Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Ironically, without the Sykes–Picot agreement in place the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which was already underway at the time of the point of departure, was more complete.
A complete shot in the dark, but would Lea's grandmother's first name be Walburga?
The chlorine triflouride is explosively reactive with water. And wood. And asbestos. And rocket engineers. So, I guess we wait and see.
Part 73, Chapter 1077
Chapter One Thousand Seventy-Seven
24th July 1954
Potsdam
“We have no idea how the Greeks might have learned of this chemical compound much less produced it in quantity” Schultz said, “We have people in the region, but for obvious reasons we’ve had trouble getting an answer to the extent of the devastation. Other than massive, that is.”
He could tell that the Emperor was not happy with that answer. Chlorine trifluoride had been discovered by Wilhelm Institute in the 1930s. From Schultz’s perspective it was a great example of scientists peering into the void and when they saw the void was staring back, they poked it with sticks. So far, the only application that had been found for the compound was cleaning up highly radioactive uranium oxides that were almost as dangerous. The OKW had explored the possibility of the compound, codenamed N-Stoff, as a weapon but had realized that it was almost as dangerous for their own side as the enemy.
“Has the Chancellor issued a public statement yet?” Louis asked.
“No” Schultz replied, “The Government has been debating a response all night and I was asked to pass along to you that we need to have a unified response.”
Louis looked sourly at Schultz. If he issued a public statement, it would be his own and the Reichstag be damned. He had been advised that he might need to talk the Emperor out of that course of action. Schultz had been advised that just across the palace the Empress had been talked out of denouncing the Greeks actions as barbarous in the minutes after the scope of what had happened in Turkey had become known. The British had condemned the action but had stopped short of condemning the Greek State. The Russians were trumpeting their support for the Greeks, hardly a surprise really. The Russians had a long history with the Turks and that was not a loving relationship. Anyone who understood history would have instantly understood why the Greeks would like the idea of a fire that couldn’t be put out. The Americans and the French had remained quiet for now, which was a small mercy. It was probably a day, or less, before this found its way to the LN
“Did they give an estimate for how long this urgent debate will continue for?” Louis asked.
“No” Schultz replied, “Presently, they see Kure as a problem. How to respond to this latest event without looking like complete hypocrites?”
“Augustus Lang figured that we had damned ourselves with that choice” Louis said, “Was it the right call? Especially considering this.”
“The Japanese hit our side with weaponized plague” Schultz replied, “Action had to be taken and they were warned.”
It wasn’t that simple though. There were many inside Germany, most notably in the Academic Community who felt that wholesale destruction of Japanese cities had set events in motion that couldn’t easily be taken back. What had just happened in Ankara was one of the consequences, there would be more yet to come.
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Kiki was trying to understand the adult world. One side of a war in a distant place had just inflicted a disaster on the other side of biblical proportions leaving a burned-out city. She noticed how everyone was reacting, Kat said that recent events reminded them uncomfortably of the Soviet War when they had been fighting for their very existence.
Hera jumped up on Kiki’s desk and was rubbing her cheek on Kiki’s hand, distracting her from the book that she had been trying to read. What sort of name was Frodo anyway? Katherine had said this was a good book, but Kiki was finding that she was having an impossible time getting into it. The book was incredibly dense, with footnotes, maps and a dictionary. Was this fantasy or a textbook?
“You don’t care about any of these things, do you?” Kiki asked as she scratched behind Hera’s ear.
When the kittens had been sent to their homes, Hera had been sent to the Veterinarian’s. Kiki had gone with them, but they wouldn’t let her see exactly what they had done, instead making her wait out in the waiting room where she talked to the Receptionist.
Afterwards, Hera had been dopey for a few days, a substantial amount of her fur had been shaved off and supposedly there were not going to be any more kittens. That was supposed to be good for Hera in the long run. She was still the unholy terror that the Palace Staff refused to go near, so Kiki didn’t understand what the big deal was.
Zella and Aurora had already gone home for the weekend. With everything going on it was figured that the having them in the palace was a distraction. It never occurred to the adults that perhaps Kiki needed the distraction. The night before the variety show that they watched on Friday nights had been preempted by news coverage of what was going on in Turkey. Kiki had concluded that it had turned into a very disappointing weekend and it wasn’t even half over yet.
Tomorrow, her mother would insist that Kiki accompany her to church the way she always did along with Rea and Vicky. The twins were still too small to care about world events and while it would be wrong to say that they were self-absorbed, the two of them lived entirely in a world of their own creation, the rest of their family just happened to be allowed to be guests from time to time. They didn’t understand how the Greco-Turkish War had divided the Russian expatriate community in Berlin. Their mother, with her calls for a negotiated peace before the conflict spread was one of the leaders of one faction and those who saw this war as a crusade against the infidel Turks were on the other. Kiki knew that things were going to be decidedly uncomfortable tomorrow for that reason.
24th July 1954
Potsdam
“We have no idea how the Greeks might have learned of this chemical compound much less produced it in quantity” Schultz said, “We have people in the region, but for obvious reasons we’ve had trouble getting an answer to the extent of the devastation. Other than massive, that is.”
He could tell that the Emperor was not happy with that answer. Chlorine trifluoride had been discovered by Wilhelm Institute in the 1930s. From Schultz’s perspective it was a great example of scientists peering into the void and when they saw the void was staring back, they poked it with sticks. So far, the only application that had been found for the compound was cleaning up highly radioactive uranium oxides that were almost as dangerous. The OKW had explored the possibility of the compound, codenamed N-Stoff, as a weapon but had realized that it was almost as dangerous for their own side as the enemy.
“Has the Chancellor issued a public statement yet?” Louis asked.
“No” Schultz replied, “The Government has been debating a response all night and I was asked to pass along to you that we need to have a unified response.”
Louis looked sourly at Schultz. If he issued a public statement, it would be his own and the Reichstag be damned. He had been advised that he might need to talk the Emperor out of that course of action. Schultz had been advised that just across the palace the Empress had been talked out of denouncing the Greeks actions as barbarous in the minutes after the scope of what had happened in Turkey had become known. The British had condemned the action but had stopped short of condemning the Greek State. The Russians were trumpeting their support for the Greeks, hardly a surprise really. The Russians had a long history with the Turks and that was not a loving relationship. Anyone who understood history would have instantly understood why the Greeks would like the idea of a fire that couldn’t be put out. The Americans and the French had remained quiet for now, which was a small mercy. It was probably a day, or less, before this found its way to the LN
“Did they give an estimate for how long this urgent debate will continue for?” Louis asked.
“No” Schultz replied, “Presently, they see Kure as a problem. How to respond to this latest event without looking like complete hypocrites?”
“Augustus Lang figured that we had damned ourselves with that choice” Louis said, “Was it the right call? Especially considering this.”
“The Japanese hit our side with weaponized plague” Schultz replied, “Action had to be taken and they were warned.”
It wasn’t that simple though. There were many inside Germany, most notably in the Academic Community who felt that wholesale destruction of Japanese cities had set events in motion that couldn’t easily be taken back. What had just happened in Ankara was one of the consequences, there would be more yet to come.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Kiki was trying to understand the adult world. One side of a war in a distant place had just inflicted a disaster on the other side of biblical proportions leaving a burned-out city. She noticed how everyone was reacting, Kat said that recent events reminded them uncomfortably of the Soviet War when they had been fighting for their very existence.
Hera jumped up on Kiki’s desk and was rubbing her cheek on Kiki’s hand, distracting her from the book that she had been trying to read. What sort of name was Frodo anyway? Katherine had said this was a good book, but Kiki was finding that she was having an impossible time getting into it. The book was incredibly dense, with footnotes, maps and a dictionary. Was this fantasy or a textbook?
“You don’t care about any of these things, do you?” Kiki asked as she scratched behind Hera’s ear.
When the kittens had been sent to their homes, Hera had been sent to the Veterinarian’s. Kiki had gone with them, but they wouldn’t let her see exactly what they had done, instead making her wait out in the waiting room where she talked to the Receptionist.
Afterwards, Hera had been dopey for a few days, a substantial amount of her fur had been shaved off and supposedly there were not going to be any more kittens. That was supposed to be good for Hera in the long run. She was still the unholy terror that the Palace Staff refused to go near, so Kiki didn’t understand what the big deal was.
Zella and Aurora had already gone home for the weekend. With everything going on it was figured that the having them in the palace was a distraction. It never occurred to the adults that perhaps Kiki needed the distraction. The night before the variety show that they watched on Friday nights had been preempted by news coverage of what was going on in Turkey. Kiki had concluded that it had turned into a very disappointing weekend and it wasn’t even half over yet.
Tomorrow, her mother would insist that Kiki accompany her to church the way she always did along with Rea and Vicky. The twins were still too small to care about world events and while it would be wrong to say that they were self-absorbed, the two of them lived entirely in a world of their own creation, the rest of their family just happened to be allowed to be guests from time to time. They didn’t understand how the Greco-Turkish War had divided the Russian expatriate community in Berlin. Their mother, with her calls for a negotiated peace before the conflict spread was one of the leaders of one faction and those who saw this war as a crusade against the infidel Turks were on the other. Kiki knew that things were going to be decidedly uncomfortable tomorrow for that reason.
The description of the yellowish gas makes me think chemical weapons, but the following description of buildings engulfed instantly in flame makes me think fuel/air explosive gone wrong, meaning it's reacted like a giant petrol bomb.
[Edited]
And this was ninja's by the last update.
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Were WMDs ever banned ITTL? Also, CLF3 isn't a WMD. WMD refers to Nuclear/Biological/Chemical/Radialogical. ClF3 is "just" an incendiary.
ClF3 is a liquid.
Nope, explodes at contact with water-bombing of civilian target, fire creates very dangerous toxic gasses, including pure chlorine gas-chemical attack. So definietly WMD. And even if not, its warcrime anyway.
Maybe. Who's going to prosecute though? How would theu do it?
Can't exactly haul anyone before The Hague, and no Treaty of Versailles means the idea isn't there in the same capacity. Even if they could, no way of doing it without declaring war on Greece.
This is a horrible tragedy, but without the Polar world of OTL, the lines in the proverbial sand a lot weaker and ill defined.
The worst is though, other countries will only be emboldened, unless the international community jumps on this hard, but there isn't the international support.
And here I thought the admiral was going to ask our friend Fotios to BE the guidance system, ala a kamikaze A4 pilot. It did not sound very practical, but that was the path I going down.
Having a working A4 homing type guidance system is scary as hell for anyone within range of a launch pad.
It would be interesting to know just how accurate the A4 knockoffs were. At least two had come close enough to the target according to PM. About the other four?
Had the Greeks done any test launches of their A4s? Was this their first crack at using the homing guidance system? It would be one massive gamble to assume the A4s would work the first time, especially with an untested guidance system, not to mention the payload. But then again, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Please keep up the great work PM, love the story !!
Had the Greeks done any test launches of their A4s? Was this their first crack at using the homing guidance system? It would be one massive gamble to assume the A4s would work the first time, especially with an untested guidance system, not to mention the payload. But then again, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Please keep up the great work PM, love the story !!
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"... It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively." From a series of articles by a chemist titled "Things I won't work with."
Having read Ignition! this development does not fill me with much joy. Damn, I thought that this timeline would be lucky enough to avoid the worst excesses of war, but no.
"For as they were maneuvering the cylinder onto a dolly,
it split and dumped one ton of chlorine trifluoride onto the floor. It
chewed its way through twelve inches of concrete and dug a three-
foot hole in the gravel underneath, filled the place with fumes which
corroded everything in sight, and, in general, made one hell of a mess.
Civil Defense turned out, and started to evacuate the neighborhood,
and to put it mildly, there was quite a brouhaha before things quieted
down. Miraculously, nobody was killed, but there was one casualty —
the man who had been steadying the cylinder when it split. He was
found some five hundred feet away, where he had reached Mach 2
and was still picking up speed when he was stopped by a heart attack."
