The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943-Chapter 175 - 189 Operation Paperclip

Professional guidance.

What is professional guidance? Naturally, it means carrying out targeted dismantling work with the help of engineers.

The Count was a veteran who had fought in World War I. The reason he chose to help the Chinese, to put it bluntly, was out of interest for Germany. In his view, it was better for the Chinese to take the machines than for them to fall into British hands and strengthen their power.

What if, twenty years from now, war breaks out again?

Those machines that fell into British and French hands would certainly become part of their war machines.

With the Count’s recommendation, dozens of engineers soon joined this "dismantling team." On the engineers’ advice, they directly removed a 5,300mm four-high extra-wide heavy plate rolling mill from the steel plant. Its cast frame alone weighed 230 tons and it could roll shipbuilding steel plates up to 350mm thick. In addition, they also dismantled a 14,000-ton open-die forging hydraulic press.

"...Forging hydraulic press."

In Zhao Xiyong’s office, Fischer explained,

"Compared to other ordinary machines, the forging hydraulic press is undoubtedly more important. It is technically complex, and during the war, to meet the needs of manufacturing fighter planes—especially bombers—we built one 30,000-ton forging hydraulic press, three 15,000-ton forging hydraulic presses, and over a hundred medium and small forging hydraulic presses. My suggestion is that you take one 15,000-ton forging hydraulic press, along with several medium and small ones."

As a mechanical engineer, Fischer was well aware of the importance of forging hydraulic presses and emphasized,

"Of course, that is, if you have plans to build large aircraft, the forging hydraulic press is an essential machine."

"Why not dismantle the 30,000-ton one?"

"Because it’s in the Soviet-occupied zone, sir."

"All right, Mr. Fischer, please draw up a list. My people will take action. Thank you for your work."

Of course, verbal thanks could not compare to material rewards. Reichsmarks and Camel cigarettes were naturally indispensable. When Fischer left, Zhao Xiyong even gave him the half-pack of Camel cigarettes on his desk.

It must be said, Zhao Xiyong was quite adept at winning people over. As soon as Fischer left, his adjutant came in with a coded telegram.

The message contained just three characters—Paperclip.

After putting down the telegram, Zhao Xiyong immediately picked up the phone and gave an order to the staff office: "Execute Operation Paperclip immediately."

Thus, the search teams, who had been focused on dismantling machinery and collecting weapons, immediately began a new task: according to a list, they started taking away scientists and engineers. In fact, mechanical engineer Fischer Schiemann himself was on the list—he had presided over the design of the 30,000-ton forging hydraulic press.

That night, as Fischer was showing off his reward—a half pack of Camel cigarettes—to his wife, there was a knock at the door. Several members of the special detachment appeared before him.

"Are you Mr. Fischer Schiemann?"

"Yes... Do you need me to work overtime?"

Fischer, puzzled, thought he was being asked to work late, but the men replied,

"Please pack the necessary luggage for you and your family and come with us."

The expressionless visitors and their cold words made Fischer’s heart sink, and he said nervously,

"Sir, I—I only joined the Nazi Party in the past, I’m just an engineer..."

Nervous!

To Fischer, he thought he was being arrested as a criminal—many others thought the same.

The same scene played out in many other places.

When the knock came, Eugen Gerson was having dinner with his wife and children. Although food was relatively plentiful in the countryside, it was still just mashed potatoes.

When he opened the door and saw Allied soldiers standing outside, he asked in confusion,

"You are...?"

"Are you Mr. Eugen Gerson?"

The officer in charge checked the documents in his hand. This man was a rocket engineer; the V2 missile engine had been designed by the project group he led.

He was ranked 102nd on the "Operation Paperclip" list.

"Yes, I am."

"Mr. Gerson, we are from the Allied Command Special Detachment. According to orders, we will provide you and your family with protection and appropriate employment, to ensure that in the days to come, you will not be harmed by the Russians."

At the mention of harm from the Russians, Gerson almost instinctively replied,

"I’ll go with you."

Without any hesitation, for many German scientists, their greatest fear was falling into the hands of the Russians.

Of course, there were also some who were unwilling to leave. In such cases, the action team would simply apologize and forcibly take them away. Their mission was simple: to bring these people and their families out. As for how they accomplished this, it was not their concern.

However, in most cases, the targets agreed without a second thought. After all, for these scientists and engineers, they feared not only the Russians but also the Allies. Not long ago, Heisenberg and others had been assassinated by the Allies. If they didn’t comply, it would surely mean certain death. Besides, they needed protection and a job to support their families.

But the action team’s operations were not always smooth. For instance, when recruiting Wernher von Braun, who was at the very top of the list, they ran into problems—he had long been preparing to surrender. Fearing Soviet mistreatment of war criminals after the war, von Braun decided to surrender to the Americans. To do so, he defied the military’s orders to hold their position and led over 500 missile project scientists to central Germany to continue their rocket research. Worried that the SS would destroy their files and blueprints, von Braun ordered his subordinates to hide crucial documents in abandoned mines in the Harz Mountains of central Germany.

As the Allies pushed deeper into Germany, before the commando team could arrive, von Braun’s brother had already made contact with the US 44th Infantry Division. He rode a bicycle and, in broken English, told the Americans:

"I am von Braun’s brother. My brother invented the V-2 rocket. We want to surrender."

Relying on the intelligence provided by von Braun, the US military seized more than a hundred V-2 missiles, countless spare parts, and over a ton of technical documents. These were loaded onto hundreds of railcars and shipped out overnight, then transferred by military transport planes back to the United States.

By the time the action team arrived, the place was almost deserted. They managed to seize only a dozen or so V-2 missiles, some equipment, and a pile of blueprints and sketches of uncertain value.

Nevertheless, using the list, they still managed to locate more than a hundred experts in rocketry and aviation. But for the action team, their most successful targets were two intelligence experts.

Reinhard Gehlen and Otto von Bolschwing, fearing capture by the Russians, immediately agreed to leave with their families when the action team found them. In fact, upon learning that the team’s mission was to recruit scientists and engineers, they proactively offered to assist.

After studying the distribution of scientists on the list, Germany’s two top intelligence experts quickly devised a detailed operational plan. It must be said, the Germans were adept at making plans. This extremely thorough plan was soon adopted by the action team. The plan included not only operations in Allied-occupied zones but also covert operations in Soviet-occupied areas.

Even before Germany surrendered, the commando teams had already entered areas still under German control to carry out recruitment missions.

It was around this time that someone arrived at Zhao Xiyong’s office. It was "Berlin"—and he hadn’t come alone; he brought with him a Gestapo commando unit under his command.

"I am Berlin. You should have heard about me from Pierre," he said.

"Yes," Zhao Xiyong replied. "The boss instructed us that if we found you, we should do everything possible to ensure your safety. I can arrange a plane to send you to North Africa right away."

But Berlin shook his head at Zhao Xiyong’s offer.

"That’s not necessary for now. I heard you’re recruiting people. If possible, I think my colleagues and I could be of some help to you."

Berlin’s willingness to help was not just for himself, but also for the commando team under his command. He needed to get these men out of Germany. However, ordinary commando members were not covered by their agreement; if they wanted to leave, they had to earn it through their own efforts.

In other words, they had to secure the chance to leave Germany through their own work—hence his visit.