December 20, 1939
Northern Germany, Berlin, Governnt Complex Germany was in an uproar as Poland launched a surprise invasion at dawn, just as the General Mobilization Order was declared.
Damn it.
A surprise invasion right after the mobilization order was issued? And we’re the ones getting ambushed by Poland, starting the initial battle by getting shattered?
If we mobilize all the Reserve Forces, we can field over 100 divisions. But that’s only possible after the mobilization is complete.
Even if we hastily wrap up reorganization and everything else and order them to the front lines, we have less than 20 divisions that can fight on the mainland right now.
And half of them are trapped and under attack in East Prussia.
Poland shalessly sent a declaration of war, stating they would recover their forr territory, along with a reply finally rejecting our proposal for a non-aggression pact, all while their invasion was in full swing.
“What are Britain and France saying?”
To the question posed by my father, who looked exhausted, Minister of Foreign Affairs Weizs??cker replied reluctantly.
“France and Britain have issued statents of condemnation, but that’s all.”
It wouldn’t be strange for France to be secretly pleased while only pretending to condemn it.
“Britain bought up the confiscated companies in Germany, but is that all?”
"mber of Parliant Churchill and mbers of the German-British Cooperation Organization are criticizing the governnt, but Pri Minister Halifax announced that while Poland's war provocation is regrettable, they are not considering any separate response at this ti."
Only sighs erupted in the eting room.
Has that damn Halifax still not kicked the habit he picked up during the Munich Agreent?
“We just issued the General Mobilization Order…”
“A surprise invasion! Such a cowardly act!”
“It seems we grew too complacent after winning the Civil War…”
I’m so demoralized I can only let out a hollow laugh. To think of all the blood that was shed to get here.
Is this so kind of suppressive force of history? Did God decree that Germany in this era must collapse at least once, no matter what?
To think we're getting hit with the exact sa thod Nazi Germany used in the original history, but from Poland? I'm so dumbfounded I'm speechless.
“First, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must try to secure Britain's support sohow.”
“…We will do our best.”
At my father’s request, Minister of Foreign Affairs Weizs??cker agreed, but he himself didn’t seem to view it very hopefully.
Perhaps the problem is that we ended the civil war too easily. Let’s say that’s a given for France, which has always been half an enemy nation, but…
From Britain's perspective, which wants to maintain the balance of Europe, they might be hoping for a check on our national power, which ended the civil war much faster than expected and was pushing Italy back with an irresistible force.
“…A heavy burden has fallen on the shoulders of the Minister of Defense and the military.”
The Minister of Defense, Field Marshal Ludwig Beck, let out a small sigh.
“The damage from the surprise attack is by no ans small, but I will do my best.”
After all the trouble of ousting Hitler, now it's Poland after Italy, and probably Hungary too.
Even if I admit it was naive to expect World War II wouldn’t happen just by getting rid of the Nazis.
Was the problem the vain collapse the Nazi German Army showed in the civil war, or is it that what's fated to happen in history will happen regardless?
If the god who dropped
here is watching, I'd like to ask.
What in the world are they, are we, fighting for?
---
December 20, 1939
Northern Germany, Berlin, National Defense Force Headquarters
“General Manstein. Do you have a counterasure?”
Seeing the great Manstein standing silent, just staring down at the operation map, Ludwig Beck and I sighed.
The only consolation is…
“The Navy has been ordered to neutralize the Polish Navy and move to secure command of the sea.”
Admiral Erich Raeder reported, looking pleased for the first ti in a while.
Our navy may be weak among the Great Powers, but we still possess old-type battleships, pocket battleships, and the proper battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.
We should be able to easily suppress the Polish Navy, which doesn't even have old-type battleships, and provide coastal bombardnt support if needed.
With no practical way to help the 3rd Army in East Prussia, even that was a relief.
After a long silence, Manstein finally spoke.
“We have no choice but to pull troops from the Italian Front Army. At least 20 divisions, or more than 25 if possible…”
“So it cos to that…”
We desperately need a unit to buy ti until the Reserve Forces can be mobilized.
But even now, the Italian Army is equal to or greater than the Polish Army in terms of divisions and military force. No matter how weak the Italian Army is, it’s as obvious as watching a fire that we'll be pushed back if we withdraw troops from there.
After managing to advance all the way to Veneto, I know how much blood flows just to secure a distance of a few centiters on a map.
But we can't let the mainland be trampled either.
This is a total crisis.
“The Veneto region is not suitable for defense.
We must retreat to at least Südtirol, or Tyrol, and fight a defensive battle.”
Hearing Manstein's words, all sorts of thoughts run through my head, and I think I can understand a little of why Hitler and Stalin were always going on about not retreating.
Not that they did it for the price of their dead soldiers’ blood, though.
Inside that small map, there must be countless bodies of Germans and Italians.
There will surely be no small number of civilian casualties that can’t be justified with excuses like ‘they invaded us, so we’re returning the favor.’
I requested that the military avoid civilian casualties as much as possible, but it was just a request.
I wonder how well it's being followed on the front line. Do they even intend to follow it?
“My thoughts are the sa.”
While I was lost in thought, Minister of Defense Field Marshal Ludwig Beck also agreed. Well, no one would disagree with this.
If this were Hitler, he'd be worried about his authority as a dictator being shaken…
“…The Minister of Defense and I will take responsibility and persuade the Cabinet.”
This isn't a war being fought to strengthen power, and we're a Warti National Unity Cabinet, so we must focus on minimizing damage instead of wasting ti assigning bla.
“Thank you, Minister, Vice Minister! You are truly more magnanimous than that bastard Hitler!”
With a much-improved expression, Manstein started flattering us again, making Beck and
sour-faced.
Ah, I really can't get used to this.
Just as I was thinking that, Ludwig Beck spoke.
“Though it's a crisis, in a way, it could be a good thing.
We now have the justification to reclaim our coveted Danzig Corridor and make an example of those damn Polack bastards.”
“Indeed, Minister! Isn’t it that opportunity cos in a crisis!”
A chilling feeling washed over .
Beyond being bothered by the remarks of soldiers who don't consider the blood that will be shed in war, hadn't I too been unconsciously thinking the sa thing?
That I wanted to take Danzig if the opportunity arose. If, just if, Poland hadn't invaded us.
Would I, would we, have truly not invaded Poland even after finishing the war with Italy?
I clenched my teeth. This isn't the ti to worry about such things.
“What are your thoughts on personnel selection?”
With things as they are, the general who remains on the Italian front will essentially be a throwaway card.
It would be a success just not to lose ground, let alone gain any military rit.
Would anyone want to take this on?
Manstein cleared his throat.
“That seems to be a matter for consultation with the Army Group South Headquarters.”
“…How about Lieutenant General Model as the Chief of Staff for the Italian front?”
Hearing my words, Manstein raised an eyebrow slightly.
General Walther Model was arrested when the Nazi Wehrmacht's Army Group South was disbanded, but was imdiately released and his rank restored thanks to the advocacy of General Witzleben and his subordinates.
“Ahem, I am well aware that you, Vice Minister, are acquainted with him. But, isn't he soone who personally took a military discharge?”
The problem is that General Model himself applied for a discharge after his release…
“That's true, but I believe he is the most suitable person for such a role.
I'll try to persuade him.”
“Hmm, if it's that friend Model, his ability is certain.
It's not like many people would want the job anyway, so if he himself is willing…”
With Beck chiming in, Manstein soon broke into a broad smile and spoke.
“In that case, I approve as well! Haha, so you too have a soft spot for personal relationships, Vice Minister.
That heart that doesn't wish for your ntor to be buried in obscurity! That very mindset that shines even in a high position is truly the Vice Minister’s-”
“Then I will try to persuade General Model.”
“I'll leave it to you.”
“Then the Navy will proceed with the operation.”
Manstein's rhetoric was rcilessly cut off by , Beck, and Raeder.
---
December 21, 1939
Central Germany, 4th Military District, Dresden
“Welco, Schacht.”
“Pardon the intrusion.”
I was visiting Walther Model at his private residence.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you, Hertha.”
“Ah, thank you, Ma’am.”
General Model's wife served us drinks, then shooed away the curious-looking girls who were poking their heads in to peek into the room.
“Hella, Christa.
Don’t be rude.”
Watching the scene, a smile naturally spread across my face.
Ah, will Claudia and I live like this soday?
“…You have a nice family, General.”
“I’m not a general anymore.”
Seeing General Model, who always wore a monocle and a crisp military uniform, now in comfortable clothes and smiling faintly, I suddenly felt a sense of doubt.
…Is this the right thing to do?
Back when we were driving out the Nazis, I had conviction.
The conviction that this was absolutely the right path.
To prevent the Nazi's Holocaust and stop the horrific disaster that would claim tens of millions of lives.
I ran all this way with that firm goal in mind.
But what is the result?
The neighboring countries, having witnessed the vain collapse of Nazi Germany in the civil war, began to underestimate Germany and invade in turn.
In the original history, the German military, which had surrendered itself to the madness of Nazi Germany and shed countless blood on the battlefield, at least got to repent to posterity.
But now?
We are under attack, but our enemies don't know Germany's capability.
I, who knows Germany’s latent power from the original history, don't think we will be defeated to this extent, even if we struggle in the initial phase.
The Germans will fight on, burning with heroic patriotism to save their nation in crisis.
But how is the hatred directed at the invaders any different from the hatred instilled by the Nazis?
Claudia said it was a natural anger for a human being, and that it was also a just motive. Her words are certainly right.
But, how are those who say this invasion gives them justification to take Danzig any different from Mao Zedong, who said he was grateful that Japan's invasion allowed the Chinese Communist Party to take control of China?
“You have such a deathly look on your face. It's not your fault, so don't make that face.”
What was I thinking, sitting in front of my ntor like this? I quickly raised my head and apologized to General Model.
“I’m sorry, I…”
“I already understand your position.
It’s not your fault that I was arrested, nor that I applied for a discharge.”
Walther Model said so, then smiled and added.
“Well, it is a bit outrageous that you repaid my kindness with enmity.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
Seriously, I ca here saying I'd persuade him to return to the front, and all I'm doing is apologizing.
“I did the sa, so what does it matter? I guess it's like master, like disciple.
Haha.”
Model laughed as he said that.
It wasn't the kind of laugh he used to make when telling strange jokes to maintain his cheerfulness on the battlefield, but a laugh thick with bitterness.
He said that by conveying the war situation to the Army Group South, he essentially induced their surrender and was then arrested along with Brauchitsch.
What was he thinking, what emotions did he feel, when he acted that way?
“…I was actually…”
“Did you co to recomnd that I return?”
What, does General Model have mind reading too?
As I stood there with my mouth agape, Model smiled faintly.
“You think a lot, but you have a surprisingly easy-to-read side.
Especially when it cos to emotional matters.”
“…Yes, sir.”
But do I have the right to make such a recomndation? To put it nicely, I betrayed my ntor, General Model.
On top of that, now that the Nazis are gone, I've beco unable to be sure if what I'm doing is truly the right path.
“Fine, I'll do it.”
“Pardon?”
I was flabbergasted, but it was General Model who looked at
as if I were the strange one.
“Why, is it strange for a reserve lieutenant general to say he’s returning during a war?”
“No, it’s not that, but…”
Seeing him out of uniform, with his family, looking so natural and comfortable, so happy, I wondered if it was right to drag him back to the battlefield…
“Applying for a discharge was, so to speak, an escape.”
“Pardon?”
Walther Model, an escape? That Model?
“I abandoned my ntor, and with him on trial, I didn't want to stand tall in the military.
It would have been easier if I had been tried and punished alongside him.”
Walther Model grinned at my stunned expression.
“But I am a soldier. When the fatherland is in crisis and calls for , I am not so ill-bred as to not respond.”
I bit my lip.
“Are you okay with it for that reason?”
“What’s not to be okay with? I’ve lived my life that way.
You asked, didn't you? What we fight for. I fight for the fatherland.
The reason I abandoned my ntor is that I realized fighting alongside him was not for the good of the fatherland.”
He really is a soldier, through and through.
For so reason, I felt the tension leave .
After a mont of thought, I said to him.
“It’s embarrassing to say this now, but I don’t know anymore.”
“Don’t know? What?”
I didn't know how to explain this contradictory feeling, so I just blurted out whatever ca to mind.
“What we're fighting for. The horrors of the battlefield I witnessed have faded to re afterimages, and I feel increasingly horrified to see myself judging whether we're winning or losing based on the numbers in a report.”
Model just listened to my words without saying anything.
“Is it enough to defeat the enemy because we're under attack, win for the fatherland, and reclaim our territory? Many of the soldiers dying on that battlefield will be people who would never have visited that land in their lives, and there will be many civilians who die just for the reason that they lived in that land.”
What kind of nonsense am I spouting to a soldier loyal to his fatherland?
“…I’m sorry. We’re the ones being attacked.
I’ve said sothing strange.”
“Hmm.
You certainly don't have a military constitution.”
General Model said so simply, then looked my clothes up and down and spoke.
“Then, why do you go around in a military uniform? You may still be affiliated with the military, but you're a politician now. You're not the type to want to show off your rank, either.”
“…I wear it because I'm afraid I'll forget that even at this mont, there are soldiers fighting and dying on the front line.”
Model grinned at my answer.
“That’s a pretty cool answer. I like it.
Hey, Schacht. How old are you this year?”
“…I’m 29, sir.”
“I told you. You think too much.
For soone so young and green, you worry far too much.”
Wait, I don't think this age is that young, is it?
“To be honest, I find it hard to sympathize with your worries.”
“I figured as much.”
General Model smiled at , then slapped my back with a loud thwack.
“Oof, General!”
That really hurts like hell!
“But I’ve seen clearly where politicians full of conviction but no contemplation lead soldiers and the people.”
While I was montarily speechless, Model looked at
and added.
“Leave the fighting for the fatherland according to orders without a second thought to us. You, instead, worry your heart out.
At least, judging from what you’ve shown so far, I believe you won’t leave us without an answer as to what we fought for.”
“I think you’re overestimating …”
“Overestimating? Wasn't I the one who was blindsided because I underestimated you?”
If he puts it like that, I have nothing to say.
I sighed and extended my hand for a handshake.
“Welco back, Lieutenant General Model.”
“So, where is this urgent place that you ca for , needing
even while you worry?”
In this mont, I finally understood why he was nicknad the Firefighter.
“Yes, well… you'll be going to a rather… sorry place.”
“Excellent. A fitting battlefield for a sinner who abandoned his ntor.”
Feeling the firm grip of General Model's handshake, I grinned and added.
“Let's go, General Model.
To remodel the front line.”
“…I didn't know you enjoyed such jokes.”
Haha, my apologies, General. This is a future cheat.
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