Chapter 825: Each Other's Bottom Lines

“There is no doubt about that, my dear Reinhard. If you were no longer loyal to me, then you would have no chance of walking into this office,” Akado said, looking at the man he had single-handedly promoted, now the head of the SS. “Remember, no matter how influential others are, they are still your subordinates. But I am your master! Understood?”

“…” It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to Reinhard Heydrich like this, ever since he had become the commander-in-chief of the entire SS. Who would dare to speak so arrogantly to the head of the German SS? Not everyone felt their life was too long—there weren’t many madmen who wanted to go to a concentration camp.

His status seemed to have made him forget the process of his rise, to have forgotten who had given him such immense power. Akado had always adhered to one principle: what he could give to a person, he could also take away. In fact, Heydrich knew his own limitations best. He was simply not on the same level as Akado as an opponent.

Although the Führer’s special guard, that is, the Leibstandarte and the SS Division 0 and other units, were all within the SS establishment, these units were all screened by another organization personally led by Akado and were not under Heydrich’s command and deployment. And the SS did not have complete jurisdiction over the massive Wehrmacht. For Heydrich to do anything detrimental to Akado was a task as difficult as reaching for the sky.

But if Akado wanted to move against Heydrich, he could do it with just one phone call. The Wehrmacht’s city defense force in Berlin, the special operations units of the SS special forces, or even a direct call to the SS command headquarters could easily bring Heydrich under control.

Even the Führer’s Residence Security Department, under Anna’s command, and the Wehrmacht’s Führer’s personal guard, under Ger’s command, were higher in rank than the SS’s supreme command. According to security regulations, the subordinate units of the SS had to cooperate with the actions of the above units when they encountered them.

In fact, the strength of the SS was basically built on the fact that most of its members had an extreme personal cult of personality for Akado. To lead such a group of people, who saw Akado as a god, to oppose Akado was no different from suicide. It was estimated that before they even got to challenge Akado, these people would have opened fire from behind and turned the main culprit who was trying to threaten the Führer’s safety into a sieve.

“I understand, my Führer! I have always been your most loyal servant. I was in the past, I am now… and in the future, I will always be,” Heydrich said, quickly nodding his head after thinking through the key points.

“Just understanding is not enough! You have to remember it in your heart!” Akado said, poking Heydrich’s chest with a finger. He spoke slowly, “Remember what I have said. Treat them as your creed. Like breathing, use every beat of your heart to remember, to memorize! Otherwise, I will find someone who can do it to replace you, understand?”

“Yes! My Führer!” He hadn’t felt it in a long time, that tremor from the depths of his heart when he had first met Akado. That longing to look up to a strong man, to follow him to the death. Heydrich remembered that dark world, remembered the unparalleled sense of oppression he had felt when Akado had stood before him and given him the task of establishing the SS.

In the end, I am still inferior. Heydrich lamented this in the depths of his heart. He found that his body feared Akado, was willing to prostrate itself at the other’s feet, without a single thought of resistance. This must be the sense of oppression formed by the terrifying power behind Akado. Within the Third Reich, anyone facing the Führer would probably feel this way.

“Tell those idiots who are egging you on, if they want money, the works of art and gold extorted from Poland, I will give them a satisfactory price. If they want women, the Minister of Propaganda, Fanny, has a large number of female stars in her hands who are willing to dedicate themselves to the country… If they’re smart, let them keep their lives and enjoy life. If they’re not, you can help me bring back their heads!” After speaking, Akado pointed to the door and made a gesture to see him out.

“Give me five days… no, three. My Führer… I will lead the SS to give you an explanation,” Heydrich said, saluting with a raised right arm and then respectfully backing out.

“Do something you’re supposed to be doing!” Akado added as Heydrich reached the door. “The American and British spies have been getting a little active again recently. They’ve committed arson in Berlin and have also tried to attack the Kiel naval base… Find these spies. If you catch them at the train station, shoot them at the train station. If you catch them in the toilet, drown them in the toilet.”

“Yes! Heil Akado Rudolph, our Führer!” Heydrich stood at attention again, and then carefully closed the door to Akado’s office.

Akado sat back down in his seat, pinched the bridge of his nose, and asked Anna, who was standing behind him, with some weariness, “My dear, tell me, why can’t any of these people understand my thoughts? They can never help me with my worries in advance, but always drag me down at critical moments?”

“My dear, if you’re just looking for someone to complain to, I can only give you a bitter smile. If you’re really asking me, I think it’s because you’re moving too fast, and they can’t keep up with your magnificent pace,” Anna said, standing behind Akado and kneading his shoulders with her hands. She spoke softly, “If you think Heydrich has any intention of betraying you, then you can find a reason for me or Ger to arrest him.”

“If he really showed signs of losing control, I would have had you act long ago. This time, it was all because those few founders of the SS were getting restless and wanted more power that they caused such an infuriating incident,” Akado said, signaling Anna to stop kneading his shoulders. As he spoke, he stood up and walked towards the door with some resignation. “The mess here is dealt with. Now I have to go and appease the Wehrmacht. What a frustrating day.”

Surrounded by Anna and his guards, he walked through the dim corridor of the Wolf’s Lair’s underground shelter, letting the sound of his leather boots echo back and forth between the cold concrete walls, floor, and ceiling. The group stopped in front of the door of a conference room. Akado adjusted the Iron Cross, Second Class, pinned to his uniform, and then nodded to the officer on duty by the door.

The officer pushed the door open and then announced loudly, “Attention! The Führer has arrived!” Akado walked in with this announcement.

Clatter! Everyone stood up as Akado entered the room. These big shots who held sway within the Wehrmacht now stood at attention solemnly, raised their arms, and gave the man before them a standard German salute. “Heil Akado Rudolph, our Führer!”

Akado walked to his seat at the end of the long table and then sat down as if it were his right. He then extended his hands and pressed them down casually, signaling everyone to sit down. Everyone then sat back down in their chairs and looked at Akado in silence.

“I have convened this meeting to… Field Marshal von Brauchitsch is also here, and Field Marshal von Rundstedt, who has just encircled Smolensk, is also here… to say one thing,” Akado said, glancing at the two army field marshals sitting beside him before continuing. “The recent SS expansion plan was not authorized by me. My position on the matter of the Wehrmacht being the only legal armed defense force within the Third Reich has not wavered.”

Rundstedt glanced at Akado, his eyebrows twitching slightly. He was now one of the figures in the military who was relatively close to the Führer’s faction. Regardless of whether he was from the old army faction or not, the fact that he was in the same boat as Akado was already common knowledge and could not be changed.

At a time like this, if he didn’t stand up and speak for Akado, he would still have no good impression with the old bureaucrats led by Brauchitsch, and the points he would lose on Akado’s side would be something that even a Battle of London could not make up for.

So he coughed lightly and said, “That… the SS ‘Führer’ division is a newly formed unit incorporated into my army group. Its performance in the battle to encircle Smolensk is there for all to see… so I think there is absolutely no need to make such a big fuss.”

“Thank you, Field Marshal von Rundstedt, for your trust and support,” Akado said with a smile. He then looked at Brauchitsch, whose face was a little pale, and continued, “I propose that since these newly formed units of the SS have already participated in the battle at the front, there is no reason to disband them. After all, these soldiers have their own honor, and the victories they have achieved were won through their own sacrifice. If we disband their units and strip them of their designations, it would be a disrespect to their courage.”

Brauchitsch wanted to speak but stopped himself. Although he now represented the old establishment in the army, he was not a complete traditionalist. In terms of his rise to power, he was, in fact, also one of the “Führer’s Faction” that Akado had single-handedly promoted. It was just that in these past few years, for the sake of the army behind him, he had had many conflicts with Akado, and he felt more and more that he had let down Akado’s trust in him. So, seeing that Akado had not finished speaking, he did not speak out forcefully.

“These units, following the example of the other SS units, will still be incorporated into the Wehrmacht! This will be a one-time exception. How about it?” Akado finally gave his solution to the matter.

“Agreed!” Brauchitsch’s bottom line was exactly this, so he was the first to shout.

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