Chapter 400149Chapter NaN

November 10, 1940

Belgian, Allied/French Front

"Attaque!"

"Elaaaaan!"

The French soldiers, shouting slogans that hadn't been heard since World War I, fiercely charged toward the trench line.

The only difference from the last Great War was that tanks were now part of the offensive to support them, but sadly, the result was no different.

The Belgian and Dutch armies, armed with Pak 40s and 88mm Anti-aircraft guns provided by the German Army, possessed the firepower to easily blow away the likes of the Renault tanks that made up the majority of the French armored force.

Once the tanks meant to cover the infantry were destroyed in vain, all that remained were the basic infantry charging straight into positions armed with all sorts of artillery and machine guns.

A French soldier who had tripped over some wreckage shook his aching head from the shock and tried to regain his senses.

But as he painstakingly lifted his head, the sight he saw was his own platoon, which had been charging with him just moments before, turned into a line of riddled pieces of meat.

"H-Heek, Hiiik-!"

Behind the soldier, who was paralyzed by shock and horror, another French platoon launched a moth-to-a-flame charge toward the enemy lines.

"Now is the time to reawaken the valor of France that once commanded Europe! Attack, you proud warriors of the Grand Army! Elan Vital!"

"Waaaaah! Charge!"

Of course, no matter how much their morale was boosted, the flesh and blood of ordinary humans couldn't block bullets, and they met the same fate as the platoon that had charged before them.

The soldier who had just saved his life by luckily falling had to watch in real-time as two entire platoons were annihilated. He staggered to his feet and began to run, tears and snot streaming down his face.

But before he could run more than a few steps, he was riddled by the machine-gun fire of an Hs 123 that flew in from the sky, following his comrades in death.

"Your Excellency! This, this is a suicide mission! The offensive continues with mounting sacrifices and no gains!"

In the midst of the ongoing attack, the commander, Alphonse Georges, was on a desperate call with Maxime Weygand.

-Their defense line is on the verge of collapse. How long can weak nations like Belgium and the Netherlands hold out! With the German Army's main force tied down on other fronts, we must at least break Belgium! Once the German main force arrives, we'll have no choice but to maintain a defensive posture!

But Weygand's reply was resolute.

The weak Belgian and Dutch forces wavered precariously with every attack, and the French Army had even succeeded in capturing some defense lines and pushing the enemy back.

That was the reason the French Army was persisting with this unreasonable offensive.

Because it looked like if they pushed, it would give way.

"Your Excellency! Even if we win, we'll be pushed back again when the German Army arrives! This war is different from the last Great War, where you advanced by capturing trench lines!"

Break through the trench line through immense sacrifice, and thus, advance little by little to capture the objective.

That was how the French Army thought of war.

But when the German armored units, which couldn't be stopped by mere trench lines, arrived, the French Army would have to pathetically give up the trenches they had captured with so much blood and be chased out again.

-We have tanks too! Their tanks can break through trench lines, but you're saying ours can't? They aren't the only ones who learned the lessons of the last Great War! Do not forget the spirit of the Grand Army and continue the offensive! We have committed two thousand tanks to this offensive, and victory is within our grasp!

Georges clutched his forehead at Weygand's passionate but out-of-touch words.

It was true they had cavalry tanks for maneuver warfare and flanking strikes, and infantry tanks to break through trench lines.

They also had enough artillery to support them.

Furthermore, the Allied trench lines currently on the front were mostly flimsy and hastily built, unlike those of the last war, due to the constant back-and-forth of capture and recapture.

That was why Headquarters was continuing to push the offensive.

"But, Your Excellency! The reality is different! Our artillery and tanks are not performing their roles!"

Georges felt like he was about to explode.

Their artillery couldn't fire at will because of the Luftwaffe, which had complete air superiority, and the Freiheit Self-Propelled Guns that were constantly moving and conducting counter-battery fire.

The B1 Infantry Tanks and S-35 Cavalry Tanks that had delivered shock and awe by crushing the old German model Panzer IVs in Italy were now severely lacking, as a significant number had been sent to Britain and the remainder were being steadily depleted in the continuous offensive on the Western Front.

The real main force among the Grand Army's magnificent two thousand tanks was nothing more than light tanks like the Renault AMR 33 and 35. Of course, these were being turned into scrap metal without even properly piercing the front lines, let alone facing the new model Panzer IVs.

The French Army had thrown every infantry tank they had into the offensive, whether old models like the D1, D2, 2C, and FCM 36, or anything else, but these too were just melting away against the German-made anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns deployed on the defense line or being violated by the armored units that rushed in.

The cavalry tanks were as fragile as paper and not much help, and the infantry tanks that were supposed to break through the enemy's defense line couldn't overwhelm the enemy.

France had frantically built up its military before the war by racking up debt, but the time given to France was too short to make up for the period of neglecting military modernization while pouring its budget into the Maginot Line.

But Weygand, in his rear-area Headquarters, didn't acknowledge such realities.

-I have heard enough, General. I'll say it again, we have committed an army of 2 million, and their military force is less than half of that.

If we are defeated here, the Grand Army will become a laughingstock for the entire world. From now on, contact me through the proper procedures.

The call ended. Field Marshal Weygand, who once assisted General Ferdinand Foch as a brilliant staff officer and led France to victory, had been reduced to a has-been by the changing times.

If the enemy had been completely overwhelming, they could have just solidified their defenses.

But the enemy consisted of only 300,000 Belgian, 200,000 Dutch, and 200,000 German soldiers.

For the French Army, with more than double the numbers, to just defend like cowards would mean being constantly attrited by the enemy's superior air force and artillery, only to be called cowards.

In the end, they were launching offensives, but the enemy, while appearing to be on the verge of collapse, was tenaciously holding on.

Even if they broke through the weak Belgian or Dutch forces and achieved a local victory, the German Army would soon arrive and immediately recapture the hard-won territory.

Walter Model's fire brigade, which had been scrambling to save the collapsing front lines when it was just the Belgian Army, transformed into a full-fledged counterattack unit once the Dutch and German forces were reinforced.

Moreover, Germany had demanded unified command as a condition for sending reinforcements along with the Netherlands, and after King Leopold III of Belgium yielded to parliamentary pressure, the Allied Powers under General Witzleben's command were now cooperating quite organically.

As a result, after 200,000 Dutch and 100,000 German soldiers were added to the Allied Powers, France had captured no additional territory at all.

The morale of the front-line French troops was dropping daily, to the point that they had to resort to the Elan Vital of the last war (an offensive doctrine emphasizing will) to encourage the soldiers.

Nor could they launch an offensive elsewhere.

The 300,000 German soldiers on the Siegfried Line remained, in a stand-off with the 500,000 French soldiers on the Maginot Line.

The French plan to launch an offensive over the Ardennes Plateau as a worst-case scenario was concluded to be impossible with the French Army's capabilities, which were struggling to even supply an offensive on flat ground.

In the end, France had only the Low Countries Route, and for that reason, while pouring out reckless offensives, the French Grand Army of 2 million had already dwindled to 1.7 million.

"…We will be a disgrace to the proud history of the Grand Army."

Georges despaired.

-

November 12, 1940

Berlin, Northern Germany – Dietrich Schacht's Mansion

Ahead of the negotiations with Hungary, before the Cabinet meeting, I was hastily preparing by catching up on the situation in Hungary and Romania, which I had been ignoring for a while.

Just when I was glad that I wouldn't have to get involved in the Balkans because Yugoslavia didn't unexpectedly trip me up with their nationalism issues, I get entangled from another direction.

The Balkans are always the problem.

All I know about Romania is that they entered World War I and took bites out of the territories of the Soviet Union, Hungary, and Bulgaria, and that in the original history's World War II, they sided with the Nazis.

Oh, and I also know it's the country of Vlad III, the origin of the vampire myth. Not that it means anything.

So I requested information on Romania from the Abwehr, and a short while later, I was reading about Romania's situation.

To put Romania's current situation in one word, it's chaos.

The current king, Carol II of the House of Hohenzollern, was so profligate, extravagant, and had so many character flaws as a crown prince that his right of succession to the throne was revoked, and his son was crowned Michael I instead.

But when Michael I was still too young and powerless, Carol II ousted his own son and ascended to the throne.

The parliament recognized his ascension on the condition that he reconciled with his estranged and divorced wife, Queen Elena, but as soon to the throne, he broke his promise by openly carousing with his mistress.

The most ridiculous part is that even after doing that, he supported the Romanian fascists, the Iron Guard, instigated infighting between political parties to neutralize the parliament, and then elevated his own royal authority to the level of a dictatorship.

After that, he established a dictatorship, surrounded himself with incompetent cronies, squandered the national budget on his own luxuries, and apparently revived the death penalty, which had been abolished in Romania.

What should I call that? A smart son of a bitch?

I can understand a bad relationship with a wife due to a political marriage, which is typical for royalty, but to openly have an affair to the point of defying the parliament.

On top of that, he's a dictator who deliberately turned the parliament into a figurehead, and a dictator at that who is only interested in his own power and luxury. He is definitely not a man I can like.

For some reason, compared to the kings I've been seeing lately, Wilhelm III keeps looking more and more like a saint, and that's a problem…

Moreover, the issue of Transylvania, which Hungary is demanding, is even more complicated.

It is strictly Hungary's former territory, but it's a very different issue from Danzig, which was a former territory of the German Empire.

There's a dense Hungarian population in eastern Transylvania, but the rest of the region is actually majority Romanian.

When we reclaimed West Prussia and Posen and expelled the Poles, there were still plenty of Germans left, but that's not possible in Transylvania.

The proportion of Hungarians in the entire population of Transylvania is not that high.

But at the same time, Transylvania is a land that Hungary had ruled for hundreds of years, ever since the Magyars settled in Hungary, until before World War I.

In the end, from a nationalist perspective, Transylvania could be seen as Romanian land, but the eastern part, situated in the middle of Romania, is a Hungarian-majority area.

From a historical perspective, Transylvania is clearly Hungary's former territory, but the Romanian population is too high for Romania to just give it up for that reason alone in this era of heightened nationalism.

In the end, both sides have sufficient justification.

Hungary had previously asked us for tacit approval to reclaim Transylvania, even if it meant borrowing the Soviet Union's hands.

It was Hungary that arranged the peace negotiations with Sikorski instead of the unreasonable Rydz-Śmigły, who was making impossible conditions even as the Soviets were preparing to attack.

If Hungary hadn't arranged that back then, we would have had to choose between the worst-case scenarios of either carving up Poland with the Soviet Union and losing all our accumulated diplomatic standing, or letting the Soviets swallow Poland whole, except for Danzig and Posen.

Moreover, Hungary has fulfilled its promise to us by consistently supplying weapons to Poland, which is still fighting against the Soviets.

Although the Regent of Hungary is a clear anti-communist, the recovery of lost territory is a long-cherished wish for Hungary, so much so that they would achieve it even with the help of the Soviets.

If we were to break our promise to them here, I can't guarantee how they would react.

But Romania is the strongest nation in the Balkans, and with the right approach, it's an anti-communist nation that we might be able to bring over as an ally.

If the Soviet Union, along with Hungary, were to pressure Romania, it is obvious that Romania would ask the Allied Powers for help.

Now that the Soviet Union's prestige has risen sharply after inflicting a crushing defeat on the German Army, which had been considered almost invincible, allowing a neutral country that might join the Allied Powers to be attacked by the Soviets is a path that should never be chosen under normal circumstances.

If the justification for Transylvania lay solely with Hungary, that would be one thing, but to tacitly approve of the Soviet Union and Hungary amicably carving up legitimate Romanian territory would, ironically, be exactly the same as the path Hitler took in the original history.

Truly, this is difficult.

Even at this moment, losses must be occurring in the west and the east.

I let out a sigh and turned my head to look at Claudia's face, sleeping soundly beside me.

The constant losses on the western and eastern fronts mean that just as many obituaries must be written.

The task, dismissed as unimportant by military standards and assigned to female support personnel, is, in reality, a job where one directly feels how many human lives are being lost in the war.

'For a while at the beginning, I wrote with sincere condolences, but at some point, I felt like I was about to break, so I just started changing the names on the same template like a machine.'

A deep melancholy was etched on Claudia's face as she said that.

'Do you want to quit?'

'…No. It's something I chose, so I'll see it through to the end.

I started it to build a career, but with you directly managing the war, I can't give up over something like this.'

She looked as confident as ever when she said that, but she too was clearly exhausted, deeply asleep with a weary face.

I gently lifted a lock of Claudia's hair, which was splayed across the bed, and placed a kiss on it.

The tragedy of hundreds of thousands of deaths is horrific, but I know that compared to the losses caused by the original World War II, this is not even the beginning.

The horrors of war that she and I are feeling now surely cannot compare to what the soldiers are enduring on the front lines.

To reduce the blood that will be shed in this great war, the war must be ended as quickly as possible.

I fiddled with the lock of Claudia's blonde hair in my hand.

It's so soft and light that I feel like if I let go, it would float away like a feather.

We've made it through safely so far, but Germany's situation is much the same.

The diplomacy we've conducted so far has been so rational and conciliatory that it has been called moralism by other countries.

But this time, we must either betray or abandon one of the two nations.

Our decision will change the way Hungary, Romania, and the surrounding nations see us.

In the end, there can be no such thing as a nation that is just to all.

In this unstable situation, whose side must I take to protect the people precious to me, to protect Germany?