Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II

That knocking sound you'll be hearing shortly will be the sound of jaws dropping when they realize who Kiki is.

We'll be hearing that a lot soon.

Especially as Johnny is one of the competent intelligence offers and will pass both pieces of information up the chain:
They're not facing the Army, but probably Marines, and they have at least one female nurse in the lines, this one is named Fischer.
Somewhere up the line, someone on the German desk will have a bizarre combination fit of joy, followed swiftly by fear, followed milliseconds later by utter terror once some of the implications become clear.

"Kristine Von Fischer is Princess Kristine, and she is on the Korean front. Wow!
Oh shit, she's there, that means if anything happens to her, the Germans will have caus Beli...

The Kaiser's daughter is there. ***************************!!!!!

The Germans would happily wheel out their worst weapons if anything happens to the Princess - chemical, thermobaric, atomic, maybe even the worst of all, if they do that we may as well start eating sour kraut and speaking German right now sir"!

"Son, get a grip on yourself, what could be worse than that"?

"Katerina Von Mischner-Blackwood sir".

"...

May God have mercy on us all"!
 
We'll be hearing that a lot soon.

Especially as Johnny is one of the competent intelligence offers and will pass both pieces of information up the chain:
They're not facing the Army, but probably Marines, and they have at least one female nurse in the lines, this one is named Fischer.
Somewhere up the line, someone on the German desk will have a bizarre combination fit of joy, followed swiftly by fear, followed milliseconds later by utter terror once some of the implications become clear.

"Kristine Von Fischer is Princess Kristine, and she is on the Korean front. Wow!
Oh shit, she's there, that means if anything happens to her, the Germans will have caus Beli...

The Kaiser's daughter is there. ***************************!!!!!

The Germans would happily wheel out their worst weapons if anything happens to the Princess - chemical, thermobaric, atomic, maybe even the worst of all, if they do that we may as well start eating sour kraut and speaking German right now sir"!

"Son, get a grip on yourself, what could be worse than that"?

"Katerina Von Mischner-Blackwood sir".

"...

May God have mercy on us all"!

And who is tootling that way on a motorbike? :eek: o_O
 
As an obscure cultural development the resemblance between the sort of tags used in triage and the Federal flag of Germany is the sort of thing that would be impossible to miss and would inevitably result in the sort of gallows humor and slang terms that have been depicted.

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The Arrow I believe has a Pratt & Whitney engine that the Canadians went with instead of a German engine, so there must be some sort of an agreement of some kind, the question is how far does it goes?.

Actually in OTL the Arrow was intended to use an indigenous Orenda engine. The Pratt & Whitneys were used on the test airframes because the Orenda Iroquois engine was still in the testing stage and not quite ready. How this relates to TTL is of course up the author but an influx of German tech should not change the desire to develop and manufacture engines locally.
 
Yes, but why develop new tech yourself when you can buy a licence much more cheaply and then build them yourself?

They can always use their R&D budget on something else.
 
As an obscure cultural development the resemblance between the sort of tags used in triage and the Federal flag of Germany is the sort of thing that would be impossible to miss and would inevitably result in the sort of gallows humor and slang terms that have been depicted.

View attachment 465965
So green is walking wounded, yellow can wait, red needs a meddevac RIGHT NOW, black gets enough morphine to die quietly?
 
Yes, but why develop new tech yourself when you can buy a licence much more cheaply and then build them yourself?

They can always use their R&D budget on something else.

So that you are not reliant on foreign governments for ongoing development? Why does any nation maintain an R&D capability in military equipment for as long as possible? Because todays friend is tomorrows potential enemy and even friends are not averse to using access as leverage. Plus the fact that without the ability to develop tech specific to your circumstance you are dependant upon equipment that may not match your requirements.
 
The Americans should already know that it is the 3rd Marine Infantry Division on the other side of the Yalu River and how the Germans have the JMS as a separate uniform service that is attached to other services in the field.
The Americans should have been trying to take pictures of the German personnel without being noticed and then trying to match names and faces with each other.
That is when someone bright on the German desk will notice that Imperial Princess Kristina is basically on the frontlines in Korea.
Of course the Americans should not tell the local Chinese commander that, or else he might get the wrong idea and try something stupid.
 
The Americans should already know that it is the 3rd Marine Infantry Division on the other side of the Yalu River and how the Germans have the JMS as a separate uniform service that is attached to other services in the field.
The Americans should have been trying to take pictures of the German personnel without being noticed and then trying to match names and faces with each other.
That is when someone bright on the German desk will notice that Imperial Princess Kristina is basically on the frontlines in Korea.
Of course the Americans should not tell the local Chinese commander that, or else he might get the wrong idea and try something stupid.

This, very much this. It's one thing if Something Happens to Kiki as part of Stupid Luck and Happenstance and something entirely different if she's deliberately targeted.

Grab.

"Back off or the princess gets it!"

Slash, slash, slash.

"Ew. I got blood on my uniform. Tante Katze didn't warn me about how much blood a cut throat sprays around."​
 
This, very much this. It's one thing if Something Happens to Kiki as part of Stupid Luck and Happenstance and something entirely different if she's deliberately targeted.

Grab.

"Back off or the princess gets it!"

Slash, slash, slash.

"Blood again? And not from someone I was trying to save? Dammit, I was hoping to go one day without having to wash my uniform. Tante Katze didn't warn me about how much blood a cut throat sprays around."​
FTFY
 
I can see that Johnny's group getting a special "burn before reading and powder the ashes and drink them message" that tells them if the Chinese even come close to where she is they are to call an airstrike in on the KMT troops and high tail it over to the german lines and warn them that a "Crazy" commander has ordered them to attack. If they cannot do that then to get the heck out of dodge and broadcast in the clear that they are coming for the princess and make sure the Germans know that the US is warning them. Last thing they need is to have Kat make an appearance in the theater going looking for the people who attacked them, and if they capture Kiki, well may god have mercy on their souls, Kat certainly isn't.
 
I can see that Johnny's group getting a special "burn before reading and powder the ashes and drink them message" that tells them if the Chinese even come close to where she is they are to call an airstrike in on the KMT troops and high tail it over to the german lines and warn them that a "Crazy" commander has ordered them to attack. If they cannot do that then to get the heck out of dodge and broadcast in the clear that they are coming for the princess and make sure the Germans know that the US is warning them. Last thing they need is to have Kat make an appearance in the theater going looking for the people who attacked them, and if they capture Kiki, well may god have mercy on their souls, Kat certainly isn't.

Never mind Kat.

Any US involvement in a plot to either capture or kill Kiki would be tantamount to an act of war between the US and Germany, with the US the aggressors. It might just not reach that point if the Reichstag can calm Louis down (fat chance) and if Kiki is unharmed. But if it did succeed? This explodes beyond Proxy War to Thermonuclear War in moments...
 

So green is walking wounded, yellow can wait, red needs a meddevac RIGHT NOW, black gets enough morphine to die quietly?

This seems pretty similar to the British Tier system:
Tier 1 - Urgent casevac case: Serious wounds, condition critical.
Tier 2 - Serious wounds, patient stable but still requires casevac.
Tier 3 - minor wounds
Tier 4 - dead/no medical attention required.

Any living patient is unlikely to receive a black tag, (in my opinion anyway, so you may be correct).
 
There was a lot of unsaid things about the visit to the Chinese lines by the JMS.
For the Germans it was a goodwill visit that allowed them to gage the condition and morale of the Chinese.
The Americans were there to guarantee the safety of the Germans and also to really emphasize to the Chinese that they are no where near ready to fight a modern equipped army.
Hopefully this will go a long way in easing tensions in the region.
Kiki should be about ready to go back to Germany and continue her studies, I am more concerned that the danger she faces is from bandits in the area then from a rogue Chinese commander.
 
The Americans were there to guarantee the safety of the Germans and also to really emphasize to the Chinese that they are no where near ready to fight a modern equipped army.
Hopefully this will go a long way in easing tensions in the region.
Not that I think you are wrong, but lets play devils advocate...
How would Chinese commanders react to this? I think, and please correct me if I get it wrong, that the whole "saving face" thing may play into how this is seen.
On the one hand we have the Chinese reemerging after a long time as a credible power. On the other hand, their allies and enemies show them how far behind they are, ie. the quality of troops and the care given to them.
In the end, I would ask a member with more experience in asian culture to rate how the people react to it, as it is in my opinion very different to "western" attitudes.
 
A face saving deal could be to allow for open navigation on the Yalu River and hydroelectric and irrigation projects.
The question is that enough for everyone to accept?
 
Part 89, Chapter 1388
Chapter One Thousand Three Hundred Eighty-Eight


7th August 1960

Jilin Provence, China

“No disrespect” Jonny said, “But is that a fucking joke.”

“No, it isn’t” Parker said, as he plopped three photographs down on the table, “The first was taken in the White House, the second in Rock Creek. Both from last year. The third from yesterday. Langley suspected she was here but didn’t have proof before yesterday.”

The pictures were of the same girl who Jonny had met the day before with the Kraut medical mission. In the first two photographs she was identified as Princess Kristina of Prussia. The first had her meeting with President Harriman while she was with a man almost as instantly recognizable, her father, Kaiser Lou. The second was of her sitting on a picnic table surrounded by what looked like a bunch of girl scouts. The third was of her talking to the Runt while she was writing on the clipboard where she had a stack of those tags the Kraut medics used, and the little punk was practically eating out of her hand. Jonny would need to have a word with Specialist Valenzuela about this.

“Damn” Jonny said, “The men are going to shit a brick when they see this.”

“They aren’t” Parker said, “Because you aren’t going to tell them a word about it. This is need to know and I’m only telling you this because you need to know. We are also going to need to debrief you and your men about your interactions with Fahnenjunker Fischer.”

Jonny gave Parker a sour look. The whole thing was embarrassing. Here they were, elite soldiers who had been led around by the nose by a mere girl who had disliked them just standing around while there was work needing to be done. Having it turn out that she wasn’t a mere girl did not improve matters. He had also learned later why she had been offended when he had called her a Cadet. To the German Military that was a rank belonging solely to the Navy, as in Sea Cadet. The other service branches preferred the term Officer Aspirant.

“What did the Brass have to say about my report?” Jonny asked changing the subject.

“That you are lucky the Chinese are unaware of your opinion of the state of their army” Parker replied, “The Brass are choosing to interpret it as you making the suggestion that the Chinese Government dodged a bullet by not starting a war this year.”

Whoever had seen it must have been able to read between the lines. While Jonny had not come out and said so, the Chinese Army was a mess. The men were a rabble. The logistics were a nightmare because it seemed that no two Companies had the same weapons and most of those weapons looked like they belonged in a museum as opposed to the battlefield. Even finding the right cartridges for the rifles frequently took days.


Montreal, Canada

It was the Sunday meeting of the Montreal Women’s Literary Society and Kat was sitting there uncomfortably, waiting to give her talk. She had originally agreed to do this as a way to get back at Margot for a number of things that Margot had said since she had arrived in Canada a couple weeks earlier. Only once she got here, she remembered that every one of them had read Gloria Steinem’s warts and all biography of her and that if there was one thing that Kat hated it was being the center of attention. It was a reminder that Kat had promised Gloria that she would sit for a formal interview and fill in many of the blank spots. It hadn’t happened yet, but she was expecting Gloria to make good on that promise at any time. The book had also revealed a lot of things that were met with quite a bit of controversy and she hoped that these women would not bring up certain topics. It was however too late to back out now.

As Kat waited to be introduced, she listened as she was talked up. Her various accomplishments. Where she had started out and how she had overcome early difficulties. Thankfully, that was without mentioning what those difficulties had been. Then her various professional accomplishments were mentioned. Looking around her, Kat realized that all these women were eating this up and that they all seemed to be of a certain type. Well to do, but not rich, middle-aged housewives. To her annoyance, Kat realized that despite her efforts to keep herself fit, she might as well be one of them having just celebrated her thirty-eighth birthday. Then Kat had one of them notice that was looking at them. She had a giddy smile on her face. Kat realized that absurdly, she was who these women wished that they could be.

“Now, without further ado, I would like to introduce Generalmajor von Mischner” The woman who was the Master of Ceremonies concluded. There was a round of applause and Kat made her way to the front of the room. There was a poster next to a copy of the book, the photograph that Doug had taken on the day that Kat had met him, of her being awarded the PLM by Louis Ferdinand. The whole truth about what she had done to earn that medal being something that she would need to take to her grave.

As she stepped up to the lectern, Kat saw dozens of smiling faces. She also saw Margot, who looked like she had just bit into a lemon. Then she looked at her prepared notes. What was she going to tell these people that wasn’t already in the book?

Then something occurred to her.

“Thank you for being here today” Kat said, “Does the name Kim Philby mean anything to any of you?”

This was met with a murmur. That name meant nothing to anyone outside a small circle of people who Kat was one of.

“His death was ruled to be by misadventure because it was important that the truth be hidden for the greater good” Kat said, “He was killed out of revenge, because he was the one who caused the Tumbler Ridge Massacre.”

The murmuring that Kat had heard before was back, this was not what anyone was expecting to hear today.

“Where I come in is that I had been assigned to a desk in the AA, German Foreign Service, when I had a memo cross my desk regarding activities in London…”
 
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The whole thing was embarrassing. Here they were, elite soldiers who had been led around by the nose by a mere girl who had disliked them just standing around while there was work needing to be done. Having it turn out that she wasn’t a mere girl did not improve matters.

You know, some naive Americans seem to have some really strange notions about inherent qualities of royalty. And if someone like that were to come across a report about an incident like this, they might mistakenly ascribe all sorts of inborn leadership qualities and aura of command to a girl who naturally has neither.

"No wonder," they will say, "she was born to it." When in truth she is far from a natural and only absorbed ideas about what to do when some uniformed people stand around without anything to do through observation and painful first hand experience.
 
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