Stupid Luck and Happenstance.

[Grammar Kaiser]

Just a spelling error on Sydney, should have a y. So the empire of Japan had still gone its own way, interesting.

Soviet Russia is their only potential ally ITTL. Unless American does something stupid.

To Peabody

Has China been invaded yet? I think there was mention of that, but the Reichstag bombing threw my memory off. If they have, how are the Qing doing compared to China OTL? (Has someone asked this? I can't remember) .

 

[LordVorKon]

how are the Qing doing compared to China OTL?

Why would the Qing be doing anything? They were booted in 1912, which as I recall is well before the POD.

 

[Grammar Kaiser]

Why would the Qing be doing anything? They were booted in 1912, which as I recall is well before the POD.

They were mentioned in an earlier post as being still around.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Also I've complely lost track of everyone's age.

From my notes.

Birth dates of POV characters;

Emil Holz, 28th February 1900
Maria Acker, 15th September 1911

Walter Horst 14th August, 1894

Manfred v. Wolvogle, 8th April 1868
Lagertha (Gerta) v. Wolvogle, 2nd March 1921

Augustus Lang, 30th September 1897
Rhona Reise-Lang, 29th October 1895

Johann Schultz, 19th January 1893
Jost Schultz, 3rd July 1917
Lenz Schultz, 20th April 1918

Jacob Issac Schmidt, 30th January 1897
Esther Reise-Schmidt, 4th May 1898
Sarah Schmidt (Reise), 17th January 1918
Nessa Schmidt, 16th November 1918

Erwin Thorwald, 18th June 1907

Hans Mischner, 7th June 1919
Katherine (Kat) Mischner 3rd August 1922

Helene v. Richthofen 11th November 1920

Kurt Knispel, 20th September 1921

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Soviet Russia is their only potential ally ITTL. Unless American does something stupid.

To Peabody

Has China been invaded yet? I think there was mention of that, but the Reichstag bombing threw my memory off. If they have, how are the Qing doing compared to China OTL? (Has someone asked this? I can't remember) .

The Sino-Japanese War is happening only a little behind schedule in TTL. What's been happening in the Far East is a little strange with the US currently the major supplier of raw materials to Japan. The battle of Khalkhin Gol was butterflied and with upcoming events in other parts of the world the China/Western Pacific is going to get very strange.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Why would the Qing be doing anything? They were booted in 1912, which as I recall is well before the POD.

The Qing enjoyed a restoration except it's with Chang Kai-Shek as the real power behind the throne.

 

[Grammar Kaiser]

The Qing enjoyed a restoration except it's with Chang Kai-Shek as the real power behind the throne.

Yay! The both Qing di Guo and the Deutsches Kaiserreich stuck around ITTL. Is Puyi Emperor? Or did Chang Kai-Shek install his cousin?

 

[Grammar Kaiser]

From my notes.

Birth dates of POV characters;

Emil Holz, 28th February 1900
Maria Acker, 15th September 1911

Walter Horst 14th August, 1894

Manfred v. Wolvogle, 8th April 1868
Lagertha (Gerta) v. Wolvogle, 2nd March 1921

Augustus Lang, 11th December 1898
Rhona Reise-Lang, 29th October 1895

Johann Schultz, 19th January 1893
Jost Schultz, 3rd July 1917
Lenz Schultz, 20th April 1918

Jacob Issac Schmidt, 30th January 1897
Esther Reise-Schmidt, 4th May 1898
Sarah Schmidt (Reise), 17th January 1918
Nessa Schmidt, 6th March 1920

Erwin Thorwald, 18th June 1907

Hans Mischner, 7th June 1919
Katherine (Kat) Mischner 3rd August 1922

Helene v. Richthofen 11th November 1920

Kurt Knispel, 20th September 1921

Thanks.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Eight


28th June 1940

6000 meters over the North Sea

Lenz smiled under his oxygen mask as he stuck to the tail of the British naval fighter. “Goddammit, best of seven” he heard a voice crackle over his headphones in English.

“We’ve already given you Limeys the best of five” Hans wingman Joachim called back as they fell back into formation with the two Gloster Kingfishers. Superficially the British airplanes were a lot like the FW-190s in that they were a low wing monoplane with a radial engine. But they had clearly been designed around differing mission requirements. They could turn inside that FW but had a lower top speed, the eight .303 machine guns were also a difference from the cannon armed FW. The Fleet Air Arm was still adjusting to the monoplane fighters. JG-1 and the fighter wing aboard the SMS Graf Zeppelin, having long been regarded as “The Enemy” by them, had been more than happy to lend an unofficial hand. As if they would ever pass up an opportunity to show up their rivals.

“Go to Hell Hun” the English pilot called back.

“Cut that both of you” Lenz said, “This is just a friendly.”

There was grumbling over the radio as neither of the two junior pilots were happy about Lenz squelching their war of words. The senior British pilot was silent but Lenz looked over just into to see him flip Lenz the bird with a smile, a gesture Lenz returned also with a smile. “If we’re ever in the same port we owe you lot a round” Lenz heard him say over the radio.

“Just give us a time and place” Lenz said, “Copenhagen always works or perhaps Stockholm and we’ll settle this up.”

“Thank God for Scandinavian neutrality and women” the British pilot said.

“Amen” Lenz said. That brought a round of laughter over the radio.

“You’re alright Zehn-Sechs” The British pilot said, “Even if you’re a bloody Hun.”

Lenz didn’t bother to correct him. The Brit actually thought that Lenz’s call sign, Ten-Six, was his name. He filed that one away for later, you never know when that could be useful.

“My complements to the Ark Royal even if her pilots need a bit more work to be half passible by JG-1 standards” Lenz said.

“Shit” The Brit replied “You’re Jaygee One? We’ve been taking on the bloody Baron’s own personal cutthroats?”

That got a bit of a laugh from Joachim.

“Ritter von Richthofen hasn’t flown with us in a while” Lenz said, “But that is who we are.”


Heinersdorf, Berlin

Kat had seen the results from the preparatory courses she'd been taking to prepare for University. To her amazement, she had actually passed all her classes. Now she was left at loose ends for the summer. Gerta was locked in a battle with her father and Helene was going to her family’s estate in East Prussia which meant that a different battle was brewing. Kat wanted nothing to do with any of that. Kat figured that she should make some calls to see if she could get a job. Maria was abroad so she would probably have trouble getting a job BT. Perhaps the University could help.

Kat walked in through the door of her Aunt and Uncle’s house. It being early afternoon the house was quiet, everyone else was still at work. The mail was sitting on the floor as Kat gathered the envelops up. Bill, another bill, advertisement, newspaper subscription offer, a letter to Aunt Marcella and a letter addressed to her. Kat placed the envelops on the kitchen counter and opened the one addressed to her. It was an invitation of sorts to take a bit of an adventure over the summer holiday. This could just be the sort of thing that she was looking for.


Werder, Germany

Every muscle in Kurt’s body ached. He was sitting in a chair opposite to General Wolvogle as the General talked to him about one of his favorite subjects, cavalry horses. His more memorable mounts in particular. A horse that he had ridden in the 1890s, a stallion named Lucifer drew particular praise. It was a descendant of that horse that was the source of Kurt’s aching muscles. The General had decided that Kurt needed to learn to ride an actual horse and once the general decided something that was that. Kurt had no idea how the General could ride for kilometers at his age while Kurt was left feeling like he’d been thoroughly beaten.

“While it’s very different from commanding a Panzer” Wolvogle said, “The fundamentals are the same and managing a cavalry troop is not much different from a Panzer crew.”

Kurt sat there hardly able to keep his eyes open. Word had reached them that the General’s daughter Gerta was coming back from Berlin and she would be on the warpath in regard to her father’s health. Kurt couldn’t quite understand that. In the last couple of months, the General seemed to have boundless energy when it came to subjects in which he was interested. It was only things which the General wasn’t interested in that he seemed to act his age and that included arguing with his daughter.

“When you were in training did they talk about formations and signals?” Wolvogle asked.

“About what?” Kurt answered.

“Obviously, they didn’t” Wolvogle said “I was one of the first ones to experiment with having a radio in a Panzer. You know that? What I discovered is that you should probably not depend on anything electronic in a pinch.”

“You used an airhorn instead” Kurt said. It was something that was well known.

“Exactly” Wolvogle said “We’re going to start you on bugle signals tomorrow, after saber drill.”

Kurt was barely able to stifle the groan that would only make things worse.

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

“Exactly” Wolvogle said “We’re going to start you on trumpet signals tomorrow, after saber drill.”

Kurt was barely able to stifle the groan that would only make things worse.

Wow, Kurt's getting quite the throwback experience here.

Also, it's nice to see a Graf Zepplin that is a quality carrier with German excellence in aviation.

Thanks for posting the relevant dates. Emil is a Blue-Max wearing 2-star General before his 40th birthday. And a Brigadier just after turning 36. And that's after having to go through officer training school and start over after the war when he was enlisted underage. Prussian snobs must either loathe him or now be at the point of nobless oblige.

Also, the scene on the beach was well-executed and it highlights the social differences (birth control) between this Germany and British-influenced lands and how good a match Maria is for Emil when it comes to understanding the dangerous life he lives. The age difference is also well done, as he's precisely the type who'd never be expected to marry and she's both old enough and unconventional enough that she also probably figured on not getting married.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

For anyone interested the Gloster Kingfisher of TTL is a navalized and improved version of a promising design that never went anywhere. The Gloster F.5/34.

 

[zert]

Just what job did Kat get for the Summer and who else might she see and meet? Poor Kurt is going to be beaten by Gerta. Between the bruises from the horses, the tired brains from all the lectures, and the confrontations from Gerta, he may not last.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Nine


8th July 1940

Mascot Airport, Sydney, Australia

Kat was looking out the window of the FW-200, according to Maria’s letter this trip was her husband Emil’s idea. As a Luftwaffe General, he was able to get her a seat on a Lufthansa flight that flew the new Constantinople-Bangkok-Sydney route. Something about how the airline was a part of the Luftwaffe Transport Command. Kat understood that it was an arrangement similar to the Merchant Navy.

Maria had said in her letter that it would be an adventure and they would love to have Kat for a quaint local holiday that basically celebrated Christmas in July. What that meant in practice was a few days on an airplane with a bunch of businessmen, who smoked. Kat managed to make it to Sydney without committing several murders but she suspected that if the plane had been in the air an hour longer that would have changed. The thing that had salvaged the experience for her was that it was just as magical to look out the window as Maria had described. Flying over India had been of particular interest to her and she would have loved to have spent more than a couple of hours in Bangkok.

When Kat had told Aunt Marcella about the invitation Marcella had practically started packing Kat’s bags on the spot. If anything, she was more excited than Kat, Marcella said she had feared that Kat would spend the Summer just moping around the house. Plus, this would give her and Klaus the place to themselves for once. That was far more than Kat wanted to hear.

Once the plane landed and Kat walked down the ramp stairs. This is supposed to be winter? Kat thought to herself. She took off her coat but still felt like she was overheating. Kat knew that Maria and Emil would be there waiting for her as she went through Customs. This sort of became a problem when Kat was asked a series of questions that she could barely understand. Kat knew more Greek than English and ended having to answer most of the questions in French. Ironically that was the thing that had probably convinced them she was harmless.

“You made it” Maria said as soon as Kat stepped out.

“Halfway around the world just to visit” Kat said, “I hope you like it.”

“I said it would be an adventure” Maria said.

“Yeah, it is” Kat said.

“We’re going to need to find to you some more climate appropriate clothes tomorrow” Maria said, “Your habit of burying yourself under layers won’t work out well here.”

“But that’s me” Kat said.

“Perhaps this is an opportunity to be someone else for a few weeks” Maria said, “And absolutely no judgement.”

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

Emil watched as Kat and Maria fell into their easy banter as they walked out to the car. Kat and Maria were from two neighborhoods of Berlin where the same dialect of German was spoken with all the slang and loanwords that were mixed in. Being from Jena and having spent years working closely with people from all over the German Empire he was able to follow along with ease. The looks on the faces of the two Australians who were constantly eavesdropping on Emil and Maria made pulling the strings to get the girl here worth it for him. He had been pretending not to notice them for months and knew they had been selected because they could understand German. Just not the version that they were suddenly hearing. He hoped that they would enjoy the next few weeks.


Kiel, Germany

Jacob strode onto the bridge of the SMS Preussen, the flagship of the newly formed squadron. The Preussen, the SMS Schlesien, along with the Battlecruisers SMS Graf Spee and SMS Yorck rounding it out along with several destroyers. Attached to it were the SMS Graf Zeppelin and SMS Immelmann in support roles but those were under a separate line of command. He had been informed of his promotion to Vizeadmiral and the formation of this squadron. All four of his ships had the latest radar, fire control and optics. Jacob knew that the crews of each of the ships individually were well drilled but it would be his job get them to coordinate their actions and movement. He had an unknown amount of time to forge this taskforce into a weapon of war.

Kapitan zur See Topp nodded to Jacob as he took his place. This was everything he’d been working towards his entire adult life. Jacob intended to make the most of it.


Rechlin-Lärz Airfield

The Oberst was less than thrilled when he had discovered that Lenz and Joachim had mixed it up with the British Navy over the North Sea. Lenz suspected that it was because of the usual pissing matches that went on between the KLM and the Luftwaffe. They’d been chewed out because mock combat was inherently dangerous and with the potential of an international incident mixed in they had been messing with things way over their pay grade.

“I thought that we supposed to be going out of our way to be nice to the French and British these days?” Joachim asked once they were out of the Oberst's office.

“It’s obvious that the Oberst is just covering his ass” Lenz said “It’s like my father says. Do the mission, if it goes well, then they’ll try to take credit and if it turns to shit they’ll bury you in it. Either way they win and that’s just life.”

“He’s a soldier then?” Joachim asked.

“Luftwaffe lifer and Para, Feldwebel-Lieutenant” Lenz said.

“That’s sort of a big deal” Joachim said.

“You wouldn’t think so when he demands that you get him a beer from the refrigerator.”

Lenz had come to regard Joachim Marseille as a friend. He was a natural pilot and kept his head in a fight. However, the Oberfähnrich could be overly aggressive and frequently violated Manfred von Richthofen’s dictate, you live by the Jasta, alone you just die. Lenz had been working on getting Joachim to be patient. Too often he tended to go charging in while Lenz tried to keep up. In the mock battles with the Brits he’d actually done well in coordinating with Lenz. Lenz hoped he’d see more of that in the future.

 

[zert]

Nice little updates for several of the characters. I hope Maria will help reinvigurate Kat and get her through the summer. Congrats to Jacob on his promotion. Both he and Emil are going to play major parts when the War comes.

 

[Peabody-Martini]

Chapter Two Hundred


9th July 1940

Sydney, Australia

“This is actually a good look on you” Maria said as she stood behind Kat in front of a full-length mirror. Kat was slightly taller than average, fairly thin and seemed to have the rare body type that designers in the fashion houses of Europe always preferred to cater to. The reality of that preference was why Maria had such a hard time finding clothes that looked good when she wore them.

It was a simple dress, a dark blue cotton floral print that cinched around the waist. The obvious difficulty convincing Kat wear it was that it seemed to show off everything that she normally kept hidden. How to get Kat to realize that she would be doing this for herself, no one else? Maria wondered. It was a battle that Kat’s Aunt Marcella had been waging for years.

It was then that one of the department store’s stock boys, who was roughly the same age as Kat walked around the corner, saw Kat and proceeded to walk into a wall. Maria cursed under her breath. Now Kat might start feeling self-conscious and Maria would have to take the time to coax Kat into trying other things on. It didn’t help that Kat looked totally unlike the local girls. Kat was already a pretty girl but this lent her an exotic air that seemed to turn every male brain in her proximity into a mushy jumble of misfiring synapses.

“Okay” Maria said as she led Kat back towards the changing room “There are a few other things that I’d like you to try on, then we can go home.”

“Who’s paying for all of this?” Kat asked looking at the tag.

“Don’t worry about that” Maria said, “The clothes are an early birthday present. Between the rent on the house being next to nothing, my articles still being run in the BT and the money from the book I’ve never been more flush. Besides that, I’m envious that you can pull a dress like that off. I’d look like I was wearing a blue sack.”

Next up was a cream-colored dress. Kat just looked at it sadly.

“It looks like something Gerta would wear” Kat said, “Sew a few bells to the hem and wear it with a red sash around the waist.”

“You miss your friends?” Maria asked.

“Yes and no” Kat said “When I left Gerta was going home to confront her father about taking better care of himself and Helene was going home with a different confrontation in mind. She wants her father to stop trying to control every aspect of her life. I simply didn’t want to step into the middle of either of those battles.”

“Both of their fathers are known for being hard, stubborn men” Maria observed.

“Was it selfish of me to have come here as opposed to staying there for them?” Kat asked.

“Not really” Maria said, “Your friend’s respective families live hundreds of kilometers apart and they know you’re the exact opposite of selfish. Seeing you not carrying around the weight of the world for once would have them jumping for joy.”

“Perhaps green and no bells would work for me” Kat mused changing the subject back to the dress.

“You like green?” Maria asked.

“My Aunt Marcella says that’s my best color” Kat said with a slight smile.

“How did she react to all this?”

“She practically packed my bag and shoved me out the door” Kat said, “Aunt Marcella said that having the house all to themselves for the entire Summer holiday was the sort of thing they’ve been waiting for, for ages.”

Maria picked up on the expression on Kat’s face when she said that and almost laughed. The idea that your parents were human with their own thoughts and desires weren’t exactly comfortable to someone Kat’s age. Come to think of it, probably not for adult children of any age.

“Let’s see you try that on” Maria said with a smile “And do you recall how your friend went about making or finding a sash as an accessory?”

“Gerta explained it a few times” Kat said, “I never thought I’d put it to use myself.”

“Then it’s a good thing that you’re not going to be yourself while you are here” Maria said “Right?”

That actually got a genuine smile from Kat.

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

Later after they got home Maria could smell dinner cooking. The dirty little secret of her and Emil’s relationship, Maria was hopeless in the kitchen so it fell on Emil to prepare meals because she could burn water. It was a good thing that he liked to do it.

“Don’t tell anyone” Emil told Kat, “It would ruin my reputation and you look nice by the way.” That was the only acknowledgement that Emil made to the change in Kat’s appearance. Perfect for Kat who was unsure about what she was wearing and fortunately he seemed immune to the effect that Maria had observed earlier.

After they got done with cleaning up Maria left Kat trying to decipher an English language newspaper. Kat was poring over a story in the international news about the upcoming US Election, the Democratic Party’s National Convention was next week. It was expected to be a battle between the current Vice President, John Nance Garner and the National Party Chairman, James Farley as to who would get the nomination. Maria had always found the American Electoral system unnecessarily convoluted and if you got a bad result you’d have to live with it for years.

Maria left Kat to that and found Emil sitting on the back porch, it was a cool evening by the local standards, which wasn’t particularly cold. The wind was blowing off the Pacific. “Is this what we can expect?” Emil asked as she sat down on the bench next to him.

“In about eighteen years if we’re lucky” Maria said, “Kat’s a sweetheart but she still does a lot of things that would have you pulling your hair out and you don’t want to be anywhere near her when she gets depressed.”

“You sent that letter off to your mother this week?” Emil asked.

Maria gave a snort of a laugh “By cheapest and slowest means that the postal service offered” She said, “That means that we ought to have a bit more time before the frantic telegrams start arriving and knowing her she’ll tell everyone she knows.”

“I take it that you're happy that we’re sixteen thousand kilometers from home?” Emil asked.

“I’m not quite sure that it’s far enough for me” Maria said, half seriously.

“What about Kat?” Emil asked.

“She’s become a dear friend over the last couple of years and I’d invited her here before this became an issue” Maria said, “I’ll take care of it when the time is right.”

“Just make sure Kat doesn’t hear it from someone else” Emil said, “I understand that you’re one of the few people she trusts and according to Johan Schultz she’s simply not forgiving if you break that.”

“From what understand he earned her distrust and deserves every bit of it.”

“Perhaps” Emil said, “Still though…”

“Enough Emil” Maria said. And that was that.

 

[Darth_Kiryan]

Maria's pregnant?

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

It was expected to be a battle between the current Vice President, John Nance Garner and the National Party Chairman, James Farley as to who would get the nomination.

Interesting...so the conservative wing of the Democrats is stronger with Garner actually being a viable candidate. And FDR isn't running again. At least Huey Long doesn't appear to be in the picture. That interesting wrinkle you dropped earlier makes even more sense here. FDR's anti-colonialism will be even stronger, given the greater senselessness of the Great War to the American side. I'll be curious to see who the Republican nominee will be. Probably Dewey.

Emil and Maria are really cute together, and it would appear she's pregnant. I feel like Kat's kind of going to be their unofficial niece.

 

[weasel_airlift]

Maria's pregnant?

I'd say definitely. Luckily, Emil's already used to sleeping through the noise of a warzone, so an infant should be a walk in the park.

 

[zert]

Congrats to Emil and Maria. The bending of their two personalities may make their little one(s) a force to reckon in the future. Kat will be like the older cousin, big sister, who can help pass on all her training to the kids.

 

[zert]

I'd say definitely. Luckily, Emil's already used to sleeping through the noise of a warzone, so an infant should be a walk in the park.

The sleeping through the night might be one thing, but how will he face the horror of changing diapers?

Plus I laughed at Emil in an apron slaving over a hot stove while Maria drinks a glass of wine.