If he is able to walk without crutches in three weeks - his shin took the first blow - and is back to work - he got off easy!
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Part 149, Chapter 2702
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred Two
29th July 1978
Pusan, Korea
Night had fallen and the German Marines had thrown together a massive bonfire to celebrate their impending deployment. Tyrone Lee could hear them singing drunkenly as they were blowing off steam ahead of what would probably be several weeks at sea. The song was unfamiliar and in a language that Lee didn’t understand.
It had been Lee’s assumption that the men who surrounded him were like the Rock & Roll Warriors back home in San Diego. Totally balls out and flipping the bird at anyone who dared to get in their way. Many times though they managed to prove how foreign they actually were. There was a book for example that he had seen being read by several of the men whose title translated to The Front Dog or something like that. When Lee had asked about it, he had been told that it had been written by Field Marshal Dietrich “Tilo” Schultz about his experiences in the ranks of the Marines going from Vietnam to the Russian Far East, Korea, and eventually on to the Imperial Palace of Japan.
When Lee had read it, he had discovered that it wasn’t just about the battles though Tilo had been there for plenty of those. Instead, it was about how he had found meaning and perspective during those years spent far from home. That was hardly a surprise to Lee, he had seen many boys become men in the Corps. The part that was strange was the ethos that Tilo articulated. The German Marines were scum. One step removed from the prison or lunatic asylum, and proud of it, but that didn’t mean that was all they had to be. Tilo freely admitted that prior to getting conscripted as a University Student he had been a selfish little shit in need of a good ass-kicking. It had been getting shoved into the Marines had enabled him to become a scholar and an explorer. Stop and smell the roses, get to know the cultures and languages. “Go native” as it were in a way that the US Marine Corps strongly discouraged their men from doing.
Looking around, Lee had realized that he was surrounded by men who that had an influence on. They were the 3rd Marine Infantry Division, Tilo’s own outfit. No mater where they went they were always home because whatever dirt happened to be under their feet was Germany and they were prepared to fight to the death for it as the Chinese had learned on Nightmare Ridge. They were getting ready to prove that again as they were preparing to fight against pirates in the South China Sea and the East Indies.
“One last night” Karl Dunkel said, startling Lee because he had not heard him approach. “Something that has become an unofficial tradition.”
Lee knew that Captain Dunkel, despite his relatively low rank at the moment was someone who the German Navy expected a great deal from in the future. Erich Raeder had mentioned that when he had been a Cadet at Mürwik, Dunkel had been there at the same time though he had been far older than most of the cadets. Back in the States they would have called that getting sent to finishing school, basically checking boxes as a formality so that no one would question a Mustang Officer’s Commission. This trip to the South Seas would further burnish his record after a successful operation in Anatolia that Lee had heard about.
“Any idea what the song is about?” Lee asked.
Dunkel looked amused.
“You don’t have Eurovision in the United States” Dunkel replied, “That is a Norwegian drinking song that was a runner up a few years ago. It’s all about the little aggravations in life and one solution anyway.”
As they listened, what must be the chorus came around again.
“Let’s drink the liquor, and wiser we shall be” Dunkel said, translating the words. “Reality can be cruel, when you are sober.”
That was enough to remind Lee that whatever else they were. These were still Marines.
“Thank you, Sir” Lee replied.
Dunkel just shrugged and walked off.
The Captain was followed by Hauptfeldwebel Nguyen. While Lee didn’t have an opinion about the German tradition of having a Senior Noncommissioned Officer acting as a direct assistant and/or administrator for the Company and its Commander, he did about Nikolaus Nguyen himself. Apparently the German Marines did a bit more than smell the flowers wherever they went. A man with a Vietnamese last name and features, who also had a German first name, blue eyes and was born during the Pacific War told a story. He wasn’t alone either. There were several of the German Marines with similar backgrounds from Vietnam, South Africa, Mexico, and wherever else the Marines had been over the prior decades. When Lee asked about it he got the same response. They were welcome and if they had the wherewithal to get to a Recruit Depot then they were perfectly welcome to join their ranks. It had also been pointed out that over the next couple decades there were probably going to be a number of recruits from Korea and Argentina.
Turning his attention back to the men surrounding the bonfire, Lee considered exactly what he was going to put all of this in his report back to Naval Intelligence about all of this. He had already seen a lot of things had would probably cause a few blowups in the halls of the Pentagon. The one question that had gone unanswered though was why exactly were the powers-that-be behind the German 3rd Marine Division tolerating Lee’s presence?
29th July 1978
Pusan, Korea
Night had fallen and the German Marines had thrown together a massive bonfire to celebrate their impending deployment. Tyrone Lee could hear them singing drunkenly as they were blowing off steam ahead of what would probably be several weeks at sea. The song was unfamiliar and in a language that Lee didn’t understand.
It had been Lee’s assumption that the men who surrounded him were like the Rock & Roll Warriors back home in San Diego. Totally balls out and flipping the bird at anyone who dared to get in their way. Many times though they managed to prove how foreign they actually were. There was a book for example that he had seen being read by several of the men whose title translated to The Front Dog or something like that. When Lee had asked about it, he had been told that it had been written by Field Marshal Dietrich “Tilo” Schultz about his experiences in the ranks of the Marines going from Vietnam to the Russian Far East, Korea, and eventually on to the Imperial Palace of Japan.
When Lee had read it, he had discovered that it wasn’t just about the battles though Tilo had been there for plenty of those. Instead, it was about how he had found meaning and perspective during those years spent far from home. That was hardly a surprise to Lee, he had seen many boys become men in the Corps. The part that was strange was the ethos that Tilo articulated. The German Marines were scum. One step removed from the prison or lunatic asylum, and proud of it, but that didn’t mean that was all they had to be. Tilo freely admitted that prior to getting conscripted as a University Student he had been a selfish little shit in need of a good ass-kicking. It had been getting shoved into the Marines had enabled him to become a scholar and an explorer. Stop and smell the roses, get to know the cultures and languages. “Go native” as it were in a way that the US Marine Corps strongly discouraged their men from doing.
Looking around, Lee had realized that he was surrounded by men who that had an influence on. They were the 3rd Marine Infantry Division, Tilo’s own outfit. No mater where they went they were always home because whatever dirt happened to be under their feet was Germany and they were prepared to fight to the death for it as the Chinese had learned on Nightmare Ridge. They were getting ready to prove that again as they were preparing to fight against pirates in the South China Sea and the East Indies.
“One last night” Karl Dunkel said, startling Lee because he had not heard him approach. “Something that has become an unofficial tradition.”
Lee knew that Captain Dunkel, despite his relatively low rank at the moment was someone who the German Navy expected a great deal from in the future. Erich Raeder had mentioned that when he had been a Cadet at Mürwik, Dunkel had been there at the same time though he had been far older than most of the cadets. Back in the States they would have called that getting sent to finishing school, basically checking boxes as a formality so that no one would question a Mustang Officer’s Commission. This trip to the South Seas would further burnish his record after a successful operation in Anatolia that Lee had heard about.
“Any idea what the song is about?” Lee asked.
Dunkel looked amused.
“You don’t have Eurovision in the United States” Dunkel replied, “That is a Norwegian drinking song that was a runner up a few years ago. It’s all about the little aggravations in life and one solution anyway.”
As they listened, what must be the chorus came around again.
“Let’s drink the liquor, and wiser we shall be” Dunkel said, translating the words. “Reality can be cruel, when you are sober.”
That was enough to remind Lee that whatever else they were. These were still Marines.
“Thank you, Sir” Lee replied.
Dunkel just shrugged and walked off.
The Captain was followed by Hauptfeldwebel Nguyen. While Lee didn’t have an opinion about the German tradition of having a Senior Noncommissioned Officer acting as a direct assistant and/or administrator for the Company and its Commander, he did about Nikolaus Nguyen himself. Apparently the German Marines did a bit more than smell the flowers wherever they went. A man with a Vietnamese last name and features, who also had a German first name, blue eyes and was born during the Pacific War told a story. He wasn’t alone either. There were several of the German Marines with similar backgrounds from Vietnam, South Africa, Mexico, and wherever else the Marines had been over the prior decades. When Lee asked about it he got the same response. They were welcome and if they had the wherewithal to get to a Recruit Depot then they were perfectly welcome to join their ranks. It had also been pointed out that over the next couple decades there were probably going to be a number of recruits from Korea and Argentina.
Turning his attention back to the men surrounding the bonfire, Lee considered exactly what he was going to put all of this in his report back to Naval Intelligence about all of this. He had already seen a lot of things had would probably cause a few blowups in the halls of the Pentagon. The one question that had gone unanswered though was why exactly were the powers-that-be behind the German 3rd Marine Division tolerating Lee’s presence?
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Oh god, the Eurovulsion Song Contest exists in this timeline. Does Terry Wogan exist to, and is he the BBC's presenter? Or is it still Katie Boyle?
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Couldn’t you just use a visiting German that skipped town? It could make for an interesting twist on Anni-Fredi experience growing up. Either way, I guess that’s the butterfly effect, how many other famous haven’t come into existence because of the TL’s butterflies?
The relationship between the German Marine Infantry and the USMC is a strange one as each of them see the other service as some kind of role model.
For the USMC, without the IOTL WW II, Korean and Vietnam Wars, they do not have the same level of combat experience that the Marine Infantry has, plus the reputation of being "The Worst of the Worst" is something to be admired.
For the Marine Infantry especially Tilo, they admire the traditions and professionalism of the USMC, they see how a Senior NCO like Tyronne Lee is conducting himself in front of them and see him as an example for their own NCOs to emulate.
In the first timeline when Tilo and the Sea Lions were attached to the First Marine Division during the LON Mexican Intervention, he saw how the USMC trained their own recruits at MCRD San Diego, that many of the USMC officers were educated at the United States Naval Academy, and how the USMC had their own Air wings, artillery, and armor units.
The Marine Infantry probably has their own observers attached to the USMC, most likely at places like MCRD San Diego and Parris Island, the Marine Corps OCS at Quantico, VA, and Camp Pendelton in California to observe amphibious training.
In the first timeline, I had a post about how IOTL the USMC had a field manual since the 1930's that is still in use today that has been updated and revised over the years that could have been used by then Fleet Admiral Jacob von Schimdt to refine the tactics the Seebaitallion used after their first landing in Vietnam, when it was pointed out how lucky they were that the Japanese didn't contest the landings, but I lost it before I could post it and events moved too rapidly to try to repost it,
For the USMC, without the IOTL WW II, Korean and Vietnam Wars, they do not have the same level of combat experience that the Marine Infantry has, plus the reputation of being "The Worst of the Worst" is something to be admired.
For the Marine Infantry especially Tilo, they admire the traditions and professionalism of the USMC, they see how a Senior NCO like Tyronne Lee is conducting himself in front of them and see him as an example for their own NCOs to emulate.
In the first timeline when Tilo and the Sea Lions were attached to the First Marine Division during the LON Mexican Intervention, he saw how the USMC trained their own recruits at MCRD San Diego, that many of the USMC officers were educated at the United States Naval Academy, and how the USMC had their own Air wings, artillery, and armor units.
The Marine Infantry probably has their own observers attached to the USMC, most likely at places like MCRD San Diego and Parris Island, the Marine Corps OCS at Quantico, VA, and Camp Pendelton in California to observe amphibious training.
In the first timeline, I had a post about how IOTL the USMC had a field manual since the 1930's that is still in use today that has been updated and revised over the years that could have been used by then Fleet Admiral Jacob von Schimdt to refine the tactics the Seebaitallion used after their first landing in Vietnam, when it was pointed out how lucky they were that the Japanese didn't contest the landings, but I lost it before I could post it and events moved too rapidly to try to repost it,
I would have to disagree here. Because I think you are projekting OTL Marines onto the ITL ones.
Also the German See Bataillone were originaly started aprox. 1850 isch. So they also have some time to settle.
As such we should be wary of projekting OTLs capabilities onto the ITL formations. The American one for example never had the Pacific Theater to shine... so how well funded and respected it is... you would have to ask a member or the author.
As for the Germans being awed by the professionalism? Well German Arms are generaly unbeaten in TL since the Wars of Liberation (1813 - Napoleon) going through the Unification Wars, Franco-Prussian and the World Wars... and other "little scuffles" like Korea, Mexico, South Africa, South America... well I think you get the idea.
The Seebaitallion were units of the Army attached to the Navy, and not its own separate force, and ITTL they were populated by the castoffs of the Heer and regarded as “Scum” by others.
ITTL the Seebaitallion was transformed into the Marine Infantry in 1943 and placed under the command of the KLM.
They still received the castoffs of the Heer until reforms were made and the Marine Infantry now trains its own recruits and officers, and no longer take the castoffs.
IOTL and ITTL, the USMC did fight in France in The Great War and there is no reason that the IOTL’s “Banana Wars” would not have happened ITTL.
While it is very true that the USMC did not fight in the ITTL’s WW II, they were greatly expanded (but nowhere as near IOTL) in order to protect US neutrality in places like Guam and the Philippines.
The USMC did fight in the ITTL LON Mexican Intervention, with Tilo and the Sea Lion company that he commanded attached to the First US Marine Division and the Second US Marine Division did an amphibious landing on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Mexico.
ITTL the Seebaitallion was transformed into the Marine Infantry in 1943 and placed under the command of the KLM.
They still received the castoffs of the Heer until reforms were made and the Marine Infantry now trains its own recruits and officers, and no longer take the castoffs.
IOTL and ITTL, the USMC did fight in France in The Great War and there is no reason that the IOTL’s “Banana Wars” would not have happened ITTL.
While it is very true that the USMC did not fight in the ITTL’s WW II, they were greatly expanded (but nowhere as near IOTL) in order to protect US neutrality in places like Guam and the Philippines.
The USMC did fight in the ITTL LON Mexican Intervention, with Tilo and the Sea Lion company that he commanded attached to the First US Marine Division and the Second US Marine Division did an amphibious landing on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Mexico.
If they are attached to the Army or Navy does not matter, as I pointed out, they were stood up earlier then you indicated. So they had time to create their own reputation and traditions. That is all I implied and all that I wanted to point out.
So the USMC was on the loosing side in ITL WWI and then had a long time of relative minor conflicts, seen on the perspective of the German military. That is not to say they are not professional or good... but they in this TL will NOT have the reputation of OTL. They did not wreastle Japan to the ground and did the Island Hopping or other more intense fighting in the Pacific.
I am not sure if we are ever shown that the US Marines in this TL grew into a combind arms army. Why would they have the need to do so?
As to the landings in Mexico... those were in coordination with the Army and Air Force. As such the need for tanks and airplanes might not be as apparent in this TL as it was in OTL were they fought a much tougher enemy in a much larger theater with much less support from the traditional owners of the capabilities.
"Small Wars" is the USMC manual that is still in use today. I do think it has a different name but is just the same as it was, just updated a bit.
Part 149, Chapter 2703
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred Three
30th July 1978
Langeoog, East Frisian Islands
There was a poster on the wall in the Institute of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at McGill which was from an advertising campaign from a couple decades earlier. It was advertising campaign mostly involving vacations at Glacier National Park in Montana and Airstream trailers. In it you had the father, played the actor Gregory Peck, making fried egg sandwiches for the kids while the mother was sleeping in. See, a vacation for everyone. The scene was incredibly wholesome, and there had been a number of comments written on the margins of the poster about what various passersby had thought. They ranged from ribald to just opinions about what was being depicted. The Professor it belonged to said the it was there because it was one of the few times that an advertiser actually got the message correct.
Henriette had thought a bit about that poster as she had watch Sabastian doing his best with Alice. Unfortunately for him, Alice was not always inclined to be cooperative in the manner of small children everywhere. Today, it was because the weather had shifted, and they had woken up to grey clouds and rain. Alice had decided that she wanted to go down to the beach. Henriette telling her that if she got cold and wet she would be miserable. Not only was Henriette rather roundly ignored, but it also seemed that telling Alice she needed to stay in had rather the opposite effect. Sabastian volunteered to go down to the tide line with Alice, telling Henriette that his sisters had been the same way. She would see that there wasn’t a whole lot to do, and they would come back in short order. Besides, Marie’s younger foster sisters, Sophie, and Angelica, were coming from Berlin that afternoon and Sophie’s dog Sprocket loved children.
Henriette could see the bright orange rain poncho that Sabastian had insisted that Alice wear from the covered back porch as they walked up the beach. She could hear movement in the house, suggesting that Marie Alexandra had finally decided to get out of bed. It was very noticeable that Marie was very different here. Far less guarded, free with her opinions, doing things that Henriette found outrageous. Sabastian just shrugged and he said that it was just Marie being Marie, and she’ll move on to something else soon enough. When Sabastian said that it drove home that along with Marie’s cousin Nikolaus, the three of them had grown up together in basically the same household, which had made closer to each other than to their actual siblings. There was little that Marie could do that would surprise him.
The rain increased in tempo and Henriette noticed that Sabastain and Alice were running back to the house, he must have challenged her to race him back to the house. Sabastian had told Henriette that spending time with the two of them was a welcome break from what seemed like everyone in his life pushing him to train for Moscow in a couple years. He had won a Silver Medal in Montreal, and it was expected that after having had four years to mature as an athlete Sabastain would be able to dominate the Decathlon. He had told Henriette the truth though, that he knew that regardless of how he actually did in Moscow he would be going against the best in the world, so the idea of him dominating that competition of was laughable. That was why it was obvious that he was clearly pacing himself as Alice ran ahead of him a big grin on her face. Henriette had no idea if Sabastian even knew what a fried egg sandwich even was, but it was moments like this that were certainly in the spirit of what was depicted on that poster.
Washington DC
By treaty, every time a world power conducted a Nuclear Readiness Drill they had to inform the other signatories. At least the Germans had decency to have left out what it had been that caused that action in the first place this time. Nixon had a feeling that if the world ended tomorrow, it would be because someone screwed up in exactly the manner that things had only to have things spiral beyond everyone’s control. As it was, the German Navy had put to sea before they had even been able to confirm that they had mobilized. Nixon was of the opinion that the fact that there had not been a traffic jam at the mouth of the Jade Bight suggested an incredible amount of planning and a flawless execution. Still, it wasn’t the surface fleet that was the issue. The main German deterrence was the elusive Ballistic Missile Submarines. Just one of those could completely destroy the entire Eastern Seaboard which was why the US Navy had invested heavily in Anti-Submarine Warfare over the last two decades and were the real thing that kept Defense Planners awake at night. They had grown extremely good at coming and going from Bremerhaven or Wismar without anyone being the wiser.
Worse of all, the source of information that the CIA had enjoyed within the German Government seemed to have dried up. They denied that it had anything to do with a key aide of the Chancellor blowing his brains out while resisting arrest, but by now Nixon had a fairly good idea about how they operated. So he knew that they would never admit that their source had evaporated in a highly public manner.
30th July 1978
Langeoog, East Frisian Islands
There was a poster on the wall in the Institute of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at McGill which was from an advertising campaign from a couple decades earlier. It was advertising campaign mostly involving vacations at Glacier National Park in Montana and Airstream trailers. In it you had the father, played the actor Gregory Peck, making fried egg sandwiches for the kids while the mother was sleeping in. See, a vacation for everyone. The scene was incredibly wholesome, and there had been a number of comments written on the margins of the poster about what various passersby had thought. They ranged from ribald to just opinions about what was being depicted. The Professor it belonged to said the it was there because it was one of the few times that an advertiser actually got the message correct.
Henriette had thought a bit about that poster as she had watch Sabastian doing his best with Alice. Unfortunately for him, Alice was not always inclined to be cooperative in the manner of small children everywhere. Today, it was because the weather had shifted, and they had woken up to grey clouds and rain. Alice had decided that she wanted to go down to the beach. Henriette telling her that if she got cold and wet she would be miserable. Not only was Henriette rather roundly ignored, but it also seemed that telling Alice she needed to stay in had rather the opposite effect. Sabastian volunteered to go down to the tide line with Alice, telling Henriette that his sisters had been the same way. She would see that there wasn’t a whole lot to do, and they would come back in short order. Besides, Marie’s younger foster sisters, Sophie, and Angelica, were coming from Berlin that afternoon and Sophie’s dog Sprocket loved children.
Henriette could see the bright orange rain poncho that Sabastian had insisted that Alice wear from the covered back porch as they walked up the beach. She could hear movement in the house, suggesting that Marie Alexandra had finally decided to get out of bed. It was very noticeable that Marie was very different here. Far less guarded, free with her opinions, doing things that Henriette found outrageous. Sabastian just shrugged and he said that it was just Marie being Marie, and she’ll move on to something else soon enough. When Sabastian said that it drove home that along with Marie’s cousin Nikolaus, the three of them had grown up together in basically the same household, which had made closer to each other than to their actual siblings. There was little that Marie could do that would surprise him.
The rain increased in tempo and Henriette noticed that Sabastain and Alice were running back to the house, he must have challenged her to race him back to the house. Sabastian had told Henriette that spending time with the two of them was a welcome break from what seemed like everyone in his life pushing him to train for Moscow in a couple years. He had won a Silver Medal in Montreal, and it was expected that after having had four years to mature as an athlete Sabastain would be able to dominate the Decathlon. He had told Henriette the truth though, that he knew that regardless of how he actually did in Moscow he would be going against the best in the world, so the idea of him dominating that competition of was laughable. That was why it was obvious that he was clearly pacing himself as Alice ran ahead of him a big grin on her face. Henriette had no idea if Sabastian even knew what a fried egg sandwich even was, but it was moments like this that were certainly in the spirit of what was depicted on that poster.
Washington DC
By treaty, every time a world power conducted a Nuclear Readiness Drill they had to inform the other signatories. At least the Germans had decency to have left out what it had been that caused that action in the first place this time. Nixon had a feeling that if the world ended tomorrow, it would be because someone screwed up in exactly the manner that things had only to have things spiral beyond everyone’s control. As it was, the German Navy had put to sea before they had even been able to confirm that they had mobilized. Nixon was of the opinion that the fact that there had not been a traffic jam at the mouth of the Jade Bight suggested an incredible amount of planning and a flawless execution. Still, it wasn’t the surface fleet that was the issue. The main German deterrence was the elusive Ballistic Missile Submarines. Just one of those could completely destroy the entire Eastern Seaboard which was why the US Navy had invested heavily in Anti-Submarine Warfare over the last two decades and were the real thing that kept Defense Planners awake at night. They had grown extremely good at coming and going from Bremerhaven or Wismar without anyone being the wiser.
Worse of all, the source of information that the CIA had enjoyed within the German Government seemed to have dried up. They denied that it had anything to do with a key aide of the Chancellor blowing his brains out while resisting arrest, but by now Nixon had a fairly good idea about how they operated. So he knew that they would never admit that their source had evaporated in a highly public manner.
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Somehow Kissinger still has to screrw with Nixon, even if not directly....
Part 149, Chapter 2704
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred Four
31st July 1978
Riesengebirge National Park, Giant Mountains
For Sepp the irony was rather biting that he had made it into University, only to find himself shoved right back into everything he had worked for most of the last decade to avoid. Working under the hot summer sun with either a shovel or picking up garbage like he was today. The only difference was that he had been given a green denim uniform, a pair of stout boots, and told that like the others in his group he was Forester Candidate for the duration of his volunteer service this summer. As soon as he learned that Sepp knew that he’d been had when he had signed up at the career office back at the University. That had also been right about the time he’d made his introduction to Senior Ranger Mirek Stumpf, who had apparently lived in these mountains for most of his life and he made very clear that he had little use for civilization.
A few weeks earlier there had been a major military readiness drill and Stumpf had nothing good to say about the soldiers who had spent a few days in these same mountains. Empty ration tins, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, along with a staggering array of other loose garbage had been left behind in all but the most remote and hard to reach areas of the National Park. Stumpf had said that he had considered complaining to the Heer and getting their men to come clean up the mess, but he suspected that would prove to be the opposite of actually solving the problem. Picking up a can and shoving it into one of the large clear plastic bags they had brought with them today Sepp thought about how his life had come to this. It couldn’t be an accident that bags made slacking off next to impossible by their very nature and Sepp had been told that he needed to fill at least five of the cursed things by sunset. He suspected that Dieter was going to laugh his head off when he learned about this.
At that very moment, Didi was probably swimming in the lake in the Spreewald at the camp they had both attended years earlier. A sunburn and possibly falling into the thornbushes were the worst that anyone needed to worry about there. Barring an act of divine intervention or cosmic level stupidity, Sepp had no reason to believe that Hagen was anywhere but Neustrelitz. Too stupid to realize that life was passing him by while those his silence benefited probably didn’t care in the least. Doctor Ott, whose presence in Sepp’s home had greatly increased over the months since Pop had died, had warned him that some people don’t want to be saved, and that Hagen needed to be able be make his own choices. Even in Hagen’s current predicament.
Sepp wasn’t stupid. He knew what was going on, that his mother was human, and that his father had been appalling in both that role and as a husband. It was inevitable that she would find someone new almost from the instant they finished with the funeral. Of all the men on the planet though, why did it have to be Thomas Ott? Sepp thought to himself as he shoved what looked like a shredded shelter half into the bag, trying not to think about what the scenario that would have resulted in a shredded shelter half must have been.
Off Tsushima Island
Leaning on the rail and looking off the starboard bow, Erich could see the SMS Ozelot in the distance. She was the lead ship of the flotilla that had set out from Pusan that morning. Two Corvettes, the SMS Ozelot and the SMS Weißer Thun would provide the heavy firepower. The SMS Cuxhaven, which Erich was presently on, and the SMS Eckernförde, were what had been dubbed “Amphibious Assault Ships” which meant that they carried several Companies of Marines in somewhat better accommodation than their predecessors in the Pacific War were part of it along with a number of smaller boats that were well suited for what surprises were ahead of them.
It seemed like a lot for a self-styled Pirate King, or it could just be an excuse to get a Regiment out of Pusan for a few months. Erich figured that both were equally likely. Regardless though, someone had really pissed somebody off and no one was taking chances this time. There were also rumors, because of course there always those, that everyone with a grudge against the Empire was funding these people to tie down a substantial amount of resources in the South China Sea. The British, Americans, Russians, and even the Chinese were to blame according to those rumors. Even as divided as China was these days, China remained the Big Bad in this region and everyone else had reason to maintain the status quo. The Japanese and Dutch were already in this fight, so the more the marrier.
For Erich it was just as well that he was getting out of Pusan. His father’s urging him to leave the Marine Infantry had grown more pointed in recent letters. There was growing concern as to what was going to happen to him and what he was going to do to the family name in the process. Yes, the Marine Infantry were a part of the Navy, but everyone knew what they actually were. According to Erich’s father the people at the Yacht Club were starting to talk…
Erich stopped reading and started to wonder if his father had always been a stuck up, selfish prick and he was just noticing it now? In disgust, he wadded up the paper and threw it over the side. It eventually hit the water and Erich watched it until it disappeared in the distance.
31st July 1978
Riesengebirge National Park, Giant Mountains
For Sepp the irony was rather biting that he had made it into University, only to find himself shoved right back into everything he had worked for most of the last decade to avoid. Working under the hot summer sun with either a shovel or picking up garbage like he was today. The only difference was that he had been given a green denim uniform, a pair of stout boots, and told that like the others in his group he was Forester Candidate for the duration of his volunteer service this summer. As soon as he learned that Sepp knew that he’d been had when he had signed up at the career office back at the University. That had also been right about the time he’d made his introduction to Senior Ranger Mirek Stumpf, who had apparently lived in these mountains for most of his life and he made very clear that he had little use for civilization.
A few weeks earlier there had been a major military readiness drill and Stumpf had nothing good to say about the soldiers who had spent a few days in these same mountains. Empty ration tins, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, along with a staggering array of other loose garbage had been left behind in all but the most remote and hard to reach areas of the National Park. Stumpf had said that he had considered complaining to the Heer and getting their men to come clean up the mess, but he suspected that would prove to be the opposite of actually solving the problem. Picking up a can and shoving it into one of the large clear plastic bags they had brought with them today Sepp thought about how his life had come to this. It couldn’t be an accident that bags made slacking off next to impossible by their very nature and Sepp had been told that he needed to fill at least five of the cursed things by sunset. He suspected that Dieter was going to laugh his head off when he learned about this.
At that very moment, Didi was probably swimming in the lake in the Spreewald at the camp they had both attended years earlier. A sunburn and possibly falling into the thornbushes were the worst that anyone needed to worry about there. Barring an act of divine intervention or cosmic level stupidity, Sepp had no reason to believe that Hagen was anywhere but Neustrelitz. Too stupid to realize that life was passing him by while those his silence benefited probably didn’t care in the least. Doctor Ott, whose presence in Sepp’s home had greatly increased over the months since Pop had died, had warned him that some people don’t want to be saved, and that Hagen needed to be able be make his own choices. Even in Hagen’s current predicament.
Sepp wasn’t stupid. He knew what was going on, that his mother was human, and that his father had been appalling in both that role and as a husband. It was inevitable that she would find someone new almost from the instant they finished with the funeral. Of all the men on the planet though, why did it have to be Thomas Ott? Sepp thought to himself as he shoved what looked like a shredded shelter half into the bag, trying not to think about what the scenario that would have resulted in a shredded shelter half must have been.
Off Tsushima Island
Leaning on the rail and looking off the starboard bow, Erich could see the SMS Ozelot in the distance. She was the lead ship of the flotilla that had set out from Pusan that morning. Two Corvettes, the SMS Ozelot and the SMS Weißer Thun would provide the heavy firepower. The SMS Cuxhaven, which Erich was presently on, and the SMS Eckernförde, were what had been dubbed “Amphibious Assault Ships” which meant that they carried several Companies of Marines in somewhat better accommodation than their predecessors in the Pacific War were part of it along with a number of smaller boats that were well suited for what surprises were ahead of them.
It seemed like a lot for a self-styled Pirate King, or it could just be an excuse to get a Regiment out of Pusan for a few months. Erich figured that both were equally likely. Regardless though, someone had really pissed somebody off and no one was taking chances this time. There were also rumors, because of course there always those, that everyone with a grudge against the Empire was funding these people to tie down a substantial amount of resources in the South China Sea. The British, Americans, Russians, and even the Chinese were to blame according to those rumors. Even as divided as China was these days, China remained the Big Bad in this region and everyone else had reason to maintain the status quo. The Japanese and Dutch were already in this fight, so the more the marrier.
For Erich it was just as well that he was getting out of Pusan. His father’s urging him to leave the Marine Infantry had grown more pointed in recent letters. There was growing concern as to what was going to happen to him and what he was going to do to the family name in the process. Yes, the Marine Infantry were a part of the Navy, but everyone knew what they actually were. According to Erich’s father the people at the Yacht Club were starting to talk…
Erich stopped reading and started to wonder if his father had always been a stuck up, selfish prick and he was just noticing it now? In disgust, he wadded up the paper and threw it over the side. It eventually hit the water and Erich watched it until it disappeared in the distance.
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For both Erich and Sepp, they are becoming the men that they are supposed to be.
Erich as the Great-grandson of the Grand Admiral of the KLM during ITTL Second World War, is practically a dream candidate for future promotions and commands, as his name alone gives the Marine Infantry a certain respectability that it hasn't had before.
It is no accident that Erich was assigned to the Third MI Division (Tilo's Marines) or that his commanding officer is in fact Tilo's nephew and is now going to where the action is.
As long as he doesn't die or worse, screw up, he is going to get all the plum command and staff slots that are reserved for those that the MI sees as the future leaders of the MI.
Sepp is learning once again that any opportunities that he gets, comes with hard work that others don't want to do, but are needed to be done.
It is very telling that Sepp is not voicing his displeasure as his experience has taught him that complaining will get him nowhere.
Hopefully his time in the mountains will allow him time to think about what he wants to do with his life in the future and how to go about it.
Erich as the Great-grandson of the Grand Admiral of the KLM during ITTL Second World War, is practically a dream candidate for future promotions and commands, as his name alone gives the Marine Infantry a certain respectability that it hasn't had before.
It is no accident that Erich was assigned to the Third MI Division (Tilo's Marines) or that his commanding officer is in fact Tilo's nephew and is now going to where the action is.
As long as he doesn't die or worse, screw up, he is going to get all the plum command and staff slots that are reserved for those that the MI sees as the future leaders of the MI.
Sepp is learning once again that any opportunities that he gets, comes with hard work that others don't want to do, but are needed to be done.
It is very telling that Sepp is not voicing his displeasure as his experience has taught him that complaining will get him nowhere.
Hopefully his time in the mountains will allow him time to think about what he wants to do with his life in the future and how to go about it.
Given Marie wants to date a guy that has actually done something with his life, and this is the 2nd newest character introduced... what are the chances Marie will see him as worth something compared to all the others?
Especially as he gave up a cushy berth in the Navy to be in the Marines because he wanted to make something of himself.