Chapter XIV
In which the North gets involved.
July 1st, 1939. Berlin. Joachim was sitting in his office, reviewing some reports on last month's progress on the KMS Barbarossa. Most of the electronic systems were already in place, and so were the engines. Still, a lot of work was to be done before the ship (with her four sisters) could be commissioned for active duty: the anti-air batteries, the hangars, the flight deck... Not to mention all the less interesting, but at least as important details, like captain's quarters, crew quarters, kitchens, storage rooms, infirmaries and lavatories. Or the bridge.
Meanwhile, the Heinkel He-51 fighters and seaplanes and the Henschel Hs 123 dive bombers were already in production for training the pilots and mechanics, and the newer models that were made specifically for use on the carriers, the Messerschmidt Bf 109T fighters and the Fieseler Fi 167 torpedo bombers were also nearing the production phase. The latest prototypes were very promising indeed! Unfortunately, there were still some glitches that needed to be fixed, but everything was on schedule. The Junkers Ju 87, a serious contender was ruled out in the last round. There was simply no proper experience with that kind of bomber.
Bottom left: The bof of the KMS Barbarossa; top row: the Messershmidt Bf-109T fighter and the Fieseler Fi 167 torpedo bomber, that will form the air groups for the carriers; right column: the Heinkel He-51 fighter and the Henschel Hs 123 dive bomber, that will be used as training aircraft for the crews of the carriers, while they are under construction.
Joachim was suddenly disturbed in his work by someone knocking on his door. It was Heinrich, one of his colleagues from the purchasing department. His job was to deal with the foreign partners of the company, who provided them with the materials used for building the ships.
- Good day, Joachim! I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a serious problem here!
- Please, sit down! - said Joachim politely. Heinrich was a nice fellow, reminding him of Hans. Insecure, with more responsibility than he could handle. - How may I be of assistance?
- You see, there's this contract we had with the United States Steel Corporation. It is about them shipping large quantities of steel ingots from Boston to Wilhelmshaven, from where we transport it here via train.
- Yes, I know about that. Pretty good deal, I might add. What's the problem with it?
- Well, the problem is that the company we used to ship the ingots to the Reich informed me, that they are dissolving their contract. They said that they lost too much ships to the British submarines, and their insurance won't cover it any longer.
- And what did the American company say? Would they provide transportation?
- I doubt it. And it wouldn't matter either way, because the British declared unrestricted submarine warfare! The US may be neutral, but I don't think any American captain would in his right mind risk getting his ship sunk... The US is far away from here... Actually, I was wondering if...
- ...I could use my contacts from the Ruhr? Well, I can try, but I can't promise anything.
- Thank you! I would appreciate it a lot!
- Alright. I'll get back to you soon! - Heinrich was very grateful as he left the office. Joachim knew that he wouldn't be able to secure a long-term contract with any of the steel mills in Western Germany. They had their fair share of problems, too. But a short-term contract, enough to finish those carriers seemed possible. And when they are commissioned, that might very well be enough to help with this convoy problem!
*** *** *** *** ***
July 4th, 1939. Berlin, the Ministry of Propaganda and Enlightment. It was still an hour until lunchtime but Martin was really hungry. He didn't have time for breakfast that morning, because the car carrived for him early. He was told that there would be a lot of work to be done that day, but that wasn't really the case so far. For the past three hours, he was sitting behind his desk, pushing papers with little interest, and waiting for the phone call. Then it finally came.
- Hello? - said Martin excitedly. Finally, something happens!
- Martin! - it was Herr Weber, head of the Department of War News - I have thrilling news for you! War just broke out in Denmark. I will send the details to you in a few minutes. I want you to write a speech for Herr von Ribbentrop for the radio in an hour!
- Yes, Sir! Can I have something to eat first?
- No way! This is very urgent, the speech is to be made exactly at noon! You can go to lunch after you are done!
- Yes, Sir... - Martin could have eaten a horse. But work comes first.
Erwin arrived with the reports in a few minutes. Martin tried to negotiate for a sandwich, but Erwin told him that as per the orders of Herr Weber, he can't even have as much as a snack until he is done. "War is hell" - said Erwin with a grim smile. So Martin started working.
The report stated that at 7:00, the Nordsee Flotte was attacked by a British Fleet lead by the HMS Ramillies and the HMS Hermes. The battle took place a few kilometers from Copenhagen in the Öresund strait, and after some the two fleets chasing eachother for some time, at 10:00 the coastal batteries near the Danish capital started firing upon the KMS Leipzig and the ship suffered serious damage. As a response, the Foreign Ministry released an announcement within thirty minutes, that the German Reich won't allow such interference from a supposedly neutral country, can't let its Northern borders exposed to potential enemies, and declared a state of war between the Kingdom of Denmark and the German Reich. Armoured divisions started hostile maneuvers into Danish territory immediately. The reports also explained that the Nordsee Flotte, with support from Luftflotte II, defeated the British Fleet, sinking the HMS Colombo during the engagement, while suffering no casualties of their own, getting away with only two light cruisers (the KMS Königsberg and KMS Köln) damaged. The ships were sent to Königsberg for repairs.
At 7:00, the Nordsee Flotte is engaged by a British Fleet in the Öresund strait. The HMS Colombo was sunk in the battle, and the KMS Leipzig is fired upon by Danish coastal batteries, serving as a pretext of the war between the German Reich and the Kingdom of Denmark.
Martin was wondering how long the Danish army could hold off the Wehrmacht. They stood no chance, that much was obvious, but with courage and proper tactics, they could delay the inevitable for a short time. Their insidious attack is hardly surprising: they started to mobilize their army months ago, it was obvious they were up to no good. But they had a much smaller army than Poland did and, aside from the straits between the islands, they had very disadvantageous terrain. Anyway, they could probably hold their ground longer than Martin could bear his hunger, so he started typing that speech.
*** *** *** *** ***
July 7th, 1939. Kolding, Denmark. The mobile headquarters of Major General Erwin Rommel, commander of the 9. Panzer-Division of the Wehrmacht, moving south, towards Sönderborg, where the bulk of the Danish army was stationed.
- The Danish forces are surrounded. Their only escape route after the 3. Panzer-Division's landing on Fyn was through this sector, and now they have no choice but to surrender. - Major General Rommel was standing up in the moving vehicle as usual, looking around with his binoculars.
The III. Panzerarmeekorps is pushing deep into Jutland, while the 1. and 2. Panzer-Divisions of the I. Panzerarmeekorps lay siege on Copenhagen. The defenders of the Danish capital try to break out through Slagelse, with no success.
- What I don't understand, Sir, is why we met no resistance on our way here! We are already half way through Jutland, encircling practically the entire Danish Army, yet except for the border patrol, we saw no men in uniform in the last three days! - Wilhelm had participated in his third campaign. In Spain, fighting was tough and frequent. In Poland, fighting was easy, but almost constant. Here, there was no fighting at all. It was unnerving. Like in every bush, enemy soldiers were waiting in ambush, waiting for the right moment, which never came.
- Well, one possibility is that they want to let our forces advance far into their territory unopposed, waiting for us to let our guard down and then with a surprise attack in our flank, cutting off the spearhead of our attack.
- If that was their plan, they managed to outmaneuver themsleves...
- Too true. But I doubt that was actually the case. Another happenstance is that they were trying to focus all their forces in a relatively easily defendable position, dig in and wait for the British to relieve them.
Top left: Danish Infantrymen train with machine guns; top right: young Danish soldiers pose for a photograph before the invasion; bottom left: Danish troops fixing a broken motorcycle after a skirmish in Sönderborg; bottom right: Danish troops train with an anti-air gun.
- That's somewhat more likely, but still not a very bright plan, Sir. The border between our countries is as flat as a table and as clear as the sky on this shiny day. Hardly the most defendable place they could choose. And the problems we faced in Poland, slowing down our advance are not present if we don't face any opposition at all, so getting behind their back was especially easy.
- Exactly. They were much more prepared to fight than the Polish were, based on what Major General Leeb reported, but they still left half of the border exposed. Whatever their plan was, it either didn't work, or we are in for a huge surprise, my friend.
- If you say so, Sir. Yet, if I was a gambling man, which I'm not, I would bet on the first.
- There's one lesson I've learned very well during my long years in service, Wilhelm: don't let your overconfidence get the better of you!
- Yes, Sir!
*** *** *** *** ***
July 10th, 1939. Berlin. Martin and Joachim met at a café, early in the evening. During the last month, they both were quite busy at work, so they had very little time for their friends. On top of that, Hans lived on the other side of the country (figuratively speaking, as the country now spanned from the France border to the Soviet Union one, and Berlin was situated almost in the middle, but still, they lived very far from eachother), Wilhelm was still on the front in Denmark, and they had no news at all from Erhard in a month now. But at least things were fine at home.
- Say, Joachim, did you solve that steel shortage you mentioned last week? With the American partner company? - Even though they had little time to meet in person, they still could keep in touch on a half-regular basis on the phone.
- Don't even mention it! - said Joachim with the expression of a man on the edge of turning into a serial killer - Those Yankees left us in quite a peculiar sutiation. Not that I really blame them or anything, but still. And of course I had to fix the whole thing all alone, even though it's not even the resonsibility of my department... Anyway, when I called the Frankfurt Steel Mill, they told me that the entire steel industry is now nationalized, and we will have to requisition what we require from the War Ministry. Imagine that... When I went to the Ministry, I was informed that they will only talk to the proper official of our company, so I went back to my boss. He gave me a paper authorizing me to proceed in the matter on behalf of the
Deutsche Werke, while this whole thing was still not supposed to be my business in the first place. At any rate, I went back, waited for an hour, filled out a form, waited for another two hours, and then I was finally allowed to actually talk to someone. After that, it was child's play. We are working on a Kriegsmarine contract after all. The company will receive the necessary steel directly from the national stockpiles now, stored somewhere near Berlin. - after the long monologue, Joachim drank his whole mug of lager.
- I'm glad it turned out good in the end. - Martin was hardly fascinated by the story. He was working at the Ministry of Propaganda, writing epic stories was his job.
- Speaking of which. I heared that radio speech last Tuesday from the Foreign Ministry, and it bothered me ever since. Or more precisely, it started to bother me on Wednesday, when I read the newspapers.
- Not to boast, or anything - said Martin casually - but I wrote that speech. - Actually, he did want to show off. He was very proud of that particular speech he wrote despite of practically starving at the time.
- You did? Great work! Anyway. I didn't realize what it was at first, but I knew there was something fishy about the whole business right away!
- And what's that? - Martin suspected what Joachim was pointing at. - You mean Denmark attacking the Reich? That's rather suspicious, yes. I believe it was British provokation to gain a new ally against the Fatherland and make an invasion from the North. The clever bastards...
- No, that's not what bothered me. Although this sounds like a possible scenario, too. But what actually got me thinking is how fast our troops landed in Denmark. Think about it! At 10:00, the Danish coastal batteries fire on our ships, and within 12 hours, our tanks are sieging Copenhagen.
- They are fast. That's what tanks are for.
- Yes, but over the sea? It's almost like they were there already when the Öresund Incident happened... - Martin's face hardened in an instant.
-
Almost. And you almost sound like Erhard. - hit and sank. The two men fell into a long, heavy silence. Martin knew he went too far, but he couldn't let Joachim make the same mistakes their friend did. He drank his beer too. After a minute that felt like an eternity, Martin spoke again: - Things are stirring up elsewhere, too. Did you hear it?
- Hear what? - Joachim felt that he didn't want to hear it. Whatever
it was.
- The Red Army entered Finland. - Martin tried to sound as ominous as possible, to make Joachim forget the previous eposide. It worked.
- What? Why? - Joachim was surprised, but he was actually expecting much worse. He hardly cared about either Finland or the Soviets, but a war is a war.
- Well, probably a part of their 'Workers of the World, Unite!' plan. You know, conquering the whole planet, and stuff. They made up some territorial claims to back it up, but I'm not convinced.
- Ha. Conquer the world... That would be a hard task, not really suited for the "Worker's Paradise". Imagine the masses, organizing a world-wide political entity... Ridiculous!
- Yes, I guess it is...
Index