Stupid Luck and Happenstance.

[NHBL]

Something that direct might get "lost in the mail". Or delivered, but having been reduced to confetti.

I didn't think about that. They would do it, too. I think that Kat would believe that Nancy has a right to know about what the FBI is doing to her privacy, and find a way to tell her.

Actually, Nancy's safe while the FBI is Abwehr's American subsidiary. She's extremely vulnerable when the inevitable "Kraut Scare" happens after the extent of German penetration of the American government and industry comes to light.

Probably--McCarthy's red scare was a blot on our history, and there's no reason to expect that this timeline will be any different, but with a different target.

 

[ejpsan]

As I continue to make a fool of myself: Part Two

As a disclaimer, this is not my timeline and any opinions and speculation on my part is just that, all decisions by Peabody-Martini are final and must be followed.

The situation with Japan is much more complex, the American people are not going to be perplexed by the attitude of the Allies but are going to be angry at them for it.
The American people are going to think that the Allies especially Great Britain tried to manipulate the United States into going to war against Japan.
Since the 1920's the United States has thought that Japan was the greatest threat to them IOTL and I don't see that changing ITTL
The United States was a big supporter and supplier of China and with the expansion of the Japanese military in the Thirties the United States responded with the " Two Ocean Naval Act" that authorized twenty-three Essex class aircraft carriers and I don't see that changing ITTL.

ITTL Great Britain and the Netherlands have made an agreement with Germany that if Great Britain and the Netherlands get in a war with Japan that Germany will join in, and I don't know if they tried to get the United States join in.
When Japan invaded Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, and Great Britain and the Netherlands used that as an excuse to declare war against Japan.
This is pure speculation on my part, I think that former President Garner in his memoirs will say that the United States was trying to get other nations to join in an embargo against Japan when Great Britain and the Netherlands jumped the gun and declared war against Japan because they could get Germany to join in.
That left the United States with basically four options:
One declare war against Japan, but the American people would not be for that.
Two still go with an embargo against Japan, but IOTL Japan basically treated that as a de facto declaration of war by the United States and I have no doubt that Japan would have treated that in the same way ITTL.
Three declare a "Pox on both houses" and not sell to both sides, but I think that Japan with its greater need would still treat that as a de facto declaration of war by the United States.
Four just sell to everybody who will pay in cash.

As with the case with the Soviet Union the amount of stuff that was sold to Japan is greatly exaggerated.
The won't be many companies selling to Japan when it is more profitable to sell to the Allies and the don't want to jeopardize that.
As soon as war was declared against Japan, no merchant shipping company is going to get insurance for their ships to go to Japan and will turn back in transit and if their ships are in Japanese ports they will get them out before Japan confiscate the ships.
The United States will impose on Japan the same conditions as they did with the Soviet Union a "Cash and Carry" policy that will make it expensive for Japan to import needed materials.
The Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy will sink anything that has a meatball on its flag and I think it will take about three months for the West coast to be shut off to Japanese shipping.
That means Japan will have to ship things to Honolulu and Manila on American and neutral flagged ships using cutouts and front companies in order to get them past the blockade but that is going to add to the expense and it will be all cash up front, they will have to repackage everything and put it on Japanese flagged ships and the Allies will know exactly when their ships leave port and guess who will be waiting for them.
It is 3350 nms to Tokyo from Honolulu and it's mostly empty sea and I think it will take up to six months for the Allies to set up patrols to stop Japan from using the "Honolulu Highway".
This means that Japan will have to relay on the "Manila Express" exclusively for everything and once again the Allies will know exactly when their ships leave port.
The Allies having a genius Admiral will go after freighter ships and tankers instead of combat ships.
All shipping to Japan will be reduced to a trickle after the Battle of the South China Sea and come to a complete stop after the invasion of Formosa.

To be Continued...

 

[mkemp]

That's a bit harsh isn't it?

OTL America, through a weird set of circumstances found itself as "the liberator of the world" and many attitudes were a response to that and the experiences of normal Americans were shaped strongly by that.
Not having Nazi Germany to point at means that things like Eugenics and anti-Semitism haven't been as thoroughly discredited yet, so the Comstock laws, for example, which Nazi Germany also had the equivalence of haven't been discredited yet either. Hence why they're still around.

Even with Nazi Germany's influence the anti-contraception laws weren't overturned very soon:

1873 - Federal law passed
1965 - 92 years later -Legalization of contraception for married persons
1972 - 99 years later - Legalization of contraception for the unmarried
1973 - 100 years later - Roe v Wade
​

Not something you expect to write ever, but the Nazis had positive effect on the world. And they did so by providing the perfect negative example.

I thought of inserting a humorous 'Yabbut' but this isn't something to joke about, and I couldn't think of anything other than the flashy uniforms anyway.

 

[mkemp]

The freedom in the USA in the prewar era--and that's where the USA seems to be, socially--was for wealthy white protestant males, and even then, very limited by modern standards. Anyone else had much reduced freedom, depending on perceived religion, race, gender, wealth, and more. (Which flavor of protestantism mattered, too. Conformity was expected. I wonder if Nancy will reply, asking about the level of freedom women have in Germany. And--what will the people reading her mail think about what she writes? Kat has to expect that the mail is being read by multiple people; will she think to mention that to Nancy? Perhaps put in a letter that the FBI is quite likely to open anything bound to or from Germany?

Transmissions about the compromise of a comm link shouldn't be conducted over that comm link. If Nancy and Kat ever get together Kat could set up something as simple as a book cipher or as complicated as a one-time pad

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Transmissions about the compromise of a comm link shouldn't be conducted over that comm link. If Nancy and Kat ever get together Kat could set up something as simple as a book cipher or as complicated as a one-time pad

Actually what Kat and Nancy have going for them is sort humorous when you think about it. Two young women writing back and forth in frank discussions about what's going on with them being read by a presumably male FBI Agent who alternates between boredom and terror.

 

[docfl]

something as simple as a book cipher or as complicated as a one-time pad


No way the FBI would find that suspicious.

 

[holyknight]

Actually, Nancy's safe while the FBI is Abwehr's American subsidiary. She's extremely vulnerable when the inevitable "Kraut Scare" happens after the extent of German penetration of the American government and industry comes to light.

That if they actually MANAGE to get the bloody clue.

As things go, quite a bit before, Schultz was seen recruiting multiple students or near graduates from US Universities, with loyalties to the Fatherland from where their parents and ancestors came, but were chafing because they would lose their citizenship if they went to fight in Germany against the Russians.

Schultz pointed them out to do their duty, through the way of joining the FBI.

So right now, Hoover isn't even aware which dozens of German Americans are starting the infiltration of the pivotal investigation force in the US.

Right now, it won't amount to much, but given how rather racist are the US here, likely giving priority to educated Anglo Saxons for advancement and recruitment in the FBI, in 5,10 or 20 Years more, there is a good chance that these people will be encrusted straight into Command positions, and through the years, they likely will have been also recruiting..... and their recruits Joining the FBI.....

Outside the FBI Right now, there is no serious Intelligence Agency comparable to them, and the OTL's OSS, the predecesor of the also OTL CIA here never came into existence, so the Navy, and the Army intel branches are not collaborating with each other and the government to the hour of Intelligence and Counter intelligence efforts, so the odds of someone picking up things are low unless someone screws up.

As things go, the FBI will likely search amongst jew, black people, Unionists and former Commie Sympathizers for the likely infiltrates who killed Teller. Because there its NO WAY, that a Protestant White, Blue Eyes and blonde, graduate from Princeton, and with family surnames like Brown, Miller or Cook would spy for other country and join the FBI, right?

 

[Sir Omega]

-SNIP-

A few of my opinions.
The US citizens will probably feel the way the state propaganda will encourage them to. This mustn't be seen as a slight - IOTL the whole OTL period is a succession of demagoguery and fact-spinning, and the words of Göring are chillingly true now as it was then:

Göring: Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy, the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.
Göring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.

For the USA-Empire of Japan relations (mind you, this are just my suppositions for background events from TTL) I think the end of the First World War has shaken out things. The relations between the Entente and the US were probably pretty cold, with of the US being blamed for forcing upon the Entente a peace just when they felt that they were amassing enough men and materiel to force a change of the momentum. This snowballed into the US developing closer (commercial) relations with the nation beyond the other ocean instead. Thanks to this mutual commercial interest, the suspicion between Japan and the US is dampened, as both are more or less content with the situation as it is. So it may be that the US reaction at the Japanese actions in China was to put the telescope to the blind eye. After all, that was the reaction the Allies adopted IOTL towards Soviet Russia as early as the Invasion of Poland (when Britain-France guaranteed the independence of Poland was it only against the first attacker, or only against Germans, I wonder).
Meanwhile, the US focuses in expanding its influence into South America (which wouldn't be constituted as a threat against Japan) - a move probably somewhat countered and derailed by German competing interests in the same area.
As for why the US kept trading with the Japanese despite the war, presumably because there were large profits to be made (as the main commercial partner of Japan they probably set their own prices, and Japan desperately needed pretty much anything the US would sell them, even common raw material).

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Five Hundred Twenty-Nine


3rd March 1946

Wilhelmshaven, Jade Bight

Christoph came staggering back aboard minutes ahead of the deadline, flat broke, badly hungover with a black eye and new tattoo. Arend remembered the days when he did that sort of thing. These days he preferred to keep his money in his pockets and waking up with a pounding head had lost its charm before he had any grey in his beard. Instead he took Christoph to the enlisted quarters tell him what had happened over the previous two days after they had parted company the previous Friday.

Arend on the other hand, had spent his liberty with Vera and getting to know Teresa and Lucia. The two girls were quite taken in with the whole romance angle of their mother getting back together with her first love. The reality of Arend Neumann however they were less pleased with. There was also the aspect that their Grandfather had chased Arend off and he was the father of their older half-brother. Yes, family histories were frequently messy things. It was something they were still trying to wrap their heads around when they met Arend.

Arend was not quite what they were expecting. They had figured that he was a salty old sailor, which Arend was even though he didn’t consider forty-one old. That was actually relatively young for the rank he held. They had warmed to him as he had given them the tour of Wilhelmshaven and the SMS Rhineland as only someone like Arend could. There were advantages of being with him, in a city full of sailors no one in their right mind messed with an Oberstabsbootsmann.

It had been a pleasant weekend. Christoph had apparently had a livelier time of things on a two-day pub crawl.

“Didn’t get to see Ma or my sisters” Christoph moaned as he rested his head on the cold surface of the table.

“Don’t worry about it” Arend said, “Unless the Limeys or Amis do anything stupid the Rhineland is going to be laid up in drydock here for the next year.”

It was an open secret that there had been advancements during the war that had far eclipsed nearly every advanced system aboard the Rhineland and the Preussen since their last refit just before they had departed for the Pacific. That was on top of the work needing to be done on the two ships to deal with the being run hard for years on end and being in a few battles along the way. The list of worn out equipment was extensive.

“What’s that got to do with anything Pops?” Christoph asked as Arend passed him a bottle of aspirin and a glass of tomato juice that he was eying apprehensively. What that pepper floating in it?

“Your Mother figures that with us in port and her business interests expanding north to Wilhelmshaven and Kiel it would be an opportunity to spend some quality time with us” Arend answered, “It looks like we get to be one big happy family here for a while.”

That thought was in some ways worse than the hangover for Christoph. Living under the same roof as his Mother and Oberstaber Neumann, the horror. At the same time, he’d see Ma and the girls every day, actual homecooked meals regularly. It wasn’t all bad. Downing a few aspirin tablets with the tomato juice did help. Arend could tell that Pops had dosed it with a liberal amount of black pepper and a few other things. He could only hope that when he got through sleeping this off he wouldn’t find out that there was a prank involved, at the moment he didn’t care.


Seattle, Washington

It was a nice day as Nancy walked across the Campus. It was a quiet Sunday as everyone braced for another week. She was using this time to try to catch up on things that she had been neglecting for the previous two weeks. According to the Resident Advisor her mailbox was overflowing, and she needed to deal with it beyond just taking the letters she wanted to read and leaving the rest. She pulled out the collection of letters and adverts. The adverts were easily dealt with, those went in the circular file. The letters needed to be sorted through. There were a number from her mother wondering what Nancy’s plans for Easter were. There were a few bills that would need to be taken care of. The there was a letter that she had almost thrown out with the adverts but had noticed that it was from the US State Department. It was curiosity that had prompted her to tear it open.

Miss Nancy Jensen

The United States State Department commends you for your interest in promoting International understanding and representing your Nation. Having reviewed your application for the International Scholarship Program, we are informing you that you have been selected, having qualified with the Program’s criteria. If you are still interested…

Nancy read down the page with its instructions. Of course, she was still interested. She had filled out that application months earlier on a lark, not thinking that it would be approved. It had seemed like something too good to true, spending a year studying abroad. The Program had been thought up by the US State Department before the war and had fallen by the wayside because of it. With the war ending they had looked at starting up again.

At the bottom of the page she saw where she was going. Beatrice had said that she probably wasn’t going to get her first choice and would probably end up in South America or Australia. As if Nancy didn’t have an ace in the hole, Kat still had friends in the German Federal Foreign Service. That had proven useful after all.

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

You know what will really freak out Kat and Gianna? Nancy will almost certainly figure out Gianna is Jehane, because she'll recognize the French-Canadian accent,

 

[NHBL]

I was thinking of putting the comment about the mail being read as a sort of "up yours" to the FBI. Cypher and the like would be suspicious, naturally. I have a feeling that the "study abroad" is going to be acompanied with a visit from the local FBI, carrying a not-so-subtle message about patriotism, and keeping her eyes open, and an attempt to perhaps make her do more than that. Blackmail helps, and the FBI is more than capable of creating some out of whole cloth. I suspect a serious set of divided loyalties here. If she's originally not inclined to play, they could always threaten to revoke the study abroad option due to "technical difficulties."
This is a nation that "disappeared" the leaders of the Bonus Army in this timeline, IIRC. She could always write a letter--or rather, the FBI could carefully forge one--saying that she's studying abroad elsewhere.
If Kat's thinking of Nancy possibly being compromised, she could get her some letter by back channels mentioning this, and some sort of innocuous phrase to indicate that she's writing under duress.

 

[ejpsan]

Nancy is more likely to be approached by the State Department if and when she gets to Berlin.
She will be told that Kat is "The Most Dangerous Women in the World" and one of the most connected people in Germany and it is Nancy's duty as a patriotic American citizen to keep her government informed about everything she sees and hear about Kat.

This will force Nancy to either to betray her friendship to Kat or betray her country and I think that Kat is going to figure something out to save Nancy.

 

[NHBL]

Nancy is more likely to be approached by the State Department if and when she gets to Berlin.
She will be told that Kat is "The Most Dangerous Women in the World" and one of the most connected people in Germany and it is Nancy's duty as a patriotic American citizen to keep her government informed about everything she sees and hear about Kat.

This will force Nancy to either to betray her friendship to Kat or betray her country and I think that Kat is going to figure something out to save Nancy.

Well, unless they tell her, "Don't tell her..." then she's perfectly OK to tell Kat. Kat, of course, is no dummy; she's sure to know that someone's got to Nancy before sending her overseas.

 

[ALurker]

Nancy is more likely to be approached by the State Department if and when she gets to Berlin.
She will be told that Kat is "The Most Dangerous Women in the World" and one of the most connected people in Germany and it is Nancy's duty as a patriotic American citizen to keep her government informed about everything she sees and hear about Kat.

This will force Nancy to either to betray her friendship to Kat or betray her country and I think that Kat is going to figure something out to save Nancy.

Considering misogynistic attitudes at the time I would have thought that Kat would be discounted as a person of importance. The Americans would probably see her as the Empress's servant, and her achievements overblown to create a figurehead that could be used in wartime. It might be useful to "turn her" to gain access to gossip at the court, but she's not going to be associated with anyone of importance. It's also possible that one of Kat's girls will become a XX agent with Nancy's help, perhaps posing as the mistress of someone important.

 

[NHBL]

I suspect that even the most misogynistic of the era, if they have access to intelligence data, will consider Kat dangerous. They'll also consider her to be anything from strange to an outright abomination against human decency and god's will, a perversion, and more. Lower ranking people will be less likely to take her seriously unless they KNOW.

 

[ejpsan]

Considering misogynistic attitudes at the time I would have thought that Kat would be discounted as a person of importance. The Americans would probably see her as the Empress's servant, and her achievements overblown to create a figurehead that could be used in wartime. It might be useful to "turn her" to gain access to gossip at the court, but she's not going to be associated with anyone of importance. It's also possible that one of Kat's girls will become a XX agent with Nancy's help, perhaps posing as the mistress of someone important.

You must remember by this time, Kat has inflicted a body count in the double digits and she has been highly decorated by the Emperor himself.
The ONI knows very well what Kat is capable of doing from first hand knowledge and the U.S. Army knows and respect her training and combat experience with the SKA.

I think that the State Department will leave Nancy alone for a while and then when they are sure that Nancy is in the constant company of Kat that is when they will turn the screws on Nancy to inform on Kat.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Five Hundred Thirty


15th March 1946

Berlin

There was a single word that could be used to describe the situation, infuriating. Both here and elsewhere. Kat was in the middle of her tutoring session with Albrecht and she was having trouble focusing on it. She realized that Maria had the correct way of looking at things. She only needed a passing grade, nothing more. Albrecht didn’t have to be so insufferable when it came to this subject, as far as he was concerned there was no reason why she couldn’t do better than that. Kat suspected that he had his own ego wrapped up in this mess and that he might not have been the best person to help her, not because he didn’t know the subject but because he simply wasn’t a particularly good tutor.

The other thing that was bothering her was the letter that Kat had gotten the day before. Her long-time pen-pal Nancy Jensen had sent a letter explaining how her plans had come to fruition. She had been accepted into a program that was run by the US State Department to come to Berlin as a visiting student. The whole thing reeked of a set up to Kat, but it was obvious that Nancy was naively excited about. Kat had been told a few different times that she had honest reasons to be cynical about the motives of people but that wasn’t always the case. However she knew all too well that there were a few agencies within the US Government who had scores to settle with her. Nancy had the impression that she had pulled some strings on her behalf when Kat had done nothing of the sort. She wasn’t about to do anything that would expose or endanger her friends.

“Are you paying attention?” Albrecht asked.

“Er, yes” Kat said, she was paying attention, or at least trying to.

She needed a solution for what to do about Nancy. If the worst she suspected happened then there was a good chance that someone was going to put the heat on Nancy and force her into an impossible situation. If Kat were in Nancy’s place she would know to get out ahead of the obvious trap. Even the cleverest of plans could be subverted. Kat had a few ideas for how to go about doing that, but how to get word to Nancy? Kat made a note to think about how she might do that and shifted her focus to the subject at hand before Albrecht got annoying again.


Posen, Germany

When the 5th Army Corps finally returned from China Kurt was reassigned to his old Regiment as the new Training Officer. The rationale for this was that Kurt had already trained a number of Panzer Commanders during the war including Meine Volker who had come into his own during the Manchurian Campaign and word of his teaching some VIPs how to drive a Panzer had leaked out. He also knew the systems of the newly arrived Panzers better than everyone, which wasn’t exactly saying much. It was fortunate that he got his old crew back at the same time he was expected to show everyone how to use the Lynx. They were still resentful about having the Panther II that had taken them from Stalingrad to Moscow and across Manchuria sold out from under them. It was like losing an old friend. That was when Kurt was able to introduce them to the Lynx, Factory Number 78.

While the systems were on the surface similar to the Panther II there was a great deal complexity that had been added. It was Fritz Kolbe who was a big help there. While his old position as bow gunner/radio operator had been deleted he was fast on the uptake regarding the complex rangefinder and gun stabilization systems figuring out a few things that even the factory technicians apparently didn’t know about. Kolbe was moved up into the turret to be the new gunner. Lars wasn’t thrilled about how isolated the drivers compartment had become and the steering wheel was quite different from the tiller levers he was used to. Olli liked how the loader wasn’t as crammed into the right side of the turret as an afterthought like on the Panther series. There was also a small hatch on the side of the turret for loading shells into the turret and hull stowage as opposed to lifting them through the hatches at the top of the turret which everyone liked. For the crew going from the Panther to the Lynx felt like they had upgraded to a luxury sedan from a lorry. In the coming weeks they would be showing the rest of the Regiment what the new Panzer could do. But first they had to figure it out for themselves, and that was a lot of fun.

Kurt was standing in the Commander’s cupola as the Lynx was driving down the road at the best possible speed. There was still snow on the ground but the road itself was a mixture of ice and mud.

“The target is around the next bend” Kurt yelled into the microphone. It was odd to watch the barrel of the main gun tracked the horizon while the rest of the fifty-ton vehicle pitched around on the uneven road. They rounded the turn and the target was visible through the trees.

Before Kurt could give the order for Lars to stop the Lynx so they could fire, Kolbe fired and shockingly hit the target several hundred meters away. Kurt dropped into the turret, what Kolbe had just done wasn’t supposed to be possible.

“I don’t see what you and Volker were always bitching about” Kolbe yelled over his shoulder, “This shit’s not that hard!”

Kurt wasn’t about to set Kolbe right. “Do that again!” Kurt yelled back. He didn’t think it was likely that Kolbe would be able to do that twice but if the Lynx could hit targets on the move, that was a big deal.

 

[ShortsBelfast]

And technology advances again!
I wonder if in this TL cars (or car bodies at least) will be increasingly constructed of aluminium or magnesium alloy. Germany was moving in that direction OTL until wartime scarcity and military priorities intervened. Some abortive moves in France, Britain and Australia post war and Henry Kaiser interested OTL but this never got traction. In a world where Germany was never blockaded and France and Britain are trying not to be overshadowed? Possibly lighter and more fuel efficient/durable cars two generations earlier. And computers should be at the late 1960s/early 1970s level by around 1955 by my reckoning. On what Peabody-Martini has shown us already, Germany is 10 years ahead of OTL in computer technology. And Britain is likely to be able to offer competition, as is the USA. And, by the late 1950s, China and Japan

 

[snassni2]

How does the Lynx look like? Leopard 1?

 

[mkemp]

And technology advances again!
I wonder if in this TL cars (or car bodies at least) will be increasingly constructed of aluminium or magnesium alloy.

Aluminium. Magnesium burns most magnificently[0].

[0] Once Upon A Time some mainframe hard drives had Magnesium platters. Security protocols mandated that drives containing sensitive information be disposed of by melting in a furnace. The story goes that a drive on shipboard failed and had to disposed of. The resultant fire almost burned down the ship.