Millennium (Hellsing)

Millennium, also known as the Letztes Battaillon (Eng. - "Last Battalion") is a shadowy organization appearing in the Hellsing manga and Hellsing Ultimate anime series. Formed of the remnants of the Waffen-SS, as well as members of the Kriegsmarine and the Heer, Millennium is the last remnants of the Third Reich, their name a reference to Adolf Hitler's plans for a "Thousand Year Reich." Millennium utilizes an army of vampires, the majority of which are members of the organization dating back to it's origin as a secret branch of the SS. Of the remnants, many are humans, those members of the Kriegsmarine and Heer who weren't turned into vampires, with a natural werewolf, an artificially created werecat and a cyborg making up the remaining exceptions.

Organization
Having formerly been members of Nazi Germany's Waffen-SS, Millennium is organized in the same manner as most other SS divisions, with one important exception. Due to Millennium being created on the orders of Adolf Hitler for reasons kept secret to the majority of the German war machine, Millennium's SS members (the original members of the organization) are under the direct command of Hitler himself, and don't fall under the command of those outside of the organization, regardless of rank. With the death of Adolf Hitler in 1945, many in Millennium, particularly among the original members, have taken to referring to the Major as "acting Führer," an act which angers the few remaining Reich loyalists within the unit.

Within Millennium is an elite military unit known as the Werewolves. Each member of the Werewolves both is some form of non-human and has some kind of special ability that sets them apart from the rest of the organization's soldiers. The Werewolves, unlike other members of Millennium, only answer to the Major directly.

World War 2
Millennium was founded before the end of World War 2, by "Hitler's Special Order #666," with their purpose being the research and usage of supernatural phenomena for military application. In 1944, they began work on creating an army of vampires to destroy the Reich's enemies, though according to Alucard, many of these early creations ended up being little more than mindless ghouls. Millennium would be targeted by the British Order of Protestant Knights, more commonly known as the Hellsing Organization. Two agents, 14 year old Walter C. Dornez and the vampire Alucard (who had apparently taken the form of a young girl), would be sent in to deal with them. According to Alucard and Walter, they "killed everyone there," putting an end to Millennium's experiments, but what really happened remains a mystery. Whatever the case, much of Millennium's leadership would survive, fleeing to South America with the help of the Vatican. Alucard and Walter would also fail to determine the status of the source of Millennium's vampire army, a being referred to as "She." The exact identity of 'She' would remain a mystery until the present day, where it would be revealed that her identity was Mina Harker, a woman turned into a vampire by Alucard when he was still going under the name Dracula. As Abraham Van Helsing never actually killed Alucard, Mina did not become human, and Millennium was able to use her blood (which contained Alucard's essence) as a base for all their artificial vampires.

After their defeat in World War 2 and supposed destruction, Millennium would begin plotting their escape. Some time after the end of the war, most of the members had fled to South America. This force would contain 1000 Waffen-SS volunteers, a full battalion's strength, as well as members of the Kriegsmarine and the Heer. This remnant army would be known as the Letztes Bataillon. They'd also bring with them a massive amount of valuables taken from Holocaust victims, and an assortment of what were at the time considered to be both modern and advanced weaponry. Their advanced weapons would include V-1 flying bombs and advanced Zeppelins, the transports for their future conflict. Meanwhile, their modern weapons would include WW2-era German weapons and clothing, including Kar98 rifles, MP-40s, STG-44s, SS-issue greatcoats and stahlhelms, Panther tanks and Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe fighter jets. Interestingly, the heavier equipment, such as the Panthers and Messerschmitts, would never see combat.

Modern Day
Millennium would remain hidden for over 50 years. Seemingly the organization would be run by officers of the German Heer, though after Alucard's defeat of Tubalcain Alhambra, the Major would reveal that he didn't share their interest in creating a vampire Fourth Reich, and instead planned to wage eternal war. After it was revealed that he'd already turned every other member of Millennium to his side, the Major had the Heer officers executed, before launching his attack on London. Millennium had been observing the Hellsing Organization's capabilities, using a ghoul strike force led by vampire brothers Luke and Jan Valentine to test their defences (and devastating them in the process). They were first discovered when Warrant Officer Schrödinger delivered a message to Hellsing Manor, whilst Sir Integra Hellsing was in the middle of a meeting with high-ranking members of the British military and the Queen. The Major declared war on them, to which Alucard gladly accepted, relishing the chance to destroy them again. The invasion of London, dubbed Operation Seelöwe 2, would begin with the occupation of a Royal Navy carrier (later destroyed by Alucard). This preemptive strike served two contradictory purposes: to deliver an army of ghouls to London for the invasion or to trap Alucard and Seras Victoria outside of London, thereby robbing London of the two largest threats to the attacking Germans, and would only partially succeed in the latter, trapping Alucard but not Seras. Afterwards, the invasion proper was launched. Multiple zeppelins would appear over the skies at night, bringing with them the full might of Millennium. At the same time, the entire British military's communications would be jammed. A similar invasion would be launched on Washington D.C. at roughly the same time. It is unknown how well or how poorly this assault went. The only confirmed details were that the president and 13 members of his staff were killed, after his aide revealed herself as a vampire.

During the invasion, two major assaults were made on Hellsing itself. The first was a pursuit by Millennium troops to capture and kill Sir Integra Hellsing, as she was returning to Hellsing Manor. This pursuit would be thwarted by Father Alexander Anderson and paladins of the Vatican's Section XIII, known as Iscariot after the apostle Judas Iscariot. The second assault, led by Lt. Zorin Blitz, was directed against the Hellsing Manor. Initially, this assault would be a disaster, with many vampires dying when Seras Victoria shot down their zeppelin and further losses being taken by mines and small arms fire from the Wild Geese mercenary unit. The battle would turn in Millennium's favour, nearly resulting in the death of all involved, but would again turn against them when, after drinking the blood of the Wild Geese's deceased captain Pip Bernadotte and awakening her full vampiric power, Seras butchered them to a man, taking her time with Zorin due to the insult the German vampire delivered to the deceased captain.

As Operation Seelöwe 2 progressed, Millennium found itself in a three-way war, as the Iscariot Organization under the newly-appointed Archbishop Enrico Maxwell arrived, with the intention to purge the city of Protestant heretics and vampire hellspawn. Both sides clashed, depleting each other's forces until Alucard arrived. By that point, Millennium's manpower had been wittled down to just 572 troops. Alucard would then wipe out the remainder of their ground forces, summoning an army of the undead ranging from his subjects during his reign over Wallachia to his recent victims, Millennium's First Lieutenants Tubalcain Alhambra and Rip Van Winkle. This army of the dead would overwhelm both Iscariot and Millennium, wiping out all Nazi ground forces and the majority of Iscariot, including all of Maxwell's knights. The paladins under the command of Anderson would survive, though not after taking casualties of their own, including Father Anderson, who would fall in battle against Alucard. At this point, Walter Dornez would reveal himself to be a traitor, having sided with Millennium long ago and been turned into a vampire after he was "captured" by Millennium.

As Alucard fought the newly-turned Walter, Ser Integra and Seras would enter Millennium's flagship, where the only survivors of the Nazi vampire army were the crew, engineers and Feldgendarmerie. These forces would attempt to hold her off, though they'd be wiped out like their comrades on the ground. The two would find the Major, who would explain his plan in full. As he'd told Ser Integra during their first meeting, Millennium has no clear goal, with their only purpose to wage war. The Major had sacrificed millions, including his own vampiric soldiers, the Wild Geese, the people of London and the Vatican forces, for the express purpose of killing Alucard. As the vampire gorged himself on their blood, Warrant Officer Schrödinger committed suicide, and with his death, Alucard was erased. Soon after, Seras mutilates the Major's body using an 88mm cannon. Integra would see the Major's cyborg body and declare him a monster, before the two engaged in a gun fight, eventually ending in the loss of Integra's eye and the death of the last known surviving member of Millennium.

After getting shot by Heinkel Wolfe, Walter would go to see the Doctor. After a discussion in which Walter categorizes all of Millennium's failures, Doc attempts to kill him, only for Walter to sever his arm and leg. Afterwards, Walter pulls down a wall, revealing Mina Harker's remains and unwittingly discovering the source of the vampire army. He then kills the Doctor, dropping large chunks of debris on him, before allowing himself to burn with the zeppelin. With their deaths, Millennium is wiped out for good.