Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Uh no, with the way that WWI ended ITTL, the US would be more isolationist than OTL, at least as far as European wars are concerned. It got into WWI and the only thing it got out of it was a couple of hundred thousand dead soldiers and a bunch of money spent. It has absolutely no dog in this fight and a pox on both sides as far as they are concerned.
Possibly, but whoever wants the weapons will have to be able to pay. That said, I could see the US supplying humanitarian aid, as I believe happened OTL.
Part 12, Chapter 116
Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
3rd September, 1936
Waren, Germany
Maria was on the verge of giving up and going home. This had been her second day getting turned back from the nearby airfield. Her editor had neglected to tell her that it was where the Luftwaffe conducted the testing of new prototypes and with whatever was going on the field was totally locked down. There was no way that the field’s commanders were going to let anyone in without a fight. She had found herself across the lake from Rechlin in the quaint medieval town but it was not her assignment. As she sat in the hotel bar she lamented her notes which consisted only of a vivid description of the gates and local accounts of large numbers of transport aircraft arriving but not departing.
Before she had left Berlin, she had done a bit of background research and discovered the reason that the Oberst in charge of Airfield security disliked Fredrich Grossmann. Grossmann had done a series of stories about Emil Holz and apparently, the young officer had been uncomfortable with the resulting attention. Everything she had read about Holz had been second or third hand accounts. The only photograph that the BT had on file was of Oberst Holz during his time as a student revolutionary, of all things, standing with Augustus Lang as panzers closed in on them in 1922. Lang had gone on to the Reichstag and Holz had joined the Luftwaffe. Everything she had read had painted a picture of an unconventional officer who had occasionally clashed with his superiors and had set the tone for the emerging elite parachute infantry in the Luftwaffe. He also happened to be who the fictional Jochen Loewe was based on.
Maria took a sip of the water she was drinking. This was so disappointing, not having enough for a story. Tomorrow would be back to the Metro desk and writing stories about neighborhood councils debating the budget for road repair. She looked up and saw a young officer enter the hotel bar wearing the grey dress uniform of the Fallschirmjäger. She had lost count of the number of times that she had listened to Grossmann tell her that a reporter needed manufacture their own opportunities.
As it turned out it involved listening to Lieutenant Ernest Augustus von Hanover talk about how great he was all evening. He mentioned three times in the first twenty minutes that he was the nephew of Emperor Wilhelm the III trying to impress her. Needless to say, it didn’t work.
It was Maria’s intention to use the cad to get into the airfield, ditch him, get the story and get out. What she hadn’t counted on was him driving into a light pole a couple hundred meters past the gate.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Emil heard a commotion from his office where he had been working late. It seemed as if there was no end to the preparations required to put a Regiment into the field. That went double for airborne because everything they needed for the first 72 hours had to come with them. With 1200 men and 150 airplanes that list was endless. His orders were to be prepared for further orders and so far, there had been no timetable for operations sent. It had come as a relief when he heard the crash, an immediate with a simple solution was exactly what Emil needed to clear his head. As it turned out it was yet one more complex situation.
----------------------------------------------------------------
He found a real mess when he got to the scene. Of course, it had been Emil’s current pain in the ass Ernest von Hanover who was responsible. The young prince was too high up in society to give the proper thrashing he deserved and Emil didn’t know what to do with him because no platoon he stuck him with would follow the aristocrat’s orders. Emil had spent years cultivating what he felt was the necessary to fulfill the mission as Paras. Now that had come back to bite him in the form of von Hanover. This was not what he needed to deal with right now.
It had taken him seconds to realize what had happened, von Hanover had gotten distracted and driven into a light pole. The source of that distraction was seated in front of him to von Hanover’s right. A woman in her mid-twenties with dark brown hair and round rimmed glasses.
“You compromised base security for a roll in the hay?” Emil asked von Hanover.
Ernest von Hanover for once kept silent, the woman on the other hand had plenty to say.
“That was not going to ever happen” Maria said.
“Wait, what?” von Hanover asked.
“I said that it was never going to happen” Maria repeated.
Emil almost laughed at the expression on von Hanover’s face when he found out that this woman had just used him. Must be a novel experience for him, Emil thought.
“You are dismissed Lieutenant” Emil said coldly.
Ernest von Hanover slouched out of Emil’s office, he was going to be the laughing stock of the entire base after this.
“And just what do you think you are doing?” Emil asked looking at her press pass “Maria Acker”
“I’m trying to get a story” She answered.
“I could have you arrested as a spy” Emil said.
“And you would then get to read all about it in the pages of my newspaper” Maria said “That would just kill your reputation wouldn’t it.”
“You have no idea what my reputation really is” Emil said “You just have the crap that Grossmann put out and the garbage that it spawned.”
“How are you different from the way you’ve been portrayed over the last several years?” Maria asked.
Emil’s expression darkened when he realized what she was doing. This had been her intention all along.
“Out” he said.
“What do you mean?” Maria asked.
“Out” Emil repeated “Off this base and back to wherever you came from.”
3rd September, 1936
Waren, Germany
Maria was on the verge of giving up and going home. This had been her second day getting turned back from the nearby airfield. Her editor had neglected to tell her that it was where the Luftwaffe conducted the testing of new prototypes and with whatever was going on the field was totally locked down. There was no way that the field’s commanders were going to let anyone in without a fight. She had found herself across the lake from Rechlin in the quaint medieval town but it was not her assignment. As she sat in the hotel bar she lamented her notes which consisted only of a vivid description of the gates and local accounts of large numbers of transport aircraft arriving but not departing.
Before she had left Berlin, she had done a bit of background research and discovered the reason that the Oberst in charge of Airfield security disliked Fredrich Grossmann. Grossmann had done a series of stories about Emil Holz and apparently, the young officer had been uncomfortable with the resulting attention. Everything she had read about Holz had been second or third hand accounts. The only photograph that the BT had on file was of Oberst Holz during his time as a student revolutionary, of all things, standing with Augustus Lang as panzers closed in on them in 1922. Lang had gone on to the Reichstag and Holz had joined the Luftwaffe. Everything she had read had painted a picture of an unconventional officer who had occasionally clashed with his superiors and had set the tone for the emerging elite parachute infantry in the Luftwaffe. He also happened to be who the fictional Jochen Loewe was based on.
Maria took a sip of the water she was drinking. This was so disappointing, not having enough for a story. Tomorrow would be back to the Metro desk and writing stories about neighborhood councils debating the budget for road repair. She looked up and saw a young officer enter the hotel bar wearing the grey dress uniform of the Fallschirmjäger. She had lost count of the number of times that she had listened to Grossmann tell her that a reporter needed manufacture their own opportunities.
As it turned out it involved listening to Lieutenant Ernest Augustus von Hanover talk about how great he was all evening. He mentioned three times in the first twenty minutes that he was the nephew of Emperor Wilhelm the III trying to impress her. Needless to say, it didn’t work.
It was Maria’s intention to use the cad to get into the airfield, ditch him, get the story and get out. What she hadn’t counted on was him driving into a light pole a couple hundred meters past the gate.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Emil heard a commotion from his office where he had been working late. It seemed as if there was no end to the preparations required to put a Regiment into the field. That went double for airborne because everything they needed for the first 72 hours had to come with them. With 1200 men and 150 airplanes that list was endless. His orders were to be prepared for further orders and so far, there had been no timetable for operations sent. It had come as a relief when he heard the crash, an immediate with a simple solution was exactly what Emil needed to clear his head. As it turned out it was yet one more complex situation.
----------------------------------------------------------------
He found a real mess when he got to the scene. Of course, it had been Emil’s current pain in the ass Ernest von Hanover who was responsible. The young prince was too high up in society to give the proper thrashing he deserved and Emil didn’t know what to do with him because no platoon he stuck him with would follow the aristocrat’s orders. Emil had spent years cultivating what he felt was the necessary to fulfill the mission as Paras. Now that had come back to bite him in the form of von Hanover. This was not what he needed to deal with right now.
It had taken him seconds to realize what had happened, von Hanover had gotten distracted and driven into a light pole. The source of that distraction was seated in front of him to von Hanover’s right. A woman in her mid-twenties with dark brown hair and round rimmed glasses.
“You compromised base security for a roll in the hay?” Emil asked von Hanover.
Ernest von Hanover for once kept silent, the woman on the other hand had plenty to say.
“That was not going to ever happen” Maria said.
“Wait, what?” von Hanover asked.
“I said that it was never going to happen” Maria repeated.
Emil almost laughed at the expression on von Hanover’s face when he found out that this woman had just used him. Must be a novel experience for him, Emil thought.
“You are dismissed Lieutenant” Emil said coldly.
Ernest von Hanover slouched out of Emil’s office, he was going to be the laughing stock of the entire base after this.
“And just what do you think you are doing?” Emil asked looking at her press pass “Maria Acker”
“I’m trying to get a story” She answered.
“I could have you arrested as a spy” Emil said.
“And you would then get to read all about it in the pages of my newspaper” Maria said “That would just kill your reputation wouldn’t it.”
“You have no idea what my reputation really is” Emil said “You just have the crap that Grossmann put out and the garbage that it spawned.”
“How are you different from the way you’ve been portrayed over the last several years?” Maria asked.
Emil’s expression darkened when he realized what she was doing. This had been her intention all along.
“Out” he said.
“What do you mean?” Maria asked.
“Out” Emil repeated “Off this base and back to wherever you came from.”
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Poor Emil: he really is the unluckiest SOB alive. Now he gets yet more egg on his face. I life it!
Part 12, Chapter 117
Chapter One Hundred Seventeen
4th September, 1936
Berlin
The late-night train ride back to Berlin was a busy one for Maria. Her brief trip through the airfield had actually yielded more than its occupants had intended for her to see. Dozens of the military variant of the Junkers trimotor airliners were impossible not to see, the large number of base security wearing different uniforms from the Paras and depth of the paperwork on the desk of Oberst Holz was unmistakable. The Paras were preparing to make a move and their replacements were already present. When Maria had phoned this in from Rechlin her Editor had called her back to the office so she could do a write up. Not that she needed to, Maria had the rough draft of the story done before the train pulled into Berlin.
After some tweaking it was ready to go to press. Preparing for War, No Explanation the headline read. The Editor was happy and she even got half a smirk from Grossmann.
“Congratulations” The Editor told them “Now get back to work.”
As Maria walked back to her desk she had the sense of accomplishment that she had rarely felt in this job.
“Finally got a good story in” Grossmann said to her “Now we need one that doesn’t involve leading on minor royalty.”
Maria gave Grossmann a sour look that he responded to with a sardonic smile. Asshole, she thought.
“There is a debate going on behind closed doors in the Reichstag today” Grossmann said “Our job is find out what they are talking about.”
Maria kept her silence, she knew full well that meant that Grossmann would just box her out. He had developed relationships within the Reichstag over the course of decades that she could possibly hope to match. Something that Grossmann knew full well.
With a sigh, Maria started going through the pile of messages that had been left during her absence. Most of them related to the Metro desk, council meetings and such. There were a few that were congratulating her for publishing the story. Finally, she ran across one that read You owe me and there might be something in it for you. E.H. and gave a local address and time, 6 PM. Holz again, he must have come into Berlin for his own reasons.
After a long day making phone calls Maria had discovered that all her contacts in the city government were just as in the dark as she was about what was happening.
At about five thirty Maria said she was leaving to meet a contact. Something that was sort of true, but the truth was that the day which had started off so well had turned into yet one more frustrating exercise. Not that she ever expected this job to be easy but it seemed as if the whole of official Berlin was turned against her some days. Her hope was that Holz would have something that would be worth her time when she showed up. Maria found the address was of a mid-range, contriving to be high-range, restaurant that catered to office workers and Emil Holz was in the bar. She almost didn’t recognize him because he was wearing a dress uniform as opposed to the splinter camouflage that the Paras wore in the field. Her attire, business casual, was not out of place here.
“Why do you think I owe you?” Maria asked instead of any sort of proper greeting.
“I didn’t have you arrested as a spy or held until your story would be worthless” He answered.
Grossmann had warned her that could easily happen and that she should never count on the paper springing her in a timely fashion. “Not making an ass of yourself is hardly a favor to me” She said in response.
“I also confirmed your story to your newspaper’s fact checkers” Emil said “I could have skunked your entire story, I did that to your friend Grossmann once.”
That was something that Maria hadn’t considered. “You said in your message that there would be something in this for me.”
“Yes” Emil said “That is completely dependent on your ability to play along.”
“Play along with what?” Maria asked.
“Käte von Richthofen” Emil answered, matter of fact before taking a sip of his drink.
That was unexpected. The wife of the Luftwaffe General who largely eschewed the Press.
“It’s simple really” Emil said “In a few minutes Manfred von Richthofen and his wife will arrive here for dinner, later they intend to go to a movie. You pretend to be my date and you get a line on the highest levels of the Luftwaffe.”
Maria heard that, it was the sort of thing that any journalist would kill for. But with anything that was too good to be true it probably was. There had to be a catch.
“What do you get out it?” Maria asked.
“I get to have Frau von Richthofen stop trying to set me up with blind dates for a couple of months.”
That was what this was about? She had read in background that Emil Holz was a bachelor who occasionally been seen in public with women of varying places in the social strata but evidently nothing serious.
“And I happened to be the one you called?” Maria asked, she didn’t know if she should be offended or flattered.
Emil just shrugged “She finds the idea of an unattached man offensive for some reason and she tends to want to fix me up with women who seem to have the brains of a cocktail napkin.”
“And that bothers you” Maria said.
“Ever spend an entire evening listening to someone talk about nothing but themselves or worse you end up talking past all night?” He asked.
Maria heard that, he did have a point. That didn’t still excuse him for being a judgmental bastard when it came to the women who took the time to attempt get to know him.
“I am not agreeing to…” Maria started to say when Emil started to wave someone over. She turned to see Manfred von Richthofen walking across the room with a woman who Maria assumed was Käte von Richthofen. Emil had planned this well, he had timed her arrival with just enough time to tell her what was going and but not enough for her to back out. Now she was left sitting her with Frau von Richthofen eying her suspiciously.
“You ought to be glad that preparing your Regiment is keeping you out of the capital” Manfred said to Emil “I had to brief a dozen politicians today.”
“What are they on about?” Emil asked.
“They can’t seem to make up their minds as to whether or not we’re going to intervene in Spain” Manfred said.
“Spain?” Maria asked.
“Don’t worry about it” Manfred said “Even if they approve action this instant it will still be months before anything happens.”
With that Maria just had the biggest scoop of her career fall into her lap and she had Holz to thank for it, the bastard.
4th September, 1936
Berlin
The late-night train ride back to Berlin was a busy one for Maria. Her brief trip through the airfield had actually yielded more than its occupants had intended for her to see. Dozens of the military variant of the Junkers trimotor airliners were impossible not to see, the large number of base security wearing different uniforms from the Paras and depth of the paperwork on the desk of Oberst Holz was unmistakable. The Paras were preparing to make a move and their replacements were already present. When Maria had phoned this in from Rechlin her Editor had called her back to the office so she could do a write up. Not that she needed to, Maria had the rough draft of the story done before the train pulled into Berlin.
After some tweaking it was ready to go to press. Preparing for War, No Explanation the headline read. The Editor was happy and she even got half a smirk from Grossmann.
“Congratulations” The Editor told them “Now get back to work.”
As Maria walked back to her desk she had the sense of accomplishment that she had rarely felt in this job.
“Finally got a good story in” Grossmann said to her “Now we need one that doesn’t involve leading on minor royalty.”
Maria gave Grossmann a sour look that he responded to with a sardonic smile. Asshole, she thought.
“There is a debate going on behind closed doors in the Reichstag today” Grossmann said “Our job is find out what they are talking about.”
Maria kept her silence, she knew full well that meant that Grossmann would just box her out. He had developed relationships within the Reichstag over the course of decades that she could possibly hope to match. Something that Grossmann knew full well.
With a sigh, Maria started going through the pile of messages that had been left during her absence. Most of them related to the Metro desk, council meetings and such. There were a few that were congratulating her for publishing the story. Finally, she ran across one that read You owe me and there might be something in it for you. E.H. and gave a local address and time, 6 PM. Holz again, he must have come into Berlin for his own reasons.
After a long day making phone calls Maria had discovered that all her contacts in the city government were just as in the dark as she was about what was happening.
At about five thirty Maria said she was leaving to meet a contact. Something that was sort of true, but the truth was that the day which had started off so well had turned into yet one more frustrating exercise. Not that she ever expected this job to be easy but it seemed as if the whole of official Berlin was turned against her some days. Her hope was that Holz would have something that would be worth her time when she showed up. Maria found the address was of a mid-range, contriving to be high-range, restaurant that catered to office workers and Emil Holz was in the bar. She almost didn’t recognize him because he was wearing a dress uniform as opposed to the splinter camouflage that the Paras wore in the field. Her attire, business casual, was not out of place here.
“Why do you think I owe you?” Maria asked instead of any sort of proper greeting.
“I didn’t have you arrested as a spy or held until your story would be worthless” He answered.
Grossmann had warned her that could easily happen and that she should never count on the paper springing her in a timely fashion. “Not making an ass of yourself is hardly a favor to me” She said in response.
“I also confirmed your story to your newspaper’s fact checkers” Emil said “I could have skunked your entire story, I did that to your friend Grossmann once.”
That was something that Maria hadn’t considered. “You said in your message that there would be something in this for me.”
“Yes” Emil said “That is completely dependent on your ability to play along.”
“Play along with what?” Maria asked.
“Käte von Richthofen” Emil answered, matter of fact before taking a sip of his drink.
That was unexpected. The wife of the Luftwaffe General who largely eschewed the Press.
“It’s simple really” Emil said “In a few minutes Manfred von Richthofen and his wife will arrive here for dinner, later they intend to go to a movie. You pretend to be my date and you get a line on the highest levels of the Luftwaffe.”
Maria heard that, it was the sort of thing that any journalist would kill for. But with anything that was too good to be true it probably was. There had to be a catch.
“What do you get out it?” Maria asked.
“I get to have Frau von Richthofen stop trying to set me up with blind dates for a couple of months.”
That was what this was about? She had read in background that Emil Holz was a bachelor who occasionally been seen in public with women of varying places in the social strata but evidently nothing serious.
“And I happened to be the one you called?” Maria asked, she didn’t know if she should be offended or flattered.
Emil just shrugged “She finds the idea of an unattached man offensive for some reason and she tends to want to fix me up with women who seem to have the brains of a cocktail napkin.”
“And that bothers you” Maria said.
“Ever spend an entire evening listening to someone talk about nothing but themselves or worse you end up talking past all night?” He asked.
Maria heard that, he did have a point. That didn’t still excuse him for being a judgmental bastard when it came to the women who took the time to attempt get to know him.
“I am not agreeing to…” Maria started to say when Emil started to wave someone over. She turned to see Manfred von Richthofen walking across the room with a woman who Maria assumed was Käte von Richthofen. Emil had planned this well, he had timed her arrival with just enough time to tell her what was going and but not enough for her to back out. Now she was left sitting her with Frau von Richthofen eying her suspiciously.
“You ought to be glad that preparing your Regiment is keeping you out of the capital” Manfred said to Emil “I had to brief a dozen politicians today.”
“What are they on about?” Emil asked.
“They can’t seem to make up their minds as to whether or not we’re going to intervene in Spain” Manfred said.
“Spain?” Maria asked.
“Don’t worry about it” Manfred said “Even if they approve action this instant it will still be months before anything happens.”
With that Maria just had the biggest scoop of her career fall into her lap and she had Holz to thank for it, the bastard.
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Part 12, Chapter 118
Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
5th September, 1936
Berlin
Lang looked at his watch and saw that it was no longer late, they had passed into early some time ago. This debate had raged all day and was shaping up to last all night as well. He could see that the National Liberals were eating this up, as if a debate over matters of war and peace was just an afternoon at the Football pitch. They were probably enjoying the fissures that this debate was exposing in the majority coalition as well. Lang knew that his constituents in Jena would be furious if he voted for the resolution. Most of them figured, correctly, that they might find themselves on the sharp end if the Heer ever needed to be fully mobilized. At the same time, he would lose most of his leverage if he came down hard against the resolution. It was a tightrope he was walking along with most of the other members of his party.
It was the coalition partners that were infuriating Lang the most. Many of them were at least sympathetic to the Spanish Communists if not outright Reds themselves. They got the same intelligence briefings that he did. Did the news about starvation in the Ukraine or the Ministry buildings in Moscow that were rumored to have become charnel houses go in one ear and out the other? How many symbolic executions of Catholic shrines happening in Spain did they need to see? The tactic that they had adopted was to drag the debate out. Any second news of it would reach the public, if it already hadn’t leaked out, and when that happened a good portion of the public would respond with outrage driven by stark memories of the Great War.
Lang sat there in silence and waited. At any moment, someone was going to put forth a motion to end debate and force a vote on the resolution. And that action would also effectively mark the end of the current Government.
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Grossmann walked into the offices of the Berliner to find Maria Acker at her desk pounding on the keys of her typewriter. Even he could tell that she was both furious and exhausted. That anger was probably the only thing that was keeping her awake. When she saw him the look in her eyes froze him in place.
“Why didn’t you warn me about Emil Holz?” She practically growled at him.
Grossmann knew that the Oberst was known for not playing well with others but his doubted that the stubbornness that Holz was infamous for was at play here. There was that other aspect.
Would you have believed me?” Grossmann asked.
Maria ignored the question “That jackass is always looking to manipulate everyone he comes into contact with” She said “I went to dinner tonight at his invitation because he said that I owed him a favor and because of that a massive story dropped into my lap, now I owe him another favor.”
“Wait” Grossmann said “What’s the story.”
“Who cares about the Goddamned story!” Maria yelled at him.
“Me, obviously” Grossmann said.
“Spain and some other trash” Maria said “General von Richthofen said that the government is debating military intervention.”
“That’s the story that everyone in this building has been working to find out all day and you’re upset about the actions of your source?” Grossmann asked. This was unbelievable.
“I don’t like how this happened and I do not like feeling obligated to someone like Holz” Maria said.
“This is the sort of thing that you need to do unless you want to cover city government your entire career” Grossmann said “It’s not every day you get a massive scoop like this, try to enjoy it.”
A few hours later the morning edition went out with the Spanish intervention as the lead story. Maria wasn’t there to see it because Grossmann had arranged to get her home after she fell asleep at her desk. By then the competition had gotten a late start on the story when news came that the Reichstag had voted to approve action in Spain once negotiations with the French Government to have the Heer cross French territory were complete. There was also news that the National Liberals and Social Democrats had agreed to a Government of National unity for the duration of the crisis. Grossmann could see that the far left and far right had been effectively blocked from the levers of power. What that implied about the plans for Spain was unclear but that didn’t bode well for either side of the civil war.
Wunsdorf-Zossen
Horst woke up to pounding on his front door. He could see that the sun hadn’t come up yet. It was his job to wake people up when they were not expecting it, not to be woken up like this. And according to the roster he was off duty for at least another twenty-four hours. Whoever this was they had best have a damn good explanation or else Horst was going to cheerfully kill them. When he opened the door, he saw it was Jost Schultz in the yellow porch light. Hans Mischner had gotten bumped up to Gefreiter so the role of being the Oberst’s gofer had fallen to Jost.
“If there isn’t a good reason for this you can look forward to standing sentry every night through the end of Winter, Soldat Schultz” Horst said.
Jost gulped, he knew full well that Horst never made idle threats “We just heard on the radio that we are going to war, Sir” He said “The Oberst wants the entire command staff in his office immediately.”
That qualifies as a good reason, Horst thought to himself.
5th September, 1936
Berlin
Lang looked at his watch and saw that it was no longer late, they had passed into early some time ago. This debate had raged all day and was shaping up to last all night as well. He could see that the National Liberals were eating this up, as if a debate over matters of war and peace was just an afternoon at the Football pitch. They were probably enjoying the fissures that this debate was exposing in the majority coalition as well. Lang knew that his constituents in Jena would be furious if he voted for the resolution. Most of them figured, correctly, that they might find themselves on the sharp end if the Heer ever needed to be fully mobilized. At the same time, he would lose most of his leverage if he came down hard against the resolution. It was a tightrope he was walking along with most of the other members of his party.
It was the coalition partners that were infuriating Lang the most. Many of them were at least sympathetic to the Spanish Communists if not outright Reds themselves. They got the same intelligence briefings that he did. Did the news about starvation in the Ukraine or the Ministry buildings in Moscow that were rumored to have become charnel houses go in one ear and out the other? How many symbolic executions of Catholic shrines happening in Spain did they need to see? The tactic that they had adopted was to drag the debate out. Any second news of it would reach the public, if it already hadn’t leaked out, and when that happened a good portion of the public would respond with outrage driven by stark memories of the Great War.
Lang sat there in silence and waited. At any moment, someone was going to put forth a motion to end debate and force a vote on the resolution. And that action would also effectively mark the end of the current Government.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Grossmann walked into the offices of the Berliner to find Maria Acker at her desk pounding on the keys of her typewriter. Even he could tell that she was both furious and exhausted. That anger was probably the only thing that was keeping her awake. When she saw him the look in her eyes froze him in place.
“Why didn’t you warn me about Emil Holz?” She practically growled at him.
Grossmann knew that the Oberst was known for not playing well with others but his doubted that the stubbornness that Holz was infamous for was at play here. There was that other aspect.
Would you have believed me?” Grossmann asked.
Maria ignored the question “That jackass is always looking to manipulate everyone he comes into contact with” She said “I went to dinner tonight at his invitation because he said that I owed him a favor and because of that a massive story dropped into my lap, now I owe him another favor.”
“Wait” Grossmann said “What’s the story.”
“Who cares about the Goddamned story!” Maria yelled at him.
“Me, obviously” Grossmann said.
“Spain and some other trash” Maria said “General von Richthofen said that the government is debating military intervention.”
“That’s the story that everyone in this building has been working to find out all day and you’re upset about the actions of your source?” Grossmann asked. This was unbelievable.
“I don’t like how this happened and I do not like feeling obligated to someone like Holz” Maria said.
“This is the sort of thing that you need to do unless you want to cover city government your entire career” Grossmann said “It’s not every day you get a massive scoop like this, try to enjoy it.”
A few hours later the morning edition went out with the Spanish intervention as the lead story. Maria wasn’t there to see it because Grossmann had arranged to get her home after she fell asleep at her desk. By then the competition had gotten a late start on the story when news came that the Reichstag had voted to approve action in Spain once negotiations with the French Government to have the Heer cross French territory were complete. There was also news that the National Liberals and Social Democrats had agreed to a Government of National unity for the duration of the crisis. Grossmann could see that the far left and far right had been effectively blocked from the levers of power. What that implied about the plans for Spain was unclear but that didn’t bode well for either side of the civil war.
Wunsdorf-Zossen
Horst woke up to pounding on his front door. He could see that the sun hadn’t come up yet. It was his job to wake people up when they were not expecting it, not to be woken up like this. And according to the roster he was off duty for at least another twenty-four hours. Whoever this was they had best have a damn good explanation or else Horst was going to cheerfully kill them. When he opened the door, he saw it was Jost Schultz in the yellow porch light. Hans Mischner had gotten bumped up to Gefreiter so the role of being the Oberst’s gofer had fallen to Jost.
“If there isn’t a good reason for this you can look forward to standing sentry every night through the end of Winter, Soldat Schultz” Horst said.
Jost gulped, he knew full well that Horst never made idle threats “We just heard on the radio that we are going to war, Sir” He said “The Oberst wants the entire command staff in his office immediately.”
That qualifies as a good reason, Horst thought to himself.
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This is going to be interesting... in the Chinese sense of the word. How well are the Germans going to be able to do COIN ops? Not to mention that i can't think of a successful intervention in Spain. Given that some of the French, Italian, Russian, and possibly the British are probably thinking that the German Empire could be taken down a peg or three, and some of them might be in a position to do something about it. Plus, haven't interventions in Spain historically gone poorly for the intervening power?
Russia is definitely a wildcard, but I don't see the French or the Italians. The French have a profitable economic partnership with Germany, and I can't imagine that they'd be willing to risk that. The Italians...well...maybe. Possibly without Mussolini they might actually pull something like that off competently.
Part 13, Chapter 119
Chapter One Hundred Nineteen
15th November, 1937
In transit, rural France
Article One; You are not being sent to conquer Spain but to bring peace, always be aware of that. The mission is to end the civil war, return the country to local control in a timely manner and to deliver humanitarian aid.
Article Two; Understand history. This is the country that handed the first defeat to the Armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. This is the place where the term Guerrilla Warfare was first coined, be prepared for that.
Article Three; In view of the second part of the second article every soldier, sailor and airman is to understand that they are representing the Empire. Infractions will be dealt with to the fullest extent possible under Military Law. All punishments will be carried out in full view of the Spanish public and the offenders Regiment.
Article Four; All items acquired from stores, farms, warehouses or other places of storage will be duly paid for…
It went on for another twenty articles. Hans was reading it for what must have been the twentieth time mostly out of boredom. Yesterday evening had been interesting, crossing into France and the old battlefields of the Great War. Now they were just sitting on the train bound for the marshalling point somewhere in the south of France. The deal that had allowed them to make this crossing required that they stay on the train at all times and take the most direct route to their destination, once there they were not to leave camp. The problem was that moving several Army Corps was a slow process. Hans could visualize hundreds of trains one after another stretching all the way back to the various garrisons and depots in Germany to here, wherever here was.
The train pulled to a stop in the middle of nowhere and it was starting to rain. “Everybody out!” someone yelled. Hans followed the others out of the train car and climbed down to track bed. As he walked across the field towards the road he noticed that his boots were sinking into the mud. He looked over and saw that Feldwebel Raskoph, the new squad leader that they were still getting to know was also trudging through the mud.
There was a Feldwebel from the Paras leaning on a car parked on the side of the road, another of the Kubelwagens that had become so ubiquitous over the last few years. “Any idea where our vehicles are?” Raskoph asked.
“No” The Para said “You get to wait here until you get further orders.”
“Here?” Hans asked “Where is here?”
“That’s none of your business” The Para said. Then he got into his car and drove off. Better you than me, asshole was clearly the subtext to that.
Hans looked around. The Company was milling around the muddy field that was bordered by a fence on one side, railroad tracks on the other and oppressive grey clouds overhead. Nothing more.
“They didn’t send us to the Riviera did they” He muttered.
“You say something” Raskoph growled at him, clearly daring Hans to repeat it.
“Nothing, Feld” Hans replied.
“That’s what I thought” Raskoph said, he had the mistaken belief that anyone in the Squad was the least bit intimidated by him “Get the men to start putting up tents unless you want to sleep in the rain tonight.”
Hans walked off. It was not as if he had the intention of doing anything else. There was absolutely nothing else to do here.
A few hours later they noticed that French soldiers were skulking in a farmhouse a few hundred meters away. That was hardly a surprise, there was some grumbling about how they were stuck out in the rain while the Frogs were under a roof. Again, that was hardly a surprise. The next morning fuel for the cook stove and water arrived along with Horst who looked less than thrilled about their accommodation when he stepped off the lorry. The train carrying their vehicles had been directed hundreds of kilometers out of their way. Horst said that the Oberst Rommel was on the phone chewing people’s asses until things got straightened out.
“I don’t get it, Sir” Hans said “What’s the point of having us sitting out here?”
“Because we’re close to where we need to be” Horst said and he pointed south. The clouds had parted and Hans could see snowcapped mountains in the distance.
Madrid, Spain
Recently Madrid had been threatened by the Nationalist advance, so the capital had been moved to Valencia. The Government was still trying to sort things out and with everything else they did it seemed as if it involved a lot of bickering between the various factions. That seemed very distant here in Madrid, where the battle against the Falangists was ongoing. Neither side had airplanes in serious numbers and the Government had provided a number of Russian built tanks that had proven a Godsend. Leary Quinlan was walking through the city, the pockmarks from bullets hitting the walls had become so common that he hardly noticed them anymore. It was not as if this was his first war, more like his third. Flanders, home and now here.
There were a lot of things that Leary was getting used to. This being so very different from the troubles in Ireland. The Brits had known about most of the Unionists who had kicked up a fuss for years but had turned a blind eye. When the Orangemen had gone on their campaign of terror the Brits had sat on their hands. Then the bastards had offered to return to Ireland in order to restore peace and stability. They had fixed them right quick by setting off truck bombs in London, the Brits had not liked a taste of their own medicine one bit.
Now there was a new wrinkle, word was spreading that the Huns were massing on the French side of the Pyrenees. With any luck this would be over before that bunch of savages crossed the mountains in the Spring. Rumors were also suggesting that the Huns were on no one’s side but their own.
15th November, 1937
In transit, rural France
Article One; You are not being sent to conquer Spain but to bring peace, always be aware of that. The mission is to end the civil war, return the country to local control in a timely manner and to deliver humanitarian aid.
Article Two; Understand history. This is the country that handed the first defeat to the Armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. This is the place where the term Guerrilla Warfare was first coined, be prepared for that.
Article Three; In view of the second part of the second article every soldier, sailor and airman is to understand that they are representing the Empire. Infractions will be dealt with to the fullest extent possible under Military Law. All punishments will be carried out in full view of the Spanish public and the offenders Regiment.
Article Four; All items acquired from stores, farms, warehouses or other places of storage will be duly paid for…
It went on for another twenty articles. Hans was reading it for what must have been the twentieth time mostly out of boredom. Yesterday evening had been interesting, crossing into France and the old battlefields of the Great War. Now they were just sitting on the train bound for the marshalling point somewhere in the south of France. The deal that had allowed them to make this crossing required that they stay on the train at all times and take the most direct route to their destination, once there they were not to leave camp. The problem was that moving several Army Corps was a slow process. Hans could visualize hundreds of trains one after another stretching all the way back to the various garrisons and depots in Germany to here, wherever here was.
The train pulled to a stop in the middle of nowhere and it was starting to rain. “Everybody out!” someone yelled. Hans followed the others out of the train car and climbed down to track bed. As he walked across the field towards the road he noticed that his boots were sinking into the mud. He looked over and saw that Feldwebel Raskoph, the new squad leader that they were still getting to know was also trudging through the mud.
There was a Feldwebel from the Paras leaning on a car parked on the side of the road, another of the Kubelwagens that had become so ubiquitous over the last few years. “Any idea where our vehicles are?” Raskoph asked.
“No” The Para said “You get to wait here until you get further orders.”
“Here?” Hans asked “Where is here?”
“That’s none of your business” The Para said. Then he got into his car and drove off. Better you than me, asshole was clearly the subtext to that.
Hans looked around. The Company was milling around the muddy field that was bordered by a fence on one side, railroad tracks on the other and oppressive grey clouds overhead. Nothing more.
“They didn’t send us to the Riviera did they” He muttered.
“You say something” Raskoph growled at him, clearly daring Hans to repeat it.
“Nothing, Feld” Hans replied.
“That’s what I thought” Raskoph said, he had the mistaken belief that anyone in the Squad was the least bit intimidated by him “Get the men to start putting up tents unless you want to sleep in the rain tonight.”
Hans walked off. It was not as if he had the intention of doing anything else. There was absolutely nothing else to do here.
A few hours later they noticed that French soldiers were skulking in a farmhouse a few hundred meters away. That was hardly a surprise, there was some grumbling about how they were stuck out in the rain while the Frogs were under a roof. Again, that was hardly a surprise. The next morning fuel for the cook stove and water arrived along with Horst who looked less than thrilled about their accommodation when he stepped off the lorry. The train carrying their vehicles had been directed hundreds of kilometers out of their way. Horst said that the Oberst Rommel was on the phone chewing people’s asses until things got straightened out.
“I don’t get it, Sir” Hans said “What’s the point of having us sitting out here?”
“Because we’re close to where we need to be” Horst said and he pointed south. The clouds had parted and Hans could see snowcapped mountains in the distance.
Madrid, Spain
Recently Madrid had been threatened by the Nationalist advance, so the capital had been moved to Valencia. The Government was still trying to sort things out and with everything else they did it seemed as if it involved a lot of bickering between the various factions. That seemed very distant here in Madrid, where the battle against the Falangists was ongoing. Neither side had airplanes in serious numbers and the Government had provided a number of Russian built tanks that had proven a Godsend. Leary Quinlan was walking through the city, the pockmarks from bullets hitting the walls had become so common that he hardly noticed them anymore. It was not as if this was his first war, more like his third. Flanders, home and now here.
There were a lot of things that Leary was getting used to. This being so very different from the troubles in Ireland. The Brits had known about most of the Unionists who had kicked up a fuss for years but had turned a blind eye. When the Orangemen had gone on their campaign of terror the Brits had sat on their hands. Then the bastards had offered to return to Ireland in order to restore peace and stability. They had fixed them right quick by setting off truck bombs in London, the Brits had not liked a taste of their own medicine one bit.
Now there was a new wrinkle, word was spreading that the Huns were massing on the French side of the Pyrenees. With any luck this would be over before that bunch of savages crossed the mountains in the Spring. Rumors were also suggesting that the Huns were on no one’s side but their own.
France, maybe?
Can't be Portugal, arming your neighbors who have a rivalry with you is just plain stupid.