Chapter 83:

February 5, 1940

Central Germany, 9th Military District Kassel, Frankfurt – Dietrich Schacht's Mansion Waking up in the Frankfurt mansion after a long time, I felt a small sense of relief at the warmth in my arms. My eyes were open, but I had no intention of getting up.

Looking at the pure white naked body in my arms and the golden hair strewn across the bed, I felt the illusion of holding an exquisitely beautiful, separate creature.

At times like this, I could be neither the politician racking his brains and tightrope walking in the diplomatic conference hall, nor the person in charge feeling bitter while reviewing the loss reports after approving the military's operation plans.

The tension and stress of tightrope walking with the nation's fate at stake were more serious than I could imagine, and I wondered if I would have lost my sanity long ago without at least this kind of peace.

As I thought this and gently tried to kiss Claudia's hair, she suddenly turned and looked straight at me.

Ah, you startled me.

“If you're awake, you should have said something.

How long were you planning on staying like that?”

“Ah, sorry.

I just woke up.”

I quickly let go of the waist I was holding, and she gave a small yawn, then groggily sat up and stretched.

I watched her quietly for a moment before pulling her hand and kissing her ring finger.

“I'm sorry.”

“I told you, you don't need to worry about it. Besides, having a grand wedding in a situation like this would only get us criticized.”

“That might be true, but just stamping some documents and calling you my wife makes me feel like a very bad husband.”

“You're only realizing that now?”

Claudia burst out laughing openly and replied just like that.

We're now a married couple, at least on paper, but she won't even say something nice as an empty gesture…

Then again, she seemed unfazed even as she filed the papers. It was actually my mother, Luise Sowa, who was more disappointed than she was.

While I was feeling dejected, she got up, threw on a robe, and pulled me up by my hand.

“Come on.

Get up, Vice Minister. You're a busy man, aren't you?”

“Aah, yes.

My aide.”

I got up, led by her, smiling naturally.

There was a time when I always prepared breakfast and woke her up in this house, but after hiring someone to do the housework in Berlin, I quickly became lazy. Humans are such fickle creatures.

After thinking for a moment, I spoke from behind Claudia, who was busy getting ready in her chair.

“What do you think would happen if, during the election, I just stepped down?”

“You mean not run in the election?”

“Yeah.”

Claudia stopped getting ready, turned around, and after looking at me with a strange expression, she spoke.

“Well, I guess I'd have to decide whether to side with the Social Democratic Party or the Free Democratic Party, wouldn't I?”

“…Excuse me?”

When I was flustered by her somewhat off-topic reply, Claudia tilted her head and spoke again.

“I'd like to try my hand at politics.”

“Ah, no.

That's perfectly reasonable, but are you not concerned that your husband is just stepping down?”

“You'll manage just fine even if you step down. You have a lot of money, don't you? If worse comes to worst, I'll bail out my poor husband.

I may not look it, but I'm well-connected and capable, you know.”

“Heh…”

Faced with such a confident expression and answer, I was at a loss for words and could only stare at her blankly.

Then she looked at me quietly and smiled softly.

“What's wrong? Are you tired of power already?”

“Well, a little.

Starting with the support for Finland, and now this situation where we're waging a war. The thought of inciting the people to stop France, the weight of responsibility is too heavy.

I keep wondering if I'm truly on the right path.”

Such thoughts suddenly come to mind.

Of course, accepting France's arrogant demands isn't common-sensical, but this era itself is an overly unstable age of madness.

The question I posed to Hungary, whether they weren't gambling with their people as the stakes, can be applied directly to me and our government.

This situation, where we're desperately struggling to avoid war with France while securing Danzig to quell the people's anger—the suspicion that it's fundamentally the same as what Hitler did to start World War II keeps nagging at me.

In the end, instead of stopping the war even if it meant giving up our regime, we chose to continue the war, knowing that Germans and Polish people would die on the battlefield.

Even though a war with France might break out.

Claudia stared at me and then spoke.

“No matter who does it, no one can be a perfect human without failure in every aspect. They shouldn't exist, either.

If such a person existed, the system of democracy would be ruined, wouldn't it?”

“…I suppose so.”

“No one knows if Poland would have attacked Germany during its civil war even if we hadn't helped Finland.

There are no 'ifs' in history. There is only the history created by our choices.

If you could go back to the past, would you turn a blind eye to Finland?”

“…No, definitely not.”

As I gave a bitter smile, Claudia came a little closer to me and spoke with a smile.

“No one can be a great person to everyone. So don't look back, just move forward.

In a country where even the king called himself the nation's number one servant, the Vice Minister of the Chancellery isn't thinking of slacking off, is he?”

“Haha… Of course not, my aide.”

Well, now.

Getting certified as the nation's public slave by my own wife. This calls for a bitter smile.

“Alright, let's do our best today, too. They say you can only say you've done your best when your own efforts move you.”

“Yees, yes.”

As I passed Claudia, she whispered softly from behind me.

“I'll watch your back, so just do what you can. Don't worry too much.

I may not look it, but I have very high standards. I didn't bet on you without thinking, you know.”

The consideration and trust in her words were conveyed to me, and my heart, which had been lacking confidence, seemed to calm down. Being with someone who can make me smile so naturally like this, isn't it the damn god's last bit of conscience?

“…Couldn't we delay the speech by just an hour?”

“No.”

The nonsense I spouted because my wife was so lovely was, as expected, cut off without mercy.

-

February 5, 1940

Central Germany, 9th Military District Kassel, Frankfurt – Central Urban Area Back when Frankfurt was still the new government's temporary capital, the same spot where the departure ceremony speech was held was once again packed with people.

This time, they weren't gathered to fight against their compatriots who followed Hitler, but to stand against a foreign power.

“Welcome.”

“It's been a while, General Witzleben. You worked hard during the recent Battle of Südtirol.”

I exchanged a handshake with Colonel General Witzleben, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.

He was a grateful person who had actively supported the working-level officials, including myself, from the early days of the coup, and with the fame he gained from the Battle of Südtirol, he had now become one of the representative generals of the Fourth Empire in name and reality.

“Thank you. Well, the Chief of Staff deserves more credit than I do.”

Witzleben said so and stepped aside.

“General Model.”

General Model, who had achieved unimaginable military gains in the last battle and was promoted to Armor General, grinned and shook my hand.

“Schacht, is this front line the target for this remodeling?”

I was the one who said it, but for the man himself to use it…

“Hahaha, that's right.

But I'd like to avoid combat if possible.”

“I agree.

I'll fight if it's unavoidable, but I'm not keen on sacrificing unprepared soldiers.”

The 40 divisions that just arrived in Frankfurt to defend the Siegfried Line were all the military force we could scrape together from the troops being trained under our mobilization order.

They've barely just finished being issued equipment, and they'll need at least another month of training to fight properly.

But for now, this was the best we could prepare.

It's bitter, but this is the maximum force we have to make France hesitate to enter the war.

“The mere presence of you two Generals here will boost the morale of our allies and make the enemy think twice before invading, so we had no choice but to bring you here.”

“We are soldiers, so we only followed the government's orders.”

General Witzleben answered without much thought, but I felt a strange bitterness hearing his words.

Well, this must be trust. So the government has no choice but to get its act together and choose the right direction.

We deployed General Fedor von Bock and General Günther von Kluge to the Southern Front, which had been commanded by General Witzleben and General Model.

The two have worked together in Army Group North, and their abilities are sound, so they should be able to defend without issue even if Italy makes a desperate struggle, by some chance.

“So, have you sorted out your thoughts?”

I laughed awkwardly at General Model's question. Come to think of it, when I asked him, who was in forced retirement, to return to the front line, I myself had shown a lack of confidence.

“Not entirely, but they're a little more sorted.”

General Model grinned and replied.

“Good, I have expectations. Just as you surprised me when I thought you were just my subordinate diligently following the General Staff Course, try surprising people again this time.”

“Uh, umm. I'm sorry…”

I have a feeling this is going to be held over my head for a long, long time…

As I instinctively hunched my shoulders, General Model slapped my shoulder with his usual powerful force, making a loud thwack.

“Ugh!”

“A politician can't be so shameless! Go on, be a man about it!”

My mentor's hand hurts like hell every time he hits me. But for some reason, my head felt clearer.

-

As I ascended the platform, I could see residents who had come out, just like at the departure ceremony, waving the Black-Red-Gold Flag, and soldiers cheering as they looked at me.

The sight of people who would have had to live through an Age of Iron and Blood in Hitler's Germany, now that Hitler is gone, voluntarily coming out to fill the streets without anyone's coercion, was a heart-swelling scene.

Even those who had remained in the Nazi Regime, causing me worry and guilt, are now all together under the new Germany.

These people are the proof that all my and our efforts were not in vain, and the driving force that blows away my worries and hesitation.

“My respected fellow Germans, I am Dietrich Schacht, Vice Minister of the Chancellery. A short time, if you think it's short, and a long time, if you think it's long, has passed since the departure ceremony on November 15th of last year, and I stand here again.”

The scene of the cheering and noisy people falling silent in an instant just by me opening my mouth to begin the speech, delivers a thrill greater than any drug.

“It was nothing other than the free will of the German people that brought down the Nazi Regime that persecuted Germany.

What is here in this place now is the freedom you won with your own hands. Our fatherland, the new Germany, was built not by a dictator or politicians, but by you.”

When I gave the departure ceremony speech, I was filled with hope. That we would soon oust Hitler and see a peaceful and free Germany.

“I express my deep gratitude for your dedication and resolve that created the Fourth Reich. Also, I express my regret for the situation where we must mourn those who fell on the battlefield without a chance to rejoice in the freedom they struggled to obtain, unable to proudly hold their heads high.”

But peace did not come. This unstable era, tangled with all sorts of interests and madness, eventually spiraled into war.

I no longer know if it is my responsibility, our responsibility, or perhaps a suppressive force of the world's history.

“Our fatherland, Germany, is once again in crisis.

As a member of the government responsible for leading you, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for our fatherland being in this situation.”

But even so, I can't just stand by, can I?

Whether it's right or wrong, possible or impossible, none of that matters anymore.

“We, our fatherland Germany, never wanted war. Nevertheless, our fatherland is at war.

Proud Germans are dying fighting against their invasion!”

Germany, which rose up to refuse a ruinous end by surrendering to the era, cannot now tolerate conforming to the flow of the times.

To hell with some god or the original history, who cares? The one here right now is the me of this era, of this world.

The Germany that, under Hitler's dictatorship, fell into madness and threw the entire world into shock and fear with war crimes and massacres is not here.

The people looking up at me, listening to this speech, the Germans who found freedom, are the people of this era.

[While we struggle to fight against Poland and Italy, French politicians have sent an ultimatum to Germany under the pretext of stopping German expansion! But, is this a war that we started? No! This is a war against them!]

Dietrich Schacht's speech was also being broadcast on the radio in pre-recorded English and French versions.

“A war against them, not our war.

Hmm, that fellow always has a way with words.”

Winston Churchill said so and put a piece of bacon in his mouth.

He felt as if an idea from his own head had been stolen, but it was probably just his imagination.

[They say we threaten the world.

Did we threaten Poland, Italy, or France? They only see what they want to see! Proud people of Germany! Why did we rise up against Hitler!]

Director Wilhelm Canaris handed a document to Deputy Director Hans Oster at the Abwehr Headquarters.

“Deliver this to the newspaper company.

Tell them to break a scoop.”

Deputy Director Oster looked down at the photograph of Heinrich Himmler staying at Mussolini's villa with cold eyes, then saluted Canaris and left the room.

[We rose up against Hitler precisely to prevent a war with them! We fought against a dictator who drove our fatherland into an unwanted war and persecuted the people who opposed him, and we won our freedom! And yet, those who invade us claim that they are preventing our threat!]

Major General Tresckow, next to an ashtray full of cigarettes, looked at the operation map and quietly blew out smoke while listening to the radio.

To think that brat who grabbed him in Austria and passionately argued that they had to stop Hitler would actually finish Hitler off and become a figure respected by the people.

Who could have imagined?

[They are nothing more than invaders who, mistaking us for being weak, have attacked us! But, did we try to avoid war because we were weak? No! In Austria, in Italy, in Poland! Those invaders are facing a thorough and overwhelming defeat!]

The foreign correspondents gathered in the public square of Frankfurt were taking pictures of the soldiers and residents listening to Dietrich Schacht's speech.

[Proud people of Germany! Why are we fighting! Is this a war we started to fulfill the ambitions of politicians and to gain a patch of land for our nation? We are fighting only to protect our freedom, the values we so arduously reclaimed by shedding the blood of our compatriots, against them!]

The reporter from France, while thinking of writing an article titled 'Warmongers Threatening France and Fanatics Burning with Animosity,' was shuddering at the enthusiasm of the soldiers and citizens filling the public square.

[But does the fact that we have the strength to defend ourselves threaten France? We have already given up our western territory that we lost in the last great war! Is it because we do not long for that land? Is it because we fear them? It is neither!]

Walther Model listened to the speech of the man who was his disciple and a high-ranking official in the government, and watched the soldiers responding to his speech.

Unlike the audience's reaction to Goebbels' thoroughly prepared speeches, it was chaotic and disorderly, but because of that, the people looked free.

[We simply did not want to shed the blood of Germans by fighting a war with France again! But who is it that now threatens that peace! In the war to end all wars, what was the purpose of the blood that flowed to cover the earth and fill the trenches!]

The Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, Maurice Gamelin, who was listening to the speech with French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, clicked his tongue as he heard the broadcast of Dietrich Schacht's speech, recorded in fluent French.

“Hmph, a greenhorn brat who hasn't even experienced the Great War.”

[What is the purpose for which their politicians cry out for a war for the nation! If they truly understood that horrific battlefield, they could not do so! No one, under the pretext of serving the nation, has the right to drive countless people to their deaths!]

But the former Prime Minister of France, Édouard Daladier, lowered his head as he listened to Dietrich Schacht's speech.

[People of the world! If you are crying out for war, do you truly hold a value that you must protect even by dying yourself? What on earth are you trying to fight for! Do you truly have a justification for you, your comrades, and your families to get blood on their hands on the battlefield, to kill and be killed?]

“To die for one's country is not a glory-”

The words of the commander of the Finnish Army, Baron Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, who was putting up a good fight against the Soviet Army, were cut off by the restraint of Finnish President Kyösti Kallio.

“Please be quiet for a moment. I would like to hear the rest.”

[I dare to declare, there is no such justification anywhere. There is no such thing as a person who deserves to die, whether they are one's own countryman or an enemy national.

In the territory stained with the blood people have shed, in the honor decorated with any rhetoric, there is no value that can compensate for those deaths.]

“I-Is France's entry into the war not yet decided?”

“They say they have not yet decided.”

The former prime minister, Lieutenant General Sikorski, who was watching the Inspector General of the Polish Armed Forces, Rydz-Śmigły, tear his hair out, shook his head and muttered softly.

“What on earth is this war for…”

[If there is anyone who nevertheless cries out for war, remember that the ruin of that war will one day judge you as well.

I pray that God's blessing is upon the National Defense Force, which is struggling to protect our fatherland and freedom, and upon all nations fighting against invasion.]

Dietrich Schacht's speech ended, and in the room enveloped in deathly silence.

François de La Rocque, who was sitting with his legs elegantly crossed and sipping wine, stayed as if to savor the lingering feeling, then, after a moment, clapped dryly, clap-clap-clap.

“Excellent.

Absolutely excellent. That man is my, France's, enemy.”