Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

ferdi254

Banned
That area is much emptier than Vietnam. As you can see anybody approaching from miles, there are hardly any forests and not many villages, partisan war is not really an option.
Also due to the lack of population the number of potential partisans is also limited.
Tanks, planes and arty will be rulers of the game.
 
That area is much emptier than Vietnam. As you can see anybody approaching from miles, there are hardly any forests and not many villages, partisan war is not really an option.
Also due to the lack of population the number of potential partisans is also limited.
Tanks, planes and arty will be rulers of the game.
Don't forget helicopters when AA is sparse.
 
It would be very smart for the US to stay out of the mess, sans some supplying of arms to the combatants naturally.

I promise it will stick in some senators throat to ignore the Monroe Doctrine like this, but direct involvement will only end badly, whereas for the price of a few manpads and AT sticks, Germany can be kept busy and in trouble for a long time.

Doubly so if the UK is also playing silly buggers, which their recent actions in China would indicate is the case. Though I'd feel sorry for any poor bastard up against an attack helicopter armed with nothing but a Blowpipe...
 
Last edited:
Of course, there's also the switch that in the event the US "lose" some more experimental equipment like they did in China, that the Germans will simply ship it back to Germany, fix whatever is wrong with it and produce a more efficient, reliable and effective version for themselves, ala M79.
 
Of course, there's also the switch that in the event the US "lose" some more experimental equipment like they did in China, that the Germans will simply ship it back to Germany, fix whatever is wrong with it and produce a more efficient, reliable and effective version for themselves, ala M79.
One would hope they would have learned their lesson on that front. Unless a bunch of "advisors" are being sent south (which the US should not do) the only stuff being sent down there should be the things the Germans already know about.

It'll lead to some angry letters from Berlin, sure, but business is business.
 
One would hope they would have learned their lesson on that front. Unless a bunch of "advisors" are being sent south (which the US should not do) the only stuff being sent down there should be the things the Germans already know about.

It'll lead to some angry letters from Berlin, sure, but business is business.
I could see a small, deniable, team being sent to observe the Chileans in high command in Santiago, well away from the front lines, however this would lead to a flawed assessment.
 
I could see a small, deniable, team being sent to observe the Chileans in high command in Santiago, well away from the front lines, however this would lead to a flawed assessment.
True, but again, they shouldn't be sending too much that requires a lot of assessment.

Maybe Santiago gets a couple more "Cultural Attaches" for a while.
 
True, but again, they shouldn't be sending too much that requires a lot of assessment.

Maybe Santiago gets a couple more "Cultural Attaches" for a while.
I think it's more to see how the Chilean forces perform against the Germans.
 
I think it's more to see how the Chilean forces perform against the Germans.
So long as they are doing it far away from the front lines, it should avoid any embarrassment.

I honestly wouldn't be shocked if there was an expansion of the French and British embassies too. Friends close etc.
 
It's hard for local wars to stay "local". What are the odds that South America is the keg of TNT that the Balkans were IOTL? Especially if Chile believes they can use German troops to run a bluff.
Quoting myself - I had thought that the last time Germany intervened in S.A. it was to slap down the Argentinians. Hence my thought that they were here this time to help Chile. So, right thoughts wrong country.
 
Back in the first thread it was Germany who came to support the Argentine government from an American backed military coup.
Argentina at that time was neutral and during the Dewey Administration under the foreign policy direction of the Dulles Brothers (John Foster in State and Allen at the OSS)
tried to change the equation and got burnt by it.
The results of it became the Argentine government became open allies with Germany and Germany got bases in Argentina much to the chagrin of the British.
 
Part 120, Chapter 2011
Chapter Two Thousand Eleven



4th August 1970

Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport

It was to Suse and Jo’s surprise that Kat was there to see them off and knew exactly what was going on. They had thought that they had made the arrangements on the sly. Sure, Kat had some idea of what Jo was up to, but Suse had not mentioned that she was planning on accompanying her.

Jo had her teaching assignment, but Suse’s reasoning was a bit different. The project she had worked on the prior year, the radical redesign of the turret on the Panzer VIII “Leopard” had been adopted by ĈKD for the Bohemian Army. The process of retrofitting the new turret onto the existing hulls had begun months earlier. Rheinmetall had been forced to follow suit, curiously driven by the Navy. It seemed that the Marine Infantry had decided to replace their antiquated Luftpanzers with what had been dubbed the Leopard II. They had a great deal of experience with autoloaders and the reduction of manpower required appealed to the Marines for that exact reason. The Heer had adopted the new turret and high-velocity gun, but they were not thrilled about the process in which it had happened. The Reichstag was unhappy about the expense and money was getting shifted around from other necessary projects to pay for this. Which meant that there were a lot of pet projects that had unexpectedly gotten short shrift. Suse’s father had decided that her leaving the country for awhile might be good thing as there had been threats against the design team that she was the public face of.

So, this wasn’t exactly a holiday.

Berlin Technical University had wished Suse luck and said that she would be welcome to return when she made it back in a manner that she had found extremely patronizing. What was particularly galling was that she had done exactly what they had wanted her to do. Pushing aside her annoyance, Suse had decided to go with Jo because it sounded like a real adventure. Besides that, no one knew more about the inner workings of Panzers than she did. Opportunities might present themselves.

Then Suse found out that Kat’s niece, Manny’s little sister, Ina von Mischner would be joining them, like it or not. And Kat’s reasons for being so agreeable came into focus. As much as her mother’s flighty nature bothered her at times, at least it was never wheels within wheels like it was with Kat.



Wunsdorf-Zossen

Overnight things had changed.

The casual call for volunteers had changed when orders arrived for the entire 34th Medical Services Regiment to prepare for movement immediately. Kiki found herself having to answer questions from her subordinates that she did not have ready answers for, that is beyond the obvious. Didn’t they watch the news? All roads seemed to lead to Argentina.

The worst part was that many of them were professionals, Physicians with various specialties. Most of whom were not thrilled with the prospect of leaving their practices for an open-ended commitment. The Nurses and Orderlies who were reservists were a bit more down to earth, mostly concerned for what would happen to their families in their absence. Kiki had to answer questions from all of them because part of her job was to handle matters like this so the Oberst who commanded the Regiment wouldn’t be bothered. Lieutenant Juta Balodis had been appointed Kiki’s aide and she was a godsend as Kiki felt like she was juggling a thousand balls with everything that was going on.

On top of this, Kiki had her absurd personal life to contend with. When she had been in the Doctor’s office the day before, they had discovered that the copper-silver alloy ring IUD that she had been told was reaching its expiration date had gone missing sometime over the last year. Kiki had been told that this happened, occasionally the body expelled them. She had instantly understood that for at least the last few months her and Ben had unknowingly been playing with fire. The nerve-wracking pregnancy test that had followed had been negative, much to her profound relief. Kiki had known for years that she didn’t have it in her to be a mother and nothing that had happened had changed her mind in that regard.

Kiki had tried to get an appointment to have a new IUD installed but the orders had arrived which complicated things. Doctor Berg had told her in a brief phone conversation that it was a simple matter of not fucking anyone in Argentina and telling Benjamin to keep his hands to himself in the meantime. That was sort of covered by the “Love, Honor, and Respect, to be faithful” clause of their wedding vows that Berg had been present for. Kiki had told her former mentor that wedding vows were not a contract and Berg had laughed. Berg had then told her that it was actually the oldest sort of contract, two people promising to spend their lives together and not fuck around. It was also one of the hardest ones for people to keep to.

Feeling a bit put out by that, Kiki had asked Berg what the Hell she would know. It was not as if she could get married. Berg’s reply was that she had seen the results of infidelity throughout her long career. Berg also that she knew a lot of women who had been married for years and had come to envy her lifestyle. Not every man was as accepting of his wife having a career as Ben seemed to be and Kiki outranking him was exactly the sort of thing that resulted in violence in some households. She was lucky in many regards. It was a perspective that Kiki had not considered until Berg had pointed it out to her.
 
Last edited:
Not every man was as accepting of his wife having a career as Ben seemed to be and Kiki outranking him was exactly the sort of thing that resulted in violence in some households. She was lucky in many regards. It
We've seen the extreme end of this with one of Nancy Schultz's college freinds having been murdered.
We've also seen the very passive aggressive side of this with Anne's husband and his "Fictional" novel about a man who embezzled his wife's fortune and goes on the run too...

Kiki has the (close* to) perfect partner in Ben in that regards, and their relationship will be a progressive model around 20 years ahead of its time.


*close to perfect, they still wind each other up and are arses to each other at times.
 
Part of Kiki's antipathy towards motherhood (which by the way she will be terrific at) stems from her conflict with her mother Kira when at the last argument they had Kiki told Kira that she was nothing more than a "Brood Sow" and got a slap in return along with a trip to Japan thrown in.

Dr. Nora Berg seems to me that knowing Kiki more than Kiki knows about herself is looking forward to Kiki becoming a mother as that will be the closest that Dr. Berg will come to be a Grandmother herself.
If Kiki ever does becomes pregnant look for comic gold as Dr. Berg goes full Mama Bear dealing with Kiki.
 
If Kiki ever does becomes pregnant look for comic gold as Dr. Berg goes full Mama Bear dealing with Kiki.
Dr Berg as Mama Bear on one side, Kat as Mama Tigress on the other.
If they keep from directly interfering, then Kiki will be in for a surprisingly smooth pregnancy.


IF...
 
Part of Kiki's antipathy towards motherhood (which by the way she will be terrific at)

Dr Berg as Mama Bear on one side, Kat as Mama Tigress on the other.
If they keep from directly interfering, then Kiki will be in for a surprisingly smooth pregnancy.


IF...
Eh, TBH that's not necessarily so. Some people, through no fault of their own and despite being absolutely lovely people, just aren't cut out to be parents. Or, even if they'd make great parents, don't want to be. Which is entirely fine.

TBH, I'd be entirely happy with Kiki and Ben remaining child-free. It's an entirely valid lifestyle choice, from what we know of Kiki's character she'd probably be happier that way, plus Kiki doesn't have any political need to have children - Friedrich's family and Vicky have that more than taken care of between the two of them.
stems from her conflict with her mother Kira when at the last argument they had Kiki told Kira that she was nothing more than a "Brood Sow" and got a slap in return along with a trip to Japan thrown in.
You forget the best part, Kiki absolutely decking Kira when she slapped her. A punch which had been a long time in coming and was thoroughly deserved.
 
You forget the best part, Kiki absolutely decking Kira when she slapped her. A punch which had been a long time in coming and was thoroughly deserved.
That's one of the few times I've been disappointed with Louis Sr. He obviously sympathized with Kiki's ambitions and thought that Kira had overreacted by first exiling Kiki to Japan and then doubling down and refusing to talk to her daughter while on her death bed. He really should have interceded far earlier because Kira was being beyond unreasonable. It's also obvious that Kiki blames herself for her mothers death, much like Kat does, if for different reasons, while still living in fear that she will turn out to be just like her mother if or when she ever has kids.

That said, the 'trip' to Japan did help persuade Suga to give Freddie a chance, so... a silver lining there.
 
That's one of the few times I've been disappointed with Louis Sr. He obviously sympathized with Kiki's ambitions and thought that Kira had overreacted by first exiling Kiki to Japan and then doubling down and refusing to talk to her daughter while on her death bed. He really should have interceded far earlier because Kira was being beyond unreasonable. It's also obvious that Kiki blames herself for her mothers death, much like Kat does, if for different reasons, while still living in fear that she will turn out to be just like her mother if or when she ever has kids.
I thought that scene made them more human. Showed that even the royals can have family troubles. Well, ones that don't turn into wars at least.
 
That's one of the few times I've been disappointed with Louis Sr. He obviously sympathized with Kiki's ambitions and thought that Kira had overreacted by first exiling Kiki to Japan and then doubling down and refusing to talk to her daughter while on her death bed. He really should have interceded far earlier because Kira was being beyond unreasonable. It's also obvious that Kiki blames herself for her mothers death, much like Kat does, if for different reasons, while still living in fear that she will turn out to be just like her mother if or when she ever has kids.

That said, the 'trip' to Japan did help persuade Suga to give Freddie a chance, so... a silver lining there.
True that. And yes, I was pretty damn disappointed too.

Unfortunately, this isn't an era where someone's likely to tell Kiki the truth: namely, that she shouldn't feel guilty about it at all, even Kira refusing to talk to her, because quite honestly - mother or not - Kira was a toxic person who she's better off without in her life. And that she should just try to forget and move on from Kira, and enjoy her life.

I thought that scene made them more human. Showed that even the royals can have family troubles. Well, ones that don't turn into wars at least.
Eh, that went beyond family 'troubles' and into something closer to abuse...
 
Top