AU: oof. I forgot to upload so now its late :/
The civil war was over… or it technically was.
You can't really call it a civil war of all of your opponents 'Vanished' when the Empire of Germany 'Vanished' from their original world.
Berlin was liberated to the horror of the military who found it completely deserted.
Not a trace of life remained as cars were still running, tanks were perfectly intact (they would be demolished if left behind to prevent enemy use) and even 3rd Reich naval ships were captured intact.
However a number could not be located, probably due to sinking in action when their crew 'Vanished'.
This relieved the military high command who expected to fight a grueling house-to-house combat all the way to Berlin. The damage would be horrendous.
A victory parade was to be held in Berlin but canceled last minute since Wilhelm ordered the troops on holiday in place of the parade.
This was met with cheers from the troops who wouldn't have to march.
They moved people who fled the 3rd Reich back into Berlin and previously 3rd Reich lands. This included Jews, Romas, and others persecuted by the Reich. They were happy for the support but still distrusted the new government.
Two weeks of rebuilding later.
Wilhelm sat on the balcony of his room in the Palais-Royal. A newspaper was covering his face as he lay sitting back on a large chair with a tilt back feature and a leg rest.
"Why is it so damn hot today?"
Sweat dripped from his face. Even though the Palais-Royal had air conditioning it was nothing compared to the modern wonders of Wilhelm's old world.
Established in the early 30s inside of movie theaters first by the 40s air conditioners were not available to the general public but for only found luxurious buildings and cars.
The locations in which the Kaiser stayed with equipped with this technology.
"If I am dying here I cannot imagine how the people would feel."
Wilhelm contemplated his situation when an officer arrived at the door to his room.
Sweating profusely in his light grey uniform he announced himself.
"Speak."
"Jawohl. There is an unusual heatwave covering the vast majority of our lands. Crop failure has risen 12% and water shortages are in 45 provinces."
Wilhelm sighed. Problems were showing themselves due to the difference in land, climate and solar insolation.
Some of the problems included hotter weather than back home, flooding of seawater in lower level coastal areas and isolation of the areas of Norway and its islands.
The heat couldn't be fixed but the flooding could. The military and civilian sectors for engineers and construction were busy building dikes and mound which would hold the water back in places like Austria and lower Poland.
Norway was a clusterfuck in itself. The land originally was in the far reaches of the Artic, now it was an island with flooding on the east side and higher temperatures than normal.
The people used to cold weather were experiencing the heat for the first time in their lives.
Devegetation and mass migration of plants and animals was occurring en mass from the high temperatures. This would fix itself naturally over time but it was a current problem.
The snow melting across the Empire has created large reservoirs of fresh water and the mountains were high enough to hold the last remaining snow reserves. This alleviated some of the water issues but it was not enough.
All of these problems were hampering internal affairs with industrial and agricultural production.
"How goes water treatment plants?"
Wilhelm in light of the first signs of these problems occurring has ordered that fresh water treatment plants be erected all across the empire with the highest priority.
"What is the status of Albert Speer?"
Albert Speer was the ex-minister of armaments and war production during the Nazi Regime. He was known for his extensive projects of fighter production, synthetic refineries and other mass projects as well as his use of slave labor which caused him to be charged in the Nuremberg Trials. He was captured before the 'Vanishing' so he remained in prison with other political prisoners and POWs.
"Its regretful to ask a war criminal for help but we need his genius to build these water treatment plants. At least this can help him atone for his crimes up to now."
"Jawohl. I too do not like working with a criminal but the state must take the priority of the safety of the public over ethics. This water is vital for life to continue."
"Yes I know, like the synthetic refineries of his we need these treatment plants."
The officer pulled out a document from a yellow binder and handed it to a sweating Wilhelm.
"Thank you. I am going inside now."
Wilhelm walked through the doors of his balcony and left them open. The one saving grace was a cool wind which was blowing through the city of Paris.
The officer saluted and then exited the room.
Wilhelm sat at his desk with the AC system next to him.
He raised a stamp to the document handed to him. It was a document to release Albert from prison but under heavy supervision. It was as if his life didn't change.
However it changed his status. He was no longer a war criminal without a purpose. He had a purpose now and this slight moral change would define Wilhelm's new state.
""Its a necessary evil.""
Wilhelm assured himself.
Then he pressed the stamp down giving his approval.
This document was added to a pile of completed documents. Eliza would deal with them later.
Wilhelm took the opportunity to to address the Norwegian problem.
The dikes on the eastern side were under construction, he didn't need to deal with that.
However the mass extinction was still taking place. The only remotely cold place in the Empire was Poland which was still cold for some reason.
""We can send these species to Poland for now and selectively breed them to this temperatures. This was we can preserve the species from our world.""
This was a good thought. It may not work but its worth a try.
Wilhelm leaned over and pressed a red button.
"Eliza, connect me to the minister of environmental affairs."
He released the button and listened for a reply.
Several seconds later it buzzed.
"Right away sir."
A short pause and then he heard a man speak after a click.
"Yes mein Kaiser, you called for me?"
A rough and slow voice responded.
"Ah yes. I want you to relocate all species of animals and plants which require colder temperatures to Poland because Poland is still cold this time of the year."
A there was a brief pause and scribble of a pencil.
"Certainly. This would preserve our native species. However certain trees will be hard to move so only young trees would be taken."
"Of course. Transportation will be made readily available as well. The railways will be open for a month for your shipments as well as sea lanes."
There was a pause.
"Only a month sir?"
"Yes. We need the infrastructure for other projects as well. I can spare a month."
"Yes, of course. It will be done."
He hung up and Wilhelm sat back. He wiped sweat off of his forehead even over the AC cooling.
""Seriously, what's with this weather?""
Wilhelm closed his eyes. He started to think about what can be done about the weather.
Hand held fans are common among the common people. People started wearing clothes which revealed more skin to alleviate the heat.
There were some trouble with the older generation which were outraged at this shift in clothing but the weather quited them down as they too wished to now wear lighter clothing.
Wilhelm glanced out of his window and viewed the Parisians. Floppy hats and skimpy clothes which revealed stomach and legs. Men had shirts removed and were fanning themselves with hand fans.
"Looks like Miami."
Remove the palm trees and it would look like Miami.
The beaches were crowded despite the Atlantik wall.
They had removed all of the mines but there was always a risk.
Since it was not the late war every mine was made of metal and documented carefully. This sped up the accuracy and speed of the removal (AU: this was an actual thing they did. The prefectionists).
The populace was enjoying the warm sea (Au: the English Channel which used to be there is cold majority of the year).
"Maybe I should go."
The beach was a distance from Paris but he would make a day trip.
Just then Eliza entered his room. She had come to fetch the pile of completed documents to be sorted by the internal team.
"Enjoying the weather sir?"
Wilhelm turned from the window and looked at Eliza. She was wearing a light white shirt stuffed into a knee length black skirt.
"Are you hot in that?"
She glanced down at her attire.
"No sir, its the lightest attire while following the dress code I could find."
Wilhelm smiled lightly and turned back to the window.
"How is the coastal defence?"
Eliza pulled a crumpled piece of paper and read it out loud.
"Ahem, from the Western Kriegsmarine: we have intensified patrols with coastal ships and destroyers. The Western Luftwaffe Wing reports: air patrols over the western, southern and northern parts of France were intensified. We have 200 bombers in Brest where the edge of the new land to our west ends. Report from the Luftwaffe 54th Wing in Norway: we are requesting more experimental extra fuel tanks. Our planes in Oslo cannot reach the faraway islands. That is all."
Wilhelm sat back. It was strange. It has been three weeks now and still no significant contact from the natives of this world, even if they existed.
They have made excursions with strategic aircraft and patrol naval craft. The Kreigsmarine has sent out scouts of submarines in the waters to the north and south.
Little was discovered about the world around them.
Wilhelm sat back in his chair, AC blasting in his face.
""I should probably draw up plans now that I have less work.""
Wilhelm didn't know how to build things from his old world. He was a economics major, not a inventor or engineer.
He would propose a idea and write everything he knew about it. Then he would leave it to his scientists to figure out the rest.
One of his ideas was the development of an assault rifle. These didn't exist yet but it was a distant idea. Wihelm knew his engineers could make it. They just needed the idea.
The StG 41 (AU: the StG 44 was made in 1944 hence the 44 marker. Apply the same logic here) was a revolutionary design. It used a new intermediate 7.92x33mm Kurz round which was weaker than a 7.92x57mm Mauser round used in the Kar98k and machine guns but more powerful than the 9x19 Parabellum rounds used in submachine guns and pistols. It was a mesh of both.
Wilhelm stood up and walked to the back of his room.
A single case stood on the table back there and Wilhelm opened the case.
A prototype of the StG 41 was inside with a 30 round stick magazine. Bullets were stuffed inside a box on the side.
Wilhelm took the gun out and put the empty magazine inside.
"What is that?"
""Oops.""
Eliza was still in the room. Wilhelm got lost in thought and took the gun out.
"Rejoice, you are the first civilian to see the newest weapon of the Wehrmacht. The StG 41. It combines all of the perks of a rifle and submachine gun into once."
Wilhelm raised the gun in the air. Then he pointed it at Eliza and pulled the trigger.
A dry click rang out and Eliza flinched.
"Ahaha, sorry for that."
Wilhelm would see Eliza paling from the near death experience.
""Thank god that workplace harassment isn't a concept yet.""
Eliza excused herself and walked out of the room.
Wilhelm felt slightly guilty of scaring her like that.
"Maybe I'll get her something."
Wilhelm looked through his plans which were scattered on his desk.
"Aha."
He pulled a piece of paper from the pile.
It was a carbonated water maker. Invented in the 18th century but popular in the 50s this was a revolutionary new invention, as well as a profitable one.
Sodas would be popular in a decade so it doesn't hurt to start now. The machine was quite large but he was working on small portable versions.
Wilhelm's ministry of commerce was already diffusing his inventions and ideas into the public consumer stream.
The ministries exist to lighten the workload of the Kaiser and divided work among the government. This meant that the only thing Wilhelm needed to do it decide top level decisions and send necessary orders to the right ministry.
They were fixing the state of Germany while improving and maintaining their sectors. Wilhelm was mostly influential in inventing new things and directing the military.
Wilhelm walked to his door and left the room. He checked his watch, it was time.
He left through the lobby and in his usual convoy to Versailles.
They drove for a few hours until Wilhelm reached the Palace. The conference would take place soon.
Wilhelm entered through the front door and quickly walked to the room.
This time he was early, other officers were still shuffling in.
"Hello Kluge, last time we talked was two weeks ago."
Generalfeldmarshall Kluge walked in and saluted. He sat to the right of Wilhelm.
"Yes mein Kaiser. Work is plenty, especially these days."
"Ahaha, do tell."
They waited for everyone to enter before the meeting started.
General Beck was starting first.
"Good day gentlemen. We are here to review what has occured in the last two weeks. Reporting from the new front out west. We have made many openings in the western part of the Atlantik Wall. This allows us to send scouts out to the unknown lands.
Also we have introduced to our panzer corps experimental Tiger 1 heavy tanks which are our version of the Soviet KV-1. We have also upgraded the Panzer III and IV turrets and transmissions.
The StG 41 is now available for all ground forces. New training methods will be released shortly.
Reporting from the far east. The 1st Army under Walter Model has encountered several 'beast' like creatures. Casualties sustained but the Pak 36 guns and hand grenades were able to kill them. Model warns of similar creatures in the water and to the west as they entrench the entire border.
Thank you."
General Beck sat down as a low chatter started.
The chatter was silenced when Hugo Sperrle took the stand. He was a Luftwaffe commander and replacement for Herman Göring who disappeared with the 'Vanishing'.
"Ahem, may I have your attention gentlemen. Thank you. I will start with the Western Theater. My scouts have made contact with potential others who reside in this unknown world. Several small wooden boats have been found."
Sperrle flicked on a projector and the lights dimmed. On the wall behind him an aerial image of a small fishing trawl was projected.
There were a bit of murmurs.
"This is signs of intelligent life as well as the technology to fish and travel the waters. We do not know if they use larger vessels or even capital ships. However the construction of this ship is fairly well done even if its completely wooden and used sails. Its probably a civilian boat.
Now this next slide is a bit more concerning."
He motioned to the officer changing the slides to change them.
He quickly changed the slides to the next image.
"You see here, this is a large port city about 20 km from Brest."
Now a louded murmur began to start. Kluge barked at the officers who quieted down.
"All of you shut up. The air man is speaking."
"Thank you generalfeldmarschall. From what we can see from this image, it resembles a German castle of old. The high walls, moat and main castle mirror the ones we have ourselves. This can put their settlement at about 18th to 19th century. We do not know if this is definite since we too live in some relics of the past but it helps to understand them a bit."
He paused as the next image was slid under the light.
"Here is a closer image taken from better equipment on a Heinkel 111. Here you can see small shops in the streets and two story buildings all along roads. We do not know about their culture, customs, economy, military or politics but we can infer a bit. Probably they exercise mercantile practices of trade but no national industries. The best comparison is a Indian city in the British Raj."
With that Sperrle summed up his findings.
A hand was raised.
"Commander Sperrle, what can you tell us of their threat level?"
All ears opened. This was vital information. Sperrle knew it and the western command knew it.
"Well, judging from the attacks in the east and ability of their construction via walls and large moats; they pose a significant threat. Unless they have aircraft or mythical beasts like a dragon we will have full air superiority. The air war will decide a conflict if it occurs."
The western command was satisfied with this explanation and they lightly clapped.
Then Wilhelm Canaris of the Kreigsmarine stepped forward. He was a staunch opponent of Hilter since 1939 and was supposed to be executed in 1944. He was killed over his double-stance of helping the regime but at the same time undermining their efforts. He was glad to defect his Abwher (intelligence agency) agents to the Empire and parts of the navy who followed him.
"Well then."
The first slide of his presentation was projected.
"Alarmingly we have noticed that several large objects were discovered in the waters to our south. These were deemed non-dangerous and resembled whales of our world. The waters to our north were in fact part of a huge enclosed body of water. This dark waters were given a nickname from our sailors, schwarzes wasser, or black water. Submarines and destroyers from our 3rd fleet have been patrolling the waters. We have so far no losses. Naval planes have mapped maybe about 20% of this giant sea."
The second slide came into view and was a partially complete map.
"Another thing we have done was two days ago we opted to drop depth charges into the water due to a panick alarm from U-45 in the black sea. We have uncovered several carcasses of dead creatures. We have sent them in to be examined and autopsies conducted."
A third, fourth and fifth slide were shown to the oohs and ahhs from the command.
"How interesting."
"Very well mein Kaiser."
Wilhelm leaned over to Kluge.
Various sea creatures were shown on the projector of varying sizes. The largest one was what appeared to be a large sea horse lying on its stomach.
"A hydra? No, more like a sea serpent."
"Well we can conclude that there are large creatures which may damage ships in this waters. I recommend that we invest less in capital ships and more in destroyers for now. Also we have encountered and stalked several local ships of varying sizes. Submarines recorded their sonar signature and took photos discretely."
More images flashed on the projector showing small vessels from various angles as well as a large what appears to be a warship.
"A galleon? You see the broadside cannons, maybe 18th century technology."
"You are absolutely right mein Kaiser."
This was assuring, this meant that German capital ships were superior to these ships.
The conference adjourned early since a general consensus was made; Germany would exercise caution but were confident in a fight.
"Well, we can hope to win a fight. Let's hope de don't need to."
"I feel the same mein Kaiser."