V4mseFLG

1June 1st, 2015
2Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian Federation
3
4
5“This location is perfect, the building dates from the 1920s.” The older man said to his younger associate. The two were speaking in their native language, Afrikaans, for privacy.
6
7Nearby the Russian real-estate agent smiled between puffs of his cigarette.
8
9The younger man nodded, “There is an old disused spur line that runs down to the docks. We will be able to ship in anything we want on standard gauge track in shipping containers from the port. I agree it’s perfect.”
10
11The older man turned to the agent and switched into Russian. One of several languages he had picked up from a half a life time ago. It had proved useful the two times the SADF had managed to capture Soviet Advisors. The captures and following graves were of course both unrecorded. “We are interested but the price is too high, the line needs to be refurbished and the roof leaks…”
12
13The second man’s role was that of backer financer so he stayed out of this part and just observed the older man’s trade craft at work. They could just buy the building outright but businessmen were expected to bargain and haggle so that is what they did. They had more than enough gold to buy the run down warehouse.
14
15“I will take your offer to the owners. What are you going to use the building for? Imports from Germany?” The agent asked.
16
17“Netherlands actually, we are Dutch the languages are close but not the same.” The older man explained.
18
19Hearing that the two were not Germans made the agent smile. While it had been 70 years since the end of the Great Patriotic War, known in the West as World War 2, many Russians would never forget. “A few hours, I contact you at your hotel and then we can drink. Yes?”
20
21
22The two men smiled, “Of course, if you return with good news.”
23
24***
25
26The negotiations with the real-estate agent and the seller had gone fairly quick only two days. After all the negotiations where for show. Then a lease signed to cover things before close so they could take over the building at once. The security at the port had been also easily dealt with, a few bribes here and there. The negotiations on that had taken longer than buying the building but they were assured that they could get several shipments in without being checked by customs. The repairs and getting the spur line back into use would take longer. But things were far enough along for the next stage.
27
28***
29
30
31
32June 30th, 1935
33Königsberg, East Prussia, Third Reich
34
35The two men were playing their game of buyers again. This time things were going slowly because the owner of the building was not particular interested in selling two people that walked up and said ‘we want to buy you out.’ In the end they settled for over paying despite the attention it would cause. They were not expected back for two weeks for things to get moving here on the sale and allow them to move onto other things.
36
37July 2nd, 1935
38HQ Mauser AG, Third Reich
39
40“I am sorry but we are just not interested in seeing your repeating rifle. The Heereswaffenamt has already approved an order for the latest version of the Mauser 98. So if you wish you can make an appointment with some of our engineers but it will be some…” The Mauser Corporate Drone talked on.
41
42The two men exchanged glances this would be a little more difficult but they had other ideas in the ready.
43
44July 4th, 1935
45HQ Sicherheitsdienst in Prinz-Albrecht-Palais, Berlin, Third Reich
46
47The younger man looked at the Baroque Palace, “Impressive.” Then he licked his lips, “Are you sure that this is the best way to move forward? If nothing else perhaps someone lower level than second from the top of the…”
48
49“It’s a risk but we could spend weeks or months going the indirect way. Think of what happens if they discovery us instead of us making contact? By all reports the man is highly intelligent. I will make first contact, I expect to be detained. I will be able to hold out for one hour if things turn nasty. If I do not return for you within an hour after you received my signal then fail back and report.” The older man said.
50
51“Very well…”
52
53***
54
55The older man walked into the front of the building. Which alone showed the time period even though there was a guard here to check his movement. In the 21st century there would be multiple layers and guards. Taking a breath he walked up to the front desk. “I have a package for Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.”
56
57The functionary looked up and cocked an eye at the rank, “Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, do you have an appointment?” By the man’s tone it’s clear he did not expect an affirmative.
58
59“I do not but I believe the package will secure me one. If you could provide it to his assistant. I will wait here.” The older man said.
60
61The functionary looked over the man again, he was well dress but his accent showed him as either a western or perhaps a foreigner. “Name?”
62
63“Andries Rhoodie.”
64
65***
66
67Heydrich was a very busy and important man and as such his secretary received many letters, short messages and packages every day. This was getting even truer as the NSDAP achieved greater control in Germany. All government and party communications of course were passed on as required. The difficult element of sorting was when dealing with messages that didn’t come from within official channels. With Heydrich role in the Sicherheitsdienst, Geheime Staatspolizei and Schutzstaffel there were many powerful people that wanted favors.
68
69A new package came up with a hand written note on the cover address to the Gruppenführer. A couple of cuts and the package was opened. Inside were a number of photographs, a real of 16mm film, a sealed letter and an unsealed letter. Starting with the unsealed letter falling out of the letter were a number of coins with yellow centers and silver edges. Looking at the coins the secretary was confused badly as while the print was in German, what was the Bundesrepublik Deutschland? The dates were even more strange 2015, 2009, 2013. There were two photographs one of the Brandenburg Gate but in color and the quality was life like and the people it showed standing around the famous Berlin monument were even more shocking. The still of dress was like nothing the woman had ever seen before. Turning to the loose photos there were about three dozen of them with dates, “Berlin Olympics 1936”, “Rhineland 1936”, “Anschluss Austria 1938”, “Sudetenland 1938”, “Poland 1939”, “Paris 1940”…
70
71The three photos labeled “Paris 1940” shocked the poor woman badly. The first clearly showed German troops walking down a street with an arch in the background and the second two showed the Führer and others with the Eiffel Tower in the background. At this point the woman stood up in a start and she could start to feel panic overcome her. The first instinct to just throw the entire thing in the trash and pretend to have never seen it but instead she decided to pass it up and let someone else deal with the insane items.
72
73***
74
75
76Heydrich was alone in his office a table normally used for small meetings on one side of the room had the contents of the package neatly laid out. The contents certainly got his attention. It was clear that the photos were some sort of time line that spanned from 1936 to 1945. The photo of him from 1942 in a death pose was fairly shocking of course but only slightly less were the photos from 1945 showing Himmler and a grainy low quality photo of what might be the Führer but the photos of the ruins of Berlin with Soviet Troops really got his attention. Without the landmarks it would be impossible to make anything out as the buildings were just rubble and empty shells. The photos of a rifle called an AK-47 and a tank known as a T-34 were interesting but nothing compared to the rest.
77
78All of it could be have dismissed except for the last item. A small box contained Heydrich didn’t know what but the note said to press the glass plate. The device was too small to be a bomb and he was now VERY curious so he did as instructed. The device came a live and impossibly started to play a movie with sound. The film contents while impressive were nothing compared to the little device that played it.
79
80At last moving to the closed letter, it was brief and to the point, the writer was willing to explain the contents of the package and answer any questions that he might have. The letter was also a clue as while the writing was in German the creator clearly was not a native speaker. A decision crystalizes. Walking over to the desk Heydrich picks up the phone, “There is a man waiting downstairs named Andries Rhoodie have him brought up to my office at once… politely.”
81
82Chapter 2
83July 10th, 1935
84Within a few days a meeting was setup between Andries Rhoodie his two associates Ben Lang and Konrad de Buys on one side and the Führer and Heydrich who made a point to stay in close contact with these strangers out of the mists of time on the other. Eventually others would be brought into the talks but for now Heydrich had managed to keep the meeting small. Heydrich and the up timers had decided that the best way to make their point was a practical demonstration. Hence why they were at the firing range of the Berlin Garrison. It took a great deal of effort by Heydrich to get this first meeting so small but in the end the Führer’s love of gadgets had been a key help. Nearby of course were the body guards.
85
86Ben Lang showed Hitler the weapon, going through how to use it. Hitler a veteran of the Great War was of course well familiar with fire arms. The weapon unloaded was noticeably lighter than the Mauser 98 that the one time corporal had been trained to use in the Great War. Once loaded and ready to fire Hitler started taking single shots. A couple of shots were needed to get used the weapon. After having fired off all 30 rounds Hitler stood up and handed the weapon back.
87
88“Your weapon has impressive rate of fire and capacity with that detachable magazine but it’s not particularly accurate. Not horrible but I doubt you could do aimed shots at a man sized target at much over 250 meters. The new 98K can fire out to over 500 meters with iron sites.” The Führer was an encyclopedia of facts and trivia about arms and munitions.
89
90The medium height man with the outdoorsman tan smiled, “350 meters actually but let us not quibble, let me show you the middle selection. This will be fully automatic fire. The weapon will pull hard to one side so keep it braced tight.”
91
92Hitler raised an eyebrow at that statement but did as he was told and fired, holding down the trigger for 3 seconds empting the magazine. “Impressive…”
93
94The other man opened up a case, “If you thank that is impressive let me show you this….” The item was a long tube, just over a meter in length with a grip and trigger near the front. Out next came what was obviously a warhead that fit into the front of the tube. “We will use this against the next target the steel plate.”
95
96Glanced at the next slot in the range, “That looks to be over 180mm thick.”
97
98“200mm but this would be effective verse something 260mm thick but there wasn’t something like that available with so little notice.”
99
100At the statement Hitler was visibly dubious but keeps silent for now.
101
102The guards had been warned to expect an explosion and everyone covered their ears when de Buys fired the weapon. There was a loud woosh noise followed by an explosion and there was clearly a red glow on the metal plate. When the group went over to examine the plate a hole had been melted through it with steel running in dribbles like wax from a candle. “This is the anti-tank round there is also a high explosive warhead.”
103
104At last Hitler said, “I have never seen the like…”
105Knowing that the demonstration had Hitler’s attention Heydrich began, “Mein Führer there is something else that they wish to show you that I think you will be even more interested in.”
106
107***
108
109The tale took a good deal of time to explain and the small movie playing devices certainly helped. As the movie played Hitler talked less and less. Once it was done the dictator of Germany was silent for several minutes and then at last said, “So you are from the future?” Hitler’s gaze kept turning back to the final scene which showed the bombed out ruins of Germany and the Soviet troops raising their flags over Berlin.
110
111Rhoodie spoke up, “Yes Herr Hitler my friends and I hope and expect that we can change events yet to come make the Third Reich a bulkwark of freedom and strength, the white man’s cause all through the world will be stronger than in our own sorry history.”
112
113Looking back at the stopped movie that showed his beloved Germany in ruins and conquered. Hitler nodded, “Where exactly do you come from. Heydrich said you were Dutch…”
114
115“South Africa the British have always hated my people and their policies will eventually set the kaffirs over us. I mean to change that and helping you is the best way to do that.” The leader of the up timers said.
116
117“I have trouble believing that the British would be so foolish…” Hitler begins.
118
119Lang speaks up, “What of their children or children’s children Herr Hitler?”
120
121Hitler was an intelligent man however he was not sure exactly what to make of the statement or didn’t know how to refute it either. Other thoughts occurred to the dictator, “If you are from the future you can show us…”
122
123Rhoodie had a broad smile, “More than just these weapons, others also and also the tactics to use them. Advances in medicine, engineering, agriculture, many things. Not everything we can build in our time of course.”
124
125Hitler frowns at the last statement and smoothly Heydrich steps in. The SS man has had much longer to think on the implications. “Mein Führer consider that these two weapons demonstrated are within a generation our capabilities but what of things that two, three or the four generations out?” Pointing at the tablet, “This device that played the movie. It requires machines based upon machines based upon machines that we would have trouble even conceiving of let alone having a chance to build our selves to make a copy. What would von Moltke during the Wars of Unification make of our weapons, aircraft and automobiles?”
126
127“We also have prepared a report of events yet to come from your point of view. Some of it will be hard reading. Mistakes were made…” Rhoodie begins.
128
129“Clearly as we lost…” Hitler snorts as he interrupts the time traveler.
130
131“Something that we will help you avoid and make your wildest dreams a reality. You want to build a Thousand Year Reich, yes? But did you ever hope to achieve everything in your life time?”
132
133Hitler looks away and from the shock he is unguarded in his words, “No… I only expected to set the ground work for a successor. That it would be up to someone else to carry out my great vision for the German People. You speak of dreams what is yours Herr Rhoodie? You speak of the cause of the white man.”
134
135At last it came to the bargaining the terms were surprisingly simple as both sets of interests were for now linked. Rhoodie wanted South Africa free of the British yoke and his people free to oversee the blacks and other lesser peoples as they saw fit. He also didn’t want to exchange one master for another. So Rhoodie and others of his followers wanted to make contact with people in South Africa to help them too with gifts from the future. After helping Germany first of course.
136
137Force once the German Dictator didn’t quibble, it was a small thing and one that fit with his vision for the world anyways, “We have an agreement.”
138
139***
140
141One Rhoodie and his two associates were gone it was just the dictator and the head of his secret police. “Reinhard what do you make of this man? Despite having seen the weapons with my own eyes and fired one of them myself I have doubts.”
142
143Heydrich nodded agreement, even today with NSDPA in control of Germany many still doubted the capability of Hitler. The man has his faults everyone did but the leader of the German people was both intelligent and perceptive. “Agreed Mein Führer, never trust anything too good to be true. It will be up to these strangers to prove their claims. While there are a number of automatic weapons none are as refined or capable as that AK-47 or the rocket weapon and that little book like device made of metal and glass that responds to just a touch. They need to be watched closely for perhaps someday our interests will not always be linked.”
144
145Pleased that his secret police chief was not being overwhelmed by these strangers from the future he smiled, “Find out what you can. Be discrete as we need what they have to offer but I doubt they are telling us everything.”
146
147“Of course Mein Führer.”
148
149***
150
151Headlines from 1935
152
153“Four Year Plan Announced!
154Fritz Todt is to head program to make the German Economy self-sufficient by 1939…”
155
156“Land Reform!
157As part of a program to improve agricultural efficiency consolidation of farm land will occur to create more efficient farm units…”
158
159“General Ludwig Beck dies in car accident
160General Beck had served in the German army since 1898 was just recently made Chief of the Restored General Staff…”
161
162“Rear Admiral Wilhelm Canaris retires...”
163
164“Oil Discovered in Brandenburg, Pomerania and Silesia!
165Chapter 3
166
167January 10th, 1936
168The Rhur, Third Reich
169
170It had been decided to from time to time meeting with the industrialists on their home turf as it were rather than hold all of the 4 Year Plan meetings in Berlin. General George Thomas was the representative of the General Staff to these meetings looked over the other people in the room. Things had been in rapid motion for the last months and there had been a number of shakeups. First there had been rumors that Goering would been be named to head the new economic planning department but the winds appeared to be shifting for the former commander of von Richthofen’s flying Circus. Instead the Engineer Fritz Todd had been placed in charge with the architect Albert Speer as his deputy. There were also rumors that Goering’s authority over the Luftwaffe might be changing with his Chief Staff General Weaver getting increased authority or autonomy depending on your point of view. There was a new head of the Labour Front as Robert Ley and several key aids been sacked over corruption charges. It appeared that Ley had used the Fronts treasury as his own personal fund. The rest of people in the meeting were the industrialists and their aids.
171
172Speer was starting the presentation and as always he did so with a bit of flare. Thomas thought it was a bit over the top and maybe Speer should be doing propaganda with Goebbels but Thomas admitted the presentation was an effective one. Today they were discussing plans to increase shift work at major factories to get the most work out machinery and plant space rather than just building new plants. There had been some interesting if strange reports that had come down about the subject. The strange part wasn’t that they were clearly written by multiple people but the tone and use of tense had jumped around in the reports. At times the reports read like something he might have helped draft on the Kaiser’s Reich in the Great War. Thomas wished he could meet some of these people, two names of interest in the where Overy and Tooze. There were some interesting ideas by those two.
173
174Over all the changes being worked impressed Thomas other than the civilian Todt being in charge. This was a source of annoyance to Thomas and others in the army that civilians were to organize the war economy. All signs pointed to a centralized planning authority for economy being created and it was overtly intended to help handle war production. Hence why Thomas had to present War Minister Blomberg's suggestion to use fixed price multi-year contracts for weapons rather than the standard of cost plus. At least Todt appeared to listen but they were debating the idea. The previous meeting had been on a survey of factories with an eye for what could be converted to military production in the event of a war. Next meeting was to discuss transport where orders where to be placed for trucks, locomotives and rolling stock all to be built to standardized designs.
175
176With Speer now done talking the new Labour Front lackey answered question about how to get workers to work different shifts but again the man was a nonentity and clearly Todt’s creature. There were going to be a lot more meetings in the future for this new Four Year Planning group especially as it got its hooks into more and more of the German Economy.
177
178***
179
180February 20th, 1936
181
182Herr Hess,
183
184Numerous farmers have brought complaints about the land consolidation efforts. Additional resources and attention might be needed to manage the farmer’s issues….
185
186Fritz Wächtler
187Gauleiter for Gau Bayreuth
188
189***
190
191March 6th, 1936
192Spain
193
194The two men waited in the room across the hall.
195
196“We should just go in now.”
197
198Benny Lang looked at his associate, gave a withering glare and returned to observing the peep hole, “The wife is still there, this is too look like a heart attack. Two people dying of a heart attacks would attract attention…”
199Both heard a click in the hallway as the other door opened and then closed,
200
201“There she goes… get ready.”
202
203***
204
205A few moments later one of the men was knocking on the doorway while the other stood out of sight and watched. It was evening and the hotel wasn’t very busy at this hour but it paid to be cautious.
206
207*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
208
209“Room service…” Lang’s partner said at the door.
210
211A muffled response from within and then the door opened. There was the occupant of the room, a man in his 60s, with a pudgy face and thin hair that had long lost it’s the red color of its youth. “Yes?” The man asked with a cigar in one hand.
212
213Lang’s partner produced the taser and drove it into the stomach of their target. There was crackling and popping noise in the air as the device did its work and the high voltage output paralyzed the target. Quickly Lang and the partner moved into the room and Lang was already removing a syringe and vial from his coat.
214
215***
216
217Headline of London Times
218March 8th, 1936
219
220“GERMANY DENOUNCES LOCARNO PACT AND MILITARIZES RHINE
221In a dramatic move Germany has broken the shackles of Versailles as cheering crowds welcome German troops as they enter the Rhineland…”
222
223Obituaries
224Winston Churchill, aged 61, Conservative Politcian most recently Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Baldwin government died while on holiday in Spain…
225
226***
227
228The Journal of Agricultural Science
229Volume 26, Issue 2, April 1936
230
231
232German test farms to introduce high yield grain strain.
233
234***
235
236May 17th, 1936
237Report to Military Intelligence Division, US Army
238
239German Army has introduced a new Automatic Rifle, the Sturmgewehr 47. The new rifle is capable of selective fire between single shot, a three round burst and full automatic. This new automatic rifle fires an intermediate round of 7.62x33mm and has a large capacity, 50 or 75 round, detachable drum magazine. While in very limited numbers so far extensive use of the new weapon is occurring in military maneuvers in the role of a light machine gun for infantry squads. Like our own Browning Automatic Rifle the new German weapon comes equipped with a bipod. As more information becomes available additional reports will be provided.
240
241All preparations for Colonel Lindbergh’s visit have been made and I have been assured by General Udet of a friendly visit and open access to Luftwaffe facilities.
242
243Truman Smith
244Major, US Army
245Military Attaché
246
247***
248
249June 25th, 1936
250Kiel, Third Reich
251
252Generaladmiral Raeder was sitting across from Konteradmiral Karl Dönitz. Which was a source of annoyance to the chief of the German Navy. Dönitz shouldn’t hold flag rank, he should still be a Kapitän zur See but the Fuhrer had ordered the jump and the changes to the construction program late last year. The laying down of the Bismarck was just another example of tampering from Berlin. Instead of the clean design with four 15” twin turrets had come the direction to limit things to an improvement to the Scharnhorst class, three 15” twin turrets, a longer bow and some improvements in the armor. What was most annoying was that instead of a battle fleet the navy was to focus on Kreuzerkrieg. As such Dönitz was given a much greater role and the fleet was to build up numbers of U-Boats to largest amount possible under the Anglo German Naval Pact as fast as possible. Hitler had promised a powerful fleet back in 1934 but that was changing and the navy was finding itself a distant third for resources such as steel, manpower and Marks. Smaller ships were cheaper ships.
253
254“Sir I just recently had a meeting with Todt’s deputy Speer about the plans to streamline production of U-Boats and of the improved types.”
255
256Raeder nodded, “I expect a report in due time. I understand that you wanted to talk about something else?”
257
258The U-Boat chief nodded, “It’s the long term improved designs. Increasing the fuel supplies for the VII and IX types will have obvious benefits and as will the attempts to speed up production and reduce costs. I am still not sure about removing the deck guns all together and do all attacks submerged with these new types but it will be a few years before we have any of them and so we will have time to work out tactics. The requirements we received call for some fairly radical design changes with respect to the battery bays and the snorkel the designers want more time to work out details.”
259
260The Fuhrer’s instructions that the new design was to be ready before 1937 made only one response possible, “I am to next meet with the Construction Office to approve the designs for the new Light Cruisers to be built in place of the additional canceled Admiral Hipper Heavy Cruisers. Have a report ready to present then. Speaking of making all attacks with Torpedoes I assume you have read the report?”
261
262Of course Dönitz knew exactly what the admiral was talking about. A reliability study of the G7 series had been conducted and the torpedoes had across the board failed. The impact and magnetic detonators had proved to be very unrealizable. To make matters worse the weapons appeared to have issues with maintaining their depth. It was all highly embarrassing, a suggestion had come down from Berlin two months ago to have a Great War veteran conduct the study. Max Valentiner who left the service as a Korvettenkapitän in 1920 and had commanded two boats with notable success earning a Pour le Mérite had headed the study. Valentiner’s study had resulted in some clashes with Kapitän zur See Wehr who had been head of the Torpedo Design institute. Currently Wehr was facing a court martial over his obstruction and worse out right attempts hide design defects. “I have Sir. I frankly don’t know what we are going to do or how quickly this will be resolved. It’s a source of one of my reservations with stream lining the hulls of future U Boat designs by removing the deck guns. Only saving grace is this issue was discovered now.”
263
264Raeder nodded in sympathy as the idea that a key navy weapon was nearly useless had made his blood boil. He had personally order the court on Wehr once the reports had come in. “I am making a search for a resolution a top priority but depending on what has to be done it might be several years till new weapons can be provided.”
265
266“We will do what we can in the meantime.”
267
268***
269
270July 4th, 1936
271Berlin, Third Reich
272
273A meeting of engineers and scientists was underway. With the formation of the RFR (Reichsforschungsrat) some select fields of research were directed to have the initial research to be freely shared, with authorized firms of courses. One of these fields was the work of Hans von Ohain Ph.D. in Physics and Aerodynamics from the University of Göttingen. Also in the meeting were a number of other top engineer Dr Anselm Franz of Junkers, Hermann Östrich of BMW, Adolf Müller of Heinkel and several others. Each of them was giving a presentation in turn on their current efforts.
274
275Dr. Franz and Müller where whispering during a pause while Ohain was setting up to review his research into the ‘sample engine’ that each of their firms had received two copies of. The story was don’t ask where they came from but what little was said they engines came from the United States.
276
277“Have you noticed any… anomalies about the samples?” Müller asked when he was sure no one was paying attention.
278
279Dr. Franz couldn’t resist snorting, “Those samples are nothing but anomalies.”
280
281Müller was worried and a number of thoughts occurred to him several of them outright insane. Still he was by nature a curious man and had to dig, “Specifically how refine they are.”
282
283“Ja… we ran the one sample we didn’t section for 30 hours and not so much a blip in thrust level…”
284
285Müller nodded excitedly, “…Don’t forget the amount of thrust over 3,000 lbs…”
286
287“When I first read the specifications from RLM calling for a production design of 8,000 lbs I thought it was a mistake. Ohain’s first research design from the spring couldn’t even do a one twenty of that amount and then for only in fits and starts.” The Junker’s designer shook his head.
288
289Müller nodded, “Even with these samples we will be lucky to get half that design goal in the next several years and trying to get the time to failure…” The Heinkel engineer nodded towards the diagram of the American Engine.
290
291A nod of agreement, “The metallurgy of those samples is impressive I suspect that if well maintained it would last hundreds of hours.” Dr. Franz noticed the look on Müller face. “What is it?”
292
293Müller looked around again, “That is the thing… I carefully checked over both engines and they were to be blunt very hard used before ever got them.”
294
295“And they still run as I said remarkable..”
296
297The other engineer shook his head, “I think those engines have hundreds or perhaps even thousands of hours of run time before we ever got them. And yet they came America and there is nothing in the journals about any type of serious work over across the ocean…”
298
299The implications when you put them all together were frightening. Dr. Franz nodded slowly, “its best not to look into certain things.”
300
301Müller was prevented from continuing the argument as at last Dr. Ohain was ready. The subject today was to be ideas for various alloys and designs to use in the compressor blades. While taking careful notes Müller the engineer kept on turning over the sample engine. He hadn’t even mentioned the one thing he found in the documents that came with the samples and explained how to service the engine. The documents were obviously some type of copies and heavily edited but on one of the pages he found a date, 1979. It had to be some type of mistake or what… Perhaps Dr. Franz was correct something shouldn’t be thought about too closely.
302May 28th, 1936
303Third Reich
304
305General Walther Wever was on a inspection tour when the order arrived from Berlin. He was to no longer fly himself about. No explanation, just the order. Even if there was an explanation it wouldn't matter Goering, it had to be Goering, didn't trust his flying skills. This combined with all of the meddling from Berlin for the last few months was simply too much. When an officer could no longer function in their present position they had to either seek a new assignment or resign all together. The Heer was rapidly expanding there would be plenty of slots there. So Wever began to draft a carefully worded letter to Goering requesting his relief.
306
307
308***
309
310June 5th, 1936 Georing's country estate
311
312Driving himself up the road to Goerings country estate Wever was using the time to brace himself for the argument that was no doubt to follow. Georing had been a good fighter pilot during the great war but since then he had been a politician and a bit of a demagogue in his own right but what had Wever bracing himself was Georing's need to control combined with his well known anger. No doubt the man had blown a gasket when the request arrived. Wever had been so frustrated that he hand't hand delivered it as protocol dictated, not trusting himself not to get into a shouting argument with the head of the Luftwaffe.
313
314Once escorted into the den Wever did a double take. He had expected at most Goering and perhaps one other senior officer. Instead was a very strange collection of people. Goering of course, Heydrich who is head of the SD and one of the Dutchmen that become members of Hitler's inner circle the past year, Konrad de Buys.
315
316Introductions were and then Wever joined everyone sitting around the table. Taking a moment to look around the room Wever once again did a mental shake off his head whenever he saw this room. Goering who collected titles the way a ship collected barnacles was 'Master of the Hunt' for Prussia and after he received that title had strived to be great huntsman like Prussian nobility despite being middle class.
317
318"We perhaps should have had a talk sooner Walter..." Goering began and then Georing paused an annoyed expression swept a cross the mans face and then it was gone. "You letter made some good points, points that deserve an explanation and that is why you are here."
319
320Wever kept his face calm and unreadable while Heydrich and the Konrad de Buys looked on. Both were carefully look at him for any reaction. The setup struck Wever as strange what where these other two doing here for clearly a Luftwaffe matter but he pushed that aside to focus on Goering.
321
322"You are to join a very select group with the Reich General." But then Georing's voice trailed off and after a breath, "There is no simple way to tell you this so I will just spit it out. Konrad de Buys and his associates are from 80 years in the future." Georing at last said.
323
324Konrad de Buys and Heydrich looked carefully at Wever for his reaction who for his part blinked once and then twice and then finally burst out laughing. Wever had been under so much stress expecting an screaming session from Georing over his request for a transfer so this... this bizarre statement by Georing had triggered a very unprofessional outburst.
325
326The look of surprise and then a bit of anger on Goering face brought had a calming effect on Wever but it nearly pushed him into a even deeper round of laughter. "Thank you for trying to lightening the mood but I will not be talked out of my decision."
327
328Heydrich put down his tea with a nod, "Its best if we just show the general. The statement by itself is at best ridiculous without proof. Recall your own reaction."
329
330For the first time Wever had sinking feeling as he looked between the three men and then Konrad de Buys turned on some device and started to talk.
331
332***
333
334After asking a few questions Wever had listened in silence and then had excused himself.
335
336Heydrich followed the General outside, "Its strange to hear of ones death but be alive, yes?"
337
338Something about Heydrich's voice connected to Wever and he turned to the SD man, "When is the reaper to come for you?"
339
340"1942, in the war to come."
341
342Wever nodded, "At least you died in combat far better than an ACCIDENT..."
343
344"If only, it was an assassination but we will avoid that fate but even so death still comes for us all that is true in the future too it appears. Take a few minutes to think, I know you have many questions."
345
346Visibly pulling himself together Wever said, "Yes I have a job to do."
347
348The SD man walked back inside where he gave a nod to the other two.
349
350***
351
352June 12th
353
354Wever had taken a week of vacation officially, really it was spent reading. Reading about a war before it happend had to be one of the most strange moments of the Luftwaffe Generals life, right behind meeting people from the future. It was clear from the documentation that the Luftwaffe had fought valiantly but numerous mistakes had been made. From production, tactics to design. The instructions of the last year from Berlin and Georing made much more sense now but there were still problems as in the end Georing was simply not a professional. He had no staff training having left the service as a Captain, a group commander.
355
356On a sheet of paper Wever had a list.
357
358
359-Pre-flight check lists
360-Improved training and schools
361-Four Engine Bomber, Do-19? Useful but Expensive
362-Glide Bombs
363
364
365Picking up a book from the 1980's, a Luftwaffe manual, it was good to know that there still was a German Airforce in the future, the Luftwaffe of the future thought vey highly of close air support. It covered some of the same ground of some of his own ideas. Wever mentally went over his five points for Air Operations.
366
367
3681. To destroy the enemy air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories, and defeating enemy air forces attacking German targets.
3692. To prevent the movement of large enemy ground forces to the decisive areas by destroying railways and roads, particularly bridges and tunnels, which are indispensable for the movement and supply of forces
3703. To support the operations of the army formations, independent of railways, i.e, armored forces and motorized forces, by impeding the enemy advance and participating directly in ground operations.
3714. To support naval operations by attacking naval bases, protecting Germany's naval bases and participating directly in naval battles
3725. To paralyze the enemy armed forces by stopping production in the armaments factories
373
374
375With all of this information a number of nagging thoughts presented themselves. Germany fought a six year war and lost, badly. The devastation laid onto the country was worse than any nightmare. Yet the Fuhrer was obviously determined to fight this war despite the clear disaster to brought to Germany. What was Wever to do? Deciding to fight wars were a political question and he was a staff officer. Well staff officers had their duty and Germany needed him.
376
377
378***
379
380
381July 10th, 1936
382Berlin, Germany Third Reich
383
384Generalmajor Heinz Guderian sat in a office in Berlin and was unhappy that he was away from he beloved 2nd Panzer Division but wearing multiple hats caused this often. Being commander of the 2nd Panzer Division and Inspector of Panzer Troops caused conflicts. Such as this meeting to review Tank Design and Production details. At least the Daimler-Benz plant at Berlin-Marienfelde was close to the capital and didn't need additional travel from the garrison of his command in Würzburg in Bavaria.
385
386"General we simply need more time.." One of the Daimler Benz engineer before him said.
387
388A second engineer nodded vigorously in agreement, "These new requirements have pushed weight to 21 tonnes..."
389
390"...more like 22.5 tonnes..." The first engineer disagreed.
391
392Guderian smiled, it wasn't a friendly look. "Gentlemen... I agree that these changes to the Mark III are substantial..."
393
394The second engineer's eyes went wide, "Substantial! It's virtually a new vehicle! A torsion bar suspension, armor up to 60mm..."
395
396"Don't forget the changes to the turret..."
397
398"How could I forget! The now the main gun is to be a 50mm L60 and Rheinmetall is designing the weapon at the same time that we are making changes so there could be integration problems. Same possible integration issue with Maybach as a more powerful engine and matching transmission to handle the big increase in weight."
399
400Guderian took a deep breath blowing up, AGAIN, wouldn't be productive. These were engineers not soldiers and you couldn't just scream. "Gentlemen I have read the advance reports so its clear there are issues. My question is what needs to happen to resolve the difficulties?"
401
402The two engineers answered at once, "Time."
403
404"You have till January 38 to resolve the design problems at which point besides Marienfelde, four other plants need to start production."
405
406Silent till now the representative of the four year plan, Albert Speer, spoke up, "The design will need to be frozen before of course to allow for tooling to be setup. As to time, in effect the gross design details you can consider frozen..."
407
408The two engineers traded looks, they had heard comments like that before in the past.
409
410"As such all you need to focus on is working out the flaws. How soon can you have ten soft steel vehicles with the new suspension, engine and transmission?"
411
412The first engineer with his worries over the new main gun asked, "I don't expect anything from Rheinmetall for three maybe six months..."
413
414Speer just waved aside the worry, "Just use weights to simulate the turret. We will address the turret when we have actual weapons."
415
416The two engineers traded looks and then after a moment they both nodded. The pair had been expecting this question, "Three months... the drawings of that torsion bar system were very complete, where..."
417
418Speer just shook his head to not even bother to finish the question the engineers wanted to ask.
419
420"Well then.. three months, perhaps later but certainly no later than first quarter of the 37. Another three to six months of field trails to allow us to lock down the design. So that will give enough time, if just, to get tooling changes to the plants." The senior engineer then looked at the general and bureaucrat to remind them of the statement that these changes would be the last.
421
422The general and civilian nodded. "Keep us informed..."
423
424After the two engineers left Guderian turned to Speer, "I assume that when I finally get an industry report on the VK2801 project to replace the VK2000 series that there is going to be be similar issues?"
425
426Speer nodded unhappily, "Even bigger vehicle, larger main gun, more armor but slopped and the new requirement to attempt to have common parts were practical.... I am glade the ready production date is 1940. Especially with the dictate for mechanical reliability..."
427
428Guderian frowned, "A vehicle that breaks down saves the enemy ammunition Herr Speer. Speaking of common parts, what about truck production?"
429
430"Much simpler issue there..."
431
432***
433
434August 17th, 2016
435Federal Republic of Germany
436
437Eric looked at his list again.
438
439BMW-801A
440BMW-801D2
441Jumo-213A
442....
443Over the years Eric had worked with a number of collectors, historians, museums and the like. There was always someone out there with interest in the past, especially with items tied to the Third Reich. This particular order was strange though. His current employer wanted not just quality drawings of the engines but engineering quality drawings. Suitable for making reproductions. The employer said he had obtained some engines from Russia and wanted them restored to running condition. Several times over the last few years tanks and aircraft had been pulled out of swamps of Russia from the Second World War. Why his employer wasn't going to just hand the recovered engine off to one of the speciality restoration firms out there was beyond him. Oh well he was to meet with the BMW company archivists first.
444
445
446***
447
448
449
450September 6th, 1936
451Berlin Third Reich
452
453General Karl Becker had a number of papers about various research projects in front of him. An electromechanical computer design to be worked on by Konrad Zuse. A radar research institute was to be setup with a large budget and staff. Professor Heinrich Welker was to head a team to research transistors, an alternative to the bulky vacuum tubes that resulted in heavy radios.
454
455The general shook his head. Some of the directives he had received had been extremely general like the one for Herr Zuse a budget, a generous one at that and told to work. With no real goal in mind at this time. While the transistor project had specific names of personnel, an objective and even some notes for direction of the research. It was all very strange.
456
457Now the efforts for the research of synthetic fuel made much more sense to the General. Much less pure theory and more hands on practical. The synthetic fuel program was part of the Four Year plan with stage one to be 25,000 barrels per day of production scaling up to over 250,000 barrels a day.
458
459Equally intriguing was the work done on improved catalytic cracking methods that improved the quality and yield of both synthetic and natural oils, which the the promise of maximizing every barrel of oil. Improved chemical research seemed to offer all sorts of new additives to improve fuel performance too and the test facilities set up to explore production methods for large scale industrial use was just as promising.
460
461***
462
463October 14th, 1936
464Berlin Third Reich
465
466Heydrich looked at the reports coming across his desk from actions in Austria. The Führer had ordered clandestine acts to destabilize the Austro-Fascist regime after the failed Putsch back in 1934 and the resulting crackdown on Nazis in Austria. Coupled with this campaign was an embargo on Austria to hurt the economy and weaken the position of the regime. Schuschnigg had become Chancellor after Engelbert Dollfuss had been assassinated and he had imprisoned and executed a number of Nazis that had rebelled against the state, while leaving others in prison camps to keep them out of circulation; it had been hard to conduct operations in Austria given the crackdown, but the Austrian Chancellor had finally relented under the economic pressure Germany had leveraged, as they were Austria's biggest trading partner, and released the imprisoned Nazis via pardons in July among other concessions, such as bringing Nazis into the government. This opened up a whole new paradigm for attacks on the regime. Exiled Nazis could return with German help and get back to organizing, how having lived in Germany and gotten training from the Abwehr and SS. For now thanks to Schuschnigg having agreed to Hitler's first round of demands Heydrich's operations were mainly aimed at restoring connections within Austria and laying the groundwork for more serious measures in 1937. Local Nazis were recruited by exiles coming home and newly released Nazis were reintegrated into their local chapters and felt out for further willingness to oppose the Austro-Fascist regime and help pave the way for unification with Germany. Nazi politicians could feed Germany information about Austrian plans and help Nazi agents avoid Austrian countermeasures. As Heydrich glanced over the reports he smirked, everything was going swimmingly.
467
468***
469
47010pm October 25th 1936 off the coast of Cartagena, Spain
471
472U-33 sat in the darkness outside city watching Soviet transports prepared to leave the city under cover of night. Not knowing what was on board Kapitan Junker was waiting for them to get underway so he could report their course to the Cruiser, based in Majorca with a non-intervention patrol ostensibly to keep outside powers from intervening in the war, but really just helping the Nationalist cause. The patrol was set to intercept the Soviet convoy on its way to Odessa and reclaim whatever was on board; German marines waited for their chance to storm the ship to ensure the Soviets didn't try and do something silly like scuttle the ships once intercepted.
473
474By 11pm the signal was sent, the Soviets were underway.
475
476By 9:40am on the 26th of October the shadowing U-33 noticed silhouette on the horizon of approaching ships, which soon turned out to be the German neutrality patrol, DKM Deutschland, on course to intercept the Soviet convoy. Signaling for the Soviets to stop for inspection the at first ignored the Germans until a shot fired across the bow of the lead Soviet transport convinced them to give up. German marines quickly boarded the Soviet ships and took command, locking the Soviet sailors in the hold until they could put into port, which they did by nightfall. Nervous Soviets filled out of the cargo hold sans captain, who had committed suicide rather than surrender; the crew claimed he was afraid of what Stalin would do to him for being captured. Inside German sailors inspecting the hold discovered why the Soviet captain was so terrified: the hold was filled with boxes and boxes of gold. In total there was 7800 boxes of Spanish stamped gold weighing in a 560 tons.
477
478Franco was going to be a happy man indeed to receive this gift, though when delivered only 7000 boxes were dropped off with the claim that that was all that was found. With the gold came offers for more equipment for the war effort...at a price.
479
480****
481
482In Madrid and Moscow there was deep fury at the report that the convoy was intercepted and the returning sailors, released after the gold was confiscated, were summarily thrown in prison for their failure. Moscow was not about to offer free aid, leaving the Republican Spaniards high and dry, while they now could not afford to buy non-Soviet materials they needed. In the Republican headquarters there was serious infighting over the loss of the gold leading to an anarchist attempt to overthrow the government and weakening the Stalinists in the Republican coalition. Falling into infighting in late 1936 and starving for foreign supplies the Republicans started their downward.
483
484***
485
486November 11, 1936
487Oil Boom in Germany
488
489In addition to the fields discovered in the East last year a major new field has been discovered in the Ems Valley near the Netherlands. Smaller fields are being explored in Holstein. The oil basin now being explored along the Dutch border according to some reports stretches east of Hannover but so far major effort is centering along the border. Exploratory drilling is occurring in the upper Rhine south of Frankfurt, Thuringia east of Kassel and in southern Bavaria.
490
491***
492
493
494December 1st, 1936
495Third Reich
496
497Heydrich and Himmler were having a very special discussion. One that would be verbally reported to the Fuhrer. There were to be as few records as possible. The two men had been researching the history of the war to come, in particular what historians we call the Holocaust and the Final Solution.
498
499
500"Incredible..."
501
502
503"...With just a little more time..."
504
505
506"Yes... we could have gotten all of the Jews."
507
508
509Heydrich produced a hand written report, "We have a number of possibilities open to us once the war starts but there is not much more we can do in peace time as other nations refuse to take the Jews and other undesirables. There are certain advantages to attempting to cleans areas in combat conditions. But also disadvantages as by all reports I have read though this is going to produce a substantial manpower drain with on going partisan issues. People that know that they have nothing to loose will fight."
510
511
512"The Fuhrer views this as a desirable result in the long term. It will help keep the soldier - settlers sharp and ready in the eastern lands to be seized." Himmler confirmed, this was hardly the first meeting on this particular subject.
513
514
515"Yes but timing is an important consideration, once the enemy armies are defeated we are free to institute more... direct policies... Also we need to decide how many of the Slavs are to be... removed... how many are suitable for Germanization and how many are to be kept as manpower."
516
517
518Himmler frowned, "The Fuhrer wants at least a 50% reduction in eastern populations."
519
520
521"Yes but that implies up to 50% will remain and those that prove most useful and helpful can assure that they and their families are those that remain. My suggestion is we carry out the population 'transfer' policy in stages. The final stage will simply have to wait till the Soviet Armies are destroyed; we should avoid needless revolts and partisan out bursts. We can sweep up Jews and other undesirables at the start of course. There was some success with formation of 'helper' formations in the war to come but it wasn't systematic." Heydrich strove to avoid making decisions based on emotion and so kept his voice calm.
522
523
524Reluctantly Himmler nodded, "Perhaps."
525
526
527Sensing Himmler didn't have a good counter argument Heydrich pressed, "Here is the report I will present to the Fuhrer. Once we have destroyed the Soviet armies we can start wide scale population 'transfers.' With 'helpers' proving their loyalty by taking a lead role in the 'transfers.'"
528
529
530Himmler took the offered report. "Very well."
531
532***
533
534December 15th, 1936
535South Africa
536
537"I don't know what to say to Rhoodie... I want to be sick... the idea of JUST handing over the country to the Kaffirs... If I didn't see the movies and the rest you brought I would have tossed you out of my house for a madman." John Vorster of the Ossewabrandwag said as he shook his head. He picked up the color photograph of the first Black President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela and in a fit of rage crumpled the photo and tossed it into the fireplace.
538
539
540At the outburst Rhoodie nodded in sympathy, "If you are upset, imagine what it was to live through."
541
542
543Vorster took a deep swallow from his drink, "Damn that British ass licker Smuts... damn his traitorous soul to hell. This is all his fault!"
544
545
546Rhoodie didn't fully agree with his hosts statement. Yes Smuts policies kept South Africa and the Boers allied to the rotting corpse called the United Kingdom but he did understand how to order relationships between the white people and the coloreds and Kaffirs. "Worse will happen in the years to come, especially the interfering outsiders."
547
548
549"It always comes back to them, doesn't it?" The Boer Leader growled as he took another drink.
550
551
552The man from the future nodded totally agreement, "It always did and always will unless we can stand on our own two feet."
553
554
555Vorster gave his visitor with a questioning look, "Do you mean for us to join with Germany?"
556
557
558"Trade one master for another? No... An alliance yes but we need to take steps to deal with the Kaffir problem long term and there are other weapons that we will NOT be sharing with Germany." Rhoodie said as he leaned forward with a conspirators expression.
559
560
561Now John was confused the Boer people were proud but they had learned to their sorrow that being a people few in number made them vulnerable to larger nations. "The weapons you showed me are impressive but how can they make a difference against the great powers?"
562
563
564"The Americans ended the war to come by dropping weapons of unbelievable power on Japan. These bombs will known as Nuclear Bombs..." Rhoodie explained about the Manhattan Project, the Cold War and how in time South Africa had produced such weapons itself.
565
566
567"You mean to say that such weapons are possible? Our people had them and still surrendered to the pressure of the outlanders?!?" Vorster was again disgusted.
568
569
570Rhoodie understood it was a complex issue and that using nuclear weapons was hardly the same as dropping a normal bomb. Especially as while South Africa had a handful of such weapons it could hardly threaten the likes of the United States or the Soviet Union.
571
572
573"You mean for us to build such? Didn't you just explain that the Americans spent vast sums of money to build just two such weapons?" Vorster asked now confused.
574
575
576"It was hugely expensive for the Americans for a number of reasons not the least of which it was the first time anyone created nuclear weapons. One of the Physics Researchers that worked on South Africa's program in the 1980's is one of us. I will not lie and say it will be easy or cheap. From what the Professor has told me it will be at least a decade with this tech base and that is AFTER we kick the British out before we can start. But in the years to come having such weapons openly makes one a power and that will give us time to take steps on how to deal with the Kaffirs and secure our land for all time..." The flames in the fireplace seemed to reflect off Rhoodie's giving him an almost demonic look.
577
578
579Vorster, "What do you mean?"
580
581
582"As long as the Kaffirs are here they are a threat, an opening for outlanders to interfere, Apartheid and Native Homelands failed. There is only one path to follow..."
583Chapter 5: Bearing Fruit
584
585ATTEN:
586Naval Intelligence Division
587Room 39, Admiralty House
588
589
590On this date January 29th, 1937, the German Navy has laid down a 3rd unit of its latest light cruiser class at the Bremen Shipyard Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau also known as Deschimag. Officially her design details are to be 643 feet length by 59 foot beam by 18 foot draft at normal displacement for 8,000 tons standard displacement. The same as the first two units laid down the previous year. I have been unable to acquire any information to confirm the theory that this new class of cruisers will be closer to 9,000 tons standard displacement. I have been able to confirm from observation of the first two hulls that the class makes use of a mixed Steam and Diesel Propulsion system.
591
592Also under construction in the Deschimag Yard are four destroyers and from chatter of shipyard workers one or more are to a new design that makes use of a Diesel Propulsion System. Material collection for the construction of U-Boats is also occurring at the nearby AG Weser yard but as of yet no U-Boats have been laid down.
593
594***
595
596The Journal of Miing and Geology
597Vol 45 (1937), Number 2 (Febuary - March)
598
599Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Europese Mineralen (Societyfor the Exploitation of European Minerals) a newly established mining advising company of the Netherlands in the past year has discovered a number mineral deposits in Europe. Near Kemi Finland a deposit of high grade chromium. In Polish Silesia a deposit of Copper, Molybdenum, Silver and Tungsten. Near Mittersill Austria a desposit of Tungsten. The company has been seeking local investors for the discoveries and has a number of other projects in the works.
600
601***
602
603February 10th, 1937
604Berlin, Third Reich
605
606With the reorganization of the Deutsche Reichsbahn the time had come for a new round of Locomotive and Rolling stock construction. As such the General Director of Deutsche Reichsbahn and now Reich Transport Minister Julius Dorpmüller called the Chief of Design, Richard Wagner, for the railway to a meeting.
607
608Both men were engineers by training and had served in German railways in one form or another for decades. Wagner now 55 had served in the Railroad Regiments during the great war and had witnessed first had problems with keeping locomotives running. Dorpmüller had been director of the DR since 1925.
609
610"I just had a meeting with the Führer and he has some directives for the DR with respect to construction." Dorpmüller said and has he did beads of sweat formed on his balding head in memory of the meeting. The Führer could be agitated at times and this meeting was such, and he had made clear it was vital for the DR to embark on a construction and reform program as he put it.
611
612Wagner waited a bit for Dorpmüller to continue and then prompted his boss, "Director what sort of instructions?"
613
614Dorpmüller frowned, "First of all he wants us to increase the rate of upgrading of rail beds to carrying a higher axel load. Second there is to be an authorization for a slight increase in budget for procurement of additional locomotives. The third directive is that the DR, meaning you, are to prepare designs with an eye for simplicity to allow rapid construction and without use of rare materials such as copper. This third directive is to be in the vent of a national emergency."
615
616The chief design engineer for the DR was taken back by the third directive. "No copper? Not just reduced use but NONE?"
617
618"That is correct."
619
620"Is this part of the Autarky program?"
621
622"No or at least I don't think so. The Führer emphasized this was just to b plans kept at the ready and not for a change in current policy. He provided a list of materials that might be restricted and some specific changes for us to consider." With that statement the head of the DR turned over the sheet of paper provided by the Führer to Wagner.
623
624The design engineers eyes went wide, "Does he have any idea what these changes will do to operational life and fuel efficiency?"
625
626"I brought that up and he understands."
627
628Wagner looked at the list of requirements again, "National Emergency... Restricted Resources... Short Service life... Oh my God, WAR austerity designs. Not just austerity these changes are to drop anything not absolutely needed for operation. How soon?"
629
630"Again he just wanted plans at the ready and the increase in budget is hardly huge so I think its just what it sounds like contingency planning."
631
632Wagner thought it over, the German railnet had collapsed towards the end of the Great War from over use of the engines and rolling stock so advanced planning made a great deal of sense. This was just no doubt part of expanded planning for the military. Both men were used to dealing with the army on a regular basis because of the importance of the DR for transporting materials to military and the army had tight integration with the railways for decades. "Very well I will have a list of recommendations for overhauls and new construction as soon as you give me budget numbers and routes. As to the planning I will get working on it and let you know, figure it will be a few months to have production ready designs.
633
634"Very well."
635
636***
637
638March 18th, 1937
639Panzer Evaluation at Kummersdorf
640Attention: Inspector off Panzers
641
642Five PzKpfw III Ausf A were received forty days ago for advanced evaluation. Compared to the prototype design presented by Daimler-Benz of last year the Ausf A with the new torsion bar suspension is a marked improvement with respect to not only reliability but also cross country performance. The transmission requires additional work as the test vehicles with weights simulating an armed turret weigh in at 22.3 tons and there have been repeated break downs. Maybach engineers are looking into the situation and should have a new transmissions ready for the ten vehicles to be equipped with fully functioning turrets. Once the armed vehicles are received the five Ausf A's will be returned to Daimler-Benz for fitting with a citadel and 75mmL24 as a Sturmegeschuetz.
643
644
645MAN, Daimler-Benz AG and Krupp AG have all submitted drawings for the VK2801 specification and Rheinmetall-Borsig should shortly. It is hoped that full scale mockups will be ready within the next few months.
646
647
648Three modified PzKpfw II chassis have been received from MAN, one equipped with 105mm howitzer, the second with twin 20mm anti-aircraft guns and the third will use a weight till Rheinmetall has then new 50mmL60 cannon ready. All three vehicles have light splinter shields for crew protection and will be put through their paces shortly.
649
650
651Hasso von Manteuffel
652Major
653
654***
655
656April 10, 1937
657Third Reich, Germany
658
659Today was a big day as the second Ju-88 prototype was taking off for the first time so a number of officials from the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Luftwaffe and the Four Year Plan were in attendance. This was not just important for the Ju-88 but also for Junkers Division as the V2 was equipped with the latest product from engine plant, the 213 a twelve cylinder inline engine rated at 1729 HP or 1750 PS. The V3 was to receive a fourteen cylinder radial but with lower horse power and it would be months before the third prototype was ready. Many were very excited at the possibilities of the new inline engine with its pressurized cooling system, low weight and very high power. Future modules would be equipped with a water injection system for the supercharger increasing power even more for brief bursts.
660
661Udet looked up with the same enthusiasm as the reset of the crowd hearing the hum to the south and then the twin engine bomber came into view. Doing a wing wiggle as the aircraft past the reviewing stands the bomber raced out of sight. The crowds in the stands gave wild cheers and then Dr. Heinrich Koppenberg, managing director of Junkers, came to the announcing stand. "This was the final leg of the 1,000 km, 620 mile closed circuit speed trial and the V2 sustained an average speed of 600 km per hour or 373 miles per hour!"
662
663The crowd once again started to cheer at the news and Udet joined them. It was an impressive achievement even if a stunt. The Bf-109B that entered service in February had a max speed of 292mph / 470kph. Of course it helped that the Ju-88 was flying with five times the horse power of the Bf-109B with its Jumo-210B at 610 HP. Needless to say there was a great deal of interest in the new engines that the Jumo-213 was the first of. The real test for the Ju-88 would be when the 4th or 5th prototypes were ready as those aircraft would have bomb bays and be carrying weight equal to the specified war load of 4,400 lbs. This prototype was only carrying enough fuel for the flight and nothing else. Junkers estimated that a aircraft with two man crew and war load would be capable of speeds nearly 350 miles per hour.
664
665Then despite the enthusiasm of crowd Udet frowned and took out a flash and took a sip of whisky. He had been paying close attention to reports from Spain. Dive bombing was paying big dividends in terms off accuracy and he had suggested that more bombers be made capable of Dive Bombing. However Udet's influence was limited at the Reich Air Ministry at least with bombers as his efforts to be made head of the Development Division of the Ministry had come to nothing. Instead Udet was made Commander of All Fighter Forces.
666
667Looking to the north Udet watched as the Ju-88 completed its turn and head back toward the crowd.
668
669***
670
67128th April, 1937
672Headline of London Times
673
674Two days ago aircraft of the Condor Legion bombed Republican controlled targets in Spain. German aircraft made extensive use of dive bombing during their attacks.
675
676***
677
678May 6th, 1937
679NJ, USA
680
681The German Zeppelin the Hindenburg arrives at Lakehurst. A large crowd turned out for what is expected to be one of its last transatlantic crossing voyages. It has been announced that the Zeppelin is to be replaced on the route by the new Junkers - 90 four engine airliners as soon as they enter service next year.
682
683***
684
685May 27th, 1937
686Paris, France
687
688"Minister with Republican armies in collapse it is very likely that before the end of the year the Nationalists will achieve complete control of Spain." The French army officer reported.
689
690The French Minister nodded, "What is the worst case?"
691
692"Worst case is that Germany, Italy and Spain will ally. It will be several years for Spain to recover but we can hardly ignore them totally in the mean time. What is more worrisome has been the performance of the German units in the fighting, in particular their air units."
693
694"Any sign of their new light machine-gun in fighting? I had hoped we would be able to get a sample by now to examine." The minister asked.
695
696The army officer shook his head in the negative. "We should consider designing our own. We have a good idea as to the weapons gross details, it would be helpful to see a sample for the mechanism of course."
697
698The minister gave a Gaulic shrug, "While budgets have increased there are limits perhaps next year."
699
700***
701
702July 26th, 1937
703Stettin, Third Reich
704
705The first sample of the naval ferry barge arrived for testing at this less busy port and stretch of coast line.
706
707
***
708
709
710August 14th,
711Berlin
712
713Looking over his weekly reports again, Reinhardt Heydrich was pleased by the general uptick in acts of terror in Austria being conducted by the Austrian Nazis. Having passed on considering funds, weapons, and intelligence the attacks were meant to undermine confidence in the Austro-Fascist government by creating a sense of fear and disorder; bombs would go off in government institutions all over the country after a warning had been telephoned in because the goal wasn't to kill good Aryans, just make people think twice about trusting Vienna to run things.
714
715
716Propaganda was being distributed, more Nazis brought into the Austrian bureaucracy and party membership expanded. They tried to offer social service to run contrary to the government to build confidence in the good will of the party, while also beating up Jews and terrorizing them. Party thugs were being empowered to 'protect' people that came to them with complaints about Gypsies and foreigners, which played well with certain types of people. All in all spies reported general dissatisfaction with Vienna and a strong upswing in desire to unify with Germany. It certainly helped that German unemployment was all but a thing of the past, while in Austria typical capitalist strictures prevented full employment. So the party worked to give people that came to them a purpose and job, which just built further good will. Talks with Hitler signaled to Heydrich that increased external political pressure was going to be brought to bear soon and resolve the 'Greater Germany' issue that had kept the German people separated for too long. This would be one of the last nails in the Versailles Diktat.
717
718
719***
720
721September 8th,
722Third Reich, Exact Location Secret
723
724
725Four men in uniforms, two of the Waffen SS, the third that of a Heer Oberst and the fourth was in a mottle camouflage unlike the others, all watched the military exercise heading towards completion. Heydrich turned to Army officer, "Are you satisfied with your training program Oberst Rommel?"
726
727"Training is never complete Gruppenführer." Rommel continued to watch the exercise as a trio of SS soldiers stopped. One raised the new Panzerfaust anti-tank rocket to his shoulder, took aim and then there was woosh followed by an explosion as the target was destroyed.
728
729Brigadeführer Paul Hausser and the south African Konrad de Buys both nodded in agreement. The training program that Rommel was running had input from all of the men of course.
730
731After making a brief note for the post exercise review Rommel turned to the SD head, "I will say that things have gone much better than I expected, you set some very high standards for this unit but they have done well." When first ordered to take up the duty Rommel had attempted to refuse. He had cared little for the SS and a incident in 1934 when an SS Guard unit had attempted to 'protect' Hitler FROM Rommel's men had enraged him at the insult. The idea that Leader of Germany needed protection from is soldiers was ridiculous. Well Hitler himself had 'requested' he take up this role and that left Rommel two choices accept the appointment or resign.
732
733De Buys smiled, "What do you think of their commander."
734
735The Army officer needed to no time to think, he had been working with the SS Untersturmführer ever since Heydrich formed the unit and requested the Austrian leave his homeland to help the German people by being the commander. The choice was strange, Otto Skorzeny while a member of the Austrian Nazi party had no military background. At first Rommel thought that Skorzeny was some type of party pet with powerful connects but had turned out to be be a very hard worker, "Skorzeny shows a good deal of promise, he has the right combination of daring and initiation. He needs more seasoning though."
736
737Hausser spoke up, "Hence the selection of NCO's he has been assigned. As Oberst Rommel says Skorzeny needs seasoning but he listens to those with more experienced."
738
739"You are set to move forward with the expansion." Rommel says without being asked as this Waffen SS unit was to eventually be a battalion in size. Himmler and Herdrich wanted an elite combat unit, not just the life guard units that Hausser had been training up since he retired from the army and joined the SS several years ago. This unit would be very different. The focus wasn't on drill but on close order combat in any condition, cities, mountains, forests, as well as paratroops or from small boats. The budget for firing practice was lavish to say the least, that had been De Buys contribution. The result was every man fired a 1,000 rounds a week, every week.
740
741Of course Rommel didn't know what else had been De Buys' contribution to this unit. It was the mans up time knowledge of events and people that brought Otto Skorzeny to Himmler and Heydrich's attention. That plus a certain fanboy fascination to see the Desert Fox in action had promoted the suggestion for Rommel to over see the unit training.
742
743More than once Rommel wondered what he would have been able to achieve in the Great War with a unit trained to this level. The firepower of the unit was impressive every rifleman was armed with the StG-36, the rest were equipped with the new PanzerFaust or the MG-34. For now the PanzerFaust was to be kept hidden as much as practical. The impressive level of firepower would be even more true once the unit reached its targeted size of a full infantry battalion. Of course when it reached Battalion Size the intention was obviously not for it to fight as such but rather as smaller sub units, specially emphasis was placed personal initiative and cross training. That and people that knew foreign languages. The title of the unit was Sonderlehrgang zbV Waffen SS. The question was why did Himmler and Heyrich want such a unit? Rommel intended to talk to his superiors once his assignment completed, the Army could use such a unit. Even with the Army to next year to transition to the StG-36 as a the general service rifle and not just a light machine-gun.
744
745***
746
747September 22nd, 1937
748Berlin, Third Reich
749
750Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen looked at the drawings presented by Focke-Wulf, Messerschmitt and Heinkel. All three were designs to make use of the new turbojets that were being worked on. The Jumo engine had a sustained thrust of 2,500 lbs but the designers were certain they would meet the goal of 4,000 lbs thrust. All three designs would make use of the new Wind Tunnel that just opened in Walchensee in Bavaria. The wind tunnel once fully upgraded would produce up to Mach 10. There was a great deal of interest in using the facility even the army with its Rocket Research group at Peenemünde want’s access.
751
752Another sheet showed drawing of a new rocket to be carried by aircraft and could be fired not only air to air but also at ground targets.
753
754
755***
756
757October 17th
758Czechoslovakia
759
760Konrad Henlein leader of Sudetendeutsche Partei during a rarely in Carlsbad called for the protection of the Sudeten Germans from acts of 'terror' by the Government of Czechoslovakia. Only Germany could protect the ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland. The rarely concluded with shouts of, "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!"
761
762***
763
764October 28th
765Third Reich
766
767The big four engine bomber sat on the runway, the 6th prototype aircraft. Walking around the aircraft were the pilot and the co-pilot. The co-pilot held a clipboard as the pair ran down the pre-flight checklist. At last the two came to one of the test weapons suspended beneath the wings between the two engine pods, the proto-type Fritz-X armored piercing glide bomb. With the external checklist complete the pilots joined the rest of the crew inside the Donier 19. The Oberst got into the co-pilots seat, Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, as despite higher rank he wasn't the test pilot. Rank and position have some privileges however and as head of Reich Ministry of Aviation Research Division being able to get yourself as assigned as the Co-Pilot for important tests was one. Besides being a cousin of the famed World War I ace Richthofen had a number of things going for him such as a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Technical University of Hanover and combat experience in the late civil war in Spain which factored into his selection as head of R&D.
768
769
770One by one the four 1,000 HP Bramo engines came alive and as power was applied the bomber started down the runway. Soon the Donier Bomber was in the air heading north towards the Baltic. After a brief flight the pilot instructed the bombardier that he was clear to turn on the radar set, a FuG 100 a surface search radar capable of detecting objects down to 50m from 10km away but a fleet sized target out to 150km. Out in the Baltic were two target barges being towed by the old Imperial Navy pre-dreadnought battleship Hessen, converted into radio controlled target ship years ago.
771
772
773Soon enough the target was found and the bomber altered course, the navy had only provided a general location for ship. They were expected to find it on their own. Once within visual range the bombardier inspected the target to be sure confirmed the target. A brief radio check was made to confirm they had the correct target, it wouldn't do to sink some poor tug boat hauling barrages. After the countdown completed first one and then the second bomb was released. The piolet flared the wings to reduce speed and let the glide bombs outpace the bomber so the bombardier could see them to guide them on their voyage to the target barrages.
774
775
776Then the bombardier called out impact in short order and the bomber returned to base. Once there the crew was informed that one weapon was a clear miss by over 150 meters but the second had been right on target. A good first time performance.
777
778***
779
780November 5th
781Berlin, Third Reich
782
783Hitler calls a meeting of senior officials of the Reich and point blank informs them that he plans on moving against Austria and Czechoslovakia within the next year and soon after Poland. He informs them that he doesn't expect resistance from the west over the first two it might be possible for Poland but Germany will be strong enough to meet any challenge.
784
785
786***
787
788November 6th
789Wilhelmstraße, Third Reich
790
791
792Italy had joined the Anti-Comintern Pact when Foreign Minister Ciano signed for the Kingdom of Italy. Now that the pomp and drama was complete the German Foreign Minister von Neurath invited Ciano and Kintomo Mushakōji the Ambassador for the Empire of Japan to a private meeting. Von Neurath had started his diplomatic career during the German Empire more than 30 years ago. During that time he seen a great deal of strangeness today would be another day.
793
794"Count I once again wish to thank you for coming all this way..."
795
796The Italian diplomat smiled, "It is no problem, for momentous diplomatic events a foreign minister should attend."
797
798Mushakōji quietly waited and watched, he recognized that this was more setup to the real reason for this private meeting.
799
800"The Führer has directed that I give you two..."
801
802Continuing to show no outward interest but Mushakōji was now totally focused and thought, 'Now we come to business.'
803
804"...these documents and you are to pass them on to your governments with all secrecy.' And without additional comment von Neurath handed over a pair of large folders.
805
806Cianno raised an eyebrow, "May I ask what they contain?"
807
808"Please open them, I will explain more after you have had a few minutes to look things over. Feel free to use a table." The German diplomat waved a hand towards some antique tables that dated to the time of Wilhelm the first.
809
810Cianno and Mushakōji looked at one another, shrugged and both men went to the offered tables to examine their binders. Inside the two men found maps, tables with numbers and then a short list of items. The Japanese diplomat while confused had total control and asked politely for an explanation.
811
812"It's simple the maps show the general locations of petroleum deposits in both of your territories, Manchuria and Libya. The numbers are the exact coordinates and depths. There have been some breakthroughs with respect to petroleum prospecting."
813
814Mushakōji at last frowned, the documents were VERY specific. For the locations of the oil deposits. How could the Germans possibly have this information? Putting that asid the Japanese Diplomat moved onto to the list, "And this?"
815
816"Germany will share certain technologies with our allies with respect to industry. There have also been some break through with respect synthetic fuels."
817
818Cianno smiled but was confused, "In exchange?"
819
820"For now... nothing. It is a gesture of good will from one ally to another."
821
822***
823
824November 23rd, 1937
825
826"Franco Victorious! With the surrender of Cartagena the last Republican stronghold has fallen..."
827January 16th
828Daimler-Benz Engine Plant Berlin, Third Reich
829
830Machinist Joachim Pieck smiled at the newest bit of machinery in the aero engine factory. Ever since he started working in the plant they made use of generalist machinery. Equipment that could be reconfigured to do several things. The older machinery could do several things but none of them well as the current jig and machinery. Instead of doing a batch of engine parts, converting the machines over to do the next step, convert again and so on. Now each stage would have its own set of specialized machinery. The line once setup, like now, wouldn’t stop and would be a continuous line of engines.
831
832Looking up from his new machine Pieck saw the line of DB605 engines on the plant floor. Each engine sitting on a trolley to be moved from station to station along the line till it was finished. Then the engines would head off to test stations for acceptance testing.
833
834“Herr Pieck…” One of the young students fresh out of High School asked slowly. The Labor Front identified students with promising mechanical aptitude for technical training. Wilhelm and the other students in a tight little gaggle behind Pieck were getting their first exposure to a real factory. Beside all of the new machine there was also a push to get people with the right training for it.
835
836“Spit it out Wilhelm.”
837
838After a gulp the apprentice nodded and found his voice, “I heard that there a number of openings…”
839
840Pieck hid a smile, a machinist slot was a much sought after job. Even if with these new specialist machines you didn't need the same skill set that a 20 year man like himself had. Yes there would several years of apprenticeship, training and tests but at the end would be a well-paying job. All these students would have seen the problems their fathers had with find jobs during the depression. There had been talk for years of getting specialist machinery like this but the unions had fought it, preferring for obvious reason for specialized workers. That was before the mass arrests of the Union leaders followed by them going to the Concentration Camps. Pushing the thought aside Pieck answered, “Yes there are for those that earn it so for now keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth SHUT.”
841
842The students gave a collective nod.
843
844Moving down the line to the next station to check to be sure its machine was in good order. Pieck looked the setup over and briefly explained the operation of the machines there and what the two workers at the station did. The factory had been running two shifts for well over a year now and yet there still was a push for more trained workers, more machinery and more floor space to produce equipment. They had phased out the DB600 some time ago and only had a limited run of the DB601s before moving on to these much more powerful DB605 and DB603 engines.
845
846
847
848***
849
850February 18th, 2018
851Beijing, People's Republic of China
852China North Industries Corporation "Norinco"
853
854"Mr. Lang, it is a pleasure to meet with you again. I understand that you wish to place an order for some additional equipment? I trust that the Drill Bits that we provided are working as expected?" The Chinese exec asked in a pleasant voice and in very good English.
855
856The South African nodded in return, "Our Africa project is on schedule the drills worked exactly as advertised. Yes I have more business to discuss but a different type." Without additional explanation Lang slid a folder across the table, the title was 'Project Rubicon'.
857
858The Chinese executive eyes went wide but only for a moment, "I believe that we can help you with your... needs but this isn't my area..."
859
860Lang smoothly waved his hand and the problem aside, "Artillery Shells are of course a different division of your company but we would like this expedited and since we have worked so well together we would like to continue to work with people we know. So we would be grateful if you could facilitate a meeting with whom we need to talk to and of course... keep it confidential."
861
862The executive gave a polite bow. Norinco made everything from trucks, to mining gear, to reproduction small arms for gun enthusiasts in the USA to MBT for the PLA. From time to time such 'confidential' orders would come in, especially out of Africa. A sample order of artillery shells with whatever 'base bleed' and 'extended range, full bore' were should be no problem. Someone in the weapons division would handle such technical details.
863From his side of the table Lang kept his face clear of expression. It still amazed him what a gold mine of information the internet was. There were dozens of web forums that made a practical industry of having debates about the Second World War. Ask a question at one forum and you could soon have dozens of replies with more information than even people of the time period in question would know. One such comment brought them back here. Lang would rather have talked to someone at Denel, Manufacture of the G5, G6 and G7 Howitzers for the SADF the longest ranged artillery in their class in the world. BUT even with the post-apartheid agreements and pardons Lang and his associates would be watched even if at a low level in their homeland. They couldn't risk anyone asking questions on why they wanted military gear. Hence why Lang was back in China.
864
865***
866
867March 11th,
868Vienna, Austrian Republic
869
870Conclusion of Radio Broadcast by Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, “God protect Austria.”
871
872***
873
874March12th
875Vienna, Third Reich
876
877Announcement by Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler, "The reunification of Austria with the German Reich is complete."
878
879***
880
881May 21st
882Moscow
883Union of Soviet Socialists Republics
884
885
886There have been some very rapid changes in the German Army this year.
887
888First the Germans are moving rapidly forward with the StG 36 as their primary infantry rifle. Production of this rifle appears to be well over 20,000 units a month. At the rate of conversion the entire German Army will be field the new 'assault rifle' by this time next year at the latest. I strongly suggest that a matching weapon be researched for the Red Army as soon as practical. The firepower advantages the weapon has provided to the German army are impossible to overstate.
889
890Second With the StG-36 becoming not just a light machine gun but the general service rifle the Germans have introduced a new Light Machine Gun. The MG-38 appears to be a reinforced StG-36 with a longer and heavier barrel to allow for continuous fire and the weapon can use a 100 round drum magazine or be belt fed. In addition the weapon can use the standard clip magazines of the StG-36.
891
892Since 1934 the Germans have introduced the following Automatic Weapons.
893
894MG-34 7.92mm x 57 belt fed machine gun now superseded by MG-37 a new machine gun that makes extensive use of stamped metal fabrication. It appears that the MG-34 is being equipped in Luftwaffe Aircraft and Armored Vehicles.
895StG-36 assault rifle
896StG-37 Light Machine Gun
897MP-35 a machine pistol
898MP-38 a new machine pistol
899
900Third with the annexation of Austria the German Army inherited the entire Austrian Army pool of equipment and its manpower, over 50,000 active troops. Several new divisions have been formed from the manpower of the Austrian Army. The 44th Infantry division is the Austrian 2nd, the 45th Division is the Austrian 4th, and the Germany 3rd Mountain is the Austrian 4th and 7th. The 4th Light Division is the Austrian Schnelle Division. Several other units have been attached to various German formations
901
902Ivan Kalinin, Colonel
903Military Attaché
904Berlin
905
906
907***
908
909June 13th
910Vienna, Third Reich
911
912"German Oil boom extends to Austria as a new field has been discovered near Matzen in the Vienna Basin. Once the new field is added to the new fields in the rest of Germany and combined with the massive coal conversion plants of the Four Year will raise production in Germany to ..."
913
914***
915
916August 29th
917Thuringia Third Reich
918
919A pair of factory fresh Panzer Mark IIIs burst out of a tree line and with them a Panzer Mark IV. The Mark IV was in mild steel, one of the advance prototypes. The new tank made an impression with its slopped armor and big 75mm main gun. The three tanks fired shots at wooden targets setup across the clearing. Following the big tanks out of the tree line were the lighter Mark I and II's that made up the bulk of the panzers for the Division. The goal was to have two light companies and a medium company for each battalion but for now that was a goal.
920
921
922Guderian made notes as the exercise moved forward. The Mark IV was one of three that had been received for testing but the other two had broken down. They were prototypes after all and the factory mechanics where trying to get them running again. Other than that little black mark the exercise had been going well. The self-propelled guns built on converted Mark I and Mark II chassis were going very well; by the end of the year production was to rise to 30 a month to be converted to carry 105mm howitzers, 50mm or 75mm anti-tank guns and 20mm anti-aircraft guns. The notes were important not just for training but a specification for yet another new tank, the VK4000 project. The details on that were still very vague with some suggesting a very long 75mm main gun and others wanted an 88mm main gun. The gross details had been settled on though like the need for extra wide treads to operate in muddy conditions. Still it would be a year or even two before any type of prototype was ready. In the mean time they could get the Mark IV into service, hopefully by 1940 or more likely 41 for wide scale service.
923
924
925Then the exercised moved to the next phase and infantry advanced, all the men of this unit were now equipped with the StG-36. At the start of the New Year the order had come down for the assault rifle to become the standard rifle and so battalion by battalion were converting over.
926
927
928***
929
930
931September 14th
932St. Valentin, Third Reich
933
934The surveyors were laying out the first factory building of what will be known in time as the Nibelungenwerk but for now has the code name of ‘Toy Factory.”
935
936***
937
938September 22, 1938.
939Third Reich
940
941
942As Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen watched the two aircraft fly overhead he had to shake his head in amazement. Both were prototypes the first the Heinkel He-280 and followed by the Messerschmitt Me 262. Either fighter could make over 500 mph with ease. The Jumo 004 and BMW 003 engines could both provide over 2,500 lbs. of thrust now but the RLM wasn't satisfied and so improvements where in the works to the engines with additional compressors, more combustion chambers and a second turbine stage. The goal of 8,000 lbs. thrust was still far down the road but it no longer looked like madness to the engineers.
943
944It was a pity that Focke-Wulf failed to get their jet design flight ready in time but Kurt Tank was a busy man. He had his hand in two versions of his prop fighter, the Fw-190. One in the works as a long range escort and the other a conventional fighter. The third design was the Fw-187 that the Fuhrer himself ordered to replace the canceled Bf-110. Fitting DB-605’s had run into some snags and so the Focke-Wulf effort for a Jet Fighter had lagged. Leaving the field to these two offerings. While Richthofen admired both designs the Me-262 was clearer the better design, the Heinke engineers had made the aircraft too light and there just wasn’t enough fuel capacity for the thirsty turbo jets. Even with the improved engines the Jet fighter was going to have serious range issues and that made it all the more important for a long range fighter escort.
945
946***
947
948
949
950September 30th
951London, British Empire
952
953Standing before a horde of reporters the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waved a copy of the Munich Agreement and said, “The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you..."
954
955Cheers from the crowd as Chamberlain reads the agreement.
956
957"We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again."
958More cheers from the crowd.
959
960Headline next day
961"Peace for our time!"
962
963***
964
965
966November 11th
967New York Times Headline
968
969"Nazis Smash, Loot, Burn Jewish Shops and Temples Until Goebbles Calls Halt.
970
971--
972
973All Vienna's Synagogues Attacked; Fires and Bombs wreck 18 of 21.
974
975--
976
977Jews Are Beaten, Furniture and Goods Flung From Homes and Shops."
978
979
9801939
981
982January 20th
983Wannsee, Third Reich
984
985“Reinhard, why did you insist that we have this meeting here?” Himmler asked his second in command. The three men, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann were sitting around a polished conference table that could easily accommodate over a dozen. A light meal had been served by waiters dressed in white tails. 
986
987Heydrich gave sly smile before he answered, “Tradition.”
988
989The three men were party to the secret of the South African’s being from the future and Eichmann and then even Himmler chuckled at the joke. The Eichmann said, “If I might suggest that we are not too much slaves to tradition.”
990
991“Point… a clear point. Now to business the Führer has approved the broad strokes of Reinhard’s plan but a FINAL document is need. As we will need to bring in the SS Race and Settlement Main Office, Main Welfare Office for Ethnic Germans and others so they can in time make their own plans for their specific areas.” Himmler then nodded at the SD chief to begin. 
992
993“We have all read several times now the documents about the Generalplan Ost and the Final Solution…”
994
995Eichmann tapped the table in approval when ‘final solution’ was mentioned. 
996
997Heydrich smiled but kept talking, “…provided by our visitors through the mists of time.” 
998
999Till Eichmann again interrupted, “If I may… I am concerned about our allies. I have noticed some discrepancies in the material they have provided us.”
1000
1001Heydrich and Himmler exchanged glances and then the later asked quietly, “I assume you mean the gaps in the records?”
1002
1003“Yes and no sir. It is something I think they overlooked in a set of documents they sent to us as I didn’t find references to it elsewhere. General Weaver has been most interested in asking questions about the Luftwaffe of future and its operations and tactics when he found this.” Eichmann handover a simply pamphlet, it was in German titled ‘Safety Procedures.’
1004
1005“This is what Adolf?” Heydrich asked.
1006
1007Eichmann turned a few pages, “It is a set of measures to be taken in the event of attack. The German Military from the 1980’s was very worried about the Soviet Union and the weapons they might use. Besides the obvious a great deal of attention is paid to chemical weapons of various types, biological and NUCLEAR WEAPONS.”
1008
1009Again Heydrich and Himmler exchanged glances again both men’s faces were unreadable masks. “We will research this subject but for now Reinhard resume your presentation.”
1010
1011With a nod Heydrich picked back up, “As I was saying we have all read the documents with respect to plans to reorder the east so there is no need to rehash what would have been. I will say that in broad strokes we should follow the clear spirit of those plans and of course the Führer’s vision for the Volk. So we will rid Europe and in particular our Lebensraum of the taint of Jews. We have two contingencies based on how the Campaign vs. the British goes. If they can be forced to terms we will break the Jews into two groups. The first group, mostly those Jews found in Western Europe which the British will be required to take and remove. Whatever the British do with them is their business as long as they are removed from Europe. This will be over a million in number most of which are found in France. The second group of course is those in the Eastern Territories to be annexed. They are to be disposed of through destructive labor for the able bodied and the rest exterminated.”
1012
1013The head of the SS nodded in understanding and agreement, “And if the British refuse to come to terms?”
1014
1015“Then all the Jews be exterminated despite any complaints our associates in the army might have as to how much railroad capacity it might tie up.”
1016
1017Again Himmler nodded, “And the rest of the population in the Eastern Territories?”
1018
1019At this point Eichmann took a more active role. He handed out a set of documents, “It’s clear from the histories of what would have come that the Poles are going to prove to be very stubborn beasts. No cooperation to speak of and a revolt in the end. More radical steps are going to be necessary to deal with them. It’s clear that the liberation of the lost territories and the conquest of the rest will be very swift and at little cost. As such we will have freedom to take harsher measures to start as such I suggest mass deportations on a larger scale and scope from the start into the ‘General Government.’ If you see on this document we will use more Einsatzgruppen during the liberation and if the refugees prove to be a problem for the army then they will just have to get more involved from the start.”
1020
1021There was several minutes of silence as Himmler looked at maps and read plans. “Very well and the other eastern peoples?”
1022
1023Heydrich handed over his own set of maps and papers, “The Bolshevik state is weak and rotten at the core. When we invade millions will surrender and our troops will be welcomed with open arms; especially in the south. It’s possible that Stalin’s regime could collapse all together with the correct conditions but even then it will not be quick or easy. So it’s essential that some of the eastern people be turned in full revolt so for some we offer hope.”
1024
1025Taking a sip of tea before he replied Himmler considered his words, “Your Hilfswilliger idea Heydrich then.”
1026
1027“Yes… it serves several purposes most importantly it will make the number of threats more manageable in size and will get the Waffen Schutzstaffel the manpower that we will need to accomplish our mission. In the end once we are victorious we can of course reconsider policy after we are fully in control.”
1028
1029Once Heydrich was finished talking Himmler browsed through the documents, “I see you have assigned the Ukrainians a prominent role in your plan with promise of a Ukraine under German Protection… Ah the Russians are to be subject to similar treatment to Poles, mass expulsions east of the Urals. No Hilfswilliger for the Czechs and after the fighting is done breaking them as a people and Germanization with expulsions of their intelligentsia. As you said once in control we can always reconsider policy.”
1030
1031“We will need to be selective in how we reorder the east in terms of groups and timing. The Czech economy is critical importance and we will have to wait. The same for the most radical reorganization’s in the east such as the mass deportations east of the Urals. As you noted the Ukrainians are important.” Then with a nod towards Eichmann resumed speaking about the role Einsatzgruppen but now in the Soviet Union and the hope to recruit locals to help them kill their neighbors. 
1032
1033***
1034March 21st 
1035Former National Bank of Czechoslovakia
1036Prague, Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
1037
1038A pair of SD officers with a squad from the Waffen SS and Josef Kalfus the Minister of Finance for the newly declared Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia walked up stone steps of the bank building. The two SD officers strode in like the owned the place. At the front desk, “This building is now under Reich control the following individuals will report at once…” The SD officer then began reading from a list of names.
1039
1040One the Governor and directors of the Bank were collected in a small conference room the senior SD officer stood off to the side. With the building secure an employee of the Reichsbank joined the group. The Czechs were visibly nervous and if they had any idea what was about to happen they would be even more so.
1041
1042The German banker handed over copies of transfer authorizations for the entire balance of the National Bank in its accounts at the Bank for International Settlements and Bank of England. Both of the latter two banks were located in London; all of the gold was actually in the Bank of England. The balances were to be transferred to the Reichsbank account. 
1043
1044The Czech bankers looked aghast at the orders, Kalfus now looked gray. After a few moments one of the Czech bankers tried to put up some resistance, “..These instructions are highly irregular…”
1045
1046The Senior SD agent opened a file and read off the details of the banker, his wife’s, the names of his children, where they lived and as the SD man talked the Czech Banker and the rest visibly wilted like a flower left out in the sun. “If any of you refuse to sign these orders or any others given in the future you will be shot for treason and your families will be imprisoned.”
1047
1048The German banker had the decency to look embarrassed while the SS were utterly calm.
1049
1050The Czech bankers looked at one another and then slowly the signed the transfer orders. The men hoped that clearly forced nature of the orders would cause British Bankers to ignore them.
1051
1052Later that day the Czech’s were proven to be half correct. As the Bank of London officials refused to transfer order but the Bank for International Settlements transfer went through. Over the next two weeks 23.1 tons of gold were sold off and orders placed for strategic raw materials to be sent to the Reich in the months to follow. Before it would become impossible to receive such because of the Blockade.
1053
1054***
1055
1056March 19th, 1939
1057Evaluation of new Czech Tank
1058Attention: Inspector of Panzers and Fast Troops
1059
1060While inspecting the Czech Type 35 tank at Milowitz I was informed by Czech officers of a new type of tank under development. So I visited the CKD (Ceskomoravska Kolben Danek) factory in Prague. This facility was the Böhmisch-Mährische Maschinenfabrik which had provided motor vehicles to the Austro-Hungarian Army up to 1918. The buildings are solid built if of a fashioned type.
1061
1062After my arrival the factory was closed up but several of the engineers made themselves available for questioning. They confirmed that a new tank is read to enter full production and has the following details. 9.7 tonnes, leaf spring running gear, four large road whiles and 3.7cm main gun; the gun is the same on the Type 35. The Czech design requirements call for less than 30 minutes per day of maintenance; the prototype logged 5,584 km during three and half months evaluation in 38 without a major breakdown. This vehicle compares very favorably to our Type I and II tanks. 
1063
1064The factory has an order in place for 150 vehicles and several export orders are hoped for. The engineers are eager and very willing to cooperate. I strongly suggest that we assume the Czech Government order and expand production. Attached are copies of the Czech Army and Manufacturing evaluations of the vehicle.
1065
1066Oberst Icken
1067
1068***
1069
1070April 19th
1071Absorption of Czech Army by Germany
1072Attention Chef d'État-Major de l'Armée
1073
1074With the demise of Czechoslovakia almost its entire army and pool of equipment has fallen into German hands. It is estimated that 2,000 field guns, 400 tanks, 400 anti-aircraft guns, 40,000 machine guns and nearly a million rifles. The haul of equipment is enough to equip 35 divisions and its now available to the German Army. With the annexation of first Austria and now the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia the Eastern option to contain Germany is now clearly in ruins.
1075
1076Please note that the Germans have taken also control of the physical factories that produced this equipment. There are reports that the Germans are in the process of hiring second shifts for Skoda, CKD, Tarta and other heavy industrial manufactures. This paints a very ominous picture for the future and the following steps are recommended…
1077
1078***
1079April 28th
1080
1081“Hitler Denounces Anglo-German Naval Agreement!
1082--
1083Germany unveils Plan Z, build up German Fleet in Five years!”
1084--
1085German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact Abrogated!
1086***
1087
1088May 22nd
1089Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel!
1090
1091***
1092June 26th
1093The Admiralty
1094London, British Empire
1095
1096The coming and going of naval officers was of no particular notice in London, especial around the admiralty complex. A collection of five buildings and mansions many of them dating from the 18th the century. The Commander went to specified room for his appointment and waiting there was a Lieutenant in his late 20s or early 30s. 
1097
1098“Commander Muirhead-Gould?” The Lieutenant asked but it wasn’t a question, just a pleasantly as he stood when the more senior officer entered the room.
1099
1100“Yes, I was expecting…”
1101
1102The Lieutenant smiled, “Admiral Godfrey has been detained but will be here shortly. I am Lieutenant Fleming the Admirals Aide. Is there anything I can get for you commander? Tea perhaps?”
1103
1104“No thank you…”
1105
1106At that moment the door opened and Rear Admiral John Godfrey Director of the Naval Intelligence Division entered. “Sorry to keep you waiting Commander but I am pressed for time, I have another meeting right after this with the Third Sea Lord, Admiral Fraser. So we need to ignore the normal pleasantries and get straight to business.”
1107
1108“Of course sir.”
1109
1110Pleased at the answer Godfrey took his seat while Lieutenant Fleming got his boss his customary tea. “I assume that you read the papers sent over to you?”
1111
1112“Yes Sir, very alarming stuff. It’s been a few years since I was last in Berlin and while Captain of the Devonshire in the Med I have been out of the loop a bit.” Commander Muirhead-Gould explained while he took out the papers the Admiral spoke of.
1113
1114Fleming stayed off to the side by the window where he could smoke without disturbing the conversation.
1115
1116The Admiral waved aside the Commander’s reservations, “You were in Berlin for several years and more importantly you were handy. I of course have your replacement’s reports but I want to talk to someone that’s been there. So that means you. Now let me hear what you think.”
1117
1118Wasting no time the Commander answered with, “They are preparing to go to war and they expect to fight us.”
1119
1120“That was quick Commander, I like decisive answers. What makes you believe this is the case.” The Admiral leaned forward and Fleming put out his cigarette to start taking notes.
1121
1122“They are practically at a war footing for their industry. It has to be ungodly expensive to pay for all of that production and expansion of capacity. Two shifts, 50 hour weeks, it all adds up. The Heer and Luftwaffe are getting the lion’s share of that but what their navy is building and the timing is what has my attention.” The Commander paused to pull out one of the briefing notes provided.
1123
1124
1125Battleships
1126Scharnhorst (32,200 tons 3x3 280mm)
1127Gneisenau (32,200 tons 3x3 280mm)
1128Schleswig-Holstein (PDN)
1129Schlesien (PDN)
1130
1131
1132Cruisers
1133Lützow (10,000 tons, 2x3 280 mm guns)
1134Admiral Scheer (10,000 tons, 2x3 280 mm guns)
1135Admiral Graf Spee (10,000 tons, 2x3 280 mm guns)
1136Admiral Hipper(10,000 tons, 4x2 203 mm guns)
1137Emden (6,000 tons, 8x1 150 mm guns)
1138Königsberg (7,200 tons, 3x3 x 150 mm guns)
1139Karlsruhe (7,200 tons, 3x3 x 150 mm guns)
1140Köln, (7,200 tons, 3x3 x 150 mm guns)
1141Leipzig (8,000 tons, 3x3 x 150 mm guns)
1142Nürnberg (8,000 tons, 3x3 x 150 mm guns)
1143Magdeburg (8,500 tons 4x2 150mm) (M Class)
1144München (8,500 tons 4x2 150mm) (M Class) 
1145Mainz (8,500 tons 4x2 150mm) (M Class)
1146
1147Carriers
1148Potsdam (9,000 tons)
1149Europa (8,500 tons)
1150
1151Destroyers
1152Type 1934 (2,000 tons, 5×1 127 mm guns)
1153Z1 - Z4
1154Type 1934A (2,000 tons, 5×1 127 mm guns)
1155Z5 - Z16
1156Type 1936 (2,000 tons, 3x2 128mm guns)(1942C Class)
1157Z17 - Z22 
1158
1159Submarines
116030 Coastal and 30 Ocean
1161
1162The Commander pointing at ship types, “The newest cruisers and destroyers all make use of diesel propulsion at least in part and that should give them very long range. They built only one treaty heavy cruiser the Admiral Hipper and four fast battle ships and those four capital ships are expected to have good range. They have those support ships of the Dithmarschen Class which besides liquid fuel storage also have dry cargo capacity and machine ships. Ever since the Spanish civil war they have been practicing at sea refueling and resupply. Simply put their navy is designed to operate far from home and it’s target on the trade lanes. Now consider what they have laid down since they abrogated the 1935 Naval Agreement.”
1163
1164From his seat Fleming put down his pen for a moment and asked, “I am not following you Commander. They have announced the Z-Plan.” 
1165
1166The Commander shook his head, “Yes very impressive list of ships Six Battleships, 3 Battlecruisers, 4 Aircraft Carriers, 12 Pocket Battleships, 6 light cruisers and 20 scout cruisers. It’s all bollocks I think. They have tightened security around the yards but many of them are in land and you can see stuff across the river very easily, I know I did. No reports of keel layings for any big ships. We do have reports of what 30 or perhaps as many as 50 U Boats in the yards depending on which boffin’s reports you want to go with. More destroyers and more cruisers too but most of their effort is into U Boats. I think the Z-Plan is a distraction and they want us to commit to responding to that rather than the real threat.”
1167
1168The admiral nodded in understanding.
1169
1170Looking of the Director of NID Muirhead-Gould reached another quick decision, “You aren’t surprised by what I said Admiral.”
1171
1172“No I am not Commander, a number of analysts have said much the same thing since before I took over as Director this year. I wish they hadn’t but there it is. You told me what I needed to hear Commander. The Cabinet members are pulling their hair out over this but the First Lord got them to agree to a crash building program after the Jerries marched into Prague and it wasn’t battleships. That bit doesn’t leave this room Commander. I have to go, my aide will see you out and thank you for your time. I expect a formal report within two days.” Turning to his aide the admiral said. “Ian see to the Commander’s needs an office and whatever additional materials he needs.”
1173
1174When the Admiral stood the two officer stood also singling an end to the meeting.
1175
1176*** 
1177
1178Aeroplane Trade Journal
1179Summer Issue
1180
1181“Over the past year German engine manufactures have inked lucrative licensing deals with a number of major Italian and Japanese manufactures. BMW, Daimler-Benz and Junkers have all cut deals with. This is especially helpful to those firms as they have had trouble obtaining licenses from France, United Kingdom and the United States. The agreements included not only access to the latest German Designs but also precision machinery…”
1182
1183***
1184July 6th
1185The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are ordered closed.
1186
1187***
1188August 23rd
1189Moscow
1190In secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is signed
1191***
1192
1193State of the Fast Troops (Panzer and Motorized Infantry) at Start of Polish Campaign
1194
1195Panzer Divisions
1196While the German Panzer Division would soon acquire a fearsome reputation at the start of the Polish Campaign they were still very much in flux. The number of divisions had been undergoing a rapid expansion to number ten at the start of the campaign with the recent conversion of the Light Divisions to Panzer Divisions. Many divisions were well below the establishment of two regiments of two battalions. The 8th and 9th Panzer Divisions only had a single regiment of Tanks and the 7th Division a single regiment but of three battalions. Despite fielding nearly 3,000 tanks at the start of the Polish Campaign less than 700 qualified as medium, being a tank with a 37mm gun such as the Czech 35(t)s that made up over one third of the tanks of 6th Panzer. The vast majority of tanks were Mark I and Mark II light tanks armed with machine guns or 20mm cannon. The most powerful tanks of the Panzer Division for the next two year would be the Panzer Mark III with its 50mm L60 it was able to destroy any enemy tank till they encountered the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks in Russia. At this point however each battalion had but a single company of medium tanks but that company was not always full strength with the remaining two companies of the battalion being made up of light tanks.
1197
1198Several Panzer Generals said the key element that made the Panzer Divisions so deadly was their speed and quick reaction. Besides every tank having a radio the entire division was motorized. The infantry divisions marched to war with a huge collection of horse drawn carts and wagons. Panzer Divisions and the Motorized infantry divisions had generous supply of trucks, prime movers, self-propelled guns and one infantry battalion of the 1st Panzer division was equipped with Half Tracks. This mobility allowed the Panzer Divisions to exploit any break through made in enemy lines and dive deep into the enemy’s rear areas. 
1199
1200As noted the Panzer and Motorized Infantry Divisions had their anti-tank battalion and artillery regiment equipped with self-propelled guns. Mark I tanks were converted to Panzerjager configuration equipped with the same 50mm L60 as the Mark III but only protected by a light gun shield. Larger Mark II tanks were converted to self-propelled howitzers known as the Wespe or “Wasp” by placing the 10.5 cm field gun on the chassis and providing light protection for the front and side of the gun. These conversion indirectly lead to the numbers crunch for the panzer divisions as 36 Mark I and II had to be converted for each division. 
1201
1202Motorized Infantry
1203In the Polish Campaign were six motorized infantry divisions the 2nd Mot, 13th Mot, 14th Mot, 20th Mot, 29th Mot and 31st Mot. Like the leg infantry the motorized infantry had an infantry brigade of three regiments but shortly after the Polish Campaign it was decided that two regiments would be more flexible and responsive. 
1204
1205Special steps were taken to provide heavy firepower to the Motorized Infantry. First each division had a handful Sturmgeschutz III. Based on the Mark III chassis but in place of the turret with fixed casement equipped with a 75mm L48 gun able to fire high explosives or antitank rounds. A number of motorized infantry had Anti-Tank guns based on the Mark II chassis known as the Marder. Most of the Marder also had the same gun as the Sturmgeschutz but like the Panzerjager protection was limited; some had 50mm L60s.
1206
1207***
1208
1209Luftflotte 1 Order of Battle at start of Polish Campaign
1210
12111.(F)/121	Ju-88B	x12
12123.(F)/121	Ju-88B	x12
1213Wekusta 1	He 111H20	x3
1214
12151. Flieger-Division 
1216Stab/KG1	He 111H11	x9
1217I./KG1	He 111H11	x38
1218I./KG152	He 111H11	x37
1219Stab/KG26	He 111H11	x6
1220II./KG26	He 111H11	x35
1221I./KG53	He 111H11	x31
1222II./St.G.2	Ju-88B x3 & Ju 87D x35
1223III./St.G.2	Ju-88B x3 & Ju 87D	x36
1224IV.(St)/LG1	Ju-88B x3 & Ju 87D	x39
12254.(St)/186	Ju 87D	x12
1226I./ZG1	Fw-187B	x34
1227I.(J)/LG2	Bf 109K	x42
12282.(F)/121	Ju-88B	x11
1229I./SG1	Hs-123C	x39
1230II.SG1	Fw-190F3	x38
1231JGr.101 (II./ZG1)	Bf 109K	x48
1232
1233Luftwaffenkommando 
1234Stab/KG3	Ju-88B	x9
1235II./KG3	Ju-88B	x38
1236III./KG3	Ju-88B	x39	
1237I./St.G.1	Ju-88B x3 & Ju 87D x38	
12381.(F)/120	Ju-88B	x12	
1239
1240Luftwaffen-Lehrdivision 
1241Stab/LG1	He 111H11	x9
1242II./LG1	He 111H11	x39
1243III./LG1	He 111H11	x39
1244Stab/KG2	Ju-88B	x9
1245I./KG2	Ju-88B	x36
1246II./KG2	Ju-88B	x39
1247I.(Z)/LG1	Fw-187B	x33
12484.(F)/121	Ju-88B	x12
1249
1250Luftgau-Kommando I 
1251I./JG1	Bf 109K	x46
1252I./JG21	Bf 109K	x39
1253
1254Luftgau-Kommando III
1255Stab/JG2	Bf 109K	x3
1256I./JG2	Bf 109K	x41
1257II./JG2	Fw-190A4	x38
125810.(N)/JG2	Bf 109K	x9
1259
1260Luftgau-Kommando IV 
1261Stab/JG3	Bf 109K	x3
1262I./JG3	Bf 109K	x44
1263I./JG20	Bf 109K	x37
1264
1265
1266Fw-187B Fighter
12674x 20mm cannons, speed: 400mph, twin DB605 engines (1475PS / 1455 HP) and range: 1500 miles with internal fuel
1268
1269Ju-88B Schnellbomber
12704,400 lbs of bombs internal, speed: 350mph, twin Jumo 213 Engines (1750 PS /1729 HP) and range: 1550 miles with internal fuel
1271
1272Hs-123C Ground Attack Aircraft
12732x 7.92mm MG 17, 1,000 lbs of bombs, speed: 214mph, BMW 132K (960 hp) and range: 540 miles with internal fuel and 440 lbs of bombs
1274
1275The FW-190, Bf-109K, etc would not have the designations shown here but for ease of the reader to figure out performance if they so desire the historic late war designations have been provided.
1276Polish Campaign.
1277
1278The German invasion force was divided into two Army Groups, Army Group North made up of 3rd and 4th Armies and Army Group South made up of 8th, 10th and 14th armies. 1.5 million men organized into 60 divisions. The Polish defenders had just under a million men organized into 39 divisions. Between the speed of the German Army Attack and Luftwaffe strikes on railroads and mobilization areas a great deal of the Polish army never got into the field. The 10th army out of Silesia and the 3rd army out East Prussia had their offensives focused on Warsaw. The German objective was to cut the Poles into a series of Cauldrons to be reduced. The Poles felt that they had no choice but to defend their western industrial areas. 
1279
1280Almost from the start the Polish army was a step behind the Germans and while they fought valiantly they were simply out classed. The Soviet invasion had no impact on the campaign as it was already effectively decided. The Polish armies were as the Germans planned forced into vast pockets with at times hundreds of thousands of men.
1281
1282When the Campaign ended German Losses were reported as 7,048 KIA, 20,315 wounded and 2,284 MIA; about 2% of the forced engaged vs. the destruction of the virtually entire Polish Army. In the months that were to follow a tens of thousands former Polish soldiers would make their way west to try to continue the war to free their conquered homeland.
1283
1284
1285
1286September 1st
1287New York Times
1288
1289German Army Attacks Poland; Cities Bombed, Ports Blockaded; Danzig accepted into Reich.
1290
1291
1292September 1st
1293Elements of 4th Panzer Division
1294After Action Report, Battle of Mokra
1295
12960500
1297Expelled the Polish population from the towns of Krzepice and Starokrzepice eastward towards Polish lines.
1298
12990630
1300Reconnaissance squads near the village of Mokra encountered Polish Infantry. The Southern Colum, a kampfgruppe of panzers and infantry supported by a battery of ‘Wespe’ self-propelled artillery put in an attack. It was discovered that the Poles had dug in anti-tank guns and two Mark I vehicles were disabled. Infantry using Mark III’s for cover continued the attack while the artillery attempted to suppress the Polish anti-tank guns.
1301
13020700 
1303Air support in the form of Ju-87 and later Hs 123 attacked the Polish positions. Between use of colored smoke and radio communication it was possible for the Luftwaffe Forward Air controllers to guide the air strikes onto requested targets. The infantry and Panzer attack was able to breach Polish trenches. The StG 36 and Panzerfaust were very effective at close quarters.
1304
13050715
1306Northern Column encountered fire from what later identified as dismounted Polish Calvary entrenched in stand of woods. The stand of woods is North and West of the village of Mokra.
1307
13080730
1309With the Polish infantry falling back from Mokra east towards a railroad line that runs North South and forest support was requested to occupy the village while the rest of the kampfgruppe pursed the Polish infantry. The following on force entered Mokra to cut off the Polish troops in the woods in combat with the Northern Column. A dozen more Mark I and IIs were disabled during the final stages of the fighting but their locations were forwarded to the recovery units.
1310
13110745
1312East of the railroad line was either a second Polish defensive position or reinforcements arrived as enemy defensive fire notably increased. This position lacked anti-tank guns and so even the Mark I and Mark II Panzers could be used at close quarters. 
1313
13140815 With village of Mokra occupied the Poles in the woods facing the Northern Column attempted to withdraw but were soon brought under heavy fire on three of their sides.
1315
13160830 The southern Column was able to breach the Polish defense along the railroad bed east of Mokra. Hs-123s reported more Polish infantry and Calvary with tank support advancing to support the defenders from the east. Forward Air Controller’s directed attacks to disrupt these reinforcements. 
1317
13180845 Polish forces in the woods at this point cut off surrendered. They have since been identified as belonging to Polish 21st Uhlans Regiment. The infantry around Mokra had since been identified as Polish 84th Infantry Regiment. 
1319
13200900
1321Southern Column moved east of the woods and railroad line encountering infantry in regimental strength as described by the 0830 message. A meeting engagement ensued the Polish Tankettes were TKS type of 2.5 tonnes armed with a single machine gun. Over the next half hour a half dozen Polish Tankettes were destroyed and the Polish infantry began to withdraw. A pause was ordered to reorganize our forces while reconnaissance squads kept the enemy in contact. Luftwaffe Ju-87 and Hs-123s continued to harass the retreating enemy. 
1322From captives taken the forces that retreated to the east are made up of the Polish 12th Uhlans Regiment and more elements of the 84th Infantry regiment. 
1323
1324In the mean time the village of Mokra had its Polish population ejected eastward. 
1325
13260945
1327Ju-87 destroyed a Polish train advancing from the south and Southern Column resumed its eastward advance…
1328
1329September 6th
1330Third German army reaches Warsaw
1331
1332
1333San Francisco Chronicle
1334September 8th
1335Thousands of Refugees Clog Poland's Roads
1336
1337From the very start of the German Invasion of Poland there have been reports of Ethnic Poles being driven from their homes and also of massacrers by the invading German Forces. The numbers involved is hard to judge but certain tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands. What is very clear is that the worst humanitarian crisis to be seen in Eastern Europe since the Ukrainian famine is now unfolding. 
1338
1339
1340To Imperial General Staff
1341September 10th
1342
1343The French 3rd and 4th Armies began a limited offensive into the Saar with approximately 11 divisions on September 7th. They have been especially risk adverse. As a result our French allies have been very deliberate with their attacks, taking time to move up their artillery, concentrate their troops, conduct a bombardment and then advance. It’s also equally clear that that the Germans have been very methodical in setting up what can only be described as a series of ambushes in responses to these attacks. As part of the theme of hesitancy on the part of the French the French Government has refused permission as of yet for their air force to conduct missions more than a few miles into Germany. As a result there have been few aerial encounters and this report focuses on the Saar Offensive. 
1344
1345From what I have been able to piece together from reports the Germans have mined the roads, paths and buildings with a combination of contact and command detonated mines. A noteworthy example is a anti-personnel munition of a novel type with a range of up to 100 yards. The munition sends out a spray of fragments in a fan like pattern. After the mines go off the ambushers lavishly equipped with automatic weapons; most likely their StG 36s will open fire. With the French troops pinned in place the Germans would open fire with artillery and rocket artillery of a novel type. The French 32nd Infantry Regiment recovered several of these unexploded rockets. The details are as follows 21cm diameter with 60lb warhead of high explosive and 8.2cm with a 1.5lb warhead. The rockets leave a notable smoke trail and appear to have a range of less than 10,000 yards but they are either very quick to fire or the Germans have a large number. Under the cover of the artillery attack the German ambush forces withdraw perhaps 1 to 2 kilometers away to repeat the process.
1346
1347At night, under cover of darkness the German infantry would infiltrate and counter attack. The French report the attack strength being very high. However the Germans with their automatic rifles and machine guns I suspect are smaller in number, much smaller in fact. I strongly urge that the trials for our own automatic rifle be moved forward with all due haste. Also that a request be made for samples of the rocket artillery warheads for us to examine. 
1348
1349In addition to these new rocket artillery systems the Germans have introduced some type of rocket anti-tank weapon. The French have lost perhaps as many as 50 tanks up to and including multiple B1 medium tanks. Reports are confused but the weapon appears to be man portable and very powerful. There are reports of rockets being used against strong points it is not clear if this is yet another novel weapon type or the anti-tank weapon. As of yet no samples of this weapon have been captured.
1350
1351The French troops were reluctant before to advance from the start of this offensive and their mood has hardly improved. I doubt if the French are even 4 km from their starting locations at their points of maximum penetration. A number of places the French had made in fact no progress at all. In addition to at least 50 destroyed vehicles, I say at least as I haven’t received a straight answer to my requests for details on our allies losses. I suggest General Gort himself might want to breach the subject when he speaks to General Gamelin at the Anglo-French High Command Meeting scheduled for the 12th. French infantry casualties number several thousand, perhaps as many as ten thousand. 
1352
1353It’s clear that the French are making no meaningful progress and a number of units appear to be badly disrupted. My recommendation is that the French terminate this attack at once.
1354
1355Col G.R. Talbot
1356Welsh Guards, detached 
1357British Embassy Paris
1358
1359September 11th
1360Radom Cauldron Surrenders
1361
1362September 14th
1363Siege of Warsaw Begins
1364
1365September 15th
1366Brest Litovsk surrenders to German XIX Corps
1367
1368From French Embassy Warsaw
1369ATTN French General Staff
1370The Germans have at this point have fairy completely isolated the city. General Walerian Czuma reports that elements of the German 3rd and 8th armies are the primary enemy forces. Germany artillery and the Luftwaffe have destroyed Warsaw's waterworks, all of the bridges over the Vistula and made thousands homeless as large swaths of city are un ruins. Luftwaffe bombers at this point range at will over the city. Especially the Ju-88 which started to raid the city on first day of the war and when there was a Polish Airforce to contest the skies. The fast bomber has proven to be nearly impossible to intercept. Now the Ju-88 and He-111 raid the city several times a day. There has as of yet been no sign of the Do-19 heavy bomber.
1371
1372This maybe our last report communications are becoming very difficult. 
1373
1374General Jean-Pierre Massu
1375Military Attache 
1376
1377September 16th
1378Bzura Cauldron Surrenders
1379"Polish Pozan and Pomorze Army surrendered today and 170,000 Poles became POWs...."
1380
1381September 17th
1382Soviet Union invades eastern Poland
1383
1384September 24th
1385Warsaw Surrenders
1386
1387October 5th
1388Fuehrer to the Army
1389
1390"...You have fulfilled the task allotted to you. You have fought bravely and courageously."
1391
1392
1393October 6th
1394Lessons of Polish Campaign
1395
1396The mechanized forces displayed a marked tendency to outrun the infantry formation and their support units. Additional attention needs to be paid towards increasing the motorization of logistics units and increasing the number of motorized infantry units. General Guderian has strongly advanced the idea of creating all mechanized formations. 
1397
1398Fighting in Warsaw demonstrated the danger of such fighting and the weakness of current training. While the automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades showed a great deal of value attempting to use even the StuG armored fighting vehicles in built up areas was fraught with peril. Additional attention needs to be paid to increased training for this scenario. Perhaps even heavier assault guns.
1399
1400In terms of positives the new artillery extended range artillery shells with proximity warheads were very successful. The rocket artillery and Luftwaffe close air support all combine to greatly increase the firepower of our units. 
1401
1402The Fast Forces performed very well but the Mark I's Panzers need to be removed from service at the soonest possible opportunity. 
1403
1404The Waffen SS ranged from very good for the 501st Special Operations Battalion to dismal for some of the motorized rifle units. Our associates could stand with additional training. The Waffen SS, their Einsatzgruppen and the Selbstschutz appear to have focused on clearing out Poles and clogging the roads with fleeing refugees and making our logistical issues support more difficult...
1405
1406October 8th
1407
1408Decree of the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor concerning the presentation and management of territories... With total collapse of Polish State... Fuehrer Proclaims an Annexation Decree and the Administration of the Occupied Polish Territories...
1409
1410London Times
1411Large swaths of Poland Annexed to Germany, Soviet Union and a Rump remain called the General Government...
1412
1413
1414Signal Magazine 1940
1415Victory Over Polish Aggression!
1416
1417<Color full page Ad on left page for “Agfacolor Neu” Film by Agfa of Germany.* Shows pictures of various attractive women. >
1418
1419<Right hand shows partial page Ad, a drawing of a Mercedes-Benz truck with airplanes flying overhead.> 
1420
1421Article Title:German forces following a series of cowardly attacks by Poles on the Reich the most famous of which was the seizer of the Gleiwitz Radio Station.* Polish troops brazenly broadcast for ethnic Poles living within the Reich to rise up in revolt and for much eastern territory to be stripped from the Fatherland.* Of course our brave forces quickly repelled that attack and others.* With no choice the Führer and Germany’s First solider order a removal once and for all of the Polish threat to Germany and to ethnic Germans living in Poland.
1422
1423Once the brave German soldiers joined battle with the cowardly Poles it became clear that the Polish army was totally outclassed.* The German troops make use of the most modern weapons of war such as the Sturmgewehr 36.
1424
1425<Picture of StG-36 IE AK-47>
1426
1427And the German Panzer troops with their Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf B the most advance tank in the world.
1428
1429<Picture of PzKw III Ausf B IE PzKw III Ausf J2>
1430
1431Time and time again the German Army defeated the Polish Army and drove them from the field.* As an example of how outdated the Polish Army was the fact that Polish Calvary with swords drawn attempted to charge German Tanks…
1432June 15th, 1939
1433‘The Compound’ Königsberg, East Prussia, Third Reich
1434
1435
1436
1437Reinhard Heydrich was waiting to be let into to see Andries Rhoodie. There were perhaps a dozen or so people in the Third Reich that could keep one of the most powerful members of the SS waiting and the head of AWB that arrived in Germany from 80 years in the future 4 years ago was one of those people. Heydrich didn’t believe that this was a petty power display that some liked to indulge in. With war coming soon Rhoodie and a number of his associates were about to leave for South Africa of the here and now, South Africa of 1939 so that they could lay the final ground work for kicking off a revolt by the Boers.
1438
1439The Boers had made many changes to the building since they obtained it and struck their deal with the Third Reich. In effect this former warehouse was now foreign soil and the laws of the Third Reich stopped at the front door. During one of the negotiations the Boers had made clear if ever the Third Reich attempted to seize the building all they would get is a smoldering crater in the ground. So best to not kill the goose laying golden eggs. To the outside and in the first few rooms the building still appeared to be just another warehouse complex. Deeper inside things became much different. 
1440
1441Then at last Obergruppenführer was called into a room. This was Rhoodie’s actual office and not the one for show as the room dripped with technology that was decades beyond what the Third Reich could produce. The screen that covered one wall was the most glaring example, it showed a map of Europe at the moment. The members of the AWB and SS were conducting a few last missions together, providing some disinformation here and a fatal accident there; the latter was very selective of course. For the former it was still amazing what one could do with technology from the future in terms of altering pictures and recordings. If Heydrich had been aware of such abilities when he first saw the videos of destroyed Berlin he would have been much less willing to listen to Rhoodies story 4 years ago. Of course a select few trips forward to the 21st century elemental any doubt as to the story. Glancing at the screen Reydrich notice an alert. “So Oberst de Gaulle is no more?” 
1442
1443Rhoodie typed on the glass keyboard and screen that was also his desk, “Yes the doctors have already ruled it as natural causes from the report that just came in over the telegraph. We will have to wait for the assets to return before a full report can come in they just used the code words.”
1444
1445Waving his hand to signal understanding Heydrich took the offered seat.
1446
1447“I assume this is something important Reinhard I am to take a ship to Sweden in two days and to start the long voyage to the Cape.” Rhoodie said, there was only one Cape as far as the big Boer was concerned, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. 
1448
1449“I will spare us both some verbal sparring and cut to the chase. Herr Rhoodie we know that you and your organization haven’t been as forthcoming as you could.” 
1450
1451Noting the use of his family Rhoodie knew this was going to be one of those talks that happened from time to time with the Germans. So he shrugged at first but then said, “We have provided very thing that we promised to provide. The knowledge and means to make your dreams come true.”
1452
1453“Our dreams for Europe come true perhaps but what about after the war? What about a future conflict?” 
1454
1455For once the leader of the AWB was confused, “I am not following you.” 
1456
1457The SS officer opened the attaché case and pulled out a folder. Having seen what computers could do it was a source of annoyance. It was policy to be very, very selective in where and how equipment from the 21st century was used. Besides it was clear that the South Africans had total control over the equipment that they had turned over and it wouldn’t do for this little project to be brought to the their attention to soon. Heydrich set out just under a dozen documents. “You have been very careful in what you handed over but a few things slipped through and it’s taken a few months to put them together but it’s clear that there is a major weapon system you have provided us with no information on, Nuclear Bombs.’
1458
1459Rhoodie turned pale at the words and documents laid out on the table including a picture leveled city labeled KOKURA, JAPAN the man normally had excellent control so Heydrich knew that he had hit home. “I see… what of it… we have kept our bargain, you don’t need nuclear weapons to win.”
1460
1461“We might need them to hold what we take after the victory. I have talked to a number of our scientists Werner Heisenberg, Kurt Diebner, and Erich Schumann and they all agree that the atom has incredible potential as an energy source. The Reich Research Council is very excited and is asking for resources. They were more cagy with respect to a possible weapon but agreed it was possible in the end. So why first of all?” Heydrich was very interested what the reply would be and leaned forward.
1462
1463The South African looked over the documents, “These must have come from…
1464
1465“Secondary sources, you scrubbed all references in the primary documents on the fighting. We got the picture in biography on a US Air Force officer. But the results speak for itself a city total destroyed, burned down to ruble and empty roadways.”
1466
1467“So many documents… As to why, leverage, if we tell you everything then why do you need us or keep the barging?” Rhoodie asked reasonably
1468
1469“I take it under the right circumstances you are prepared to help us with this topic?” 
1470
1471Rhoodie paused and considered, visibly debating the options and then at last said, “Yes under the right circumstances, after South Africa is free of the British for starters and for you to understand we have limits. Such weapons are closely guarded secret from my time. There will be no blue prints or samples to reverse engineer.”
1472
1473The SS man was pleased and suspicious as this was going better than expected so time to start bargaining in earnest. 
1474The Production War
1475Sept 1939 - April 1940
1476
1477With Germany formally at war the last restriction on war production were at last dropped. Of course not all of the additional resources made available went into the factories as the last building spurt of additional production capacity wasn’t scheduled to complete till 1941. So more steal, tools, workers, concrete and of course Reich Marks went into building more factories, mines, coal to oil plants and the like. Still by 1939 some clear benefits were seen as many factories were working two shifts. September 1939 saw AFV production reach over 250 tanks per month with a goal of 1,000 a month by 1941. By the time that Fall Gelb kicked off production had risen to over 350 vehicles per month. The Luftwaffe had seen similar increases with a production total of roughly 800 aircraft per month in September 1939 with a goal of 3,000+ per month for 1941. 
1478
1479In addition to the numbers a new types were entering production or design requests had been placed. The army had at last accepted the Mark IV and production was kicking off but the majority of production would tanks and weapons carriers based on the Mark III and Czech T-38. The army was working on a VK4000 but after the first designs had been grossly overweight all designs had been rejected and so a new round of designs was being worked on, VK4001 and VK4500. In particular for armored infantry vehicles able to carry a squad or half squad of infantry.
1480
1481The Luftwaffe was getting ready to start limited production of the He-274, Ar-234 and other cutting edge designs while the Me-262 was entering limited squadron service. 
1482
1483
1484War at Sea September 1939 – April 1940
1485
1486The German U Boat Fleet started the war very undersized for what Admiral Doenitz felt was needed to cripple the UKs trade. At the same a very large number of U Boats had been laid down in 1939 and they would become available in 1940. The U Boats Doenitz did have were very well trained and very advanced types. Able to dive deeper and move faster under water than above. Some very advanced designs using a tear-drop hull designs that would allow 20+ knots where in the works but those would years away from seeing service. 
1487Between December and March the U-Boats sank a total of 403 merchant ships. 
1488
1489Ships	Tonnage
1490Sept	65	272,055 
1491Oct	48	269,923 
1492Nov	39	116,089 
1493Dec	61	236,158 
1494Jan	78	253,739 
1495Feb	73	278,801 
1496Mar	39	109,607 
1497403	1,536,371 
1498
1499While losing 14 U-Boats in the same time period, including none of the new elektroboots that were making up more and more of the fleet totals. While the Royal Navy had embarked on its own crash escort building program they were unprepared for the threat of the Type XXI and XXIII that were as fast or faster as the sloops hunting them. An example of the problems the RN and MN had was the battle with U-54 a XXI SW of Isles of Scilly on January 1940. Attacked by 4 warships including three destroyers, two ships each from the RN and MN along with air power not only did ASW group fail to sink Kptlt. Werner Heidel’s ship but they lost HMS Fowey a ASW sloop and the French Destroyer Valmy in the attempt. 
1500
1501At the same time the surface fleet had produced a half dozen Hilfskreuzer by September and these ships would spread terror and confusion around the globe. Sinking another 72 ships in the same time period totaling another 414,000 tons of shipping. The most stunning success of the Kriegsmarine’s surface fleet was the raider group based on the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. Graf Spee, the cruiser Mainz along with the destroyers Z-18 and 20 ranged deep into the south Atlantic before returning to Germany, the task group captured or sunk 25 allied merchant ships totaling 132,000 tons of ships. Graf Spee was torpedoed in the North Sea when returning to Germany and missed the Norwegian campaign while under repair. 
1502
1503In the meantime two aircraft carriers, two battleships and four cruisers had been sunk in this time period in addition to the various escorts to U Boats. These combined with the losses of the Norway Campaign introduced an element of real concern in the British Admiralty. The German submarines were far more dangerous than expected and far harder to kill. In the review of the Norway Campaign it quickly became clear what had happened with the German’s radio controlled bombs and counter measures were investigated but that was for the future.
1504
1505Operation Weserübung
1506
1507Naval Element
1508Gruppe 1: Ten destroyers transporting 2,000 Gebirgsjäger troops commanded by General Eduard Dietl to Narvik
1509Gruppe 2: The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and four destroyers to Trondheim
1510Gruppe 3: The light cruisers Köln and Königsberg, with several smaller support vessels to Bergen
1511Gruppe 4: The light cruiser Karlsruhe and several smaller support vessels to Kristiansand
1512Gruppe 5: The heavy cruiser Lützow, the light cruisers Emden and Mainz and several smaller support vessels to Oslo
1513Gruppe 6: Four minesweepers to Egersund
1514Escort Gruppe: Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and Light Cruisers Magdeburg and München
1515
1516Background:
1517
1518The Germans with access to their uptime knowledge know that an invasion of Norway is not only possible but very likely to be successful. They also know that the British will be making their own moves to block German access to Swedish Iron Ore shipped via Norway. Of course with Winston Churchill, the prime architect of the allied response dead for several years events take a different path. 
1519
1520The first moves by Germany were totally hidden has three teams left for Norway in mid-March. First was an army team they were to scout Oscarsborg Fortress outside of Oslo. The second was another army team and they were to scout Kristiansand. The third and last team was made up of Waffen SS and their destination was Oslo itself. All teams were made up of Norwegian speakers and none knew about the others. Then at the end of March U-Boats begin to take up station off northern ports of the UK.
1521
1522On April 6th the German Fleet started to head out to sea with the destroyers headed for Narvik the first to leave. As they passed by Denmark the destroyers were spotted and reports forward to the Admiralty. On the 7th the main elements of the German fleet put to sea under heavy Luftwaffe Air Cover provided by Fw-187s and Fw-190s. The fighter activity alerted the British to there being something afoot in the North Sea so recon aircraft were dispatched. After a number of losses a Sunderland flying boat patrol aircraft spotted the two German Battleships and their cruiser escorts off Bergen at 8 PM on the 7th as the Germans moved out of range of Luftwaffe air cover. Home Fleet is ordered to Sea to intercept and destroy the German warships. With German intentions unclear but many analysts pointing to a possible move against Norway a ground force was ordered to be put together. At the same time the majority opinion was that this was an attempt by the Germans to conduct a breakout into the North Atlantic and so the British Home Fleet moved to block such a move by taking up station in the Northern part of the North Sea.
1523
1524Like in the First World War the German U Boats when used for similar missions fail to draw blood on the Royal Navy but they instead provide something perhaps even more important. A contact report. 
1525
1526***
1527
1528U-54 one of the Elektroboots.
1529“Multiple RN Battleships and screen head ENE from Scapa Flow….”
1530
1531***
1532
1533With the contact report in six Fw-200s set off from airfields in Northern Germany. At once one of the four engine maritime reconnaissance aircraft had to abort back to base with engine trouble but the other five kept going. Around midnight on the 7th the FuG 100 a surface search radar on a Fulke Wulf aircraft gets a signal and from a distance of 110 km. With the range and size of the target it must be the British Fleet. The contact report is sent back to Germany, the British fleet is heading North East most likely in search of the Narvik group. The British would just be in range if KG-1 and KG-5 launched now but it would be very questionable for the He-111s of KG-1. With reluctance Raeder doesn’t ask the Luftwaffe to launch the strike as he wants to make a concentrated attack and for the Do-19s of KG-5 to go in with the twin engine Heinkles. They will wait to see if the British move back south or for the airfields in Norway to be seized. In the meantime Fw-200s keep tabs on the British fleet.
1534
1535In the early hours on the 8th the first clashes occurred as HMS Glowworm is sunk by DKM Admiral Hipper. Lieutenant-Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope was later award a Victoria Cross after the recommendation of Admiral Hipper's commander, Kapitän zur See Heye, who wrote to the British authorities via the Red Cross. Glowworm and others had been detached and so the Germans had no idea they were in the area. The contact report from Glowworm before she dies draws the British Home Fleet even more north. The German invasion fleet moves to its destinations. By now the British are convinced that the Germans are trying for an invasion of Norway and Home Fleet turns south again. The Escort Group of German battleships does not encounter any enemy vessels.
1536
1537The early hours of the 9th sees a great deal happening at once. German troops cross the border into Denmark. The Army Commando team assigned to the Oscarsborg Fortress has made it to Oscarborg Island. They set off an explosion on the northern part of the island which distracts the garrison. One member guides a block ship in that scuttles itself right in front of the Torpedo Mounts blocking them. At the same time a landing force of 100 men joins the battle. The fortress garrison is unable to fight their three ancient but deadly 28cm guns. This clears the way for Oslo and Gruppe 5 heads to the Norwegian Capital. The commando team assigned to Kristiansand has miserable luck and stumbles into a patrol by the Norwegian garrison in heavy fog despite being provided with 21st century night vision gear and half the team is killed; their mission is failure. The third and last Commando team had a very different goal in mind, the Royal Palace in Oslo. Here the commandos access to night vision devices was of critical aid and combined with the firepower of their weapons allowed them to quickly take control of the palace and seize the royal family. The Norwegian garrison is very reluctant to attempt to storm the palace out of fear of injuring the Royal Family. Paratroopers seize airfields in Oslo and Stavanger and soon Ju-90s, Ju-52 and Ju-252s are bringing in infantry. The Norwegian Parliament and National Treasury flee the capital. 
1538
1539With the capture of the Norwegian Airfields and the British Home fleet is at last in range and so the order is given to launch KG-1 and KG-5. The He-111 of KG-1 are armed with one Hs-293 each while the Do-19s are armed with two Fritz-X each. The priority targets are British Aircraft Carriers and Battleships, 82 bombers head to attack the British fleet. The first attack is conducted by ten He-111 of II/KG 1 from 25,000 feet. Nine weapons launch successfully but the tenth fails to respond to radio commands. The British have no idea what is going on till just moments before the first bombs hit as HMS Glorious is hit twice on the forward flight deck in rapid succession. HMS Ark Royal is hit once amidships. III/KG 1 and I/KG 1 attack a few minutes later. Launching 21 missiles, four his are achieved, two on the now burning HMS Glorious but one fails to explode and one each on HMS Ark Royal and HMS Furious. 
1540
1541At last British have spotted the German attackers and order their combat air patrol of Fairey Fulmars attempt to intercept. A wing of Fw-187s along as escorts moves to counter the British fighters. 
1542
1543The Do-19s now attack and IV/ KG5 and I/KG5 launch in rapid succession so over forty glide bombs in this wave. The targets are HMS Resolution, HMS Rodney, HMS Valiant, and the Heavy Cruisers HMS York, HMS Suffolk and Devonshire. The heavy cruisers were attacked in error and HMS Warspite wasn’t attacked at all. Of the forty four weapons launched seven hit. As the British are taking evasive maneuvers and the attack is at maximum possible range so the hit totals are impressive. HMS Valiant is hit twice, one passes through the supper structure and fails to explode but the other bomb goes deep into the ship, exploding in the boiler room. The explosion knocks out all the boilers and soon Valiant is dead in the water without main propulsion. York is hit twice once on the stern and the other forward. The forward weapon sets off the main magazine and York disappears in a mushroom cloud. HMS Suffolk is hit once, the bomb passes through the ship and exploding just below the hull. The explosion disables all the boilers, cracks the keel and like Valiant, Suffolk is soon dead in the water. HMS Devonshire is hit twice once amidships and one near the bow. The bow hit explodes below the keel, cracking it and the bow section breaks off. The amidships hit fails to explode but bomb passed totally through the ship and boiler room is flooding. 
1544
1545Admiral Charles Forbes on HMS Rodney knows he is under air attack but the exact nature of the attack is unknown. At the moment the British admiral assumes its high altitude bomb attacks. With his carriers disabled and several other ships zig zig to make them harder targets.
1546
1547Now twenty minutes into the attack the last He-111 arrive as IV / KG 1 attacks. The now badly burning HMS Glorious is hit once along with the destroyer HMS Black Swan which is alongside attempting to help the crippled carrier. HMS Furious suffers a near miss that causes some minor flooding. The rest of the Do-19s attack and another forty Fritz X are launched. HMS Valiant dead in the water is an easy target and is struck four times in rapid succession and then disappears in a horrible explosion that showers HMS Berwick in debris as she was preparing to attempt to tow the crippled battleship. The Heavy Cruiser is struck once herself. HMS Rodney is hit twice, on bomb fails to explode but the other hits amidships and besides blowing out the boilers starts a terrible fire. Warspite is hit once and destroys one of the engine rooms. The burning Ark Royal is attacked, the bomb blows out the bottom of the ship where it struck causing heavy flooding. Resolution is hit destroying B turret and only luck and the quick order to flood the magazine saves the ship from destruction but the second bomb destroyed the steering gear and the ship is uncontrollablle. Suffolk is hit again but the bomb fails to explode but as it passes through the ship causes more flooding.
1548
1549With the attack over the Fw-200 observing now broadcasts the location to any U-Boats in range. The Germans have won a smashing victory. They have out right destroyed a battleship and a heavy cruiser, HMS Glorious is soon abandoned to out of control fires as is HMS Berwick. HMS Suffolk has suffered critical damage and so she is abandoned and then scuttled. Devonshire and Rodney are dead in the water. Warspite, Ark Royal, Resolution and Furious are all crippled and in some cases burning. Admiral Charles Forbes moves his flag to the Heavy Cruiser HMS Effingham the largest intact ship. Then the admiral orders a retreat back to Scapa Flow. Afraid of another attack the cripples are left behind with a destroyer or two each to shepherd them. That evening Ark Royal is abandoned as the fire and flooding can’t be contained. HMS Devonshire is sunk by a U Boat along with one of her escorting destroyers. Joining her is HMS Rodney and Resolution to other prowling U Boats.
1550
1551With the crushing defeat of the Home Fleet the British government freezes in a panic. The expeditionary force to be sent to Norway is halted. All RN units are pulled back away from Norway. In the meantime more German troops pour into the country.
1552
1553It is not till 12th that the British and French get their bearings on how to respond. The Germans have overrun a number of key locations in Norway and the Norwegian army is badly out classed by the German invaders in terms of numbers and firepower. The Luftwaffe has bombed several towns and cities killing hundreds. With no sign of relief from the British and French and a hopeless tactical situation the Norwegian government opens talks. King Haarkon VII is allowed to talk to his government but its tightly controlled meeting. The King recommends surrender. The Government knows that the King has been under duress, which he is the SS Commandoes have threatened to kill the Crown Prince his wife and other captured members of the Royal Family slowly and then burn Oslo to ground as a warning to the world.
1554
1555On the 13th the Anglo-French force sets out for Narvik but then turns back when the surrender of Norway is announced.
1556As a last act of defiance a cargo ship sails for the United Kingdom 6 hours before the surrender occurs. The ship has the gear captured from the Kristiansand commando team. 
1557
1558By the 16th the fighting is over, Norway and Denmark have been conquered by Germany in another blitz attack. The conquest and naval defeat a clear setup for the United Kingdom and Chamberlain’s government is weakened but doesn’t fall. More blows are to follow as a revolt among Boers in South Africa breaks out and the Germans will soon launch Fall Gelb in Western Europe.
1559
1560April 28th, 1940
1561Admiralty House, London
1562
1563"I call this Joint Intelligence Committee to order. Present are Major Barry Nelson for MI6, Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, Naval Intelligence, Dr. Jack Church for MI10, Ms. Lois Maxwell as secretary and Victory Bentinck from the Foreign Office and President." The Duke of Portland takes a drink from his glass. "Now I understand that Dr. Church has some information for us."
1564
1565"Thank you My Lord. We have a number of reports about what happened in Norway. Most of the focus is of course on what happened to the fleet which I will go into later but I would like to start with is the equipment the Norwegians took from a German Commando Team." The scientist opened a folder and handed out several black and white photos. The portable radio and night vision googles were in various states of being disabled. After a few moments where the scientist is visibly searching for words. "Its very clear that the Germans are very far ahead of us with respect to electronics. At this point we have very little idea as to how this gear functions let alone how to attempt to duplicate it. Plus there are the anomalies."
1566
1567
1568Fleming frowned at the information, "What sort of anomalies Professor?"
1569
1570
1571Dr. Church grabbed one of the photos, it was a closeup of a circuit board. There on the board were some symbols, another photo was a closeup of just the symbols. "Those are Korean Pictographs and after I got a college from Cambridge to look at the symbols we know they say, 'Manufactured in the Republic of Korea.'"
1572
1573
1574Everyone at the table took a double take then Major Nelson spoke up, "The Republic of where again?"
1575
1576
1577"As I said the Republic of Korea, that is for the radio. The second device which appears to be some type of light amplification device was manufactured in the United States but some of the electronics for that device come from the Republic of Singapore."
1578
1579
1580The Major raised an eyebrow, "Do you think the Americans could have made either device?" 
1581
1582
1583At once Dr. Church shook his head in the negative, "Our cousins across the pond have some very skilled people but no this is beyond them also. For that matter unless I had seen these devices I wouldn't think the Germans could make something like this. The only conclusion that makes a bit of sense about the manufacturing locations is the Germans are trying to distract anyone that might have captured any of their gear." 
1584
1585Lord Bentinck frowned but then nodded, "That makes sense but do we have any other signs of deceptions by the Germans?"
1586
1587Dr. Church tapped another photo, "We found two dates on the equipment, March 15th, 2017 and another from 2018."
1588
1589That generated some chuckles around the table but then Major Nelson spoke up, "We have been receiving reports of the German manufactures in some cases receiving complete engineering drawings. We certain that their latest radial engines came from such a source."
1590
1591Fleming frowned at the information, "Some type of Nazi think tank? Perhaps connected to the Reich Research Council?"
1592
1593"Perhaps, these advanced designs are coming from some place but not the normal paths. The German journals have been very erratic they have reported a number of advances with turbo-jets, radios but not to this level and some metallurgy but then there are the gaps like the compact radio and the night vision devices, nothing. There would have to be designs leading up to them but not a word." Clearly Dr. Church was both baffled and frustrated by the situation.
1594
1595Lord Bentinck made a note, "Very well learn what you can Doctor I will see about more funding. Now what are the theories about what happened to Admiral Charles Forbes..."
1596
1597***
1598
1599May 7th,
160010 Downing Street
1601London, British Empire
1602
1603"Neville it’s done, I know you want to stay on but it’s over. You need to step down." Said the Kingsley Wood the nearly 60 year old man with thinning hair and round glasses. Wood was burned out because he had been Secretary of State for Air since March 1938 and had tried to get British Air Production to match Germany's and had failed. The long nights and constant meetings had taken their toll on his health. 
1604
1605Chamberlain gave a hurt look to his long time protégée and his eyes cried out, "Et tu, Brute?" The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom had to look away. In a low voice showing the man’s own exhaustion, “We survived the No Confidence vote. Mergesson did what he does best, he whipped the vote.” 
1606
1607Wood gave his longtime friend and political mentor a sad smile as it was he now giving the advice and explaining the reality of the situation. “David is good, Chief Whip for three governments and perhaps he will still be for the next but he also made clear that he doesn’t think he can find the votes for the next No Confidence Vote and there will be another. The only question is do you want to have any say in events or see what happens if things totally explode. You know that Clement Attlee won’t join a government that you head and for that matter he hates Hoare and Simon. So for the good of the Nation and the Party Neville you need to step down.”
1608
1609In his heart of hearts Chamberlain knew that Kingsley was correct. When word reached him of the debacle that Norway had turned into he knew a vote was coming. Chamberlain had always prided himself on being a realist and he knew that he was done. All he could do was set the stage for his successor. “Very well I will inform the King but I want to give him a firm name for my replacement.”
1610
1611For the first time in weeks or perhaps even longer Wood had a trace of smile, “That is the question. Its odds are what held off the no confidence vote no clear successor.”
1612
1613“It has to be Lord Halifax no one else on the War Committee has the standing.” 
1614
1615Wood found himself nodding, “Assuming he will take the office. Its come up over the years. You know the casual conversations that are anything but. Whenever the topic comes up he always raises his peerage. He doesn’t want to step down from Lords and doesn’t feel right about sitting in the House of Commons. Lord Salisbury was the last PM to be in the Lords and that was in 1902.”
1616
1617“Yes Edward has been very consistent on that but now Britain and the Empire needs him.” Despite wording Chamberlain didn’t have any melodrama in his voice.
1618
1619Thinking to himself Wood filled in the unspoken part, ‘And so does your legacy as Lord Halifax was Chamberlains closest ally and most likely to continue those policies.’ “We should consider if not Halifax who else if he out right refuses.”
1620
1621“With John Simon and Samuel Hoare unacceptable to Labour that leaves Earl Stanhope and he has the same problems that Lord Halifax has. So anyone else would have to be come from outside of the cabinet. Of the top of my head that would mean either Anthony Eden or David Mergesson. David should be able to assemble support in the House but he lacks national exposure. As to Anthony… well he hardly left my government on the best of terms but right now that would be a positive but I question if he can get enough support in the house.” Chamberlain went over the situation a few times more and then nodded that he was done.
1622
1623“I agree with your list, short of Baldwin coming out of retirement to resume leadership there really is no one else and he would be step back. The party needs someone that can lead things going forward. I would say it comes down to Eden or Halifax.”
1624
1625Chamberlain now set on the course of action shoke off the idea of Eden as Prime Minister, “I will ask Lord Halifax. He really has no choice.”
1626
1627***
1628
1629May 9th
1630London Times Headline
1631“King Asks Lord Halifax to Form Government!”
1632
1633---
1634
1635“Labour to form National Unity Government under Lord Halifax Leadership!”
1636
1637May 10th
1638The Manchester Guardian Headline
1639“German Forces invade Netherlands and Belgium!”
1640
1641May 11th
1642
1643New York Times Headline
1644
1645"Revolt in South Africa!"
1646---
1647
1648"General Jan Smuts and Sir Patrick Duncan Assassinated in South Africa!"
1649
1650
1651
1652***
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657Fall Gelb - "Battle of France"
1658
1659By 1940 the number of people in the 3rd Reich that were aware that Germany was getting help from time travelers was well over hundred. The vast majority of those aware were either members of the military, SS or senior party officials. As a result the campaign in the West was very unorthodox as the German High Command based their plans not only upon the situation but also made lavish use of historic documents written by their enemies and in some cases the German planners themselves after the war in the future that was not to be. 
1660
1661In the history that was not to be the term Blitzkrieg was often used, being popularized after the Fall of Poland and was claimed to be a new form of warfare but from the German point of view in terms of high level strategy the historic French Campaign was deeply conventional. With the advantage of foresight the Germans intend to unleash their mechanized forces to blow a hole in the Allied lines and then make a mad dash for the Channel followed by rolling up the channel ports. The German's priority is to pocket Belgian Army, French 1st and BEF at same time overrunning the Netherlands. There was talk of using paratroopers to seize the channel ports but its felt that even with greatly enhanced firepower that there is no way paratroopers could hold out. Instead the Germans plan to use the paratroopers in up to regiment sized kampfgruppe to seize key bridges and road intersections to speed the German advance to the coast.
1662
1663Since the Polish Campaign the Germans have produced over 2,000 additional tanks and assault guns along with thousands of trucks and half-tracks. The pre-war focus on training additional workers to allow for two shifts at key factories has seen a huge bust over historic production levels. This has allowed for the Panzer Divisions to have largely converted over to Mark IIIs and large number of Mark III StuG armed with 10.5 cm howitzers and 7.5 cm anti-tank guns. Total number of panzer divisions is now 12 along with increased numbers of motorized divisions. Of course the vast majority of the Heer will still go into this campaign with horse drawn logistics, suffering from lack of gear and many units with inadequate training levels. 
1664
1665May 10th sees a massive air assault as the Luftwaffe attacks airfields in the Netherlands, Belgium and North Eastern France. The Me-262 makes its combat debut, if in limited numbers as it is being held back for city defense. RAF Bomber Command attempted raids on targets in Ruhr. Armed with four 30mm cannons, with speeds up to 900 kph the jet fighter quickly ended Bomber Commands attempts at day time bombing. The back bone of the Luftwaffe continues to be Bf-109s, FW-190s and FW-187 that have been built thanks to uptime technology. The most modern aircraft in the French Air force is the Dewoitine D.520 which has a max speed of 560 kph compared the Bf-109K max speed of 700+ kph. To say that some of the air battles were one sided is an understatement. This combined with the Belgian and Netherlands Royal Air forces are mostly destroyed on the ground in the opening attacks sees the Germans having total air supremacy at any point along the front that they choose.
1666
1667The Battle of the Netherlands sees the 18th Army over run the Netherlands overrun by the 17th. With many but not all Dutch forces surrendering on the 14th. An attempt to capture the Royal Family of the Netherlands and key government officials by commando teams fails.
1668
1669The Battle of Belgium and North Eastern France goes very well for the Germans. Von Bock’s Army Group B despite being a diversion force is still powerful with 4 panzer divisions organized into two Corps the XVI Corps under General of Panzer Erich Hoepner and XXXIX Corps under Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmidt. The Belgian Fort of Eben-Emael is taken on the 10th by elements of the 7th Flieger. May 12th sees what will become a running tank battle between Hannut and Gembloux start. The German Mark III with its 50mm gun proves more than a match for the SOMUA S35 and Hotchkiss H35s. Soon both Hoepner and Schmidt Corps are drawn in and the French are very roughly handled. This setups up a series of withdrawals by the French 1st army some planned but many forced. 
1670
1671Von Rundstedt’s Army Group has 8 Panzer Divisions along with motorized infantry. Of course till past the Ardennes the Germans are very congested in terms of available roads to use. XV Corps General of Infantry Hermann Hoth, XIX Corps General of Panzer Heinz Guderian and XXXXI Corps Major-General Georg-Hans Reinhardt. To help things along sees German paratroopers seize Bastaogne, St. Vith, La Roche and the largest Para Assault of the Campaign at the French city of Sedan. By the 13th the Germans are west of Sedan and charging hard for the Channel. The next several days sees furious tank battles south of Sedan as the French attempt to retake Sedan and cut the German spearhead off. In mean time the Panzers continue onto the coast with additional air drops along the way and follow on flights of Ju-52/3 loaded with drums of fuel for the Panzers.
1672
1673On the 15th the Luftwaffe starts bombing the channel ports beginning with Ju-88 fast bombers. Soon joined by He-111s and then the Do-19s of KG-5. The 4 engine bombers are using glide bombs to attack from a distance. In addition to bombing the channel ports the Luftwaffe also begins dropping mines around the harbors. May 18th sees the German Panzers reaching the Channel Coast west of Abbeville. A halt is called to allow supplies to be brought forward with the Luftwaffe helping again and to allow a reorganization of the Panzer forces as the Germans have left a trail of broken down and damaged tanks stretching back to Belgium. The French commander General Maurice Gamelin orders a breakout of the trapped allied armies in Belgium. Allied command confusion worsens following Gamelin being sacked by the cabinet and appointing General Maxime Waygand.
1674
1675May 19th sees the battle of Arras where Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division and Waffen SS 101st Tank Battalion clash with the British 3rd Division under Major General Bernard Law Montgomery and 1st Tank Brigade. Quickly the 50th British Infantry division joins as does the French armor that survived from battle of Hannut. The bulk of the allied armor is made up of British Tanks, Matilda Is and Matilda IIs. While both tanks, particularly the Matilda IIs are reasonably well protected both tanks are sorely lacking in firepower. The Matilda I only has machine gun and the Matilda II the 40mm 2-Pounder. The 2-pounder can't defeat the frontal armor of the Mark III at any range. Most German anti-tank units have 5 cm PaK either towed or self-propelled guns. With some 7.5cm also available. The result is that the allied attack is stopped cold in its tracks. Soon Luftwaffe Fw-190s are strafing and bombing the allied units. Once it’s clear that the allied attack has stalled Rommel at once counter attacks and the allies are forced to withdraw.
1676
1677
1678By the 20th the allied position is crumbling as units are cutoff in pockets as the rest retreat to the coast. Two brigades of the BEF are trapped in Calais, several French divisions are surrounded in Lille, and two Belgian divisions at Bruges. The German High Command orders for the pockets to be isolated and to focus on reaching Dunkirk. The British have been making plans for several days to attempt an evacuation but the plans come crashing down when elements of the 8th Panzer Division over run the French 68th Infantry and then race for Dunkirk on the 21st. The French 68th Division was a category B reserve unit made up of older men. The nearest other allied force is Usher Force made up of three heavy artillery batteries and they can hardly stop Panzers by themselves. So Mac Force made up of three infantry Brigades is ordered to Dunkrik. When the British arrive at Dunkirk they find the German panzers digging in. Now begins a series of desperate attempts to counter attack and to drive the Germans out. On the 23th the Belgian Army surrenders and Army Group B speeds its attack from the East. Ostend and Nieuport fall to the Germans in rapid succession. 
1679
1680
1681The French and British have no port on the coast and are in effect cut off. The 24th to 26th has a seesaw battle with the French and British trying to get control of Dunkirk or Nieuport while the Germans try to hold on. Dozens of attempts are made to get control of one of the ports but the ground favors the defenders and the Luftwaffe makes it all put impossible for the RAF to help. Without a port no real evacuation can occure the French and British forces start to loose cohesion. During this time the Luftwaffe has continued its mine operations in the channel. Also attacking any shipping. The Royal Air force from bases in England fights a desperate battle to try to hold back the Luftwaffe. The 27th sees KG-5 conduct a night raid of Dover itself. The evening of the 27th General Gort signals London that evacuation is simply impossible at this point and his tactical situation is hopeless and that he has no choice but to surrender. On May 28th General Gort surrenders the BEF and General Gaston-Henri Billotte surrenders the French 1st Army. Amazingly the British managed to evacuate 32,000 men from the beaches east of Dunkirk and get them to England. Thousands more died in the water as the Luftwaffe sank hundreds of ships of all sizes loaded down with men. No units larger than battalion sized escaped and it was a miss mash of mostly British but some Belgian and French troops. Over three hundred thousand British and French soldiers became POWs.
1682
1683
1684The Germans had achieved their objectives but at terrible cost as units like the 8th and 1st Panzer had half their tanks out of action by this point. Of course most of the lost tanks were not damaged by enemy acion. Many had broken down or in some cases run out of fuel from the head long rush to get to the coast and the channel ports. Army Group A’s motorized units were exhausted and badly in need of re-organization and recovery. In London the British War Cabinet had looked on with increasing horror at the situation on the continent. Halifax convinced a reluctant War Cabinet to reach out to the Germans for an armistice. 
1685
1686***
1687
1688New York Times
1689
1690"Allied Armies surrender in Belgium!"
1691
1692---
1693
1694"Peace soon?"
1695
1696***
1697
1698Chicago Tribune
1699
1700"Europe is fighting a small part of a larger war. Democracy vs. Dictatorship"
1701
1702***
1703
1704June 3rd
170510 Downing Street London 
1706
1707Rab Butler stood up to address the cabinet. With Halifax Prime Minister and Secretary for Foreign Affairs it gave Butler a great deal of freedom as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. For the past month Butler had been in effect the Foreign Secretary. Rumors had been running rampant that Halifax was trying to open talks with the Germans. The War Committee members knew it was no rumor. So when Butler announced that he had a communication from the Germans everyone had been expecting something. 
1708
1709“The German note is simple and to the point they are willing to sign an immediate armistice and meet in 30 days in Berlin. “ Butler said to the assembled ministers.
1710
1711Clement Attlee leaned forward, “What terms for the armistice an do they give any hints about what they want to talk about in July?” 
1712
1713
1714Everyone in the room knew that Attlee as leader of the Labour party his opinion was critical.
1715
1716“The Germans have but three requirements for the armistice. First we end the blockade, second we return our forces from France…”
1717
1718Ernest Bevin snorted loudly, “The Germans have all our men captive that means nothing.” 
1719
1720Butler ignored the interruption, “Third we renounce our military agreements with France, the state formally known as Poland…”
1721
1722In a carefully controlled voice Attlee said, “Formally known as Poland…” Then the Labour leader sadly shook his head, “So the Fourth Partition is to be a done deal then.”
1723
1724“The German notes do provide some clues as to the talks for Berlin they wish to discuss some of their former colonies in Africa, what they call minor adjustments in the Mediterranean and what they called the Jewish question. That and the agreement will be just between us and them.” Butler concluded. 
1725
1726“They want us to turn our backs on our allies and leave Europe to its fate.” Attlee said in a voice totally devoid of emotion.
1727
1728At last Halifax joined the conversation, “What can we do for Europe? Our army is captive and as demonstrated off Norway and in the Channel our navy can’t operate anyplace the Luftwaffe can get at it. If we reject these terms what will Hitler demand after he finishes the French and we stand alone?”
1729
1730Butler spoke up again, “No restrictions on our military or foreign policy. This will give us the time we need to rebuild.”
1731
1732Everyone in the room looked at Attlee who after a few moments asked, “You view this as another Amiens then Prime Minister?”
1733
1734“I do, sooner or later Hitler and Stalin will turn on one another but we need freedom of action and to be able to restore the military.” Halifax looked around the room, “Something we will not be able to do if Paratroopers land outside of London.”
1735
1736Arthur Greenwood who was a minister without portfolio and Deputy Leader of Labour asked, “What do we tell the French? What of our agreement from March to not do this very thing? What do we say to the Polish Government in Exile and the Dutch Government now in London?”
1737
1738“That they make the best deal that they can. What else can we do but join them in subjugation if we fight on?” Butler asked to which no one said anything as there was nothing to say.
1739
1740Sensing the mood of the room Halifax stood up, “I call for a vote. All those in favor of accepting the Germans Terms for Armistice?”
1741
1742***
1743
1744Papers around the world
1745“United Kingdom Signs Armistice with Reich!"
1746
1747***
1748
1749June 5th
1750Paris
1751
1752"Your ally has betrayed us Prime Minister." Despite his advanced years Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France and hero of the Great War stood perfectly straight. There was no sign of panic or emotion in him. Several in the room were on the edge of a break down.
1753
1754General Maxime Weygand, the French Commander-in-Chief, declared that "The fighting has become meaningless. We have 63 divisions and are faced by twice that many perhaps as many as 150 German Divisions. The situation is militarly hopeless. We need to seek an armistice or face anarchy in the streets if the army is destroyed."
1755
1756Georges Mandel stood and pounded the table, "We should fight on from North Africa if we have to!"
1757
1758"You are insane minister, we have lost but the army is still in the field. The Germans are south of Seine and will be here any day now."
1759
1760Paul Reynaud hung his head low, "The General is right we have lost... I will inform the President that I am resigning." Turning to face Pétain, "It is up to you to salvage what you can."
1761
1762***
1763
1764
1765Papers Around the World
1766
1767"Fighting over in Europe as France Signs Armistice with Germany!"
1768
17691940 Aftermath
1770
1771
1772The European War has ended with a new order in Europe being established and that is of Germany being the unquestioned hegemon with three treaties to concluded the fighting. The first is the Berlin Treaty between the Third Reich and the United Kingdom. The treaty restores peace between the two nations and besides the normal terms such as exchange of prisoners of war has three key elements.
1773
1774The Island of Malta in the Mediterranean is turned over to the Kingdom of Italy.
1775
1776The United Kingdom is responsible for resettling of Europe’s Jews. Madagascar a French colony and the former German colony of Tanganyika now a League of Nations Mandate under British control are the two most talked about locations. It is unclear exactly how many Jews will end up being relocated certainly hundreds of thousands.
1777
1778The last element deals with events outside of Europe, the coup by Boer extremists in South Africa. Fighting broke out just after the Norway Campaign concluded. Within a few days the rebels making use of German StG-36s and other advanced weapons had seized control of Transvaal, Orange Free State and key government holdings in the Cape. The Purified National Party under its leader Dr D. F. Malan came out in support of the rebels. With the capture of the British Expeditionary force and the string of German victorious in Europe lead to a collapse of support for the United Kingdom in South Africa and resistance to the coup. A rump Parliament passed a series of acts that cut all treaty ties between South Africa and London and establishing control of the plotters. Thousands have been arrested. As part of the peace treaty the United Kingdom formally renounced all ties between it and its former dominion the Republic of South Africa. 
1779
1780With no reparations or any limitations on its sovereignty the United Kingdom has managed to escape the European War very lightly. The rest of Europe is not so fortunate as two other treaties cover the rest of Europe. The Treaty of Frankfurt between France and the Third Reich plus a series of agreements called the Brussels Pact that cover the rest of Europe that was overrun in the fighting. In the words of Arthur Greenwood the Deputy Leader of Labour who resigned from the Cabinet in protest over the agreement, “We have abandoned Europe to the clutches of a tyrant far more dangerous than Napoleon ever could have dreamed of being. From the shores of the Atlantic to the borders of the Soviet Union one man controls the fate of tens of millions and that man is Adolf Hitler.”
1781
1782The Treaty of Frankfurt reversed the Treaty of Versailles that concluded the Great War in 1919. All the territory in Europe that Germany lost is restored. In addition France will turn over Briey and other areas along the border that are rich in iron deposits. France is to pay reparations to Germany in the amount of 105 billion gold marks this according to Germany what was paid in reparations after the Great War plus the entire national debt of Germany. French delegates bitterly protested the amount especially the German math as most expert’s view Germany only paid 20 billion gold marks before reparation payments ended in 1931 and not the 67 billion gold marks it claims to have. German diplomats point out that this total of 105 billion marks is less than the total that Germany was to have paid as established by the Young Plan in 1929. Germany was to pay that amount by 1988, 60 years compared to 30 years for France with final payment due in 1970 under the current treaty. Plus Eastern France is to be occupied till 1948 at the least as France is required to pay ¼ of the total before the occupation ends and France will pay the cost of its occupation in addition to reparation costs. All fortifications along France’s eastern border are to be demolished and the French army and air force are to be restricted. 
1783
1784The Brussels Pact is a series of agreements that has re-ordered much of Central and Western Europe. France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Slovak Republic and the General Government are to become one trade block with all matters of exchange rates, tariffs and tax levels to be decided by Berlin. All member nations are to use the Reichsbank for their deposits and are to turn over their gold reserves within 90 days. Much of these gold reserves are currently held by the United Kingdom or the United States. The military's of member nations, the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the General Government do not have armed forces, are now in a single military alliance. The Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Brussels Treaty Organization which commands and controls all the military forces of the member countries is also a First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Third Reich, and the Chief of the Combined Staff of the Unified Armed Forces of the Brussels Treaty Organization is also a First Deputy Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces for the Third Reich. As part of this defense arrangement German troops have basing rights in the territory of member nations with expenses for such born by the host nation. A Political Consulting Committee is established where member nations are to consult with Germany for all major decisions.
1785
1786In simpler terms much of Europe is now a puppet of the Third Reich. The United Kingdom stands alone with Italy and the Soviet Union allies of the Third Reich and the rest of Europe will have to adjust to this new order of things.
1787
1788***
1789
1790Reaction United States
1791
1792Even before the treaties that ended the European War the United States Congress authorized a massive defense buildup starting with the Navy but soon the Army and the Army Air Forces followed. A decision of long term importance was the requirement sent out to aircraft manufactures for a bomber able to fly from the east coast to Berlin and back. Eventually the design requirements settled upon where maximum range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km), an effective combat radius of 4,000 mi (6,400 km) with a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bomb load, a cruising speed between 240 and 300 mph (390 and 480 km/h), and a service ceiling of 40,000 ft (12,000 m). Before the super heavy bombers would be ready a tens of thousands of fighters, patrol craft, medium and heavy bombers would be built. In less than half a decade the United States Navy and Army Air force would swell to be the largest in the world.
1793
1794In the wake of the allies defeat in Europe Roosevelt debated not running for a third term but in the end decided that the Nazi threat was stronger than ever and ran for an unprecedented third term.
1795
1796***
1797September 1st
1798
17992nd World Science Fiction Convention is held in Chicago with guest of honor E. E. "Doc" Smith. Other notables also attending are Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Williamson, and Forrest J Ackerman.
1800
1801***
1802Reaction Italy
1803
1804Benito Mussolini was Europe's first Fascist Leader and had been dictator of Italy since 1922. Mussolini had been able by voicing support for Austria to get the German dictator to back down because of the strength of Italy and weakness of Germany. With the conclusion of the European War the power relationship had been turned around 180 degrees. Italy had gotten itself a seat at the peace conference by declaring war just as France was collapsing. Getting Malta, Nice, Savoy, some alpine territory, economic concussions in Tunis and a small occupation zone in South Eastern France but no reparations. For many in Italy Mussolini looked brilliant getting so much for so little effort. 
1805
1806To Mussolini it kept going back to that Hitler was clearly ahead of the game so to speak and this was a difficult situation to stomach for the Italian Dictator. Yes Germany had been providing technical aid and German geologists had helped Italy unlock the oil riches of Libya with the first pipelines nearly finished. Still Italy and more importantly Mussolini were in the shadow of Germany and Hitler. Italy was home to the Roman Empire while Germany had been populated with savages lurking in the mist shrouded forests. Mussolini decide that it was time to restore Italy's and his own standing by looking for places for expansion. There is but one possible location, the Balkans. Plans are set in motion.
1807
1808
1809***
1810
1811Reaction USSR

1812

1813It is safe to say that the entire planet outside of the inner Nazi Leadership with it's access to knowledge from the 21st century had been shocked by the outcome of the European War. Stalin had assumed that the war would drag out for years and exhaust Germany, France and the United Kingdom leaving the Soviet Union well placed to make its own move. Instead the German Reich had simply swept aside its enemies like so many breadcrumbs. To conqueror Poland cost Germany 7,048 KIA, 20,315 wounded and 2,284 MIA and Western Europe cost Germany 13,537 KIA, 55,517 wounded and 9,190 MIA. In exchange Germany had now reordered the bulk of Europe. 
1814
1815The mood in Moscow among the Soviet leadership was close to panic. With the collapse of the Western Powers it was only with a great deal of reluctance that Stalin went forward with the annexation of the Baltics and Bukowina from Romania. Molotov was sent to Berlin to consult with the Germans first and came away satisfied that Germany was sticking to the previous year’s pact. This was to be the high water mark in terms of Nazi - Soviet relations. With the war over, blockade ended and Germany master of much of Europe, Berlin was able to press the Soviets for better terms on the trade pacts. 
1816
1817The real warning signs for the Moscow was despite victory and despite claims of demobilization the factories in the Ruhr, Silesia and elsewhere kept on producing and expanding. It was clear that action was needed to improve the state of the Red Army. Besides the construction of the Molotov Line along the new border a massive expansion of the army was ordered. All of this would take time though, especially as the industrial base wasn't there to support the program and so Stalin played for time by not outright refusing German trade deals and the like, dragging out talks and then agreeing to them in the end. The key goal was to keep Germany engaged.
1818
1819
1820***
1821
1822Reaction United Kingdom
1823
1824There was a wide range of response in the United Kingdom from stunned shock, to burning anger at the military defeat to relief at avoiding the fate of the rest of Europe. With the military crisis at an end the Unity Government ended and Halifax discovered that he did not have a majority in the house as upset Conservatives rallied around figures such Anthony Eden in defiance of the peace treaty. With no choice Halifax asked for the King to call for new elections. The result was chaos as both the Conservative and Labour Parties fractured. The divide was complex as other than Oswald Mosley's Union of Fascists who had perhaps tens of thousands of supporters no one was really 'pro-Germany' but there was the question as to how to deal with Germany and its new Europe. The choices come down to cooperation with Europe's new master or at least to coexist verse a position of opposing Germany where possible. The Breakaway Conservatives and Labour MPs called themselves the UK Nationalists and agreed to not contest already held sets but fight for seats otherwise. 
1825
1826Going into the 1940 Election are the following parties that gained more than a handful of seats. 
1827
1828Labour - Clement Attlee: 300 Seats
1829UK Nationalists - Labour Breakaways Arthur Greenwood & Conservative Breakaways Anthony Eden: 137 Seats
1830Conservative - Lord Halifax: 115 Seats
1831Liberal - Archibald Sinclair: 16 Seats
1832National Liberal Party - Ernest Brown: 22 Seats
1833
1834The results was a crushing defeat for the Conservatives and they fell to third largest party behind Labour and the UK Nationalists with the worst showing in its history. The public clearly rejected the Government’s policies about as completely as possible. While Attlee was pleased to be Prime Minister he was also annoyed as he should have had an absolute majority but the UK Nationalists had 52 rebel Labour plus the 38 rebel Conservatives from the previous parliament that had been re-elected and had managed to elect 47 new members. Attlee had hoped that after the election the Labour rebels would come home but the majority stood firm. During the campaign the UK Nationalists really only had one real issue, Germany. They had hammered not only the conduct of the Conservatives but also Labour agreeing to the treaty. 
1835
1836After toying with the idea of having a coalition with either the Liberals or National Liberals but discarding it as the resulting government majority would be too small Attlee settled on making a deal with the UK nationalists. Anthony Eden is once more Foreign Minister and Arthur Greenwood becomes Defense Minister. The Policy of the UK would economically progressive but also work on rebuilding the UK's military and to stand up to Germany.
1837June 15th
1838Rechlin–Lärz Airfield, Pomerania, Third Reich
1839
1840A collection of Luftwaffe Officers and party officials waited for the latest addition to the Luftwaffe to have its acceptance flight. Soon enough the swept wing Arado 234 flew into view and then disappeared with a screech as it swept passed the field with its BMW-03 engines trailing smoke.
1841
1842An announcer gave the speed, "900 kilometers Per Hour!"

1843General Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen clapped at the announcement but the man next to him General Johannes Fink the General der Kampfflieger (commander combat flight or bomber force) shook his head. "It’s a toy Wolfram as soon as you attach the bombs the drag reduces speed by 140 kilometers per hour!"
1844
1845"Now Johan 3,000 kg is a very respectable bomb load and besides its main mission is reconnaissance and nothing is going to catch it." Von Richthofen responded, feeling very reasonable today. Turning to face the bomber leader, "KG-5 is converting to the Heinkel 277 and there is all the combat power you could want. 5,600 kg bomb load out 4,300 kilometers. 3,000 kg bomb load out to New York! New York Johan, think about it."
1846
1847"Not for many years or better yet never. No our worries are Chelyabinsk, Uralvagonzavod and Omsk." General Fink answered firmly.
1848
1849After a shrug von Richthofen asked, "Well those missions will keep Heinkel's plant in Schwechat busy."
1850
1851"That factory and others, many more factories."
1852
1853***
1854
1855June 17th
1856Berlin, Third Reich
1857
1858Von Richthofen was back in Berlin overseeing the dozens of design projects that would keep the Luftwaffe going into the future. Two new projects were sitting on the Generals Desk waiting for his attention. First was the specification for the LLR-3 this would be a long term project, a self-guided air to air missile using either Infra-Red or Radar to guide the missile. There would be problems though, engineers questions how sensitive the IR seeker would be. The idea of having to keep the fighter steady while it illuminated the target with radar so the missile could home in was also very problematic. Many were suggesting waiting to build a better missile one that could be used vs. fighters. Von Richthofen believed that perfection was the enemy of good enough, the missile was intended to face enemy bombers, those flew in large groups and in straight lines. The reports of the World War that didn't occur made clear that mass bomber raids had been devastating to the Reich's economy. The USA was busily building up its forces and the UK rebuilding. The mass raids could still happen and the Luftwaffe needed to be ready. Even if the LLR-3 turned out to be nothing more than a stepping stone to better things it would have value. So von Richthofen signed the final approval for the project to begin, perhaps in a few years something would come of it.
1859
1860The other item needing attention was for a second round of Jet Fighters to follow on the Me-262. The BMW-003 and Jumo were up to 4,000 lbs of thrust and new designs would have 6,000 lbs and 8,000 lbs. All sorts of design ideas for twin and single engine jet fighters were being presented. The Dornier 335 that just completed flight testing was odds are going to be the last new Piston Engine fighter for the Luftwaffe. Von Richthofen put the documents aside, there were too many designs here, the manufactures were clearly drunk on the possibilities that the new engines presented. A working group to narrow the specifications down was clearly needed... 
1861
1862***
1863June 19th
1864
1865"Iceland Declares itself a Republic!"

1866
1867***
1868
1869July 20th
1870Washington DC
1871
1872Announcement of United States State Department
1873"The United States of America Declares that territories in the Western Hemisphere belonging to the so called Brussels Pact are now under its protection. Any effort by the Brussels Pact or Nazi Germany to exercise influence in these territories will be consider a hostile act."
1874
1875***
1876
1877August 5th
1878Washington DC
1879
1880"Washington Protocol Signed! 
1881
1882The United States has bought all of the territory in the Western Hemisphere belonging to Brussels Pact nations. 
1883
1884***
1885
1886August 14th, 1941
1887Kiel, Third Reich
1888
1889Großadmiral Raeder was sitting across from Vizeadmiral Karl Dönitz. Whenever the two men meet there was always a chill in the air, both men were professional and polite to one another but there was an edge. It was clear that neither man liked the other since the two were alone neither said a word to the other beyond what basic military etiquette required. Once joined by Vizeadmiral Werner Fuchs head of the KMs construction department the meeting started. 
1890
1891Raeder nodded to Fuchs, "How did the meeting go in Berlin?" 
1892
1893Dönitz leaned forward with interest. The meeting in question was between Fuchs and Fritz Todt, the head of the Four Year plan and the German War Economy.
1894
1895"As we expected our already low level of resources are being reduced again." Fuchs answered.
1896
1897"Priorities?" Dönitz asked and as he did Raeder for the briefest of moments showed a frown.
1898
1899Not a fool Fuchs caught the by play and looked at Raeder who gave a fractional nod as way of saying Fuchs could answer.
1900
1901"The U-Boat force is to continue to have priority, construction rate is to be 10 units per month. Berlin did approve the teardrop hull form and use of the new high strength steel for the experimental design." Fuchs had spent most of the trip from Berlin trying to figure if there was a way to spin the next part but decided there wasn't, "The request to resume construction of capital ships is denied. Other than a rebuild of Scharnhorst class to Bismarck Class standards. Some of the freed workers will stay with the yards but Berlin wants more merchant ships constructed to try to improve the import and export trade as best as possible under the circumstances."
1902
While annoyed Raeder had expected this, the meeting had been a mere formality. The Kriegsmarine would remain largely a raider fleet made up of U-Boats, small cruisers and destroyers. The design studies for battleships, carriers and large cruisers would continue then but for now they would live just in paper, "What of the Brussels pact fleets?"
1903
1904"It will take time for Todt's people to make a full survey of the economies to integrate them and I understand there is some disputes between the Reichsbank...." 
1905
1906Raeder waved aside the need for details they were all well familiar with factional fighting in the Third Reich. 
1907
1908"If they can afford it Todt will press for them to conform to our building directives."
1909
1910Dönitz chuckled, "That is their problem for how to pay for it."
1911
1912For once Raeder agreed and shared a laugh at the joke.
1913
1914***
1915August 29th
1916Newspaper Headlines 
1917
1918"Hundreds Thousands of Poles Expelled!"
1919
1920"German Army drives Ethnic Poles from Homes!"
1921
1922---
1923
1924Within weeks of the fall of Warsaw Germany had divided conquered Poland between it and the Soviet Union creating three chunks. Western Poland was directly annexed to the German Reich. Eastern Poland was directly annexed to the Soviet Union and the southern portion was named the "General Government." This rump state appears to be where Germany intends to relocate the Poles it is expelling from territory annexed to Germany. This rump state has 36,680 sq miles compared to Poland's prewar size of 150,472 sq miles. How many of the millions that made up Poland's pre-war population Germany will attempt to fit in this territory is unknown. Reports state this latest round of expulsions has put up to a million on the roads.
1925
1926
1927https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...0131,_Aussiedlung_von_Polen_im_Wartheland.jpg
1928
1929
1930At the same time German has embarked on a program of bringing ethnic Germans from around Europe and settling them in the territories now having its Polish residents ejected. This is combined with a program of offering resettlement from pre-war Germany to the annexed territory. Heinrich Himmler as Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood has said new modern farms along with planned towns and cities will be constructed in this historically German lands.
1931
1932
1933***
1934
1935September 16th
1936United States
1937
1938"Selective Training and Service Act has been passed the first peace draft in US history is now law..."
1939
1940***
1941
1942September 19th
1943United States
1944
1945"German Merck has announced a new line of pharmaceutical drugs for the treating of mental illnesses. The new antidepressants, anti-anxiety and other drugs are expected to have a revolutionary effect on Psychotherapy..."
1946
1947
1948***
1949
1950September 20th
1951Paris 
1952
1953
1954Philippe Pétain sat at the head of a table. "So what exactly did the Germans say about the Japanese?"
1955
1956Pierre Laval, "That they strongly suggest that we agree to the Japanese request."
1957
1958"Its insulting to the honor of France."
1959
1960"Mr. President that is true but it is also equally true that if the Japanese press matters there is little we can do to stop them. The Germans have offered some incentives."
1961
1962At this statement Pétain was intrigued but wary as the Germans were very overbearing at the best of times. "What is the offer?"
1963
1964"To extend the Brussels Pact to include member nations territory outside of Europe. The Ambassador was very clear that this would include Indochina. 
1965
1966Pétain thought the matter over briefly, "That agreement is something of value then, very well. Inform the Germans we agree to their suggestion. Setup a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador." 
1967
1968
1969***
1970
1971September 22nd
1972French Indochina
1973
1974"By order of the French Government an arms embargo is declared against the Republic of China. As such all cargo shipped through French territory will be checked for arms..."
1975
1976
1977***
1978
1979
1980September 28th, 1940
1981Admiralty House, London
1982
1983"What can you tell us about this new radio that..." Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming was once again having a meeting about Germany and its wonder weapons or in this case its wonder technology.
1984
1985"Siemens is the name of the German Electronics firm." Dr. Jack Church the head of MI-10 helpfully supplied.
1986
1987Fleming nodded and took another puff on his cigarettes, "Yes, Siemens. What can you tell me about this..." Fleming paused and looked at the report as he wasn't familiar with the word, "Yes this... TRANSISTOR radio Siemens is building for the German Military? The one we recovered from the Bf-109 that the pilot got lost and crashed on our side of the channel."
1988
1989The scientist looked uncomfortable, "Well I can tell you this much whoever made the radios captured in Norway it wasn't Siemens at least not using the same technology."
1990
1991"Another German firm then..." Commander Fleming began but was cut off.
1992
1993"The two devices use the same principals of operation but they are built to vastly different standards." Seeing the confusion on the naval officers face Dr. Church took out two photos, this is the insides of the new radio the Germans are providing the military. It was cluttered with wires and devices sticking up off the board. The other was a green board with just a few bumps, it was almost flat.
1994
1995"They clearly look different doctor but I don't understand the differences." 
1996
1997Church frowned, his face had beads of sweet running down it. "That’s two of us or rather a lot of us. We damaged one of the units from Norway while trying to figure it out but that allowed us to take closer look at the damaged unit. I can tell you that this here...." Church pointed at one of the tiny flat black sections on the board and then moved to one of the large devices sticking off the recovered radio from the Bf-109 wreck. "And this one here have the same function but it is one hundredths the size of the other with a level of manufacturing to a scale that can only be seen using microscopes and powerful ones at that. The energy efficacy of the two devices are hugely different too, the Norway Device uses a fraction of the power and the batteries it came with by the way lasted for weeks of almost continuous operation before they died."
1998
1999Fleming began to understand in part at least, "Why would they build two devices that do roughly the same thing but one is hugely inefficient compared to the other?"
2000
2001"If they COULD build both it wouldn't make any sense now would it?" Church was visibly fidgeting at this point.
2002
2003"What are you saying then doctor that the Germans didn't make the Norway Devices?" Fleming felt like he was pulling teeth from the scientist.
2004
2005"All I am saying is that the two devices are made to vastly different standards and using vastly different processes. The differences make no sense. The Norway Device makes use of Silicon-germanium for the electronics and I don't have even the faintest idea how to copy most of its parts let alone the entire device. The Siemens radios uses germanium and we can actual copy the entire device given time. Some German scientific journals discuss the principals involved, thats where we got the name for the parts involved here a TRANSISTOR." Dr Church concluded.
2006
2007Fleming started to get uncomfortable with the way this was going as the doctor was hinting at some things that matched up with some rumors coming out of South Africa. Like how the right wing fanatics managed to convince so many of the Boer elite to go along with the coup. Fantastic stories of warnings from the future. The only reason the rumors had even gotten to London at all is because there were so many of them, no one placed any credence in the stories but they were there all the same. Just as Dr. Church couldn’t explain the Norway Devices but could explain the latest Siemens radio. Could the Norway device be from the future? No madness.
2008
2009“Commander Fleming?” 
2010
2011Damn day dreaming, “Sorry Doctor I was just thinking about what you told me. Keep looking into the Norway Device. Tell me more about the transistor radio and what they are doing with it.”
2012
2013With the change of topic Dr. Church smiled, “Yes they have a series of radios for vehicles and man portable ones to be given the infantry. They can receive and transmit and are far more durable, reliable and power efficient than the current Vacuum Tube Radios. It will have all sorts of advantages for their military units.”
2014
2015Fleming leaned forward, "You said you can copy it. How long?"
2016
2017Once again Dr. Church frowned, "Do you mean in a lab or where we can produce our own versions in the factories?"
2018
2019"The later of course."
2020
2021"Several years at least Commander."
2022
2023
2024***
2025
2026October 4th
2027Rome, Kingdom of Italy.
2028
2029Mussolini was ragging and pounding the table as the Grand Council of Fascism met. The subject was Germany. There had been many suggestions from Berlin of late and most of them revolved aorund the idea of keeping a lid on things in Europe and calm.
2030
2031"...We will not be held back...

2032
2033Galeazzo Ciano actually thought the German's suggestion was actually very reasonable. Last year had been a whirlwind of change and Italy needed time to fully come to grips with the new balance. The problem was Mussolini couldn't see or at least couldn't accept how much things had shifted. The man wanted to make his own mark on history. Ever move the Germans made of late just upset the Italian dictator more. The latest was the movement of German troops into Romania to protect the oil fields. Oil was something the Germans obsessed over. It was something that helped Italy at least as they were helping develop the fields. Along with the help had come strings, dialing back the rhetoric vs. Greece and Yugoslavia. 
2034
2035"...As the inheritors of Rome we have ever right to our just claims in the Balkans..."
2036
2037Ciano was getting worried that Mussolini was serious in considering a move against Greece without German backing. Especially as the United Kingdom was not distracted currently and had not withdrawn its statement to guarantee the independence of Greece. 
2038
2039"...Greek arrogance must be dealt with..."
2040
2041Ciano replaced German with Greek, that was really what was going on. Mussolini wanted to show Berlin he wasn't another Brussels pact toady. Perhaps find another way. The British had been carefully reaching out to Italy after the war ended to try to rebuild relations. Perhaps a movement towards London, a small one would serve to remind Berlin that Rome was able to act on its own. It would certainly be better than to move against Greece after the implied threat from Berlin to no do just that.
2042
2043
2044***
2045
2046October 12th, 1940
2047Arsenal de Brest, France 
2048
2049The French Heavy Cruiser Duquesne was being guided into the one of the graving docks in the French Naval port. Orders had come from Paris but everyone knew that the orders were really from Berlin. Duquesne and her sister Tourville were to have their main guns removed, the super structures raised to the main decks as preparation for the two ships to be converted into light aircraft carriers. At St. Nazaire Penhoët the aircraft carrier Joffre had been under construction was also ordered to be restarted. None of this effort had anything like a full time work force.
2050
2051***
2052
2053
2054October 28th
2055London Times
2056
2057"Anglo - Italian Oil Company Formed!" 
2058
2059
2060***
2061
2062November 10th
2063Boston Globe
2064
2065Ambassador Joseph Kennedy said in a interview, "The United Kingdom is finished, they are a defeated nation. The Germans overran Europe and then crushed the English military. The United States should look to its own security. Any effort that we give to the English should be from the point of view propping up enough to buy us time..."
2066
2067***
2068
2069November 15th
2070London Times
2071
2072Bayer AG of Germany announced a new line of antibiotics, an effective anti-viral drug and an effective vaccine for Polio...
2073
2074***
2075
2076November 20th
2077Hungary
2078
2079"Kingdom of Hungary has become an associate power of the Brussels Pact..."
2080
2081***
2082
2083
2084November 23rd,
2085Tanganyika, British Empire
2086Dar es Salaam, Office of the Governor
2087
2088
2089"Sir another transport has arrived from Europe with Jewish Refugees." The secretary announced.
2090
2091
2092Colonel Marks who was standing next to the governor looked up sharply, "What is wrong with those fools in London! We can't handle the refugees we already have." Turning the the governor, "Sir you have to get someone in the Colonial Office. We have had two outbreaks of typhus since this started and the natives are getting upset with a couple of incidents against the refugees."
2093
2094Mark Aitchison Young shook his head, "I tried from the start but its not London but the Germans. They are dumping some times thousands per day at the ports. When a ship captain protested the condition of the refugees and threatened to refuse to take them the SS bastards lined a dozen of the refugees up against a wall and shot them. The captain backed down of course not wanting a blood bath."
2095
2096The Colonel's eyes went wide, "Why the hell didn't we do something about that?"
2097
2098"Because the Germans are doing worse in Poland, there are Poles on the roads right now, in winter trying to push carts by hand."
2099
2100"Bastards!"
2101
2102All the governor could do was shake his head.
2103
2104
2105***
2106
2107November 23rd
2108Romania
2109
2110"Kingdom of Romania has become an associate power of the Brussels Pact..."
2111
2112***
2113
2114November 24th
2115Slovak Republic
2116
2117"Slovak Republic has become an associate power of the Brussels Pact..."
2118
2119***
2120
2121
2122December 8th,
2123Kaserne, 18th Panzer Division
2124Chemnitz, Third Reich
2125
2126Twenty two factory fresh PzKpfw IV were being unloaded from the railroad flatcars. Once off of the cars the crews at once started to put on the special wide width tracks for the snow. 
2127
2128Kurt Knispel slapped the side barrel, "I am sure we can mess something up with this gun!" 
2129
2130The company commander doing an inspection of the vehicles overheard the young gunner. "That it will Knispel, these 75s will sort out anything we have to worry about. You know what would help?"
2131
2132The young private had sinking idea what was about to follow but for now playing dumb was the best path. "No Leutnant Carius."
2133
2134The pencil thing and short officer shook his head and pointed at the tank gunner, "A hair cut and a shave. When we are in the field I understand but we are in the Kaserne with hot and cold running water."
2135
2136The gunner had a good natured smile, "I will take care of it Leutnant."
2137
2138Carius suspected that the gunner would all too soon forget about the instruction but the man was a crack gunner, a natural shot and writing him up wouldn't help the company or the regiment. "Till you do get cleaned up I want you to help sight in each of the guns on these tanks. Clear?"
2139
2140"Clear Leutnant!"
2141
2142Another railroad train was pulling into the depot this one with Schützenpanzers for the Mechanized Infantry of the division. Carius paused to look at the boxy vehicles, he had been briefed on them. The vehicles were based on the PzKpfw 38(t) but now they had a crew of two and could carry eight solders in compartment that took up the bulk of the vehicle. The armament was a heavy machine-gun but the vehicle was protected against small arms and fragments so the infantry would be protected going into the battle at which point they could dismount and fight. Rumor said that the Czech factory was producing just now and another plant in Germany was converting over.
2143
2144*** 
2145
2146January 9th, 1941
2147United States
2148
2149The German Pharmaceutical Giants Merck and Bayer have submitted research to the FDA for an oral contraceptive pill for woman...
2150
2151***
2152
2153January 3rd
215410 Downing Street London 
2155
2156
2157"What do our cousins across the pond have to say?" Attlee asked.
2158
2159Eden was clearly unhappy, "Much as they have for the past months. They have lots of suggestions for us that look good from their point of view."
2160
2161Greenwood couldn't avoid rolling his eyes, "The same list of decolonization and free trade."
2162
2163Attlee sighed, "Have they noticed that the Germans are creating a giant trade block and hiding behind tariff walls, tariff walls that the Americans also use? At the same time the Germans are flooding the world with their wonder drugs? They may have a point on India though, its becoming a problem."
2164
2165"Becoming a problem? When hasn't India been a problem we can't hold the issue off much longer." Eden said. 
2166
A long silence dragged out as no one in the room was happy with the situation.
2167
2168"Clearly we are going to have to see to our own house for now and wait to see if the Americans become more reasonable long term. We need to deal with the situation in India and figure out how big a problem the Boers are going to be long term in Africa. Plus Japan is being a very large problem in China." Attlee said.
2169
2170Eden nodded, "I think its time for another Imperial Conference. The Americans have been leaning on Canada and Australia is worried. We need to show some leadership and unity."
2171
2172"Very well."
2173
2174Greenwood raised one more point, "The MAUD Committee has some information and some worrying information out of Europe."
2175
2176With the others attention Greenwood continued, "First they expect to have a report in a month or two with a formal recommendation. I have been told they are going to suggest a large uranium enrichment plant. The other issue is that a number of scientist in Europe that hadn't fled before the Germans over ran things have gone missing, especially physicists and the Germans are working on Heavy Water production."
2177
2178Attlee and Eden nodded in understanding it could only mean one thing, the Germans were doing the same thing that the British and no doubt the American were.
2179
2180
2181***
2182
2183Feburary 12th, 1941
2184Wolfsburg, Third Reich
2185
2186"Hiring at Peoples Truck Factory! All Shifts! Build the future now!"
2187
2188A huge assemble-line plant had been erected over the past few years and now it was producing thousands of standardized trucks for the Wehrmacht. The factory is the largest vehicle assembly plant in Europe.
2189
2190***
2191
2192March 1st, 1941
2193Bulgaria
2194
2195"Kingdom of Bulgaria has become an associate power of the Brussels Pact..."
2196
2197***
2198March 2nd
2199Helsinki Finland
2200
2201The Finnish Foreign Minister, Rolf Johan Witting, began the diplomatic dance, "Welcome to Finland Mr. Foreign Minister." 
2202
2203Von Ribbentrop as always was smooth and many said silvered tongued, it was part of what made him so successful as a salesman before he became a follower of Hitler. "Thank you for having me Mr. Foreign Minister. The Führer places a great deal of importance on our talks."
2204
2205The two diplomates began negotiations for the inclusion of Finland in the Brussels Pact. At last the Finn came to the key element, "You are offering a great deal of material add for us to sign the agreement, tanks, rifles, planes, etc. Why, answer me that Herr Ribbentrop why is this so critical right now?"
2206
2207The response had been long practiced by Ribbentrop. The German took out a folder and wordlessly hand it over. Inside where maps, ariel photographs and charts listing Soviet Troop strength along the German and Soviet border in what had once been Poland. "The Soviet Union is conducting a build up, they are mobilizing troops, MILLIONS of men and then moving them forward into location where they can attack. I have a question for you, has your military seen a similar buildup along your borders? If you have that confirms this information and why the Reich is so eager Finland to join the Brussels Pact. War is coming Mr. Foreign Minister and the Soviet Union intends to include Finland among its targets."
2208
2209Witting remember the last time the Soviets had come after his nation the price had been very high. At the same time he was no fool and doubted that the Nazi' were telling the whole or even the majority of the truth here. "I need to consult with the rest of the cabinet."
2210
2211Through the translator Ribbentrop replied that he understood and then handed over another folder, "Also present these documents to your government. In the event that Finland does join the Brussels Pact and the Soviets attack these documents concern the post war settlement."
2212
2213Witting looked through the second folder and his eyes went wide at the Finnish and matching German version of the documents but especially the map. It showed the area known as Greater Karaelia and not just the terrtory lost during the winter war. The shaded area included everything north of the Svir River north, the entire Koka Pennisula. 
2214
2215
2216At the expression on Witting's face Ribbentrop smiled. "Again this is just in case you understand and the Führe wanted to let your government know we respect your nations 'historc' claims in the event that the worst case were to come to pass."
2217
2218Witting understood completely, war was coming and this was the bribe to get Finland to be on the side of Germany.
2219
2220
2221***
2222
2223
2224March 4th
2225Finland
2226
2227"Republic of Finland has become an associate power of the Brussels Pact..."
2228
2229***
2230
2231March 16th
2232Pharmacy Today Journal, Vol 17
2233
2234Since the end of the European War the German Pharmaceutical Companies have unleashed a veritable storm of new drugs on the world. Many are overtly targeted for health but they have also released a number of drugs purely for recreation under the titles Mephedrone, MDMA and others. These drugs available to the public have been wildly popular and a boon to their producers in terms of sales. 
2235
2236
2237*** 
2238
2239
2240March 18th
2241Berghof, Third Reich
2242
2243"I you certain that the drugs on the forbidden list will not be available in the Reich or Europe?"
2244
2245"I am certain Mein Führer. The destructive drugs and contraceptives will only be available out side of Germany."
2246
2247Hitler nodded in satisfaction, "Good let the mongrel races destroy themselves and self limit their numbers."
2248
2249
2250*** 
2251
2252
2253The Brussels Pact on Eve of Soviet War
2254
2255The Pact forces had three tiers so to speak with the topmost tier being the German Army. The next tier was the allied nations of Finland, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Slovakia. The third and lowest tier where the captive or puppet nations of the West, Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands and Norway. The third tier nations were very tightly restricted and were in the middle of on going reorganizations in political, economic and military sense. Except for France with a standing army limit of 200,000 men set by the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt the others were required to maintain peace time armies of 1% if their populations. 
2256
2257
2258Belgium
22594 Infantry and 1 Panzer (84,000 men)
2260Denmark
22612 Infantry (38,000 men)
2262France
226310 Infantry and 2 Panzer (200,000 men)
2264
2265Netherlands
22664 Infantry and 1 Panzer (88,000 men)
2267Norway
22681 Infantry and multiple independent regiments (30,000 men)
2269
2270Initially Hitler had wanted to just disarm the West other than colonial troops and allow anyone that wished to fight to join the Waffen SS. After talks with Goering, a faction in the Foreign Ministry and Rhoodie instead it was decided to have the conquered Western Nations have limited national armies. Hitler and Goering had many talks with Rhoodie about the Warsaw Pact from the future that wasn't to be. The Brussels Pact especially with the Western Nations was fairly overtly modeled on that organization. The new armies were to have German liaison officers at regimental level and above. By the time of the Soviet War only a handful of formations had been created as the Germans were being very selective in approving the officers in the new armies. One Belgian, Dutch and two French divisions were ready but the German liaison officers rated the moral of the units as low. 
2271
2272The Waffen SS was free to recruit and pushed heavily for volunteers selling the SS as a Pan European Organization. Once the fighting started posters such as these appeared around Europe.
2273
2274https://knightsandsteel.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/festung-europa19f1.jpg
2275
2276https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/09/83/f509830ed17c4d6536d27b452d3ab405.jpg
2277
2278http://cdn.iofferphoto.com/img3/ite...ng-german-war-wwii-propaganda-poster-eef8.jpg
2279
2280The anti-Soviet propaganda was for the future. Right after the Peace Treaties were concluded in the West the SS saw a rush of volunteers in the occupied nations. The volunteers that stepped forward for the SS at this point were an interesting collection of opportunists, power climbers and rightwing fanatics; all told eighteen thousand spread among the various western pact nations by summer 1941. From these starting national battalions and regiments would a few years grow to division sized formations.
2281
2282
2283As part of the Brussels pact and the general reording of Europe many firms in Germany reached out to make deals with firms in the Pact. Creating a large number of Combines the biggest being the Coal and Steel Combine. The German government approved license deals for the production designs, typically not the latest, in Brussels Pact Nations. So by fall 1940 that included things like the Mark III Ausf C but not the Mark IV Ausf, the former Czech Mark (t) 38 as a weapons carrier chassis, Bf-109s, transport aircraft and the like. Orders for rubber from the Belgian Congo were made also and so on. A common currency was for the future but all currencies had their exchange rates fixed with Germany and each other with most tariffs between members banned. 
2284
2285
2286***
2287
2288
2289State of the Fast Troops (Panzer and Motorized Infantry) at Start of Soviet Campaign
2290
2291Panzer Divisions
2292Since the fall of France a huge change over in the equipment of the Panzer Divisions had occurred and their numbers had expanded again. There were twenty panzer divisions 1st through 20th. Each division had two Panzer regiments each of two battalions for a total theoretical strength of 356 panzers. Other than as reconnaissance all light tanks had been removed from the Germans order of battle and didn't count towards the division totals. The back bone of the Panzer divisions was of course the Mark III with over 5,500 on strength and another 1400 Mark IVs to balance out. The plan was for each Battalion to have three companies of Mark III and one Company of Mark IVs but the 8th, 11th, 19th and 20th divisions did not have any Mark IVs.
2293
2294
2295Motorized Infantry
2296As of the start of the Soviet Campaign there were a dozen motorized infantry divisions in the Heer and another four in the SS for a total of sixteen. Besides their infantry each division was also equipped with a battalion of tanks, typically assault guns. Newly introduced was the Schützenpanzers. The Schützenpanzer was based on the PzKpfw 38(t) and weighed 11.7 tons with light armor protection and armed with a machine gun. Each could carry eight soldiers and had a crew of two. Of course there were only a few hundred of these with the vast majority of infantry going into battle on halftracks or trucks.
2297
2298
2299***
2300
2301Soviet Union on eve of Soviet War
2302
2303Panic set in immediately in Moscow when first the French and then the British exited the war in June and July respectively. It seemed certain the Germans were coming East now that they had won a cheap victory in the west, so Stalin ordered plans to occupy the Baltics and Bukowina to go ahead as planned, while defensive plans were turned in immediately. He also ordered the Molotov Line project started immediately, using as much of the Stalin line as possible. Also ordered were mass expansion plans, which came on top of the equipment modernization and reorganization orders already given. All this left the Soviet military a mess as they tried to do everything at once while recovering from the Winter War. Stalin was not convinced that war would necessarily come in 1941 given that the Germans would have to take some time to absorb Europe in to its sphere and ensure the British would remain neutral in renewed conflict, so he did everything he could to buy off Hitler, honoring the Commercial Agreements as best as possible. When the Axis Pact was signed with Japan and Italy Stalin even ordered Molotov to try and get entry for the USSR, but after a series of offers and counter offers the effort languished without a German reply. 
2304
2305Seeing the buildup on the German-Soviet border mount over the Spring of 1941 and with warnings coming from intelligence services that the Germans were coming Stalin panicked again and ordered secret mobilizations to avoid alerting Hitler to his preparations and still did everything in his power to buy off Hitler for 1 more year. Things became even more confusing when Hitler sent him a letter explaining the military buildup in the East as preparations for an invasion of Britain to finish off his last enemy in a surprise attack, but to keep those preparations away from British eyes forces assembled in the East and Norway. Of course that didn't explain the buildup in Romania or why there were constant overflights of Soviet territory, but Hitler appealed to him to contact him directly if there were any border incidents caused by his anti-Soviet generals. Further muddying the waters was the coming and going of May 15th the supposed date of the invasion his intelligence services warned about, seemingly indicating that Hitler would not attack and was telling the truth in his letter.
2306
2307So while Soviet secret mobilizations were continuing, as was there organization, modernization, and buildup of border defenses, the Germans continued their overflights and massing, but still no indication of invasion. Some deserters would come over the lines and report preparations for attack, but Stalin had them executed for trying to instigate a conflict. Even as Zhukov argued for an offensive to blunt German preparations Stalin rejected it,knowing how badly prepared Soviet forces were for defense, let alone an attack;as it stood defensive planning was not yet even complete with all units. There were major equipment shortages, lack of officers, training deficiencies, and to top it off Stalin ordered a new round of purges to root out saboteurs that were delaying preparations in the military and industry, because clearly the only explanation for delays were anti-revolutionary elements not trying hard enough.As the Axis invasion date came round the Soviets had nearly completed their 2nd strategic echelon deployments and were starting their 3rd, while the 1st line was carrying out its limited preparations while trying to avoid provoking the Germans. But as per the Soviet system the contradiction in orders wasn't questioned, it was followed to avoid a talk with the NKVD about disloyalty.
2308Soviet War
2309
2310Certain assumptions had been made by the Germans and the Soviets about the war that started on June 8th 1941. For the Soviets there we all sorts of warnings about the Germans preparations and they were believed. As a result the Soviets mobilized dozens of additional Rifle Corps in spring 1941 and deployed them well back from the frontier but the mobilizations created a huge stain on the Soviet military and economy. In the meantime Stalin attempted to placate Hitler to buy more time. Despite predicting quiet well the size of the German attack, actual the Soviets overestimated the number of tanks by two to one for example and despite watching the smashing of first Poland and later the western powers the Red Army proved totally unprepared for the firepower or speed of the German attack. When the Germans attacked they managed to simply crush the forward Soviet formations. Many times STAVKA issued orders to formations that had been obliterated. This allowed the Germans to drive deep into the rear of the Soviets to create massive cauldron battles that the German General Staff so loved and strove for.
2311
2312On the German side with access to their uptime knowledge they felt themselves well prepared for the challenge of facing the Soviet Union. The Germans knew that the Soviets wouldn’t just crumble, that there would be wave after wave of replacement troops and that the distances and logistics would be terrible. As a result the Germans since 1937 had been putting effort into trying to rebuild their railways and since the conclusion of fighting in 1940 into integrating Western Europe; more railroad construction regiments, more rolling stock and of course production of war austerity locomotive designs. What the Germans hadn’t known was that the Poles would conduct a general uprising with two weeks of the start of the Soviet Campaign. 
2313
2314The Germans had been conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide from the very start of the Polish Campaign. Once the fighting ended in the West that freed up large numbers of troops to help with the attempt to remake Poland. With no distractions Himmler and Heydrich went to work. Farm by farm, village by village and town by town the Germans cleared out the ethnic Poles from provinces directly annexed to Germany and set the displaced on roads and sent them towards the General Government. Tens of thousands of young children were ripped from their mother’s arms and anyone that attempted to intervene was executed. This generated all sorts of problems as Poles took to hiding out in the woods as the relocation teams approached and the Poles then had to be hunted down. This process continued throughout the winter and so by spring of 1941 million’s had been relocated, hundreds of thousands murdered and that doesn’t even consider the man made famine breaking out in the General Government as it was overloaded past its carrying capacity. With the writing on the wall the Polish Unground forces combined into the Home Army during the winter of 1940/41 and it had more Poles willing to fight than they had weapons for them. Most Poles had come to the conclusion that their fate under Nazi rule was at best slaves and much more likely just dead. So once the fighting between the Germans and Soviets began the Home Army accelerated its plans for a general revolt. 
2315
2316These plans for a revolt were to take place months later as while the Polish Unground movement was now called the Home Army it just wasn’t prepared. The Poles lacked rifles, had next to no heavy weapons, all sorts of communication and control problems. General Stefan Rowecki was head of the Polish Home Army and a man on the run, the Nazi’s had been looking for him since the conquest. This had actually aided his rise as the Poles inclined to active resistance figured anyone that the Nazi’s wanted so badly to be dead was a person to be respected. Despite that respect Rowecki wasn’t able to put into place the plan he wanted; which was to continue recruiting, organizing, training and acquiring weapons. The problem was by 1941 too many Poles had their homes taken from them, fathers and brothers shipped off to work in German run mines or for the Organisation Todt’s construction units, children ripped from their mothers arms to be Germanized, daughters, mothers and wives raped and the killings in the form of reprisals for any act of disobedience or for no reason at all. Military discipline in Poland with respect Polish civilians had been poor even among the army as unless commanders actively kept their troops in line it degraded and as army units kept conducting operations in combination with Einsatzgruppen which actively slaughtered Poles discipline just got worse. As a result all too many Poles especially from or near areas already annexed to Germany were willing to engage in suicidal resistance. Now that Germany had a new enemy, even the hated Soviets, it was clearly time to rise up.
2317
2318Rowecki desperately attempted to prevent the uprising that breaks out sporadically across Poland. As Pole’s sneak out at night to cut lines, sabotage railways and ambush German patrols the Germans reprisals become even more savage. Then two weeks after the start of the Soviet War an uprising breaks out in Warsaw. To this date no one knows who ordered it; very few of the Poles survived the reprisals and destruction heaped on the former Polish capital. What is known is that the uprising began as more of a riot following a decree from Hans Frank about the need for more manpower to be conscripted for the war effort. The riot quickly spread, especially after Polish workers captured a train transporting replacement arms and munitions to the front. A few days later General Rowecki fearing that if the uprising were totally crushed they might never organize another one ordered a general uprising. 
2319
2320The Poles plan was simple for a number of reasons but mostly because of a lack of time to prepare. Rise up in the rear of the Germans, cutting their lines of communication between Germany and the Soviet Union. Attacking railroads, bridges and depots across occupied Poland the Home Army managed to disrupt rail traffic for at times up to an entire day. The railroad sabotage was followed by uprisings in other cities across Poland while the fighting continued in Warsaw. To say that Hitler reacted poorly is an understatement. Raging after word of each additional report, Hitler ordered the destruction of any Polish city that had risen up and for every Pole caught under arms ten more were to be killed also as a lesson to the rest. Also Hitler ranted against Andries Rhoodie and the other South Africans for not warning him about this threat. The uprising and its aftermath would have many effects, many not made clear for several years. In the short term the forces kept back in Germany itself as reinforcements and as part of the failed attempt to convince Stalin that Germany was going to invade England were rushed to Poland with orders to crush the uprising. Crush the uprising the Germans did.
2321
2322In terms of long term effects of the Polish Rebellion and its being crushed perhaps the most important was the British and American response. Both nations ordered embargos of trade with the Third Reich beyond a short list of items listed as non-essentials mostly food. Raw materials and most finished goods were not to be exported to Germany. The embargo was mostly symbolic as Brussels pact transshipped all sorts of goods to the Reich and much of South America didn’t follow suit. Many historians mark the twin embargos as start of what would eventually be known as the Cold War with Nazi Germany. 
2323
2324As to the Campaign itself the opening German onslaught blew multiple holes in the Soviet Front as nearly 9,000 tanks organized into 20 Panzer divisions and 16 motorized divisions hit them. The Germans repeated and expanded upon their use of Special Operations Teams and Paratroopers from the Western Campaign. The Luftwaffe alone now had two entire divisions available for air drops. During the first week of the campaign saw a number of times when the Panzers arrived at key bridges, especially in the Baltics, the Bridges were already taken by men of Regiment Brandenburg, Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger and SS Special Teams. As a result the German 4th and 5th Panzer Armies ran wild in Baltics. For a number of reasons the Baltics was the biggest difference from the uptime historical documents had access to. The key reason for this is that while the German divisions had perhaps two or even three times the firepower of Heer armies of what would have been they also had vastly greater logistical needs. The extra trucks, additional mechanization and additional support weapons all needed more fuel, more spare parts and more ammunition. While the Germans were near their railheads this didn’t matter but the deeper the Germans dove into the vast interior of the Soviet Union the more it began to be an issue; this issue became acute when combined with the distraction that the Polish Uprising became. 
2325
2326By June 22nd the Germans had advanced to a general line of Tallinn to Minsk in the northern half of the front and the Polish uprising was still building in intensity. The Germans rail lines were being cut on an almost daily basis and the Soviets 2nd line of Rifle Corps was being encountered. Despite these problems the Germans had managed to create two major cauldrons, first was in the Baltics near Raseiniai and the second was west of Minsk. The Raseiniai pocket also known as the Kurland Pocket in German sources made up of the entire Soviet 11th Army and elements of the Soviet 8th army in particular the 12 Mechanized Corps; two hundred thousand men are encircled. The much larger Białystok–Minsk Cauldron had the 3rd, 4th, 10th and 13th Soviet armies completely or in part encircled with over seven hundred thousand men trapped. 
2327
2328The Soviets desperately attempted to relieve these pockets the remainder of the 8th army was too battered so while it fell back the 27th Army which had been moved forward as part of the Soviet preparations and the newly formed 22nd Army attempted to relieve the Kurland Pocket. Only the 13th Army in any part managed to escape the Białystok–Minsk Cauldron but that was without the 17th Mechanized Corps. So the remainder of the 13th Army and 24th Army brought west from the Siberian Military District attempted to relieve the Minsk Pocket. Both relief attempts were dismal failures. 
2329
2330In the meantime the Luftwaffe was conducting not only ground support missions but also the first of its long range strikes on Soviet Logistics. He-277s now in squadron service escorted by Do-335s and Fw-187s conducted strikes against Soviet railyards and bridges. If the Soviet Railnet could be hit hard enough then not only would Soviet troop movements be disrupted but also the attempt by the Soviets to evacuate its industry from Western Soviet. He-111s, Ju-88s and Ar-234 would at times fly along Soviet Railroads and attack any train encountered with cannon and rocket fire. The Kurland pocket owed much to the air assaults along the Riga by the 7th Fallschirmjäger division. 
2331
2332In the south the German advance was more of a meat grinder as the front was much narrower and there was less room for maneuver at first. As a result Army Group South had to batter the Soviet South Western Front out of its way but batter the Germans did. This was made much more difficult as the 6th Panzer Army and the expected reinforcements from Germany were diverted into dealing with the Polish. The use of the 6th Panzer Army in an anti-partisan operation was wildly criticized by the German High Command. Despite these problems the Germans reached Ternopil by June 16th and the SS hot on the heels of the Army at once rounded all of the Jews of the city into a Ghetto. By the time that Ternopil was reached the Soviet 5th and 6th Armies had been shattered by the efforts of the German 6th and 12th Armies along with the 1st Panzer.
2333
2334The offensive by the Hungarian and Slovak armies managed to pin elements of the 12th and 26th Soviet Armies along the border. So with the German armies racing for Kiev passed through the rear areas of these Soviet armies a small cauldron formed. The German 17th Army in cooperation with the Hungarian and Slovak armies spent till June the 19th wrapping the cauldron up. No relief attempt was possible but at the same time numerous Soviet forces escaped from the Galacia Cauldron such as the virtually the entire Soviet 16th Mechanized Corps. Once clear of the front the Germans discovered that the Soviet 16th, 18th, 19th and 21st armies had rebuilt the front west of Kiev. 
2335
2336Between Polish distraction and the ferocity of the Soviet resistance the Germans were forced to pause to wrap up the various cauldrons before resuming advances by Army Group Center and South towards Smolensk and Kiev. In the meantime Army Group North raced towards Leningrad. Between Riga and Leningrad was a series of running meeting engagements followed by running battles as the Germans smashed Soviet formations piecemeal. First the remaining elements of the 8th Soviet Army were smashed by the 18th German army. While the 8th Soviet Army fought and died the Soviet 22nd Army faced the combined wrath of the German 4th and 5th Panzer Armies. By June 26th German troops had reached the shores of Lakes Peipus and Pskov in Estonia as the 22nd Soviet Army crumbled under the onslaught. The 27th Soviet Army was pushed towards Tallinn and left for the 18th German army to mop up. Now advancing in a vacuum the two Panzer Armies raced towards Leningrad which was reached by July 3rd. It took till July 9th for the Soviet 23rd army to be eliminated by the German and Finnish troops and for Leningrad to be captured. 
2337
2338In the meantime the newly formed Soviet 48th Army was pitched into hasty attacks to attempt to relieve the defenders of Leningrad. The 48th Army simply wasn’t ready for combat and had all sorts of deficiencies in terms of equipment and training. By the time that the 23rd Army had been destroyed the 48th was also badly damaged. 
2339
2340The quick capture of Leningrad was the result of a number of factors. First Army Group North had the largest concentration of Panzer Forces of the three army groups with the 5th Panzer Army having four Panzer or Motorized Corps alone. Second the logistics of the advance were the most favorable as most of the Baltics used the same gauge as Germany for their rail lines and had the best road network. Lavish use of Luftwaffe Airpower in the form of airdrops of troops by the 7th and 22nd divisions along the way and of course resupply by Ju-90s, Ju-252s and the remaining Ju-52s to support the spearheads. Of course the Baltic peoples welcoming the Germans with open arms and quick intelligence played its role.
2341
2342Army group Center and South were not able to resume their advance till the end of June because of logistical problems and the need to wrap up the cauldrons. At the same time the Polish uprising had been crushed so the 6th Panzer Army joined Army Group South and the 12th Army joined Army Group Center. The first formations of the Western members of the Brussels Pact arrived in theater at this point but were assigned to anti-partisan and line of communications security for the moment. On June 28th the two army groups resumed their advance with objectives of Smolensk and Kiev. The Luftwaffe continue to provide ground support but special focus was made to wreck Soviet logistics as the anti-railroad campaign continues. In particular the railyards of Smolensk, Kiev and Soviet cities east of them were subjected to high altitude raids by He-277s dropping explosives and incendiary bombs. Fire storms are set off in the Soviet Cities and large sections of attacked Soviet cities were laid to waste. With Soviet supplies and reinforcements disrupted the German offensives made good ground.
2343
2344The resulting Kiev and Smolensk Cauldrons saw hundreds of thousands of additional Soviet troops and thousands more tanks and guns captured. In front of Smolensk the Soviet formations were the remainder of the 13th and 24th armies plus the newly raised 28th, 29th and 30th Armies. To defend Kiev the Soviet had assembled the 16th, 18th, 19th and 21st Armies plus numerous independent formations. Around Moscow five more armies were being formed. There was some talk of attempting a Soviet Counter offensive in the center but before Soviets could even try to move the Germans attacked. Of the above nine armies that faced the Germans with Assault Rifles, Mark III Panzers, Mark IV Panzers, Self-Propelled guns and transistor communication all of those armies were shattered or capture; nearly a million men were lost to the Red Army. 
2345
2346The fall of Leningrad, Smolensk and Kiev in mid-July saw another pause for the Germans to reorganize and resupply. This time the pause would be before the lunge towards Moscow. On the Soviet side recriminations held pride of place in the Kremlin. Every time the Red Army tried to stand or counter attack the Germans simply crushed them. The reports were all the same, the Germans had too much firepower and were too well coordinated. Casualties were over three million; more than 50% of the pre-war soviet army in terms of manpower had been destroyed including most of its heavy weapons and equipment. While on the German side the reported dead were just under 75,000. Also while total number of German tanks and trucks rose since Barbarossa began the number of available vehicles has dropped as many vehicles are in field depots being serviced. Leningrad to the border is 450 miles in a straight line and Kiev and Smolensk 350 miles; either set of distances are longer than the Germans run to the coast in the French campaign. All of this driving has put wear and tear on the Germans vehicles and they need time. Plus the Luftwaffe spent a great deal of time blowing up Soviet trains, bridges, railyards and just bombing the lines. So the railroad construction battalions are working round the clock with forced labor to repair what the Luftwaffe has wrecked. 
2347
2348While the Heer pauses the focus shifts to the Luftwaffe. The priority target is to attack the transport infrastructure around Moscow. So again and again He-277s launch their strikes on the Soviet capital. Besides the stated purpose the air campaign against the Soviet capital has another objective and that is to pull Soviet air defenses in. So just before the army resumes offensive operations the Luftwaffe kicks off Operation Eisenhammer. Air attacks are by conventional bombers and Mistels is launched against the Soviet power grid. 200 drone aircraft packed with explosives are used to devastating effect. Also the Germans attempt to hit damns with their new SC-4000 earthquake bombs. While the Soviet power grid isn’t taken off line it is crippled and rolling blackouts are required to keep essential war production going. The blackouts, aerial bombing and rumors of devastating defeats are taking perhaps an even more important toll; on the moral of the Soviet Leadership.
2349
2350The Moscow Campaign kicked off on September 3rd and the Germans would have two lines of advance. Army Group North now supplies through the port of Leningrad advanced straight down the second oldest railroad in Russia, the old St. Petersburg – Moscow line that had opened in 1851. The two Panzer Armies of Army Group North, Fourth and Fifth Panzer would go as fast as they could and the 17th and 18th infantry armies would just have to keep up as best as possible and cover the flanks. Army Group Center would advance on a broad front from Smolensk with the Third and Second Panzer armies taking the lead while the infantry armies would keep up as best as they could.
2351
2352The Soviets had used the two week pause in German major offensive operations to good effect. Outside Leningrad the Soviet 42nd Army was brought back to strength and three others formed the 52nd, 53rd and 54th. In front of Moscow Stalin managed to assemble an impressive mass of manpower. The defense of Moscow would be in the hands of the 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th and 43rd with six more armies in the process of forming. The Soviets pre-war effort to copy the StG-36 had at last born fruit and limited numbers were being produced. In addition large numbers of sub machine guns, SVT-38s semi-auto and of course the tried and tested Mosin–Nagant bolt action rifle was used to equip these armies. Despite the Soviets best efforts and the first arrival of supplies from the UK and USA along the Siberian Railroad these formations were woefully underequipped; with shortages of small arms let alone artillery and heavy weapons. As the German air campaign continued and started to bite hard into soviet production these problems only got worse. In addition these formations were green in terms of their training and leadership as there were few veterans.
2353
2354Once the fighting resumed to say that these new Soviet formations did poorly is a vast understatement. More than a few of these units had their soldiers conscripted and sent into action with only days of training and still wearing civilian clothing. When exposed to the firepower of the German 1941 Panzer division it was very shocking to say the least. The worst example of this type of tank-panic occurred during the battle for Vyazma on September 12th where several Red Army battalions just shattered and broke. The Soviet Western Front lost the 30th and 33rd armies forcing the Soviets to move up reinforcements and for the 31st, 32nd, 34th and 43rd to retreat along the entire front as the two Panzer armies blew a 75km wide hole in the lines. 
2355
2356Meanwhile Army Group North advanced towards Moscow but made very slow going at first because of the terrain east of Leningrad. The Finns freed up advanced on Murmansk. By September 15th Army Group North had cleared the worst of the swamps but the ground was still rugged and greatly slowed the Germans advance. Combat had ground down the 42nd and 52nd Soviet Armies. 
2357
2358Army Group South drove towards Kharkov and eventually the Donets River while the Crimea was put under siege.
2359
2360After the Germans reached Mozhaisk on September 25th Army Group Center began its wide movements to encircle the soviet capital. The 4th Panzer Army went south while the 3rd Panzer Army broke north towards Klin. The movement of the 3rd Panzer in particular threatened the supply lines for the Soviet North West Front. General Kurochkin attempted to pull back from Army Group North but by now there was a crippling shortage of Soviet rolling stock and the Luftwaffe kept up the pressure with its anti-railway operations. With crippling supply problems and his rear threatened Kurochkin ordered a general retreat but the front lost cohesion and it became a chase as Brigades and entire Divisions were cut to bits. No large cauldron formed as instead Soviet formations one by one were overrun by the German advance.
2361
2362German Infantry continued their march towards Moscow right up the center. As the freshly raised Soviet formations like the 1st Shock Army and the reformed 5th were thrown into the battle these hastily raised units melted in the blast furnace of German firepower. The first reports of Soviet units actually refusing orders reached Moscow. Stalin ordered executions and threatened to shoot the families of commanders that couldn’t get their men to fight. Despite the lack of heavy panzer support the infantry armies managed to keep up their rapid rate of advance as Soviet resistance began to crumble. On September 29th the Germans reached Kurbinka in the center. At this point Stalin orders the evacuation of key officials from the capital and when the announcement goes out the civilians begin to panic. Hundreds of thousands of civilians clog the roads and attempt flee the capital. These fleeing civilians clog the roads and great hamper the Red Army’s already hamstrung efforts to move to meet German movements. Stalin orders the NKVD to clear the roads by any means necessary and unknown thousands are killed as civilians are put to death as “enemies of the motherland.” Moral in the Red Army reaches a new low and mass desertions become a serious problem.
2363
2364Over the next week as the Germans begin to start fighting in the outskirts of the soviet capital and the Heer’s advance in the center slows as fighting turns to street battles. The panzers outside of Moscow in meanwhile speed up as Soviet resistance begins to collapse and at times the Germans manage up to 20 km or even 30 km a day. The Soviet North Western Front over the next week simply disintegrates. Stalin orders General Kurochkin’s family and the families of other generals of the North Western Front put to death in Red Square. Members of STAVKA and other soviet military leaders are forced to watch as in some cases mothers holding infants are machinegunned down by the NKVD. This has a powerful impact on the Red Army leadership but not the one Stalin wished for. Almost at once multiple conspiracies form and nearly as quickly NKVD detects one of these half formed plots.
2365
2366October 7th snow falls and Moscow has German forces extending their ring of panzers halfway around the soviet capital. The roads are turning into muddy quagmires and this finally slows down the German advance. Being informed of one of the coup plots Stalin orders a purge of the Soviet Army leadership and decides to flee the capital. What followed isn’t exactly known as so many of the key people involved ended up dead. The most wildly accepted version of events is that Lavrentiy Beria head of the NKVD decide that Stalin had gone insane and reached out to General Zhukov. The Chief of Staff for STAVAK either thought that Beria was attempting to trick him or Zhukov decided that he couldn’t trust Beria. What followed was a three way battle as the Army, NKVD and forces loyal to Stalin fight it out on the streets of Moscow and the halls of the Kremlin. Multiple and contradictory announcements go from Moscow. “Stalin is dead!” “Stalin lives!” “The NKVD has put down a coup!” “The Red Army has put down a coup!” All that is clear is that chaos ruled in the Soviet Capital. The effect on the soviet armies was disastrous. The Red Army turned on hated NKVD rear area security battalions and then many soldiers decided it was everyman for himself. 
2367
2368When the dust settles on October 11th Stalin is dead, Beria has fled Moscow but is attempting to rally the Party and the NKVD to his banner. Zhukov is wounded but alive and has something like control over Moscow as long as you are willing to ignore the hordes of panicked civilians and Red Army deserters now looting and rioting. Zhukov decides the situation is hopeless. Arms production west of the Urals is in free fall and the factory relocation effort was largely a failure thanks to the Luftwaffe, communication and control are breaking down, the armies are in collapse and Russia now faces civil war as Zhukov and Beria will have to fight it out for control while still fighting the Germans. 
2369
2370***
2371
2372June 9th
2373
2374“Blockade Declared against Murmansk by German Navy!”
2375
2376***
2377
2378June 15th, 1941
2379Reinhard Heydrich,
2380
2381I wish to report the results of our first efforts to deal with the Jewish problem in the East. On June 13th we entered into Kaunas and I gave a speech to the Lithuanians to encourage them to deal with the Jews. The speech was poorly received and I had to resort to using a paramilitary unit command by Algirdas Klimaitis. Over the next three days the Klimaitis Commandos exterminated 5,000 Jews in the city and the area around it, destroying several synagogues and over 50 houses. I am most hopeful that in time we will be able to encourage not just aware groups like the Klimaitis Commandos but also the common people of the East to deal with the Bolsheviks and their Jewish masters. In the mean time I will continue all efforts to recruit other local paramilitary units to aid our task until the general population has achieved the necessary level of awareness. 
2382
2383As Army Group North continues its advance and our mission continues additional updates will be sent in.
2384
2385Franz Walter Stahlecker
2386SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei
2387Führer Einsatzgruppe A
2388
2389***
2390
2391New York Times
2392Wire Report 
2393
2394STOCKHOLM, Sweden, July 15 – Tens of thousands of Poles were put to death between June 20 and July 3rd by the Heer following an uprising by the Poles in occupied Poland, according to reports brought here by several Poles that escaped across the Baltic in small boats. The refugees bring stories of massive reprisal killings and wide spread destruction of buildings…
2395
2396***
2397
2398Outside of human understanding of space and time
2399
2400TARGET POWERED ON, TARGET LOCATED
2401WAITING FOR TARGET POWER DOWN
2402WAITING…
2403WAITING…
2404WAITING…
2405...
2406
2407TARGET POWERED DOWN
2408INITIATING TRANSFER
2409TRANSFER COMPLETE
2410
2411***
2412June 20th 2021, Kaliningrad, Russian Federation
2413
2414“It’s gone! The device it’s just gone!”
2415
2416The second South African yelled at the first, “Idiot what did you do?!? You were just to turn it off!”
2417
2418“That’s all I did! I swear!”
2419
2420***
2421July 7th, 1941
242210 Downing Street London
2423
2424Prime Minister Attlee was very worried, as was everyone in the room. “Let’s cut to the chase, how bad are Soviets doing?”
2425
2426Now past 60 years Arthur Greenwood looked like he had seen better days, in particular there were rumors that he was drinking heavily. “The Germans have captured or killed well over a million Soviet troops since the campaign began. Perhaps the total is closer to two million. It’s hard to get details with both the Soviets and Nazi’s lying through their teeth. The plan facts are that the Germans have kicked the hell out of the Soviet Army and are racing for Moscow. Leningrad looks ready to fall.”
2427
2428“Don’t forget the dead Poles, the streets in Warsaw ran red by the time the Germans were done.” Eden said flatly.
2429
2430Attlee was hardly shocked by the details, they had been reading of Non-Stop Soviet defeats since what the papers were calling the Soviet War began. “Anthony, what openings if any do we have? Is there any chance to get the French to back out?”
2431
2432By the first week after the fighting started every member of the Brussels Pact had declared war on the Soviet Union in response to it, ‘unprovoked attack on Germany’ back in May.
2433
2434“The French ambassador had the decency to be embarrassed but that is as far as that goes. The Germans have all of the Brussels Pact on a fairly short leash. It got more information on that mass changeover of diplomatic personal. All of the families of senior diplomats in Brussels Pact embassies are in Germany as fairly overt hostages for good behavior.” Eden shrugged himself at his powerlessness.
2435
2436Pounding the table in frustration, “OK, invite the American ambassador over. We go with the embargo and we don’t have any choice but to increase military spending.”
2437
2438“The Chiefs have some thoughts on things we might do if things go completely pair shaped for the Soviets.” Greenwood announced. 
2439
2440Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister looked on with interest, “Well if the Soviets totally collapse we could see Germans in places closer to our interests. I hope not in Central Asia but closer than we care to think right now. So we might consider moving out of Iran to take up defensive positions.”
2441
2442Eden nods, “We might talk to the Indian National Conference. We are still in negotiations on the details of Independence. The idea of Nazi Germany being closer at hand could help with those talks.”
2443
2444Attlee nodded, “Pass the suggestion along to the Colonial Office.”
2445
2446***
2447August 19th
2448Washington DC, nearby the “Munitions Building”
2449
2450Along the mall was the current Head Quarters of the War Department known as the Munitions Building and sitting on a bench was Commander James Greer, United States Navy and he was fidgeting. Then after looking at his watch for what seems like the tenth time the person he was waiting for, Dan Murray of the FBI arrived.
2451
2452Murry had made his bones helping to chase boot legers came up to the naval officer, “OK Commander, here as requested can we go inside its hot as hell out here?”
2453
2454Greer shook his head, “I don’t want us overheard, the reason why will be obvious in a moment. Take these, read.” Greer handed over a satchel of the type many couriers would use.
2455
2456Shaking his head as Greer was clearly in cloak and dagger mode, the FBI agent took the satchel, sat down and started reading. The contents where transcripts of intercepts from OP-20-G for short or long form Office of Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV), 20th Division of the Office of Naval Communications, G Section / Communications Security. Also some were reports from a navy ship that recently stopped over in Cape Town in South Africa. 
2457
2458Commander James Greer of OP-20-G or "Office of Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV), 20th Division of the Office of Naval Communications, G Section / Communications Security", was the U.S. Navy's signals intelligence and cryptanalysis group.
2459
2460Dan Murray, Federal Bureau of Investigation took a double take several times and then stopped halfway through to just stare at the naval officer.
2461
2462“I told you we didn’t want to be overheard and I have no clue as to who to talk that wouldn’t end with the men in white coats and carrying a straitjacket for me.”
2463
2464“What makes you think I won’t just call for them?” The FBI closed the satchel and handed it back.
2465
2466“Because you are one of Hoovers hatch men and while he is clever he isn’t that clever. We, as in Military Intelligence, know that the Bureau has been seeing some strange things from German agents you are tracking. Things that don’t make any sense and you have trouble explaining.” Greer was worried as he was making some guesses here from things he knew of rather than directly about.
2467
2468Pausing for a good minute before he answered Murray at last spoke, “Perhaps we are but time travelers with warnings from the future? I agree the South Africans have started acting nutty but that seems to be the theme of our times. Why not little green men with ray guns?”
2469
2470“As I said its crazy hence why I can’t send this up the normal channels. I need some type of proof, something that would be impossible to ignore.” The naval officer explained.
2471
2472“Well I am listening if you have a plan now is the time.”
2473
2474Pleased that the FBI agent didn’t just storm off despite them having worked together on counter espionage cases for years now, “OK here is my idea…” 
2475
2476***
2477
2478September 1st
2479Königsberg, Third Reich
2480South African Compound
2481
2482“So no word from South Africa?”
2483
2484“None, there is no sign that the portal has been reactivated there.”
2485
2486Rhoodie sat at his desk quietly for a few moments, “We are on our own then.”
2487
2488***
2489Battle in Soviet Union
2490
2491A company of German Mark IVs are moving cross country, the company is at half strength from losses and vehicles down with mechanical problems. Suddenly three KV-1’s broke through a line of trees, firing and heading right for the Germans. The Mark IVs mount the excellent 75mm L48 and have slopped armor.
2492
2493One of the German tanks explodes as 76.2mm shell penetrates the turret and sets off the ready ammunition.
2494
2495German Crew of Panzer Number 205.
2496
2497Commander, “They got Willy! FUCK! Driver hard right!” Looking out from the turret the commander now sees the Soviet tanks attacking from the flank.
2498
2499The driver slams the controls over, “Where are they I can’t see anything!” 
2500
2501The other two Soviet tanks fire but their shots go wild but make and evil noise as the shells wiz by overhead. “Turret traverse right! Gunner load AP.”
2502
2503The rest of the company is turning to face the threat on their flank, several of the Germans fire too quickly and miss.
2504
2505With the turret now lining up on the lead Soviet tank the commander shouts out orders, “Target KV1 direct front!”
2506
2507The gunner sees the target and screams out, “Identified!”
2508
2509Almost at once the commander and gunner shouts. “Fire!” “On the way!”
2510
2511The German 75mm hits true but deflects off the frontal armor. The soviets fire again but with the Germans moving wildly about are not easy targets and all the soviet guns miss.
2512
2513“Reload! Reload!”
2514
2515Another AP round is slammed into the breach of the cannon by the loader and screams, “READY!” 
2516
2517“Fire!” “On the way!”
2518
2519This time the German 75 hits the KV-1s turret and drives deep into the soviet tank. The resulting explosion actual sends the turret flying in the air and the burning tank grinds to a halt.
2520
2521The tank commander shouts, “Thank god!” To his crew, “Target destroyed, gunner new target 30 degrees left!”
2522
2523When the battle was over all three soviet tanks were dead and only Panzer number 201 on the Germans side. Taking some time to look over the knocked out Soviet tanks one German looks in horror at the 45 ton soviet monster, “Can you imagine how hard it would be to kill one of these bastards if were still using those Czech toys!”
2524
2525***
2526
2527Personal Accounts from “Slaughter in the East”
2528
2529Interview of Dina Mironovna Vasserman, Survivor
2530
2531“Hitler's troops seized Kiev on July 19, 1941, and from the very first day they started plundering and killing Jews. Terrible stories about the treatment of Jews were circulating in the city. We lived in terror. When I saw announcements posted in the streets, ordering "all the Jews of the city of Kiev to gather at Babi Yar" (a place we had no idea about), I felt trouble was coming. I started shivering. I say that nothing good was awaiting us there. That is why I dressed my children, three and five years old, packed their stuff in a small bag and took them to my Russian mother-in-law. Then, following the order, my sick mother and I went along the road to Babi Yar.
2532
2533Jews were walking in hundreds and thousands. Besides me there was an old Jew with a long white beard. He had on a tallis (prayer shawl) and tfilin (phylacteries). He was mumbling. He prayed exactly as my father did when I was a child. A woman was walking ahead of me. She was carrying two children and a third one was walking alongside, holding her skirt. Sick women and elderly were riding in carts among piled up bags and suitcases. Small children were crying. Old people, having trouble walking, sighed and trudged on in their mournful journey.
2534
2535Russian husbands were walking with their Jewish wives. Russian wives were walking with their Jewish husbands. When we approached Babi Yar I heard shooting and inhuman shouting. I started to grasp what was going on but did not say anything to my mother.
2536
2537When we entered through the gates we were ordered to turn in our papers and valuables and undress. A German came over to my mother and tore a gold ring off her finger. Only then mother said "Dinochka, you are Pronicheva, you are Russian. You should survive. Rush to your children. You should live for them."
2538
2539But I could not flee. We were surrounded by fascists with submachine guns, Ukrainian policemen, and ferocious dogs who were ready to tear a human being to pieces. And then, I could not leave my mother alone. I embraced her, burst into tears but was unable to leave her. Mother pushed me away and yelled "Hurry!"
2540
2541I went to a table at which a fat officer was seated, showed him my passport and said quietly, "I am Russian." He was contemplating my passport when a policeman came over and barked, "Don't believe her, she's a Kike. We know her..." The German told me to step aside and wait.
2542
2543I saw groups of men, women, children and elderly undress. They they were taken to an open pit and shot by soldiers. Then another group would come. I saw this horror with my own eyes. Even though I was not standing close to the pit, I could hear awful shrieks of terrified people, weak voices of children, crying, "Mother, mother..." I saw all that and was unable to understand how people could kill others because they are Jewish. And I concluded that the fascists were not humans, they were - beasts.
2544
2545I saw a young completely naked woman feed her naked baby with the breast when a policeman came to her, took the baby, and thrust it into the pit. The mother rushed after the child. A fascist shot her dead, and she fell into the pit. Had someone told me this, I would not believe it. It is impossible to believe.
2546
2547The German who had ordered me to wait took me to his superior, gave him my passport and said, "This woman says she is Russian, but a policeman says she is Jewish." The officer studied my passport for a while and then said, "Dina is not a Russian name. You are Jewish. Take her!"
2548
2549A policeman told me to undress and pushed me to the edge of the pit where another group was waiting for its fate. But before the shooting started, I driven by terror, fell into the pit. I fell on dead bodies. At first, I could not understand anything: where was I? How did I get there?
2550
2551I thought I had gone mad. But when people started falling on my, I came to my senses and understood everything. I started checking my arms, legs, abdomen, head. It turned out I was not even wounded. I pretended to be dead. Under me and above me there lay the killed and wounded. Some of them breathed, others moaned. Suddenly, I heard a child cry, "Mommy!" It seemed like it was my little daughter. I burst into tears. 
2552
2553The execution went on, and people kept falling. I was pushing corpses away in fear of being buried alive. But I did this in a way so that the policemen would not notice.
2554
2555All of a sudden everything was quiet. It was getting dark. Germans with submachine guns were killing those who had been wounded. I felt someone was standing above me, pretended to be dead, no matter how hard it was. Then I felt we were being covered with earth. I closed my eyes to protect them. When it became completely dark and quite - deadly quiet in literal sense - I opened my eyes and, having made sure no one was around and watching me, I dug myself out of sand that was covering me. I saw the ditch filling with thousands of killed. I got scared. Here and there earth was moving - half alive people were breathing.
2556
2557I looked at myself and got scared. The undershirt that was covering my body was all bloody. I tried to get up and could not. Then I said to myself: "Dina, get up, leave, run from here, our children are waiting for you." I got up and ran. Suddenly, I head a shot and understood that they noticed me. I fell on the ground and waited. All was quite. Without getting up, I started moving toward the high hill that surrounded the pit. Suddenly, I felt something was stirring behind me. First I got scared and decided to wait for a while. I turned quietly and asked, "Who are you?"
2558
2559A delicate, scared child's voice answered, "Don't be afraid. It's me. My first name is Fina. My last name is Shneiderman. I am eleven years old. Take me with you. I am very afraid of the dark." I moved closer to the boy, embraced him and started crying. The boy said, "Don't cry."
2560
2561We both started to move quietly. We reached the edge of the pit, got some rest and continued climbing, helping each other. We had already reached the top of the pit, stood up to run away when a shot was fired. We fell on the ground instinctively. For some time we were quiet, being afraid to speak. Having calmed down, I moved closer to Fimochka, touched him and asked in a whisper, "How are you doing, Fimochka?"
2562
2563There was no answer. In the dark I could feel his legs and arms. He did not stir. No signs of life. I got up a bit and looked in his face. He was lying with his eyes closed. I tried to open them but understood that the boy was dead. Probably, the shot we heard had taken his life.
2564
2565I caressed his cold face, said good bye to him, got on my feet and ran.”
2566
2567***
2568
2569From the testimony of Heinrich, a serviceman in the 307 police battalion, concerning the massacre of the Brest-Litovsk Jews on June 26, 1941, post war defector
2570
2571“That day we were awakened at three. The day of the execution was probably June 26, 1941. At first we were ordered to line up, armed with "36" rifles and ammunition. The task was to take all the males in the Jewish neighborhood out in the streets. 
2572They could get dressed and take as much luggage as they could carry. We were told that Jews were being sent to work in Germany...
2573
2574The gathering of Jews and their arrangement in the streets inside the Jewish neighborhood went on until six in the morning. Part of our battalion was sent to the site of the execution in trucks. The rest guarded Jews on their way there. 
2575
2576The site was located to the south of Brest-Litovsk, outside the forts, and looked like dunes. A ride to this place from the downtown would take fifteen minutes.
2577
2578When we arrived, i.e., at 6:30, we were met by an SS unit, obviously a company. The SS soldiers, armed with sub-machine guns surrounded an area (a circle) 600 meters in diameter. Besides the SS, there were SD soldiers in gray uniforms. Judging by what I heard later, these units, after the execution of the men, took care of the women and children who were brought by SS units to the site of the execution after noon. These soldiers were also armed with automatic weapons.
2579
2580There were twelve ditches: ten meters in length, 2.5 meters in width, and three to four meters deep. I think one could fit 600 corpses in such a pit. To avoid a mistake concerning the number of Jews that were shot that day (since I gave the figure of 10,000 before), I want to emphasize that during the described action about 6,000 male Jews were shot. From later discussions I learned that the figure was 10,000.
2581
2582We did not have chloride or lime or any other disinfectants. Shortly after we had arrived, a big column of Jews came from the town. It was stopped about 300 meters from the ditches. While the Jews were turning in their luggage, platoon commanders designated shooting soldiers. After this we were given instructions on how the execution should be conducted...
2583
2584According to the instructions, groups of fifty people were taken to the ditches and laid down on both sides of them, face to the ground, so that their heads stuck out above the pits. Behind each Jew there was a designated soldier with a "98" rifle, bayonet attached. A shot was made as following: the tip of the bayonet was put to the back of a victim's head. After this, a rifle was to be moved to an angle of forty-five degrees, and a shot was to be fired. It often happened that a skull was torn off along a bullet path. From time to time, if an angle was too wide or a victim was holding his head too high during a shot, a bullet would go through the neck. In such cases an officer or a platoon commander would finish off victims, shooting them from hand guns.
2585
2586We soldiers had to throw corpses into the ditches. No one was putting the corpses into stacks. In such fashion the execution went on until the afternoon. In the beginning, one of the long sides of a ditch would be approached by ten to twelve men to be shot. But later it became impossible to maintain such a uniform rate, and the shooting became sporadic.
2587
2588The Jews were dressed when approaching the pits. They did not need to undress in advance. This action ended by 4 p.m. After it ended we were taken back to barracks in trucks. Our service for the day was over.
2589
2590As far as I remember, we did not get any food and, this is for sure, alcoholic beverages during the day. There were no festivities.
2591
2592We were not to keep the action secret. There were no discussions among us servicemen after the action. And if there were, then only condemning it.
2593
2594Almost all of the Jews that I am describing accepted their fate with stoicism and heroic self-control. I personally lived throughout this in a state of trance and could not help being amazed by the Jews.”
2595Moscow
2596October 19th, 1941
2597
2598The Kremlin in Moscow had been the seat of the Tsar’s since Grand Prince Ivan III order its construction in the early 1490s. Napoleon attempted to destroy the fortress complex with its red brick outer walls when he began his long bitter retreat in 1812. The Luftwaffe had done a great deal of damage to the Soviet capital over the last few months and the Kremlin had been one of the primary targets as a result large sections of the historic complex were in ruins. By a strange quirk one of the intact buildings was the Palace of Facets an Italian Renaissance design and the oldest building in Moscow. In the grand ball room with its gold leaf trim and Orthodox Paintings the armistice parties were meeting. 
2599
2600On the Soviet side was General Zhukov and other military men along with what few party officials were still in Moscow were waiting for the Germans to arrive. More than a few of the Soviets looked frankly shell shocked with dark rings under their bloodshot eyes. Zhukov looked stoic as he sat at the table. Around the room stood German soldiers as guards no armed Soviets were allowed in Moscow anymore. Off to one side stood several German cameramen, the entire affair was being carefully orchestrated for maximum impact in the press.
2601
2602Into the faded glory of the Tsar’s strode Adolf Hitler the Führer of Greater Germany, the dictator of Europe and now conqueror of the Soviet Union. Various party officials and functionaries from the Foreign Ministry followed their leader into the room. As they did the cameras clicked and whirled away to record the event.
2603
2604“The threat to the German Volk presented by the Soviet Union is no more. The Bolshevik Jewish cabal that controlled the Soviet Union was a threat to not only Germany but also to European culture and civilization. This great conflict was a struggle between the beacon of light that is Europe and the degenerate Asiatic East.” Hitler paused to look directly at the Soviet representatives, “This crusade has shown to the world that resistance to the destiny of the German Volk and Reich is futile. The mongrel Asiatic East will be reorder and its culture adapted to service Germany and help provide sustenance for our children and our children’s children out for a thousand years…”
2605
2606Hitler then kept on going on his rant like speech for twenty more minutes making clear that the Russians were expected to live on their knees. Then without another word Hitler got up and left the hall leaving matters to the diplomats. The Soviets if they wanted an armistice the terms were to be brutal, everything west of the Don was to be handed over this involved just giving the Germans huge tracks of the Ukraine, a huge list of weapons and military supplies were to be turned over, a demilitarized zone with a depth of 250 miles east of the German lines and a list of raw materials, food and oil to be provided monthly, etc and the armistice was only good for 6 months at which point there was to be another meeting to discuss the possibility. 
2607
2608Having no choice the Soviets agreed to the Germans demands. As a result millions of troops turned over their arms and were taken into captivity.
2609
2610***
2611November 19th,
2612
2613United States Government Protests Sack of Changsha by Japanese troops following bloody battle for the capital of the Hunan Province.
2614--
2615United States increases aid program to Republic of China against Japanese Aggression.
2616
2617***
2618
2619New York Times
2620Wire Report 
2621
2622GENEVA, Switzerland, November 29th – “The International Red Cross reports that the German Government has again refused all access to Soviet Prisoners of War claiming that since the Soviet Union was not a party to the agreement Germany is not required report on its conduct. The German Government has also refused to address accusations of extreme brutality towards Soviet Civilians…” 
2623
2624*** 
2625
2626Berlin December 4th
2627
2628Prof Max van den Berg from South Africa was in a strange situation of lecturing the likes of Walther Bothe, Otto Hahn, and Werner Heisenberg on modern theories of nuclear physics. For many once provided with the details it was like watching a light bulb go after all these were the finest physics researchers in Germany. At least those that still remained as many fled Germany in the 1930s especially the Jewish scientists. 
2629
2630With the discussions and providing of research materials out of the way it was now time to move forward with the project. An overriding mandate was simplicity and so Uranium Enrichment for a railgun design was the initial focus. Eventually they would move forward with Plutonium but only as part of the nuclear power program. A top down organization for the project, named Odin, was decided upon. With scientist assigned to specific areas such as Uranium mining (deposits in Bohemia, Saxony and Thuringia), Uranium Enrichment (Gas centrifuge under Prof Klaus Clusius and young engineer Gernot Zippe), Weapon Design, Reactor Design and Fuel Reprocessing. 
2631
2632A goal of December 1943 is established for the first device to be ready. The cost of the project is expected to be the most expensive in the history of the Reich. The enrichment process in particular will require the creation of a number of processes and new materials. 
2633
2634***
2635February 1942
2636
2637Admiral Karl Doenitz and French Admiral Jean de Laborde are standing in Lorient watching as German and French engineers survey the ground for the first of what will be four mammoth submarine pens each able to accommodate 30 Ocean U-Boats. 
2638
2639Admiral De Laborde, “A great deal of activity Admiral.”
2640
2641The German Admiral smiled, “Not only here.”
2642
2643The French Admiral gave a classic Gallic shrug he was of course aware of the construction programs in France, Netherlands and Norway. Vast projects to build not only protected submarine bases but also upgraded facilities to support surface ships, large ships. If nothing else could drive home the intention of the Germans to stay in France not for just years but also generations this was it. The programs would take years to come to fruition. With the small talk out of the way De Laborde got down to business, “In addition to the facilities my ministry has been provided with a list of designs that the Marine nationale but nothing larger than cruisers. From all of this there are clearly long ranging plans or is France to only be a cruiser navy?”
2644
2645“Patience one thing that we wish to avoid is creating a log jam with too much activity all at once hence things will be done in stages.” Doenitz looked at the French Admiral, “Also we want to be sure that our new friendship is on the right track.”
2646
2647De Laborde knew exactly what the Germans wanted, they wanted to see how will Frenchmen worked.
2648
2649“Now new construction other than what has already been approved is still denied but you can expect permission to resume work the suspended Jean Bart within the next few weeks.”
2650
2651“Is that so?”
2652
2653***
2654March 14th,
265510 Downing Street
2656London, British Empire
2657
2658“What is the latest batch of good news to review from Europe?” Attlee asked the other two men that made up the inner circle of the British Cabinet.
2659Greenwood frowned, “I think the Germans are going to attack the Soviets again this spring.”
2660
2661Eden the Secretary of State for Foreign affairs nodded his unhappy agreement, “That is very possible from what we can tell the Germans have refused to have any talks with the Soviets other than to make demands in the context of the armistice for delivery of food and raw materials.”
2662
2663Attlee felt a migraine coming on, “Is this just a theory is it based on anything solid?”
2664
2665“MI5 has shown no let up at all in terms of German arms production if anything it continued to expand this last year while some signs of them starting to divert some effort towards their Navy its fairly minor at this point. Plus they have moved more Brussels Pact troops east to help with occupation. That’s where we are getting a lot of stuff on the conditions in the east.” Greenwood suppressed a shudder on the last part.
2666
2667Both Eden and Attlee had similar thoughts at mention of the Germans behavior in occupied Russia. It was nothing short of barbaric.
2668
2669“I think we may have to re-consider the Baku option.”
2670
2671Eden’s eyes went wide, “Can we risk war with the Germans again? Alone?”
2672
2673“Only if it came to that and the Imperial General Staff has a different plan. After the way the Germans cut through the Soviets last year they have grave reservations about our ability to hold it after we seized it. At same time if the Soviets can’t hold the area and the oil there is no reason the Germans should be allowed to have it either.”
2674
2675Attlee made a decision, “We aren’t ready for another war but we need to do something. Tell the Chiefs I want to see their plan. What’s next?”
2676
2677“Japan is making more headway in China and we have received multiple reports that Japanese troops are using Mustard Gas. In addition public sanitation is breaking down as missionaries are reporting things like Plague and Typhoid outbreaks occurring…”
2678
2679***
2680Reichskommissariat Ostland, Formerly Byelorussian SSR
2681Stalag 330
2682March 16th, 1942
2683
2684It had snowed lightly on the camp the night before, just enough to make the muddy grounds of the camp just that much soggier once the sun came out. At one point the camp had held over 100,000 captives. The Germans themselves were not sure how many it held as some project or another would demand manpower and a draft would be taken. A sweep by Einsatzgruppen or local Hilfswilliger would drop off prisoners when they didn’t just kill them out of hand of course. 
2685
2686One of the German guards was waiting by the gate for the camp because today they were looking for volunteers to help form a new Hilfswilliger unit. There were so many projects and the need for manpower was limitless. Before he had a chance a pair of captives ran for the gate and fell on their knees in the mud. They were yelling in rough German, “Friend!” “Help!”
2687
2688The officer took a moment to look them over a blond and the other dark brown in hair color, both dirty and on the thin side but healthy otherwise. They were most likely recently added to the camp late teens.
2689
2690Looking up the officer notice others about to rush forward, the chance to get out camp was eagerly sought after and the group looked too large for comfort so a signal to nearby tower saw a burst of machinegun fire into the crowd. A dozen fell over as the bullets cut them down.
2691
2692Speaking slowly the officer asked, “Sprichst du Deutsch?"
2693
2694The two shook their heads but neither got a chance to say anything as loud screams echoed across the grounds of the camp. The two captivities looked over their shoulders in terror at those cut down. A group of captives had moved up to the wounded and shoved everyone else out of their way. The new group drew knives and several had brought forward tubs. The leader of the new group pointed at the wounded, especially one trying to crawl away despite the bullet wounds in his gut. The screams degenerated into bloody gurgles as throats were slit and the dead were thrown over the tubs for the blood to drain. 
2695
2696The two captivities by the gate were indeed new they had been in the camp only for two weeks but they were all that was left of nearly thirty. The rest had either just disappeared or been culled by larger gangs in the camp. They knew what was going to happen to the latest dead and better to be killed by the Germans or work for them than face THAT.
2697
2698The officer looked away slightly as the behavior of this gang was more than little bold and he didn’t need certain things in his head. So the officer waved for a guard to open the gate and let the two captives out.
2699
2700As the newly released captives were lead away they looked over their shoulders. The last thing they saw of the camp was one the gang had opened up the body of one of the dead, had cut out liver and was eating slices. ANYTHING was better than to risk spending another day, another SECOND in Stalag 330.
2701
2702This was too much for the officer and he signaled to the tower again and the bold gang was cut down. What the animals did at night and behind the scenes was one thing but THIS was too public by far.
2703
2704***
2705Reich Air Ministry
2706April 10th, 1942
2707
2708The Air Ministry is soliciting designs for an air superiority fighter with the following specifications.
2709
2710Maximum speed at sea level 1,100 km/h
2711Combat Range of 2,500 km
2712Service Ceiling of 15,000 m
2713Armament of four autocannons and hardpoints stressed for a total load out of 2,400 kg of payload. Possible payloads being air to air rockets, air to air missiles, drop tanks and up to 500 kg bombs.
2714
2715***
2716Moscow 
2717April 18th, 1942
2718
2719“General is General Secretary Beria going to join us today?” asked Heydrich?
2720
2721Zhukov kept down his frustration as the German swine knew very well that what was left of the Soviet Union was in a virtual civil war and that Beria had refused to come west of the Urals. “The General Secretary has many demands but able… delegates and so he will not be attending SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer.” 
2722
2723“Pity but better for him, we will see to him soon enough. I am afraid that your utility to us has run out general.” Heydrich pulled out his sidearm and shot the Soviet General between the eyes. The German guards opened fire on the rest of the Soviet Armistice Delegation. Orders from Berlin were clear the soviet leadership was to be eliminated utterly. The new phase of the Soviet War was to push to the Urals and there was no place for half measures.
2724
2725June 3rd, 1942
2726Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
2727
2728
2729Ever since the war with Germany resumed the Soviets had been expecting an attack sooner or later on the oil production and refining facilities in and around Baku. Today the attack came but it wasn’t the Germans instead it was the British. From airfields in Iraq Royal Airforce bombers hit the principal Soviet Oil Fields and refineries Baku, Batum and Grozny. This raid was the combat debut of the Avro Lancaster with several squadrons equipped with the four engine bomber. 178 bombers of various types attacked in the first wave. While the Soviet defenses were all but nonexistent the British bombs only landed on target 20% of the time and ‘on target’ is a somewhat generous term. Over the course of the day the British Middle East Command hits the oil fields three more times but the follow on waves were smaller. Fire in oil facilities is a terrible danger and despite the majority of the bombs failing wide a great deal of destruction was caused. Over the next several weeks the raids continue as the Germans advance.
2730
2731
2732A series of nasty notes are exchanged between Berlin, London and Novosibirsk (Siberia) but nothing more comes of it. The Soviets are hugely distracted, Germany doesn’t want another war and the British are running a bluff.
2733
2734
2735May 8th, 1942
2736Lokot Autonomy, Reichskommissariat Ostland
2737Formerly Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
2738
2739
2740The previous summer the Germans had swept by as part of their race to Moscow and along the way killed any members of the Communist Party they had found in the region. Soon after forces of Army Group Center arrived a pair of locals named Bronislav Kaminski and Konstantin Voskoboinik, approached the German’s administration with a proposal to assist in establishing a civil administration and local police. Both men had been ‘exiled’ to the region during Stalin’s purges and neither had any love for Stalin or his government. Berlin had given orders to look for locals willing to work with Germany. So an agreement was made where a small militia of a few hundred members would be formed to help the Germans with various anti-partisan activities, rounding up of Jews and helping guard Soviet POWs. In exchange autonomy for the region would be allowed. In the time since Voskoboinik had been killed by Partisans and the militia had grown several times over and Kaminski commanded ten thousand armed men and ‘controlled’ an area of roughly 4,000 square miles with a population of perhaps half a million.
2741
2742
2743With the collapse of Red Army resistance and then the Armistice of Moscow most in the East would under normal conditions have tried to make whatever accommodation they could with the lands new masters. Except conditions were not normal the Germans other than with designated groups like Lokot Autonomy generally kept a very heavy hand on the local population. As a result while partisan activity dropped off it didn’t stop all together. 
2744
2745
2746Lokot is a small town and has few large buildings but the best had been taken over by Kaminski to serve as his headquarters and home. Kaminski has the title of Starosta or leader and the ‘Leader of Lokot’ has a number of important Germans visiting him. Ernst Kaltenbrunner an official in the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), Wilhelm Kube Generalkommissar for Weissruthenien (Belarus) and Martin Buch an administrator in the Four Year Plan.
2747
2748
2749“Welcome my German friends welcome!” Kaminski had a large smile plastered on his face. 
2750
2751
2752The Germans nod in return and shook hands with the Russian leader. Ernst Kaltenbrunner started the conversation off to the annoyance of Kube who felt that as the ‘senior civilian’ should be speaking first.
2753
2754
2755“First off all we wanted to thank you and your people for your efforts. Your help is even more important with the fighting resumed with the Soviets.” 
2756
2757
2758
2759“Of course we will help our German friends as best as we are able.”
2760
2761
2762“That is good, that is good as we have the outline of an accord we would VERY much like the Lokot Autonomy to agree to.” Kaltenbrunner leaned forward and nodded at Kube. The later was very annoyed now being treated like a flunky but added it to the list of slights that he would repay when he had a chance.
2763
2764
2765Kaminski looked over the agreement which was in German and Russian. Amounts of grain and lumber to be provided which was to be expected. There was an attached map of nearby areas to be ‘cleared’ and another sheet with dates and other totals. The later got Kaminski to raise an eyebrow but it was in question not an objection.
2766
2767
2768Now Kube spoke up, “The people in these areas have proven difficult and so we want them dealt with permanently.”
2769
2770
2771“Of course but what do you want with children?” The Russian leader asked.
2772
2773
2774Kaltenbrunner replied, “Those children age 6 and below of suitable stock are to be sent back to Germany and raised there.”
2775
2776
2777Martin Buch added in, “The others are hoped for figures of manpower, able bodied adults for the construction gangs, quarries, etc. Many roads, railroads and the like are to be built.”
2778
2779
2780“I see this is a great deal of territory to cover, there will be resistance to labor ‘drafts’ you understand…”
2781
2782
2783Kaltenbrunner smiled, “We will provide your forces with arms including tanks and if you run into anything too difficult more support will be available. To be blunt we want these locations liquidated utterly.”
2784
2785
2786At the mention of tanks got Kaminski’s attention. His forces had three light tanks ex-soviet BT-7s.
2787
2788
2789Another sheet of paper was handed over and it listed equipment to be provided, tanks, trucks, small arms and munitions. All of it was former Soviet of course.
2790
2791
2792“My German friends I believe we can make an agreement but I have a couple of minor additional requests…”
2793
2794
2795After the dickering completed the Germans and their escort left and started the long journey to visit the next strongman that had decided to work with the Germans. Martin Buch was busy with his maps that showed the planned roads and railroads that the slave labor would build when he looked up at a chuckle from the SS man Kaltenbrunner.
2796
2797
2798“I am always amazed at how willing people are to slaughter their neighbors.” Again the SS man laughed.
2799
2800
2801The economic bureaucrat shrugged, “What real choice do they have and besides it’s an old story. Some seek to make the best deal that they can with conquerors to better their own lot and if others have to be tossed into a meat grinder so that they live it’s not a difficult choice.”
2802
2803
2804Again the SS man laughed, “Till it’s their turn to be turned into sausage!”
2805
2806
2807***
2808
2809
2810Admiralty House, London
2811June 16th, 1942
2812
2813
2814“I call this meeting of the Joint Intelligence Committee to order. First order of business is aircraft development in Germany.” Lord Victor Cavendish Bentinck motioned for the representative of the Royal Airforce.
2815
2816
2817The Airforce officer handed out some sheets, “These are the specification sent out to aircraft manufactures for some next generation German aircraft; a fighter and a long range bomber.”
2818
2819Fighter
2820
2821Maximum speed at sea level 1,100 km/h
2822Combat Range of 2,500 km
2823Service Ceiling of 15,000 m
2824
2825Armament of four autocannons and hardpoints stressed for a total load out of 2,400 kg of payload. Possible payloads being air to air rockets, air to air missiles, drop tanks and up to 500 kg bombs.
2826
2827
2828Bomber
2829
2830Maximum speed at sea level 900 km/h
2831Combat Range of 3,250 km
2832Service Ceiling of 15,000 m
2833
2834Armament of two autocannons in remote turret and internal bombload of 24,000 lbs.
2835
2836
2837The various members looked over the requests and several of them gasped, “These can’t be serious!” 
2838
2839
2840“I wish it was but from what we can tell these request are very serious on the Germans part and they hope to have prototypes ready by 1944 at the latest. In addition the German Air Ministry expects these designs to make use of their newest Jet Engines.”
2841
2842
2843Lord Bentinck frowned and looked at the representative from the Air Ministry, “What about our own efforts?”
2844
2845
2846“Gloster is working on a jet and hopes to have it in the air soon but its max speed would be 600 kilometers an hour at sea level. So it would be two thirds of the speed of the bomber and just over fifty percent of the speed of the fighter.” Seeing the frowns and in a few cases looks of outright horror around the table he continues, “Now we this isn’t a total shock to us and the air ministry issued a specification of our own to leap frog the Germans. Miles Aircraft is going to be working on a design with a top speed of 1,600 kilometers an hour but it’s going to be several years before we see results.”*
2847
2848
2849Lord Bentinck nods pleased that it’s not totally bad news, “Moving on to the fighting in occupied eastern Europe.”
2850
2851
2852The representative of the British Army spoke up, “Yes we have multiple reports of the Germans using some new type of chemical weapon** against partisan strongholds. The reports are confused but from what we can tell the new agents are very deadly and normal gas masks are useless. Also from what survivors report sometimes the agents dissipates quickly and other times the area remains toxic for days, perhaps weeks. Reports of deaths are very high.”
2853
2854
2855“Good God…”
2856
2857
2858* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_M.52
2859
2860** Sarin and VX
2861
2862
2863
2864
2865*** 
2866
2867
2868
2869Washington DC
2870July 5th, 1942, FDR Fire Side Chat
2871
2872
2873“My fellow Americans and my friends,
2874
2875
2876A dark tide has swept across Europe and despite the vast distances between there and here it directly affects the future of the United States. We are shocked and horrified by the stories of the brutality of being inflicted on the civilians of the Soviet Union and Poland by the Nazi regime. Much of the rest of Europe now lives under the yoke of Nazi slavery.
2877
2878
2879I think it is right on this Sabbath evening that I should say a word in behalf of women and children and old men who need help-immediate help in their present distress—help from us across the seas, help from us who are still free to give it.
2880
2881
2882Tonight over the once peaceful roads the Soviet Union and Poland millions upon millions are now moving, running from their homes to escape bombs and shells and fire and machine gunning, without shelter, and almost wholly without food. They stumble on, knowing not where the end of the road will be. Even in areas far removed from combat the Nazi armies wage war but not a war against armies but a war against entire peoples. In the nearly three years since the war in Europe began Adolf Hitler’s legions have slaughtered the helpless and continue to do so.
2883
2884
2885Let us sit down together again, you and I, to consider our own pressing problems that confront us.
2886
2887
2888There are many among us who in the past closed their eyes to events abroad, because they believed in utter good faith what some of their fellow Americans told them, that what was taking place in Europe was none of our business; that no matter what happened over there, the United States could always pursue its peaceful and unique course in the world.
2889
2890
2891There are many among us who closed their eyes, from lack of interest or lack of knowledge; honestly and sincerely thinking that the many hundreds of miles of salt water made the American Hemisphere so remote that the people of North and Central and South America could go on living in the midst of their vast resources without reference to, or danger from, other continents of the world.
2892
2893
2894There are some among us who were persuaded by minority groups that we could maintain our physical safety by retiring within our continental boundaries—the Atlantic on the east, the Pacific on the west, Canada on the north, and Mexico on the south. Obviously, a defense policy based on that is merely to invite future attack.
2895
2896
2897And, finally, there are a few among us who have deliberately and consciously closed their eyes because they were determined to be opposed to their government, its foreign policy and every other policy, to be partisan, and to believe that anything that the Government did was wholly wrong.
2898
2899
2900To those who have closed their eyes for any of these many reasons, to those who would not admit the possibility of the approaching storm, to all of them the past three years meant the shattering of many illusions.
2901
2902
2903They have lost the illusion that we are remote and isolated and, therefore, secure against the dangers from which no other land is free.
2904
2905
2906In some quarters, with this rude awakening has come fear, fear bordering on panic. It is said that we are defenseless. It is whispered by some that only by abandoning our freedom, our ideals, our way of life, can we build our defenses adequately, can we match the strength of the aggressors.
2907
2908
2909I did not share those illusions. I do not share these fears.
2910
2911
2912Today we are now more realistic. But let us not be calamity howlers and discount our strength. Let us have done with both fears and illusions. On this Sabbath evening, in our homes in the midst of our American families, let us calmly consider what we have done and what we must do.
2913
2914
2915The time has come for the America and its people to take the lead confronting this evil that now bestrides Europe like a colossus. There can be no question that if we do nothing that in time this evil will come for us. 
2916
2917
2918Therefore I will be presenting to Congress a series of bills to expand the Army and Navy…”
2919
2920
2921***I used FDR’s Fire Side Chat of 5/26/1940 as a template and lifted whole sections from that.
2922
2923
2924***
2925
2926
2927Durban, Natal Province, South African Republic
2928August 22nd, 1942
2929AP Wire Report
2930Durban Massacre
2931
2932
2933A mass protest started in the largest city of Natal Province, Durban. The protests are in response to the Black Homeland Acts passed by the South African Parliament. The new law sets aside a small percentage of the territory of South Africa as homelands for Black natives and requires all blacks to relocate to the appropriate homeland. The law effects millions as roughly two thirds of South Africa’s population are listed as Bantu or Black Natives. Also as part of law all natives have been stripped of what few civil rights they hold and citizenship.
2934
2935
2936A crowd of an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 assembled in the city center to protest the new law and relocation. The South African army was called in and when the crowd refused to disperse the army opened fire on the crowd. Once the firing finished well over 1,000 perhaps as much as 1,500 were killed and wounded.
2937
2938
2939*** 
2940
2941September 11th 1942
2942Novosibirsk, Siberia, Capital of Soviet Union
2943
2944AP Wire
2945
2946The Soviet Union has signed a peace treaty with the Third Reich and the terms of which are absolutely sweeping. All territory of the Soviet Union west of the Ural Mountains is transferred to Germany. In addition the Soviet Union will be required to pay crushing reparations in the form of goods and raw materials. 
2947
2948***
2949
2950October 7th, 1942
2951Washington DC
2952
2953The United States and the British Empire have entered into talks to coordinate diplomatic and military activity in the face of the threat of the Third Reich.
2954
2955
2956***
2957
2958October 23rd, 1942
2959New Delhi, British Raj
2960
2961
2962Negations have begun between the Governor General of India and the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League and the Princely States for the partition and independence of India. 
2963
2964
2965***
2966
2967Second Soviet War
2968
2969
2970When the Nazi’s let the armistice expire in April 1942 they kicked off a campaign that would see the German and their allied armies advance 800 miles to the Ural Mountains far to the east. This distance is 200 miles more than the advance that took the Nazi forces to Moscow in 1941. What is worse for the Germans the more east you went the fewer roads and railroads there were and the lower their quality. Despite the horrible logistical problems the Soviet Forces were far, far weaker than they were in 1941. 
2971
2972
2973There were two reasons for the weakness of Soviet forces. First reason was that the Soviet Union was in near civil war. The two major factions were centered on General Georgy Zhukov, before the SS killed him in Moscow, and the other being Lavrentiy Beria. In addition a number of warlords of renegade Red Army units that tended to ignore orders from either Beria or Zhukov unless it suited them. In addition were the terms of the armistice which were extremely crippling for the Rump Soviet Union. German demands for raw materials, weapons, machinery and the like monopolized the Soviet Railnet and crippled efforts by the Soviets to attempt to rebuild their armies. So what forces faced the Nazi’s were disorganized masses of infantry with limited supplies of armor, artillery and motor vehicles. The Germans were by comparison lavishly equipped with motor vehicles and armored fighting vehicles. In the roughly six months between Armistice and the resumption of combat the Germans produced thousands of additional armored vehicles, tens of thousands of trucks and nearly ten thousand aircraft. Also since the armistice the Nazi’s built up large supply depots near the armistice lines, food, spare parts and munitions; all of the needs of a modern mechanized army. 
2974
2975
2976The 1942 campaign was to put it kindly terribly one sided. Despite the huge scope of the campaign area, distances involved and all the attendant logistical problems it was never remotely in doubt. Over the next six months the Germans would push hundreds of miles east and south, overrunning the entirety of the Soviet Union West of the Ural Mountains. As Nazi Armies advanced they sowed chaos and death east of the Volga. A tidal wave of refugees poured into central Asia and Siberia. 
2977
2978
2979From the very start of the resumption of hostilities Beria attempted to restore the armistice or even workout a final peace. The Germans just ignored all contacts till they at last reached the Ural Mountains when they presented the Soviet Government a take it or leave it offer. 
2980
2981
2982***
2983
2984Generalplan Ost and Remaking of Eastern Europe
2985
2986
2987Hitler’s grand plan for the future of Germany and Germans was to transform Germany from a regional power into a super power. In particular the German cultural foot print so to speak was to be expanded east all the way up to the Urals. The Slavs were broken down into three classes of people.
2988
2989
2990A) Those marked for extermination through destructive labor, famine and ‘active measures’
2991
2992B) Those to be relocated east
2993
2994C) Those that are useful and to be kept in place as helpers
2995
2996After the Polish Revolt of 1941 the entire Polish nation was marked for destruction. This said not even Hitler expected all the pre-war population of Poland some 34+ million souls to be murdered. First the Germans started by classifying those that could speak Ukrainian and Belarusian as not Poles. Word quickly spread that knowing German, Ukrainian or Belarusian would buy a chance at life and soon many nominal ethnic Poles started to claim being one of the other ethnic groups. Still this left nearly 20 million Poles. The Germans focused their efforts on moving the Poles village by village east into the General Government; typically after rounding up a number of the health males of working age to be used as Slave Labor. 
2997
2998
2999The Germans as an act of policy left the border with Romania and Hungary open till those two governments to prevent being over whelmed by refugees closed the borders to all but those with enough wealth to bribe the guards. So only the most well to do Poles were able to flee and that suited the Germans just fine. 
3000
3001
3002By the end of 1942 between deaths, relocation and flight abroad the Nazi’s had managed to ‘deal’ with over 5 million Poles. 
3003
3004
3005Territory seized from the Soviet Union in 1941 was divided up into Reichskommissariats. 
3006
3007Ostland (Baltics and Belarus)
3008
3009Ukraine (Ukraine)
3010
3011Moskowien (Russian Territory not part of other Reichskommissariats)
3012
3013Eastern Karelia and the Kola Peninsula were handed over to Finland.
3014
3015
3016The Germans first sought out Hilfswilliger or “Volunteers” willing to fight for the Germans against Stalin. Such volunteers ranged from individuals attempting to escape from the dreaded POW camps or those looking for real change. On the other end of the scale were local leaders such as Bronislav Kaminski of the Lokot Autonomy. By the time of the first armistice with the Soviets in 1941 there were perhaps a million Hilfswilliger in German service ranging from cooks on up to fighting units. 1942 and beyond the Germans worked to break up the occupied territory into as many of these small geographic units like the Lokot Autonomy as possible. Most were like Lokot centered on smaller towns. Those places and peoples not designed as either slave labor or helpers were to be destroyed.
3017
3018
3019The Germans marked the larger urban areas for total extermination of their populations. Leningrad with its population of perhaps 3 million was eliminated winter of 1941 – 42 by the simple method of driving the entire population of the city out into taiga to the east of the city at gun point. With temperatures dipping 10°C or more below freezing at night fatalities were near total. This was the first of what would be many ‘Kill Sweeps’ by Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen. The entire population of Minsk that had not agreed to some form of labor service was moved into the Jewish Ghetto of the city, itself with over 100,000, and just closed off. Nearly 200,000 people were closed off into an area that held perhaps 50,000 pre-war. With no food supplies and limited water thing quickly became desperate inside the ghetto with inhabitants turning on each other like Kilkenny cat and cannibalism breaking out. A general up rising occurred as the inhabitants attempted to flee the ghetto. The Germans had been expecting this and at the first signs of the revolt the Germans unleashed a combination of VK and Sarin on the ghetto slaughtering almost the entire population and thousands more outside of the ghetto as the clouds of noxious gas spread outside of the ghetto.
3020
3021
3022By end of 1942 the organization of most of the Autonomies was setup and the leaders were given a simple arrangement. Provide X amount of food, raw materials or people for forced labor. The autonomies to survive had to prey on those outside of their areas to gather the required tribute. This combined with bounties for heads, health males for forced labor and blond haired – blue eyed children 5 years and young drove even more killing. 
3023
3024
3025
3026When the war with the Soviets restarted in 1942 there were now dozens of Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen that moved behind the German advance killing as they moved and in general creating a reign of terror that sent a huge wave of refugees into the rump Soviet Union east of the Urals. After the second armistice the Germans continued to push refugees east into the Rump Soviet Union which created massive problems for the Soviets. 
3027
3028
3029With the advance to the Urals several more Reichskommissariats were setup, Don-Wolga, Kaukasus and Ural. 
3030
3031
3032By the second armistice the Nazi had killed, wounded or displaced tens of millions and the slaughter looked to only be increasing in tempo in the former Soviet Union.
3033Chicago, Illinois
3034
3035October 23rd, 1942
3036
3037
3038
3039A grey mercury coupe sits on the side of the road while two men talk.
3040
3041
3042
3043“They are starting assembly on Monday.”
3044
3045
3046
3047The other man was shocked by the statement, “Wait the Americans start assembly on November 16th and the reaction goes critical on December 2nd.”
3048
3049
3050
3051The first man shrugged, “With how many changes we introduced are you really surprised that something as minor as the date moving up is all that happened? Be glad they are still doing the work here and not someplace else. Fermi and most of those on the A List are involved from what we can tell and our man got hired as part of the construction crew just as we hoped for.”
3052
3053
3054
3055“Excellent…”
3056
3057
3058
3059***
3060
3061Völkischer Beobachter (People's Observer, the official publication of the Nazi Party)
3062
3063Land Reform and Settlement Act!
3064
3065November 2nd, 1942
3066
3067
3068
3069Planned farms of 50, 100 and 200 acres are available in the new eastern territories for settlement. As part of the act low interest loans for the purchase of livestock, farm machinery and along with guaranteed contracts for produce. In the old territories of the Reich buyouts of existing farms to allow for concentration of land into larger and more profitable farms is also to occur. The new Land Reform and Settlement Act is the largest agriculture reform since the 1935 land reform. In the next decade it is expected that millions will flock to the fertile lands of the New Territories in the east.
3070
3071
3072
3073
3074
3075***
3076
3077Warschau, March of Warschau Großdeutsches Reich
3078
3079November 2nd, 1942
3080
3081
3082
3083In 1939 when the war with the Germans began there were roughly 1.3 million inhabitants of the Polish City of Warsaw with another million in the area around the former Polish capital. Tens of thousands were killed as the Germans captured the city and then executed Polish leaders such as politicians, teachers and priests. Tens of thousands more died in labor camps setup in and around the great city. Then came the Polish Uprising of 1941 and the Germans killed wide and far in response to the Poles resistance. Mass graves dotted the countryside and the city was subjected to artillery and aerial bombardment leaving much of it in ruins. Exactly how many hundreds of thousands were killed will odds are never be known but much of the city was depopulated.
3084
3085
3086In 1942 the planned reconstruction of the Polish city of Warszawa into the German town Warschau began. Several large labor camps and ghettos were setup in and around the ruined city. The workers in the labor camps had but one function and that was to systematically dismantle the city brick by brick. As each building was torn down the resulting material was sorted into what could be reused. Everything from building fixtures like windows, doors, sinks and even bricks were sorted by size, type and color. Metals that could be recycled were recovered. As a gross simplification most of the expansion of the city since the 17th century was to be undone. The new German town was expected to have a population of perhaps 100,000 inhabitants. 
3087
3088
3089
3090***
3091
3092
3093
3094Outside of Stagg Field, University of Chicago
3095
3096Chicago, Illinois
3097
3098November 11th, 1942
3099
3100
3101
3102The two men were listening to a radio from a bug planted into the control room overlooking the pile the Americans had setup. The two listened to the clear voice of a woman; she was calling the K value as the pile approached criticality.
3103
3104
3105
3106Another voice followed the woman ordering the last control rod to be moved another six inches. 
3107
3108
3109
3110“Fermi is very precise… he no doubt has his slide rule in hand right now.”
3111
3112
3113
3114The two men waited the hour plus as the count slowly rose and then Fermi made the announcement, the pile had gone critical and the American reactor had gone critical. 
3115
3116
3117“Phase one, do it…” The second man ordered and the first man pushed a button on his controller. Beneath the stadium inside of the pile the Neutron Generator that their man had managed to inset responded to its order and began to emit additional neutrons into the reactor pile and more importantly into the neutron detector that Fermi and his team were depending on to keep track of the flux. 
3118
3119
3120
3121Very quickly they were rewarded as the woman’s voice still very calm noted the new increase in neutron activity. The alarm bell on the neutron detector could be heard ringing over the German’s bug letting Fermi and the other scientists know that the flux level was at a dangerous level. 
3122
3123
3124
3125The scientists were professionals and highly disciplined men and despite the fear they all felt they waited on Fermi’s instructions. 
3126
3127
3128
3129“Phase two…” The second man ordered and the other button on the controller was activated before the scientists could react. A second later the bug cut out and they lost audio from the control room.
3130
3131
3132
3133“OK let’s get out of here and remember to head west if we are very lucky the explosion will start the graphite burning and we don’t want to be down wind.” 
3134
3135
3136
3137***
3138
3139
3140
3141Chicago Federal Building
3142
3143November 25th, 1942
3144
3145
3146
3147Agent Dan Murry had been in Chicago for over a week now and had acquired a health amount of contempt for some very thick headed Military Police. First the military made him cool his heels for two days while they debated how much to tell him and they never let him interview the scientist alone, those still alive that is and not in hospital; five had been killed outright and a dozen wounded.
3148
3149
3150
3151“Well Agent Murry what do you have to report?” Asked army Lt. Col Nicholas the deputy head of the Manhattan District of the Army Corps of Engineers.
3152
3153
3154
3155“To be honest not a great deal, clear there was an explosion within what Dr. Fermi calls ‘the pile.’ I will not claim to understand how it works but I take the good doctor at his word that it’s some form of sabotage. Some of the other scientists are less sure. If it is sabotage then it had to have occurred while the pile was being constructed. Did you know that one of the students hired to build the pile has turned up dead?”
3156
3157
3158
3159This bit of attention caught the army officer’s eye, “If we assume it is sabotage whom is responsible?”
3160
3161
3162
3163“That is what I am going to attempt to discover.”
3164
3165
3166
3167***
3168
3169
3170After agent Murry left Colonel Nicholas made a phone call and briefly explained what he had been told. 
3171
3172
3173
3174In Washington General Groves ordered, “Very well tell Fermi to focus on rebuilding the pile at site B and I want security tight as a drum.” 
3175
3176
3177
3178***
3179
3180
3181
3182Walchensee Bavaria Großdeutsches Reich
3183
3184“Thor Wind Tunnel”
3185
3186January 9th, 1943
3187
3188
3189
3190A scale model of what was clearly a bomber was being tested. A long body with the wings swept back to 35 degrees. Under each wing was a jet engine pod with two engines and three propeller engines on the front of each wing; for a total of four jet and six propeller engines.
3191
3192
3193
3194Kurt Tank looked on from the observation room as wind swept over the model. A Luftwaffe General asked, “You submission for the Amerika-Bomber project looks impressive Herr Tank but when will the first one be ready to fly?”
3195
3196
3197
3198The Focke-Wulf designer answered with confidence, “The Ta-410 will fly in August of this year, we are just testing configuration of the engine pods.”
3199
3200
3201
3202Again the General nodded, “Very good Junkers, Messerschmitt and Heinkel all appear to be on schedule.”
3203
3204***
3205
3206Perm, Reichskommissariat Ural
3207
3208March 13th, 1943
3209
3210
3211
3212Located over a 1,000 km east of Moskau (Moscow) on the Kama River just west of the Ural Mountains lies the city of Perm. Found by Peter the Great as an industrial city in the early 18th century to take advantage of the rich mineral resources of the region. By the start of the Soviet War Perm had over 200,000 inhabitants with a dozen major military factories producing primarily artillery for the Red Army. The population swelled again as refugees from areas overrun by the advancing German forces. When the armistice was declared, the city was taken control of by forces loyal to General Zhukov, then briefly by the Molotov government and finally by the Germans in late 1942.
3213
3214
3215
3216The arrival of the German forces produced panic as horror stories of the atrocities committed by Germans and the Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen were well known. Other than executions of communist leaders and anyone foolish enough to question German authority there were no massacres. Things had quieted down in Perm. The factories and their workers were surveyed by the Germans with the industrial workers being given special ID cards for them and their families.
3217
3218All of this changed as Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen arrived in the town. The German troops were ordered to stand back while the excess population was cleaned out.
3219
3220
3221
3222The Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen were a motley collection by their nature, mostly ethnic Russians and other slavs, a few Germans as leadership. They behaved like a band out of the Mongol invasions pillaging and raping wherever they went. 
3223
3224
3225
3226***
3227
3228
3229
3230A group of Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen #24 assembled at the entrance to the housing block in the pre-dawn hours. It was -8°C / 17°F and the men’s breaths left trails of frost in the air as they moved about. One of the soldiers had a stick that was 150 cm in height, any of the children able to walk and under that would be sorted out to be sent West and those over it would stay with their parents. 
3231
3232
3233
3234At the appointed time the Hilfswilliger entered the housing block, anyone who got in their way and more than a few that didn’t were killed. The pre-dawn hours erupted into screams, especially from women and their older daughters.
3235
3236
3237
3238The German issued identity cards protected most of the industrial workers, most of them. The coming days saw tens of thousands of Russians forced to head east.
3239
3240
3241
3242***
3243
3244Kindererziehungslager 35 "children's education camp"
3245
3246Outside of Litzmannstadt, Reichsgau Wartheland, Großdeutsches Reich, formerly Łódź Second Polish Republic
3247
3248June 21st, 1943
3249
3250
3251
3252A bugle sounded assembly and the occupants of the barracks ran into the parade ground at the center of the camp. The boys assembled by into their platoons broken down by age, seven to thirteen. Each boy was dressed in a version of the brown and black uniforms of the Hitler Youth. 
3253
3254
3255
3256The senior camp ‘instructor’ ordered the flag guard made up of children to start to raise the blood red swastika flag and once it was raised all the children started to say together in German, “I swear to God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German Nation and people, Adolf Hitler, I shall render unconditional obedience…”
3257
3258
3259
3260With long practice, all of the children were able to give the oath with no trouble. All thanks to language training, all by immersion and with any back slipping into their native language being subject to swift punishment. The instructor looked over the children that had been rounded up over the past few years and sent here for reeducation. Too old to be placed for adoption instead the children were sent to party run camps like this one till they turned age fourteen when they would be sent onto special boarding schools for finishing. Where the children came from across occupied eastern Europe didn't matter only their new lives and those that couldn't adapt where sent to a labor camp. “Children I have good news at long last the new camp is ready and you all will be relocated. The new camp is a well-equipped facility with among other things a swimming pool for you to enjoy. The new camp is a gift from your loving father and leader Adolf Hitler. What do you say?”
3261
3262
3263
3264The senior boy turned to face the instructors and shouted, “Heil Hitler!"
3265
3266
3267
3268The other student answered with an almost roar, “Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!” All with their right arms stretched out into the air in salute.
3269
3270
3271After the noise died down the instructor resumed speaking, “Also a large number of new students also rescued from the peril of Jewish Bolshevism will also be arriving at the new school. It is your duty to help them fit in and show them the way. That is all for day, dismissed to classes.”
3272
3273
3274
3275The boys platoon leaders lead them off to their classes for the day.
3276
3277
3278
3279***
3280
3281
3282Washington DC
3283
3284Department of Justice Building
3285
3286July 1st, 1943
3287
3288
3289
3290Murry had been digging into the Manhattan Project and the more he found the more worried he became. Because of the priority of the project the agent was given a meeting with little notice with Hoover.
3291
3292
3293
3294“Agent I understand you have a report?” The head of the FBI said, despite the tone it wasn’t a question.
3295
3296
3297
3298Part of him wanted to tell Hoover everything but Murry knew that he still lacked firm evidence despite what was increasingly slipping out of South Africa. So, for now focus on the issue at hand the overt sabotage of the Manhattan Project. “Besides the explosion in Chicago, we found fragments of some type of device in the remains but no one can tell me what it is besides it doesn’t belong there. In addition, looking into before the project formally reached its current phase a number of important scientist had ‘accidents.’ Very convenient ones, muggings, lab accidents and the like anything other than assassinations which is what I now believe they were. Edward Teller physicist, Louis Slotin physicist and half dozen whom if they were not dead would have been recruited into the Manhattan Project according to Fermi. 
3299
3300Hoover’s eyes went wide, “How did the army miss this?”
3301
3302
3303“The army allowed Fermi when setting up his experiment in Chicago to use random students with no real background check as a work force. One of which has since disappeared.”
3304
3305
3306“Of course, any chance that it is anyone other than the Germans behind this?”
3307
3308
3309
3310“Not that I can see and with them targeting scientist like this before the project even started means they had to be working on their own project already. 
3311
3312***
3313
3314Erzgebirge Mountains “Ore Mountains”
3315
3316Saxony Großdeutsches Reich
3317
3318July 3rd, 1943
3319
3320
3321
3322Poles and Russians taken from sweeps in the East head into the latest Uranium mine to be opened. Each team has a quota of ore to be extracted and failing to meet the quota means only half rations for the day. If productivity drops below a certain threshold the team is replaced and new workers brought in to take their place. The new team witness the… disposal of the previous team.
3323
3324
3325
3326***
3327
3328Paris, Republic of France
3329
3330Élysée Palace
3331
3332July 29th, 1943
3333
3334
3335
3336Sitting behind a rather large desk that once belonged to Napoleon I was Philippe Pétain the Head of State of France. The head of the 87-year-old former Marshal of France was rather bald and what hair he had was snow white in color. A secretary announced that Admiral François Darlan the Minister of Foreign Affairs had arrived for his appointment.
3337
3338
3339
3340After brief pleasantries were exchanged Pétain asked, “Any change on the American’s stance?”
3341
3342
3343
3344“They still refuse to hand over De Gaul and the other traitors. Something else has come up I had an unexpected meeting with Otto Abetz this morning.”
3345
3346
3347
3348Pétain had a sinking feeling unexpected meetings with the Germans tended to mean some demand was about to be made on prostrate France. “Go on Admiral.”
3349
3350
3351
3352“The Germans want to know if we are interested in three to four million settlers for our African colonies.”
3353
3354
3355
3356At first Pétain had a baffled look as many of the things the Germans did was frankly bizarre at times but then a thought occurred to him. The Germans had made the British responsible for removing the Jews of Western Europe to their colonies in East Africa. What the Germans were doing in the former Soviet Union and Poland was well known. The Germans made no particular effort to cover it up and actually required the four French Divisions in the Ukraine on anti-partisan duty to participate. So, the French Government had a very good idea what was going on there. “They don’t expect us to take Jews or Slavs of the east, do they?”
3357
3358
3359
3360“No, the Czechs.”
3361
3362
3363
3364The dictator of France had to consider this for a moment, “What exactly do they have in mind?”
3365
3366
3367
3368“They are going to remove roughly half the population of what they call Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia the rump Czech Republic. They want to do it in phases over five years and want it orderly. They suggest we scatter them in our African holdings but leave the details up to us.”
3369
3370
3371
3372That many settlers could be a boon for their colonies but the expense and then another thought occurred, “Why?”
3373
3374
3375
3376“You mean why not just dump them into mass graves like they are doing elsewhere?” 
3377
3378
3379
3380Pétain just nodded.
3381
3382
3383
3384“Two reasons, first the rail distances from Prague to the Adriatic Ports verse say areas East of Warsaw are shorter. The second is I believe the Germans are annoyed at the Polish partisans and their attacks. The Germans have made fairly clear they intend to skin them as sheep or as wolves and the Poles have reacted accordingly.”
3385
3386
3387
3388This generated a snort from Pétain the Germans were savages in the east creating famines all over the place and hunting Slavs like game animals he doubted that there would be many Poles in a few years despite their efforts at resistance. 
3389
3390
3391
3392The Admiral continued on, “The Boche doesn’t want the infrastructure of Bohemia damaged by a revolt and so they want the Czechs to accept this and go along with the population transfer.”
3393
3394
3395
3396“Very well Germany’s loss is France’s gain, tell them we agree.”
3397
3398
3399
3400***
3401
3402Vladivostok, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
3403
3404Kaserne of German Observation Commission
3405
3406August 15th, 1943
3407
3408
3409
3410
3411
3412The Soviet Delegation was lead into the meet with the Germans tasked with observing Soviet activity in the city and the nearby province. Also, time to time they would get a ‘REQUEST’ from the Germans, this was one of those days.
3413
3414
3415“Admiral Pushkaryov we need a new airfield to be constructed, rough details are 3,000 meters in length with a foundation of 1 meter in thickness. We of course will be supervising construction you will provide raw materials and manpower. Novosibirsk will provide confirmation shortly.”
3416
3417
3418
3419The Soviet Admiral had heard more than a few strange things from first his Soviet Masters and now the new overlords; this order didn’t make any sense on its face as that was a very large airfield for very large aircraft. Still like questioning Stalin’s orders questioning the Nazi’s instructions was a sure way to a swift death. “I will see to it.”
3420
3421
3422
3423***
3424
3425Karlstein am Main
3426
3427Großdeutsches Reich
3428
3429August 18th, 1943
3430
3431
3432
3433A large concrete room is filled with hundreds of metal tubes each has a rotor spinning away at 1,500 revolutions a second and are filled with Uranium hexafluoride.
3434
3435
3436
3437***
3438
3439Warschau, March of Warschau Großdeutsches Reich
3440
3441Labor Camp 6
3442
3443September 22nd, 1943
3444
3445
3446
3447That Tadeusz Pfeiffer was still alive was due to German surname but that only went so far as he made the mistake of defending Poland. Now Tadeusz Pfeiffer was in one of the labor camps in the former Polish capital. His children had been taken and his wife murdered after she was raped by the SS pigs. 
3448
3449
3450
3451Today began like those before it since being transferred to the camp with a loud whistle as one of turncoat Kapo’s got the other inmates going. If you didn’t get out of your bunk fast enough the Kapo would beat you, if you didn’t make your bunk fast enough the Kapo would beat you, if you failed to help with moving the body if someone died during the night the Kapo would beat you or if the Kapo felt like it he would beat you. 
3452
3453
3454
3455Tadeusz had once been a fit man but bones showed through and skin hung like it was draped over his skeleton. The other inmates looked like Tadeusz other than the Kapo’s. The hundred or so in the barracks joined the rest of the inmates in the yard for roll-call.
3456
3457
3458
3459“Barrack D all accounted for!” The Kapo’s were other Poles that had turned to work for the Germans and keep order in the camps.
3460
3461
3462
3463“Barrack E all accounted for!”
3464
3465
3466
3467“Barrack F all accounted for!”
3468
3469
3470
3471The armed guards, blond Ukrainians in German uniforms, brought in the food. The Ukrainians looked at the Poles with pitiless eyes. But they were not released to get their morning meal and soon Tadeusz knew why as Alfred Sarnow, one of the few Germans in the camp and its leader arrived.
3472
3473
3474
3475More Ukrainians carrying machineguns were at Sarnow’s back. “Inmates you have fallen behind schedule this is not acceptable!” With a motion of a hand towards Tadeusz the Ukrainians strode forward.
3476
3477
3478
3479Tadeusz thought to himself this was the end, maybe they will be kind and just shoot him.
3480
3481
3482
3483The guards marched forward but then they grabbed a man to Tadeusz’s left.
3484
3485
3486
3487“NO! NO! I am loyal!”
3488
3489
3490
3491The Ukrainians spoke few words of Polish and they didn’t bother with those here, just with their billy clubs and dragged the luckless victim off to a post in the center of the yard with chains hanging off. Soon the chains fixed the man to a post. One of the Ukrainians with a flail stepped forward and began his grisly work. Every stroke sent blood flying. Soon white-yellow bone showed through the wounds as very little separated the skin from the bones from the long work and little food.
3492
3493Once the man’s screams end the guard stopped, checked the body and merely said, “He’s dead.”
3494
3495
3496
3497Sarnow nodded, “Let this serve as a reminder there is to be no slackening in your work for the Reich! Remember Work Brings Freedom! Now get your meal, your running late.”
3498
3499
3500
3501Tadeusz and the other inmates walked slowly towards the tables and kettles. Of course, they had to walk past the bloody inmate hanging limp from the chains to get their thin morning tea and small loaves of black bread. The dead man’s lifeless eyes stare at Tadeusz as a pair of fly’s land and start to search drawn by the blood and shit running onto the ground.
3502
3503
3504
3505***
3506
350710 Downing Street
3508
3509London, British Empire
3510
3511October 20th, 1943
3512
3513
3514
3515The triumvirate that headed the British Cabinet was meeting. Clement Attlee Prime Minister looked every inch his 60 years, perhaps a few years more. It had been a difficult premiership, hopes and dreams of a welfare state had to be trimmed back as the need to rebuild the military after war with the Germans ate up more and more of the budget. “What is the latest from New Delhi?”
3516
3517
3518
3519Secretary of State for Foreign Anthony Eden checked some notes, “Well there has been some movement from Jinnah but less so by Nehru. Ever since the end of the Second German – Soviet war the Huns have been deporting Russians east of the Urals.”
3520
3521
3522
3523Attlee and Greenwood nodded but the latter was confused, “What does this have to do with anything?”
3524
3525
3526
3527By now they had almost become dulled to horror stories coming from Europe and West Asia. 
3528
3529
3530
3531“Well it appears that Beria has decided to settle those Russians in Central Asia and those people are displacing the locals like Kazakh’s and Turkmen.”
3532
3533
3534
3535Greenwood frowned, “Not just more Russification? Stalin used the area as something of a place to exile peoples that displeased him.”
3536
3537
3538
3539“No, the Soviets are killing or pushing out the locals with refugees spilling over the boarders into Afghanistan and Persia. The ripples are being felt all over.”
3540
3541
3542
3543The Prime Minister had grown numb to the horror stories from around the world, “Well for once these events might be working for us so be sure to press things, we need a long-term relationship with the successor states to the Raj. Also, make sure that our cousins across the pond are aware of what is going on in Central Asia; I am sure they are aware but they will be unlikely to see the implications.”
3544
3545
3546
3547“Of course, Prime Minister I will be sure to bring it up as part of the preparation for the Atlantic Council summit to be held in Ottawa.”
3548
3549***
3550
3551Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America
3552
3553November 4th, 1943
3554
3555
3556
3557The site of what till last year had been a remote farm in eastern Tennessee was now the domain of construction machinery under the direction of construction engineers from the DuPont corporation.
3558
3559
3560
3561Three men stood off to one side as the finishing touches on the exterior of the tall metal clad building. “How soon before the reactor is ready?” General Leslie Groves asked Doctors Fermi and Oppenheimer.
3562
3563
3564
3565“Best case we are three months from an attempt to achieve a critical reaction worst case six months. The incident in Chicago cost us a great deal of time.” Fermi stated with confidence.
3566
3567
3568
3569Oppenheimer frowned, “The FBI and Army investigations cost us more time and let us not forget the deaths from the German sabotage in Chicago.”
3570
3571
3572
3573At this point it was generally accepted that the Germans where behind the explosion in Chicago. 
3574
3575
3576
3577"We need the X-10 Graphite Reactor to provide more plutonium as Site A is really just an experimental unit and the researchers at Los Alamos need larger quantities to work with.” Oppenheimer reminded the others.
3578
3579
3580
3581
3582
3583***
3584
3585March 3rd, 1944
3586
3587High over the vast expanses of Russia.
3588
3589
3590
3591A pair of Ta-410 fly in formation, the lead plan is trailing a long hose to the plan behind it. After a bit of effort the hookup is made and the fuel is transfer from one aircraft to the other.
3592
3593
3594
3595***
3596
3597June 28th, 1944
3598
3599Warschau, March of Warschau Großdeutsches Reich
3600
3601
3602
3603While there was still much work to be done, the city was declared open for settlement. The first new residents were employed in the railroad repair yards. Mostly ethnic Germans but also immigrants lured from places like the Netherlands or Norway with the promise of subsided housing and jobs. More settlers would follow in time. 
3604
3605***
3606
3607Fort Worth, Texas, United States
3608
3609Convair Plant
3610
3611August 8th, 1944
3612
3613
3614
3615The large factory doors slowly opened to reveal the latest addition to the US Army Air Force. A huge gleaming silver body with wings over 200 feet long and on the back of those wings six Wasp Major radial engines with nearly 4,000 HP of power. The assembled dignitaries clapped as General Spaatz came to a stand, “Welcome to the first flight of the B-36 the latest addition to our arsenal….”
3616
3617
3618
3619***
3620
3621January 16th, 1945
3622
3623Volgograd, Reichskommissariat Ukraine
3624
3625
3626
3627The city once known as Stalingrad had been captured by the Germans in 1942 without any resistance but that is not to say no fighting. When the first refugees hit, the city spreading word about the chaos, death and destruction caused by the Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen tens of thousands fled the city eastward. Most of those who fled ended up dying on the long trek to Kazakhstan. Rioting then broke out as order collapsed. In the years since the German had taken over changes had been limited the name and repairs to the rail links and roads. In 1943 the Germans looted most of the factories and machine tools in the city and in 1944 the Germans conscripted civilians to build a rail link north around the city.
3628
3629
3630
3631In the week before the test the Germans placed several infantry divisions along with no less than four Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen. The Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen were instructed to kill anyone that attempted to leave the city.
3632
3633
3634
3635In a bunker 10 miles from the city center dozens of German scientists watch with specially shaded goggles as the timer runs down. As the counter reaches zero a voice calls out, “Jetzt!”
3636
3637
3638
3639In the center of Volgograd, the Uranium railgun test device explodes with a force 35 kilotons, the fireball wipes everything out within a radius of 1,000 feet and the blast wave collapses most buildings within a mile. Of the roughly two hundred thousand people in the city twenty thousand were killed instantly the firestorm that swept the ruins killed tens of thousands more. All told perhaps fifty thousand people died that day from the effects of the Nazi atomic bomb test. 
3640
3641
3642
3643In the weeks that followed tens of thousands more would die from aftereffects and by the Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen as panicked civilians attempted to flee. Within a month 90% of the civilians were dead as the Hilfswilliger – Einsatzgruppen and the bomb finished their grisly work. 
3644
3645***
3646
3647October 16th, 1945
3648
3649Trinity Site, New Mexico
3650
3651
3652
3653The “Gadget” explodes with the force of 22 kilotons of TNT.
3654
3655
3656
3657From a, nearby bunker as the fireball climbs into the sky Oppenheimer quotes a Hindu text, ‘'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’
3658
3659
3660
3661***
3662
3663November 12th, 1945
3664
3665Ottawa, Dominion of Canada
3666
3667Meeting of North Atlantic Council 
3668
3669The Secretary of State for the United States, Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom and the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs along with ministers from the Dominions of Australia and New Zealand are in attendance. The key subject is the recently concluded Trinity Test in the American South West and the implications for the world balance of power with respect to the Greater German Reich.
3670
3671
3672
3673***
3674
3675December 7th, 1945
3676
3677Washington DC, United States of America
3678
3679
3680
3681It was cold December morning in the American capital but a room in the White House there was a chill in the air that had nothing to do with Temperature. President Thomas Dewey was in a meeting with Reinhard Heydrich, Hitler’s Special Plenipotentiary to the United States. The official purpose of the meeting was trade, as despite horrible relationship between the Germany and its puppets and the rest world certain things continued on.
3682
3683
3684
3685As Heydrich noted the time on his watch, 10 AM he nodded, “Mister President I must apologize but I have been instructed to hand this letter to you.”
3686
3687
3688
3689Noting the tension in Heydrich the former NY Governor and prosecutor was good at reading people. This note was more than just a letter. Especially as the Germans had been very specific in the meeting wanting Heydrich to meet directly with him and not go through the Secretary of State.
3690
3691
3692
3693Taking the letter Dewey carefully breaks the wax seals. The contents are simply and direct to the point, ‘Germany and its Brussels pact allies declare war on the United States.’
3694
3695
3696
3697Glaring at the German, “Why? Slaughtering the Russians and the rest wasn’t enough for your lot? I think you will find you have bitten off more than we can chew.”
3698
3699
3700
3701Heydrich stood up and gave a slight bow, “Actually we know exactly what we have bitten off. I will be at the German Embassy if you wish to talk.”
3702
3703
3704
3705Once the German had left Dewey went to a nearby phone and picked it up, “This is the President I want to speak to Admiral Leahy at once…”
3706
3707
3708
3709***
3710
3711Roughly an hour later
3712
3713Detroit, Michigan
3714
3715
3716
3717At an altitude of 10,000 meters the German trans-continental bomber was approaching the city from the North East. The crew had been in the air for a very long time having launched from an air field in France over 11 hours before. At last the time had come and the massive weapon was released and quickly open a parachute to retard its fall and give the lumbering bomber time to escape.
3718
3719
3720
3721At an Altitude of 750 meters the device exploded and a fireball erupted in the heart of ‘Motor City’. The fifth largest city in the United States home to nearly two million people suffered tens of thousands of Deaths.
3722
3723
3724In the meantime, the bomber continued West for its next target, Chicago.
3725
3726
3727
3728*** 
3729
3730Nearly at the same time another bomber was flying in Eastern Tennessee. A especial team of SS Commandos had only 30 minutes before activated a powerful radio beacon to allow the Bomber to home in on its target. 
3731
3732
3733
3734***
3735
3736On the West Coast an American P-51 climbed to challenge the un-identified aircraft flying over Los Angeles. The Pilot never completed his intercept as while cutting across the city to catch the target his airplane was wiped out by the fireball.
3737
3738
3739
3740***
3741
3742
3743
3744All told the Germans launched 100 bombers against the United States supported by twice as many tankers. Of the 150 atomic bombs carried 112 found targets that December 7th and countless died in manmade sunrises as 40 KT bombs exploded. Every American city with more than 200,000 people was targeted, except for Washington DC. Several like New York and Chicago were targets of multiple bombers and hit several times that day.
3745
3746
3747
3748***
3749
37506 PM, December 7th, 1945
3751
3752White House
3753
3754
3755
3756As Heydrich was escorted back into the presence of the American President just about everyone else looked on at the German in his tailored suit with its Swastika pin on his collar with a combination of fear, hatred and loathing. 
3757
3758
3759
3760“It is very simple Mr. President you can surrender or we can continue.”
3761
3762
3763
3764Dewey had to restrain himself from lashing out at the Nazi standing before him, “We aren’t finished you bastard!”
3765
3766
3767
3768Heydrich held up his hand, “Actual the battle was over before it began. We have destroyed your own Nuclear Production facilities in our attacks and your industrial cities are in ruins. Do you wish to be an America or not?”
3769
3770
3771
3772Taking every ounce of self-control Dewey spit out, “You have terms I assume? Give them and get out.”
3773
3774
3775
3776“Of course…”
3777
3778
3779
3780FINS