Father of France

Chapter 88 Thank you for your cooperation
"Erich!" Hannah looked at her husband in horror, as if she were facing a demon.

Koman frowned slightly. He thought he looked alright and didn't look fierce at all, so why did he look like he was about to transform in the other person's eyes? Annoyed, he shouted, "Shut up. You're crying like nothing happened, as if I've done something to you."

Although he thought the lady was well-maintained and should be from high society, she was not young, so why did she look like a fairy?
“Sir, we are just ordinary people.” Erich von Steiner’s hands clenched and unclenched under his sleeves. He had no choice but to bow his head and say, “There is some money in the box. You can have it.”

"Reichsmark? Isn't that just paper?" Koeman's eyes didn't even linger on the suitcase for a second. He said sarcastically, "If you want to buy peace with money, we're not as cruel as you Germans. It's not impossible to do that, but Reichsmark is just a piece of worthless paper. Enough with the nonsense, let's go through the trial process first. Let's see if there are any problems."

Procedural justice is still unavoidable. A soldier like Koeman, who takes upholding justice as his guiding principle, will never let a good person... or even a bad person, go unpunished.

Currently, any German citizen attempting to flee to Switzerland or Italy is considered untrustworthy and will be intercepted. Regardless of suspicion, they will be subject to trial.

Even if there is no suspicion, if it is discovered that someone may have served in Germany, regardless of whether they have committed a crime, they will be temporarily detained.

Upholding justice, Koman decided to keep the suspicious couple in custody for the time being, and interrogate them after he had eaten. In any case, they were the first smart ones, and Koman had plenty of time to deal with them before the large number of escapees arrived.

After all, they might be the first to be caught, so they should be given some special treatment.

Koeman wasn't in a hurry, but Erich von Steiner, who was imprisoned, was frantic. He never dreamed that he would be blocked even though he had started his escape before Germany surrendered.

While imprisoned, he couldn't help but have wild thoughts, wondering what was happening in Berlin now, whether it was in the midst of a fierce battle.

Koeman's cautious approach of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free" actually paid off this time; Erich von Steiner was indeed not Austrian.

He was German and a major general. He had escaped from Berlin before the Soviet army encircled it and was preparing to flee to Latin America with his wife, Hannah, with Switzerland as their transit point.

He now regrets it a bit, wishing he had chosen to go to Italy instead. Although it might be a little difficult to withdraw the money in his Swiss account temporarily, the safety factor is much higher.

Erich von Steiner was clearly overthinking things. Even if they were heading towards Italy, the interception checkpoints there would receive the same orders: anyone speaking German would be denied entry.

Erich von Steiner, imprisoned, had fallen asleep sometime during the burning streets of Berlin. In his dream, Steiner saw a group of elderly men and children from the Volkssturm being organized, preparing to fight the approaching Soviet tanks with anti-tank rocket launchers.

A boy, no more than twelve years old, wearing a helmet several sizes too big, was crying, while an old man beside him—possibly his grandfather—was roughly shoving a weapon into his hand.

This scene jolted him awake, and he unconsciously looked in the direction of Berlin, remaining silent.

“Ms. Hannah, your husband’s statement doesn’t match the description given by our Austrian translator. Do you know what that means?” In another detention location, Koeman looked at Hannah with great interest. “You are definitely not ordinary people. You may not have anticipated the consequences of the mismatched identities.”

"What consequences? Even if you are soldiers, you can't just falsely accuse people like this." Hannah spoke tremulously, as if she had been greatly wronged.

“You may not know this, but just the fact that your identity doesn’t match is enough for you to be sent to live in the Rhine Camp.” Koman looked at the other person with pity. “If you don’t know what the Rhine Camp is, then let me explain.”

The Rhine Camp imprisoned more than five million Germans; how could they all have been tried?

This is an enormous workload. At least half of the detainees are not German soldiers, but ordinary people whose identities cannot be identified. Unfortunately, the German couple that Koeman encountered belonged to this category of unidentified individuals.

That alone is enough reason to imprison her in the Rhine camp. It might sound harsh, but it's the truth. Hannah, after hearing Koeman's description of the open-air camp on the Rhine, turned even paler than before. An open-air camp—wasn't that like being a savage? What would happen if she, a woman, were locked up there?

Koman tapped the table lightly, making a soft sound that sounded like a countdown to Hannah.

The reason Hannah was interrogated first was that Koeman believed women were less resistant to oppression than men, making her easier to interrogate.

His guess was proven right. Just from the woman's expression, he could tell that she was indeed easy to talk to. The fact that they were having a conversation in a confined space had already made her uneasy.

However, this was clearly not enough. Alan came to inform Coman that evening that dinner was ready, and then glanced at Hannah and asked, "Should we prepare a portion for these two?"

"You won't starve if you skip a meal, we'll talk about it tomorrow. We have to acknowledge that adults have resilience, we're not children who haven't grown up." Koman smiled at Hannah, but his words were as sweet as honey.

A day later, fueled by hunger, the interrogation went much more smoothly. Koeman kept repeating the same things over and over until Hannah, who was sweating profusely from hunger, finally couldn't take it anymore. "We are indeed German, but we are just an ordinary couple."

"I see." Koman's smile was so bright that the dragon rider probably didn't understand that once he opened his mouth and revealed a flaw, more flaws would follow.

From nationality to identity, the more questions were asked, the more illogical they became. Finally, Hannah revealed the identity of her husband, Major General Erich von Steiner.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Coman stood up, his body like a towering Alp, while Hannah, trembling, was like wild grass swaying in the wind facing a mountain peak, feeling utterly powerless.

Koeman had no desire to continue exerting his power over a woman; that alone was enough. It was time to switch interrogators.

"Major General Erich von Steiner, hello." Koeman was in a very good mood when he reappeared before Erich von Steiner, and even saluted him. Although Germany was already a defeated nation, military etiquette still had to be observed. "You are very clever. You had already planned how to escape before Berlin was surrounded, which is more far ahead than most Germans. But I believe that it won't be long before your comrades start showing up here."

Erich von Steiner silently watched Koeman's polite words. From the very first sentence, he knew that his wife had probably lost her temper. She opened her mouth but ultimately uttered only one sentence: "What about my wife?"

"How can you doubt our character like that?" Koman flatly denied the other party's suspicion. "Although I am at an age full of energy, I consider myself a rather noble person, someone who has transcended vulgar tastes. I would not engage in the dirty behavior you imagine. Now, can we have a proper talk?"

Now that things had come to this, Erich von Steiner had nothing left to hide and admitted his plan to use Switzerland as a transit point to escape to South America.

“When two people go to a place where they know no one, they have to start all over again,” Koman muttered in a low voice. “It seems like you have a secret, and I’m not talking about money. Although you haven’t admitted it yet, I know you went to Switzerland to get money, and I’m referring to something else.”

Erich von Steiner was surprised that the other person was so young yet had such a rich imagination, but he quickly understood.

Now that he has been captured, his backup plan is no longer useful. He nodded and admitted, "I have some confidential documents about South American officials cooperating with Germany, but I didn't carry them with me. I plan to use them after arriving in South America so that it will be easier to settle down there."

Upon hearing this, Koeman's expression immediately showed interest, and he said eagerly, "Officials from South American countries, these classified documents won't be very effective in your hands, but if they fall into the hands of the right country, such as France, they will be much more useful."

The Latin civilization emphasized in the French National Program largely refers to South America and Latin America, and it is also the area where France should expand its influence in the future.

Thinking about it this way, the documents in Erich von Steiner's possession became extremely important, as they could help France avoid starting from scratch.

(End of this chapter)