Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

There had also been a bit of amusement when he had introduced himself. It seemed that Weise’s first name was Christian. Jesus found that to be a bit of a stupid coincidence and not in the least bit amusing.
He should be far happier than if Herr "Weiss" said his first name was Roman...
 
Part 120, Chapter 2015
Chapter Two Thousand Fifteen



17th August 1970

Potsdam

Heinz Kissinger, the Shadow Cabinet’s Foreign Minister was on thin ice as far as Kat was concerned. Some of the comments he had made in the past were of the sort that made Kat’s blood boil. Were obnoxious reactionary politicians the main export of Bavaria these days? From Kat’s perspective it certainly seemed that way as he stepped out of Louis Ferdinand’s office.

“Kurfürstin” Kissinger said in greeting as he was followed by his Personal Assistant, the very definition of the word toady. The tone he was using was less than respectful, not that Kat cared. She hardly acknowledged his presence. Kissinger was beneath her notice and it wasn’t just because of her Courtly or Military rank. She just found him to be that loathsome.

Kat ignored the two men as they made their way down the hallway. She would need to fight the urge to ask Louis what he was talking to a leading member of an Opposition Party about and would need to find out by other means. Her current Aide was fretting nervously as he trailed a few paces behind Kat. She could already tell that this one would probably have no more than a middling career that would probably be spent entirely inside the Bureaucracy of Berlin or Wunsdorf. He just didn’t have it in him to be decisive when it was required, so having him posted in a Field Command would just get him killed and anyone unlucky enough to have to obey his orders.

“His Grace is ready for you” Louis’ Personal Secretary said after a few minutes. He was just one of the things that Louis was looking forward to dispensing with forever in November. That was entirely dependent upon if they could get the makeup the of Imperial Council hammered out by them. Exactly what that would look like, who would get represented, and in what proportion had all become contentious issues. That wasn’t even factoring in outliers like the Hanseatic Cities. The most likely representative from Hamburg had vowed to propose to the Council a motion to dissolve the Monarchy and to abstain from the final vote. It was difficult for Kat to tell if it was political grandstanding or a principled stand in keeping with the traditions of Hanseatic League.

“Sir” Kat said upon entering Louis’ office. He was sitting behind his desk with a map of South America spread out on it. That instantly gave Kat a sour taste in her mouth. The situation there reminded her of Europe in 1913 and the Americans suddenly being noticeably quiet about the Monroe Doctrine as assets that were being moved into Patagonia. It was a gamble, that once again they could roll the dice and somehow win in the end. The odds that Louis would pass off an unfolding crisis that would forever color his legacy was just too high for Kat’s comfort. When she had voiced her concerns, Louis had said that he wasn’t the one who actually made the decisions. Those were made by the Ministers and the Military High Command. Kat knew that he played a larger role than he let on though.

It would be just like Louis to have a big idea that would burnish his legacy. Only to have a world full of messed up people there to ruin his vision.



Plänterwald, Berlin

Ben had grown up as an only child. Once he had married Kiki though, he had found that he was a part of a large family. That included two little sisters who were constantly underfoot. Charlotte had decided that they needed to return to Berlin to prepare for the upcoming school term and as soon as they escaped their mother, they had come to see what Ben was up to. As it turned out they were not as much of a distraction as he figured they would be.

“There are two surfaces on the wings that control roll” Ben said, “The first is the aileron which moves the wing up and down. The second is the spoilers these flaps on the top of each wing, those limit wing lift and cause the wing they are deployed on to drop. They work in conjunction with each other.”

“I thought that lift was a good thing?” Nan asked looking at the schematic of the Orkan’s wing structure that Ben was studying. It was part of the material that he had been trying to memorize. Explaining it to Annett helped. Antonia had been interested at first as well until she had lost interest and was playing with the dogs outside.

“It is” Ben said, “But it is also induced drag. If you want an airplane that can truly go fast, drag is something that has to be reduced wherever possible.”

Nan blinked at the odd dissonance of that. It was something that Ben had needed to wrap his head around years earlier. All aircraft were built along a series of compromises, the Orkan being no exception. The designers had attempted to sidestep this with the variable-sweep wing, but that had added weight and complexity in the process. Ben had learned that the design was somewhat controversial, but that had not stopped the Luftwaffe or the Canadian Air Force from ordering the Orkan, or Tempest as it was called in the English-speaking world. Ben had heard that Hawker Siddeley, who had merged with the parent company of Avro Canada were planning on producing the Avro Tempest for the RAF, something that Ben was sure would have given the respective High Commands back the First World War fits. “Our lads and theirs flying the same airplanes? Balderdash!”

“What is all of this?” Nan asked pointing at the racks of computer equipment aft of the cockpit on a different page.

“That is the computers for fire control, fly-by-wire, avionics, and navigation” Ben replied. The schematic didn’t go into great detail about that beyond the structure that housed them built into the fuselage.
 
IOTL Henry Kissinger was considered to be one of the leading Sovietologist in the United States as he was consulted by the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, was the chief foreign policy advisor to Nelson Rockefeller before joining the Nixon Administration.
ITTL he is probably the leading expert on the United States in Germany and while he is part of the opposition party the other side has enough respect for him to consult over any current situation.
 
Part 120, Chapter 2016
Chapter Two Thousand Sixteen


23rd August 1970

Wilhelmshaven, Jade Bite

Louis Ferdinand Junior was looking at his new ship and he was not disappointed. SMS Z66 “Schwertwal.” She had been the second of the Type 1947 Class of Destroyers, the first Class to incorporate the lessons learned in the Second World War. Laid down in the A.G. Weser Shipyards in Bremen early 1949, launched late that year and commissioned in 1950. Grand Admiral Teichert had seemed almost apologetic when he had informed Louis that he had been promoted again to Korvettenkapitän and assigned to the Schwertwal to be her new Executive Officer. The Admiral had said that he had tried to get Louis assigned to a Torpedo Boat, which would have been an Independent Command, but no such slot was presently available. Besides that, the Fleet’s Department of Personnel had recommended that he be assigned as XO aboard a Destroyer so that he could learn the ins and outs of commanding a ship at sea.

It was actually a step up for Louis because there was a sharp dividing line in the Navy between ships and boats. There was a lot of prestige tied up in serving aboard the ships, while the boats were seen as being rather workaday. It was a bit unfair for it to be that way. Louis had piloted boats from a launch with an outboard motor all the way up to the Windhund, a gunboat, on the Adriatic Sea, an experience he wouldn’t trade for anything. Louis’ main consideration was that he was finally going back to sea. When it came right down to it, that was all he had really wanted for an extremely long time. It didn’t matter to him what sort of vessel he was going to be aboard.

Looking at the Schwertwal from the stern, Louis could see the Bruno and Caesar turrets in front of the fantail each with two 12.8-centimeter dual purpose guns in a super-firing arrangement on the aft superstructure. There was a single Anton turret that was identical on the foredeck. Amidships fore, and aft of the middle superstructure and the aft smokestack was the real reason for the Type 1947’s longevity. The above the waterline torpedo tubes had been removed and replaced with boxlike missile launchers. The ship’s unofficial namesake, an Orca, had been painted on the side of the forward superstructure. High above, radar arrays of various types and radio antennas bristled from the central mast.

The Sailors guarding the gangplank snapped to attention as Louis approached. The rest of the ship was a hive of activity as she was preparing to put to sea for a patrol of the North Sea, so his arrival mostly went unnoticed.



Rio Gallegos, Argentina

There was an old joke about how if you walk down a city street and ask, you will eventually find someone willing to do anything. For Kiki it felt like those under her purview were among those and they were self-selecting, so the process of elimination was hardly necessary. Since she had gone to Wunsdorf-Zossen it had been one exhausting battle after another as the Medical Services Regiment had prepared to go into the field. Things had only gotten worse once they had landed in Argentina as she also had cultural conflicts to contend with.

She wasn’t Catholic but had gone to the small Cathedral just so she might be left alone for a couple hours. Falling asleep wasn’t part of the plan, but she had hardly slept in weeks so even sitting on a hard church pew had been no obstacle. Waking up with a start, Kiki saw that she had been asleep for hours. She was almost in a panic. They would be looking for her and this was the absolute height of irresponsibility.

“Your own people said to let you sleep” A man Kiki had not seen in years said. Father Markus Lehmann, Catholic Priest turned Army Surgeon. She had assumed that he was well past the age of retirement, but it seemed that the Medical Service had other ideas. She had heard that he had been in Rio Gallegos for some time with the Marine Infantry but had not run into him until now. “It seems that you haven’t changed much over the years Kristina. Working harder than any three people, hardly eating or sleeping until you collapse.”

“Do you think that you are the only one telling me this?” Kiki asked as she stood up and walked towards the doors wondering where her useless aide, the one who should have woken her up was. Two men from her protection detail were standing there. It was completely unfair to them that they had been forced to wait of hours for her.

“Clearly you are not listening” Lehmann said as he followed Kiki.

“This is incredibly embarrassing” Kiki said, “What must these people think of me.”

“I told the Bishop that you are a member of the heathen Russian Church” Lehmann replied, “He understood that you didn’t know any better.”

“Real funny” Kiki said as she opened the doors and blinked in the afternoon sun. It was a clear spring day, but it was cold, and the wind was kicking up. Apparently, this region was infamous for the ceaseless wind. “Now, what did you actually tell him?”

“Just that you are a young woman who works herself to the bone” Lehmann replied, “It seems that your reputation precedes you, so he didn’t mind. I got the impression that he approves of how you conduct yourself.”

“Good for him” Kiki muttered.

“If you are available tomorrow, I would like to discuss with you the plans for the summer” Lehmann said, “There are many things I’ve wanted to do here and out in the countryside but didn’t have the resources.”

Nothing like the threat of a war to finally get desperately needed aid into an impoverished region, Kiki thought glumly to herself. Father Lehmann was offering to help her without actually saying what he was doing. Berg had told her countless times that she would be stupid not to accept offers like this.
 
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SMS Z66 is roughly along the lines of an updated Zerstörer 1936c from OTL.

Type1936C.jpg
 
Glad to see LF Jr. back on track for higher command, being XO on a destroyer is the right place for him.
Father Lehman an old favorite of mine since he was introduced to us in the second timeline is another crusty mentor in the mold of Dr. Nora Berg for Kiki.
This time Kiki will hopefully find out that her title is useful to getting the help necessary to help win the "Hearts and Minds" of the local populace and maybe just as she crossed into China this time she does the same thing in Chile.
Zella should also be making an appearance soon as the technology for live remote satellite broadcasts from the field should be about ready now.
Having reports of the JMS performing their medical missions will go a long way in selling the German population the policy that is being carried out now and having Princess Kristina in the thick of it makes it easier for the German people to buy whatever the government in Berlin is doing.
 
Chapter Two Thousand Sixteen
the Bruno and Caesar turrets in front of the fantail each with two 12.8-centimeter dual purpose guns in a super-firing arrangement on the aft superstructure. There was a single Anton turret that was identical on the foredeck.

Not a swabbie by trade (Jarhead) but shouldn't it be Caesar and Dora turrets aft of superstructure and Bruno not mentioned since only 1 turret forward?
 
Not a swabbie by trade (Jarhead) but shouldn't it be Caesar and Dora turrets aft of superstructure and Bruno not mentioned since only 1 turret forward?
It depends on the Navy, that would be true in the British Navy, with A turret on the foredeck and X and Y being aft. The practice of the German Navy is to name them by radio alphabet going from bow to stern.
 

PNWKing

Banned
Considering what happened when Kiki invested in Sony (the embezzlement by the royal family's treasurer to fund republican terrorist groups), I wonder what would happen if Kiki invested in Datsun? Or maybe Toyota?
 
In this unfolding crisis Chile has lost any initiative once Germany started to send heavy units to the area and now is either going to have to back down which probably will lead to the ouster of President Allende or go ahead and gamble that Germany will not intervene and get a limited military victory.
There should be some form of the Organization of American States ITTL and offers to mediate between Argentina and Chile, another country that should be taking a good hard look at what is going on is Brazil as they have ongoing disputes with both Argentina and Chile.
 
Part 120, Chapter 2017
Chapter Two Thousand Seventeen



27th August 1970

Gobernador Mayer, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina

Falling asleep in the cathedral had not even caused much comment. Everyone knew that attending church services was actually a means for soldiers to catch up on sleep that Priests had turned a blind eye towards in garrison towns since time out of mind. Rio Gallegos was such a town with the barracks of the Argentinian 24th Mechanized Infantry Regiment only short walk away from the doors of the cathedral and the Seaport which was even closer. There was also the airport which was home to large contingent of the Argentine Air Force. Kiki had seen their Mirage fighter planes overhead that were of “local” construction, if by local you meant distant Buenos Aires. Kiki had been told that there were other military installations amounting to several Divisions scattered about, mostly up and down the coast, but especially down south on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. It seemed that the waterways around that island were the main source of the present dispute between Argentina and Chile.

What had really gotten Kiki into trouble had happened a couple days later when she had developed a blinding migraine that pain medication couldn’t seem to touch. It had resulted her spending much of Tuesday in her quarters with a blanket over her head, completely debilitated. The problem was that she was in a Medical Services Regiment that had dozens of Physicians who all wanted to diagnose her. Somehow, they had gotten a copy her medical file and the speculation had begun. The consensus was that because she was near-sighted and everyone had seen the hours she worked, eyestrain, stress, and exhaustion had probably been what had caused her migraine. They had asked for a blood sample so that they could confirm that there was no underlaying physiological explanation and she had told them to fuck off. That was way over the line and if they had read her file then they would know that she had had a thorough full examination just a few weeks earlier.

While Kiki had a lot of strong words for those who had violated her personal privacy, Oberstarzt Havelka, Kiki’s Commanding Officer had found out. He had not been pleased by her developing that sort of condition without reporting it to him immediately or the distraction she had caused because of it.

“I was warned about you” Havelka had said as soon as Kiki reported to his office. “That you frequently refuse to take care of yourself and take on entirely too much. At some point I would need to intervene.”

“Sir, I am not someone who needs to be taken care of” Kiki replied, “If things were different, we would not even be having this conversation.”

Havelka snorted at that and Kiki realized a bit late how he might interpret what she had just said. She had been referring to the whole Princess thing, which dogged her every move.

“A man in your position would not feel he has as much to prove and would pace himself accordingly” Havelka said, “Let the rest of the Staff do their jobs in the meantime and let’s try not to have a repeat of what you did in Korea.”

“What was wrong with what I did in Korea?” Kiki had asked.

“More like what you didn’t do” Havelka replied, “And if I get the impression that you are on that sort of self-destructive path again, I will have you shoved onto the first available transport home. Understand?”

Kiki had been forced to agree, not that she was happy about it. Afterwards, she had been left stewing in her quarters thinking about what had happened. She knew that if people started to see her as using her title to get a leg up or not pull her weight, then she would never be taken seriously again. That would be the end of her career as a Physician. There was also the nagging thought that the career had not been the reason for her becoming a Physician in the first place. She had wanted to help people and somewhere along the lines that had been lost. The next morning Father Lehmann had asked if Kiki was interested in doing some work outside the city for a few days and she had leapt at the opportunity.

“I need you to be a big brave man one more time” Kiki said with a smile to the little boy who was clinging to his mother as she slid a needle into his deltoid and injected the vaccine into the muscle. It was third and final injection in the series that would protect this child from the two big killers, polio, and smallpox, as well as the childhood illnesses that might cause complications in later life. He would be kept in the clinic at this jurisdictional outpost, a combination of Courthouse and Police Headquarters, overnight in case there were any complications.

Stepping out of the clinic for fresh air, Kiki looked at the people gathered outside. The men from the Federal Police were watching them warily. Most of the police were outsiders and as Kiki had discovered, there were sharp divides between the people here along social class and ethnic lines. There was also the aspect of this which was the reason why Kiki had been recruited into the Special Forces. Half the people in this region wouldn’t be inclined to trust a male Physician. That much was clear when she talked to women about what were termed as “female issues” and most of them were amazed that she was knowledgeable on the subject. They had never seen a Doctor who they could comfortably talk about those things with before.
 
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At some point Kiki needs to get over this idea she has that if she's not working herself to the bone, that people will think she's getting special treatment.
 
Part 120, Chapter 2018
Chapter Two Thousand Eighteen



28th August 1970

Over Rural Brandenburg

This was just the first familiarization flight on the dual control trainer version of an Orkan. It took a lot of getting used to, especially the system looking out the front. Rather than just a reflector gunsight that changed modes and colors depending on which weapons were being used and if radar lock had been achieved. It now displayed a great deal of additional information. Altitude, attitude, speed, and the display of information from the terrain following radar were all displayed on it. The idea was that the pilot could see all of that without having to look down at the gauges. The Instructor had said that it was so that they would always have their heads up and would be more aware of what was happening around them. It was just a lot of information to process at once and Ben was still getting used to it. That was the reason for several flights to get familiar and then when the Instructor deemed that he was ready, he would switch to the regular production model of the Orkan and practice dropping concrete bombs much as he had with the Pfeil countless times. At the moment, Ben was thinking how different this was with the nearly silent Instructor seated behind him as opposed to Wim who seemed to start every flight chatting nervously until it came time for them to get down to business.

The throttle quadrant also revealed why the Pfeil pilots had been selected for the new airplane. They were used to managing two engines.

“We’re just practicing today Major von Hirsch” The Instructor said, “Regular landing procedures, touch and go.”

The Instructor hardly needed to say it. The idea was that the procedures would become automatic. The other big change was mentioned as well. After eight years as a reserve Hauptmann, Ben had been promoted to Major and it had been suggested that he might want to reconsider the role he played in SKG 18.

Concentrating on his flying, he went through the checklist he had memorized. The wings and flaps were extended, the landing gear was down and locked. He flared right as the plane neared the ground. As the wheels touched, he felt for the button on the control stick that would have fired the drogue chute out of habit; before he remembered that unlike the Pfeil the Orkan didn’t need one. Besides that, this was a touch and go, so Ben applied full throttle and the plane lifted off the runway.



Rio Gallegos, Argentina

“You have been a complete asshole Manny” Jo said as she sat across the table from him. It was the sort of establishment that sprung up near the gates of every military post in the world. A few rungs below a dive bar, that only sold beer because hard alcohol would just get out hand. Manny could see that Jo had already had a few tonight and he would need to task someone he could trust to keep their hands to themselves to walk her back to the dormitory that the civilian women were using. He and Jo had been an item way back when, but now that seemed rather immature with neither of them knowing how to be in a relationship. The star athlete and the prettiest girl, in their overlapping social circles everyone thought that they should be together. The trouble was that their respective personalities had grated on each other and they had broken up after a few months. It hadn’t been until he had gotten together with Suse Rosa that Manny figured out what the problem had been. Jo was smooth and cool, Suse was all jagged edges and fiery. Suse constantly challenged Manny directly where Jo would have just accepted matters. It was an odd thing to learn exactly where your preferences happen to fall, but there he was.

“I think you are going to lose her if you keep this up” Jo said, “Susie, that that is.”

“I think you’ve had too much to drink tonight” Manny replied, “I’m not trying to be an asshole, I’m worried about you, Suse, and Ina. You are not supposed to be here in Argentina. No one knows if someone is going to do something stupid and if they do, who else is going to get involved.”

“You are afraid that we will see a repeat of something like the Paraguayan War on the scale of the First World War with modern weapons” Jo said, “It will start down here with the Argentinians fighting the Chileans and then depending on what the Brazilians do, you might end up with a brutal free-for-all with the larger countries on this continent slugging it out as their smaller neighbors are caught in the crossfire.”

“Who told you that?” Manny asked, knowing that was a bit too close to the worst-case scenario that the BND had mapped out. The only thing that Jo had missed was that with Argentina moving swiftly away from a resource-based economy towards manufacturing and heavy industry, it was becoming a dominant player in South America. That was upsetting the applecart.

“I can read a newspaper” Jo said, “There is something more going on here too.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Louis Ferdinand’s social engineering” Jo said before she took a drink from the beer bottle, which she had forgot she was holding. “You notice how he sent all you big strapping lads from the Panzer Corps, and most of the professionals you asked for happen to be women under thirty? Including your sister and girlfriend?”

“What are you suggesting?” Manny asked. Not liking the direction this seemed to be going in.

“That a generation from now this will be a defacto German colony regardless of what they're told in Buenos Aires” Jo said, “The risk you are running is that Suse might get a better offer as you are being a dick because she came down here without getting your approval first.”

Manny stared at the beer bottle he had finished with an hour earlier but had not bothered to get a new one.

“Also, if you had been paying the least bit of attention, you would have noticed that Suse and Ina have had no trouble finding dance partners here tonight” Jo said, and Manny was on his feet in an instant. He could hear Jo laughing drunkenly behind him as he went to put the fear of God into whoever Jo had just mentioned.

Only to realize before he had taken a few steps, that if he did that it would only make things worse.

“Fuck” Manny muttered under his breath as he realized he had painted himself into a corner.
 
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