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Konig15

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Can one good man unite Europe and save the world?

Wilhelm Becker Versus The Draka
becker2pm8.png


Introduction: Alternate Drakaverse to 1919
 
OK, my last attempt at a Draka AAR didn’t pan out because I wanted to depict Draka society and nothing they do would fly on this website. But now having played the Domination Mod, I have a story to tell, and the Draka will be kept at arms length.

Alterations from the Drakaverse to the end of World War I:

323: Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great, supposedly inspired by spirit of the Israelite Judge Judith, forms two legions made up of women volunteers. He is generally laughed at. The laughers are impaled.

325: Dacia conquered with the use of the I Amazonia and II Boadicea Legions.

378: I and II women’s Legions annihilated by the Goths at Adrianople. Theodosius I the Great disbands the units upon taking power. Nonetheless, the precedent is set for the Draka to follow.

1261-1282: Michael VIII of Byzantium successfully retakes the ‘Comenius Line,’ the eastern frontier of the Comenius dynasty from the Turks. Territorially, the Empire will remain steady until its fall.

1453: After five years of heavy fighting, Mehemed II takes the city of Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire collapses. Greeks continue to dominate western and northern Anatolia to fall of the Ottoman Empire.

1550: The Emperor of Japan converts to Catholicism under the auspices of Francis Xavier.

1629: Foundation of the Japanese Apostolic Church, or Dainichi Church/Heresy. At issue were Shintoist morality, the power of the Samurai class, abuse of the Pope, and filial piety. Closed Society period begins

1806: Britain successfully invades Spanish Patagonia.

1806-1814: Patagonian campaign secures OTL Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Mass immigration begins. Assimilation follows.

1815: British annex all French colonial possessions to that point in both India and West Indies

1835: Drake Colony wins exception to the laws banning chattel slavery against non-Christians.

1854: Closed Society period in Japan ends. Japanese missionaries began the Great Asian Awakening, and convert much of Asia to Dainichist Protestantism in the following decades.

1856: John Freemont becomes first Republican President of the United States. A year later he suffers a stroke, leaving the nation in the hands of a democratic congress impotent to stop the Civil War.

1859: Abraham Lincoln as acting President, crushes both the Harper’s Ferry uprising and the proslavery factions in Bleeding Kansas. A year later, running essentially as a Law and Order candidate, he wins election outright. Civil War ensues.

1865: End of Civil War, and the death of Lincoln. The Caribbean territories become a dumping ground by southern states to rid themselves of newly freed slaves. This both aids southern recovery as it forces it off King Cotton once and for all and onto industry, and reintegration, as the south ‘normalizes’ racially with the rest of the country (that is to say, most OTL Latinos are considered White for social and legal purposes, subject of course to the unofficial Brown Paper Bag test.) Many nominally freed slaves are of course taken to Drake Colony by their masters fleeing the end of the antebellum period.

1872: Dominions of Patagonia, Draka and Australasia are formed. Caribbean possessions sold to the United States for a hefty sum. United States buys Danish Virgin Islands. British and Dutch Guyana sold to Brazil

1878: Treaty of Berlin ends Russo-Turkish War of 1877 with a crushing defeat for the Ottomans. All territory in Europe except Thrace lost to Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Italy.

1915: Bulgaria and Greece join the war on opposite sides, one to the Central Powers, and the other to the Allies. Turks threatened on three fronts, receiving substantial German reinforcements. Women fully integrated into German armed forces on the Draka Citizen model. Other major belligerents follow except Japan, Britain, and the United States.

1918: Turkish forces destroy three Draka Janissary Armies at the ‘Battle of the Kayseri Pass’ in eastern Anatolia. Draka respond by massacring every Turk they can find and march headlong west. Germans fight a valiant but losing retreat.

1919: June - Draka forces capture Chalcedon. Colonel Wilhelm Becker is put in charge of the garrison in Constantinople, as Draka forces rally for the last push into European Turkey. Adrianople is put under siege by Greek forces.

October – the war is coming to a close. Arch-Strategos William Billiard prepares his troops to storm the Queen of Cities…


beckervsdraka1919ll8.png

World War I - 1919
 
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Prologue
The Queen of Cities and the Mother of Christ

Constantinople, Turkey
October 16, 1919

Wilhelm Becker was thankful that the radio worked, it was playing a song about defending the world against…Snakes. WHGK (that is, Watt Heer Grouppen Konstantinople) had been online for a year and a half, ostensibly to propagandize the Turks but really to raise the morale of German soldiers, had recently been blown to pieces by Draka Janissary Special Forces. If there was one thing the Draka seemed to be good at, it was psychological warfare. Becker tried not to think of several of his schoolmates who were known to be enslaved…he shook his head to clear it and returned to his paperwork.

“Thirteen stories up on the American Mutual building, that’s where I want to be! Highest building in the Queen of Cities, cause there’s so much to see!” So caterwauled Isaiah Weismann, Becker’s 18 year old aide. Tall and undeniably Jewish looking, though one would be hard pressed to explain why, he had a stack of dull brown folders against his chest and he moved towards Becker’s desk.

“If you weren’t the boy genius of logistics, I’d have you keel hauled,” Becker muttered. He then looked up into Weisman’s hazel eyes with some mirth. That mirth however disappeared as the Jewish boy dropped the files on the desktop, spilling everywhere. It wasn’t the paperwork; it was the boy’s eyes. Despite his voice, he looked scared.

“What’s wrong?” asked Becker, stroking his three day stubble growth.

“The…the Sultan has committed suicide.”

Becker looked down then back up “I guess that makes me the only authority left in the city?”

“Well, there’s the city council but…”

“The only thing that council can do is whine about the evacuation! I swear to God the only thing Turks do well is slaughter Christian peasants!”

“Hey, back long ago, some German bastard threw a Weisman down a well during the Crusades. In the middle of winter.”

“Yes, yes, Jacob the Well Climber, you’ve told me before. Christians are not always Christlike. Any man of good sense must know that. Hopefully we are past such uncivilized behavior. Muslims are not.” Becker’s eyes flared with repressed anger.

“If the Draka get their way, there may be no Muslims left in 100 years to become civilized.”

“So what’s the plan?” asked the kid.

“We are to obey orders. We hold Constantinople at all costs.” Becker rolled his eyes in thought. “Of course, if Adrianople were to fall, we would be surrounded two sides and might be forced to surrender the city to the Greeks.”

“Lettow-Vorbeck is a god of war. He spits lighting and shits thunder. Adrianople will never fall as long as he lives!” declared Weisman in anger, his confidence returning to him.

“I wouldn’t be so proud. We are behind the lines with Greece even if we’re right in the sights of the Snakes. If Adrianople holds too long, Thrace will fall to Billiard and everyone left in this city will become slaves…”

“I thought the Draka were killing German POWs outright…” interrupted the kid

“…Yes, as a rule,” Becker continued. He leaned down and brought a bucket of ice. In the ice were several bottles of Dr. Pepper.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” It was given. “Teatoler,” spat Weisman.

“Kosher eater,” Becker playfully shot back.

“Hold your tongue sir; I never met a pig I didn’t want to eat!”

Becker got out a bottle opener and opened one up, and held out the other to the kid, “Care for what the doctor ordered?”

“Sure, what the hell,” replied Weisman, and took the bottle.

“To the recovery of Constantinople! Cheers!” And their bottles clicked together.

“Maybe Constantine XI will turn back from Marble and throw back the Draka.”

“We need all the help we can get kid.”

Suddenly there was an audible crash.

“What was that?!” exclaimed the kid.

“I don’t know, kid,” Becker drew out his pistol, his own original .45 Colt, “But it sounds like it came from the roof. I think the Snakes are ready to strike.”
 
Prologue
The Queen of Cities and the Mother of Christ Part II

(Author's Note: if there's something you don't link about this piece, by all menas comment on that too. And could someone tell me how to post links to the appropriate reply, as I'd like to make a table of conents. Also the some naughty words have been bleeped out at the request of the mods.)

“How?” ask Weisman, his eyes bulging with fear, his throat lumping up on him.

“Parachuted in from zeppelins? Crawled up through the sewers? Who the hell knows?” responded the Colonel.

“Sir, what are we going to do?” asked Weisman, putting down his drink.

“We run down the stairs, now.”

They darted to the stairwell, only to come face to face with a tall, angular looking woman in a pie plate helmet. And several of her friends behind her. The American made Thomson submachine gun looked dangerous in its own right, but somehow this Snake made it look more so. “Hands auf!” demanded the woman in a thick Capetown accent.

Becker, who still had his Dr. Pepper in his left hand, thought about throwing it at them and unloading his pistol, but he doubted being shot up was much fun. So back he and the kid went, their grey uniforms contrasting with the khaki battle dress of the Draka Special Forces.

Silently, the woman dispatched the others, save two. They went down the both of the visible stairwells, probably creating a parameter. She came to within inches of Becker, her stature a few inches higher than his merely average 5’9. “Are you Colonel Becker?” For the rest of his life, he would never see hazel eyes that cold.

“Becker, Wilhelm Daniel,” he began, as was standard in the Geneva Conventions and in English for his captors, “German Imperial Marine Corps, number…”

And for his effort, he received a sharp slap from the woman, “Don’t give me that line. Are you Colonel Becker, commander of the Constantinople garrison?”

“Becker, Wilhelm Daniel…” this time she took Becker’s pistol from one of her guards and brought it overhead and threatened to close pistol grip onto German head, but Becker caught it one handed. For his trouble he was immediately seized by the two guards and thrown violently against the desk, the wind was knocked out of him. As he struggled against the windage and the guards, he heard something like Weisman trying to attack the woman, but it ended as quickly as it began.

The guards helm him down and flipped him over, and the woman came and stuck a Webly revolver down his throat. “I’m going to ask for the last time, Hun, are you Colonel Becker. Nod your head.” And Becker nodded. She twitched her head and the guards stood him up. “That wasn’t so hard now was it?”

“I…” Weisman lay on the ground cupping his crotch. So that’s what happened. “I bet you were the one the other girls raped in boarding school.” At least the kid was okay…for the moment. Stupid kid might not make it another second Becker thought to himself.

She turned to him and smiled, “Ah, so feisty! I like that in such a handsome man. Back home you will be my servicing slave.” Becker wasn’t up on the Draka lingo, but if it meant what he thought it did, he was sickened. “Rank does have its privileges, you know, I get to keep what captives I will, did you know that?” She turned to Becker, “You will be useful in the fields.”

“F*&$ you,” he was slapped.

“Whore” he was slapped again, harder.

“Tetrarch, are going to take that from this pile of s*^@? He’s Becker, let’s be done with him and get this place secure”

“We have time enough until we find the radio room. Besides the best part of owning a slave is BREAKING a slave. Don’t you know that? Now, Colonel, I’m going to show you a map, and when I do, I expect you to tell me exactly what your plans are to defend this holedump of a city, and then I’m going to ask you where your plans are written, and frankly, for every detail you…miscommunicate…” she grabbed his right hand, bent the arm at the elbow. With the palm of the hand towards her, and in one movement, broke Becker’s right pinky. The bone was nearly cleanly broken in half, but not quite. Pain and rage filled his mind, he yelped involuntarily “…yes, I do that.”

“You Draka C$%^!” Weisman jumped to feet, half running, half waddling because of the blow to his genitals, towards the Tetrarch, but she sidestepped him in a way that forced the guards to shuffle around. Becker fell to his feet, while the Tetrarch used hers to sweep up Weisman who went head over heels, landing on his head and passing out.

“We are the Master Race, made masters by our own hands! No one can stop us!” the tetrarch seemed to have lost her temper, along with most of her mind, “No one can stop me! The world belongs to the conquerors!” And apparently, this was not the first time this women went berserk because the guards notably moved away from her, as though that would make them immune for her wrath.

But then something extraordinary happened. First, rifle fire began to emit from the stair case. The guards downstairs were counterattacking! Excellent! Then, Becker felt almost as if his body acted without him. He foot swept the Tetrarch, from a semi-prone position, which was uncomfortable, but less so than the broken finger, one of the guards moved to his pistol when a shot rang out from underneath them, probably an accidental firing, only God will ever truly know, can through the floor and tore out the femoral artery in the man’s leg. He was unconscious immediately and dead by the time he hit the floor.

But the gun! Oh yes, Wilhelm Becker’s store bought .45 Colt was under the woman, half sticking out from under her back. Luckily for Becker, the grip was out. He rolled over upright and leapt for it. His hand secured the grip, as began to roll, hurting his wrist, but it was enough to unload three shots into the other guard. He quickly pointed the gun at the Tetrarch. “Hands auf fraulein,” he said in his best Capetown accent, mocking her.

She held up her hand as she got up, only to be shot in the legs by Becker. He quoted Genesis chapter 3, wont as he was to occasionally quote scripture, being a pious man, “So the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, 'Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.' Now,” he said, throwing himself onto her, pinning her arms with elbows, and with his thumbs held clawlike, pistol still in hand, “You have enslaved my friends, killed my comrades and threatened me with the same. I hate you and all your kind. I want you to know the last thing you will ever see is my, grinning, face!” and he prepared to crush her eyes as she tried not to plead for mercy, for such was not the Draka way.

But her scream stopped mid throat, as did everything else. Becker heard a woman’s voice behind him “Wilhelm, do not walk down that path! The Lord has meant so much more for you.”

“Who are you?” He looked back, now afraid for some reason

“You know who I am. In Heaven we all know each other from the first glance.” He was faced to face the Madonna, albeit she was darker than most the painting he’d seen of her, very Semitic looking, but there she was.

“You are Mary, the mother of Jesus.”

“Yes I am.”

“I’m not a Catholic.”

She laughed warm heartedly “What does that mater?”

“I’m no…you….worshipping papist.”

“Wilhelm, you know that Catholics don’t do that.”

“They should make pains not to even look like that.”

“My, my, my son does have a way of choosing his people….”

“Excuse me?!”

“You remind me a lot of Peter, so proud and yet so bitter and with something to prove…”

“What do you mean, choosing his people?” Becker demanded.

“You will live Wilhelm and live for a good long time. But there is much pain in the world. Much destruction. The leaders of Russia will oppress and slaughter until they brought down, and the Draka more so, and Germany, Germany will fall and with it the world…”

“Fall? I hate to tell you lady, but it’s far too late to save Germany from defeat now.” Becker was distraught admitting such defeatist sentiments but they were there, and they were true.

“Germany like yourself has been given a second chance: A LAST chance. What is Germany? What is its purpose, Wilhelm?”

“I would guess to defend Europe against those who would oppress it: Caliphs, Sultans, Czars, now Marxists and Archons. As the saying goes: as goes the Reich, so goes Europe.”

“Exactly, but Germany will need good men to lead it if it is to do that. The wages of sin are not merely death in the next world but death in this one.”

“I don’t understand…” Becker began

“You will, in time. You will save Constantinople for the Greeks, and if you remain righteous, the Lord will reward you all the days of your life. BUT, those rewards do not include victory. The Lord God has His ways, and whether Marxism, or the Draka or anybody else enslaves the world, the Lord reigns and the church endures. We must all forge our own destiny. You have my son’s blessing, to make the world safe for everyone. You will deliver the world, one way or another.”

And then the screaming began anew. The Tetrarch was half an inch from being blinded, when Becker rolled off of her. He was shaken to his core so he said, “No, I will show mercy, for I have been shown mercy.” And then fired the gun into her brainpan, the blast knocked off the chinstrap of the helmet revealing close cropped blonde hair, “And that is the extent of my mercy.”

Becker looked up as comrades came up, shooting the wounded Draka and asking him if he was all right. Stunned, he said yes, then panicked and ran to the command center three stories below. He completely forgot about Isaiah Weisman’ but the kid lived to see another day. It was a tough battle: two of the minarets of the Hagia Sophia were blown to their foundations, and the old sea wall was completely destroyed. But the sundry Bulgarian, Turkish and German forces held the city firm. It was the last victory for the Central Powers in the Great War. Three days after the battle ended, Adrianople was overrun and Becker surrendered the City to the Greeks.
 
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Well, I shall follow this, because I liked it. I only hope the Colonel is around when a certain Austrian makes his bid for power.
 
This definitely is starting excellently, the only gripe i have with the writing was in the beginning conversation where "kid" was used at little too often in both the dialogs and the narrative, however besides that, I'm eagerly anticipating more of this.

>_>
 
Excellent story so far :D Now much for me to comment at present except that I hope that Germany will have this man as his leader rather than a certain Austrian corporal. Or at least, he control Hitler's excess and stupidity.

Eagerly await another update.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the vote of confidence! I'll keep posting, and hopefully get more readers. Enjoy!

Timeline (1919- 1936)
1919: November 11, Germany surrenders to the allies. December 21, Wilhelm Becker is released, and resigns his commission to fight in the Baltic Landwehr, a Freikorps army defending the baltics from the USSR.

1920: Dominion of Draka refuses to hand over Anatolian territories. Dominationists seize power in Archona and declare independence. British respond by seizing Ceylon, Cyprus, Malta and other small islands under Draka control. Allies embargo the new Domination. Britain guarantees the independence of Greece. Greece, Bulgaria and Romania form the Balkan Entente to defend against Soviet or Draka aggression. Treaty of Versailles. Formation of the Republic of Livonia, a federation of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, with promises to respect the rights of native Russians and Germans. Lithuania’s claims Memel are never pressed. Hitler joins the German Workers Party.

1921: Draka forces attack the USSR and Persia, to distract the citizens from economic hardship. Leon Trotsky leads a masterful defense of the Caucuses. Arch-Strategos William Billiard is executed for incompetence for only managing to conquer the Central Asian Soviet republics. Taipang China with Japanese help, defeats the Domination in a short border war. Japan deposes the Taipang Emperor, creating a personal union under Emperor Hirohito. This is de facto annexation, but de jure China remains independent. Mussolini’s March on Rome. Poland victorious at battle of Warsaw. Becker recaptures Riga. Arrival of British peacekeepers, who stay until 1925.

1923: British forces barely win the Irish War. Shaken to its core by the loss of the Draka and the near loss of Ireland, Commonwealth leaders call the last Imperial Conference. Formation of the United Kingdoms (more popularly, the British Federation). Responsible government given to India, Malaysia. Allied troops withdraw from Constantinople, which is made the de jure capital of the Greek Kingdom (albeit far too close to the Draka for it to be the de facto seat of government, which remains in Athens). Turks expelled from Bulgaria and Greece. Most immigrate to Yugoslav Macedonia. Wilhelm Becker, along with Erich Ludendorff and Manfred von Richtoven (better known as the Red Baron) form the Reichs Aktions Partrei (RAP), a firm monarchist organization intent on the recovery of all core territories of the Reich plus the inclusion of Austria.

1924: Italy invades and annexes Yugoslavia in its entirety. France protests strongly but without firm British backing they do nothing. Germany immediately cancels all reparation payments, citing inability to pay. French troops attempt to occupy the Rhineland, but heavily armed paramilitary groups collectively known as the Watchmen begin a savage insurgent campaign. Adolf Hitler, now head of the newly named National Socialist German Workers Party becomes lead organizer of resistance, coordinating recruitment and logistics despite a Weimar crackdown. The French withdraw after 13 months and 13,000 casualties. German dead estimated at 36,000, large sections of Cologne are reduced to rubble. Hitler becomes a national hero. Becker marries Julia Schweinherd, the wartime lover of Hitler.

1928: The Republic is widely discredited, and the reigning Social Democrats are crushed in the 1928 elections. Centre Party takes power. Hindenburg elected president. RAP attains 75 seats out of 501, National Socialists attain 96. Embargo against the Draka ends.

1929: Stock market crash, American banks recall loans to Germany. German economy crushed. Great Depression begins. Communists prowl the streets. RAP ‘Defenders’ and Nazi SA units cooperate heavy to fight them off and take control of the streets. Cordial alliance begins between Becker and Hitler. Mass dissatisfaction with the Weimar system. Big Business backs Becker as his free market ideals suit them better than the socialist leaning of the Nazi program. Patriotic Jews back Becker in droves as a way of distancing themselves from perceived Communist leaning and for protection against the Nazis.

1930: New elections held. Rap wins 35% of the vote becoming largest single party in the Reichstag. Communists win 30%. Coalition formed with NSDAP, DNVP, KVP, and Center Party. Massive public works begins to repair and expand Germany’s road and rail network. Lufthansa zeppelin fleet is re-serviced. Alliance with the Balkan Entente. Under this pretext and with British blessing, Germany begins to rearm.

1932: February, Outbreak of violence in Austria. Austrian military is unable to contain Communist uprisings in Linz, Salzburg and especially Vienna. Becker sends troops across the border, who are generally welcomed as saviors. Joint Austro-German maneuvers destroy all resistance. Social Democrats and Communists jailed. April, Rump Parliament asks Germany for Anschluss. The Reichstag is called as soon as the proposal is received, that is at 2 AM. The vote is nearly unanimous in favor. Holodomor begins in Russia. Afghanistan finally pacified by the Domination.

1933: Reichstag fire, Becker asks for and gets emergency powers. Hard crackdown on Social Democrats, and many Communists are simply shot in the streets, elected officials or not, in jail or not. Hindenburg dies, and in his will he requests the monarchy be restored. The RAP coalition, with only the Nazis opposing, organizes a plebiscite. Wilhelm III is restored to his family’s throne by 64% of the eligible voting populace (known SDs and Communists are no longer eligible to vote.)

1935: RAP publishes Elvira Naldorssen’s Meditations outside of the Domination, going so far as to produce films about it, stirring up fear and hatred of the Draka around the world. Similar films are made about the Soviet state ‘If America wishes to make the world safe for democracy, then Germany must first make the world safe for Capitalism, Decency and Christianity,’ Becker declares.

1936: January, Becker calls his cabinet together at the Reich chancellery to plan the restoration of the Reich to its former glory…


Wilhelm Versus the Draka

Technical Notes:
Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday, version 1.3a
Difficulty: Very Hard
Aggressiveness: Aggressive

Modifications:
+ Offmap 70 IC (net loss of 34 IC due to difficulty)
Transport load increased by 5X (will be explained later)
Research mod doubled (not that it really helped me get a lead)
Every advancement requires either 5K supplies or 1K money sent to allies or neutral countries I can’t immediately overrun. This represents an intensive research effort which restricts my ability to build a large army.
Will acceptall puppet France if conditions for Vichy are met
Will acceptall puppet the USSR if conditions for Bitter Peace are met
Will acceptall puppet the British Federation if I take all provinces in Britian
No cheats on the Draka.
Cabinet and sliders for Germany have been redone.
Nations:
Ireland, Argentina, Chile are part of the UK. Austalaisia remains independent because I don't want to stretch the Brits too far.
Norway is part of Sweden.
Yugosalvia is part of Italy
Austria is part of Germany
Lithuania and Estonia are part of Latvia (the Livonian Republic, which is Market Liberal)
Japan now rules ALL of Imperial China
Constantinople is a part of Greece

Objectives:
1. Destroy Communism wherever it is found
2. Ally or puppet every nation in Europe
3. Protect Livonia if possible
4. Liberate Armenia and Georgia, and protect them from the Draka.
5. Keep America neutral by keeping relations over +100, using acceptall if that doesn't work.
6. DESTROY THE DOMINATION!

beckervsdraka1936iisw7.png

The world of 1936

screensave3gk1.png

The ruling cadre of the Third German Empire
 
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Very good, but I have some minor nitpicks: It is Manfred von Richthofen, Reichs Aktions Partei, and why on earth is old Fatty chief of the Luftwaffe and not the Red Baron? :)
 
Defenders of the Reich

Berlin, Germany
January 2, 1936

Adolf Hitler was not a man to count his blessings, but he was thankful that the meeting room was equipped with a very powerful ceiling fan. This was a good thing because most of the other men in the room, as well as the women, whether they be ministers of stenographers, were smoking steadily and tobacco burned in his throat slightly. Becker had good taste: he had married Hitler’s first real love, he appreciated a good strudel, and he hated, absolutely abhorred tobacco. So where was the bearded prick?

“…Until our army is completely rebuilt, we are vulnerable. The Communists are too well equipped. Inside and outside the Reich. They’re more dangerous than you realize,” continued Franz von Papen, as always determined to make the point the police needed more funds and powers to crack down on the enemies of the Reich.

“Dangerous to your police, Minister. Not the military, and certainly not the SA.” Hitler replied sternly. It went without saying that in those dark days of 1930, law and order had fallen apart and it had not been the police, but the Freikorps, the Watchmen, the Defenders, and in Hitler’s minds, especially the SA that kept Ludwig Renn from turning Reich into the German Soviet.

But Papen continued, “The Communists will continue to gain a support in the Landenstags, open or disguised, as long as....”

“The Landenstags will no longer be of any concern to us.” Wilhelm Becker entered the room in his uniform, that of a semi-honorary Captain General. It was a responsibility he had little time for, but was happy to oblige the public in. His face, older now was covered with a full, well trimmed beard.

“I've just received word that the Kaiser has dissolved the regional councils permanently. The last remnants of the hated Republic have been swept away,” he finished in cold satisfaction as he sat down at the head of the oblong oaken table.

“That's impossible!” exclaimed Papen. “How will the Kaiser maintain control without the bureaucracy?”

“The regional governors now have direct control over territories. Fear will keep the socialist scum in line. Decent people have no reason to fear us. God-fearing people need not fear us.” Becker answered honestly.

“And what of the Soviets? If the Russians have obtained a complete technical readout of our capacities, it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness and exploit it. Poland would only be a speed bump to Stalin’s hordes.”

Hitler came in at this point, “Any attack made by the Reds would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained. Our army is now the ultimate power in the Europe. Tomorrow, it will be even greater. I suggest we use it!

Becker looked at his bombastic ally and said, “Adolf don't be too proud of this technological terror you've built. The ability to destroy a nation is insignificant next to the power of the God. And you’d be wise remember your place in the universe.”

“Don't try to frighten us with your religious babblings, Wilhelm. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you one bit. You have succeeded only because you have been a bad ‘Christian’. Would a pious man beat the living hell out of his enemies as you have? No! He’d turn the other cheek and let his enemies put him in chains.”

“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” Becker said evenly with a hint of dourness.

“I believe in myself. I believe in Germany. Providence protects the man who forges his own destiny.”

Becker sighed. “This bickering is pointless. Herr Oster…” he nodded to the head of Intelligence, “…will find the subversives. Herr Nebe…” he pointed to Artur Nebe, the man in the police commissioner’s uniform, “Will arrest them. Then Herr Guertner…” he cocked an eyebrow to the other side of the table where the silent lawyer sat, “…will try them and convict them so that Herr Papen over here beside me can order their executions. Now all of this will give Herr Hitler, our outspoken Defense Minister, time to build us the most technologically and logistically advanced army in the world. We will then crush the Bolsheviks with one swift stroke.”

The cabinet smiled as one then pounded on the table as one in approval for the chancellor’s words. As much as he liked such shows of approval, now was not the time for grandiose gestures. It was time to work.

“However,” he began, “we must be careful. Any long term war between European powers, including the Bolsheviks, will weaken us greatly. And the dragon is more dangerous than the bear, I think we all know that.”

“With all due respect, Wilhelm,” said Manfred von Richtoven, minister without portfolio, “The Draka beat up on decadent Muslims and Negroes. Not that I don’t pity their plight, but look at the last four times the Draka went up against real military powers: They couldn’t defeat the Japs, they failed to conquer the Bolsheviks, who were fresh out of a civil war, the Royal Navy took away some of their richest possessions in Cyprus and Ceylon and pardon me, but you do remember who won the siege of Constantinople?”

“I did, I mean, we did.”

“The Draka are bottom feeding scum with pretensions to greatness. Look, they have 45 million free citizens, we have 77. Their army size is limited by that fact. And we alone have 85%of their industrial capacity.”

“That’s why they haven’t attacked us, yet. But they will. All they need is an opening. Remember the Draka saying, the best part of owning a slave is BREAKING a slave. ”
 
I take it my last update wasn't liked?

Anyway, more to come, if not today, then Monday.
 
Dear god! I missed an update! I liked it btw. What's next? "That's no island, that's a Battleship!" "Impossible! To big for a Battleship!" :D

Once again a minor language correction: "Landtage" = Plural "Landtag" = singular.
 
Sorry about the lack of updates: it might be until Thursday until I can finish the minister meeting. Good news is that I finished the actual game, so I can focus totally on the story.

Thanks for reading!
 
How could I have missed a Draka AAR?

Unforgivable.
 
Anyone else notice the last update was word for word (almost) the briefing for the activation of the Death Star in Star Wars - with Becker as Darth Vader and Hitler as the toady Vader choked almost to death?

Doesn't bode well for Germany - but of course I have a hard time seeing the Draka as the Rebels...