Hitler's gamble - An alternative German Strategy

December 6th, 1939. The harbour of Kiel. That day was one to be remembered. After years of construction, using more than a hundred thousand tons of steel and other materials, the tools of the new generation of naval warfare were finally ready to join the fray.

- One of the five ships was renamed - said Joachim to Hans and Martin. The three of them were attending to the commissioning ceremony in three different capacities: Martin was a representative of the Ministry of Enlightment and Propaganda, Hans was there as a plain German citizen and Joachim was about to be reassigned to Kiel, to work in cooperation with the reorganised Nordsee Flotte, on any necessary repairs and maintenance. - You see, at the time of their launching, the ships were named following different naming conventions. I have no idea how Seydlitz was named in the first place... But the person responsible came to his senses at last and now all five will be named after famous people.

- Like who? - asked Hans. He was rather excited.

- Well, the first ship and thus the whole ship-class was named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, inventor of the airship also named after him. The other carriers are named after Carl von Clausewitz, who was a briliant military strategist in the early nineteenth century; Frederick I., nicknamed Barbarossa by the Italians, an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from the twelfth century; Manfred von Richthofen, the most famous Great War ace, the Red Baron and last but not least, Peter Strasser, the first Chief Commander of the Luftschiffer, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe.


- Amazing!... - Martin was not impressed.

- The ships themselves are pretty impressive, you can't argue with that!

- Of course they are! And they better be. Building them did cost a lot of resources for the Reich. - said Joachim.

- They will bring back the investment, when the Royal Navy will sleep at the bottom of the sea! I can see the headlines already! - he could also see the promotion for writing said headlines.

- Look! That's the Führer! I didn't know he will give a speech too!

- It would probably be dangerous for him to announce every move he makes. We are at war after all, and we all know what the Allies are capable of...

- Too true. - said the man next to them. - I had a cousin who worked on a cargo ship. He set out on a trip four months ago and we never saw him again! The company told that the ship was probably sunk by British submarines somewhere in the North Atlantic because it never arrived in the United States.

- Shhh! I can't hear what the Führer is saying! - said another man.

The Führer's speech was passionate as always. He spoke about the brave sailors who died at the hands of the ruthless British submariners, about the successes in the East and North and how these successes will now continue in the West as well, against the once feared Royal Navy. He also spoke about how the Kriegsmarine was the least strong (not the weakest, only the least strong!) branch of all the German armed forces, and that this was about to change. He told the people that the Kriegsmarine will become strong, on par with the might of Japan in Asia or the United States in America. He spoke about how the war can only end with the surrender of the Allies and that they will not be able to suffocate the Reich with their blockade like they did during the Great War. When he finished, every single men in the crowd was cheering and chanting, including Martin, Hans and even Joachim. That corporal had a certian demonic charisma...

After the Führer, Grand Admiral Raeder spoke about how the nature of naval warfare has changed since the Great War. Battles are not fought between huge battleships anymore. The opposing fleets don't even need to see eachother, since the operational range of Aircraft is much longer than that of a slug from the main armaments of a warship. He also announced that he will step down as the Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine in favour of Gustav Kieseritzky, who will be his successor from January. He will lead the Nordsee Flotte personally instead, and he didn't want to keep that a secret.

- He is a brave man to just announce this! The enemy can attack him at any time!

- I would say he is confident, not brave. He trusts the new ships and rightfully so! The Allies will have serious trouble attacking these babies.



The first mission of the reorganised Nordsee Flotte with the five Carriers was to go to the Baltic Sea and find the British Submarine flotilla that was lurking there for who knows how long now. The RADAR stations in Königsberg noticed their presence in early November and from their radio-traffic, Intelligence pinpointed where they are exactly, but every time the Baltische Flotte under Admiral Böhm arrived at the given location, the Submarines have already left.

It was a mistery how they could have even survive or how could they move their ships months after the Reich closed the Baltic Sea, but there they were, defying logic and common sense. Maybe the Finnish or the Soviet Union were supplying them somehow? That was the only possible option.

But what proved to be an impossible task for the Baltische Flotte was a trivial chore for the Nordsee Flotte and the Carriers! With the help of the Intelligence data, the Carrier Air Groups found the Submarines quickly and destroyed them even faster. They never had a chance: their own RADAR might be enough to protect them from ships, as they are slow to approach and give enough time for the Submarines to dive. But the aircraft are ten times as fast as any ship and by the time the captain gave the order for the crash-dive, the bombs, torpedos and depth charges were already in the water.


Hitler was pleased. He made a promise to his people to end the Submarine threat, and in four short days, he already had results. It was Martin's job to tell these results to the people. And it was one of the easier jobs, too. Everyone knew about the threat, everyone felt the blockade and many even had lost some of their relatives to the British. This was a very important victory indeed, and one easy to translate for the poeple.

The title was "The tide has turned". Martin was very fond of the pun again. Hans didn't even get it.



- Are you really sure about this? I mean working for the Kriegsmarine is a very noble cause, but joining them?... You can't even swim!

- That's what the ship is there for... - Joachim recieved an even better offer than the previous one: after three months of basic training, he would be commisioned into the Kriegsmarine as a logistical petty officer. - And I don't actually have to board the ship anyway, or at least not on combat duty. I will be part of the port crew.

- I know, but still! Ports get bombed rather frequently, don't they?

- Will you stop whining now? Please? Man, if Wilhelm would hear you now...

- At least promise to write regularly! - Anna was less worried. She assumed that Joachim knew what he was doing.

- I wrote a letter every week when you lived back in Munich. I'll do the same from Kiel or wherever we'll be basing at the time. I promise. Now what else should I pack? - since he was going to training rather than moving to Kiel directly, he couldn't bring all his belongings, only the most basic items. Because of that, he had to start packing all over again from scratch. - Toothbrush, a towel, my slippers, a few cloths...

- Your slippers? That must be the single most important thing to pack, I'm sure!

- Will you get a uniform? - asked Anna with bright eyes. - You would look great in a sailor's uniform!

- Anna! - Hans was jealous as usual, but she only did this to tease him. She found it rather amusing how he reacted to such things.

- I believe I will bring some books with me too. Novels, some technical books maybe...

- Oh, I almost forgot! That's actually why we came. You won't be around next week, so... - Hans reached for the small package they brought with themselves - Merry Christmas, Joachim!

- You shouldn't have! What's in it?

- Open it up and you'll see! - Joachim opened the box and found silver coin in it.

- Oh my God! This must worth a fortune!

- It brings you luck! Frau Liebigstein gave it to me when she left for Wien, but it already brought luck to me. - he glanced at Anna with a smile. - I thought it might come in handy if you work for the Navy, but now I know you will need it!

- I don't know what to say...

- Well, I guess "Thank you!" would be a good start.

- Thank you! Both of you!



Dear Anna and Hans!


I settled in very quickly, although some of the cadets raised concerns about this whole concept of a "short training". I can understand that, most of them have been here for years, but they also have to understand that war makes some changes necessary. And unlike most of them, I won't be serving on a ship anyway, and I won't get the same rank as they will either. Still, I will be an officer of the Kriegsmarine, and they say that is a privilage you have to earn. They are probably right. My college education helps though. Most of the things the cadets need to learn I have learned already either back in Frankfurt or through my work, so I don't really feel like I don't belong here.

The food is pretty decent and the beds are nice and warm. I spend a lot of time in the library to fill the gaps in my knowledge regarding warships and naval tactics. I don't have anything better to do, really.


Anyway, things are warming up now around the Nordsee Flotte. They recieved a general order two days ago to intercept and investigate any enemy activity in the North Sea, and they've set out to a mission this morning! By the time this reaches you, they probably already returned and I guess you will know all about what they did from one of Martin's War Reports! I can't wait!

And how are you? Did you manage to finally decide when to hold your wedding? I hope it won't be in the next two months, because I want to attend and I have no idea if I will be able to do that before the training is over! Also, Italy is a nice place to be during the Spring, but less so in the Winter. Unless you want to go skiing of course.

Any news about Wilhelm? How come he can get away from his training camp and I can't? I read Martin's Christmas article yesterday about the Christmas truce in 1914, it was very moving. Did he visit you on the Holidays?

I'll write again next week.


Yours sincerely,
Joachim Strauss


P.s.: Don't you dare marrying without me!



The Nordsee Flotte returned two days after their departure, with news of victory. The aircraft carried by the fleet engaged French ships on its way already, and even though the enemy got away, the Battle of Silverpit was a confident victory for the Flotte. It also proved the concept of Force Projection: the French didn't even have a chance to shoot back.


Later that day, the Flotte arrived to Bridlington Bay where it engaged a joint Franco-British Fleet, including a Carrier from both, two British Battlecruisers and even a French Battleship, with different screening vessels. The battle was hampered by bad, British-styled weather, but it was still a conclusive German victory, with the British 6th Destroyer Flotilla completely annihilated and multiple enemy ships damaged.


- That's great news, isn't it? - asked Hans.

- Of course it is. Not only is this a major victory against the Allies, but we can even use this to advertise the life in the Kriegsmarine! - Martin was glad that this would be another easy job. - "Bring the war to them!" What do you think?

- Not bad. At least it's not a stupid pun again...

- But it is! Don't you get it? Ah, nevermind... This will be a magnificant year!


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As January of 1940 was coming closer and closer, the eyes of Germany, and possibly of the whole World were securely fixed on the United States of America. After the XXII Amedment to the United States Constitution in 1935 (fixing the dates of the Presidential Elections and to be held before every leap year, stating that the new government has to be formed before January 1st the next year and also increasing the terms of the members of the United States House of Representatives to 4 years so Elections would only be held every four years) and the victory of the Democratic Party in the Election in that year, it seemed like the future of Democracy was assured.

But that was not to be the fate of the United States. During the late '30s, it became obvious that Democracy and the Democratic Party were not able to bring the nation out of the Great Depression that was brought upon it and the World by the failing capitalism. The population realized the two possible alternatives to the long-standing democratic system.

The first alternative was the self-proclaimed "Workers' Paradise", the Soviet model based on bolshevism: the belief that the masses would be able to lead an entire nation, or if their nightmare of a world-wide revolution came to be, the entirety of humanity. Of course that ideal was the farthest thing from what is actually happening in the Soviet Union! The Communist Party, led by a single despotic person, Josif Stalin, takes away everything the people (workers, citizens, peasants, soldiers, intellectuals, children, elders, everyone) owns or produces, keeping them in constant poverty and misery. The whole concept is based on a lie, and it is kept together by sheer force, through the secret police, the NKVD. The so-called "Great Officer Purge" was a prime example of that.


The second alternative is fascism, based on either the Italian model, or the more successful German one. We all know how well that works, since we live in the reality it provides to us. And with the results of the Elections in our hands, we can clearly see that the American people also realised this. Fritz Julius Kuhn, leader of the German-American Bund was elected President of the United States, and the party gained enough seats in the House of Representatives to make its own Amendments to the Constitution if they so desire.


Herr Kuhn will visit Berlin during the next week to start negotiations about a renewed cooperation between the United States and the Reich. According to government sources, the British are expected to try and intervene, but after their recent successes, the Kriegsmarine is confident in their ability to protect the American delegation on their trip to the Old Continent. The Führer and his Italian ally, Benito Mussolini will discuss economic plans for the near future: a possible way to lift the Allied blockade would be to ship goods to Italy via the Mediterranean, then use railways to get them into Germany.


Meanwhile the relation between Canada and the States is getting worse and worse every day. The Canadian Navy is continously harrasing US shipping lanes with the excuse of looking for Germans. In response, the Führer assured Kuhn that the Reich is fully behind the US in case of any confrontations between them and their northern neighbour. It might only be a matter of time before the United States signs the Tri-Partite Pact.

It is clear as day, that America is in good hands. The future of Democracy may be in danger, but the future of the United States couldn't be any safer.


Martin Lederer



DEAR UNCLE STOP REFURNITURING OVERSEAS OFFICE CAUSED CHANGES IN POLICIES STOP COMPETITION LEFT ALONE WHILE OFFICE HIRES NEW PERSONNEL STOP BOSS STARTED TO PAINT THE GENTLEMAN AND THE VAMPIRE STOP VAMPIRE SEEMS HARDER THAN GENTLEMAN THOUGH STOP A - January 9th, 1940



Mid-January, 1940. Negotiations with the new Romanian Government are fruitless. They don't want to sign the Tri-Partite Pact.

- I seriously don't understand. That's how they repay the help from the Reich?!

- They are probably arguing about the terms only, not whether to sign the Tri-Partite Pact or not. - First Seargent Benz and Seargent Karl Wulff were in a debate, as usual. - You are too hot-headed to understand politics and diplomacy. Young people tend to be...

- But how long can it take to come to an agreement? I mean come on! The German Party of Romania formed their government more than two weeks ago!

- Things like that take time. Ceremonies, stuff like that. The new government has to be commissioned by the King, then form the proper new ministries, fill them with the right officials, sack the old ones. They also probably have a lot of things to work on domestically.

- Exactly! They have enough trouble at home, you would think the first thing they want to do is secure their borders! The Reds are on their backdoor! I doubt Comerad Stalin will just stand by.


- Don't worry about them, they can defend themselves - interrupted Wilhelm. - And if Stalin does attack Romania, I assure you, they won't hesitate in signing the Pact. But I don't think that will happen anyway. Stalin might be a communist, but that doesn't necessarely mean he is stupid, too. Romania is no threat to him, but attacking them would still need resources, which would weaken them on other fronts. Not that I'm suggesting anything of course.

- Of course.



Sometime during January, 1940. Martin is informed that Hans won't be able to stay in the Ministry. He will be conscripted, but he will get a desk-job at logistics. He tells this to Hans at his place.

- Transferred? - Hans was confused. As usual.

- Transfer. Transferred, verb, intransitive, 1) To move oneself from one location or job to another. - Martin was always ready to enlighten his friend in times of need.

- But why?!

- And where? - Anna was more interested in the practical side of the issue. She didn't plan on leaving Hans alone, but she had a well-paying, solid job.

- Don't worry, you will stay in Berlin. You surely remember when back in August, the Wehrmacht tried to conscript you.

- Like if I could forget...

- Well, turns out that the solution we made up was only a temporary one.

- WHAT??? - Hans was now genuinely scared, and so was Anna.

- Calm down, it is not as bad as you think it is!

- Then it must be even worse! - Hans. Always the optimist.

- I secured a desk-job for you.

- So I will be shot at while sitting behind a desk.

- Hopefully not.

- Standing behind a desk... - Hans was getting desperate.

- No, you won't be shot at! Will you listen to me? After two months of basic training, you will be put into the logistics department of Heeresgruppe Ost.

- That's great! - Anna was reliefed.

- What's so great about it?! It's still the Wehrmacht!

- Why is that a problem? Are you a traitor to the Fatherland?

- No, I'm a patriot! And also a coward...

- Then logistics is the right place for you! - said Anna. - That is behind the frontline, where the celver people organise the lines of supplies while the strong people wage the war on the front.

- So this logistics needs clever people?

- Yes, darling.

- Well, then it might not be that bad after all...

- Of course it's not! You will love it!



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