Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Interwar Period - The Starting Line
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Franco, who had previously considered Germany a notch below Italy, began showing immense favor to Germany after the Condor Legion's major success in the Battle of Brunete.
As I'm not a diplomatic official, I don't know the specifics, but if history follows its original course, Germany would secure various rewards, like resource mining rights.
Though the Nazis, who knew no moderation, would exploit this so much that it would become a primary reason for Franco refusing to join the Axis in World War II.
Time flows like water.
After receiving a recommendation from Colonel Model and fighting in a few more minor battles, my admission to the War Academy was confirmed, and I was promoted to Captain.
It was an unusually rapid promotion, coming less than a year after I made First Lieutenant, which surprised me a little. But it was apparently made possible thanks to Colonel Model, Lieutenant Colonel von Richthofen, and other senior officers in the Condor Legion who advocated for my contribution to the success at the Battle of Brunete with the 88mm anti-aircraft guns.
When I first met von Richthofen, my impression was of a madman who rained incendiary bombs on civilians. But he showed me unexpected kindness, and now I feel more grateful than anything else.
For him to remain merely a belligerent patriot, Germany would have to avoid creating situations where it would drop incendiary bombs on civilians.
And then there was Colonel Walter Model.
I had been very interested in him since my time in the modern world and wanted to make a good impression, but I ended up receiving a far greater favor than I could have imagined.
For me, the War Academy was merely a means to return to Germany quickly, so I had no great passion for it. However, having received his recommendation, I couldn't entertain the thought of failing the General Staff course.
Besides, even without him, I desperately needed connections within the military.
My father, Hjalmar Schacht, might have some influence in the anti-Hitler circles, but he was still just a peripheral figure.
With World War II looming and the future uncertain, the thought of Colonel Model's reaction if I were to slack off at the War Academy and get expelled, or simply use it as a ticket to Berlin and then bolt, was genuinely terrifying.
If I got on the bad side of one of Germany's most renowned commanders, I'd fear the repercussions even if I succeeded in overthrowing the Nazis.
The memory of that cold gaze from behind his monocle still sends a shiver down my spine. Ugh...
After enduring the long and wretched Spanish Civil War, the time finally came to go to Germany.
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October 24, 1937
Salamanca, a major Nationalist stronghold in west-central Spain
“To the Captain!”
Clemens shouted, raising his beer mug high.
“To the Captain!”
The company members raised their mugs in unison for a toast.
Seeing everyone enjoying themselves with smiles on their faces felt strange.
Just a few months ago, we were slogging through a hellish battlefield...
“Hey, Captain. Why the long face on such a good day?”
Clemens approached, clinking his mug against mine with a sharp clang. I answered him with a small smile.
“Haha... No, it's nothing. Clemens... Company Commander?”
“Ahem— Could you say that again, Captain?”
“Haha, of course. I can say it as many times as you like. Company Commander Fleck?”
“Hahahaha! It's all thanks to having a good friend like you!”
Clemens's service as my adjutant, where he distinguished himself in battle, was recognized with a promotion to First Lieutenant. He was now succeeding me as the company commander.
“But aren't you a little *too* happy, Clemens?”
“Huh? If I'm not happy now, when should I be?”
“Hahaha... It's a position where you'll have to deal with Chief of Staff Model directly, you know? I'm getting out of here first, so good luck, Company Commander.”
“Ugh, suddenly my stomach hurts...!”
I chuckled foolishly at Clemens's theatrics and took a swig of beer.
Man, this beer is good!
I'd be heading to Germany soon, so I wouldn't be with Clemens and the men anymore...
But I trusted that Clemens, a self-preservationist with a surprisingly warm heart, would do a better job as commander than me, whose modern sensibilities made him quick to lose his temper.
I looked around at the men while tasting the morcilla, a specialty of central Spain that I privately called "sundae."
Hmm, I might not miss anything else about this wretched place, but I'll definitely miss this. It's not like I could taste something like this if I went to Korea right now...
Anyway...
I spent a good while laughing and chatting, but everyone was busy enjoying themselves.
Don't people usually do something special at times like this? Not exactly a 21st-century thing with everyone signing a giant card, but... something?
But no matter how much I sipped my beer and scanned the room, there was no sign of anything like that.
Just young and old German men everywhere, chugging beer like water and stuffing their faces with food...
“Sigh, what was I expecting...”
What kind of touching gesture did I expect from the most stoic people on earth?
“Clemens, you're my only hope...”
“What is it? Why so sudden?”
How could I possibly explain Korean sentimentality? Sigh.
“...Never mind. Let's drink ourselves to death tonight!”
I was about to grab my friend and do just that, but Clemens waved his hands dismissively.
“Oh, sorry.”
“...Huh? What's with you? You never back down from a drink.”
“Well, I have plans... Ah, over here!”
I turned my head to see a charming woman with healthy, tanned skin and brown hair approaching with a smile.
“Dietrich, let me introduce you. This is Rafaela Diaz. Haha. My girlfriend.”
“Hello, Captain Schacht. I've heard a lot about you from Clemens.”
“Ah... yes, hello...”
Rafaela spoke to me in fairly fluent German, though with a slight Spanish accent.
...Wait, but...
“Hehehe, isn't my girl pretty? We met at the banquet after the Battle of Jarama!”
Ah. The day I said I'd pass...
“Oh, you're embarrassing me...”
“....................”
Clemens gave Rafaela a peck on the cheek, set down his half-finished beer, and stood up, linking arms with her.
“We're moving to the front lines the day after tomorrow, so we decided to spend some time together today. We'll be leaving first. Enjoy yourself, alright?”
“Oh, darling, you're in such a hurry... Captain, congratulations on your promotion!”
“Ah, thank you...?”
While I was still stunned, Clemens and Rafaela left.
...............Dammit!
While I was busy worrying and struggling as company commander, my adjutant was off having a romance?! That bastard!
More importantly, did he really just ditch his friend who's leaving soon to go on a date?!
“......Haaah............”
As I scanned my surroundings with a cold glare, I felt Second Lieutenant Ross and Second Lieutenant Beckermann flinch when our eyes met.
Sergeant Kocher... was already passed out drunk.
The other men...
They were all lost in their own world, drinking and making merry.
I sighed and stood up from my seat.
“Your departing superior will take his leave now, so you all have fun.”
“Gasp, ah, no, sir! Thank you so much for everything, Captain!”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
The platoon leaders, followed by the other men who finally caught on, started chattering enthusiastically, but not a single one asked me to stay.
*Sob*... Why do I feel like crying?
.......Your (former) company commander is very disappointed in you all.
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November 3, 1937
Hamburg, a port city in northwestern Germany
After giving the traitor Clemens a good thrashing, I took a ship from the port of Cádiz and returned to Germany.
Calling it a "return" to my homeland was a bit of a stretch, since it was only Dietrich's home, but at this point, Dietrich was Yun Seong-il and Yun Seong-il was Dietrich, so it felt that way.
Stepping off the ship at the port, I saw a 20th-century Germany that was quite different from the one I had visited as a tourist in the 21st century.
The scenery of Hamburg, a city that had become the wealthiest in Germany even after suffering a great fire, was completely different from its 21st-century counterpart.
In the original timeline, this city would be reduced to a ruin of ash and rubble by Allied bombing, so of course it would look different from the Hamburg a modern Korean would visit.
Drawing on Dietrich's memories, I made my way to the train station. In a public square, a man with a swastika armband—presumably a Nazi Party member—was delivering a fiery speech to a crowd.
“Why did great Germany have to suffer defeat! Was it because we were weak?”
“No!!”
“That's right! It was all the doing of the Judeo-Bolsheviks! If those cursed devils had not been slandering us from behind the scenes, we would never have been defeated in the Great War!”
“Hear, hear!!”
Back in Spain, I only had to get used to the Nazi salute. But this was one hell of a welcome-home greeting, hammering home the fact that this was, indeed, goddamn Nazi Germany.
“Fortunately, God has sent a truly great leader to save Germany from these dark days! With our Führer, our Germany, the fatherland of the Aryan people, will reclaim the greatness it was always meant to have! Heil Hitler! Sieg Heil!!”
“Sieg Heil!!”
I wonder if those people shouting "Sieg Heil" (Hail Victory) now would still be able to shout it at the moment of their deaths, charging into the Soviet lines as part of the Volkssturm.
Well, it's not like they could have imagined such a future. I came to Germany to prevent that, so now I have to get busy.
Soon, my father, Hjalmar Schacht, would be stripped of his positions as Minister of Economics and Plenipotentiary for the War Economy. And starting next year, events that would drive Germany and the world toward World War II would begin to unfold without a moment's pause.
In January 1938, the Blomberg-Fritsch affair, a scandal involving high-ranking military officials, would lead to a major shake-up of the military leadership, allowing Nazi influence to penetrate the high command.
After that, it would be a swift progression: the Anschluss (annexation of Austria), the Munich Agreement, the annexation of Czechoslovakia, and the invasion of Poland.
I didn't know the exact date of my father Hjalmar Schacht's ousting, but it was the result of him losing a power struggle with Hermann Göring, the second-in-command of the Nazi party, so there was nothing I could do about it.
The Blomberg-Fritsch affair, on the other hand, was a fabricated incident orchestrated by Göring, who wanted to control the military, and Himmler, who wanted to strengthen the power of the SS, to diminish the authority of the Wehrmacht.
So I considered trying to stop it, but aside from the question of whether a mere captain could possibly prevent it, many of the key figures in the anti-Hitler conspiracy would only join the resistance *after* that incident.
The leaders of the anti-Hitler conspiracy weren't trying to assassinate Hitler out of some grand, rosy-eyed humanitarianism to save the Jews and restore Germany.
While there might have been a few such individuals, most were simply members of the old establishment who were disgruntled at being sidelined by Hitler and sought to seize power in Germany after ousting the Nazis.
They weren't the heroes portrayed in later West German history or in films, trying to overthrow Hitler for the sake of democracy and the masses.
Many of them were monarchists or belonged to the aristocratic officer corps.
Still, overthrowing the Nazis without their power would be impossible. Therefore, paradoxically, the Nazi-led purge of the military leadership had to happen.
Furthermore, World War II wasn't started by Hitler alone. Even setting aside the Nazi madmen, most of the German military command...
No, a significant number of Germans were desperate to reclaim the Polish Corridor—territory in what was once a German vassal state, Poland—to connect the mainland with East Prussia.
Their opposition to the war was purely because they feared clashing with France and Britain before rearmament was complete, not because they were against invading Poland.
In fact, given sufficient preparation, the German military was a group that would have started World War II even without the Nazis.
“Haha... Isn't the difficulty level on this a bit too high?”
I survived the wretched Spanish Civil War, and—
'Wow, you did it! Good job. Ta-da! But that was just the tutorial. The real game starts now!'
...it was as if God himself were shouting that at me.
The more I thought about it, the bleaker the future seemed.
Only four months until the Anschluss, the prelude to the express train hurtling toward World War II.
Less than two years remained until the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II.
< Interwar Period - The Starting Line > End
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