarily followed suit. In any case, more and more people began to salute, and the slogan “Heil Führer” became more and more uniform.

Akado heard the shouts. He was taken aback for a moment, then looked over at the other side of the platform. He saw them—his Imperial soldiers, in their tattered, dust-covered, and disorganized state, some on crutches, some in bandages, but all still cheering for their Führer. He stopped, a smile on his face, and looked at the ecstatically cheering soldiers on the other side of the SS human wall. These were his soldiers, his greatest asset in conquering the world, the most solid foundation of the Third Reich’s invincibility.

“Führer! Führer!” “My Führer!” “The Great Führer!” The crowd erupted in cheers. Akado smiled and raised his hand, giving a military salute to the soldiers. Behind him, an official from the propaganda department quickly gave a low order to the Berlin station master who was following behind. “Quick, find a cable, get a microphone, and connect it to the station’s public address system! Quick! Go!”

The station master, who was usually a man of high status in the station, didn’t even dare to breathe in front of this high-ranking official from the propaganda department. Hearing this order, he quickly turned and called for his subordinates, ordering his lackeys to find a microphone and cable as fast as possible.

“Führer! When will the war end?” a soldier who had pushed to the front shouted. He looked very young, perhaps only 20, but from the service medal on his chest, he must have been fighting at the front for more than three months.

He pushed against the SS human wall, shouting at Akado. Akado heard his call and, without waiting for the microphone to be ready, shouted back to the young soldier in a loud voice, “I don’t know when the war will end, but I know how it will end! The German Third Reich will be victorious! And this great victory depends on the hard work of every one of us! Including you! And including me!”

The soldier didn’t even bother with the first part of the sentence. The moment he heard the Führer use the words “you” and “me,” he was already raising his arm and cheering. The crowd erupted in an even more ferocious roar. Everyone was waving frantically at Akado, like fans at an airport greeting a star.

At this moment, Akado finally saw the person he had been waiting for. Rein, supported by Alice, was taking tiny steps as he disembarked from the officer’s car of the train. His chest was covered in medals, but his uniform was not new. It was a very old captain’s uniform.

In fact, back in Kiev, he had already received the news of his promotion to major. He also knew that the Führer himself would be presiding over his promotion ceremony. And what made everyone even more envious was that he had been awarded the highest honor in the German military at present—the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. A dozen or so people had received this medal at the same time. They were all the elite of the elite from the army, navy, and air force. Their names were all household names: the king of attack aircraft, Rudel; the genius fighter pilot, Hartmann; the Star of Africa, Marseille; the tank ace, Wittmann; the U-boat god, Prien… They were the punctuation marks of this era, the idols of all German soldiers.

“Welcome back to Berlin! I am truly happy to see you again,” Akado said with a smile, extending his hand to Rein. Rein and Alice, however, properly raised their arms and gave a German salute.

Only then did they shake hands with Akado as a matter of courtesy. Akado smiled and shook Alice’s hand, who was beside Rein, and then introduced her to Anna, who was with him. “This is the little girl who, because she was sleepy, forgot to announce my flight plan and almost had the anti-aircraft units fire on my plane…”

Anna smiled and also took Alice’s hand. Looking at the blushing Alice, she said comfortingly, “You are always welcome at the Führer’s residence. I think we will become good friends.”

Alice nodded shyly. The thunderous cheers of “Heil Akado Rudolph” from the other side made her a little nervous. This was not the kind of scene she was good at. She was more adept at opening fire on a crowd this size.

Rein, standing beside Alice, looked at Akado and said with some embarrassment to the Führer, “I have broken my promise to you. I did not wait for the end of the war, but chose to leave the battlefield… I’m sorry, if…”

“There is no ‘if’… I need you, Rein. This time, you will go to the new special forces training base as an instructor, to help Germany train more and better special operations personnel. You have not broken your promise to me,” Akado said, gently patting Rein on the shoulder, interrupting him. He was afraid of jarring Rein’s wound, so he had only barely touched him before withdrawing his arm. “I am very happy that you have found a life of your own.”

“Thank you…” Rein raised his uninjured arm and scratched his head. “I will teach everything I know to those who need these skills!”

Akado nodded, then raised his hand and waved to the still-cheering crowd on the other side. He then led the way down the platform. “Let’s go back to the Führer’s residence to talk in detail. If we stand here for a few more minutes, these soldiers might just charge the human wall.”

Rein smiled, and then suddenly said to Akado, “In fact, when it comes to respecting you, I am even more fanatical than they are.”

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