In den Augen Gottes: An Alternative History Affair

In den Augen Gottes
An Alternative History Affair
By TekcoR

Chapter 7
Across the Seas​

…seven days. On July 10th, fresh from their victory of against the Russians – the Ottomans – who accomplished little to nothing during the war, declared war against Egypt. Quickly the Ottomans advanced against the rebellious state, but just as fast they found themselves with France intervening in the Ottoman’s war. The Ottomans begged for the North German Confederation to intervene; however their pleas were simply ignored. The threat of a war with France, who was still the most powerful military might on Europe, was unimaginable. However, France itself did not seek a war with the German Confederation when the Confederation declared war against Egypt in late December 1851.

Between July and December, a series of radical inventions and notable events occurred. On August 30th, in Geneva, Switzerland, the Geneva Convention was signed by all great powers. In early October, the first plausible large scale steam transport was designed and would soon go under construction for the small German navy. Then lastly, there was rumors swirling around the globe that the German Confederation had eclipsed the greatness of France and Britain and sat at the top of the world’s great powers. This rumor was quickly shot down by French and British politicians, but there was no doubt that the northern unified states of Germany were a powerful force.

That force would be on display beginning December 1851 in Egypt. Over 72,000 battle hardened soldiers had been sent to seize a vital piece of the Egyptian’s holdings – the area around a place called Suez. This was a deliberate ploy to help yet impede the Ottomans. By controlling the Suez region, the Egyptians would not be able to bring up reinforcements against the Ottomans nor would the Ottoman plague be able to further spread into Africa. A few suggested that construction of a canal begin once the land was officially within German hands; however there was no room in the treasury for such an undertaking.

After disembarking from their ships, the German soldiers would be involved in exactly four battles that sealed the fate of the war. At the Battle of Dumyat in early February, the Germans would inflict 16,169 causalities compared to 10,635. A month later at Mansura, a smaller German force would receive 9,547 causalities while inflicting 8,783. A few months would pass, the Egyptians trapped and unable to reinforce themselves. News was reaching the German commanders in the area that massive revolts were taking place across Egypt. In a last hurray, the Egyptians would fight two more battles. The first ended on July 3rd as 6,272 were reported as causalities to the Germans 3,380. Following the Battle of Cairo, a battle occurred at Giza ending July 24th. The Germans would suffer higher causalities at 4,889 compared to 4,681, but Egypt was done.

The only army capable of defending against the German soldiers numbered about 40,000 troops at the beginning of the invasion. At the Battle of Cairo, the Egyptians were down to about half of that. By the end of the battle of Giza, they were down to about 13,000, with the German invasion force down to about 50,000 able bodied men. Though the Germans had suffered a high amount of losses, another detachment of men had left Kiel the previous month. This reinforcement group would bring the German numbers in Egypt to 120,000. News of the reinforcements was purposely leaked to the Egyptians, who knowing the hopelessness of the situation agreed to a peace treaty by the end of July.


Coming back from Egypt was a brilliant man who had rose to the rank of Colonel. This young man, who had been a disciple of the von Clausewitz theory, had made several observations into the failings of the Confederation’s army to overwhelm an inferior enemy. The young Colonel’s works was quickly praised for he had drawn up several logical solutions. By the end of 1852, the Colonel, Helmuth von Moltke found himself head of the Great Prussian/Confederation General Staff.

The year of 1852 would end with little fanfare, except that Ukraine would become a satellite of the unified German state. This move would be quite beneficial as German soldiers would no longer be required to garrison the towns. Ukrainian troops would quickly fill the void left by the Germans. Though the “independence” of Ukraine created another problem, once again the balance of power was being interfered with in Europe. For all their talk though, the other European great powers were unwilling to act upon Germany’s alleged aggressions.


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