The Goering Succession

Very interesting GW

Thank you, and for that I will post the unfinished Part 6 :)

Maybe I can take people's suggestions into view when completing it tonight
I was a bit too depressed (RL) yesterday to work on things

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Pt 6 (to be continued)

Anthony Eden walked along Whitehall, brow furrowed in concentration, coat slung over his arm against the heat, but bowler hat carefully sat upon his head. It may be September now, but the Summer was refusing to die. He was not sure how he felt about that, but dismissed it as an irrelevance.

He could not do the same about the three men following him, two on this side of the road, and one on the opposite, momentarily hidden by the cenotaph, then in sight again in his peripheral vision. They were making no bones about what they were up to; in fact, he was sure that they wanted him to know that they were there. Well, he could live with that...as long as it was their intention to allow him to continue to do so

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Pt 6 / Full

Anthony Eden walked along Whitehall, brow furrowed in concentration, coat slung over his arm against the heat, but bowler hat carefully sat upon his head. It may be September now, but the Summer was refusing to die. He was not sure how he felt about that, but dismissed it as an irrelevance.

He could not do the same about the three men following him, two on this side of the road, and one on the opposite, momentarily hidden by the cenotaph, then in sight again in his peripheral vision. They were making no bones about what they were up to; in fact, he was sure that they wanted him to know that they were there. Well, he could live with that...as long as it was their intention to allow him to continue to do so

He wondered, rather less idly, who they were. After the collapse of Churchill's coalition following the disasters of 1942, he himself had managed to avoid falling alongside the great man, and had stayed on in Viscount Cranborne's high Tory government which had swept up the mantle of prosecuting the war. Thus, he had avoided being at the ex-premier's side when he gave a stirring speech from Oxford uopn the coming Second Front, and had avoided the fate that had befallen Churchill, and US commander-in-chief Omar Bradley when the first German nuclear weapon to be used since their tiral run on Gibraltar had taken out the university city, including his alma mater of Christ Church. It had been Eden who had made the next broadcast to the people, vowing that they would not have died in vain, a speech he had reprised at Churchill's memorial service in Canterbury cathedral soon afterwards.

Many had speculated that Eden's hour had been upon him. General MacArthur had arrived from Tokyo to take charge of affairs on the Second Front, and Eden had at last succeeded once again to the Foreign Office. But it had been a short and inglorious period, ending with the German nuclear weapon over the invasion fleet, and the driving back of the bridgeheads of the Normandy diversion. Cranborne had resigned and Attlee had formed a government, from which Eden was ignominiously excluded. He had dropped out of sight for a while, abandoning the Commons completely during the Armistice negotiations, and only re-emerging when the Liberal victory had wiped out a whole cadre of his fellow Conservative MPs.

He knew in his heart that he was a man with a mission as yet unfulfilled, a man whom destiny had chosen to delay his calling for a later time. If he knew it, he did not doubt that the Americans, the Germans and his domestic rivals within Britain all knew it, or at least feared that it would be so. He had made some speeches in the years after the end of the war that were now being dragged up and given greater notice than they had ever received then, and though the Conservative press which did this was whole-heartedly in support of his words of wisdom, he knew that they had also stirred up the opposition...no not the opposition, the enemy ! For how else was to he to view the fact that he was being tailed down Whitehall on his way back from the House ?

He had half a mind to turn left into Downing Street and confront Sinclair with this absurdity, but he knew that the Prime Minister would refuse to receive him, and he had no wish to humiliate himself. But he had no doubts that Sinclair would know - either these men were his, or they were Americans concerned that he did nothing to destabilise a very delicate time in their relations with Nazi Germany, or they were Germans, with the same kind of thoughts. Actually, he doubted they were Germans; it might be safe for embassy cars to drive around London these days, but feelings still ran high in the streets and an incident was just what Goering's government was keen to avoid right now.

So, they were British, or American ? He had work to do, but did not think he would be able to focus too well on it with these gentlemen in close company. There were, however, still a few favours he could call in. As he approached Trafalgar Square, he turned left and headed for Admiralty Arch...


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
Sorry if that one was a bit rambling, I've not had a good week
 
Pt 7

"The Soviet Union is not a part of this discussion", Joachim von Ribbentrop snapped, "The United States already has full diplomatic relations with Molotov's government. Therefore you accept the realities of the situation that the Premier in Omsk has long signed up to."
The German Foreign Minister tilted his head back and looked challenging down at the American, whilst carefully keeping his peripheral vision aligned away from where Schellenberg sat in the corner, legs crossed and a glass of something in his hand.

For his part, Schellenberg smiled wrily, and watched the scene before him. Ribbentrop was furious at the increasing side-lining of his office since the destruction of Berlin. Goering had used him for ceremonial occasions, the signing of the Armistice with Britain and the United States, the later peace treaties with the Western Allies, and with the Soviet Union, and the reorganisation of the Axis in their wake. But real diplomacy was increasingly carried out either by direct intervention from Karinhall, or by remote control from Wawelsburg. If Ribbentrop had perished in Berlin, Schellenberg had no doubts that he would have replaced him by now. As it were, an uneasy relationship existed between them.

"Neither President Byrnes nor President Taft put their names to any document recognising the annexation of Russia West of the Urals", Ambassador Vandegrift told the German Foreign Minister.
"That is an oversight that the Fuhrer is most eager to put right", Ribbentrop snapped.
"President Taft regards it as an item of discussion"
"There will be no discussion !" Ribbentrop shouted

Schellenberg closed his eyes. It was hard to tell with the fellow what was genuine anger or forcefulness, and what was staged. He had reputedly spent hours practising his yelling before receiving the Turkish ambassador in the run up to the war. The decade and more since then had not served to improve his technique any. Or perhaps, the SS Intelligence supremo thought, with a shrug of his shoulders, Ribbentrop was just edgy, nervous that the wily ex-General would embarass him before the Fuhrer. The Soviet Union was a broken colossus, and nobody in the Reich wanted it so much as stirring again, let alone poked into wakefulness.

"Reports reaching Washington tell of famine and continuing partisan troubles across great swathes of the occupied territories", the American tried a different tack
"Reports that originate with discredited emigres and enemy propagandists !"
"Enemy ?" asked Vandegrift, a glint in his eye
Ribbentrop looked momentarily flustered

"The Reich naturally has its share of internal enemies", Schellenberg's soft tones came from the corner, "Your president need rest assured that such people are of no significance and will be dealt with"
Vandegrift eyed the SS man coldly,
"Yes, I am sure of that"
Schellenberg nodded, and poured himself another small measure from the decanter by his elbow
"Let us get back to the matter at hand" snapped Ribbentrop
"I thought you had no wish to speak of it ?" Schellenberg grinned
The Foreign Minister eyed him coldly, then looked away
"The matter of the differences that lie between our two countries, Ambassador", he paused, "That lie just between our two countries..."


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Pt 8

The Focke-Agelis helicopter settled onto the sand, its rotors sending up a fierce storm of the stuff until gradually they slowed and died. Only then were the doors opened, and only then did the reception party come out into the open air ready to greet their distinguished guest.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel stepped down and waited for his aides to gather around him. Hero of the Reich and for the past year Governor of Algiers, he had flown from his HeadQuarters at Constantine to see for himself how rebuilding efforts were going in the so-called capital of his province. Destroyed by the United States' first nuclear weapon to be used against the Reich, his presence in this city of death still sent a shiver down his spine. Manstein and Peiper had perished here, obliterated in their moment of glory, their liberation of North-West Africa stopped in its tracks by the demonic device.

"Field Marshal", the first of the reception party to reach him was the commander of the Western Defence Zone, SS Oberstgruppenfuhrer Hermann Priess, "Welcome to Algiers"
With the Americans in Oran only three hundred and fifty kilometres to the West, and the border between the two roughly half of that, Priess commanded the majority of the German forces within the province. Before 1946 that would have been unheard of, but after Berlin and with OKW now effectively in the orbit of the SS, a Waffen SS general could command regular Wehrmacht units without anyone raising an eyebrow.
"Thank you", Rommel did not bother to append the other's rank, SS nomenclature was such a mouthful and an element of strain still existed between himself and the whole organisation. In fact, after his 1948 speech about the Cost of Peace, he knew he was lucky to still be alive. He would not have credited it then, but learning later that Himmler had considered having him liquidated he could see now how that would have suited the Reichsfuhrer's long-term plans.
Instead, he had got a reprieve, been created a Hero of the Reich, and then packed off to the most difficult assignment of all. Maybe somebody had a sense of humour, or perhaps the Fuhrer had had a flash of inspiration - with the SS having branded his talk 'defeatist', perhaps he was the perfect person to convince the Americans that the Reich had no warlike intentions in North Africa ?

He allowed himself to be led back towards the small brick building that the reception party had sheltered from the down-draught of his helicopter in, and greeted the other significant personages as they moved within.
Dr Hugo Jury was the local Nazi Party representative, the Gauleiter of Algiers, though for the moment that honour consisted of a blasted pile of rubble, and numerous huts built amongst it. Rudolf Hoess was another of Himmler's men, reporting to Oswald Pohl in the SS Economic Office, his job being to oversee the rebuilding and regeneration of the city.
Kontre-Admiral Otto Kretschmer, on the other hand, was a pure military man like himself, a famed u-boat commander from the war, and now in charge of the docksides, which were the only area to have been completely rebuilt so far, and that with Kriegsmarine manpower and money.

Inside, the final member of the party awaited. Colonel von Lutzow these days got around little, his one leg and significant burns the result of injuries sustained in heroic defence of the Reich during the dark days of late 1946 when they had ever feared a second American bomb. His body had healed as best as it were able, but his mind had remained intact, a sharp instrument that the Luftwaffe had been reluctant to pension off. Instead Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Wolfram von Richtofen had assigned him to Rommel's command and the two men had made the journey out here together a year ago. Since then they had seen little of each other, their varying duties keeping them focused on different objectives.
They greeted each other warmly, then sat down to business. Rommel's aides stood behind his chair, his adjutant sat beside him, whilst of the others only Priess had an aide present, a local by the look of him, perhaps from the Tuareg Waffen SS regiment.

Outside, men of Priess's command guarded the doors, whilst on the airfield perimeter tanks of SS Panzer Armee Peiper lay dug in all around. Inside, a ceiling fan, electrically-powered, whirred softly above their heads, and an SS orderly dispensed glasses of water and plates of savoury biscuits, whilst everyone readied their papers, and exchanged inconsequential small-talk. A few minutes later, they were ready to begin.

"The Fuhrer's request", Rommel paused slightly to let them understand that a request was an order, "is that the American Ambassador be given a tour of the gau of Algiers, in order to see how the Reich is rebuilding after the nuclear weapon used against us."
"What is the purpose of this visit ?", Jury asked with a frown
As Gauleiter, he had little desire to see Americans on his territory, but if he must have one he wanted to understand why
"The Fuhrer wishes to show that we are dedicated to building a new city here, splendid enough to be the capital of German Africa", Rommel quoted from the instructions he had received, and waited
The interpretation was not long in common. Priess snorted,
"What that means is that we must show the Americans that we remain unbowed, and that even their worst efforts against us are being undone"
"Very true", the Field Marshal bowed his head towards the SS Oberstgruppenfuhrer

"A tour of the dockyard can be arranged", Kontre-Admiral Kretschmer was businesslike as usual, "We will of course keep him away from anything sensitive, and make sure that none of the new types of u-boat are present during his visit."
"A battleship in the harbour would be nice and imposing" suggested Jury
Kretschmer laughed,
"We could ask the Italians very nicely, I suppose"
Everyone joined in the laughter, and the Gauleiter blushed and regarded his notes with unnecessary intensity. Relations with their Axis ally were strained by the Reich's taking of Algiers for itself, and for the stationing of other German units in Tunis, which nevertheless had been ceded to the Italian Empire. That Egypt was a German protectorate, and not an Italian one, added even more to the injury felt by the Duce and his nation. Whilst in general, the differences between the two allies were patched up and smoothed over, the one place where they still rankled was on the scene in North Africa. The visit of an Italian battleship to Algiers was about as likely as that of a French one...and as the French possessed no such vessels...well !

"Something exceptional from the Kriegsmarine should nevertheless be on show", it was von Lutzow who spoke, "I know that the Oberstgruppenfuhrer intends to parade the new Draken desert battle tank to impress the American, and the Luftwaffe will provide a fly-past of its newest frontline units..."
"That is understood", Kretschmer said courteously, "but on land, showing your enemy your hand prevents an attack. At sea, we need to keep them guessing..."
"I agree", Priess furrowed his brow, "The show of strength by the army and Luftwaffe should achieve its end, but we do not wish these Americans to see the new submarines, and nothing else of worth yet uses the base here at Algiers."
"We could ask the Spanish...", Jury sounded as if he wished he did not have to voice this suggestion, but having thought of it, he did not see how he could not do so

There was a moment's silent pause, which for Jury was better than an outbreak of laughter, then the Kontre-admiral spoke,
"That is a possibility. Generalissimo Franco is keen to prove Spain's position as a major power in the world.."
"Prove ?" Priess raised his eyebrows
"I mispoke", Kretschmer took the correction, "The Generalissimo is keen to assert that this is true, and he is equally proud of the rebuilding of the Espana"
"Piss-poor heap of junk that it is !" snorted Priess
The Spanish battleship, the ex-French Strasbourg had been sold to Spain after being raised from being scuttled at Toulon at the end of the war. Keen to have something to show as a project of some prestige, many pesetas had been poured into the vessel, and rebuilding work had only just completed. Franco would, indeed, be keen for an opportunity to show her off.

"An invitation to the Spanish at the same time as the Americans might help to alleviate some of the anticipated local difficulties", Hoess spoke for the first time, "Rebuilding work is of course only necessary due to the actions of the Americans in the first place, and sentiment against them runs high, especially among those in the immediate area of the city."
"I hope you are not forecasting any difficulties with the local population ?" Priess eyed him coldly, "A strike, for example, would be met with the most severe reaction."
"It will not come to that", Hoess assured him, "And the SD can keep any potential demonstrations from happening, but unless we want the American to be greeted by a silent and sullen crowd..."
"We could always use the French !" laughed von Lutzow, breaking the spell

Tens of thousands of French settlers remained in the area administered by the Reich, and though hardly thrilled at the identity of their new masters, they would not have been happy under Italian or American control either, about the only thing that prevented the resentment from really brewing into a full-scale crisis when it flared up from time to time. With France a pale shadow of her pre-war self, and with the settlers hardly capable of liberating themselves, there was no other course for the French Algerians but to reconcile themselves to German rule. On the whole, if they acted like good citizens of the Reich, then they were treated accordingly. But it was a great unlikelihood that they would be prepared to cheer on command, especially when the visitor was from the nation who had dropped the bomb that had ruined the city in the first place.

"The Ambassador will, of course, not be permitted into the Western Defence Zone," Rommel picked up with the briefing, "Instead we have a number of visits into the interior arranged for him."
The Oberstgruppenfuhrer's aide whispered something into his ear, and Priess nodded,
"How far into the interior ?" he asked
Rommel handed over a map,
"This shows only the initial thoughts of my office"
Priess and his aide studied it for a moment, then the latter stabbed a finger down and grunted. Priess nodded again, and handed the map along to Jury
"It is good that someone in your office has taken into account the interests of ALL peoples of this province."
Rommel smiled thinly; that was a reference without doubt to the Tuaregs, and by implication a comment on Priess's desire to show off his new native Waffen SS regiment.
"I only employ the best officers in my headquarters" he said with a hint of coolness

"Where does the Ambassador's visit fall in terms of the rest of his tour of the Reich ?", it was Hoess asking, apparently simply out of interest.
Rommel turned to his adjutant who leafed through a wad of notes and found the right page for the Field Marshal,
"After leaving Nuremburg at the end of the present week, the Ambassador will tour the Rhineland and visit Wawelsburg", he did not envy him that, "He will then tour the Western territories", which included Luxembourg, as well as Alsace-Lorraine and the County of Burgundy, annexed from France as the price of the withdrawal of German armies, "and then fly on to Konigsberg where he will tour the Baltic provinces. His visit to Algiers falls in between this, and his return to Nuremburg via the Ukraine and Vienna."
"We are the exotic pickle in his sandwich", von Lutzow laughed
Priess gave him a curious look, then shrugged.

"What can your department have ready in six weeks ?" Rommel turned back to Hoess
The SS man smiled thinly,
"What would you like ? We can always ship in extra labour if it is necessary."
Rommel kept his expression blank whilst he shook his head,
"It would be best that everything that is done is the work of those currently within the province"
"As you wish", Hoess thought the Field Marshal squeamish, but it was not his place to say. The Reichsfuhrer had let him live, and the Fuhrer had appointed him over them all; that was enough. Anything more would be over-stepping he boundaries of his role.
"I will need the preliminary designs by the end of the week, and the completed blueprints by the end of next week.", Rommel spoke forcefully, as if feeling the need to put the bureaucrat in his place, "By that time I will expect also to hear that work has not only begun but is fully under way"
"Of course, Field Marshal"


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Pt 9

Ambassador Alexander Vandegrift was stunned ! It was as if he had fallen through a whole in time into a world of crusading orders, except that the religion here was Naziism, and the men were armed not with swords and axes but with machine pistols and Lugers.

"In here, we keep the rings of the Fallen", Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler took out one of the deaths-head rings to show his guest, holding it reverently, then replacing it in its niche.
Vandegrift looked around with a steady frown,
"Surely there are not enough places for all those in your organisation who have died ?"
Himmler cast him a dark glare and turned his back on him. As he led the way down into the next level, he said over his shoulder,
"The United States must accept partial responsibility for that" he snapped

"I do not understand ?", this was hardly the first time that Vandegrift had been moved to speak those words since arriving at Wewelsburg that morning.
"Your cowardly attacks upon Algiers and Berlin denied many brave, many HEROIC, SS men their right of having their rings brought here upon their death."
The American Ambassador considered a reply, then thought better of it. Instead, he followed the Reichsfuhrer deeper into his mysterious warren

At the back of the party, Walter Schellenberg detached himself and went his own way, certain that if Himmler noticed his absence nothing would be said of it. He had joined the tour at his own request, so he could leave it in a similar manner. He had simply wanted to observe the American's reactions, especially his initial ones, and to remind him of his presence. His mission achieved, and with some interesting observations stored away in his mind, Schellenberg made his way back to the administrative part of the giant castle, and a task that would not go away.

He nodded pleasantly to the SS men outside his office, members of his handpicked bodyguard, flirted briefly with his secretary and, taking the latest selection of reports from her, locked himself away in his office. It was comfortable without being luxurious, that was how the Intelligence Supremo liked to live; with life's little luxuries, but nothing too ostentatious. He stoked the fire - old castles could be so cold, no matter the time of year and no matter how recently rennovated. He placed the folders on his desk. he poured himself a small draught of brandy. All necessary preliminaries

Now, in the right frame of mind, he sat in the armchair before the fire and picked up the topmost folder. The missile project was way behind schedule, and an investigation by Reichsminister Kammler had uncovered the reason. As he read, Schellenberg was reminded of 1944 and the need to move against his some-time friend, Admiral Canaris. Something would have to be done; that was for certain...


Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The Nazis, they all sound damn arrogant even when they've been blasted apart by atomic weapons. But I'd suppose its to make up for their inferiority complex of being nuked and then having little means to retaliate against the prepertrator.

Reminds me of this line from one of the Draka anthology stories, actually.

"Balls shrivelling away to nothing. Goering's got two, but very small."
 
He was also a vegetarian, right? And said the Germans shouldn't be cruel to the "human animals" of the East unless they had to, since doing so would be uncivilised. He thought the mass shootings were too inhumane, hence gas killing development.

It seems a little over the top. I can't say for sure what'd have happened, of course, but it doesn't quite fit with my image of the Reichsheini.

Hitler was a staunch omnivore - his doctors merely recommended a vegetarian diet to prevent his gas. Vegetarians worldwide will be baffled by this, but...
 
ASBs

A POD in 1942. and all that comes out? How? And, USA had 3 bombs by august of 1945. in OTL. By end of 1945. I imagine more than 3 bombs falling on Germany. Why only fear of second US bomb in 1946?

Again, with a POD in 1942. I dont see how Germany get nukes that fast. Manhattan was a huge investment, one that Germany simply could not have funded. And why isnt Hoess in prison in UK? What disasters of 1942.? Had allies attempted large scale invasion in 1942.?

To win the war you need a POD before 1940. and extreme incompetence and shortsightedness from USA and Soviets troughout the war.


Please, give us point of divergence and a time line.
 

Sargon

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Monthly Donor
Very interesting. Well written as always. However, I am also curious about the PoD and what in detail went on to bring this all about.

Developments in Algiers and the delays in the missile project are something I am interested to read more about too.


Sargon
 
ASBs

A POD in 1942. and all that comes out? How? And, USA had 3 bombs by august of 1945. in OTL. By end of 1945. I imagine more than 3 bombs falling on Germany. Why only fear of second US bomb in 1946?

Again, with a POD in 1942. I dont see how Germany get nukes that fast. Manhattan was a huge investment, one that Germany simply could not have funded. And why isnt Hoess in prison in UK? What disasters of 1942.? Had allies attempted large scale invasion in 1942.?

To win the war you need a POD before 1940. and extreme incompetence and shortsightedness from USA and Soviets troughout the war.


Please, give us point of divergence and a time line.

Well, needless to say I don't agree with you, and you're not going to get a timeline, because I've chosen to fill in the timeline by retrospectives - that's why its in the Discussions forum and not the Writers, because the current affairs aspect is not as important as looking back

Why would Hoess be in prison in the UK ? The Allied invasion of Europe failed, so the Nazis aren't about to hand over anyone for prosecution.

Also, there is a great difference between HAVING a bomb and being able to DELIVER it

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Very interesting. Well written as always. However, I am also curious about the PoD and what in detail went on to bring this all about.

Developments in Algiers and the delays in the missile project are something I am interested to read more about too.


Sargon

The problem with the detail is that I worked it all out in detail in my head, then fell asleep...so there's bits I can't remember ! It all made sense at the time, though

The idea of the SS setting up a shadow OKW is a bit of a Deus ex Machina in that I used it as a way of addressing problems throughout 1942 when things could still be put right, and errors prevented from being compounded

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
The Nazis, they all sound damn arrogant even when they've been blasted apart by atomic weapons. But I'd suppose its to make up for their inferiority complex of being nuked and then having little means to retaliate against the prepertrator.

Reminds me of this line from one of the Draka anthology stories, actually.

"Balls shrivelling away to nothing. Goering's got two, but very small."

Thanks; I've tried to imply the evils of the regime without explicitly stating them. Sometimes, I find that books like to revel in describing evil and its results when its not germane to the plot. I prefer to hint at what these people are taking for granted and thinking is normal

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
And why isnt Hoess in prison in UK? What disasters of 1942.?.

I realise now you thought I meant Rudolf HESS, who may well still be in prison in Britain, unless Britain released him in the hope of stirring up trouble within the Reich

Rudolf HOESS (in German H, o with umlauts, the double-s thing that looks like a B) was an SS officer, concentration camp commander, later promoted into the SS economic structure

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Last edited:
Small correction:

It was Focke-Achgelis.

Oops, thank you ! I thought it looked a bit funny !

I know in Part 1 I also spelt Kammler's name wrong and spelt Wewelsburg wrong ! But that one is a nightmare to spell !

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Sargon

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Monthly Donor
Bumping because this is a very interesting TL, and I for one would like to see more.


Sargon
 
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