Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

Joachim was a man of his word, so once he made up his mind,

He immediately ordered Manstein to carry out his orders.

So now, Joachim and Tepkamer, sitting in their Mercedes, kept remarking as they looked at the crowd beside them: "Looks like there are quite a few people, probably around 700."

"Even if it's 1000 people, we must kill them." Joachim flipped through the book, his eyes fixed on the words in his hands. "These are the backbone of the Polish nation. If we spare them today, they will come back again, and everything we have done will have been in vain."

"Then what we're doing is really cruel."

Even the most ruthless bureaucrat would feel a chill run down his spine just thinking about what he was about to do.

"cruel?"

"When they hold a knife to our throats, you won't think our actions today are cruel." Joachim kept his head down, but his tone was quite cold: "Kindness is indeed a beautiful quality of humankind, but Your Excellency, I must warn you, compassion for the enemy is cruelty to oneself."

"We must recognize our place at this time. We are first and foremost Germans, and only secondly human beings."

"Therefore, in my view, we should first consider the interests of Germany, not the interests of the Poles."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will do my best to adjust." Tepukamer felt his scalp tingling and didn't know how to answer the other party's question, so he could only nod repeatedly.

"It's not about adjusting, it's about understanding." Joachim turned to look at the other man, who was also looking at him. "Since you took office as governor of Posen, you have been committed to Germanizing this place. I must say that this policy has been crucial and correct for us, but the ethnic composition here is complex. This is true for both the difficulty of governance and the strength of control."

"Therefore, I fully approve of your iron-fisted rule over the Poles here. That is why I did not turn you into a puppet when I took over the rule here. You are not Ludwig of Silesia. After we leave, we will still need you to help us guard the eastern part of the empire. Therefore, your rule must be very cold and resolute. Otherwise, the Poles will seize your weakness and split this place from our empire."

"So now you understand, right?"

"Understood, Your Highness."

"Alright, now go and do your job."

Joachim had been waiting for these words. He casually picked up the execution document, signed his name on it, and then handed it to the other man: "Stop the car, Wolf."

"They already had those guys dig the pit there, so you don't have to worry about having nightmares at night. We've already blindfolded them."

"As for whether the Allied Congress will investigate this matter in the future, rest assured, I will take full responsibility. My name is on the document."

"What does this mean?"

His voice trembled slightly.

Joachim shrugged: "Of course I don't mean anything else, all I want is your attitude."

"If you carry out this order, we will stand together through thick and thin from now on," Joachim stated his price: "You will be my hero, Your Excellency the Governor."

Even the most cold-blooded person would fall silent in the face of this scene.

It's important to understand that the list doesn't just include hundreds of animals, but hundreds of living, breathing people.

Tepkamer remained silent for a moment, struggling internally, and could not make a decision for a long time.

Joachim closed the book in his hands, and in the sunlight, the title "Social Darwinism" was reflected on the cover.

Seeing that he was still hesitant, Joachim, drawing on his own insights from reading, advised, "What's wrong? You still can't make up your mind?"

"Human rights are inherent, Your Highness. This is not an easy thing to do."

"Natural human rights, that's a good saying." Joachim rubbed his temples and placed the book on Tepkamer's lap. "Do you know what the first thing the Spanish did when they occupied the colonies was?"

"I don't know, Your Highness." Although he had a vague idea of ​​the answer, Tepkamer still did not answer the question.

"That is to eliminate the beasts of this colony, and the greatest threat of these so-called beasts is the indigenous people of the colony."

"And what we are doing now is just like what the Spanish did back then."

"Don't feel guilty about what we're doing now. In fact, we're just clearing out the native inhabitants of this land, just like the Spanish did back then."

"However, the methods we used next were more civilized, unlike their bloody methods. We only slaughtered a few hundred people."

"And the number of Indigenous people killed by Spain in Mexico and North America is far more than that."

"They talk a lot about benevolence and morality, but in reality they show no mercy when it comes to slaughtering women and children."

"At least we still have principles; we only shoot men."

"So don't think we're committing a massacre. In fact, we're saving these Poles. We're using this method to completely integrate them into our society."

Joachim almost vomited as he said this; the words were so disgusting to him.

If it weren't for protecting Bosen and making him follow me wholeheartedly...

He would never say something that goes against his values.

"Therefore, what we do is sacred."

"Just like how the Spanish transformed and evolved the indigenous people back then."

Tepkamer looked at the book in his hand, then at the signature on the order, and couldn't help but make the sign of the cross on his chest, answering his own question.

He remained silent in the car for a few more seconds before finally convincing himself.

He put the book and the order in the car and got out.

He waded through the weeds and walked on. It was far from Posen city and far from the Polish villages.

Therefore, digging a pit here would be very suitable for burying people.

"Your Excellency, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to oversee the execution of your orders," Tepkamer said sternly.

"What about His Highness the Prince? Aren't you going to stay with him?"

"He's right behind us. So don't worry, we're not the only ones responsible for this today." Tepkamer then pointed to the Mercedes behind him: "We'll all share the responsibility."

Since things had already been said to this extent, the soldier naturally wouldn't say anything more.

Actually, they weren't too bothered by eliminating these Polish adversaries; their only concern was that Joachim would eventually discard them after using them.

Just abandon them...

"How's the preparation going?"

"Everything is ready."

"Blindfold these people and drive them away."

After he finished speaking, two well-disguised trucks drove up here, wobbling and swaying.

When the truck stopped, dozens of soldiers with the "Barbarossa" logo printed on their shoulders jumped off.

Heavy machine guns were set up at the edge of the pit.

Before long, a dozen soldiers carrying rifles awkwardly pushed and shoved the ragged and blindfolded prisoners forward.

Looking at the prisoners, Tepkamer felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but glance back at Joachim in the car.

He was looking down at the book, which was still "Social Darwinism" in his hands.

"Everything is ready, Governor," the soldier who had spoken to him earlier reported.

"Then let's begin." But Tepkamer held his breath at that moment.

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldier made a downward chopping motion.

Almost instantly, the muffled firing of heavy machine guns echoed throughout the area.

"Da da da da da........"

Blood mist instantly rose from the crowd swept by the machine gun.

Limbs and severed bodies flew everywhere; the gruesome scene was more like hell than hell itself...

In just a few breaths, almost all the Poles fell to the ground, becoming either whole or mutilated corpses under the hail of bullets.

Of course, a few people didn't die on the spot; they struggled and howled in the sea of ​​corpses, trying to escape.

But instead of salvation, they were met with bullets from German soldiers; no one could escape the German retaliation.