"Baron! What on earth have you been doing behind my back?!"
"Chief of the General Staff, Your Excellency?"
Chief of the General Staff Schlieffen asked this way as soon as he arrived.
This old gentleman suddenly paid a visit and said such baffling words. What on earth was going on?
"I haven't done anything at all?"
"Don't try to hide it, Baron. I came here only after I had investigated and made it clear."
Hide what? I'm really at a loss.
Recently, Hans has been behaving himself, and nothing special has happened.
"Judging by your expression, it seems you really don't know what's going on."
"Uh?"
"It's about the new weapon. The new weapon! That thing you manufactured at Bergmann Arsenal."
"Ah, you mean that thing?"
It seems Chief of the General Staff Schlieffen already knows about it.
I originally wanted to give him a surprise, but now the whole atmosphere has been ruined.
"However, how did you find out?"
"That's not the point. The point is that because of this, Baron, you might get into big trouble now!"
"?"
Trouble?
Is it because of the submachine gun?
'What nonsense is this?'
"There's nothing illegal about this thing, and I spent my own money to manufacture it. What could be the problem?"
"Under normal circumstances, of course there is no problem. But Field Marshal Waldersee intends to use this matter against you."
"Against me?"
Chief of the General Staff Schlieffen added with a serious expression.
What on earth does it mean that Waldersee wants to use the submachine gun against him?
It seems I have to listen to the detailed situation.
"The marshal intends to hold a demonstration."
"A demonstration? You mean the military is going to test the weapon that I cooperated with Bergmann Arsenal to develop?"
"Yes, and it will be carried out in front of everyone, including His Majesty the Emperor."
"A public demonstration. It seems he intends to make me look foolish in public."
"To be precise, he wants to prove your incompetence through this and thus alienate the relationship between you and His Majesty."
It seems that Waldersee regards Hans' development of the submachine gun as child's play.
But he doesn't understand Hans at all.
Not just him, other generals except Schlieffen are the same.
'There should be a limit to underestimating people.'
"Let him do as he pleases. I have full confidence in my'submachine gun'."
"Submachine gun? Is that the weapon you're manufacturing?"
"That's right. This is an unprecedented revolutionary individual weapon."
"Hearing you say that, it seems you really have great confidence. Tell me about it."
Hans briefly explained to Schlieffen the reasons for developing the submachine gun and its characteristics.
As Hans was talking, Schlieffen's expression changed from curiosity to interest, and finally became extremely serious.
"A fully automatic weapon using pistol cartridges is indeed an innovative idea. You said the prototype has been completed?"
"Of course. Although the appearance is not so good yet, the performance is excellent. Currently, Mr. Schmeisser, the gunsmith at Bergmann Arsenal, is working hard to improve it together with his sons."
"Has it been test-fired?"
"Can you believe it? The target 100 meters away was turned into a sieve in just over ten seconds."
"Oh, this is really..."
It's really a weapon to covet.
There was a greedy glint in Schlieffen's eyes.
"I'm really disappointed, Baron. You actually hid such a good thing from me."
"Hehe, it's not interesting if you open a Christmas present in advance, isn't it?"
Of course, there are still 20 days until Christmas.
"When Field Marshal Waldersee sees the submachine gun, he will surely realize that he has made a big mistake."
"This is really something to look forward to."
"Ah, by the way, has the date of the demonstration been set?"
"In a week. Will you be ready by then?"
"Of course. But during this period, we must strengthen the security of the arsenal, just in case."
Although it's unlikely that Waldersee will do such a despicable thing, we can't rule out the possibility that he will send someone to sabotage the prototype.
Just in case, we still have to take the minimum precautions.
I will contact the Reichsamt des Inneren and request to dispatch secret police to Bergmann Arsenal.
"Field Marshal Waldersee should also have influence in the Ministry of the Interior, right?"
"Don't worry about that at all. Vice Chancellor Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner, who also serves as Minister of the Interior, has a very bad relationship with Field Marshal Waldersee."
The Vice Chancellor is quite lenient towards the workers.
Chief of the General Staff Schlieffen added in a low voice.
"Then we don't have to worry about this matter, right?"
"Of course not."
Hans replied confidently.
...
Time passed, and a week later.
The long-awaited demonstration finally arrived.
Together with the Schmeisser father and son, Hans was nervously making the final preparations on the demonstration ground in the barracks.
"Whew... I didn't expect that even the military high command didn't know, and my gun would actually be displayed in front of His Majesty and the royal family."
"I'm really sorry to have involved Mr. Schmeisser in this difficult situation because of me."
"No, Your Excellency, Baron. Although the gun hasn't been fully refined yet, in terms of performance, I can guarantee its excellence with the honor of a craftsman."
"However..."
Hugo Schmeisser, Mr. Schmeisser's son, let out a sigh and looked at the submachine gun brought from the arsenal.
The appearance of the submachine gun was still similar to that of the Sten.
After all, a month's time was really too short to make significant improvements to the submachine gun.
"If only I had enough time and budget."
"We've already provided a sufficient budget, haven't we?"
"That's true, but Your Excellency, Baron."
"Anyway, the appearance of the gun is not important. What matters is its performance."
Although before the demonstration, Chief of the General Staff Schürping had looked at the submachine gun brought by them with a skeptical look and rubbed his eyes, in any case, it didn't matter.
Hans was absolutely confident in its performance.
"Mr. Hans, there's no problem for you either, right?"
"Don't worry, Your Excellency, Baron. We've been doing shooting training for a whole week in preparation for today!"
Hans Schmeisser, who was in charge of the submachine gun demonstration, and the staff from Bergmann Arsenal who had a military background, raised their thumbs to show their trust to the group.
They looked very reliable.
'It seems that everyone is here.'
Hans looked towards the seats installed for the audience in the demonstration.
Kaiser Wilhelm II, Empress Auguste, and members of the royal family such as the Crown Prince.
Military high-ranking officials such as Chief of the General Staff Schürping and Field Marshal Baldersee.
There were also some officials in suits and people related to the military industrial enterprises.
'President Bergmann is also among them.'
He was obviously sweating profusely due to the continuous days of nervousness.
If something went wrong, the reputation of Bergmann Arsenal might hit rock bottom.
'However, there's nothing to worry about.'
Everything was ready.
...
"Why on earth do I have to come to such a place in such cold weather?"
The Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was immersed in his university life, glared at Field Marshal Waldersee in front of him with dissatisfaction, his face showing an annoyed expression.
To Crown Prince Wilhelm, Field Marshal Waldersee was nothing more than an annoying old man, no more and no less.
To be honest, if his father hadn't asked him to come, he would definitely have found an excuse to ignore this matter.
'And it's actually a weapon demonstration for that guy Hans. What bad luck.'
Field Marshal Waldersee's making such a big fuss about a public demonstration for Hans definitely couldn't be out of good intentions, and there must be some hidden motive.