November 15, 1939
Central Germany, 9th Military District, Kassel, New Governnt Capital, Frankfurt On the day of the New Governnt's National Defense Force's Departure Ceremony, the weather was picture-perfect.
Under a clear sky with warm sunlight peeking through the clouds, an imnse crowd filled the urban area of Frankfurt.
They were the forr Freedom Corps, now setting out for the front line not as a ragtag mob of volunteer soldiers but as a proper regular army after completing basic training, along with their families and the citizens who had co out to watch.
The sight of countless people, filled with expectation and tension, forming a sea of black-red-gold flags was always moving, yet at the sa ti, felt heavy.
I glanced down from the Nazi German Wehrmacht military uniform to the National Defense Force military uniform I was now wearing. This mont was like a symbol of the history we had changed through our efforts.
“Wow, am I shaking?”
I'd done countless radio broadcasts, but still, a speech in front of a crowd that filled Frankfurt… there was no way I wouldn't be nervous.
“Hehe, a little?”
Claudia chuckled as she answered, then straightened my shoulders from behind and added.
“It's okay. It's what you always do, isn't it?”
“Haha…”
Sure, I've done plenty of radio broadcasts, but is this really the sa?
Claudia and I had agonized over this speech script for days, tearing it apart and rewriting it.
I can't ss this up…
As I was earnestly scanning the speech script, I heard the sound of applause echoing through the public square, and my father stepped down from the podium.
My father, Hjalmar Schacht, had an unchanging, stern expression even after giving a speech in front of that massive crowd.
“Uh, um. Good work, Mr.
Chancellor.”
My father heard
and looked at
with an indifferent expression, then made a 'tsk' sound.
“What's with that look on your face? Are you going to go out and give a speech like that? Don't disgrace the governnt's dignity.”
Wow, seriously, this is a bit sudden…?
I'm about to lose it.
“Next, we will have a speech from the Vice Minister of the Chancellery, Dietrich Schacht.”
The voice of Theodor Heuss, the Editor-in-chief—no, the Minister of Propaganda—rang out.
Ha, damn it. Just monts ago I was trembling with nervousness, but now I'm trembling with anger.
anwhile, my father was looking at
with a 'What, why?' expression, and Claudia was chuckling beside him, as if she found it all amusing.
Ha, I'll pull this off magnificently, if only to spite that damn father of mine.
I smiled at Claudia, who was mouthing 'good luck' to , and stepped onto the podium.
-
“Where is he? Where are you coming from, Manstein…”
Berlin Army High Command.
Army Chief of General Staff Franz Halder muttered as he stared intently at the operation map.
That bastard, who got demoted for backing the wrong side, hated him for the ridiculous reason that he had stolen his position, and in the end, betrayed him with the worst possible parting gift.
Halder was itching to return the 'gift' he had received from Manstein, and he was even suspicious of the intel from the SD that Himmler had so proudly presented.
Hold a massive departure ceremony on the 15th and start an offensive towards Berlin on the 18th.
Manstein would launch such a rudintary and ordinary offensive? It's more believable that it's disinformation.
Whatever Hitler and Himmler thought, Halder was making the utmost preparations, taking every possible precaution.
Watching Halder's behavior, which bordered on an obsession with Manstein, the Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Ard Forces (OKW), Alfred Jodl, turned his gaze to the radio.
Their Chancellor, Hjalmar Schacht, had given a perfectly standard encouraging speech, but since they were holding a massive departure ceremony, there was a chance so intel could slip out, so they too were listening to the New Governnt's radio.
[My respected fellow people of Germany, this is Vice Minister of the Chancellery, Dietrich Schacht. First and foremost, I must say that I feel a heavy responsibility for this situation where Germany is split in two, with us aiming guns at each other.
]
At the sa ti, the sa broadcast was coming through the loudspeakers of the New Governnt Army, set up on the front line of the confrontation.
“Damn, soone's still a Company Commander, but he's really made it big.”
“I should've thought a little before answering when he was sounding
out.”
“That bastard.
He should have asked more clearly. That guy knows I don't think things through…”
Klens Fleck and Captain Roger Michael stood blankly, listening to the voice of the man who was once their close friend and batchmate, echoing from the enemy lines.
[At the sa ti, I express my sincere gratitude to those who have willingly volunteered for the National Defense Force for the sake of Germany's freedom and a better future in this chaotic ti. I offer my utmost respect for your courage and resolve.
]
“It seems the SD has been thoroughly deceived. They are certainly not as good as before, ever since Heydrich was eliminated.”
In the Abwehr's temporary headquarters in Frankfurt, Director Wilhelm Canaris, having received the report from Deputy Director Hans Oster, nodded and looked out the window at the residents filling the urban area.
Not the Empire he and the royalist faction had dread of, but residents responding to a democratic Germany, listening to the speech with smiling faces.
“Well, it's not as bad as I thought.”
[Even at this very mont, in Austria, the battle continues against the Italian invaders brought in by the Nazis.
Soon, a battle will also break out on the front line with the Nazis. I do not wish to instill any romanticism in you.
What you will face is a battlefield. It is a tragic and horrible place, a place where so will die.
]
“To say sothing like that when it's questionable if it would help the soldiers even if you sugarcoat it.”
Beside Minister of Defense Ludwig Beck, who had furrowed his glabella while listening to the speech, Colonel Tresckow idly puffed out cigarette smoke and chuckled.
“That friend lacks a bit of knack for it.”
[And the enemy you will face is of one nation, your compatriots, and your neighbors.
They are people against whom you would normally have no reason to aim a gun. What I want to request of you is simple.
Do not try to kill just because it's an order. Do not be proud of risking your life for the nation.
]
“If I had made that man my Chancellor, I wouldn't have lived long from sickness from anger.”
To the words of the Emperor, Wilhelm III, who was listening intently to the radio, Crown Prince Louis Ferdinand chuckled and replied.
“He's a friend who's a bit too far ahead for Your Majesty to understand. Haha.”
[But, deliberate. Deliberate on the reason why you must fight on the battlefield, risking your life and staining your hands with blood.
If you cannot think of any reason, then gladly commit insubordination. That is not abandoning a soldier's duty.
If the governnt leading you is wrong, if it only coerces you with orders that have no reason to be followed,]
Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland was smoking a cigar, exhaling smoke, but he was focused on the voice coming from the radio.
His close friend Werner M??lders watched him quietly before turning his gaze out the window, looking down at the airfield where their fighter aircraft were hangared.
[Then, to blindly obey is not loyalty to the fatherland. It is becoming an accomplice to a criminal regi.
Including myself, we all share the responsibility. It was none other than the entire German people who turned a blind eye to those suffering under the Nazi regi's persecution, who grew enthusiastic about the illusions they presented and handed over power.
]
Wolfram von Richthofen was sitting alone in his room, quietly sipping his drink and listening to the radio.
He had told Dietrich Schacht several tis that a soldier didn't need to think complexly, but Schacht was shouting at them to think.
“Damn it, that guy is doing that for us to hear, right?”
The taste of the alcohol he always enjoyed felt bitter today.
[But it's not too late.
We have risen to correct this. Even if the Nazi regi denounces us as traitors and claims we are not Germany, you cannot cover the sky with your hand! Frankfurt, Kassel, Dresden, Stuttgart, Münster, Munich, Hanover, Wiesbaden, Nuremberg, Tyrol! These people who are with us, these many German people! What arrogant person! Who would dare say they are not Germany!]
“Schacht, that bastard… Arrrgghhh!”
Hitler, in his office, slamd his desk and scread, clutching the back of his neck.
“D-Doctor! Th-that thing!”
“Here it is, The Führer.”
Doctor Goebbels glared anxiously at Theodor Morell, who was giving Hitler his dicine, while Erwin Roml listened to the continuing radio broadcast with somber eyes.
[What the German people are waving here today is not their Hakenkreuz, stained with iron and blood! Look at the golden flag symbolizing freedom that fills the streets! The era of inciting hatred and crying for war and obedience against the enemy must now end! Not by the hand of a great Aryan hero, nor by a powerful nation, but by your own hands it must end!]
Lutz Habenstein, the Branch Manager of the Frankfurter Zeitung Berlin Branch, spoke to his nephew, who couldn't take his eyes off Dietrich Schacht, who was pouring sweat as he gave his speech on the podium.
“It was good luck that you t that friend.”
His nephew, Julius Habenstein, who had overco the scars of his heart after returning from the Condor Legion and started on the path of a reporter, smiled faintly.
[If, in the future, soone asks
what I fought for, I will answer proudly! Not for the glory of the nation, not because of orders, but that I fought for our freedom! My respected people of Germany! The Wehrmacht! What will you answer! If you cannot answer what you fought for, with what resolve, for what reason, are you aiming your guns at your compatriots!]
Walther Model was drawing a line on the operation map to close the gap between Berlin and Dresden when he heard the shout of the subordinate he cherished, and he froze.
What did he fight for? Could he answer that? For what reason was he drawing on an operation map against the German people?
[You say you're afraid to break your pledge of loyalty, but you're not afraid to betray yourself and your compatriots! Do not hate the enemy as they command you, but hate yourself for abandoning thought! Hate yourself for obeying because you are afraid to make a decision! I hope that you will make a choice that will not be stained with regret when all this is over. May God's blessing be upon us all, upon our fatherland, Germany.
]
Walther Model looked at the operation map he was drawing with a trembling hand, then tore it to shreds.
-
November 15, 1939
Northern Germany, 11th Military District, Hanover, New Governnt National Defense Force Northern Army Headquarters In the cigarette smoke-filled command room, the sound of Clap- clap- clap- echoed.
“Not bad. Quite sothing, for a brat.
If I knew he was such a real piece of work, I would have tried to humor him sooner.”
After Dietrich Schacht's speech broadcast ended, Erich von Manstein, who had applauded, took a flavorful drag from his cigar, then added another peak to the mountain of cigars in the ashtray.
“A report from General Witzleben. He says the enemy is focused on the broadcast and showing no particular movents.”
Manstein, satisfied with the staff officer's report, grinned.
“Hahaha, yes.
This is the feeling. This is what I wanted.”
On the chessboard of the battlefield, moving the chess pieces called the military, deployed according to the operation he designed, to achieve victory through struggle.
This was the very situation he had dread of while diligently providing assistance to Ludwig Beck, a situation that had beco distant when he was demoted.
“Report from General Hamrstein! He has successfully bypassed the enemy defense line! He says he will enter in the direction of Stettin from Hamburg!”
Manstein felt goosebumps run down his spine as he took out a new cigar, lit it, and put it in his mouth.
The command room was already so thick with cigarette smoke that his eyes stung, but he didn't care.
His first stage as Army Chief of General Staff, with his rival, Franz Halder, who it wouldn't even be satisfying to chew up and spit out. Could there be a more perfect stage?
“Haha, hahaha.
Let's see how far that Halder can hold out. Let the ga begin.”
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