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墨書 Inktalez
In early 1927, the National Defense Forces were worried about military expenses, as they had too much equipment that needed to be replaced. The orders given to Mercedes-Benz and BMW seemed substantial, but for Germany's military modernization, it was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of burning money. However, the cost of this tip of the iceberg had almost spent the entire surplus budget of the National Defense Forces for this year.
In 1927, the German government approved a budget of only five hundred million Marks for the National Defense Forces. After updating the light weapons for the entire army, there was basically nothing left, and there was no money to replace artillery and heavy machine guns. This was driving the generals of the General Staff of the Army crazy; every day they had to see thousands of telegrams from various Divisions on their desks, with wording that varied but conveyed a remarkably consistent message: hurry up and send money, or else the Divisions would not have funds to continue their rearmament.
Fortunately, most of the military expenses spent have flowed into the pockets of the Krupp Company. The Krupp Company secured a majority of the orders thanks to advanced new weapons and its special relationship with the General Staff of the Army and the Commander-in-Chief.
Strasser happened to hold a forty percent stake in the Krupp Company, and after he took office as the Commander-in-Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Krupp wisely gifted him ten percent of the shares, allowing Strasser to receive about half of the profits.
As a result, Strasser donated this money in his private capacity to the National Defense Forces, stipulating that it must be used for the replacement of new weapons.
Then, fifty percent of the profit went into the pockets of Krupp Company. After that, fifty percent of that fifty percent went into Strasser's private account. Subsequently, Strasser donated this money to the National Defense Forces to request the purchase of weapons.
Doesn't it sound convoluted? To put it simply, this nested approach is similar to the multiplier effect in macroeconomics.
K = 1 / (1 - MPC) = 1 / MPS, where K represents the multiplier, MPC stands for marginal propensity to consume, and MPS denotes marginal propensity to save. Ultimately, K equals 2.
In simpler terms, this means that Strasser used one hundred dollars in military spending to acquire two hundred dollars worth of equipment.
Everyone was pleased with the outcome. The National Defense Forces successfully completed their upgrades, Krupp doubled its profits, and Strasser achieved its expansion plans. Everyone had a bright future.
Of course, such a large-scale equipment replacement plan was hard to go unnoticed. Despite the Krupp Company cooperating with the National Defense Forces to carry out secret camouflage efforts to conceal these offensive weapons, it was still difficult to keep everything under wraps.
However, France has managed to find traces of Germany's violation of the Treaty of Versailles by placing a monitoring team within Germany to oversee the restriction of Germany's military capabilities on behalf of the United Nations Arms Control Committee. Through various means, they obtained a partial list of the National Defense Forces' equipment replacement, and many of the prohibited weapons and equipment under the Treaty of Versailles appeared on the replacement list. French people took this opportunity to accuse the German people of violating the Treaty of Versailles and redeployed four divisions to the Franco-German border, threatening to march into Berlin.
The shadow of war seems to loom over Europe once again, and the humiliation of the Ruhr appears to be replaying itself. Fortunately, the French people did not obtain the list of Panther tanks; the intelligence they possess indicates that Germany has equipped itself with some new lightweight weapons. Strasser, while listing the items, cunningly inserted a decimal point between the numbers for the eighty-eight millimeter anti-aircraft guns and the caliber of the Wild Bees Locomotion Artillery.
So when the judge from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Germany of equipping itself with offensive weapons, Strasser argued vehemently. He claimed that these weapons were all defensive in nature; after all, who would consider a cannon with a barrel less than ten millimeters to be an offensive artillery piece? Although the French people suspected that Strasser was playing word games, he was well-prepared. He had indeed arranged for the Krupp Company to produce several hundred eight-point-eight millimeter cannons in advance, or rather, what could be described as miniature mortars.
When the United Nations arms control committee was taken to the Krupp Company factory, they saw hundreds of mortar shells that were not yet as thick as an arm, and everyone was very skeptical of the combat value of these weapons. However, the French people still believe that these weapons are new, including the possibility that Krupp Company produces the smallest caliber mortar in the world. They feel that Germany has still violated the "Treaty of Versailles" and are demanding sanctions against Germany.
There is always a way out. Strasser stayed up late with his team to review the various clauses of the Treaty of Versailles and finally found a loophole in it. He confidently assured that Germany's purchase of these new weapons was not intended for equipping the military, but rather for sale, as the Treaty of Versailles did not prohibit Germany from producing arms for sale, so this did not constitute a breach of contract. At this point, the French people had nothing to say.
In addition, due to the Ruhr Area Incident in 1923, Britain did not want to see France dominate Europe alone, so they intervened. In the end, France decided to withdraw troops from the Franco-German border. However, the French people, not wanting to lose face, forced Germany to hand over all new weapons to the United Nations arms control committee until these weapons were sold.
It seems that Germany is about to suffer a silent loss, especially since France currently holds significant power in Europe. However, the clever Strasser had a sudden inspiration. He personally brought the "Sleeping Red Tea" he purchased from Japan to visit the British Ambassador to Germany, Ostert Chamberlain, who had previously represented Britain in signing the Anglo-German Naval Agreement with Strasser in private.
At the British Embassy, Strasser tearfully accused the French people of their tyranny, lamenting that the German Army could not even protect the most basic security of the country. To the east, there were hundreds of thousands of Polish troops, and to the west was Europe's strongest army. Germany's mere two hundred thousand soldiers were utterly powerless to resist.
He then brought up the previous Ruhr Area Incident, which was so disastrous that even Chamberlain felt a pang of sympathy.
Looking at Strasser, who was crying and sniffling, it was hard to believe he was the Commander-in-Chief of the National Defense Force. Chamberlain kept wiping his cold sweat with a handkerchief.
"Please, Mr. Strasser, feel free to express your demands. We are all respectable individuals, and I understand Germany's difficulties. I will do my best to assist you within my capabilities."
"I have only one request, Mr. Chamberlain. Can you keep this batch of new weapons with you British people? I promise to sell all of them by the end of the year."
Strasser's face immediately lit up with joy, the stark contrast making even the comedic genius of Chaplin feel embarrassed.
"Oh, is that all?"
Chamberlain let out a sigh, thinking that Strasser was going to make some unreasonable demand of him. "No problem, I assure you that these weapons will be properly safeguarded by the British people. By the end of the year, there won't be a single rifle or bullet missing."
Finally, Strasser thanked the kind British ambassador profusely and walked out of the British Embassy with great satisfaction. He had now completed the most challenging part of his plan, which was to exclude the French people, who were adept at causing trouble for Germany. For an ordinary person, selling these weapons before the end of 1927 could be extremely difficult.
However, Strasser had already found a new opportunity for himself, not in Europe, but in the distant Asia. This was a plan that Strasser had long conceived in his mind, but for various reasons, he had not put it into practice until now. The pressure from the French people prompted Strasser to implement this plan sooner than expected.
"Hehehe! This time, I will find better allies for Germany."
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