Note ahead: When I planned this I expected to reach the beginning of the war by this chapter at the latest. So much for planning, but hey. This new string of updates will be the conclusion of Pinie. I kept the German preparations vague on purpose, in order to have room for the execution. When the war finally starts its going to be a relief actually, because I have tons of Ideas, including the most amazing, coolest and incredible HOI2 screenshot ever. Better all learn the lyrics of “Land of Hope and Glory” and “Rule Britannia”, because there will be naval action galore, and even more Tank Battles. Anyway, after Pinie I will jump ahead to a short time before the balloon goes up, because all in all 1939 was pretty boring. I think I'm not overstating when I say that this war will be epic. Naval gun actions! Carrier Battles! Massive armoured battles! Massive paratrooper drops! Invasions! Politics! Intrigue! Cool pictures! Massive Britishness! France-bashing!
Enough promotion now. On with the show!
Sorry for the large jump forward in time btw, but all in all most of 1939 was boring and I am covering some time with this, but I fear I failed to convey the sense of desperate urgency I wanted to bring across.
Chapter 48
Sunday, May 28th, 1939
Barcelona, Spain, aboard U-37, 0:23 AM
The two U-Boats were slowly slipping out of the harbour in the dead of night, hiding in the dark like thieves. After refuelling at the Spanish port they would go on, trying to slip through Gibraltar, where the Brits had massively increased their naval patrols in the face of the brewing crisis in Europe. There was a risk involved with this stop, but with most of the public attention focused to the south of Spain where Franco's forces were mopping up the last pockets of republican resistance, and two more additional German ships that used this refuelling point wouldn't raise uncomfortable questions. The route had taken them through Gibraltar, and the two Skippers had been worried about this. Kretschmer and Prien had conferred about how to slip past the British Naval patrols and decided to approach by night. They waited until it was dark, then snuck past the destroyer patrols decks awash, as invisible as possible but still able to make near maximum speed with their Diesel Engines. Kretschmer was atop the bridge of his boat, smoking a late-night cigar, something that would have been impossible during wartime, but right now he enjoyed it. A few meters to starboard he could see U-47 sliding into the channel, heading towards the same sea buoy U-37 was headed for. Both skippers knew only the basics of the whole operation, and were not pleased about having to play taxicab for the ten soldiers in their boats. The men had come aboard all these days ago, unknown, wearing nondescript Wehrmacht Uniforms, devoid of any insignia, not even the Reich-Eagle was present. The only man Kretschmer knew was Otto Skorzeny, and the two man had shared quite a few cigars atop the sail when the boats surfaced to recharge their batteries during the night. So far everything had gone to plan, only when they had gone through the English Channel there had been a time when they had held their breaths.
A small British Battlegroup, centred around a Battleship Kretschmer had identified as HMS Royal Oak, had crossed their paths and the escorting Destroyers had nearly detected them, using aggressive new tactics. But the danger had passed and everyone had started to breathe again. Now here they were, sneaking past the Royal Navy's own back yard, trying to deliver men to a destination and do things that could lead to a war they were not prepared to fight. In the last few years the BdU, Vice Admiral Dönitz had war gamed the new naval situation after the fall of the United States to the Bolsheviks and had concluded that this new situation, paired with the ever increasing escort forces would make the task for the convoy escorts of the Royal Navy far easier, especially if the Heer failed to knock out France quickly. But he preferred not to think about such things. He was an officer of the Kriegsmarine, and as such he always did what he was told, and he had enough trust in his own skills to be confident that the U-Boats could still crack the British convoys.
The same time
London, Admiralty Building
Fleming and Leiter were standing in the Admiral's office, waiting for the old man to arrive. After months of investigations, countless interrogations, beers at pubs with shady informants, hundreds of hours wasted on stakeouts, a hundred kilograms of pipe tobacco ( according to Fleming's supplier ), and what seemed like the exhaustion of India's tea and coffee resources they were no closer to learn about the German operation to kill the Duke of Windsor. “Well, Gentlemen, what do we have?” the Admiral asked, not taking a second for a greeting after storming through the door. “Nil, zip, nada, Sir. Absolutely nothing beyond what we already know. We know that the target is the Duke of Windsor, and thanks to a recent intercept from Moscow, directed to our friend Mr. Philby we know they plan to hit him at his home in southern France. But we do not know how, or when for that matter.” The Admiral frustrated combed his grey hair with his left hand. “I let you run this on your own, with minimal interference, and that is all you have?” Slightly worried Ian answered. “Yes, Sir. I spoke with the Duke's head of Security, but it seems that he believes that the threat is just scaremongering. His Royal Highness refuses to go back to London, where we could easily protect him, and he even underhandedly accused us of making the whole thing up in the first place.” The Admiral didn't react at first, but then he exploded. “He is questioning the integrity of my people! That...” what followed was barely audible and the two other Officers in the room were pretty sure it was very unprintable. Felix dared to speak up first. “Now what are we going to do, Sir?” “We are running out of time, they could strike any day now, and suffice it to say, if we let this happen and someone finds out that we knew beforehand, if someone even suspects we knew it could loose the last shred of credibility with the population.” the Admiral said. He rose from his chair and started pacing through the room, a sure sign that he was agitated. He poured three glasses of Brandy, shoved two of them in the unsuspecting hands of Ian and Felix, and sat back down. “Sit down, and that's an order.” The Lieutenant Commander and the Lieutenant were seated within seconds. “Now, let us go through all material we have, step by step.”
Ian opened his briefcase and removed several manila folders, and said,while handing them to the Admiral: “As you know, Sir, before we first arrested Philby and his friends we heard rumours that a person high in the Imperial society was to be assassinated or at the very least abducted. We followed up on this, but in the end nothing much turned up. Back then the special section was also established, but once again we couldn't find any substantial proof, we therefore went on to do other tasks like counter-intelligence, still working on that thing in the background. We didn't have any breaks until a few months ago, when we arrested Philby and took up the rest of his lads. But then again, all trails went cold, and until today we've had no joy, no matter what we tried.” The Admiral sighed, with a mixture of frustration and anger, unsure of what to do next, but unable to say so. The two others saw this, but neither Fleming nor Leiter dared to interfere. After a few minutes the Admiral stood up, grunted a quick “Wait here” at his subordinates and left the room, much to the bewilderment of those that stayed behind. He returned a full hour later, with none other than the Prime Minister in tow. Ian and Felix snapped to attention, but where greeted with the order to follow the two men to another room, one that could have been transplanted from one of London's many Gentlemen's clubs. When everyone was situated Churchill opened the conversation with the simple words, directed at Ian and Felix: “Gentlemen, how would you two fancy a little trip to France?” When none of the two answered Churchill went on: “This is a matter of the utmost urgency. If the Duke refuses to see reason over the Telephone you two must convince him to return to England, or at the very least convince him to increase his security. We have a group of very able men on standby, and they will accompany you to France and stay there until this whole bloody mess is over.” Felix, who hadn't spoken much during this evening, voiced some concerns: “But Sir what about the French? How will they react to if we start swapping lead with Jerry on their soil?” “If don't find out then they shan't complain, if they do then, well, their loss. We cannot and will not let this sort of thing happen to imperial subjects, no matter where.”
[Game Effects: Well, Pinie is nearing the Grand finale. Will our two heroes get to France in time? Will Skorzeny succeed in his task? Will war break out over this operation? Stay tuned!]