Even though he knew it was probably Hindenburg testing him, Crown Prince Wilhelm didn’t turn down the request to send the Stormtroopers.
For one, the rebellion back home needed to be put down ASAP — the longer it dragged on, the worse it got for everyone.
For another, this wasn’t the time to fall out with Hindenburg. He needed to keep the old man steady and make sure he didn’t start cozying up to the Berlin government.
While Hindenburg was off crushing the rebellion, Wilhelm got to work winning over the rest of the German troops on the Western Front.
With the moral high ground on his side, plus the supplies those men desperately needed sitting in his hands, winning them over wasn’t hard at all.
While he was pulling in those units, Wilhelm didn’t forget about his business partners in the Far East.
After the war, the German military had a mountain of weapons just sitting around waiting to be dealt with. If they didn’t move them, they’d end up as war trophies for the Entente.
Better to sell them off and get some resources in return than hand them over to the enemy for free.
As for how to sell all that stuff?
No worries there — just go through the Swiss.
As a neutral country, the Swiss played the role of Germany’s white glove in both world wars.
Anything Germany couldn’t sell openly, they’d secretly ship to Switzerland, run it through a quick "laundering" process, and then sell it out in the open, perfectly legal.
Same went for buying. Anything Germany couldn’t buy directly, they’d buy under Swiss names.
Through the Swiss, the German military moved tons of weapons they didn’t need or couldn’t use right now overseas.
China was facing a serious external threat at the time — Japan was eyeing them like a hawk, looking like a second Sino-Japanese War was about to kick off.
So whether it was the Beiyang government, the southern military government, or the various warlords, everyone was scrambling to buy weapons and arm themselves.
German weapons were advanced in design, performed great, and came at a fair price — they were the darlings of buyers in the Far East. Once those arms shipments arrived, they sold like hotcakes.
And the most popular item among buyers? Besides the classic Mauser rifle, it was the MP18 submachine gun the German military used.
Back then, automatic weapons were pretty rare.
A submachine gun with that kind of firepower at that price? For armies in underdeveloped regions, it was the weapon of their dreams.
Some armies even bought them to use as machine guns.
Once the Germans caught wind of how customers were using them, they rolled with it and quickly offered some add-on services.
Like selling detachable temporary barrels — you could extend the MP18’s barrel to increase its range.
Or selling bigger magazines and bipods so it could be used like a machine gun.
And if you needed it for assault missions, just strip those parts off and it’d drop back down to around five kilograms — light and nimble again.
Maybe because the Stormtroopers had such a standout performance using this weapon to beat the Americans, or maybe because buyers in East Asia gave it five-star reviews — either way, some buyers who weren’t originally on the sales list came knocking, wanting to buy this weapon too.
"That’s good news — sell to them!"
Crown Prince Wilhelm didn’t hesitate for a second and gave the green light.
According to the Treaty of Versailles, post-war Germany wasn’t allowed to have submachine guns anyway. If they kept them, the Entente would just confiscate them sooner or later. Why not sell them now?
"Uh, well, Your Highness... the people coming to buy weapons from us are a pretty mixed bag!"
"How mixed?"
Wilhelm was busy calculating how much money he’d made from selling equipment lately, so he asked offhandedly.
"They’re Russians. First they came as representatives of the White Army. Then the second time, the guy showed up as a Red Army rep. And the third time, he came back as a monarchist, representing the Tsarist restoration faction."
Wilhelm froze. Okay, yeah — that was definitely a mixed bag.
"So... do we still sell to them or not?"
His subordinate asked carefully.
Wilhelm gritted his teeth and nodded firmly:
"Sell. Money’s money — I don’t care what the Russians are up to. It’s not our people dying anyway."
Honestly, he kind of hoped the Russian Civil War would drag on for another ten or twenty years. That way, Germany could keep selling weapons and rake in tons of cheap resources from Russia in exchange.
Since the arms trade was booming, Wilhelm sent someone to Switzerland to set up a trading company just for this kind of business.
And so, in some year’s military trade statistics, Switzerland suddenly transformed out of nowhere — replacing some Western power — and became a major arms-exporting country.
Back at Kiel Harbor, once the Stormtroopers arrived, they lived up to expectations.
In just one night, they infiltrated the port, captured the rebel leaders in one sweep, seized key positions in the city, and coordinated with the German troops outside — taking down the Kiel mutineers in one fell swoop.
After putting down the rebellions in the Ruhr and Kiel one after another, nearby cities like Hamburg and Bremen surrendered without a fight. The situation inside Germany started getting under control.
Right around the time Hindenburg was settling Kiel, Wilhelm called in the operations chief of his Crown Prince Army Group — Major Fedor von Bock — to handle something critical.
Knock knock knock.
A knock came from outside the office.
"Come in!"
The door opened, and in walked a thin, wiry middle-aged officer with sharp, focused eyes.
That man was the future Field Marshal of the Empire — Fedor von Bock!
"Your Highness, what do you need?"
This man — who would one day command the Empire’s most elite Army Group Center and rack up brilliant victories on the Eastern Front — was still just a lowly major in the army right now.
But Wilhelm knew his future was limitless.
As one of the Third Reich’s original three military gods, Wilhelm believed Bock was the strongest of the three.
Luckily, the original owner of this body really admired Bock and had built a deep friendship with him over time — which saved Wilhelm the trouble of having to win him over and test his loyalty.
Besides being talented, Bock was fiercely loyal to the royal family.
Before Wilhelm II decided to abdicate, Bock had personally gone to Belgium to beg the Emperor to change his mind — asking him to return to Berlin, take charge, and rally the army to crush the rebels. But Wilhelm II turned him down.
When the Emperor insisted on running, the Second Reich was about to collapse, and following the Crown Prince seemed like a dead end — Bock didn’t run. Instead, he came back to Wilhelm’s side and did everything he could to support the former heir.
That alone showed his loyalty.
For a man with that kind of ability and that kind of devotion, Wilhelm already considered him one of his most trusted men.
That’s why he’d called him in specifically to handle some sensitive, important tasks.
"Major, I have an important list here — names, hometowns, and other details. I need you to find these men in the army and bring them back."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Bock didn’t ask why the Crown Prince was going through all this trouble to find these people. He just knew it was his mission, and he’d carry it out to the letter.
After Bock left, Wilhelm called in another trusted man — Hans Luther — handed him a list too, gave him a different task, and sent him on his way.