Minister Đuka Kemfelja faced a difficult predicament. He had to form an army capable of countering the Italians, who were unsurprisingly aggressive all along the coast. The reasons for their rabid rage was clear to the burly man. The main problem he had was that he had to be quick and decisive, otherwise the crown of Victor Emmanuel would rise over the coast, robbing his own homeland of its identity.
He faced other attendants of the hastily-put-together meeting.
KEMFELJA: Good morning to you, gentlemen, and thank you all for arriving on such a short notice. We have been receiving hundreds of reports of Italian troops ravaging the Dalmatian seaside and taking our cities. Four days ago the Italians threatened to disarm our crew in Knin, I am afraid to say that the three day deadline they have given to Colonel Grbić and Quartermaster Colonel Begić
[1] has expired now. And this is not an isolated incident. These kinds of events have been happening everywhere since Dr Maček's Declaration of the Republic.
ŠTANCER: It is obvious we must act quickly. I propose we pull Captain Mrak's
[2] Infantry Regiment from Bjelovar. If the reports the Ban gave me are any indication, then there are twenty thousand men armed and ready for a fight.
UZELAC: I'm regretful to say that the airplanes captured from the
VVKJ [3] will not be ready until at least May. And when they do arrive, their quality will be questionable at best.
LAXA: Gentlemen, please. We are talking about attacking one of Hitler's most valuable allies. Not only will it bring even more resentment and aggression from Italy, but it will also make Hitler's goons turn against us. Have you seen General Horstenau? He has been snooping around the
Dvori long after leaving the Ban's company. They are waiting for a fatal error, and this is the way they're going to get one.
ŠTANCER: What do you propose then, General
[Laxa]? That we just lounge around doing nothing while our country becomes landlocked by invaders we all knew in our hearts we could stop?
LAXA: You are merely twisting my words, Colonel
[Štancer]. I advocate for Mr. Kovačević to send some Protection battalions to the border regions, to prepare them in case Italians try to take over while we have newly-organized Bjelovar troops on the sidelines in case things start going south.
KOVAČEVIĆ: What border regions? Here's the truth of it all. The border goes wherever the Italians want it to go. We have no say in the matter. If they want it along Vrbas then Vrbas it will be, if they want it on Una then the Una it is. I am sorry, General, but trying to send the Protection there will not only deprive us of our claim of authority over Vrbas and Drina banovinas but it will also cause insurrections there. And we would lose precious time trying to quell those. Time that we would waste for nothing.
KEMFELJA: Gentlemen, please. We haven't even started with army organization.
LAXA: Right… My apologies, Minister.
ŠTANCER,
KOVAČEVIĆ: Likewise.
KEMFELJA: Thank you. Now, given the limited quantities of guns captured, I propose we create several smaller units first, numbering in two to two and a half thousand men.
ŠTANCER: Good idea, Minister. That way we can guard everything from Zemun to Rijeka and from Čakovec to Dubrovnik with flexibility and ease.
LAXA: Optimal numbers for the size of territory that the Republic of Croatia possesses would be somewhere between thirty five and fifty thousand men, and five to ten thousand in reserve.
UZELAC: Good, that way the ground would be sufficiently covered. I still have no clue about how many airplanes we will be able to gather so I can not say much about the Air Force numbers. I will help with assembling the Air Force personnel in the meantime, though. Might I also suggest that you take into consideration the services of Kvaternik brothers
[4]? Mr. Maček spoke highly of them during our short chat before this meeting.
KEMFELJA: That is alright, General
[Uzelac]. We will try and salvage as much as we can and arrange another meeting when that happens. I will also consider them as well, I have heard flattering things about each of them from the Ban as well.
UZELAC: Thank you, Minister.
ŠTANCER: Now that we have everything arranged, I think we can start with military training. After all,
Hrvatsko domobranstvo [5] and its reserves need training and much needed preparation under the new flag if we plan on stopping the Italian menace.
LAXA: I can help with that. I shall arrange the training schedule for Home Guard in reserve.
ŠTANCER: Thank you, General.
KEMFELJA: And you, Mr. Kovačević?
KOVAČEVIĆ: I will send a couple battalions of the Peasant Protection to Banja Luka and Sarajevo to claim authority over Vrbas and Drina banovinas. Zemun must also be secured, which is why a battalion of the Civil Protection will be headed there in a few short days. Tuzla, Zenica and other cities Banovina of Croatia hasn't exercised power over will also have to be secured, however there aren't nearly enough troops for us to do so.
LAXA: Colonel Štancer and I will arrange for a a few regiments to arrive to your aid as quickly as we can.
KEMFELJA: Good. Now, gentlemen, I propose we arrange another meeting next Wednesday, same time. Main topic of discussion will be detailed organization of the Home Guard, Navy and the situation with Italy and Hungary. Is that alright with everyone?
EVERYONE: Yes.
KEMFELJA: Excellent. Meeting dismissed.
Meanwhile, in his office, Vladko Maček took off his glasses with shaky hands. He fought the urge to burn the letter that lay in front of him on the wooden table. He experienced a horrible empty feeling in his chest, desperation mixed with sadness and anger evident in his tired appearance. He took the piece of paper in his hands, unintentionally ripping the side of the letter with his left hand.
His left hand contorted into a fist, crumpling the paper and throwing it in front of him, hoping that, by any chance, this sudden action might wake him up from this nightmare.
I can't believe they killed Vilko.
*****
[1] –
Vilim 'Vilko' Begić was a little-known Austro-Hungarian Quartermaster Colonel who was a close friend of Maček's, even being judged together with him in 1929 after he was accused of terrorism by the Yugoslav government. He was also a journalist during the Interwar period. ITTL he is sent by Maček to Knin to help Grbić (who established the forces in Knin as IOTL) and to negotiate in case Italians plan on taking the city.
[2] –
Ivan Mrak led the Bjelovar Uprising (7-10 April 1941) against the Royal Yugoslav Army, which led to mayor of Bjelovar Julije Makanec announcing the
'resurrection of the Croatian state', thus beating Slavko Kvaternik by two days.
[3] -
Vazduhoplovstvo vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije - Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
[4] – Meaning brothers
Slavko (Austro-Hungarian Lieutenant Colonel who also participated in relatively unknown liberation of Međimurje from Hungarian occupation in late 1918) and
Petar Milutin (who wasn't killed by a Yugoslav Army officer during a scuffle like he was IOTL).
[5] –
Hrvatsko domobranstvo - Croatian Home Guard is the official name chosen for Croatian Armed Forces, keeping the name of native Croatian units from the times of Austria-Hungary, which is going to be the same with reserve forces which will be called Landsturm from now on (
Pučki ustanak in Croatian).
