Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

Joachim's troops are assembling.

The lowest-ranking soldiers are organizing their ranks under the guidance of their platoon and company commanders.

The remaining battalion commanders, regimental commanders, and even brigade commanders surrounded Joachim, who was currently in a small conference room.

The small room was filled with smoke and the air was so foul that it was almost suffocating.

Joachim's body was not adapted to the environment, so he kept coughing.

The other German officers filled several ashtrays with cigarette butts. Manstein and Heydrich were very considerate of Joachim's health, so they did not smoke near him. The other officers, however, remained in place, puffing away. At this point, the two of them had no intention of maintaining order, because they were well aware that tonight's actions would determine whether they would be remembered for good or for evil.

They inevitably indulged their subordinates to some extent.

"Put out your cigarettes, it's almost time." Joachim coughed as he glanced at his watch. "Smoking is not allowed for the topics we're discussing now. Anyone who smokes again, get the hell out of here."

Spending a lot of time with these rough and uncouth officers, Joachim inevitably picked up some of their foul language habits.

Although he tried to restrain himself, the word "fuck" still slipped out of his head unconsciously.

"Your Highness, please watch your words," Manstein whispered a reminder from the side.

"Okay, I understand."

Taking the folder from Wolf behind him, Joachim distributed the list to all the officers present: "This is a document we produced in Silesia. It clearly indicates who our next mission objective is to capture. The first targets are former Polish party member of the Reichstag, Władysław Kaczymiž Seda, and Josef Dauber-Musiniki, whose whereabouts may be in Posen. Besides these two, we must capture them alive."

"Of the other Poles on the list, I only want their bodies."

"Will the police come with us?"

"What should we do if we encounter our own army?"

Some officers raised their own questions: "Should we open fire?"

"If soldiers resist, subdue them directly. If they dare to fire at you, bring up the cannons."

"The artillery will provide you with firepower."

Joachim's Free Legion was not an ordinary militia, but a fully armed force equipped with cannons, rifles, and even armored vehicles. He had acquired a lot of good stuff from Lower Silesia. Many German soldiers who had been ordered to disband handed over their weapons to them, and some even took off their clothes and put on their uniforms, joining Joachim's camp directly.

So as of today, his troops have expanded to several thousand men, and many of them are German veterans.

Unlike Ludwig, Alfred was truly cooperating fully with Joachim.

"Besides that, you don't need to worry about running into the army or the police."

"We have already spoken to Governor Posen's residence. The police will be stationed at their residence tonight. As for the army, apart from a few officers who will return to their homes, the other soldiers will be in their barracks. So if you see guys with weapons on the street, they are definitely not soldiers."

"So there's no need to hesitate, just open fire. They are the lackeys of the Poles, the so-called militia organized by the Poles in the Posen area."

"Regarding the so-called military discipline, I would like to reiterate that we are soldiers, and we do not fire on women and children."

"This is our bottom line as soldiers."

After saying that, Joachim reached out to Wolf behind him, who smoothly produced a pack of expensive cigarettes.

With the value of the Mark no longer stable, cigarettes have indeed become a form of hard currency in a sense.

Some people even thought that receiving cigarettes was better than receiving marks, but Joachim didn't put that carton of cigarettes in his pocket.

Instead, he tore open the packaging and, under everyone's gaze, tossed one box here and another there, quickly finishing off the entire carton of cigarettes.

Others, however, were clearly unsurprised by Joachim's behavior.

They accepted them readily and decisively, stuffing each one into their own pockets.

If those capitalists in the West saw this, they would definitely exclaim: What kind of left-wing gathering is this?

The concept of private property is so weak!

Joachim kept a box for himself, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Manstein offered him a cigarette, but the latter waved his hand and refused: "And also, the operation must be swift. Don't dawdle when you see the rebels' property. First, block the roads; second, occupy all the streets; third, seize the power plants and cut off the power; fourth, destroy all the Polish newspapers; fifth, notify those German newspapers to come see me..."

"The tasks have been distributed."

"It's 8:30 now. We'll begin the operation in 10 minutes."

......

Amoron Castle

Wilhelm II had been living here for quite some time. Although he had initially told the Count of Aldenburg that he would only stay for three days, he actually had no intention of buying the estate. This was because he had not yet accepted the fact that he had lost the throne, and he still dreamed of a coup in the Sow Republic, where the Germans would welcome him back to be emperor.

(The Sow Republic was Wilhelm II's derogatory term for the Weimar Republic, which is the German word: Saurepublik.)

"Have you made contact with that beast Joachim yet?"

Even standing outside the door, one could hear the emperor's roar from inside the room.

Even now, Wilhelm II remains furious: "Find him for me and get all my property back!"

Inside the room, Crown Prince William muttered to himself, "We still haven't found it. I've used all my connections to search for it."

Some say he went to Romania, others say he's still in Silesia.

"Is there even a question? What could he possibly do in Silesia?"

"Silesia is full of leftists, isn't he afraid of getting his head chopped off?"

"I...how would I know? I'm not a mind reader." Having been scolded for days, Crown Prince William finally couldn't hold back any longer. He muttered under his breath to the Emperor, "Didn't you and Mother always dote on her? You even called him a filial son... Now that he's embezzled all our family's money, you finally realize he's a beast..."

Upon hearing these words, Wilhelm II felt a sense of melancholy and sorrow wash over him.

But then, a feeling of rage surged into his heart.

He felt his dignity as emperor had been challenged by his son: "You scoundrel...you scoundrel!"

"Who gave you permission to speak to me like that?"

"No, it's not that I want to say this, but Father, we're out of money." Crown Prince Wilhelm was also in a fit of anger, spreading his hands: "That brat Joachim has run off with all the money, and Berlin is unwilling to allocate any more funds to us. The Minister of the Royal Household said that unless you issue an official statement formally declaring the permanent relinquishment of the Prussian monarchy and the imperial power of the German Empire... Berlin won't allocate a single penny to us."

"The Prussian finance minister also said that if you want to claim the property and furniture that are left in Prussia, you must issue a return statement, otherwise he will not give us a single penny."

"How could they do this? I am the emperor!"

"This is outrageous!" Wilhelm II roared, raising his teacup and smashing it to the ground.

"You ceased to be the emperor the moment you left the front lines. Accept reality, Father."

The word "accept reality" was a heavy burden for Wilhelm II. If he had actually signed the document, he would have truly lost his chance at the German throne and the Prussian throne.

He had truly become an unfilial descendant of the Hohenzollern family, but the situation was already such.

What good will it do for him to stay in the Netherlands all by himself?

Wilhelm II's left hand was trembling violently. After a long while, he saw his son and said hoarsely, "Go and prepare a statement for me."

"I...I hereby announce my abdication..."

After uttering the word "abdicate," he almost collapsed into his chair, feeling utterly weak, as if he were about to die.

However, at that moment, the emperor's secretary burst in.

He was holding a telegram in his hand, which gave Wilhelm II hope for survival: "Your Majesty, it's found! It's found!"

"What did you find?" Crown Prince William was somewhat displeased with the other party's rash behavior.

"His Highness Joachim is in Silesia, where he is with Governor Ludwig."

"What?"

"It really is in Silesia!"

Wilhelm II and his son spoke in unison, their faces filled with big question marks.

What was Joachim doing in Cilicia?