Alptraum (Nightmare)

[Raaritsgozilla]

Ah the two sons. So Tristian still has a sword of Damocles hanging over his head a little with them.

Have you lived long enough to put the new medium tanks (I presume you've gone through the Panther and Tigers) into production? Be they E-50s, or whatever.

[Kurt_Steiner]

No Maus tank then. Good, good.

[TekcoR]

Ah the two sons. So Tristian still has a sword of Damocles hanging over his head a little with them.

Glad you got the allusion. I blame this on Nazi propaganda. Tristan is very much in a Rommel stage right now. He is Hitler's favorite general and is getting a lot of media attention; though we do not see a lot of it because the story is told from Tristan's perspective except for occasional letters. We will get to see more of existing characters here soon. In addition, I plan on adding at least two new characters that will.....[This message has been censored because its high level of spoilness.]

Have you lived long enough to put the new medium tanks (I presume you've gone through the Panther and Tigers) into production? Be they E-50s, or whatever.

Right now, no Panzer Division had been fully complemented with E-50 or E-75s. The research has been completed and the industrial capacity delegated to upgrade units. However; I need about 300 IC to upgrade units. I do not have 300 IC available; I only have about 30 IC dedicated to upgrades. About 150 is dedicated to supplies, which I'm short of almost constantly - this can be explained by the limited offensives. One of the reasons why Spain CANNOT be invaded is because simply launching an offensive on that scale would eliminate my supplies. Let alone the cost of fuel.

No Maus tank then. Good, good.

I have a deep deep place in my heart for the Maus. I just love the tank in World of Tanks because it is so fun to destroy. But no Maus will be appearing in any amount of numbers.

[Kurt_Steiner]

I have a deep deep place in my heart for the Maus. I just love the tank in World of Tanks because it is so fun to destroy. But no Maus will be appearing in any amount of numbers.

I hate to find them in WoT because they use to appear whem I'm busy (and sometimes my Tiger I/II is not the best thing to flank anything) and I hate them in HoI because they're a waste of resources. So I'm bloody dlag that there is no chance of seeing them here.

[Saithis]

Those are some incredibly intense costs. Still, I hope to see the Wehrmacht get a bit of a reprieve and a chance to deploy the E-50s and E-75s in earnest! Sebastian seems like a clever young man but hopefully he doesn't get too abrasive towards his superiors.

[TekcoR]

Those are some incredibly intense costs. Still, I hope to see the Wehrmacht get a bit of a reprieve and a chance to deploy the E-50s and E-75s in earnest! Sebastian seems like a clever young man but hopefully he doesn't get too abrasive towards his superiors.

We shall see more development of the Sebastian and Philipp soon. Along with a new cast of characters. Can't wait to begin writing the installments - I have most of their names planned out! And somebody will die! (Grins)

[Raaritsgozilla]

Place your bets now!

I'm picking Rhiley :ja:
Or one of the sons. Fo sho

[TekcoR]

Alptraum
An Alternative History Affair
By TekcoR


Ritual of Hope

The letters from my family always brings encouragement to me; lifting my morale from any low that has been achieved. Letters are one thing I have been able to pass on to Rhiley. During the turbulent months of 1942 he said he would never write home; which I knew was youthful optimism masking the reality of war. Before Christmas of that year, he did write his first letter. I know what he wrote as he let me read the letter before he sent it. I held back my concerns about the grammar, but rejoiced in that fact I no longer had to write a letter in his name. Joseph was always aware that I was writing for Rhiley; but his mother never seemed to catch on.

Letters are not a primary reason that I continue to fight, the renewing of sense of pride and reassuring feeling that they provide allows me to. There are many reasons that I continue the fight, honor; pride, oath; family and friends. The reasons may same to be intertwined, but each has their own special meaning and purpose. I may not have the same reasons as others – I may have more or less – but regardless of the difference or similarities in reasons – they are the words and meanings for which we fight.

Honor is a motivating factor. A sense of honor has been established in each generation of Schnack, who have all had their own trying time. Every generation’s trouble has been different than the previous are hard to compare as every member of the Schnack family has sacrificed and struggled in a way to their preference until the issue has been resolved. There is an overwhelming sense of duty to tradition and honor that has been established by previous generations to follow through and carry out what I set to do. I can attribute this trait to my father and mother raised my brothers and me to respect and honor the commitments and oaths we have made. For without honor, there is no integrity. Without integrity, there is no soul.

Honor and integrity does not mean to follow your commitments and oaths without question. Every person should have an internal guide that influences and advised about thoughts and actions that are either right or wrong. I after made several commitments which I have seen through to completion, and a dozen more that I am in various stages of fulfilling. I have also taken numerous oaths that I have sworn to follow until relieved from that oath. At the beginning of my military service, I took an oath to defend the constitution of the German Empire. After the collapse and end of the war, I remained as one of the 100,000 soldiers of the Weimar Republic; which required a new oath. I vividly remember leading my men pledging their loyalty to Adolf Hitler and not the people of Germany.

We had all be dazzled and awed by propaganda, the open defiance to the victors of the war, and the results that the Führer and the regime had been capable of delivering in a relatively short amount of time. Through the years, I along with many others, ignored the internal guide – our moral compasses – and continued to follow the Nazis without question or concern to our allegiance. The crisis at Munich was a significant tremble to my conscious, the threat of war was just mere days from being followed. I did not want to see another war occur; and was relieved that the Führer had prevented war. The avoiding of war had quelled the disruption to my allegiance, but had not removed the doubt from deep down. A year later, the feelings of doubt in my system began to rise as war was declared on the neighboring Poland, and then was reinforced by the twin declarations of war by Britain and France. However, just four weeks after the declaration of war, Poland had been completely occupied and the campaign was over.

Though victory in Poland had been obtained, doubt still remained within my system. I felt an urge to seek out like-minded people within the Heer, but suppressed these thoughts as I felt they would lead to certain doom. I still held onto the reservations and concerns about overcoming the French and the British; but these doubts were soon given an extensive dosage of victory after the fall of France in June 1940. Britain pledged to continue on, no doubt in futility at that time, while the Nazis and the regime were given more praise until that eventful day in April 1942.

Before that day, the Führer could easily be seen throughout Berlin and country at various functions and celebrations. However, that all changed by April 8th, a week after the ultimate betrayal by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. Hitler sealed himself below the Reichschancellery, safe from the physical and emotional reality that was penetrating Germany. As the assault continued the 6 Infantry Division, which I was a major in, along with many others were transferred from the relative safety of occupied France to the hellish Eastern Front. As we continued to withdraw from the east, my previous doubts about the leadership capacity of the regime reached new boiling points. After returning to Berlin from the recently lost city of Warsaw, I came to the realization that the nation I had been born into and sworn to defend triumphed over an oath to a delusional former corporal. Henceforth I would be attempting to rid the Fatherland of its greatest enemy.

I consider this task I have taken as fulfilling the necessity of honor and tradition that befits my family’s established reputation. The oath I consider paramount, of utmost importance is to that of the people of a nation, not to one man. This man, he throws people at problems he is incapable of comprehending. He does not care about the amount of lives lost or maimed; he only cares for his very own survival as the world crumbles around him. I seek to stop not only the Führer from ruining this country any further; I seek to halt all those who support him. This oath is not for me, it is for Germany. I will either fulfill it or perish. This is why I fight. This is why I must always make the choice to continue to fight on.

[Raaritsgozilla]

Nice work, always good to see the motivations for fighting. Against someone with that motivation, Hitler should have some worries.

So at the moment, the war is at a stalemate? Are you expecting a Soviet offensive at some point?

[TekcoR]

Nice work, always good to see the motivations for fighting. Against someone with that motivation, Hitler should have some worries.

So at the moment, the war is at a stalemate? Are you expecting a Soviet offensive at some point?

Relative stalemate in the east. The whole situation is - to borrow from a film I can't wait to see...The whole situation is going to get a lot more NAZI!

[Saithis]

I do enjoy Tristan's thoughts. I hope he can achieve his objectives and return Germany to a more sensible state.

[TekcoR]

I do enjoy Tristan's thoughts. I hope he can achieve his objectives and return Germany to a more sensible state.

Well...I'm sure we shall enjoy the next few installments. The stuff begins to hit the fan then!

[KLorberau]

Nicely done TekcoR...I finally caught up after several weeks of not reading this terrific AAR. So Himmler got his lead migraine (Himmler speaks="My head hurts...where is my aspirin????")....Our hero got promoted and joined the Waffen SS......and still the mystery of how to save Germany continues.......Beware the Red Bear!! I fear a terrible whirlwind is going to be pouring in from the East...towards the heart of the Reich.

Keep up the great writing.....

[General_Hoth]

What I don't understand...Is how could germany position be so perillous? I mean, the army isn't decimated by Barbarossa and Stalingrad...

[TekcoR]

What I don't understand...Is how could germany position be so perillous? I mean, the army isn't decimated by Barbarossa and Stalingrad...

While it is not decimated to the extent that the real life army was, there is still a lack of troops. There are 50 divisions guarding southern France (Russian occupied-Italy and Spanish border). There are about another 35 divisions between Bordeaux and Amsterdam. These are just divisions protecting vital fronts, not including reserve divisions.

I did lose quite a few divisions in Poland, if I recall equivalent to about an army and a half worth of troops. The situation is still perilous because it was a surprise attack, and it is essentially the Germans with no Axis Allies to assist (even if the assistance may have been trivial compared to the overall German war effort in real life).

I'll make note to try and explain this more in later installments.

[TekcoR]

Alptraum
An Alternative History Affair
By TekcoR


Two Choices

There are countless Allied soldiers surrounded between our panzers and the sea in southern France. Similar to me, these soldiers have two choices. They can either continue to fight until their death attempting to avoid the inevitable surrender, or simply throw down their arms and accept what fate has dealt. There is no choice for withdrawal from the sea as there was at Dunkirk. There is no choice of breaking out of the encirclement. There is only one logical choice one can make in this situation. Surrender, accept the inevitable.

The tale of the Allied soldiers is quite similar to what we as a nation have experienced. In the beginning, we were caught off guard and forced to withdraw, increasing the Allies hope for domination. However, no advance can go on forever. After reinforcements had been rushed to the scene providing formidable resistance, the offensive was halted in its tracks. This divulged into a stalemate while posturing began, looking for the enemies weak points and waiting for the right moment to strike. Now when that strike came, the blow was unexpected and caused temporarily paralysis on the stricken.

Unlike us, the Allies have not recovered from the paralysis caused by the sting. The Allies did attempt to struggle, temporarily breaking the pocket for a handful of hours; but that is the extent of their success. As every day goes on, the land that they have been forced to fight on shrinks. There is no hope, yet they continue to fight; which is admirable but futile. I can relate to the futility these men are facing. I understand that their chances for success in resisting their inevitable downfall is comparable to my likelihood of succeeding in the mission I have set out to accomplish.

What would I call this trait? Is it stubbornness? No. It is carrying out ones honor and oath. They have taken an oath to defend their countries, liberate occupied countries and promote democracy. Yet, I question their willingness to carry out their duties. If they are here to promote democracy, what will they if Germany was to surrender or be defeated? Would the Allies carry on the fight to liberate the Communist-occupied Poland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland? I doubt it. The Allies are powerless to against Stalin, as they squander their resources against us.

I do not seek to say that the nation my allegiance is to has been guilt free – aggressions have been committed that we will need to reconcile and suffer. I consider Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and their associated regimes to be on an equal scale. Yet, when it comes to the decision to choose who to fight – the Allied nations decided Germany was the greater threat. There are always two choices to every situation in life. However, when it comes to choosing the right decision, there is no question in my mind, the countries the men who are fighting against us in the encirclement will make the right choice and liberate others from Communist rule. I can only hope my remarks turn out to be untrue.

The twin battles marking the end of the 'Bordeaux Pocket' - even though both pockets were miles from the occupied French city.

The remarks that preceded this paragraph were written shortly before the letters from my sons arrived. Two days have passed since I received the letters and my opinion on the integrity of the Allies has changed. I received notification on the 24th of August, 1944 that the commanding general of the Allied forces, a Ulysses S. Grant III had called for favorable terms. The name seemed familiar to me. I began recollecting where I knew the name from. I looked forward to perhaps exchanging friendly chats with the great-grandson of his Civil War namesake.

Unfortunately, my duties always seemed to interrupt what I would prefer. The opposing general and I were reduced down to exchanging notes across our lines until an agreement had been reached. On August 26th, 1944, the Allied forces in the Bordeaux pocket agreed to surrender. Going through the reports, fifty-seven divisional battle-standards were collected. Thirty-seven of the standards were Spanish; fourteen were American; and six were British. I knew the Allies would make the wrong choice. It is not easy to make the right choice. There is only so much energy and determination a person can store before the reality of the situation becomes unbearable. Once that store has been exhausted is when the wrong choice has been made.

[Saithis]

The Bordeaux pocket would inevitably falter, evacuating so many men while under direct assault is simply insanity. This victory should buy the Reich time, but it won't win the war alone...one wonders what it will take to earn victory, if it's possible at all!

[Kurt_Steiner]

Fifty seven enemy divisions gone. Well, that shoud give you some breathing space in the West.

[TekcoR]

Alptraum
An Alternative History Affair
By TekcoR


An Unusual Encounter

I had acquired a new Kübelwagen since mine’s destruction, and Rhiley had just finished driving us to the airfield outside of the city of Bordeaux. We had hurriedly left headquarters and sped to the airfield at the special request that was received from the Führer’s Headquarters. A gut wrenching feeling occurred once reading the news; I was to report immediately to the bunker to discuss the delay in the offensive aimed at capturing Madrid. Being in Hitler’s presence is a necessary evil that I am extremely hesitant to carry out. However; if I am to disobey a direct order from the Führer at this point my sacred mission will end without the intended results.

I dislike the notion of flying, a complete opposite of the younger generation of Schnacks. I have never flown in an airplane before. I had been on a Zeppelin before the war, celebrating our fifteenth wedding anniversary in 1935. I was nervous even riding the airship. I subdued my fears as I have done numerous times and enjoyed the festivities that the special moment brought. The time in the airship was my first and only time flying before the war. I have not flown since the beginning of hostilities. From what I had read to that point, it was dangerous flying especially with sporadic air superiority of the Luftwaffe over the occupied territories.

Flying has become safer I’ve been assured from numerous people, most notably my nephew-in-laws Adolf and Erick Bopp. The aircraft they have been trained to fly, the Messerschmitt Me 262, has helped slowly turn the tide of war – costing the Allied bombers substantial losses. Both Adolf and Erick had last wrote me in May of 1944 to advise they had both become confirmed aces, Adolf having shot down a total of nine aircraft, and Erick shooting down seven – all over the skies of Berlin. I hadn’t received news of any additional confirmed kills since then.

After stopping the vehicle a dozen meters before the plane, Rhiley and I both simply stared at the plane. Though not an expert at planes, I understood the significance of the plane that was serving as transport to Berlin. On the front nose the Die Fliegerstaffel des Führers insignia stood out. This was Hitler’s private transport. This mission was that important. Behind the plane designated 26+00 stood two Messerschmitt Me 262s; whose pilots I had not yet located, but presumed they would serve as our escort.

“Uncle Tristan!” rang out a male from the right, ruling out Rhiley as the speaker. Turning my head to the voice, I smiled.

“Erick!” I said; which quickly turned the nephews face from smile to disappointment. “Adolf!” I quickly said correcting myself, returning a smile to his face.

“Yes, Uncle,” Adolf said as his brother then came into view. “After all these years, you still cannot get our names right.” I was a bit embarrassed. My wife, Christina was always able to get their names correct without a thought about it. I had yet to master, and have never mastered that gift of recognizing which twin was which.

Both Adolf and Erick were now standing next to the Kübelwagen, joyful of the reunion. These fine young pilots who were to escort me were a year younger than Rhiley and Philipp. “Since when has our honorable uncle become a member of the Waffen SS?” questioned Erick, the younger by thirteen minutes twin.

I had completely forgotten. In such a short amount of days I had become accustomed to wearing the uniform of the Schutzstaffel. “Two weeks ago if I recall correctly, is that not correct Rhiley?”

Rumbled from his daze, Rhiley spoke after five seconds. “Yes, yes is.” He went back to gazing over the Führer’s plane. His excitement was noticeable, but in his defense at the time, I would have been doing the same thing if not for the sight of my nephew-in-laws.

“Yes, two weeks ago,” I said smiling, noticing the insignia on Adolf’s collar. “You have been promoted also? The last time you wrote you signed the letter as Feldwebel (Technical Sergeant). When did this happen?”

Adolf smiled while Erick had a grimace on his face, as if he had heard the story one too many times. “It was after shooting down four aircraft in a single day over Berlin, Reichsmarschall Goring personally offered me the promotion to Oberleutnant; and to Erick, who declined a promotion to officer, was promoted to Hauptfeldwebel (Master Sergeant).”

I had a feeling Adolf only included the word about his brother, because he was standing next to him and the grimace on his face while ever slight was noticeable. “Quite I tale,” I said, knowing that it was the shortened version. “I believe we should be going, the Führer has requested my presence.”

Adolf and Erick both backed up away from the Kübelwagen, smiling. “We know,” they said.

[Kurt_Steiner]

Is it me or having the two nephews to fly protecting Tristan looks to me as not being a random selection of pilots?