< World War II - Our Fatherland (3) >
May 19, 1940
Berlin, Northern Germany May 19th. The day the fifteen-day deadline Britain gave to France expires.
And because of that, the high command of the Fourth Empire, gloomily gathered in the conference room despite it being a Sunday, was in a state of chaos.
"What in the world do you think they're planning?"
It was a rare thing for my father, Hjalmar Schacht, but his face showed he was genuinely asking because he didn't know.
But no one in this room could answer with confidence.
France had publicly announced it would quietly cease its aid to Italy, and their volunteer force, the Hawk Legion, was steadily preparing for withdrawal.
Seeing them drag their feet until the final deadline before politely backing down, one could optimistically think they had simply surrendered.
In Britain, the atmosphere was one of self-praise, boasting of their reasserted diplomatic influence and having brought about that 'peace for our ti' of theirs.
We, too, expressed our gratitude to Britain.
But to celebrate this as our own diplomatic victory…
"Considering their secret talks with Spain, it's certain that sothing is up."
This was the problem.
There was a clear reason why Spain wouldn't let go of France's hand, even at the risk of antagonizing us.
If France intended to do nothing and just withdraw, Spain would have had no reason to ask us to look the other way while they remained neutral, right?
Their demand for a guarantee of independence was clearly a request made with a war between Germany and France in mind.
After all, unless we were to push all the way into the French mainland in a crisis, our only ans of threatening Spain were economic sanctions.
"This is quite the puzzle."
Foreign Minister Weizs??cker also clicked his tongue.
Judging by France's actions alone, it looked like they had succumbed to our and Britain's diplomatic pressure, but Spain's actions didn't add up.
Of course, it was true that the threat of losing passage through the Suez Canal or facing British economic sanctions was a trendous threat to France, especially while they were already being sanctioned by Arica.
France and Britain had been allies for a long ti, the French economy was considerably dependent on Britain, and without Suez, managing their colonies in Indochina would beco nearly impossible.
But this withdrawal would be a considerable blow to La Rocque's political position, which had been on a roll.
He wouldn't have started this blatant support for Italy if he was going to back down this easily.
"First, how about we consider all possible scenarios?"
At Minister of Defense Ludwig Beck's statent, everyone fell into thought for a mont.
"The most realistic option would be that France promised to cede so of its colonies."
"Hmm, that seems the most likely."
Deputy Foreign Minister Erich Kordt's opinion seed valid at first glance.
After all, Spain and France were jointly exercising colonial rule over Morocco.
That was the realistic way to think about it, but I myself was skeptical.
The France of the original history had tried to hold onto its colonies by thoroughly and bloodily suppressing the independence movents of the colonial peoples, even as the great British Empire let its colonies go after World War II.
A France that proud and greedy for its colonies would give them up just to draw Spain into an alliance?
But if not that, France truly had no other card to play.
Sothing that Franco, an expert at playing both sides, would snap up.
"Gibraltar…?"
I had muttered it to myself, but in an instant, all eyes were on .
The major British naval base located in the Strait of Gibraltar in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.
It was originally Spanish land, and though small, it's an essential area for maintaining mariti dominance in the diterranean Sea.
"Spain would certainly drool over Gibraltar, but…"
Erich Kordt trailed off. Right, I know.
It doesn't make sense.
"But it's British territory.
There's no way France would fight its quiet ally Britain over this, right?"
"Indeed, haha…"
That's the problem. France, which gave in to British pressure and pulled its troops from Italy, would suddenly go mad and start a war with Britain?
Even if they did, as long as the Royal Navy existed, France's ans of striking the British mainland were extrely limited.
Franco wouldn't be ignorant of that, so,
…Huh?
I felt a chilling sensation wash over .
Haven't I seen a situation like this sowhere before? Possessing an overwhelmingly superior naval force, but for that very reason, not expecting to be attacked, in a situation where an air strike is possible.
A thod where Franco, while not letting go of France's hand at the risk of antagonizing Germany, simultaneously judges the risk of failure to be high enough to need insurance against us.
Britain and France were allies, after all.
No one in Britain would ever imagine that France would strike them.
Surely this isn't a European version of Pearl Harbor, is it?
"You said all of their main fleet ships were deployed in Northern France, right?"
"That's right, Deputy Minister."
Abwehr Chief Admiral Canaris nodded.
I had thought they moved them there to keep the Reichsmarine in check, since they no longer had to worry about command of the diterranean after becoming allies with Italy.
But what if, like Pearl Harbor, they were planning a large-scale surprise air raid, followed by a decisive blow with their fleet?
"No, that's going too far…"
No matter how you look at it, Britain's main fleet was easily more than double the size of the French and Italian navies combined.
France, with one aircraft carrier at best, had no way of attacking Britain's main naval port of Scapa Flow in the north like Japan struck Pearl Harbor. Besides, Britain also had the diterranean Fleet and the Far East Fleet.
"What is it?"
Ugh, it sounds like nonsense, but he just had to ask. I spoke to my father, my face showing my lack of confidence.
"I was just wondering if there's a possibility that Britain could temporarily lose command of the sea if France launched a surprise attack on the English Channel Fleet with its navy and air force. If that happened, it would make sense for Spain to enter the war on the promise of Gibraltar."
Honestly, it sounded like nonsense even to , but seeing the high-ranking governnt officials fall into deep thought all at once was a strange sight.
"But what could they possibly gain by going to war with Britain here? They are, at least nominally, Britain's ally."
"…You have a point."
At my father's counterargunt, I was ultimately at a loss for words.
What could France gain by acting crazy and attacking its ally, Britain? Of course, it was true that Britain's presence allowed us to diplomatically isolate France and take the lead in diplomacy.
If I tried to force the pieces to fit…
They want to break Germany, but realistically, they don't want to attack a Germany protected by Britain and Arica at the cost of countless sacrifices.
So, if they could make Britain surrender, it would be possible to bleed Germany dry with a naval blockade behind the Maginot Line, just like in World War I.
…No way.
Even for that, would they really start a war with the master of the seas, a country that's at least nominally an ally?
They weren't going to occupy the British mainland, so would they really commit such a crazy act?
"In any case. The withdrawal order for the Hawk Legion has been issued, but they haven't lifted their mobilization order and are continuing to build up their military. We cannot let our guard down, so keep all possibilities in mind."
The eting concluded with my father's remarks, but an inexplicable sense of anxiety lingered.
"Hmm, Deputy Minister Schacht. Your idea is a bit flimsy, but since France's actions are not common-sensical, I'll keep it as a possibility. I'll make more active use of our agents in France."
As I stood up after the eting, Abwehr Chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris approached
and reassured
slightly, which was a relief.
"Thank you, Director. I always have high expectations for the Abwehr."
In the original history, the Abwehr couldn't even use half of its capabilities, busy with counter-espionage against the SD, colluding with the Allies, and supporting the Black Orchestra, but things were different now.
With France's intentions completely unknown, all I could do was hope that they would produce results.
-
May 22, 1940
3rd Army Headquarters, Posen, Central-Eastern Germany
"They're sending a lot of this precious stuff."
Major General Kurt Feldt of the 3rd Army, led by Georg von Küchler, clicked his tongue as he inspected the military supplies passing through Posen to be sent to Poland.
Equipnt like the StuG III, Bf 109 fighters, and Hs 123 attack aircraft were one thing, assuming new models were out, but precious items like the Pak 38 anti-tank gun, which they had barely produced, and the 8.8cm Flak (88mm anti-aircraft gun), which even the German Army was short on, were being ceaselessly transported to Poland.
For the 3rd Army, which was clearly deployed on the Polish border area and not the front lines, and treated as a second-line unit, this was equipnt that was an especially bitter sight.
How could the equipnt being transferred to the Polish Army be better than their own? Did this make any sense?
Of course, Poland, for its part, was on the verge of breaking its back to pay Germany for those munitions, and yet, in a situation so desperate that it had to depend on German equipnt, it was facing the Soviet Union in Germany's stead.
And the Fourth Empire was using the money earned from Poland by operating the munitions industry that Hitler had excessively bloated to reinvest in civilian industry, revitalize the economy, and do its best to transform the economy's constitution from its dependence on the arms industry.
While that would ultimately help Germany's long-term war-fighting capabilities, it was sothing those currently feeling a sense of deprivation could neither know nor wanted to know.
"These damn new governnt bastards are deliberately ostracizing us."
General of the Artillery Georg von Küchler burst out in resentnt.
From his perspective, the Fourth Empire was still not so much his fatherland as it was simply the new governnt of Germany.
"It seems their intention is to promote the general officers who joined the new governnt from the beginning, the ones who suit their tastes."
The one who said that, the commander of the 1st Army Corps, Lieutenant General Walter Petzel, wore a bitter smile.
Küchler's 3rd Army, deployed in East Prussia for the planned invasion of Poland, was largely composed of personnel with Nazi inclinations and could be called an elite force.
They had been stationed in K??nigsberg, anticipating the honor of being the spearhead aid at Danzig and Warsaw, but they had been full of nothing but humiliating events, like just sucking their thumbs during the German Civil War and then suffering heavy casualties from the Polish Army's surprise attack.
"We still defended K??nigsberg and participated in the counterattack operation against Poland! But the damn bastards buried us and are only promoting radical figures to their taste like Manstein, Roml, Lutz, and Guderian!"
Lieutenant General Albert Wodrig shouted in fury.
"And what? Ha! Don't oppress the Polish bastards, they say! Those bastards killed a ton of my subordinates with their cowardly surprise attack, and that damn young pup of a deputy minister is running around with fire in his eyes to keep us from even touching them!"
At his rage, his superior officer, Küchler, muttered coldly.
"I believed without a doubt that we would be the vanguard of the German people against the inferior Slavic races. But to see them let the Unternsch (inferior beings) who killed Germans without knowing their place just walk away, and to see them settling Jews on their land."
The Fourth Empire had tried to end the anti-Semitism and racism instilled by the Nazis, but the ti was too short for it to be effective, and the roots of hatred sown by the Nazis were deep.
"No matter that this is the governnt of those bastards who said they'd drive out the Junkers who served the Empire and revive sothing as weak as democracy, I thought that once we retook the lands of the German Empire, they would naturally be given to our soldiers and Junkers who served on the front lines! But to give it to the Jews? Ha!"
The statent by the traditional Prussian Junker and infantry general, Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, commander of the 21st Army Corps, represented the feelings of the marginalized Junkers who had not found a place in the mainstream of the current Fourth Empire.
It wasn't that there were no Junkers in the current Wehrmacht of the Fourth Empire, but they had beco more cooperative with the governnt rather than maintaining their ties with other Junkers after the military governnt's coup d'état.
"To think our proud German Army shed blood to occupy land for those Unternsch to live on."
The last words were even laced with a sense of futility.
Küchler glanced at his subordinate generals' faces and then opened his mouth.
"I'm only saying this now, but things were better during the Führer's ti."
The subordinate generals flinched slightly, but no one refuted him.
Küchler began to speak with a bit more confidence.
"In fact, what has this so-called 'great' new governnt accomplished? The Anschluss? That was the Führer's achievent! But didn't those bastards allow an independence referendum in Austria! The annexation of Bohemia (Czech) was also the Führer's achievent! But what right do they have to liberate it!"
The German military's characteristic mindset of being 'tactically brilliant but strategically lacking' made them perceive that the Fourth Empire was only losing what had been gained under the Nazis.
"Ahem, ahem. But isn't it an achievent to have retaken the territory of the German Empire and still be acknowledged by Britain?"
Lieutenant General Petzel said timidly, but Küchler slamd his fist on the desk and shouted.
"The Führer would have taken South Prussia (Warsaw) as well! We all know it now, don't we? If those new governnt bastards hadn't interfered at Gleiwitz, we would have fought a just war against Poland, and France and Britain wouldn't have been able to enter the war! Look at the situation now! The justification of those who staged a coup to prevent a war was a fabrication!"
From the perspective of those who couldn't know the original history, if you thought about it without the sequence of events, it was a fact that in the end, Britain and France did not enter the war even when they fought Poland.
As Lieutenant General Petzel fell silent, Küchler continued.
"Think carefully. We have dedicated ourselves to fighting for the glory of the Germanic people. But look at our state now. The so-called new governnt of Germany is handing over equipnt we can't even use to the Polish bastards, and they gave the land we went to the trouble of retaking to the Jewish bastards."
Seeing the generals' eyes growing darker, Küchler spoke in a small whisper.
"The Führer was right. It's those bastards who destroyed National Socialism, which would have truly made Germany great, who are the traitors instigated by the Judeo-Polski Unternsch.
That's why they're keeping us, who were loyal to the true Germany, in check like this!"
"Then, what do you intend to do, General?"
At the question from General Falkenhorst, who swallowed dryly, Küchler clapped his hands, Clap, clap.
Then, a man in a Wehrmacht uniform entered, raised his hand high, and shouted.
"Heil Hitler! I greet the loyal generals of the true fatherland!"
That man was Walter Schellenberg, the man Himmler had placed as the head of the SD after Reinhard Heydrich was purged.
As the generals looked sowhat bewildered, Küchler opened his mouth.
"The Fourth Empire's main forces are all at the front, and our 3rd Army is right next to Berlin. So the plan is to advance on Berlin with the supporters of National Socialism. When we make our move, Himmler in Italy will move Italy to buy us ti. If all goes well, France will join in too."
Küchler looked around the conference room, which was filled with tension, and spoke with a solemn face.
"We are saving our fatherland from those traitors."
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