Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

For a province where Poles are the majority, how can we most directly reflect the Germanization of the area?

The answer is data!

Joachim sat on the second floor of Elizabeth's house, leaning against the window of his desk.

The window had been opened, and the German prince was holding a report, enjoying the cool breeze.

"So this is the most straightforward data, right?"

"Manstein?"

"That's right, Your Highness, this is the most direct manifestation."

Manstein did not stand to report, but instead casually sat on the bed with his legs dangling on the upper bench.

He was really exhausted these past few days, not only having to direct combat operations but also overseeing the restoration work of the entire city of Posen.

So Manstein was really tired.

Joachim nodded silently and then lit a cigarette for himself.

As the smoke rings rise, the effects of nicotine begin to appear.

After mentally preparing himself, he opened the folder and carefully read through the shocking data.

This is a population survey of the Potsdam province, the latest statistics compiled by Manstein and his team.

The refugee crisis deliberately created by the Germans has permanently altered the demographic structure of the Poz department.

The population of the entire Poz Province plummeted to 140 million, the vast majority of whom were displaced were Poles, and about a few dozen Polish villages were wiped off the map by the Germans.

Of course, it wasn't just Polish villages that disappeared from the map; German villages did too.

Manstein also burned down the German villages and left evidence there, treating it as a typical case of Polish revenge killings against Germans.

Manstein was also prepared for the fate of those Germans.

He relocated the Germans to Posen and distributed the property of the Poles to them.

So now Posen has changed its appearance, and the so-called bilingual road signs have been completely abolished.

Polish-style buildings, including churches, residences, and so-called Polish language schools, as well as Polish newspapers, were all confiscated and then remodeled in the Prussian style.

While crushing Polish national separatists, the German army was also driving out the Poles of Posen from house to house.

Therefore, it can be said that, strictly speaking, there are no Poles left in the city of Posen today.

Except for a small number of Poles who collaborated with the Germans, the rest of the Poles were driven out of the city.

Since those Poles loved their homeland so much, the German army was happy to help them and help them go home.

"There are still some villages that are causing trouble. Should we take them out too?"

"There was no need. We've already achieved our goal." Joachim flipped through the report in his hand, gently shaking his head. "Driving all the Poles out wasn't our objective..."

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us, Your Highness!"

"We must permanently remove the Poles from our arsenal!"

Manstein genuinely wanted to resolve the Polish question completely; he simply didn't want to kill anyone on that land anymore.

He has killed more people in the past few days than he has killed in his entire life.

Therefore, he was very afraid that the Polish people who remained would not behave themselves and would try to cause division again.

Then he'll have to do all this lousy stuff again, and he'll be tormented by his conscience.

Moreover, just by looking at his face, you could tell that he hadn't been doing well these past few days; his complexion was unusually pale, and fatigue was practically written all over his face.

He'd had enough of the inner torment; he was nearing his limit!

"There's no need," Joachim said solemnly. "Driving all these Poles out will only make the international community think we're carrying out genocide and a mass cleansing here, and then all the blame will fall on us."

"At that time, the Warsaw government had something to say."

"They can openly pretend to be victims and say that the Poles were harmed by the Germans."

"If the French add fuel to the fire then, we will definitely suffer a great loss."

"So it is necessary for us to leave some Poles behind, especially to instill hatred in them."

"We want to show those Allied journalists the brutal side of the Poles."

"And we must show them with facts that we are not purging Poles, but protecting them."

"We still need to protect these Poles?"

Manstein looked at Joachim in surprise; he truly had no idea what the prince was thinking.

Aren't the Poles a destabilizing factor?

"We not only need to protect these Poles, but we also need to send a telegram to the Berlin government."

The cigarette butt had burned out. The German prince spat it out and made his famous protective gesture: "I demand that Polish reservations be established in the remaining Polish villages to prevent German violent retaliation against the Poles."

"We must present ourselves to the world with the demeanor of a saint."

"It wasn't us who started those conflicts; it was the terrorists among the Poles who started them."

Joachim paused for a moment, feeling that what he had said was inappropriate, but then he remembered what was written in the book on social Darwinism.

Yes, survival of the fittest. Since the Poles want to get Poz out of Germany, then whatever means we use are appropriate. Since we have chosen to split, then we should pay the price.

We should not have any pity for them.

We must remain true to our times...

But is this... really right?

He can't control it anymore; this is the only thing he can do given the current situation.

He only wants to win on this land; he doesn't want to lose!

He, Joachim, can only win!

All these costs are worthwhile for the ultimate victory!

One general's success is built upon the bones of countless others!

"We Germans are the victims."

"But despite all that, we are still kind-hearted."

"Unwilling to exterminate the Poles in Poz, we even set aside our hatred and generously provided them with protection..."

"......."

"Look, it was those Poles who started the ethnic massacre."

"He killed so many Germans, and we didn't do anything about it; we even issued a pardon."

"And what happened? They took advantage of our kindness and even tried to overthrow the existing government."

"So we were forced to launch a counterattack, and those Polish terrorists lost their minds."

"A cornered dog will jump over the wall!"

"Under the overwhelming pressure of the enemy, he suffered a mental breakdown."

"They treated those Polish villages as German villages, taking revenge on them one by one and driving them out."

"So these refugee waves were not created by us, but by terrorists among the Poles. We Germans did this only in self-defense."

Joachim became more and more energetic as he spoke, even shifting his position in his work chair: "So the official line was that the Poles started a national war, and we Germans had to defend ourselves."

"Moreover, we only eliminated the Polish rioters, and we forgave those Poles who incited ethnic hatred!"

"They even established a special protected area."

"Think about it, would other nations do the same?"

"Won't!"

"Only we Germans would be that stupid."

"Therefore, the Warsaw government should not only thank us for our kindness, but also provide us with some financial support for the reconstruction of these villages."

"what?"

Manstein was already dumbfounded when he heard these words.

We Germans are pretty nice, aren't we?

If this statement were to be uttered, it would be truly shameless.

"Do you have any further questions, Erich?"

"What if they request an investigation?"

"That's the purpose of preserving those villages." Joachim had already devised a plan: "Only by turning the Poz affair into a mess can we trap the Poles in a self-justification trap. If they want to find fault with us, then let them produce the evidence."

"What if they can produce evidence?"

"If they can produce evidence, then we'll stir things up with something else."

"And we must also loudly condemn them, for the Poles struck first."

Joachim snorted and told Manstein bluntly, "I will never fall into the trap of self-justification. If the enemy accuses us of committing massacres, I will loudly condemn them. They are not innocent either; they started it."

"So, Erich, you should know where your main task lies next, right?"

"I understand now, Your Highness."

"Make sure you remember this clearly, everything must be foolproof!" Joachim told him firmly.