Chapter 920: My Emperor

Akado walked briskly down the corridor of the Wolf’s Lair, an officer hurrying behind him. The officer caught up just a short distance from the Führer, stopped, came to attention, and raised his arm in a salute. “Heil Akado Rudolph, my Führer! The latest battle report from the front has just arrived…”

“Read it!” Akado commanded, his voice edged with impatience. Behind him, Anna carried his greatcoat and briefcase. It was clear the Führer had been on his way out for an urgent matter, only to be delayed by news from the front. Akado frowned and told the man to read the telegram quickly.

“Army Group G has engaged the southward-advancing Soviet formations. The fighting is fierce. Yesterday, Army Group G lost 51 tanks…” The officer immediately opened the telegram and began to read the latest from the Battle of Kursk. “Our lines have been forced back 30 kilometers…”

“I understand! Tell Guderian to hold the southward-advancing Soviets as long as possible, to buy enough time for Küchler’s N Army Group to take Stalingrad. The fate of the Empire hangs in the balance,” Akado interrupted. Regarding Kursk, he had already done everything he could. Now, all he could do was wait for the result.

After saying this, Akado continued walking forward. “I am returning to Berlin now. If anything comes up, you can contact the Führer’s residence directly. Leave matters at the front to Field Marshals Brauchitsch and Rundstedt. Have them report the situation to me at the first opportunity.”

For some reason, every time a decisive battle took place on the German front, Akado seemed to have the bad luck of not being where he was most needed. During the last battle in Poland, Akado had been in the rear. The time before that, he had also been absent from the Eastern Front for other reasons.

Just a few hours ago, Akado had been anxiously awaiting the imminent Battle of Kursk when he received even more painful news. Far away in the rear, in Berlin, old August was gravely ill, on the verge of death.

For this old man, who was both a mentor and a friend, almost like an elder, Akado held deep respect and had countless things to say to him. So when he heard that the German Chancellor’s days were numbered, his first reaction was to rush back to Berlin to see him one last time.

Dominis had already taken over most of the German Chancellor’s duties. Since there were no new policy changes, no new problems had arisen for the time being. Akado felt it was necessary to see old August in person at a time like this. After all, there were so many things that required him to personally oversee the handover.

Hearing the news of old August’s critical illness, Akado’s emotions were somewhat unstable. He, who had become so composed after so many years of experience, now seemed a little nervous and uneasy again. So he decided to leave the raging front line and return to Berlin first to stabilize his own base.

At the private airfield next to the Wolf’s Lair, a plane, long since ready, was waiting on the tarmac. SS officers stood guard every five steps, every ten paces. A good number of SS officers were waiting by the Führer’s plane until his car drove into the airfield.

“Heil Akado Rudolph, my Führer!” When Akado got out of the car, everyone raised their right hands. Accompanied by his guards, secretaries, and various other attendants, Akado boarded his plane, whose engines were already running.

The plane quickly took to the sky, and the escort fighters formed a tight defensive formation around the Führer’s plane. Ten fighters covered Akado’s aircraft as they flew rapidly towards the very heart of the Empire, Berlin.

“Don’t worry, old August will get better,” Anna said on the plane, squeezing Akado’s hand to comfort him.

Akado looked out the window, watching the white clouds drift past his wings. He sighed and then said slowly, “Old August has never let anyone tell me about his illness… This time he didn’t stop them, and Mercedes wasn’t afraid of distracting me. That means that the old man’s situation is really… really very dangerous.”

Seeing Akado’s pained expression, Anna couldn’t help but lower her head. She had known old August even earlier than Akado. It was she who had recommended him to Akado. And this old man, ever since he had entered Akado’s circle, had indeed become the number two figure in the Akado Group, helping him to deal with many difficult internal problems.

Unfortunately, the old man had already been 71 years old when he had entered Akado’s circle. A true hero in his twilight years—if heaven had given him another twenty years, then the Third Reich would have, in his hands, created a miracle that the whole world could only look up to.

This was no less than a loss of dozens of divisions for Akado, because no one knew better than him what kind of problems existed in the entire Empire. He could change a country’s military strength in a short period of time, and he could also expand a country’s industrial capacity in a short period of time. But there were also things he could not do, and that was to use skillful means to heal all the various conflicts and rifts within the Empire.

Akado was powerful. He could suppress all the discordant voices within the Empire, but he could not eradicate these future hidden dangers. August was just such a talent who could help Akado perfect his internal affairs. And the sad thing was that now this crucial talent was about to leave him because heaven would not grant him more years.

I still have so many, many problems to ask this wise old senior. Akado roared in his heart in pain. He really had countless things he didn’t understand or didn’t dare to consider, things he wanted to consult this old man who was so familiar with the Empire’s internal affairs. At the very least, he had to ask a few fatal questions, questions that concerned the future of the entire Empire, questions that needed August’s opinion.

This was also the important reason why Akado had abandoned the front line and rushed back to Berlin. At the very least, compared to August, the situation at the front did not seem so critical. So Akado had decisively abandoned the hard-fought Kursk on the Eastern Front and had resolutely rushed back to the now-pleasant Berlin.

The plane flew over Berlin amidst Akado’s intermittent thoughts. The Führer’s plane slowly came to a stop on the tarmac. A group of the Empire’s high-ranking internal affairs officials surrounded it, waiting on both sides of the Führer’s plane’s cabin door.

The cabin door opened. Anna was the first to emerge, followed closely by Akado himself. And so, everyone raised their arms and shouted the slogan that was so familiar they would shout it three times in their dreams: “Heil Akado Rudolph, my Führer!”

“How is the Chancellor?” Akado casually waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to cut the nonsense. There were many people to greet him. The very first was the Empire’s soon-to-be-appointed new Chancellor, Dominis. So Akado didn’t ask anyone else, but went straight to this prized student of old August.

“The Chancellor’s condition is very bad, and his state is also quite unstable. He was in a coma before we came… But please rest assured, Führer, the best doctors and instruments in the world have all been prepared for the old gentleman,” Dominis immediately replied. He was clearly very familiar with old August’s treatment process and immediately introduced Akado to several of the doctors in charge of the old man, as well as experts and elites from the medical university.

“I don’t care what methods you use. You must cure old August. This is an order from the Empire. Understood?” Akado gave his order, which seemed a bit unreasonable. But compared to his other orders, this compulsion seemed to be the gentlest one yet.

The convoy quickly started up. Akado rode in the most luxurious special car of the Führer all the way back to the city of Berlin. Not many people were made to wait in the hospital corridor by the leader of the Greater German Party in Berlin and other high-ranking officials. But in the room was the Chancellor of the Empire, and in the corridor, the one who was about to arrive was the Führer of the Empire. This was a different matter altogether.

The extremely anxious Akado did not rest, nor did he go anywhere else. He went directly to old August’s hospital room. He then signaled for someone to gently bring over a chair and not to disturb August, who was sleeping with his eyes closed.

Looking at this old man who was so thin he was all skin and bones, Akado’s eyes felt a little sore. He signaled for everyone else to leave the room, and he himself sat down silently by the bed, waiting for the old man to open his eyes.

He thought of the mischievous, smiling look in this old man’s eyes when he had hinted that he should proclaim himself emperor. Just like Seeckt, who had died a frustrated man in China, they had both done things for their beloved motherland their whole lives. In their own way, right or wrong, they had fought for their ideals for their entire lives.

By the old man’s bedside was a stack of newspapers from all over the world. On top was an American newspaper, with the news of the American victory over the Japanese defenders in the interior of Australia.

Every nation has its own hope. If America had its heroes, and Japan also had its heroes, then Germany had even more heroes, and every one of them was no less impressive. At the very least, for the old man in this bed, Akado would be willing to trade several battleships. Akado would be willing to trade the blueprints for the newest jet fighter.

“Ah… so it is you who have returned.” As if sensing someone sitting beside him, the haggard August squinted his eyes, opened his mouth, and whispered a greeting. “My esteemed Emperor… you have returned.”

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