Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Interwar Period - The Sudetenland Crisis (1)
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The plebiscite on the annexation of Austria passed with a staggering 97% approval.
Considering there were German soldiers watching over every ballot box, the 3% who bravely voted against it are the real marvel.
Austria was now unequivocally German territory, and the Austrian army was incorporated into the Wehrmacht.
With the need for an occupation force gone, most of the German troops withdrew, allowing me to return to Berlin.
The Wehrmacht high command was quite pleased, having gained a large number of troops from an alpine nation, well-versed in mountain warfare.
Lieutenant General Heinz Guderian, despite the logistical and planning chaos of the Anschluss, had managed to lead the vanguard armored units to Vienna with relative success, even resorting to civilian gas stations and leaving behind any tanks that broke down.
This achievement silenced the conservative generals who had never hidden their skepticism toward the 'armored' branch and further strengthened the position of Hitler, who had actively supported Guderian's mechanization policies.
Interest in the armored branch surged among young officers. Having already attended Guderian's lectures and built a foundational knowledge, Captain Michael and I were transferred from the infantry to the armored corps on the recommendation—or rather, the order—of Major General Model, who was as much a devotee of mechanization as Guderian.
Was ordering us infantrymen to attend Guderian's lectures just groundwork for this? ...Come to think of it, General Model is surprisingly the 'because I said so' type of commander.
Meanwhile, while I was in Austria, Colonel Wolfram von Richthofen had also returned to Germany. I was able to meet him after a long time and catch up, sharing stories about the Condor Legion.
The key players of the Second World War were gradually taking the stage.
I finally received an invitation from Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, the host of the Kleist meetings, asking my father and me to attend the May gathering.
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May 1, 1938
Berlin, Northern Germany
Following the annexation of Austria, all of Germany was swept up in a storm of nationalism.
The popularity of Hitler and the Nazis, who had achieved the Greater Germany—a long-held dream of the German people since the days of the Kingdom of Prussia—easily overshadowed dark chapters of their past like the Beer Hall Putsch, the Night of the Long Knives, and the persecution of the Jews.
Not just the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, but also Danzig in Poland and Memel in Lithuania.
German-populated regions that were once German territory, lost after the last great war, were now clamoring for reunification, causing all sorts of unrest.
When Hitler declared he would 'liberate' the Germans of the Sudetenland from the oppression of the Slavic people (the Czechs being of Slavic descent), citing the principle of self-determination, the German populace welcomed it with fervent enthusiasm.
The very principle of self-determination, the justification used by the victorious Entente powers of the last war as they tore the defeated Central Powers to pieces, had become a weapon for Hitler and the Nazis twenty years later.
"Welcome, Captain Schacht. Well, don't get your hopes up too high."
"Thank you for the invitation, Miss Jung. Please, excuse my intrusion."
Being invited to the home of a beautiful female reporter on a lazy Sunday should have been a heart-pounding development...
But that feeling vanished completely less than five minutes after I stepped inside her home, even without Claudia's warning.
"Your home... well... um. It certainly reflects your strong professional spirit as a reporter."
"You can just be honest and say it's a complete mess."
At Claudia's cool remark, I found myself nodding before I could stop.
Her not-so-large home was filled with all sorts of newspapers, documents, books, more newspapers, documents, photos, newspapers, documents...
Ah, it was making my head spin. Her usual path through the house was all too clear.
What I mean is, every surface was covered in piles of paper and clutter, save for the narrow path she used to move around.
"...Excuse me for asking, but do you ever clean?"
"Hmm, once every two weeks?"
"...More often than I thought."
As I voiced my doubt—*This is what a house cleaned once every two weeks looks like?*—Claudia slyly averted her gaze and corrected herself.
"My runaway conscience is starting to prickle, so let's make that once a month."
"...Haha...."
I sat at the table Claudia offered—half of which was buried under documents—and tried to look around, but quickly gave up as I felt a wave of dizziness.
It was clearly the home of someone who only ever slept there, rushing out to work in the morning and returning late at night.
I already knew she was an enthusiastic workaholic, but I never expected her home to be proof of it.
I wonder if she would have done just fine had she been born in 21st-century Korea.
As I waited, lost in such silly thoughts, she returned with a stack of documents and set them on the table with a thud.
"Here are the materials on the Sino-Japanese War you requested, Captain."
"Ah, thank you."
I began to quickly read through the documents she handed me.
It wasn't strange for Europe in this era to have little interest in the distant Far East, but even so, there was almost no news in Germany about the Sino-Japanese War.
So much so that even I had forgotten the war was in full swing.
When I tried to look into it, I couldn't find anyone who knew anything, which is why I had to ask her.
The materials Claudia gave me contained surprisingly detailed information, from the start of the war with the Lugouqiao (Marco Polo Bridge) Incident, to Germany's successive failed attempts at mediation (the Trautmann mediation), and all the way to the Nanjing Massacre.
"...This is... astonishing. With this much known, is there really no mention of it in the press?"
"Well... the Republic of China is a long-standing friendly nation, and the Empire of Japan is our partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact."
The Anti-Comintern Pact was an agreement between Germany and Japan, ostensibly to block the Communist Comintern, but in reality, a justification for fascism.
It wasn't a formal military alliance yet, but it meant Germany and Japan were already cooperating against a common enemy: the Soviet Union.
Of course, it was only on paper. Imperial Japan, despite the formal alliance that would later be signed, would commit the madness of attacking the United States instead of the Soviet Union.
"The Nazi regime isn't exactly tolerant enough to let any news agency go unpunished for publicizing the fact that two of our friendly nations are at war, and that our Foreign Office failed spectacularly in its attempt to mediate."
I see. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Here in Europe, the clouds of war were still just gathering, but in the Far East, Korea, as a Japanese colony, was already participating in the Second World War.
The independence army must be going through a difficult time, with a puppet state established in Manchuria and their sponsor, the Republic of China, now struggling just to fend off Japan.
"There was someone who tried to inform Hitler about what happened in Nanjing."
"Hitler doesn't know about this either?"
"No, apparently he doesn't. John Rabe, I think? A Siemens employee. He supposedly wrote a letter to Hitler from Nanjing. When the letter didn't reach him, he returned to Germany just recently and tried to inform the press, but I heard he was dragged away by the Gestapo."
Siemens is one of Germany's top engineering firms. John Rabe... the name sounded familiar. Was he the one who tried to stop the Japanese during the Nanjing Massacre?
I know that Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany don't formally form the Axis until after the Second World War begins.
It's still a long way off, but if I don't want to be lumped in with Imperial Japan as an Axis power and get beaten down by the United States as an enemy of Korea, I'd better remember people who could be helpful in contacting the Republic of China.
...And who knows, it might be a way to help Korea.
"Ah, and one more thing. I heard they're planning to recall Ambassador Trautmann and the military advisors soon."
That's right, there was also Falkenhausen, the head of the military advisory group in China, who was particularly close to Chiang Kai-shek.
Falkenhausen was a great help to the Republic of China in practical terms and was respected by both Chiang Kai-shek and the Republic.
He was on a completely different level from someone like Stilwell, the internal enemy the U.S. would later send to the Republic of China.
Wait, but...
"...How on earth do you know all of this?"
Claudia just smiled sweetly at my question, and I suddenly recalled what I'd seen when we were congratulating General Model on his promotion.
"...Don't tell me, Ribbentrop?"
In response to my question, Claudia gave a subtle smile and quietly brought a finger to her lips.
No way, she's getting this information by sweet-talking the Nazi Foreign Minister?
I know Ribbentrop was mocked as a former liquor salesman, but he was still the Foreign Minister who pulled off the Munich Agreement and the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. I thought he was something of a lazy genius diplomat.
Is Ribbentrop a loose-lipped fool, or is her skill that impressive?
At this point, shouldn't the intelligence service be recruiting her as an agent? I had to look at her in a completely new light.
"...Hmm... That's, well, surprising. Isn't it dangerous?"
"Huhu, I'm not so inexperienced that you need to worry, Captain. This is our domain, after all."
"...You're right. My apologies."
She didn't ask me why I had requested materials on the Sino-Japanese War.
And after the first time, she never asked about the source of the information I brought her.
And now, she had shared what could be considered a state secret, even if it was just a slip of the tongue from a high-ranking official who used to sell liquor.
But even so, how far can I trust her?
"You're not about to confess your love, are you?"
"Pfft!"
I had been staring at her, lost in thought, and her grinning remark made me burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, ah, well, you're a very charming person, Miss Jung, but even so, it's a bit hard to have those kinds of thoughts in this atmosphere...."
I said, deliberately glancing around at the surrounding mess, and Claudia made a pouting face.
"Oh? I know it's a joke, but that reaction still stings a little."
Ah, honestly.
She has a way of completely easing the tension.
Yes, I have to admit, she is a genuinely charming person.
I learned something from my experience with Lieutenant Colonel Tresckow, didn't I?
You can't trust just anyone, but hesitating needlessly with someone who seems trustworthy is of no help.
Is there such a thing as a 100% safe path when you're resisting the regime?
"...There are officers who intend to raise a banner of rebellion against the Nazi regime."
Claudia, who had been chuckling along with me, immediately composed her expression at my words.
"But most of them are royalist nobles or traditional Prussian militarists. They believe that if they can just oust Hitler and the Nazis, they can return Germany to the Kaiser's empire."
If they try to restore the Kaiser, who bears responsibility for the last war, will the German people shout 'Long live the Kaiser' and support a return to the monarchy? Of course not.
Germany's freedom, born from a democracy it was forced into by the Treaty of Versailles before it was ready, had to meet its end at the hands of the Nazis before it could even truly shine.
But even so, the seeds that were sown have created undeniable change. The people may cheer for a dictator they elected with their own hands, but they will not simply accept the rule of nobles and an emperor as a matter of course.
After all, the thing that most firmly cements the Nazi dictatorship right now isn't the nobles, the Junkers, or the military, but the support of the German people themselves.
"I truly believe that to bring about change in Germany, we must first change the perception of the people. And that is a task that must be accomplished by civilians, not by soldiers plotting to overthrow the government."
Having said my piece, I looked into her eyes. Her deep blue pupils showed not a hint of wavering.
So much so that it even made me wonder if perhaps she had been waiting for this very moment.
"...I need your help. Our strength is still meager, and this may be something we have to risk our lives for, but... will you help me?"
The first time, at the Berlin branch of the Frankfurter Zeitung, she was the one who offered a handshake. This time, I extended my hand first.
A moment of silence passed as I swallowed, waiting for her answer.
Claudia looked down at my outstretched hand, took a deep breath, and then took it in hers.
The smile she wore on her tense face seemed to shine, and not just because she was beautiful.
"Of course. After all, that is our domain."