March 10, 1939
Berlin, Northern Germany, Train Station
“Hey, Dietrich!”
“Hah. It’s been a while, Klens.”
I shared a warm embrace with Klens, whom I hadn't seen in a very long ti. The expression might sound a bit odd, but I was that happy to see him.
He was my contemporary who had rolled in the dirt with
in that god-awful Spain, my forr adjutant, and the friend who took over my company.
“Man, how long has it been?”
“Hmm… let’s see… Ah, I don’t know.”
The Spanish Civil War was over.
The Republican faction, dominated by Soviet communists, had purged figures who didn't suit their tastes, as well as anarchists, even as the tide of war turned against them.
In the end, they triggered another civil war within the civil war itself.
Franco crushed the Republicans, who were split between communists and anti-communist factions, and profited from their infighting to successfully devour Spain.
I don’t know for sure, but Spain must be a living hell right now. Franco’s reign of terror and its atrocities were said to have horrified even fascist figures…
“Hahaha, look! I’m a captain now, too! Captain Dietrich Schacht? You’re not my superior anymore!”
“Oh, right.
Congratulations.”
While I was busy studying at the War College and engaging in resistance activities, Klens had apparently stayed in the Spanish Civil War until the very end, earning rits and getting promoted to captain.
anwhile, it seed like it would be a long ti before I made major. Promotions to field-grade officer in the German army were incredibly slow.
I an, even renowned talents like Manstein and Model usually took over ten years to get promoted from captain to major, so that says it all.
"Still, it's great to be back in the fatherland, man! I'm so sick of Spain."
"Haha, is that so."
The end of the Spanish Civil War.
I couldn’t rember the exact date, but in the original history, I thought it happened after the annexation of Czechoslovakia. This was earlier.
Honestly, I didn’t know to what extent my actions in Spain had influenced things. However, seeing direct proof that my actions did cause so change gave
hope.
The early end of the Spanish Civil War, and though unintentional, the seeds I had sown with Willy Brandt in Spain bearing fruit…
“Hello, Captain Fleck? I’m Claudia Jung. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Claudia, who had been watching from a short distance, greeted him with a bright smile, and Klens’s eyes went wide.
…Gaining her and the Social Democrats’ support was, in the end, a result of my actions.
“A-An absolute beauty! A pleasure to et you! I am Captain Klens Fleck! Wow, you’re gorgeous. Do you happen to have a boyfriend?”
Hey, this bastard, on our first eting?
“Hey, you punk, what about Rafaela!”
At my words, Klens flinched, and his face suddenly looked like he was about to cry.
Whoops, they broke up.
“That bitch… I treated her so well!!”
Klens suddenly wailed mournfully.
What do I do with him? No wonder his letters, which used to be full of boasts about Rafaela, suddenly stopped ntioning her at so point…
“But before my very eyes stands soone I could fall in love with instantly. Blondes are better than brunettes, after all.
Don’t you think so?”
“Uh, what? Ah…”
…This guy wasn't worth my concern.
As Klens kept hitting on her, I saw the rare sight of even Claudia getting flustered, and I couldn't hold back any longer.
“Uh, but how do you know this Dietrich fellow, are you perhaps… Gack!”
“She’s my lover!”
Klens looked more shocked by my words than by the slap to the back of his head.
When he turned his head with a dumbfounded expression, Claudia giggled and nodded, and he scread in despair.
“No wayyyyyy, even this eunuch has a girlfriend and I’m singleeeeeeeee!”
-
March 14, 1939
Berlin, Northern Germany, Neue Reichskanzlei (New Reich Chancellery)
Following the resignation of Czechoslovakia's forr president, Edvard Bene??, as a result of the Munich Agreent, his successor, Emil Hácha, arrived in Germany at Hitler’s summons.
Summoning the president of a sovereign nation was an unparalleled act of disrespect, but Czechoslovakia, betrayed by its supposed allies Britain and France, had been forced to cede the Sudetenland and its powerful fortress line, leaving it completely defenseless against the German threat.
Compared to the picturesque beauty of Prague, the Czech capital, the bleak and crude landscape of Berlin, adorned with countless Hakenkreuz flags in colors reminiscent of iron and blood, was enough to intimidate him.
“I must pull myself together.
The fate of my country rests in my hands…”
Even as he spoke, Hácha’s trembling hands took out his heart dication and swallowed it whole. For a man with a weak heart, the ruthless country of Germany was truly a terrible place.
Germany, which had put on a spectacular Wehrmacht parade for Neville Chamberlain during the Munich Agreent, had prepared nothing for him, the President of Czechoslovakia.
Without a word or explanation, they simply led him to an intimidating building.
This structure, nad the Neue Reichskanzlei, was a new building constructed by their Minister of Armants, Albert Speer.
Frowning at the sight of the entrance, which was inconveniently located on the side of the building instead of the center where it would normally be, Hácha nevertheless stepped inside as guided.
And, the mont he stepped inside, he was overwheld.
“Heil Hitler!”
A grand, long, long, and ever so long marble corridor that looked to be hundreds of ters stretched far into the distance, and the shouts of the SS mbers who filled it, raising their right hands to the sky, echoed like thunder through the building's hall.
“Hah, hack…”
“What is the matter, Mr. President? Please, enter.
The Führer is waiting.”
“Ah, I, I understand.”
The old and frail President Hácha took one step after another, cowering as if the hundreds of SS n were raising swords instead of hands.
The sight of hundreds of SS n reflected on the polished marble floor, and his own staggering figure, forced to walk alone without even a single aide permitted, seed to project the images of Germany and Czechoslovakia, and despair washed over him.
By the ti President Hácha finally arrived in front of the Führer's office, having walked the entire 400-ter-long marble corridor designed for the sole purpose of intimidating and frightening people, he was pouring cold sweat like rain.
“Heil Hitler! Führer, the President of Czechoslovakia has arrived.”
Adolf Hitler, who had been waiting for him, sitting at a long desk in his office with his chin resting on his hand, gestured for him to co closer.
In that mont, neither G??ring's vile smile nor Goebbels's stern face made any impression on Hácha.
Plagued by humiliation, he staggered as if possessed and reached the front of Hitler's desk.
“Mr.
President, you must make a decision for your country.”
“W-What, what decision… do you an?”
At Hitler's abrupt words thrown at the leader of a nation, Hácha asked while sweating profusely, and Hitler said with a smirk.
“You people have no power to protect yourselves. Yet you have continuously oppressed the Slovak people.
Just as we liberated the Germans of the Sudetenland who were once oppressed by you, we intend to liberate them as well.”
“W-What, does that an…”
Regardless of whether Hácha was in denial or not, Hitler rcilessly said what he had to say.
“We will grant freedom to Slovakia, and Carpathian-Ruthenia, which was originally Hungarian territory, will be handed over to Hungary. After that, we will make you, the Czechs who cannot protect yourselves, a protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, part of the Reich’s territory.”
“Th-That’s, un-unbelievable… Gaaahck…!”
Hácha, about to vent his indignation at Hitler who was delivering a sentence as if to a perfectly independent nation, clutched his chest, collapsed, and began to tremble violently.
“Hmm, I heard his heart was weak, but I didn't think it was this bad…”
Even watching such a scene, Dr.
Goebbels's tone was flat.
“The doctor’s idea is working too well.”
As Hitler said this and waved his hand dismissively, a waiting doctor and SS mbers administered first aid to Hácha, force-fed him stimulants, and slapped his cheeks to wake him up.
“Gasp, haah, haah…”
No one in the room showed any concern or pity for Hácha, who looked like he could drop dead at any mont.
“My, my, will you be able to perform your presidential duties like that? I shall make it easy for you. Sign it, Mr.
President.”
Barely conscious but still trembling, Hácha, with a pale complexion, took the paper Hitler held out for him to sign and read it.
The guarantee of independence Germany had given when it took the Sudetenland, ho to three million people, from Czechoslovakia, had returned as an agreent to split the remaining territory into three and divide it amongst themselves.
“You… you bandits… I would rather die here than sign such a humiliating treaty…”
“Mr.
President. I hear Prague is such a beautiful city, is it not?”
It was Hermann G??ring who uttered the nonsensical words in response to Hácha's hard-won resolve.
“Mr. President, you must have heard about Guernica in Spain.
As it happens, the war has ended, and our Luftwaffe soldiers who were active in Guernica have returned…”
The horrors of the Guernica bombing, which had laid waste to an entire town, had been widely reported in the press, so Hácha knew it all too well.
To the startled man, G??ring added with a hideous smile.
“It would be… most regrettable if the beautiful scenery of a city like Prague were to disappear overnight, wouldn't it?”
“Hah, haack, haaack…”
Hácha finally burst into tears and could only tremble, and when the SS mbers, on Hitler’s cue, grabbed his hand and forced him to sign, he fainted on the spot.
“Goodness, make sure he doesn't die.
It will be a hassle if he dies for no reason.”
Czechoslovakia, the independent nation of Central Europe born from the interests of the great powers after the last Great War, vanished from the map amidst their betrayal and neglect.
-
Ludwig Beck had urged the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Brauchitsch, to stop the annexation of Czechoslovakia, even if it ant the entire General Staff resigning en masse, but Brauchitsch, indebted to Hitler and being dragged along by him, ultimately did not act.
Hitler went ahead and annexed Czechoslovakia.
Slovakia beca a German puppet state under the pretext of liberation, and the Carpathian-Ruthenia region was forcibly annexed by Hungary after refusing to rge.
Britain, which had praised Neville Chamberlain for bringing 'peace for our ti' and declaring that a man had saved them from war, was thrown into shock and terror when Hitler's promise not to make any more territorial demands was broken in less than half a year.
While Czechoslovakia was being annexed and Britain and France were in denial and disarray, Hitler, on March 22, before the shock had even subsided, extorted l from the weak eastern nation of Lithuania.
On March 30, the finally enraged politicians of Britain and France issued a declaration guaranteeing their entry into the war should Germany invade Poland.
The high-ranking officials and military leaders, who had quietly distanced themselves from the resistance after Hitler's great success at Munich, now, faced with the looming threat of war, finally began to hastily sche to stop Hitler.
The last chance to stop the Nazis before a war broke out had arrived.
-
April 1, 1939
Berlin, Northern Germany, Parade Ground in front of the OKW (Wehrmacht High Command)
To commorate the achievents of the Condor Legion that participated in the Spanish Civil War, all German soldiers dispatched to the Legion were gathered on the parade ground.
Hugo Sperrle, who was the air fleet commander when I was there; Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma, the army commander; Richthofen, who was a lieutenant colonel when I first t him but had been promoted to major general at lightning speed.
And my ntor who had sent
to Berlin and was actively protecting
through Brauchitsch, Major General Walther Model.
My battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Beckers, and my precious, albeit annoying, contemporary Klens, First Lieutenant Egon Roth, First Lieutenant Karlheinz Beckermann, and Sergeant Kocher.
Their ranks had changed, but all the comrades who had fought, bled, and sweated in that godforsaken Spain were gathered, receiving a fervent welco from a magnificent honor guard and the local residents.
If we were being welcod like this for a victory in a just war, as decent human beings of this era, by an honorable governnt, I would have been overjoyed.
“As the Führer of the German Nation and Reich, I am imnsely pleased to welco back to the heart of Germany the proud n of the Condor Legion, who fought against those Reds in Spain to defend freedom and justice!”
Even the Nazis, the harshest on freedom anywhere in this era, claim to stand for freedom and justice.
“Your dedication is proof of the eternal friendship between Germany and Spain, and your sweat and blood were the very definition of German justice!”
The looks of admiration the German people send the Führer at such words are an irony.
“But there are those who are jealous of the rights Germany must rightfully reclaim. Those who, despite Germany's long patience, dare to deny Germany's rights!”
My head knows it's bullshit, but listening to that dynamic speech, I feel like even I'm being drawn in by Hitler.
I wonder if I can learn how to do that.
“But those weaklings must know that they cannot dare to stop the great Germany's ascent! Germany, soaring on wings of steel, will rcilessly tear those insignificant beings apart, and I do not doubt for a mont that you will be at the vanguard!”
“Sieg Heil!”
“Heil Hitler!”
“Deutschland über Alles!”
Hitler concluded his speech amidst fervent cheers and descended to personally award the Spanish Cross to those who had achieved great distinction.
Many of those who had been with , having been in the trenches since the early days of the Spanish Civil War, were receiving the high-grade Cross with Swords.
Hugo Sperrle, Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma, Wolfram von Richthofen, Adolf Galland, Werner M??lders, and even Walther Model.
They all look happy. And finally, it was my turn.
“Dietrich Schacht… Captain.”
Hitler smiled at , as if mulling over my na and rank.
“They say you made a key contribution to the Battle of Brunete when you were just a first lieutenant. Haha… you're the only army company-grade officer to receive this for your achievents.
A promising officer for the future.”
With those words, Hitler pinned the Silver Spanish Cross with Swords to my chest.
A cross emblazoned with a Hakenkreuz.
“Thank you!”
I replied with a salute to Hitler.
He should have moved on after pinning it, but Hitler paused, looking at my face for a mont before speaking.
“Your father… was a great help to
and to Germany.
But, regrettably, not recently.”
So that's why this man was spending so much ti on a re captain.
I felt a cold sweat run down my spine.
“…You will be loyal to
and to Germany, will you not? Dietrich.
Schacht. Captain.”
“As a soldier of the Wehrmacht, I am loyal to Germany.”
Hitler chortled at my answer, clapped my shoulder, and turned his back.
…But he didn't leave. With his back still turned, he only tilted his head slightly and asked again.
“And, to ?”
Hitler's cold gaze was fixed on .
“…The Führer is, at present, the leader of Germany.”
“Haha. Hahaha…”
Hitler, seemingly satisfied with my answer, laughed and moved on to the next recipient.
I was sweating, but it seed I had navigated it well.
Nearly every officer was looking at , so I had to force an awkward smile.
I don't want this kind of attention.
I glanced over.
Hitler, the very person who had made
so tense, was now cheerfully and amiably pinning dals as if nothing had happened.
Right.
Führer, you are the leader of Germany.
…For now.
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