Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

“His Highness, Thor the 1st of the House of Vangsgaard, my insane father, would be extremely grateful if you might extend diplomatic recognition of his claim as Grand Duke of the Independent Duchy of Bornholm” Lars said, looking a bit embarrassed as he said it.

“Isn’t that normally the sort of thing asked of my older brother?” Ria asked in reply.

“It is my father’s hope that with your reputation as being an independently minded woman you would be more inclined to chart your own course in this matter. Also, at my father’s instruction I spoke to Emperor Friedrich, your brother, first” Lars said, “He told me to take it up with the Danish Government. He also said that there were many fine facilities for men like my father that I ought to consider as his next of kin, then offered to refer me to them. Then I was escorted out of the Winter Residence by what I assume were the First Foot Guard.”
Lars should be flattered. Both the Kaiser and his sister, the Queen of Galicia and Ruthenia, have taken the time to politely listen to his request, though their answer was a firm no. Freddy even offered some good advice. As for the Ship that may have just set sail, Rea now knows that Lars is loyal, loves his 'insane' father, and is a little weird himself. Oh, and that Kat thinks he's relatively harmless, even if he is a nuisance. If she didn't, Lars wouldn't have just got the sack treatment.
 

ferdi254

Banned
No oil around Bornholm. And afaik the possession of it has not been contested for centuries.

And drawing the Germans into a quagmire has not worked that well. A division and spare, maybe another one plus one Geschwader of planes, At any given day TTL Germay would have double that number on training grounds in Germany.
We are maybe talking 5% of the military ressources of Germany. The USA in Vietnam had a far higher proportion.
 
And drawing the Germans into a quagmire has not worked that well. A division and spare, maybe another one plus one Geschwader of planes, At any given day TTL Germay would have double that number on training grounds in Germany.
We are maybe talking 5% of the military ressources of Germany. The USA in Vietnam had a far higher proportion.
Yeah, that was my thinking. Vietnam and Afghanistan were quagmires, this is more akin to Britain in the Konfrontasi.
 
As I was wondering how this crank was able to get an audience with both Kaiser Friedrich and Queen Marie Cecille when it hit me that it either their respective Foreign Ministries and/or Chancery Offices that sent Lars to them as a way to give him the run around and knowing how people think that the Monarch has more power then what they really do it is a way to get the message that they should have gotten lost a while ago.
 
Wow Leopard 2 operational in 71. If this is according to OTL specs Germany surely fields the best available MBT for some time.

Probably not going to be OTL specs; previously the Germans (or at least the Bohemians) had been testing an autoloading 128mm main gun which is likely to be the main armament of the ATL Leopard II. Good chance they'll use composite armor rather than the spaced/high hardness of the early variants of the OTL Leopard II- the Germans haven't had the disruption of their military industry so they'll probably have looked into quartz/ceramic/NERA/fibreglass composite armor variants like the Americans, British, and Soviets had around this time OTL. Probably going to be similar to either the elastic/sandwich and ceramic armor of the M1 Abrams or the fibreglass and ceramic armor of the T-64A and T-72.

Maybe something more like the Leclerc/Type 90/Type 10 rather than the OTL Leopard 2 is my guess...
 

ferdi254

Banned
Well but that would make the Leo 2 even more powerful. And that one was and is OTL the best MBT that there is.

Of course it depends on the exact roll out dates of upgrades but I‘d rather sit in a Leo 2 than an Abrams.
 
Part 122, Chapter 2058
Chapter Two Thousand Fifty-Eight



21st April 1971

Rio Gallegos, Argentina

It was the airplanes that flew in every few days that let them know that the world had not forgotten them. Every month, a Freighter made it through the minefield outside the bay after the R-Boats from the Navy cleared the way for the heavier items that couldn’t be brought in by air. While no one in the city was starving, the realities of being in a city that was encircled were being felt as winter was closing on Patagonia. Boredom and inactivity had become huge issues, there was also the reality that the Chileans might try to take Rio Gallegos weighing on everyone. The result was that every time the Freighter left port, they took a substantial number of civilians with them and the streets had grown noticeably empty as the months had passed. Christian figured that it would eventually almost be down to the 4th Panzer Division, the Argentine Infantry Division that was tasked with defending Rio Gallegos, along with the service personnel in the Seaport and Airport.

Christian, Maus, Moser, and Kruger made their way down the street from the City Center and Warehouse District where they had picked up the day’s rations for their Squad, some assembly required. It was mostly potatoes in burlap sacks, but there were other things. Once again, they had been stuck with rations the Navy had provided. That included the jars of unidentifiable pickled fish and vegetables that Maus was certain were being given to them because the Navy wanted to see if they would actually eat the stuff. Christian wouldn’t put it past them.

Christian knew that Einar would be pissed when they got back and saw what the day’s meals would be. As if Einar would have done better if he had lost the coin-toss earlier that morning. Christian suspected that complaining about the food was just something to do for lack of anything better but he wished that his Assistant Squad Leader would shut his mouth already. Christian was on the verge of pulling Rank to get Einar to put a sock in it.

The four of them were having to run this errand on foot because the diesel fuel that all the vehicles ran on was always in short supply. Unless they could convince the Brass that the day’s food run was absolutely essential, they would find out that there were still a whole lot of unpleasant tasked they could be put to even here at the edge of the world surrounded by enemies.

“Does Lieutenant von Mischner have any plans?” Kruger asked. That was a common question that Christian got these days, everyone knew that he and Manfred went way back. The truth was that Christian didn’t know any more than anything else because Manfred was keeping his cards close to his chest these days. While the raids across lines that had been done by the 1st Platoon (Callsign Gold) of the 7th Recon’s single Infantry Company had become legendary, the Brass had given him a medal and warned him that if he continued to exceed his orders then he might find himself cashiered. It seemed that there had been a number of imitators in other outfits who had not been nearly as successful. Their rotations spent out on the lines had mostly been uneventful lately.

“He hasn’t told me anything” Christian replied.

“Oh” Kruger replied glumly, “If only they would fix the Football Pitch.”

“You don’t have to be such snob” Moser said, “I’ve heard that the matches have been interesting lately. You know, because of the airplane…”

Moser stopped talking when he got withering glares from Kruger and Maus. Several weeks earlier, a Chilean Recon Plane had plowed into the Football Pitch after eating a considerable about of Flak. Clearing the wreckage had not been a high priority and that had resulted in a considerable amount of grumbling in the Ranks. The fact that some of the men still tried to use the Pitch in that state was considered blasphemy by many in the 4th Division. Moser was the Radio Operator who had replaced Ralf when he had been promoted and assigned to work directly with Manfred. He had not exactly been a great fit, especially because he was in Ralf’s old slot.

“That means we have three choices for this afternoon” Maus said as they rounded a corner and saw the dilapidated cinderblock house their Squad had been living in for the last few months. “School, Church, or nothing.”

They walked in silence for a few moments.

“There are pretty girls at the school” Kruger said.

“That’s how they get you” Maus replied, “But it is always look but don’t touch unless you want to meet her striped majesty and have her add your balls to the collection she keeps on the shelves in her office.”

It had become something of a joke around the whole of the Military. Any man who abused his position and molested one of the women who worked with them in any capacity was asking for a visit from the Tigress. This was especially true because a couple of the women who worked at the school were rumored to be Kurfürstin Katherine’s girls and she would take it very personally if anything happened to them. The other aspect was that the sharp-tongued little blond who they had frequently encountered over the last several months was Manfred’s girlfriend as well as being a mechanical savant. Everyone in the Division knew that if they messed with Suse Knispel, Manfred von Mischner would land on them like a ton of bricks.

Still, the school was place where they could talk to a pretty girl from home. At the same time, they would have educational opportunity and personal improvement pushed on them the entire time they were there. Several members of their Company had completed their Secondary Education here over the last several months. Christian had heard jokes about how if this siege dragged on long enough then there was a good chance some of them would probably earn advanced Degrees as well.

The Church was holding social functions, mostly showing old movies from the silent era. Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin being the most popular. The Bishop though had made sure that the entertainment included a substantial amount of sermonizing before the films started, earning him the nickname Father Spaßverderber throughout the Division.
 
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“But it is always look but don’t touch unless you want to meet her striped majesty and have her add your balls to the collection she keeps on the shelves in her office.”
"Her Striped Majesty" that is both a new one and highly appropriate name for Kat.
Kat when she hears about it is going to be both highly offended by that and at the same time very pleased that her reputation still reaches a new generation especially when her "girls" are in the thick of things.
I would not be surprised if Suse Rosa was unofficially put in charge of the mechanics and Ina even through she is a veterinarian is now finding that she is now treating more human patients then animals leading to a lot of dark jokes about how she treats broken legs.
 
IOTL Thomas E. Dewey died on March 16 1971 and after his failed campaigns for the Presidency in 1944 and 1948 he became the chief "Kingmaker" in the GOP guiding Eisenhower to the Presidency and bringing Nelson Rockefeller in to electoral politics.
With that in mind the last four of the six Presidents ITTL have been Governors of New York ( FDR, Dewey, Harriman, and Rockefeller) leading to jokes how the Road to the White House goes through the Statehouse in Albany, so is there anyone sitting in Albany looking out the window and seeing Washington D.C. ?
I think Nixon ITTL has basically has the Democratic nomination locked down.
 
Bah, all I want is Suse in a tank gunner seat. Wasn't there a chapter of dear ol' dad letting her shoot a tankgun once or twice? Which led to her really wanting to get into panzers but not making it because she's tiny. Let a couple of crew come down with something and get her into a seat.

Second generation Knispel tearing apart enemy tank divisions.
 
Bah, all I want is Suse in a tank gunner seat. Wasn't there a chapter of dear ol' dad letting her shoot a tankgun once or twice? Which led to her really wanting to get into panzers but not making it because she's tiny. Let a couple of crew come down with something and get her into a seat.

Second generation Knispel tearing apart enemy tank divisions.
The pity is that we wont see her pulling something from her grandfather book and leading a winter offensive to crush the enemy.
 
Chile is at this point is at its maximum amount of achievement that they can get because after the Germans arrive in force it is going to be pushed back hard and fast.
Their best bet is to run to the League of Nations with the backing of Great Britain and the United States to ask for a ceasefire with a phased withdrawal back to the frontiers except for the disputed lands that Chile has captured.
President Rockefeller might see this as a chance to get a diplomatic victory under his belt and add prestige to the United States but of course this could all blow up in his face and make things worse...
 
Their best bet is to run to the League of Nations with the backing of Great Britain and the United States to ask for a ceasefire with a phased withdrawal back to the frontiers except for the disputed lands that Chile has captured.
President Rockefeller might see this as a chance to get a diplomatic victory under his belt and add prestige to the United States but of course this could all blow up in his face and make things worse...
I am doubtfull on two points here.
First would Britain realy back Chile to that extent?
Because of point two, would the LoN back an aggressive war by Chile?

And while I can see the USA backing Chile to a degree here, I doubt they want to build the precedent of aggressive war as being ok. More so as they would probably face a block of other nations that have to lose something if this is going to happen... you know keeping the status quo and all that.
 
The only image of a jet painted in Jasta 11 colors that I could find. I am considering how that might evolve into the early 70's.


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