Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

On the frontier with Peru, they had been hearing alarming things. Mostly the clank and squeal that was the signature of German Panzers. Partially the result of cutting corners in wartime, there were rumors that the Germans had discovered that the noise scared the Hell out of opposing Infantry and had deliberately engineered that sound into their armored vehicles.

German Panzer commander (on a modern 1960s battlefield): "We know the enemy is dug in in this forest, right here (gesturing to map). So, Karl, I want you to take you platoon down this road WITH the noise-makers cranked to maximum. Heinrich, keep yours OFF for as long as possible and swing around here & hit their right flank."


With any luck, the Ecuadorians and Peruvians would refrain from doing something stupid before Ritchie’s team rotated back to the States. However, the had entered the relatively cool, dry season that was considered the prime time of the year for exactly the sort of stupidity.

Cue exactly that sort of stupidity, triggered by one of two things; incredible arrogance & frustration by a relatively junior officer or sheer terror of a raw conscript who squeezes the trigger at the exact wrong time.

Well, I am sort-of right. Not really, but sort-of.
Close enough for Government work! ;)

They both kinda, sorta accidentally work for both. Just imagine both of them, relaxing in a resort in a neutral country, discussing their situation. Something along these lines:

Sigi: "So, I've told my lot that your lot are planning to use the shit show in Ecuador as an attempt to distract from things at home & to persuade the paper pushers to upgrade some equipment."
Parker: "And I've told my lot that your lot plan on building at least one permanent space station in Earth orbit to make scientific and exploration missions more affordable. "
Sigi: " So, we've basically told them exactly what the relevant press releases have said, just a week or so earlier?"
Parker: "Yup. That means everything we've said is true, in the public record and easily confirmed. Should keep them off our backs for a while before they figure that out. If they figure that out."
Sigi: "Either way, it IS nice of them to pay for these little holidays of ours, isn't it?"
 
They both kinda, sorta accidentally work for both. Just imagine both of them, relaxing in a resort in a neutral country, discussing their situation. Something along these lines:

Sigi: "So, I've told my lot that your lot are planning to use the shit show in Ecuador as an attempt to distract from things at home & to persuade the paper pushers to upgrade some equipment."
Parker: "And I've told my lot that your lot plan on building at least one permanent space station in Earth orbit to make scientific and exploration missions more affordable. "
Sigi: " So, we've basically told them exactly what the relevant press releases have said, just a week or so earlier?"
Parker: "Yup. That means everything we've said is true, in the public record and easily confirmed. Should keep them off our backs for a while before they figure that out. If they figure that out."
Sigi: "Either way, it IS nice of them to pay for these little holidays of ours, isn't it?"

Hey, if Our Man in Havana is anything to go by, they'll both be decorated for their services to the country after these holidays :p
 
Part 112, Chapter 1853
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Three



28th June 1968

Mitte, Berlin

There were two people beyond her family who Kiki made a point of seeing while she was in Berlin. The first was Nora Berg, who had been Kiki’s mentor when she had been younger. While the caustic Doctor was opinionated and judgmental, she had a lifetime navigating the professional shoals that Kiki found herself contending with now. The other was Magdalena Foerstner, Leni to those who knew her personally. Kiki had first met the Librarian when she had come to help archive the private library of the Hohenzollern family. The collection had included many rare editions including an original Gutenberg Bible. Kiki had not understood the significance of it until Leni had told her that it wasn’t just among the rarest and most valuable of books. It was the first book printed on movable type, so in many respects the entire modern word could be traced back to its publication.

“I’ve already seen this sort of thing too often in my life” As she pushed the book across the table, away from her. It was a history book about the First World War that was filled with beautiful illustrations, that were also terribly graphic. It reminded her of the idea that an accurate depiction of war becomes anti-war by its never nature.

Leni looked at her sadly.

“There are times when I think this nation has done a great disservice to your generation” Leni said, “Korea didn’t need to happen, and you got caught up in that tragedy.”

“No one wants an expansionist China” Kiki replied, realizing that it was a rote response even as she said it, a rationalization. “Especially the Koreans and Vietnamese.”

“As well as the Indians, Tibetans, or anyone else in a neighboring country, which we are not” Leni said, clearly seeing what Kiki had just said for exactly what it was. “You were there simply for the sake of national interest.”

“That is a bit cynical.”

“I have seen a lot myself” Leni replied, “Being orphaned gives you a perspective that is tragically not unique in this day and age.”

Kiki glanced at the pale scars on Leni’s wrists and reminded herself that the bookish Librarian had not led an easy life. She had been one of thousands of war orphans, eventually being taken from State Care only because she had the dubious fortune of sharing a physical resemblance to Jehane Thomas-Romanova when she had been a teenager. Her own struggles were trifling by comparison.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is help people” Kiki said, “Unfortunately, it is not all puppies and rainbows in the places where people need help the most.”

“An honest answer” Leni said before taking a sip of the cup of tea that Kiki had brought her.

They sat there for a long awkward moment, neither of them wanting to discuss this matter further.

“Tell me about these children who you’ve opened your family’s castle to” Leni said.

That was a much easier topic to discuss and Kiki was happy to have it.

----------------------------------------------------------------

With another election coming up Helene realized that she was less concerned the voters than things closer to home. Considering the fickle whims of the voters, thinking about something else was probably less aggravating.

Helene was happy to have her son back and had been encouraging him to go to University in every way she could. She had pulled a lot of strings to get Manny appointed to Imperial War Museum and First Foot Guard Regiment in coming months. Both those things would keep him in either Berlin or Potsdam for the next few years. With any luck, his course of study would eventually lead him either out of the military or into a role similar to the one his Uncle Stefan played in Administrative Services.

Presently, it was Ina who was worrying Helene for a change. Her daughter was all heart and she had gotten into Veterinary Medicine because she loved animals, the difficulty was that field was particularly hard on those who loved animals. More than once Helene had found Ina beside herself over something that had happened over the course of the day. It had also revealed that despite how warm, fuzzy, generous to a fault Ina was, she was very much a member of her father’s family. It true Mischner fashion she had dealt with whatever she needed to and then once no one could see her, she completely fell apart. A few days before, Ina had told Helene that she was starting to think that she needed to find something else to do but had no idea what. For the first time in her life, Ina seemed completely lost.

Fortunately, things had gotten better between her and Hans. When Manny had joined the Heer, Helene had blamed Hans and Kat. Now, that seemed to be misplaced. It had been Manny who had made his choices, Helene had to allow her children to make their own choices and mistakes. That did not make it easy to watch though and Helene had lashed out at her husband and sister-in-law. She had also not been pleased with her father, though he had kept quiet this time and had focused on his longtime quest to advance family prestige. Much to the horror of his children. Helene thought that her father’s pushing ahead with this Kurfürst madness was taking things way too far.
 
He already is, and most of his adult children think that it is a overreach.

Huh?!?!

Fortunately, things had gotten better between her and Hans. When Manny had joined the Heer, Helene had blamed Hans and Kat. Now, that seemed to be misplaced. It had been Manny who had made his choices, Helene had to allow her children to make their own choices and mistakes. That did not make it easy to watch though and Helene had lashed out at her husband and sister-in-law. She had also not been pleased with her father, though he had kept quiet this time and had focused on his longtime quest to advance family prestige. Much to the horror of his children. Helene thought that her father’s pushing ahead with this Kurfürst madness was taking things way too far.

Oh, damn I read that wrong.

I read that whole paragraph as Hans being ambitious so to become an Elector. I seemed to totally miss the switch to talking about Manfred Sr. Wow.
 
Helene was happy to have her son back and had been encouraging him to go to University in every way she could. She had pulled a lot of strings to get Manny appointed to Imperial War Museum and First Foot Guard Regiment in coming months. Both those things would keep him in either Berlin or Potsdam for the next few years. With any luck, his course of study would eventually lead him either out of the military or into a role similar to the one his Uncle Stefan played in Administrative Services.

I foresee a confrontation between Manny and his mother when he finds out what she's been doing, probably via a snide comment from a senior officer. If he's serious about a career in the army then I don't think he wants that sort of political string pulling on his record.
 
I foresee a confrontation between Manny and his mother when he finds out what she's been doing, probably via a snide comment from a senior officer. If he's serious about a career in the army then I don't think he wants that sort of political string pulling on his record.

I think it's more likely to be an overheard comment from a 1st Foot ranker that triggers it.
That said, if said ranker is under Manfred's command, he'll find out the hard way that Manny leads by example.

That said, the suggestion is more likely that "Daddy has been pulling strings", although that will only come from someone who hasn't served with or under Hans.
 
Huh, surprised that the Poles and the Galicians haven't had anything more serious happen given how long it's been; I'd expect there to be a lot more happening on that front.

The Polish military has to be under extreme political pressure to eject the rebels, after all.
 
Huh, surprised that the Poles and the Galicians haven't had anything more serious happen given how long it's been; I'd expect there to be a lot more happening on that front.

The Polish military has to be under extreme political pressure to eject the rebels, after all.
They're also under extreme political pressure to restrain themselves and settle things peacefully. Something to do with the King & Emperor being extremely displeased with the actions of His Polish Government.
 
I think it's more likely to be an overheard comment from a 1st Foot ranker that triggers it.
That said, if said ranker is under Manfred's command, he'll find out the hard way that Manny leads by example.

That said, the suggestion is more likely that "Daddy has been pulling strings", although that will only come from someone who hasn't served with or under Hans.

Any ranker is going to immediately discover what his NCO’s call “remedial” training. The Officers and most NCO’s are going to know the previous unit that Manfred was in and know he is the real deal. The 1st foot isn’t just a ceremonial unit, it also function as a Special Forces unit in some ways.
 
Part 112, Chapter 1854
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Four



1st July 1968

Krakow, provisional capital of Galicia.

When Olli had last been out to his farm, he had seen how the fields lay fallow and anything of value had been taken elsewhere for safe keeping. Nele had moved into relative safety of Krakow and the children had been sent to Kurt’s house in Prague. The entire place had felt empty and more than anything, he wanted to pay the Government in Warsaw back for this, with interest and he had been given an embarrassment of riches when it came to the mean by which he would carry that out, if it came down to it.

At the stroke of midnight, the states of Galicia and Ruthenia had formally declared independence from the Kingdom of Poland. Along with this, they formally petitioned for recognition from the Reichstag and the Emperor. It was something that Olli had argued against, because for the Government in Warsaw it was like waving a cape in front of an enraged bull and he wasn’t sure if the Galician Provisional Government understood just how precarious their situation really was.

When Warsaw learned of this, they would put all of their differences aside and come charging south with everything they had. Throughout the spring and early summer Olli had taken advantage of the bad roads that had become soup with the thaw and the piecemeal manner in which the Polish Army had committed troops. He had never thought that he would be thankful for Warsaw’s miserly attitude when it came to public works or the snail’s pace which entrenched military bureaucracy operated, but it was what had saved them so far.

The Provisional Government was placing a lot of faith in what had recently been renamed the Galician and Ruthenian Landwehr Divisions to hold off the Poles until… That was the problem. No one seemed to know what the endgame was and as much as Olli had tried to get them to think about that, they weren’t interested. Instead, they were debating the text of the constitution. The last time Olli had been in the church hall that was being used by the Provisional Council, he had been asked what he thought about the Head of State, should they have a King or President? Olli had turned around and said that they should have every able-bodied man with a rifle or machine pistol in their hands because all of this debating would be academic if the Warsaw Government had them lined up and shot.

“In the event of a real emergency, every man will take up arms as you are suggesting” The Head of the Council had said, “This body does thank you for dedication and calls for unity in the meantime General Bauer.”

“Major” Olli had corrected him but got ignored, like always.

Now a few weeks later, Olli was staring at a map of the region trying to figure out where the natural lines of defense were and how to exploit them. The raw numbers, of men and supplies, were on pieces of paper that were scattered all over the floor of the warehouse that he had been using as a headquarters. He had made sure that the Poles knew exactly where it was because he had a few surprises in store for them if they were stupid enough to storm the building, because he had no intention of coming back once he left this evening. There would be some Polish Commandos with confused expressions on their faces as they tried to explain to Saint Peter what had happened.

The rest of Galicia had been as prepared as Olli could make it. There were certain things that he had no shortage of. Earth moving equipment and the precursors for explosives being two of the most notable examples and he had made full use of them. He had put to use every trick he could remember using or having been on the receiving end of across four continents. Railroad tracks and roads that ended abruptly or were heavily mined, misleading maps that had been produced by the thousands that left for any advancing army to find, even classics such as caltrops and scare cats were widely spread throughout the countryside. As it had turned out, producing landmines and an updated version of the Panzerfaust 60 was well within the abilities of local industry.

Another welcome development was the recent news that Ukrainian, Silesian, and Bohemian volunteers had been coming into the region bolstering their ranks. While not yet as close to parity, as Olli would have liked they were no longer as badly outnumbered as they had been a few months earlier.

Now all Olli could do was wait, make plans, and hope that someone in Warsaw or Berlin was able to have a moment of clarity long enough to see a way out this mess before anyone else got killed.



Outside Warsaw, Poland

They were finally taking the gloves off, was how the Prime Minister had put it in a radio address just a few minutes ago. Imagine a guest who overstays their welcome, sticks you with the bill for whatever tab they have run up, when you get fed up and ask them to leave, they act like they own the place. That was how it had been put. The address had concluded with the Premier saying that they had a mandate from their ancestors throughout all of history who had payed in blood so that Poland would never be partitioned by foreign powers again.

Bogdan Gajos was one of thousands who were headed south to serve the eviction notice.

Looking ahead, Bogdan could see them as one long mass on the road heading to Krakow. Somewhere along the way someone had broken out the red and white flags of Poland and they started sing patriotic songs that had long fallen into disuse as their country had been dragged into ever deeper involvement in the German Empire. This wasn’t just notice on those who were trying to steal away Lesser Poland, but the larger Empire as well. The time for acquiescence was over.
 
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Hate to say it but the poles have just gotten to the point where their teeth are just visible enough to be kicked in. If they had kept to keeping lesser Poland they would have had a chance, a small one, but pulling the nationalist card after they kicked this entire thing off and they were already on thin ice with the rest of the empire? I think the beer is going to be getting orders to put their boots on soon.
 
There is also some other folks that would want to see Lesser Poland as a separate entity. The question is how much the Germans want the Russians involved.
 
I have no doubt that Moscow has been whispering in Warsaw’s ears about helping Poland to put down this illegal rebellion because after all it serves the Russian Empire to have the German Empire to fall apart in disunity right now.
The main concern should be if Bohemia and Slovakia decides on their own to support the Freedom Fighters in Galicia which could be a smokescreen to grab parts of Poland for themselves.
 
Part 112, Chapter 1855
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Five



4th July 1968

South of Miechów, Poland

Sometime over the last few days, Bogdan had remembered why he had thought that the Government Ministers had heads that were full of rocks. The journey towards Krakow had turned into a bloodbath and as far as he knew, the Army had yet to reach the main enemy defensive line.

The righteous cause that they had espoused on the first day seemed like a distant memory on the first night when he had been one of the multitudes trying to keep dry as it had started raining. Then they had entered the low range of hills that marked the boundary of the Upper Vistula Basin and discovered that the Separatists had been busy over the last several months. He had found himself constantly yelling at conscripts to look before they stepped because there were frog mines everywhere. The cursed things could chop the legs out from under anyone who blundered into one. Then one of their Officers had found a map that had gotten them lost in these hills for several hours. In the distance there was occasional rifle fire that according to other units encountered, was the result of hit and fade attacks. Finally, they had found what they assumed was the main road. The signs had been not removed but moved, because of course they had.

Attaching themselves to an armored column that was making its way south had seemed like a good deal until the Lynx at the head of column was hit by several anti-tank rockets. Bogdan had barely realized what had happened when a hidden machine gun opened up on his Platoon and he was left scrambling for the nearest ditch. He landed on his stomach and realized that the three prongs to a frog mine were poking out of the earth a few inches from his nose.

“The ditches are mined!” Bogdan yelled only to hear a series of loud explosions close by and screams. He raised his head just in time to see an explosion rip through the last Panzer in the column. Meaning that the column was effectively trapped until recovery vehicles made their way here. Crawling out of the ditch, Bogdan saw what was left of his Platoon trying to sort out this mess.

Bogdan suddenly remembered his father’s cynical words. Government was something that you had to pay attention to, otherwise it would happen to you. He realized at that moment that this was what that looked like just as mortar shells started dropping in among the trapped armored vehicles. Did the complete bastard commanding the enemy forces ever run out of ideas for making life miserable? Looking into the trees he saw a steel cutout of a cat with two glass eyes that glowed yellow and was chilled to the bone.



Potsdam

The office used by the Emperor in the Summer Residence always seemed an island, a rare oasis of calm and remote from the world. Today, things were different. Despite his best efforts, things had spiraled out of control in Poland and it was far beyond even Louis Ferdinand’s control.

Reports were coming in of heavy fighting north of Krakow and east of Lwów. There was also a report of a large explosion that had rocked Krakow a couple days earlier. It seemed that the Poles had attempted to attack the headquarters of the Commander of the Galicia faction and the building had blown up.

Sitting in Louis’ office as he yelled into the phone, Kat and Freddy could only watch as he placed calls trying to get a handle on what was happening in Poland. He had blown up when he had caught the Premier of Poland in an obvious lie. Now hanging up the phone, Louis just looked incredibly weary as he rubbed his eyes.

“We aren’t supposed to be fighting each other” Louis said before looking at Kat. “Any ideas?”

“Just bad ones and worse ones” Kat replied, the tone of her voice suggesting that she was taking this matter very seriously.

“Let this be a lesson to you about the nature of this job, Friedrich” Louis said, “What is the least bad option?”

“Air strikes that will cripple the ability of both sides to continue the conflict, followed by peacekeeping forces and the players forced to the table, at gunpoint if needed” Kat said, “A meeting of the High Command is taking place right now, they have several contingency plans that they are sorting through and a call from them is expected any minute.”

“And the worse option?” Louis asked, “Do I even want to know?”

“Let’s just say that the Roman Centurions would have appreciated the outcome if such a plan were ever carried out.”

Kat heard Louis mutter something under his breath that sounded like swear words in Latin. A classical education being put to use, but not in the way that his teachers had ever imagined.

The phone rang and Louis answered, suddenly he looked very annoyed. Whoever was on the other end of the line must have tried to make an excuse about something. Kat had noticed that Louis had grown less tolerant of that the older he got.

“I don’t care if you have to chain her to the wall” Louis said into the phone, “She has already sacrificed far more than anyone should have to, and I don’t want her anywhere near this. Try reminding her of her responsibilities there.”

With that Louis hung up the phone again.

“When the Commander in Chief of the OKW calls back, tell him that I want the KSK taking lead on this” Louis said, “And Katherine, try to remember that this is a matter that requires a delicate touch and a surgeon’s scalpel, not a chainsaw.”
 
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