Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

"Waaaaah..."

The shrill and piercing siren echoed throughout the city of Posen, prompting the already drunken Poles to look up in disbelief.

But he only glanced at it before instantly looking away.

He continued drinking his beer; after all, this wasn't the first time he'd heard such an alarm—it was simply a sign of martial law being declared by the Germans...

Wait a minute, something feels off!

A sign of martial law?

Yes, why would there be signs of martial law at this time?

The Germans have already come to terms with reality and are preparing to evacuate the city completely, so why are they still imposing martial law?

As I was thinking, I heard a cacophony of footsteps ahead.

The drunkard raised his head slightly, and the iron rod slammed down on his cheek!

With just one blow, he fled in terror, covering his head...

The man didn't let him go, hitting him with one, two, four, five blows.

He only stopped when he was beaten to the point of near death.

As he drifted off to consciousness, he heard those familiar German words: "Catching these small fry is pointless. Go to the homes of those officials; they're rich. These people are all poor bastards..."

"Cheap, these Polish devils." The man sneered, picked up the iron bar, and walked away with his companion.

The residence of Governor-General Posen.

A Mercedes-Benz slowly drove in. Unlike the previous guest, Joachim received extremely high honors here.

Tepkamer's secretary had received the news long ago and was waiting here early in the morning.

Seeing the Mercedes-Benz slowly come to a stop, he quickly walked over and opened the back door of the car.

Joachim, dressed in military uniform, stepped out from the back of the car, with his bodyguard Heinrich and a newly arrived recruit, Erwin Rommel, sitting beside him.

At this point, it would be inappropriate to call him a recruit based on his rank.

However, in terms of seniority, he was indeed a new recruit in Joachim's camp.

As for Manstein, he stopped not far away with three truckloads of soldiers. Once Joachim and his men went inside, they began to take over the defense of the governor's mansion.

And he began to reorganize the soldiers here, so in a sense, Joachim came here not necessarily to save Posen, but also to seize power.

"Welcome back to Governor Posen's Residence, Your Highness."

Tepkamer's secretary greeted him and respectfully presented his gift.

Joachim didn't even glance at him, but instead let Heinrich casually accept the gift before asking, "How's the atmosphere now?"

"Your Highness, everything is proceeding according to plan."

"The Governor has been talking for over four hours. That fellow, Władysław, is getting a little impatient with him, but considering the bigger picture, he's patiently continuing the conversation with the Governor." The secretary showed no anger at Joachim's attitude.

On the contrary, he became increasingly respectful, clearly indicating that the person behind him was trying to win him over: "The Governor has already given instructions that if you feel tired from the journey, you can rest in the reception room for a while. He will make time to come see you later and discuss the plans with you in person."

"Does a prince like me need him to make time for a meeting?"

Joachim finally turned his gaze to his secretary, his tone and questioning clearly conveying his dissatisfaction.

"Of course not, it is our honor that you have come to the Governor's Palace in Posen." The secretary was extremely apprehensive, afraid of offending the German prince in front of him.

"No need to be polite, you just need to lead the way."

"I have never had the habit of delegating my affairs to others," Joachim coldly refused. "Lead the way!"

After saying that, he took the lead and walked ahead.

Rommel and Heinrich followed behind him.

"It's just ahead, Your Highness."

"Thank you."

"It's what I should do. If there's nothing else, I'll go down."

Just as the secretary was about to leave, Joachim called out to him, "Wait..."

"What's wrong, Your Highness?"

"You met once, and didn't even shake hands?"

"Your Highness...Your Highness?"

The secretary clearly hadn't expected Joachim to shake his hand; obviously, none of the important figures he had received before had done so.

Your Highness Joachim, he is a prince.

In his moment of surprise, a hint of undisguised emotion appeared in his eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Joachim."

"My name is Hans Last..."

"I'll remember you."

Joachim shook hands with him and pinched his wrist with his palm.

Finding nothing amiss, he ignored him and pushed open the door, going inside.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into the Governor's Mansion!"

In fact, Wadsław had already guessed the other party's identity when he saw Joachim's face, which bore a striking resemblance to the emperor.

I'd heard that Prince Joachim of Germany had absconded with his father's fortune to Romania, but I never expected to run into him here.

"You are the Speaker of Parliament from Władysław?" Joachim stared at him as if he were staring at prey.

Władysław did not rush to answer. He watched as Joachim sat down on a single sofa as if he were the host, with two German officers standing beside him.

He sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat unsettling, even a little tense.

"I'm asking you a question, why aren't you answering?"

With his legs crossed, Joachim was arrogant and his tone was increasingly aggressive.

"I'm not..." Seeing this situation, Władysław dared not answer that he was the parliamentarian the man was talking about. He simply pretended to be crazy and pointed to Tepkamer next to him in fluent German: "He is Władysław. I am just an ordinary German businessman."

After saying that, he hurried toward the window.

"Oh......"

Upon seeing this, Joachim was so angry at the cunning old man that he laughed. Did he really think he was a German devil?

With a wave of his hand, the two German officers behind him moved in response and stepped forward to restrain Władysław.

Władysław was terrified when he saw this; he opened the window and was about to jump out.

This guy is truly old in years but young in body; in just a short while, he had already put one leg out of the window.

He only needed to make a slight movement to escape. This was the second floor; even if he jumped, it wouldn't kill him, at most he'd just sprain his ankle.

If he jumps, there's still a glimmer of hope; if he doesn't, his career is truly over.

At that very moment, Heinrich stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back.

Then two large German men pushed him down onto the sofa.

"What exactly do you want? I'm a member of parliament for the Republic!"

"You can't treat me like this!"

"Why can't I treat you like this?"

"We're rebelling! Do you think we're just here drinking tea?"

As Joachim was speaking, a gust of cold wind blew in, scattering autumn leaves onto the dejected Vadizław.

That's truly capturing the king to catch the thief!