Chapter 3: The Gathering Clouds
15th of May 1937 to 10th of February 1938
16th of June 1937, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
Johann and General Guderian attend a debriefing with the head of the Wehrmacht
Von Blomberg: “
Der Führer and I have have carefully reviewed all your reports on the events in Spain. Needless to say, we are both very pleased with your successes.”
General Guderian: “
Vielen Dank! Have you also reviewed our suggestions on division layouts?”
Von Blomberg: “
’Our’ suggestions?”
General Guderian: “I give credit when it is due. My Aide-de-Camp Johann has been thoroughly monitoring our logistics as well as the combat state of the entire
Legion Condor. And I must say he did a great job. Based on his and my observations, we would suggest adding maintenance battalions to all our
Panzer divisions. Another point would be enhancing the medical capabilities of the
Wehrmacht’s infantry divisions.”
Von Blomberg: “We will consider it. What about this
Panzer design?”
General Guderian: “This is an idea I first conceived a few years ago. The experiences I made in Spain have further strengthened my belief that an independent
Panzerwaffe is very beneficial to waging war successfully. And, with our new research treaty with the Russians, we should be able to bring such a design to the field next year.”
Von Blomberg: “Indeed. I will run it past the
Führer.”
30th of July 1937, Reichsaußenministerium
Gerhard is preparing a dossier for Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath
Gerhard: “After the armed incident near the Marco Polo Bridge about two weeks ago, tensions between Japan and China have been on the rise. It seems only a question of time when Japan is going to attack the Chinese. This is putting us into some serious peril: The
Reich has strong ties to China and is even supplying and training some of its army, while we have recently made advances towards a closer relationship with Japan.”
Von Neurath: “
Der Führer is also aware of this. What kind of consequences would you derive from the situation?”
Gerhard: “I think it might be necessary to make a decision between the both of them. Both countries command vast amounts of manpower. Japan is more industrialized than China and possesses a navy that can easily match the British Royal Navy. But the industrialization is also Japan’s major downfall: it requires the same resources we do. So while we are looking towards keeping the Netherlands neutral or even in our sphere of influence, Japan will most likely want to control the Dutch East Indies at some point. This could effectively cut us off from those resources.”
Von Neurath: “Why is that? After all, if the Japanese are friendly to us, why shouldn’t they supply us with the rubber instead of the Dutch?”
Gerhard: “The Japanese expansion will most likely put them against strategic interests of the British Commonwealth and even the USA. In other words: an alliance with the Empire of Japan might drag us into a war with the western democracies sooner than we want to. If we manage to stay clear of the fires Japan is currently setting, the
Reich may not be perceived as threatening, thus allowing us to grow our territory via
‘peaceful’ annexation.”
Von Neurath: “Very comprehensive assssment. So what is your ultimate recommendation?”
Gerhard: “As a final conclusion for this dossier, I think we should continue to support the Chinese with training and equipment. At a later point of time we could also send a volunteer force to support the Chinese Nationalists, should we desire a stronger position in Asia.”
Von Neurath: “Great. Of course, there is always the chance that der Führer does not follow our recommendations. But I do think you did some great work here.”
23rd of September 1937, German Embassy to the Netherlands
Kurt receives an assignment from the Abwehr
Ambassador: “Kurt, I have heard you have grown accustomed to the Dutch way of life and, more importantly, to their Fascist party which we support. With the recent Japanese declaration of war on China, the Dutch are obviously concerned about Japanese Imperialism so close to their colonies.”
Kurt: “I had the exact same thought,
mein Herr. But how does this factor into our influencing of the Dutch popular opinion towards the Fascist party?”
Ambassador: “We could use this to further boost the party and maybe even force the current democratic government to resign. We just have to play our cards right. The
Abwehr has asked me to have someone reach out to the Dutch Fascists and foster our idea of impeaching the current Dutch government. Do you feel up to the task?”
Kurt: “Jawohl mein Herr.”
1st of December 1937, a back-office somewhere in Den Haag
Kurt meets the leader of the Dutch Fascists, Anton Mussert
Mussert: “We really appreciate the German support for our cause. However, why should we not turn towards the British as a strong ally?”
Kurt: “Because the British will never support a Fascist government against the Japanese. They would probably prefer to watch you and Japan bleed yourselves and then cite their own interests to annex your colonies. The
Reich is different. We support our partners against Japan.”
Mussert: “When will this be in the newspaper?”
Kurt: “We have planted it in all major Dutch news outlets that you own or that we could influence.
Der Führer will extend the hand of friendship and the shield of protection to those who want and deserve it. Just as we have done with the Chinese. The Japanese have barely made any progress. And it will most likely stay like this.”
Mussert: “And what does the
Reich want in return?”
Kurt: “We are German. We like to watch our money grow in the bank we put it into. So we would like you and your part to cause an impeachment vote on your government. From there on out, it should be easy for you to get into power even though you lost the elections in April.”
10th of February 1938, outskirts of Vienna
Johann and General Guderian are supporting the peaceful Anschluss of Austria
General Guderian: “It is almost disappointing that the Austrians caved in so easily.”
Johann: “Well, we had all our divisions on their border ready for an invasion.
Bei allem Respekt Herr General, I would not call that ‘easily’.”
General Guderian: “Indeed. But I would have liked to further test and improve on the experiences we have made in Spain. With the recent success of the
Abwehr and the
Reichsaußenministerium, the Netherlands are also no longer potential training grounds.”
Johann: “As far as I’m aware, we are now also guaranteeing their independence towards the British and the Japanese.”
General Guderian: “Indeed we are. Well maybe we will have to travel to China to do some more testing, then.”
Author's Note:
Thank you for your responses and subscriptions!
How do you like the style so far?
And, just as important, shoud I send Johann and Guderian along with a small aroured task force to China?