First Division
"The first team has raised the flag!" shouted an officer from within a trench draped with camouflage netting. "The hunter team has located the target and confirmed that the blue team's offensive officer has been hit!" Nearby, two recorders diligently noted down the events, while General Siket, holding a telescope, observed the battlefield alongside. Akado, his advisor, pointed at the battle map, discussing strategies with Harmon, the commander of the first division, who nodded in agreement.
Setting down his telescope, Siket turned and casually strolled back to the command table. "How's the battle progressing?" he inquired.
"Commander, on the front, our hunter team in coordination with a battalion has eliminated at least 900 enemy troops. Per the rules of this combat exercise, one enemy division on the frontal attack has lost its capability to advance," a staff officer reported.
"The intelligence from our reconnaissance company has identified a large concentration of enemy forces in Meril village, about four kilometers west. Our two tank battalions, supported by infantry, engaged there. The blue umpires have ruled that the entire enemy force was annihilated, and another enemy division has been reduced by one regiment. So far, our forces are victorious."
"The snipers have proven incredibly effective in urban combat. Who would have thought? Akado, you convinced me to form ten sniper teams within the division. I was hesitant at first, but now it seems even twenty wouldn't be too many!" Harmon exclaimed, his excitement palpable. "With just a small number of infantry, they've managed to kill hundreds across the rubble, losing only about forty of our own."
"If it weren't for General Siket, I wouldn't have traded seven hundred of our sniper squads for a mere hundred and ten enemy troops," Akado sighed, somewhat rueful about the exchange. "I've trained the sniper teams to operate strictly within combat regulations, where at most a dozen of ours would fall to take down an enemy regiment!"
"Isn't that the point? Weren't the groups you trained meant to prevent the enemy from entering the city?" Siket asked, looking at Akado with a mixture of surprise and inquiry.
"Prevent them? Hardly," Akado scoffed, a sly smirk crossing his face as he waved off the notion. "Under my command, I'd lure the enemy into the southern part of the city, then crush them with snipers positioned all around, in coordination with armored forces striking the enemy's flanks, encircling and annihilating them."
The staff officers stared at Akado, dumbfounded by his audacious plan, and even General Siket was momentarily at a loss for words. General Harmon, shocked by the boldness of the strategy, dropped his pencil.
Faced with an enemy force twice their size, the first division of the National Defense Force planned not just to defeat, but to decisively crush half of them, then encircle and eliminate the remainder.
"Your soldiers need rest, Akado! If you fight this way, the armored forces encircling the frontal enemy will be exhausted. Eventually, your front line will collapse, and the enemy will obliterate the first division!" Harmon argued, shaking his head in disagreement.
"What if our infantry were transported not by bicycle but by trucks and armored vehicles to the front line? They could rest during the transport, making the day's journey akin to rest," Akado countered, holding firm to his vision.
"But your battle plan failed to protect the city. Although the first division defeated the enemy, our city also suffered greatly," General Siket frowned, reminding everyone of their primary duty. "We are the National Defense Army, and our mission is to protect our people."
"General Siket, one day, our people will rise and wield their swords to fight for their homeland!" Akado declared stubbornly.
"But not today! How many times, Akado! Our forces are not ready for offensive operations; we can barely maintain our defense," Siket retorted, his frustration evident. He recognized the strength of the first division but also saw its limitations: a division prepared for attack when what was needed was a defensive force.
The discussion was becoming too heated, too sensitive. The two division staff in the field fortifications stepped outside, taking a few paces away from the command post to discuss further, forming a small circle some 20 meters apart. They lit cigarettes, the glow briefly illuminating their tense faces.
"Your Excellency! There's a passage in your notebook: 'No peace treaty can strip us of our strong conviction. When destiny calls our people to arms again—the end of days approaching—they will be warriors, not cowards, who clutch their loyal weapons. As long as they possess steel-like hands and will, the type of weapon matters little.' Correct?" Akado asked, fixing his gaze on Siket.
"When did you start rummaging through my personal belongings, Mr. Major?" Siket responded, his displeasure evident, barely containing his irritation.
"Lord General Siket! What we must do is prepare Germany to stand among the world's powers again soon! We can't afford to change slowly; we don't have that luxury of time!" Akado implored, stepping closer to Siket, his voice earnest.
"The army should embrace modernization comprehensively and defeat its foes with a new type of warfare, unseen by our enemies before. This new war will not be about strength, but speed!" he continued passionately.
"Can you make one hundred thousand men defeat a million? Believe me, Akado, there is always a limit that cannot be compensated for. The lack of troops will eventually be the downfall of Germany! We cannot risk initiating another war," Siket countered, unconvinced by Akado's idealistic visions.
"What if we could have more soldiers?" Akado posed, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it, and taking a deep drag.
"The Coalition Commission prohibits Germany from maintaining a reserve force; we can't find loopholes in the Versailles Treaty! Though we've tried to circumvent some provisions, the gains have been minimal," Siket explained, reflecting on their efforts.
"They allow us 100,000 infantry, but we could also use hundreds of thousands of police! Our soldiers could be trained as company commanders, and the police forces as squad leaders. Thus, we would have 100,000 company commanders and 300,000 squad leaders. Once war begins, with short-term training, we could field 10 million combat troops. While these troops may not match front-line combat units in quality, their structure would be complete and elite," Akado outlined his plan.
"Hmm," Siket murmured, covering his mouth in contemplation. Akado's plan was audacious yet compelling. It would allow the German armed forces to retain their most elite core. This force would be too valuable to squander in battle. If used to command, it would be perfect.
"Write this plan up for me, and have it on my desk by tomorrow. And make it top-secret. I don't want a fourth person to know before it's implemented," Siket instructed, looking at his old comrades and now assistants, Harmon and Akado, who immediately stood and saluted: "Yes, Lord General!"
The next afternoon, Akado, having stayed awake all night, yawned as he placed the plan on Siket's desk, accepting the coffee handed to him by Miss Grace. The plan was a thick stack of papers, tens of thousands of words—a veritable devil's book. It covered more than a dozen fields and over thirty sub-plans. If implemented, it would not only establish Germany as a world-class armed force in a short time but could also potentially provoke another world war.
As part of the reorganization of the entire National Defense Force, Akado proposed dividing the new defense force into five mobile strike forces, with three stationed on the western border and two on the eastern border. Each combat cluster would consist of three integrated army divisions, totaling about 150,000 elite troops. These soldiers, carefully selected from the three million veterans of the old German army, would be among the most elite forces available.
These troops would be connected by well-developed railways and highways, allowing for rapid mobilization. With the more than 50,000 border guards visibly stationed along the borders, they would be capable of countering and defeating a frontal attack by over 500,000 enemy troops.
This plan alone exceeded the German Army's troop numbers stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles by more than 100%. It cleverly used a large number of armed forces disguised as civilian personnel to evade coalition inspectors and detailed a plan to use time differences to deceive these inspectors.
Upon reading this report, Siket felt a cold sweat break out. He had always believed himself to be the savior of the German nation, fully hoping that the German people could rise again through his efforts. Yet here was this young man, who, having just faced defeat, was already orchestrating a monumental change in warfare, aiming to alter the very rules of war to return Germany to a leading global position—a plan for revenge against the world.
Was this a danger? Or an opportunity? Siket faced a crucial decision: if he sidelined Akado now, the radical armament expansion plan would stall, and Germany would slowly rise according to his more conservative vision. If he supported Akado's plan, however, Germany's military might would expand exponentially. Perhaps in ten or twenty years, Germany could defeat any adversary and become a world-class military power. The temptation of such power was intoxicating!
Siket's heart raced, his fingers trembling as he held the document. For this dream, the risk seemed worth taking. If the plan spiraled out of control, he could suppress it immediately. That was manageable. Once the army was built up, even the Emperor might return to his throne.
Setting down the file, Siket looked at Akado. After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Mr. Major, tomorrow, I will present your plan to President Ebert and the most significant military leader, Marshal Hindenburg. I hope everything you have planned will become the cornerstone of our nation's resurgence, rather than a poison that seeps throughout Germany."