Three Napoleons (2)
Erich Ludendorff is often pictured as the quintessential, rigid Junker aristocrat. However, as his name suggests, he lacked the noble "von" prefix; he was born into the middle class. To rise to the supreme command of the German Imperial Army without being a Junker was an extraordinary, self-made feat. One only has to look at the list of German Imperial generals to see how rare a name without a "von" was. This alone speaks volumes about Ludendorff's immense military genius.
Naturally, one can easily imagine what his military career must have been like: endless jealousy, political maneuvering, and contempt. Having clawed his way up to the rank of general while enduring all manner of indignities, he was a man fueled by sheer spite and stubborn grit.
"W-what? A mere commoner is running the German army?"
"Damn it! Ludendorff won again!"
"W-we have been defeated... ugh!"
"Ludendorff! Please, take the crown. I've done nothing right in my life except being born. But you are perfect in every way except for your birth."
"Hehehe, hoho... smack, smack."
His inferiority complex was so profound that once a week, he would dream of becoming a king-like figure.
In Germany, admiring Napoleon was practically taboo. Yet, Ludendorff secretly revered him. A country bumpkin from Corsica, handed a chance by fate during a time of great upheaval, displaying military genius that rivaled Alexander the Great, conquering all of Europe, and crowning himself Emperor. How could someone consumed by a class-based inferiority complex like Ludendorff not admire him?
But when he woke from those blissful dreams and went back to work, he was met with nothing but contempt and political sidelining, no matter how brilliantly he performed.
"Based on German Stahlism, every worker is a warrior. If so, where does the Junker privilege come from? We received that privilege because there are no warriors in Germany as outstanding as us. Is that not so?"
"The General is correct."
"Though, of course, we do have one fellow among us who lacks 'warrior blood.'"
"Hahaha!"
Today, they were using Stahlism as a pretext to mock Ludendorff. Of course, he didn't show it outwardly, but spite and venom were festering in his heart.
True warriors? Those idiots? Ha! If we go strictly by that logic, you lot are the slave class.
However, it seemed they hadn't brought up Stahlism for no reason.
"According to Stahlism, a massive military organization is being formed across Germany. However, since it is an army independent of the invincible Imperial German Army, joint operations are difficult."
"Is that so?"
"Therefore, we plan to establish the position of 'Chief of Staff of the Armed Cooperatives' and assign a general to it. What do you think, General Ludendorff?"
"Excuse me?"
"A commoner would understand the minds of commoners best, would he not?"
It was, without a doubt, a demotion designed to sideline him. A scream of fury welled up in Ludendorff's throat, nearly bursting out. But then, he remembered his dream.
Napoleon, the Emperor of the People, the genius...
Without the French Revolution, Napoleon might have remained nothing more than an obscure Corsican officer. When his thoughts reached that point, he began to project himself onto Napoleon.
True, their training and organization were laughable compared to the regular army. But in terms of sheer scale, they surpassed the regular forces. Furthermore, the Armed Cooperative Alliance was a political organization firmly controlled by the Social Democratic Party, a state-sanctioned party. A historic opportunity, akin to the French Revolution, had presented itself to him.
"If you dislike the idea, you may refuse. Your abilities are certainly more than sufficient..."
"No! I would be honored to take that position."
Thus, Ludendorff formally joined the Social Democratic Party—now a state-sanctioned party—and became the Chief of Staff commanding millions of members of the German Armed Cooperatives. Although Eduard Bernstein was the nominal Commander-in-Chief, Bernstein was a politician to the core and lacked the capacity to lead an army. Therefore, it was safe to say that Ludendorff, as Chief of Staff, practically held the supreme command.
By a stroke of fortune, he had ascended to a position equivalent to a Field Marshal.
He spent his days drawing up operational plans, delivering speeches, and training his forces, quietly building his strength. Then came January 18, 1913. The Great War erupted, dragging all of Europe into its black-and-white vortex. And on January 22, 1913, Marx Stahl visited the Social Democratic Party to coordinate for the war effort.
S-Stahl?!
The more Ludendorff had studied "Stahlism" until his hair fell out, the more fascinated he had become by the man. He saw Napoleon in Stahl, and by extension, he saw himself.
The Habsburg Empire is a nation with an even more rigid class system than ours. Wasn't Stahl the son of a publisher? No, in a way, his circumstances were even worse than mine. He even has Jewish ancestry.
Yet, look at the Habsburg Empire now. Was that massive empire not being swayed by a single genius named Stahl, a man without even a proper official title? Now, there was no aristocrat left in the Habsburg Empire who could stand in Stahl's way.
There were two geniuses in Europe.
One is Stahl, the genius of politics and revolution! The other is me, the military genius!
The usually cynical Ludendorff could not contain his nervousness on the day he was to meet Stahl.
What... what is with that overwhelming gaze?
Ludendorff stared at me with eyes sparkling like a teenage girl meeting her favorite idol. ...A man in his fifties, twenty years older than me, was acting like this.
From Freud, Lenin, the Kaiser, Hitler, to Stalin—I had met my fair share of the most prominent madmen in Europe. Having clashed indirectly with General Director Apis, arguably the greatest madman in Europe, I had developed a keen eye for spotting lunatics. And just by looking at Ludendorff's eyes, I could tell he was a certified nutcase.
He seemed to belong to the same breed as Hitler—fitting, considering how he had allied with him in the original history—but he was slightly different. While Hitler was mad with a sort of pure, raw emotionalism, this guy was driven mad by an insatiable lust for advancement. He was like a mix of Hitler and Stalin.
Still, having lived in Europe for nearly twenty years, I felt like I understood.
For some reason... I feel like I'm going to form a deep connection with this guy too.
Why did I only attract weirdos? The biggest eccentrics in Europe always ended up entangled with me, either as allies or enemies. Why on earth was this happening?
I should compile a list of Europe's lunatics when I have some free time.
Churchill, de Gaulle, Trotsky, Goebbels, Göring, Himmler, Mussolini... There were so many of them.
Regardless, it was a massive relief. Ludendorff might have been utterly incompetent as a politician, but as a soldier, it was a completely different story. He was a man fully deserving of being called one of the greatest commanders of the First World War.
I explained our current plan to him.
"The Schlieffen Plan has been scrapped? Why on earth?"
"The chances of success are slim, it would ruin our diplomacy with Britain, and right now, it is only right that we focus on Russia."
"What a pity."
"Pardon?"
"If I had been appointed Commander-in-Chief, I would have certainly made it succeed."
Ah, I should add 'gambling addict' to his traits. I suppose a German soldier is still a German soldier.
"Now I see it clearly. That is why Chairman Stahl has come to find me."
"Yes, that is correct."
"Since the Schlieffen Plan has been aborted, the regular forces that were being mobilized toward Belgium are practically non-existent for about a month. Therefore, the only army we can utilize is the Armed Cooperatives. To overcome our disadvantageous strength, we must pull back our defensive line."
Grasping the situation instantly, Ludendorff unfolded a map, pondered for a moment, and began pointing at cities one by one.
"These are the cities the French are most likely to attack. Chairman Stahl, where do you think is the most probable target?"
"That would naturally be Alsace-Lorraine."
"Indeed. Alsace-Lorraine is a vital point, not just economically, but militarily and politically as well."
"Then what should we do? Should we dig trenches and build fortresses?"
"If I were the French, I would launch an attack even if preparations were incomplete. This is the only window of opportunity where they will hold the upper hand due to the paralysis of the regular German forces in the west. If they miss this chance, France will never hold the advantage from the beginning to the end of this war."
"In that case?"
"There is not enough time to establish a proper defensive line."
The elite French army would unleash a ferocious assault driven by their élan vital. On the other hand, the Armed Cooperatives were little more than a militia, inferior to the French in every way. Since the majority of them had to focus on production, they couldn't even properly leverage their sole advantage of numerical superiority. To make matters worse, they lacked the time to build proper defenses, leaving them in a desperate situation without even the defender's advantage.
Yet, perhaps because he was the empire's greatest commander, Ludendorff remained highly confident.
He drew bold lines across the map with a red pen.
"But it does not matter. The attack route of those foolish frogs, who know nothing but to charge, is as clear as day."
"Will they really come this way?"
"If they do not come this way, the French army cannot even be called a military force."
Saying so, Ludendorff scribbled numbers on the map, estimating the size of the incoming enemy forces.
"Of course, we cannot predict the exact scale. This is merely the worst-case scenario I have envisioned."
...Is this guy a regressor too?
Even to a layman like me, Ludendorff's explanation sounded incredibly plausible. With that, Ludendorff departed for Alsace-Lorraine.
"We have received intelligence from Germany! It appears their troop mobilization has been completely halted due to an unknown cause!"
"We must advance immediately. The only forces Germany can deploy right now are a pathetic militia."
Alsace-Lorraine was a terrain highly unsuitable for a large-scale decisive battle. Even though it was an incredibly rich land and a military stronghold that would be easy to defend once captured, it was difficult to attack, meaning no sane commander would normally choose to strike there.
However, the situation now was clearly different. If France were to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine, this was their only chance.
"......I have decided. We are going to Alsace-Lorraine."
France's Joseph Joffre drew the plan he had been contemplating on the map. It was a plan that had been virtually discarded as highly unrealistic. Against the invincible German army, how could they possibly break through Alsace-Lorraine, which was guarded by various fortresses, mountains, and rivers? It was even more absurd than the Schlieffen Plan. At least the absurd Schlieffen Plan might have been possible for the invincible German army.
But now, there was no invincible German army, nor was there a fortified Alsace-Lorraine. It had become a plan worth trying—no, a plan where they would lose out if they didn't try.
"We will capture Alsace-Lorraine. Once we break through there, we will make a rapid advance to Saarbrücken and Frankfurt, completely securing southern Germany."
If the operation succeeded as planned, Germany was as good as finished. Setting aside the complete collapse of the Rhine River defensive line and logistics, the moment Frankfurt—Germany's largest railway hub—fell into enemy hands, Germany would collapse without even being able to mobilize the elite forces they had painstakingly built up. They could finally avenge the grudge of the Franco-Prussian War, which had seen Paris fall in just five months.
"Mobilize the entire First Army immediately and launch an offensive into Lorraine. The commander will be General Auguste Dubail."
"Commander, even if the German forces are a disorganized rabble, the First Army alone might not be enough."
"What is the issue with crushing a disorganized militia? The more troops we have, the slower we move. We must capture Alsace-Lorraine as quickly as possible before the German army recovers."
"Then the Second Army..."
"Once the First Army breaks through Alsace-Lorraine and advances toward Frankfurt, the Second Army will swiftly charge toward Berlin."
A grand army of 200,000 men, including cavalry and artillery, began to move toward Alsace-Lorraine.
And a force of 400,000 cooperative troops divided into two groups, led by Ludendorff, along with a small number of regular German soldiers, marched out to face the French.
The first battle of the Western Front was about to begin.