Chapter 26

"Who are you! This is German territory! You are not allowed to enter at will! " A national defense force, armed with a rifle, stares at the judge standing in front of him. Behind him was the German territory, and the French army in front of him did not seem to stop.

The magistrate pressed the pistol around his waist and was elated: "get out of the way! We have been ordered to collect the war compensation owed by Germany to France. If you dare to block it, we will open fire! "

As the officer blurted out this sentence, a dozen French soldiers behind him took off their rifles and stared at the only three German national defense forces on the road card in front of him.

The German defense force, which had only three men, was also unambiguous. It also picked up its rifle and pointed to the magistrate, who did not move: "I'm sorry! No orders! No army is allowed to enter German territory! "

"Don't treat me like death! I don't believe in people who are not afraid of death! If we don't get out of the way, we'll fire! " The head of the magistrate yelled, but anyone could hear a shiver in his voice.

"Wow!" Without saying a word, the three German soldiers answered the French officer's clear voice of pulling the bolt. The bullets were already on the court. They wanted to defend their country with their lives.

"Bell, bell, bell." In the post next to the checkpoint, the phone rang. A German soldier with a gun ran over and picked up the phone: "this is the frontier line No.76! We set the alarm! We are holding our ground! Yes! Sir! The enemy did not step into the territory! Yes! Sir! Do it now! Repeat! Drop your weapons and let go! I will do it immediately! Long live the great Germany

Some helplessly put down the phone, with tears back to the road card, the soldier loudly issued the humiliating order: "let go!"

The French were obviously relieved. When they passed by the three German border guards who were still standing upright, their steps were even lighter. The three soldiers had tears on their faces and hatred in their eyes. They stood there like three poplars. They were as tall as a fan.

This happened on several border roadblocks. Because of its weakness, the German defense forces did not make any resistance to the invading French army. France was in shock, and the trial seemed to have gone badly from the beginning.

"Pa!" A beautiful glass was smashed to pieces. In the beautiful fireplace, the flame is beating, reflecting a twisted face. A middle-aged man, who is not tall, stands in front of the flame and gasps angrily: "it's too deceiving! They think they won? If it wasn't for the officers and the politicians, they would be afraid of death! How could we be so humiliated? "

"Calm down, father." A young man was sitting on the sofa, shaking his glass and not caring: "they can do whatever they want. We don't have enough money. "

A lady stared at the young man and patted the armrest of the sofa: "shut up! Your father devoted himself to this family. If it wasn't for him, half of our mountain villas would be closed now, and we would be bankrupt and sleep on the street. "

"Krupp factory will not die in my hands!" The man who dropped the cup said: "housekeeper! Tell me to go down! Get the car ready! tomorrow! I'll go to the factory myself! "

"Yes! Krupp master The housekeeper nodded and walked out of the room.

But before long, the housekeeper returned to the hall again and leaned slightly to stick to Gustav? Krupp whispered in his ear: "news from our people in the national defense forces! The national defense forces will support our passive resistance and are willing to pay compensation for our losses. "

"Well! With the support of the national defense forces, it's OK! The government should let Ebert and them suffer. I, Gustav, can't be manipulated and bullied by anyone Krupp confidently said: "the Colonel named akado who sent the plan is still very interesting. I will meet him when I have a chance. You can arrange it."

"Yes! Master The housekeeper said respectfully, "I'll do it now."

March 22, 1923. The workers in Ruhr Industrial Zone went on strike, and some of the workers who did not take part in the strike went slow. They no longer produced military supplies for the French occupation army. More than half of the chimneys in Ruhr Industrial Zone no longer smoke. The continuous black smoke that plagued Ruhr area for years disappeared.

With the expansion of the strike, the workers even launched sabotage activities. Because of the secret promise of the factory officials and the strong support of the national defense forces, the workers began to destroy some old industrial equipment and block the French army's attempt to continue to produce military materials.

Frustrated, the French army launched a vengeance, arrested a large number of workers and leaders, and sentenced some of them to death. Instead of scaring off the patriotic German workers, these actions have increased the frequency of sabotage everywhere.

Saturday, March 23, 1923, is Easter. Large scale conflicts inevitably broke out.

A team of French soldiers rushed into a warehouse of Krupp factory and asked to check the vehicles inside, but the inspection was not as smooth as they thought.

Just as the French soldiers entered the gate of the Krupp factory warehouse, a worker of the Krupp factory found the soldiers, so he ran to the air defense alarm and rang it.

"Woo...!" The harsh alarm immediately rang, and the whole Krupp factory seemed to hear the long, sharp sound“ The French are robbing again! Brothers! We will defend the fruits of our labor to the death! You can't let these vampires go! " A middle-aged worker with a scar on his face raised his hammer and called out. An old worker with single spectacle lens and wearing suspenders raised his wrench angrily, followed the middle-aged worker, and yelled with his old voice line: "don't let these vampires leave!"“ You can't let the French go More voices began to ring in all directions. People swarmed in from all directions and surrounded the French army, and this time Gustav? Krupp was sitting in his office not far away. He listened to the alarm and calmly looked at the newspaper. He didn't try to disperse the angry crowd. The French soldiers were terrified. They didn't know that it was such a difficult task to come to check the vehicles in Krupp factory, so they almost lost their sense of propriety. They occupied a building in a hurry and put up a machine gun at the door, hoping to scare off the excited crowd around them. However, unexpectedly, more people gathered around. But apparently they underestimated the anger of the people. Several Krupp factory workers climbed up to the roof of the French occupied building, opened the steam valve of the pipe above, and the hot steam immediately filled the whole building. The sudden steam made the French completely confused. They began to fire on the surrounding crowd, killing 13 innocent Krupp workers and injuring at least 50 others. Not far away, a German official stood on a tall tower and put down his telescope. He looked at his adjutant: "look at these French soldiers. They are still their main force. Bicycles, horses and national defense forces can easily defeat this unit! Give me two regiments. I dare to annihilate them all! " His adjutant turned his lips and said confidently, "major goodrian, you are so conservative! If we follow Col. akado's idea, an Armored Regiment can kill the French army, and there will be no loss except for the shells! " Goodrian laughed: "that's all for the observation of France. If they can't make any difference, they will pack up and go back to France in a few months." The next day, the notorious bloody Saturday Easter massacre immediately became the front page headlines of the world's major newspapers. The United States and Britain stood on the side of Germany this time. They did not want to see Germany controlled by France, so they strongly supported the Albert government of Germany and condemned France. The victims of this tragedy are known as martyrs all over the country. They have received a large amount of pension from Germany and Krupp factory, and all of them have been deeply buried. Krupp was absent from work, wearing three rows of button dress and feather decorated hat, escorting the dead to be buried in their hearses. The hearse was covered with flowers and people went to see it off. Although public opinion tends to favor Germany as a victim, France still sticks to its head and holds a court to try the Krupp factory Gustav? Krupp, this move makes Krupp, a little man, become an idol and hero of the German people. The story of Gustav challenging the French invaders with his short body is a household name in Germany. The French sentenced Gustav? Krupp was jailed for 15 years, but it was immediately denounced by the public opinion all over the world. The British ambassador ran among the various political parties in France for this matter, and the pressure of French Prime Minister Poincare suddenly increased. In the end, the French failed. Krupp, just like the plan provided by akkado, only spent a short time in prison, and then was released by the French government, which was attacked by public opinion. He was only in prison for six months. In the past six months, even the Pope has been excusing him. Many international dignitaries have called on the French government to release people. In the face of such a strong voice, Krupp's detention is almost a joke. His cell is not locked and his relatives and friends can visit him at any time. While Krupp was in prison, the French side began to discuss the proposal of withdrawing troops from the Ruhr Industrial Zone.