Chapter 66: Iron and Blood, Golden Freedom (6)
Translated by Vine | Proofread by Lust
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< German Civil War – Iron and Blood, Golden Freedom (6) >
November 20, 1939
Northern Germany, 11th Military District, Hanover, New Government’s Reichswehr Northern Army Headquarters
“Attention!”
I was taken aback as soon as I arrived at the Northern Army Headquarters, which oversaw the Nazi front.
“Salute the State Secretary!”
At Manstein’s command, the officers of the Northern Army Headquarters snapped to attention and saluted me.
As I stood there, frozen in surprise, awkwardly returning the salute, Manstein, beaming, approached me.
“Thank you for visiting us during your busy schedule, State Secretary! Your presence will greatly boost the morale of our troops!”
“Ah, yes…”
Ignoring my bewilderment, Manstein continued to grin, expressing his sincere gratitude and welcome.
Where was the Manstein who had condescendingly remarked, “Do you think I have time for a mere captain like you, even if I have been demoted?” Had he undergone some sort of personality transplant?
“…General?”
“Yes, State Secretary!”
I sighed deeply.
“Please, just speak normally.”
“But this is normal for me! You are an appointee of His Majesty the Emperor himself, hahaha! While I may have acted somewhat inappropriately before, I always knew you were destined for greatness!”
Wow, this was incredible. Erich von Manstein was truly something else. I gave up, feeling a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
Worrying about it would only exhaust me. I now understood why Hitler disliked such a talented individual so much.
…I didn’t want to find common ground with Hitler, though.
As I was led inside, I frowned. Despite their apparent attempts to air it out, the room reeked of stale cigarette smoke.
I offered my silent condolences to the officers who had to work with him. First Tresckow, and now Manstein… why were there so many chain-smokers?
“How is the operation progressing?”
“Smoothly! The enemy is clearly unaware of our intentions. They have no way to counter our strategy, and the encirclement of the 14th Army will be a complete success.”
“Their Chief of the General Staff must be furious.”
“Hahaha, Halder must be tearing his hair out!”
Manstein looked genuinely delighted. I couldn’t help but agree.
Franz Halder, who had betrayed me during the Munich Agreement, was paying the price.
He seemed to believe we were planning to bypass his forces and attack Berlin directly, but our target wasn’t Berlin, but the 14th Army in Prague.
“Targeting the 14th Army was a brilliant move! A truly inspired strategy worthy of a War Academy graduate!”
“…”
Manstein’s initial plan had been to attack Berlin directly with Oswald Lutz’s panzer division.
However, the enemy would defend Berlin fiercely, and their General Staff wasn’t as incompetent as the French. There was no guarantee of a swift breakthrough.
While a successful attack would lead to a quick end to the civil war, it would inevitably result in a major battle. If we failed to break through before the enemy’s armored reserves arrived, we would suffer heavy casualties.
Moreover, there was a risk of being attacked from the rear by the 14th Army.
I had suggested that encircling and neutralizing the 14th Army first, though slower, would be safer and have a greater impact on enemy morale, avoiding a prolonged stalemate if the attack on Berlin stalled.
While the military leadership hadn’t been enthusiastic about my suggestion, Manstein, surprisingly, had agreed, and the plan was approved.
Even the troops who had participated in the grand ceremony in Frankfurt hadn’t been deployed to the Berlin front.
They had been transported by rail to Nuremberg and were now bypassing the 14th Army from the south, under the command of General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb.
With the enemy’s morale already low, and facing encirclement with no hope of rescue…
Even Wilhelm List, a staunch Nazi, couldn’t prevent his troops from surrendering in such a situation, especially in a civil war.
Eliminating the 14th Army would significantly increase our available manpower. We would be able to deploy more troops to both the siege of Berlin and the defense of Austria.
“Of course, this operation is only possible because of your propaganda efforts, State Secretary, which have demoralized the enemy! Haha!”
The main risk of this operation had been the possibility of the Wehrmacht in Berlin attempting to relieve the 14th Army. However, their morale was so low that an offensive was practically impossible, and the defection of the 4th Army of Army Group North had further complicated matters for them.
“Not at all. I merely provided the idea. It was your ability, General Manstein, that brought it to fruition, planning the specifics and deploying the troops. We are fortunate to have you as our Chief of the General Staff.”
We are fortunate to have you as our Chief of the General Staff. And fortunate that you “conveniently” surrendered so we could appoint you as such.
Manstein flinched slightly at my subtly double-edged compliment, then smiled obsequiously.
“Haha, thank you! I was truly moved by your speech, State Secretary. Almost to tears, in fact. I will continue to do my best as Chief of the General Staff!”
“To tears… Yes, thank you for your hard work, General.”
You have no shame, General Manstein.
Still, it was thanks to him, with his love for novelty and lack of hesitation in flattering his superiors, that my idea of encircling the 14th Army instead of launching a risky attack on Berlin had been adopted.
He was an irritating yet useful individual. As I observed him with mixed feelings, an officer who had been on the phone delivered a report.
“Message from the Abwehr. According to an agent in enemy territory, the 10th Army is preparing to withdraw and consolidate its defenses.”
Manstein smiled triumphantly.
“Hahaha, Halder. You didn’t have to make it this easy…”
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This was the main reason Manstein had so meticulously feigned an attack on Berlin, even while planning the encirclement of the 14th Army.
A retreating army was always vulnerable. Especially one with low morale, facing an enemy comprised of their own countrymen who were willing to accept their surrender.
“It’s time for General Witzleben to make his move.”
I smiled wryly as I watched Manstein excitedly picking up the phone.
Halder’s decision to withdraw the 10th Army confirmed his belief that Berlin was Manstein’s primary target.
He had played right into our hands.
While I loathed opportunists, I almost felt sorry for him.
–
November 21, 1939
Northern Germany, Berlin, Armed Forces High Command
Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Army, was drenched in cold sweat.
“What… did you say, General?”
[Their target wasn’t Berlin from the start. We’re surrounded.]
Halder felt his blood run cold as he heard Wilhelm List’s devastated voice over the phone.
Berlin wasn’t the primary target?
Why had he been so certain it was?
Because of the SD’s intelligence report about the grand ceremony and the imminent attack on Berlin?
Or because of the enemy detachment’s obvious feint towards Stettin?
Or because of the enemy armor advancing into the gap between Berlin and Dresden?
[Those bastards planned this meticulously. This was a carefully prepared offensive. While their armor diverted our attention in the north, their infantry advanced from Nuremberg and is now behind us. And another armored unit is blocking our retreat route.]
Halder felt his strength draining away. No, he hadn’t believed Berlin was the target solely because of the enemy’s movements.
He had assumed, based on their apparent eagerness to end the civil war quickly, that Berlin would be their primary objective.
With the navy defecting, even Hamburg’s industrial zone was lost. The loss of the 14th Army would also mean the loss of Czech tank production in Bohemia and the industrial zone in Silesia.
It was he, not the New Government, who was desperate. He had believed that repelling their attack on Berlin and achieving a “decisive victory” was his only hope of turning the tide.
He realized that, subconsciously, he had been hoping they would attack Berlin.
What now? With their last remaining industrial zones lost, the already plummeting morale would sink to irrecoverable depths.
[I’ve done all I can for the Führer. If I don’t surrender immediately, I’ll be court-martialed. Don’t take it personally.]
Franz Halder, hearing Wilhelm List’s words, replied weakly, “Good luck…”
He felt his body growing heavy, as if filled with lead. He forced a smile at Keitel and Jodl, who were watching him, and spoke, “We’ve been outmaneuvered. The 14th Army is surrounded and will likely surrender soon.”
As Keitel and Jodl stared at him in disbelief, the phone rang again.
“…Halder speaking.”
A frantic voice echoed from the phone, reaching the despondent Halder.
[Halder, they’ve launched a massive offensive! We haven’t even completed half of our withdrawal preparations! This must be an intelligence leak!]
Halder chuckled bitterly at the voice of Brauchitsch, commander of Army Group South, which would soon cease to be an “army group” with the loss of the 14th Army.
Had Manstein, that bastard, not only anticipated the encirclement of the 14th Army but also this?
Ordering them to hold their position now would only make things worse.
With the 14th Army gone, the defecting 8th Army would be free to act, and Kluge’s 4th Army would advance from the east.
“…Withdraw and preserve your strength as much as possible.”
Halder hung up before Brauchitsch could respond.
Had he lost to Manstein? Without even a proper fight?
“No, that can’t be…”
Halder clutched his head and groaned. This wasn’t his fault.
It was Hitler and the Nazis, those madmen, whose blunders had led to this.
It was that damned Schacht, that bastard, who had used his underhanded tricks to demoralize his troops.
If it had been a fair fight, on equal terms, he wouldn’t have lost…
“Argh!”
Halder swept the flags off the operational map.
All they had left was Berlin.
–
November 21, 1939
Southwestern Austria, Southern Tyrol, Austrian-Italian Front Line
“Welcome, General.”
“Thank you for your efforts in defense of Austria, Your Highness.”
Prince Wilhelm, eldest son of Wilhelm III, who had been deployed to Austria as part of the Reichswehr reinforcements, greeted Major General Karl Eglseer, commander of the Austrian forces.
“It is an honor to fight alongside my countrymen as a member of the Reichswehr.”
“I appreciate your words, Your Highness.”
While he had volunteered for the Italian front to avoid fighting against his former comrades in the Wehrmacht, Wilhelm genuinely took pride in fighting for his fellow Germans in Greater Germany.
“The front is quiet.”
As Prince Wilhelm remarked, the Alps, which had been constantly echoing with gunfire and explosions until recently, were eerily silent.
“Perhaps they are regrouping, realizing the futility of continuing their offensive with winter approaching and mounting losses.”
The Austrian border guards and volunteers had fought bravely despite their inferior equipment, but Italy, despite its shortcomings, was still a major power.
Holding them back with their second-rate troops had come at a cost.
They had managed to hold on thanks to the New Government’s support and the natural defenses of the Alps.
“I hope so. Once Hitler is defeated, the Reichswehr will be able to focus on the Italian front.”
General Eglseer smiled at Prince Wilhelm’s words.
“We all hope for that day to come soon. It is what keeps us going.”
The proud Austrians were furious at the Nazis, especially Hitler, whom they had considered a fellow Austrian, for ceding Tyrol to the Italian invaders.
While Nazi collaborators were currently suppressing dissent in eastern Austria, General Eglseer believed they would eventually join their cause.
“Then, I hope to see you again under better circumstances, Your Highness.”
“Indeed, General. Safe travels. For Austria.”
General Eglseer smiled.
“For the German people, Your Highness.”
After General Eglseer’s departure, Prince Wilhelm took out a locket, opened it, and looked at the picture of his beloved wife and children.
He had fallen in love with and intended to marry Dorothea von Salviati, a minor noblewoman he had met at university, but his grandfather, Wilhelm II, who firmly believed in the restoration of the Empire, had vehemently opposed the marriage, refusing to allow “tainted” blood into the royal family.
Prince Wilhelm, defying his grandfather, had married Dorothea, forfeiting his right to the throne. The royal family still refused to acknowledge his wife and daughters. While his mother had been understanding, his father had disowned him.
Ironically, even now, with the New Government, comprised of the democrats his grandfather so despised, restoring the monarchy, albeit in a constitutional form, Wilhelm II still denounced them as traitors for abandoning his claim to the throne and allowing his younger brother to become Emperor.
“They will accept us someday.”
Prince Wilhelm kissed the picture and closed the locket.
The removal of Hitler, which had seemed impossible after the failure of the plot during the Munich Agreement, was now within reach, and his friend Blumenthal, whom he had believed dead, was alive.
“Everything will be alright now.”
However, at that moment, he noticed black dots appearing in the distant sky, rapidly approaching. He raised his binoculars and gasped.
“Air raid!”
“Emergency! Emergency!”
While they had experienced air raids during the defense of the Alps, this was different.
Prince Wilhelm stared in horror at the swarm of aircraft darkening the sky.
“Take cover!”
The soldiers, who had been relaxing outside the trenches, scrambled for cover, but the approaching aircraft opened fire with their machine guns, turning those who didn’t reach the trenches in time into bloody sieves.
As bodies riddled with bullets fell lifelessly, Prince Wilhelm shouted into the radio in the trench, “Headquarters, headquarters! This is the 5th Battalion! We’re under air attack! A massive air raid, unlike anything we’ve seen-”
His words were cut short as a nearby explosion sent him flying.
“Cough, ugh, ack…”
Wilhelm, who had crashed into the trench wall, slowly sat up, his body aching. The soldiers in the trench lay dead, their eyes wide open.
Even now, dozens of aircraft roared overhead.
“My God…”
The aircraft, having devastated their defenses, were clearly heading towards Tyrol.
Before the prince, still reeling from the shock, and the surviving soldiers could recover, shouts, screams, and gunfire erupted around them.
“Avanti!”
“Attacco!”
Prince Wilhelm, staring at the broken radio, picked up a Lee-Enfield rifle dropped by a dead soldier.
He looked out of the trench and saw a wave of Italian soldiers, far greater in number than anything they had seen before, advancing towards them.
He ducked back into the trench, his hands trembling, unsure if it was from pain or fear.
He took out his locket and kissed it again.
“Dorothea, Felicitas, Christa…”
He repeated his wife and daughters’ names, calming himself.
He noticed that blood was trickling from his ear, and the sounds of battle seemed distant and muffled.
“Your Highness, you must-”
His adjutant, who had rushed to his side, collapsed, blood spurting from his chest, before he could finish his sentence. Even his shout seemed distant and unreal.
Oddly, it was his father’s face that came to mind. Emperor Wilhelm III, named after his grandfather. Would that cold and heartless man care for his wife and daughters if he died?
At least he wouldn’t disgrace the royal family by surrendering to the enemy. He gripped the rifle tightly.
“A Hohenzollern never surrenders.”
Muttering the words like a mantra, he poked his head out of the trench and shot the nearest soldier.
“Argh!”
Even enemies speaking different languages screamed the same way. He worked the bolt mechanically and fired again.
Another one.
He aimed at another Italian soldier shouting at him and tried to work the bolt, but his sweaty hand slipped.
What the, if I’m going to die, I might as w-
His thoughts were cut short by a gunshot.
< German Civil War – Iron and Blood, Golden Freedom (6) > End
ⓒ Carcassonne
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