novelSusiti Chapter 127 Welcome to Greece, Mr. Schmidt!
Chapter 127 Welcome to Greece, Mr. Schmidt!
One week later, in the port of Piraeus.
A steamship flying the German Empire's tricolor flag and the Iron Cross slowly docked at the pier amidst a long whistle.
Constantine, dressed in a crisp military uniform, and Metaxas, the newly appointed director of the Phoenix Hill Industrial Complex, were already waiting at the foot of the gangway.
As the heavy gangway was lowered, a group of tall, serious-looking Germans disembarked. Leading them was a man in his fifties, his graying hair meticulously combed, his chin shaved hard, and a pair of thick glasses perched on his nose, his eyes behind the lenses sharp as a scalpel.
He was Hermann Schmidt, the head of the engineering team personally appointed by the German Emperor, and one of the most outstanding smelting experts at Krupp Steel.
"Mr. Schmidt, welcome to Athens." Constantine extended his hand.
Schmidt shook his hand firmly and briefly. He glanced around at the dusty dock and the curious Greek onlookers, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
"Your Highness, there's no need for formalities. Time is precious, please take us to the scene." His Greek was heavily accented with German, and every word was as precise as if it had been measured with a ruler.
Constantine didn't mind his attitude and made a "please" gesture.
The carriage traveled through the city of Athens, heading towards Phoenix Hill.
When Schmidt stood on that desolate hill, his brow furrowed even more. He grabbed a handful of barren red soil, rubbed it between his fingers, and looked at the olive trees that were withered and curled up from lack of water.
"Your Highness, if I may be so blunt," he said, "the geological conditions and water resources here are far from ideal for building a factory. Are you sure you want to place Germany's most advanced blast furnace in such a barren place?"
Constantine did not answer directly, but instead gestured to Metaxas behind him.
Metaxas immediately stepped forward and handed Schmidt a report that was a hundred pages long.
"Mr. Schmidt, this is our geological exploration report for the Phoenix Mountain area, a groundwater level distribution map, and a preliminary plan for future water storage and sewage systems."
Schmidt took the report with suspicion and turned to the first page.
His expression began to subtly change as the pages of the book were turned. From initial scrutiny, to surprise, and then to solemnity.
The report's level of expertise far exceeded his expectations. It included not only meter-level analysis of geological structure, but also calculations of the load-bearing capacity of soil and rock at different depths, and scientific predictions of rainfall and water replenishment for the coming year. The report's format and data presentation were entirely in the style of a top German engineering school.
"Who...who did this?" Schmidt looked up, and for the first time, genuine astonishment appeared in his eyes behind his glasses.
"I did it," Constantine replied calmly.
Schmidt looked at the overly young crown prince before him and fell silent. He had initially thought this was merely a perfunctory political task, a pointless marriage arrangement between royal families. But this report made him realize that the crown prince before him was a true expert.
Something called "respect" began to sprout in the heart of this proud Prussian engineer.
In the following days, the port of Piraeus became busier than ever.
One German freighter after another arrived, and massive marine cranes lifted huge steel components from the holds. Blast furnace bodies, hot blast stove pipes, rolling mill bases... these creations, representing the pinnacle of human industrial civilization, were slowly unloaded amidst the gasps of the citizens of Athens.
The scale of the Phoenix Mountain Industrial Zone was being displayed to the world for the first time in such a direct way. People gathered at the port, discussing it animatedly, and began to truly grasp the Crown Prince's seemingly arrogant plan.
Meanwhile, a war without gunfire broke out in the Athenian newspapers.
The oligarch-controlled newspaper *Athena's Proverbs* published a highly inflammatory article on its front page, titled:
The Crown Prince's castle in the air will crush Greece's olive branch!
Beside the article was a jarring cartoon: a crowned, obese child excitedly wielding a massive, black, oil-stained hammer, smashing it against a weeping olive tree, a symbol of Greece. Below the tree lay a terrified peasant family.
The article uses ornate and poignant language to depict the steel mill as a demon that spews toxic fumes, pollutes water sources, and destroys fields. It questions Constantine: why replace the sacred olives that have nourished Greece for millennia with cold German steel?
Public opinion surged. Many citizens, unaware of the facts, began to have doubts and fears about this massive project.
Constantine ignored all of this.
He chose to respond with action.
Three days later, a grand groundbreaking ceremony was held in the Fenghuangshan Industrial Zone.
Under the sunlight, a huge Greek flag and a German Imperial flag fluttered side by side. Constantine stood in the center of a makeshift platform, flanked by the elegantly dressed Sophia, and the serious-looking Schmidt and his team of German engineers. Below the stage were Greek cabinet ministers, ambassadors from various countries, and representatives of Athenian citizens granted special permission to attend.
Constantine picked up a brand-new shovel tied with a blue and white ribbon and scanned the entire area with his eyes.
"Today," his voice boomed across the square through a makeshift megaphone, "what we've laid here isn't just a cold, lifeless foundation stone!"
He paused for a moment, then scooped up a handful of red soil with a shovel.
"What we have planted is the backbone of Greece's future!"
His voice suddenly rose in pitch, becoming incredibly infectious.
"I promise you! Every inch of steel produced in this factory will become armor protecting our homeland! Every worker who leaves this factory will be the proudest citizen of Greece!"
"Those who cry out in the newspapers that the olive branch will be crushed are wrong! For what we have forged is not a hammer, but a shield! An unbreakable shield that protects all olive trees and all the Greek people!"
He poured that handful of soil heavily onto the foundation stone.
Thunderous applause erupted in the square.
After the ceremony, as Constantine and Sophia left amidst the crowd, no one noticed that several black figures quietly slipped away from the crowd and disappeared into the ancient village at the foot of Phoenix Mountain.
Inside the village office, several village elders with white hair and beards and wrinkled faces sat uneasily.
A well-dressed and refined man entered. He was not Mavrodocatos himself, but his most trusted retainer.
He did not produce bags of gold coins as the villagers had imagined.
He simply took out a beautifully hand-drawn map from his bag; it was a copy of a land deed from hundreds of years ago, when this land still belonged to a Byzantine nobleman.
"Elders," his voice was filled with sorrow and regret, "look, every inch of this land is imbued with the blood of our ancestors. Must we really stand by and watch it be desecrated by those German machines?"
He didn't talk about money, only about ancestors and heritage.
"I've heard that the factory will emit thick black smoke and release toxic wastewater. Your olive trees will wither and your children will fall ill." He sighed. "The gentlemen of Fanar cannot bear to see this happen."
Fear was revealed in the elders' cloudy eyes.
"As long as you stand up and 'protect' your homeland," the man said finally, his voice low, "the friends of Fanar will provide you with all the legal and material 'assistance' you need. You will become heroes who protect our tradition."