Return to Glory: A Germania AAR

trekaddict said:

Very nice. Allthough I would love to see what the boys painted on their turret.

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I suppose that I could offer some illumination on that in the future.

Commander-DK: Thanks. There will be another tomorrow.

HKslan: Initially the Italians weren't making any progress at all and I was surprised to suddenly see them at the gates of Belgrade. Of course, they haven't advanced at all into Greece. Time for me to show them how it's done.
Do you mean the weather where I am or in the game? Doesn't matter actually, it's the same. Snow and lots of it.

HKslan said:

:rofl: I thought you were going to wait until spring to attack? They must be so weak at this point I guess it doesn't matter, but it could give you some problems in Greece.

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I did want to wait, but with the Italians about to overrun Yugoslavia, I had to act fast if I was to secure access to the Mediterranean for Germany. You are right though, Greece in winter could be trouble.

trekaddict: Well that doesn't make it sound very fair. I suppose that's why they have that saying about love and war.

osloweasel: Thanks for commenting, I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. Ah, people seem to be interested in the artwork. I had actually thought that it would be quickly figured out given Otto's feelings towards it. Sadly, no real German panzer unit used anything like that kind of symbol so I can't show an actual photograph of it. My intention was simply to describe it to the readers in one of the updates.

Jan. 17, 1940
Deuil, France

Helmut Wolf sat entranced as large flakes of snow fell lazily down to the ground below his window. The snow had come heavily during the night, but had slowed considerably after dawn had broken. He dimly heard the door open behind him, but did not bother to turn around as Nagel stepped in and informed him that Max, though Nagel of course gave his proper name and rank, was here to see him. Helmut frowned and asked, "What is he doing here so early?"

"Excuse me sir, but it's half past ten.", replied Nagel.

Helmut raised an eyebrow in surprise, I've been sitting here staring out the window for over two hours? Funny, I can't even remember what I was thinking about. Glancing down at the still full cup of coffee clutched in his hand, he raised it to his lips and took an experimental sip. It was ice cold. Turning around, he held the cup out to Nagel and said, "Send him in and refresh this. If he wants, get one for the Sharfuhrer as well."

"Yes, sir."

A minute later, Nagel returned with two steaming mugs and with Max in tow. He sat one down in front of Helmut and the other at the opposite side of the desk before exiting the office and closing the door behind him. Helmut picked up his mug and took a drink, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied smile as the warmth of the drink spread through his insides. Max, who had been told by Nagel that Helmut had not touched any of the reports or other paperwork brought to him that morning, looked at Helmut quizzical expression and asked, "What have you been doing up here?"

Helmut shrugged, "Watching the snow, I suppose. I absolutely love the snow, don't you?"

"No, no I don't. It's wet, cold, and more trouble than it's worth."

Helmut smiled and shook his head, "You really must try to see the beauty of it, Max. Look outside the window. White everywhere, as far as you can see. All of the dirt and muck covered over completely, everything pure and pristine. It's as if God is starting over, repudiating what we've done to the world."

Max blinked and responded, "That's all a little over my head. Since when did you get all philosophical?"

Helmut laughed the question away and said, "Why don't you have a seat and tell me what brings you here?"

Max nodded and made to settle himself into the chair across the desk from Helmut. However, when he went to lean back, he jumped from the chair with a yelp. Startled, Helmut leaned forward and asked, "What is it? Are you alright?"

Max shrugged, "I was afraid that was going to happen. I've had trouble sitting right ever since I had this knife jammed into my back." Turning his back to Helmut, he asked, "Can you see it?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Max?"

"You know."

Helmut furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before rolling his eyes and responding, "Oh come on Max, I was just being friendly."

"Real friendly apparently."

"I won't discuss this further."

Max grunted and flopped himself down into the chair that he had been offered earlier and commenced staring at Helmut while slowly sipping out of his mug. After enduring the stare for awhile, Helmut finally threw up his hands and asked, "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say that you're sorry that you forgot that you already have a good thing going back home in Germany and that you realize now that you have no reason to go around poaching from your friends.", replied Max.

"That's way too much for me to remember. Could you write it down?"

"Fine, joke about it."

"Come on, Max. Hey, I got her to dance with you didn't I?"

Max nodded grudgingly and responded, "Yeah, you did. Of course, she dropped me hot and hard after that and you were more than happy to oblige as I recall."

"Like I said, I was only being friendly. Maybe she just wanted to be able to talk to someone. You don't speak French very well, after all."

"I suppose you could be right.", allowed Max. "You told me that you studied English in school, when did you learn to speak French so fluently?"

"I studied French and Russian after I joined the SD. I figured that a good intelligence man should be able to speak the languages of his nation's potential foes.", responded Helmut.

"So you can speak English, French and Russian?", asked Max.

"Yeah, some Spanish too."

"That's amazing."

Helmut shrugged, "Not really, it's just a matter of applying yourself. Besides, you speak a few yourself don't you? When we were in the Battalion together I heard you tell the Hauptman that you spoke multiple languages."

Max coughed into his hand and replied, "Yeah well, I meant English and German."

Helmut laughed, "Usually when people say that they mean that they speak multiple languages besides their native one."

"So, can you teach me?"

"Teach you what?"

"To speak French of course."

"You're not serious are you?"

Max folded his arms across his chest and replied, "Very serious."

Helmut sighed and said, "Well, let me check what I have written in my schedule. Let's see, from eight to noon I have 'run company'. After that I have 'administer occupied zone'. After that-"

"Alright, you don't have to be a wise ass."

Helmut held up a hand and responded, "No, wait. I might have something open here. No, it looks think I wrote 'fight a war' on the rest of the page."

"You know something, Helmut? Sometimes I don't know why I talk to you."

Helmut smiled and rose from his chair to go stand by the window. After he had looked down on the snow covered village for a moment he turned back to Max and said, "The best thing for you to do is go out and talk to the villagers. Immerse yourself in the language. It will come easily to you before you know it."

Turning back toward the window, he became aware of a several figures passing below. As he watched them pass by, one looked up and locked eyes with him. Seeing him watching, Corinne smiled and waved. Not realizing he was doing it, Helmut waved back and watched until she disappeared around a corner. Walking from the window back to his chair, he suddenly realized that Max was looking at him oddly. As he sat down Max was asking him, "Hey, are you there?

"What?"

"I was talking to you and you were just staring out the window like you couldn't hear a word I was saying. Then you started waving. Who was out there?"

"Nobody, just some villagers."

Max nodded, "Oh. Well, I've got to get going. I'll see you later."

"Huh? Oh yeah, see you later."

"Helmut, are you alright?

"I'm fine."

"If you say so. Listen, I'm sorry about giving you a hard time earlier. I know that's not the kind of guy you are."

"Don't mention it, Max."

After Max had gone, Helmut pulled a stack of papers over to him and began to get to work on his administrative duties. He did not get very far. For some reason, try as he might to concentrate, his mind kept wandering away. It kept drifting to the face of a beautiful young woman who had smiled up at him through his window. Sighing heavily, he leaned back and thought, I'm in big trouble.

stnylan said:

You know, I think I approve of Max's view on the snow. Just the sort of realism that Helmut needs.

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Hey, I love the snow. Hmm, are you saying that Helmut has a tendency to view things fancifully rather than realistically? Name one time.

HKslan said:

I have a feeling she's going to be Free French or something and Helmut will come out of this having learned some sort of life lesson. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, I feel so bad for Sophie. o

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Why feel bad for her? He only danced a little, and he said he only did that to be friendly. Don't you believe him?

HKslan: Aw, come on. Max bought...er... believed it. Why not you?

trekaddict: Well, he certainly realizes that he has a potential problem on his hands. Let us remember, though, that he hasn't done anything wrong yet. Do you have so little faith in the man?

stnylan: I said one time, not two. I don't recall that particular officer from the movie(never read the book). Of course, that could be because I haven't seen it in something like a decade. It's pretty safe to say that a similar situation would be very undesirable from Helmut's standpoint.

Jan. 20, 1940
Off the Coast of Portugal


U-104 on the hunt in the Atlantic

A predatory smile came to the lips of Kapitan zur See Johann Decker as he watched the passing British convoy through the periscope. Just over two days previous, the BdU had reported a large British convoy passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. Decker had immediately set a course to intercept and had made contact with the British convoy shortly thereafter. Since then, he had shadowed the convoy, riding the surface by night and submerging by day, all the while keeping Bdu informed of the convoy's exact position. As U-104 stalked the convoy, it had been joined by other U-boats eager to join in on the kill until their numbers had reached seven boats by this morning. BdU had finally decided that there were enough boats on scene and had just ordered them to attack. Decker lowered the periscope and prepared to move in.

Now that the attack order had been given, the strict guidelines of the Rudeltaktik were set aside. It was up to every commander to decide on his own attack course. Most of his counterparts would fire spreads of torpedoes at range, but not Decker. His preference was to get inside the convoy and attack at close range. To do so was difficult, but his task was actually made easier his his comrades long range attacks. As torpedo spreads raced toward the convoy, it's escorts immediately launched themselves in pursuit. Once the escorts had committed themselves to chasing the attacking boats, Decker gave the order for his pilot to take U-104 in close.

Soon enough, he was inside what was the escort ring around the convoy. He raised the periscope and selected a target, a large freighter, and plotted a firing solution. Shortly after, he sent two torpedoes into the freighter's middle. Checking the aftermath, Decker saw that he had broken her in half and that she was sinking swiftly. Not sparing the dying vessel another thought, he swung the periscope toward the next target and claimed a second victim a moment later.

By this point, the escorting destroyers were moving back toward the convoy that they had failed to protect and Decker lowered the periscope and immediately ordered that the boat be taken deeper. By now, six freighters and one destroyer had been sunk by the U-boats with no losses or damage among the German vessels. The surface was a horror of burning oil, black smoke, and dead or dying sailors. As the U-boats scattered, they were not pursued as the destroyer crews immediately set to the task of saving as many men from the sunken freighters as they could.


One of U-104s victims

As terrible as the attack had been for the British merchantmen, their ordeal was far from over. They had a long way still to travel, with hundreds of U-boats in between.
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Just a short little something and my first venture into naval operations, as well as the return of a character that I had most wanted to bring back. Hope it was alright.