Chapter 753: Frenzy and Reason

Any invasion will inevitably involve exploitation and oppression. This is a certainty. The only difference is whether it is done covertly, making it easy for people to overlook or accept, or done blatantly, arousing the resistance and opposition of the other party.

In this timeline, Germany’s method of handling this was to treat the occupied territories in tiers, dividing and conquering them. In the eastern regions of Poland, a relatively harsh colonial rule was implemented. The funds, or rather, the materials, obtained from exploiting this region were used to subsidize the other occupied territories, allowing them to quickly resume production.

Therefore, while the Netherlands, Belgium, and even France were thriving, the German province of Poland, despite having been occupied the longest, was still like an incurable abscess, constantly oozing a disgusting white pus. The partisans and resistance fighters there were like weeds, forcing Germany to maintain a standing force of 120,000 light infantry just to ensure that the security situation there did not affect the Eastern Front.

The purpose of enduring the repeated troubles in eastern Poland was to more quickly pacify the occupied territories of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. This was Germany’s established national policy, not to be desecrated or changed by anyone. Akado, August, and even Speer had exhausted themselves for this goal, and only now were they beginning to see a little bit of progress.

The heavy artillery production lines in France had now begun to operate. The 75mm infantry field guns and 150mm large-caliber howitzers, of a relatively good quality, had already begun mass production. These enterprises had relieved the pressure on the Krupp factory in Germany. The direct benefit was that in the last month, the production of the 105mm self-propelled howitzer, modified from the Panzer III chassis, had increased by one hundred percent.

The military-industrial enterprises in Belgium had also begun to gradually get into gear. After testing, the German frontline troops had begun to re-equip on a large scale with the new Belgian Browning pistol. This pistol was more durable than the German P38, had a higher reliability, and most importantly, it was cheap and suitable for mass production.

Given that this pistol was so cheap, the German military had even proposed an infantry enhancement plan called the “Individual Combat Backup Weapon Program.” This plan proposed to equip each elite grenadier with an additional Browning pistol to increase their firepower and battlefield survivability.

And the Netherlands, as Germany’s pastoral base, was also providing a large amount of beef and other supplies to the German army. At the same time, the Netherlands was also an important base that Germany was building for its textile and shipping industries, playing a vital role in connecting to the British mainland and maintaining smooth communication throughout the entire North Sea region.

If these places were not so important, Akado would not have been so angry. These occupied territories were, in Germany’s planning, all solid, core territories of the German Third Reich! If any of them had a problem, it would be the death of Akado.

However, Akado, who had been immersed in the officialdom for a full 15 years, would naturally not be so indiscreet as to play such a strange and grand hand. What he had prepared for these guys he hated to the bone was not just a simple hanging or a firing squad. In fact, his real killing blow had not yet been used.

“Have you seen how the Führer treats these traitors?” an SS soldier asked, standing at Akado’s feet, in the same room on the floor below, to several men who were sweating profusely.

From the very beginning, Akado had had no intention of executing old August’s grandson, nor had he intended to touch Krupp’s son. For these people who had truly made indelible contributions to the Empire, Akado had still given them enough face and had indeed put in enough thought. While he was on a rampage, the number of truly core business magnates he had touched was not many. Those he did not intend to touch, but needed to be taught a lesson, were all in this room now, watching the bodies of their former friends being dragged away and buried.

“For all his talk, he still doesn’t dare to kill…” Krupp’s son had just said this when he saw the door of the room being pushed open. His old man, Gustav Krupp, walked into the room in a rage, reached out, and slapped him soundly across the face.

“Doesn’t dare to kill? Your father, for the sake of you, you idiot, has traveled a thousand miles to get here. I wish I could just stick my old face to the Führer’s leather shoes just to save your miserable life. And you still have the nerve to say he doesn’t dare to kill you?” After slapping his son, Krupp turned his gaze to old August’s grandson, who had just been drinking coffee with disdain, also thinking that Akado would not dare to kill him. “And you! Your grandfather is still in the hospital! If it weren’t for him being hospitalized, do you think the Führer wouldn’t dare to hang you?”

“If he really dared to kill all of us, then the German people would see this fellow for what he is! See what kind of face this bastard named Akado really has! At least those who died were right. He, Akado, is the Führer of the Dutch! Not our German Führer!” August’s grandson was young and vigorous and naturally refused to lose face. He still insisted that Akado would not dare to kill him.

However, even he himself could hear that when he said Akado would not dare to kill him, his voice was trembling slightly. In fact, everyone present knew he was afraid, but was just clinging to a last shred of fantasy to comfort his already collapsing heart.

Most of the people in the room had this thought: that Akado would not dare to risk mutual destruction, for then he would truly be, as others had said, a Führer representing the occupied territories, not a Führer representing Germany. They had cleverly tied their greedy selves to the entire German homeland, using a vague concept to confuse the public, like a rat dropping, disgusting.

Just as Krupp was at a loss as to what to do with this group of misguided and money-grubbing juniors, outside the main gate of the palace, a sudden chaos erupted. A group of people in civilian clothes suddenly opened fire, and even threw hand grenades, attempting to disrupt the order of the entire assembly.

As soon as the chaos began, several men in Dutch civilian clothes fell on the opposite side of the street. They had white cloth strips tied around their arms and were still clutching pistols with empty magazines in their hands. The Dutch people began to flee in all directions. The German SS began to return fire. The two sides exchanged fierce fire for a few minutes. These people of unknown origin left behind only three bodies before finally escaping the execution scene in the chaos.

This was the real backup plan that Akado had prepared. This was the most fatal blow that Akado had struck. Half an hour after the gun battle on the street had erupted, General Dek and several other more famous businessmen who had been pushed onto the gallows had another terrible crime added to their names—treason and collusion with hostile forces.

And almost at the same time, the Berlin radio station reported on Akado’s cruel massacre. The difference was that the radio station supported the Führer’s decision and announced the crimes of the Germans who had been hanged: treason, collusion with hostile forces, and other charges, which at once severed the connection between these people and the German people, completely separating two groups that had originally had little to do with each other.

Only then did the people upstairs know just how naive they had been. After killing someone, to frame them was the simplest of political maneuvers. Akado had been in the Führer’s position for over 10 years. If he couldn’t play this simple game well, he would have died a hundred times over.

Akado had directed and acted in a farce, using the method of framing to throw the black water of treason and collaboration with the enemy onto those pitiful capitalists. The method was very simple, and the trick was very old, but such a move was never-failing and very effective, so effective that it made one reluctant to develop new schemes.

You want to tie yourselves to the German people? Then Akado would use the most effective method to sever this connection: no one wants to be associated with a traitor, right?

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is Radio Berlin, this is Radio Berlin.” In the radio, a sweet female voice sounded, making the German Chancellor August, who was lying unconscious in his hospital bed, open his eyes slightly.

The young nurse guarding him immediately chirped like a warbler, her voice also very pleasant, “Doctor! Doctor! The patient is awake! Mr. Chancellor August is awake! Quick!”

Ignoring the cheering nurse at his side, August stared at the radio in the corner of the room, lost in thought. On the radio, the female host’s voice had not stopped: “This afternoon, while the national traitors, the main persons responsible for violating the laws of the Empire, who were ordered to be arrested by the Führer, were being executed, there was an enemy attempt to rescue them from prison!”

“The facts have proven that the wise decision of our great Führer, Akado, is completely correct! Long live the great Führer Akado Rudolph!” Finally, after the female voice on the radio had finished this sentence, the channel began to play music. The melodious tune was very relaxing and also made August, who was lying in his hospital bed, feel a little drowsy.

“It’s alright!” If it hadn’t been for the episode of storming the execution ground, then August would have really been worried that his grandson had been secretly finished off by the Führer. Now the Führer was clearly not in a killing mood, so there was no need to be overly critical and nitpick. As long as Akado had that little bit of remaining reason, he would not easily lay a hand on Krupp’s and his own children. Because there was almost no benefit in doing so, and few people would do things that had no benefit, let alone a head of state.

In the room, August’s grandson’s face was pale, because at this moment he finally knew just how insignificant he was. If the Führer wanted to kill him, he would definitely first use public opinion to make him worthless.

“I… was wrong!” Krupp’s son was clearly still relieved that he had not been dragged out by the Führer to be tormented in this strange way. “I’m sorry! I was really wrong!”

August’s grandson’s face was pale. He had just thought that Akado would certainly not make things difficult for him. Now, after watching this farce, he knew that to a powerful Führer, he was really just a small fry who could be killed at will.

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