Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Rommel Crisis? (1)
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I was kidnapped to 8th Army headquarters.
Suddenly, I got to watch a rap battle between General Staff Headquarters and 8th Army HQ.
📡 MORSE CODE 📡
Beep- beepbeepbeep- beepbeep-
[General Staff HQ: Respond please. Confirm error regarding promotion order for Captain Erwin Rommel of 8th Army.]
(You fucking bastards, you dare try to steal our treasure?)
[Signal received. No issues with Major Erwin Rommel's promotion order. He's waiting in LU (Luxembourg), so send the major over immediately.]
(Ahahaha, busted? Your 'major' is ours now, so hand him over quick.)
[The position held by Captain Erwin Rommel is irreplaceable. Please reconsider.]
(Who says so! No way in hell!)
[Major's promotion order decided by General Staff HQ and War Ministry. Submit formal documents for any objections to major's promotion.]
(Our Chief of General Staff and War Minister Falkenhayn insists on having him? What can you do if we say we want him?)
[8th Army expresses regrets.]
(Fucking bastards...)
"...What do we send now?"
"Fuuuuck!!!"
"Oh..."
Major Hoffman gloriously declared defeat.
Grown-ass adults holding radios and acting like this—didn't they have any shame?
But then the two people who had been glaring daggers at the back of my head stepped forward, changing my mind.
"Major Hoffman, stand down. Let us handle this."
"Soldier, transmit exactly what we say."
"Commander... Chief of Staff..."
"..."
Hindenburg, Ludendorff... Is this really necessary...?
The radio operator turned pale as a ghost and tapped out Morse code.
[Captain Rommel is currently on special assignment from 8th Army HQ, including Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Without commander's approval, position cannot be relieved or reassigned.]
(Squeak squeak! Truth is, Rommel's on a super important secret op, so we can't send him without our bosses' okay?)
[General Staff HQ unaware. Report immediately what special mission Major Rommel is performing.]
(Do we look like idiots to you? What bullshit is this?)
[Interception risk makes General Staff HQ's request inappropriate. Demand withdrawal.]
(Ahahaha, it's classified anyway? Can't tell you?)
[General Staff HQ expresses regrets.]
(Fucking bastards...)
"Hm. That's that."
"How dare Falkenhayn's lackeys challenge us? A perfectly predictable outcome."
"As expected from you two! Repelling those sly General Staff bastards!"
"..."
Hoffman groveled with flattery, his eyes gleaming.
I couldn't help but look at them with extreme discomfort.
I just wanted to get out of there.
"Looks like it's over, so can I go back to my special assi—"
"No."
"Can't."
"Of course not."
"..."
Fine, do whatever you want.
Even Ludendorff, who had been eyeing me with displeasure, joined the chorus, so I gave up quickly.
This was getting fucking annoying.
"Haha, you never know when those General Staff guys will pull something. Stay here for a while."
"...Stay here permanently?"
I looked up at Hoffman in dismay, having slumped into a chair from exhaustion.
But Hoffman was firm.
"Think of it as leave. Rest up here."
"Hm, Staff Officer Hoffman's right."
"..."
Who takes leave at army HQ? Ludendorff, why are you backing this? My head was spinning.
Hindenburg avoided my desperate gaze, while Ludendorff looked down at me sternly but with a hint of smug satisfaction.
"Stay until the General Staff quiets down."
...And so, a vacation began with zero input from me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile.
French Eiffel Tower radio interception unit.
📡 MORSE INTERCEPTED 📡
Beepbeep- beepbeepbeep- beep-
New intel came in to those diligently monitoring German radio traffic across the nation.
"What's it say?"
"Encrypted."
"Bring the codebook. Let's decrypt it."
The Entente already had German codebooks and could crack their ciphers.
They decrypted it with ease.
"...Erwin Rommel—isn't he a big name?"
"Yes, the Devil of Tannenberg."
The interception unit commander's pupils shook.
A living grim reaper who, with a single company, took the head of an army HQ.
Rommel's fame was spreading even in France, thanks to his absurd battle record.
Though many dismissed it as German propaganda...
Couldn't ignore it outright.
"So Rommel's performing a mission on the Eastern Front so secret even General Staff HQ treats it as classified."
"Yes, from the context, 8th Army tried to keep it secret but spilled part of it under pressure."
Indeed, checking the transcript confirmed the soldier's words.
8th Army called his position irreplaceable, reluctantly admitting he was on a classified mission.
Also odd how General Staff kept calling him 'major' while 8th Army stuck to 'captain.'
"Deception?"
"They even worried about interception and refused to transmit details. This feels serious."
"Compile a report. I'll head to HQ."
Thus, the General Staff vs. 8th Army pissing contest got weirdly misinterpreted by the French.
And made its way to French GHQ.
"Eastern Front matter—not our jurisdiction."
"What classified op... That devil loves decapitation strikes, so maybe...?"
"Kept secret even from General Staff..."
...The wrong interpretation started gaining traction. Rumors snowballed with each report.
"Another army HQ hit?"
"Heard he's making all sorts of bizarre weapons. Maybe new ones to hurt Russia."
"Russia's already taken heavy losses—if the East collapses further...!"
"Enough."
General Joffre furrowed his brow and silenced the generals and staff.
The nightmare scenario of the East crumbling and German forces shifting west flashed in his mind too...
But he couldn't let that panic spread through French GHQ.
Instead, he decided to pass it to those who should worry: the government.
"I'll visit the government. This seems beyond military matters."
"Understood."
So General Joffre went to the French government.
Word that the Eastern Front might be threatened reached politicians and diplomats.
Taking soldiers' words more sensitively, terrified France fired off a telegram to Russia.
"What?! That mad devil's on a classified mission?!"
"Seems gravely serious. French keep urging caution."
"W-what exactly did they say?"
"Strongly expressed concern it could pose a major threat to the Eastern Front..."
"Arrrgh!"
Russia frothed at the mouth.
Stallupönen, Tannenberg, Lakes of Masuria—they'd been properly thrashed by Rommel and his Stormtroopers.
So stripped bare, they had few troops left near East Prussia.
Already a weak front they fretted over...
"As expected... Germany won't sit idle seeing our weakness..."
Russian GHQ commander Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich muttered, thoroughly cowed.
His authority crushed by successive defeats, his position in peril.
If another huge issue popped up on the East Prussia front...
"Ugh..."
Nikolaevich shook his head.
Just imagining it brought tears, but he held back.
Instead, he gritted his teeth and issued orders.
"...Germans are a highly threatening foe already. With France's warning, we can't leave the front as is."
"What then?"
"Pull half the forces from the Austro-Hungarian front to East Prussia."
Staff gasped at Nikolaevich's declaration.
"All forces on the Austro-Hungarian front are in active ops! Pulling them will cause issues..."
"We won big at Galicia—no need to worry there! East Prussia's the priority!"
Slam! Slam! Yelling that, Nikolaevich rearranged the markers on the ops map.
Yanking half from Austro-Hungarian front to East Prussia.
Staff nearly fainted at their commander's actions.
"This thins the Austro-Hungarian front too much—I'll contract and retreat overall. No arguments."
"Commander!!!"
"Abandon Przemyśl siege too."
Nikolaevich spoke with unprecedented resolve.
Unlike his usual 'crybaby' teasing from those around him.
Well... not exactly a positive change in this situation.
"Rommel!! We must stop him and 8th Army's plot!"
And so, the so-called 'Rommel Conspiracy' or 'Rommel Crisis' swept Europe.
...To the perpetrator, it was like thunder from a clear sky while fast asleep.