< World War II - Liberation(Wyzwolenie) (6) >
May 6, 1941
Northern Germany, Berlin – Dietrich Schacht's Mansion
Ten days since the start of Operation Liberation.
As dawn broke, I sat on the sofa, reading reports from the front lines.
To date, the losses incurred from Operation Liberation are 160,000 for the German Army and 90,000 for the Polish Army. The estimated losses and isolated military force of the Soviet Army are around 2 million.
The casualty ratio is 1:8. You could call it an overwhelmingly great victory.
In the previous battle, the Soviet Union was prepared while we were not, but this ti, we fought with the utmost preparedness while the Soviets, unaware of our true strength, were caught off guard.
Charles de Gaulle's French Army and Mannerheim's Finnish Army are also steadily pushing back the Soviet Army on the Kola Peninsula, so at a glance, the war situation seems to be progressing very smoothly.
But I know very well that this is only the beginning.
The latent power of that colossal Soviet Union is endless.
Even without the Lend-Lease aid from Arica, the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad, which turned the tide of the German-Soviet War in the original history, were accomplished purely through the Soviet Union's own latent power, without Lend-Lease.
So, I absolutely cannot let my guard down.
Rather, now that they've been dealt a heavy blow while they were complacent and we've seized the montum, we only have a chance of winning if we inflict a decisive blow on them.
I looked over what the Ministry of Propaganda had prepared.
At first, I considered giving a speech.
But neither Claudia nor I can speak Russian, and it's impossible to beco fluent enough for a speech by belatedly learning Russian, which is uniquely different from other European languages.
We also attempted to use surrendered soldiers, but it sounded like a stilted delivery even to my ears, so we quickly gave up on that.
In the end, what was prepared was a piece of paper printed with an advisory text translated into Russian, demanding the surrender of the Soviet Army.
But even though the tide of battle has turned in the German Army's favor, we haven't used it yet.
The military was concerned that if we used it, the Soviet Army might surrender too quickly, or in too great numbers.
One might simply think that having many surrender is a good thing, but the problem is more complicated than it seems.
We already have nearly 500,000 Soviet POWs, and even after accepting those of Ukrainian origin and other volunteers, we still have 300,000 POWs remaining.
From the stance of a democratic nation that emphasizes freedom, we can't just treat POWs like Hitler did, and they are, after all, just people who were conscripted and dragged into this.
So, the POWs must be fed and protected enough to at least survive.
Furthermore, with the operation in full swing, the military didn't want a situation where a clumsy attempt to induce surrender while the enemy was in chaos either resolved their confusion or ssed up our operation while we waited for their reaction.
And if it went well and they did surrender, the unit would get tied down handling those who surrendered.
For that reason, the work prepared by the Ministry of Propaganda to induce the Soviet Army's surrender right at the start of the operation was changed to be used only on isolated enemies after the operation had progressed to a certain point.
As a result, for the sake of efficiency, instead of imdiately inducing surrender, we chose to kill as many of them as we could and then maybe offer an advisory to those who were lucky enough to survive and beco isolated.
My head judges this to be the realistically wise thing to do, but as expected, it doesn't feel very good.
As I was thinking that, Claudia ca out from the second-floor bedroom.
She let out a small yawn, then spotted and slowly descended the stairs.
“You're awake?”
Instead of answering, she glanced at what was in my hand—the advisory in Russian—then approached , and as soon as I set it down on the desk, she perched on my lap.
Doing this while wearing only a thin negligee is a bit too stimulating—
That thought flew out of my head as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed .
As I instinctively hugged her waist and focused on the soft touch of her lips and the warm sensation of our tongues intertwining, she pulled away after a mont.
“Why didn't you wake ?”
“You looked tired.”
Throughout the operation, I had to work overti almost every day, swamped with duties as the Minister of Defense and Minister of Propaganda, and she, as the Vice Minister of Propaganda, had been handling the Ministry of Propaganda's work in my absence and always getting off work with .
By the ninth day of this, she seed to be running out of steam, so I told her to go ho first.
She had gone in telling to wake her when I got back, but when I arrived, she was sleeping so soundly that I didn't wake her.
Claudia stared at , then gently pinched my cheek.
“Ow.”
She let out a small chuckle at my feigned pain and leaned her head on my shoulder.
“I, I really like tis like this.”
“Hmm?”
“Because you, who is always thinking so much, focus completely on when you're with .”
My efforts for Germany are ultimately for the people precious to , so I can't repeat the mistake of making her feel left out.
Besides…
“Haha… I have committed a sin…”
I wasn't the one who set the timing for the operation, but as a result, she has been working overti with since her birthday. …continuously.
Honestly, I'd have nothing to say even if she grabbed by the collar and got angry.
But Claudia just smiled at and asked.
“If you had to choose between Germany and , which would it be?”
“You.”
Hearing my imdiate answer, Claudia's smile deepened as she asked.
“What if I were a bad woman who really told you to abandon Germany?”
“The you I love would never do that.”
“You talk so well, just like a politician.”
Claudia finally burst out laughing. Her laughing while leaning on my shoulder tickles.
A feeling of happiness, like my heart was being tickled, welled up, and I held her tightly and said,
“But those weren't empty words. Germany might have other politicians to replace Minister Schacht, but to , you are the only one.”
Claudia looked at with a gentle smile and said,
“So, it's okay. It's our country, and the place where we'll be.
In tis like these, as a politician and a wife, I'll just consider it as loaning you to Germany for a while. I am very generous, you see.”
“Hahaha.”
Claudia smiled and looked at , then opened her mouth.
“Do you rember? The day we first kissed.”
“As if I could forget.”
I had been in despair after Halder let the Munich Agreent be signed, watching the Germans cheer for Hitler.
Seeing the empty apartnt where I had gathered with the working mbers of the Black Orchestra to plot against Hitler, I had given up all hope.
That was when she lifted up. Without her, the of today wouldn't exist.
Claudia chuckled and said,
“I'm only saying this now, but actually, I hadn't fallen for you back then.”
“Ack?”
This is a bit of a shock.
That was the day I fell for Claudia so hard I couldn't get her out of my mind.
So much for my precious mory…
Well, thinking about it now, she didn't seem to show any sign of it.
If you asked if we trusted each other, then of course we were comrades who trusted one another, but I was also a bit puzzled as to where she had developed such feelings for .
“You know, right? My initial approach to you was, well, purely.
Yes. As a reporter for the Frankfurter Zeitung, you were a contact worth having, and it was also because of Brandt's request.”
“R-Right.”
Damn it, I had forgotten.
That damn womanizer, Willy Brandt, was the one who sent her to , wasn't he?
The original Dietrich Schacht was a total womanizing scoundrel, so what was he thinking, setting up such an attractive young lady with him? Anew, I really don't like that bastard.
Claudia saw my unimpressed expression and chuckled, then her face turned serious again.
“Back then, you were, um… how should I explain this. You felt like you would fly away if I didn't hold onto you sohow.”
As I remained silent, Claudia added with a slight smile.
“I didn't have much basis or certainty, but I had a sudden premonition that I would regret it imnsely if that happened.”
“Is that so…”
Wait a minute. But.
The thod she chose to hold on.
“…So the way to hold on was a kiss?”
Claudia's face faintly blushed.
“That was, just. Ah, really.
I just blurted out whatever intense thing I could think of to hold onto you. I was so surprised by how you looked back then, you know.”
I was so desperate back then that all I could do was cling to her; I had no idea she had been so flustered.
“Actually, if you had tried to do more than just kiss and tried to embrace , I was fully prepared to kick you and run away.”
At her added words, which she said with a laugh, I burst out laughing.
“Pwahahaha!”
Claudia let out a prim ahem at my laughter and said,
“But unlike those scoundrels who were just after my body, you were a truly decent person.
And with those strange prophecies, you were so different from the Dietrich Schacht I had researched that I could believe your words even more.”
Right.
She believed my absurd story of being from the future based on the clues she gathered herself, her intuition, and her observation of .
“…I'm a lucky man.”
When I first fell into this era, I cursed God and thought only of surviving on my own, but how much good luck is it to have soone who helped co this far.
Her existence alone is enough to make feel grateful to God.
We smiled softly and looked at each other.
A mont later, Claudia reached out, intertwined her fingers with mine, and asked,
“This war, how long will it go on?”
“I don't know.
According to the history I know, it ended in 1945, but too much has changed.”
Arica might be in chaos for now, but it's not a nation docile enough to just turn a blind eye to Japan expanding like that right in front of its backyard, the Philippines.
But there are too many variables to declare that the Attack on Pearl Harbor and Arica's entry into the war will happen in the sa way as in the original history.
Furthermore, I can't be sure about the situation of the Atomic Bomb Project, the Manhattan Project, which was originally supposed to be developed to stop Nazi Germany.
Since Einstein signed the letter, it must have started, but the very motivation for the project, the Nazis, were overthrown in a civil war, and because of the changed history, Arica is still feeling the aftermath of The Great Depression.
It would be strange to expect the Atomic Bomb, which was completed in 1945, to be made exactly as it was in the original history and make Japan surrender.
So, does Germany, currently at war with the Soviet Union, have the spare capacity to develop a nuclear weapon alone by 1945? Of course not.
If it had that kind of spare capacity, Hitler would have conquered the world long ago.
No, as if I would rely on sothing like that.
Who knows how many people would die if I let this damn war drag on until 1945.
“I'll end it before then.”
Claudia smiled softly at my words.
“Then, after the war ends and our term is over, shall we go on a trip together?”
“A trip?”
“Yes, a trip. I've never been outside Germany, so I want to travel abroad and see more things.”
“Sounds good.”
“We could go to France.
Oh, would that be difficult because of the national sentint?”
“If you want to go, I'll have to make it good.”
Claudia laughed, seemingly delighted by my words.
“Then, I'll trust you. Britain, Arica, Czechia, Hungary, Finland, Ethiopia, and the country where the future you lived, hmmm.
The Korean Empire, no, Korea? I want to go there too.”
“Korea.
Hmm, I don't know about that.”
If things had followed the original history, Korea would have been liberated, albeit divided, but too much has changed.
The main players in the current Asian Front are the imperialist nations of Britain and the Netherlands, and it's doubtful whether Arica, which would be the most favorable towards Korean liberation, will even enter the war.
Jiang Jieshi's Republic of China is in a situation where it would be a relief if they just don't surrender, let alone liberate Korea.
The Soviet Union and Japan are now openly allies, and in the end, we too must intervene in the Asian Front.
Germany received all rights to France's reparations and the dispatch of the French Army on the condition that Britain, the Netherlands, and Belgium would not enter the Eastern Front and would instead focus on the Asian Front.
On top of that, Churchill, still not feeling secure, even dispatched the RAF to the Eastern Front.
In other words, after our war with the Soviet Union is over, we, as the Leader of the Allied Powers and as the nation that received the most from France, must show corresponding sincerity.
The reason Britain, which took only a handful of colonies that were all style and no substance for the sake of its dostic public opinion, accepted those conditions is because they desperately need Germany's help to win against Japan.
We're not going to shalessly play dumb like Belgium, and it's sothing we must do to maintain our diplomatic influence in Europe.
It wasn't for nothing that the Arica of the original history entered the war against Nazi Germany even though it had no land to gain in Europe.
But I am, half-intentionally, turning a blind eye to Syngman Rhee, who has co all the way to Berlin and taken up residence here.
And if I turn a blind eye, there's no one in Germany who will care about a colony in the far-off Far East anyway.
Ultimately, I'll have to liberate them, but as a German politician, I can't push for their cause at Germany's loss…
“Are you perhaps intentionally putting it off?”
“…A little? It's not like I can do much for them right now anyway…”
“It's not because you're not confident you can be objective?”
“Ugh, you know too well.”
Claudia let out a small laugh at my words and opened her mouth.
“I know.
You don't know yourself as well as I know you.”
“…Excuse ?”
“You helped Finland and Poland in the end, didn't you?”
“…”
“You were the one who persuaded the reluctant cabinet, avoided conflicts, and negotiated to save those countries.
And they all beca a great help to Germany.”
Claudia stared at and added.
“You are soone who, if it's unavoidable, will ultimately prioritize Germany's profit, but if it doesn't cause a problem for Germany, you try to bring about a good result for other countries as much as possible.”
“…I suppose so.”
Claudia declared as if it were obvious.
“That's right.
Is there any reason to give Korea special treatnt? If you're going to do sothing in the Asian war anyway, don't you have the ability to make it beneficial to Germany while helping that country?”
“Haha, you're overestimating …”
“It's a fact. You are, after all, a good person, and not soone who can forsake your public duty for personal feelings.”
I stared blankly at Claudia, and she smiled deeply and asked again.
“Tell , Dietrich.
The man to whom I've given half my life, doesn't he have that much ability?”
I let out a hollow laugh. Ah, really.
“Even if I don't, I'll have to make it.”
Claudia glanced at the surrender leaflet I had placed on the desk, smiled with satisfaction, and caressed my cheek.
“Now, are you feeling a little better?”
I couldn't help but laugh as I pulled her into a hug.
How could I not love this person, who reads my every thought just from the expression on my face as I looked at that paper and acts like this for .
Claudia let hold her ekly for a mont, then asked.
“You have to go to Poland today, right?”
“Yeah.
The Luftwaffe and the Abwehr's preparations are complete. I didn't fully mobilize the Ministry of Propaganda just to drop so surrender leaflets.”
The surrender leaflets were just sothing prepared for two purposes at once; this is the main event.
“So I asked you to wake up so we could spend so ti together before you left, and you just let sleep.”
“Sorry, you looked too tired.”
Claudia laughed as if she couldn't help it, then twirled a strand of her hair with her finger and opened her mouth.
“I'm a mber of Parliant now, right? And a Vice Minister.”
“Right?”
“That ans you don't have to worry about getting in the way of my career anymore.”
“Huh?”
My mind was slowing down for a second, but Claudia smiled deeply, leaned her body against mine, and whispered.
“If we go on that trip, I'd like to take our child with us, too.”
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