AU: Sorry for inactivity l have been busy. After this Wednesday I will be completely free to start pumping out chapters at my usual rate. Please bare with me.
Two weeks later
Berlin, Germany
A meeting held in the ministry of defence was underway to discuss the situation the German Empire found itself in.
Within less than a week two invasions of their territory have occurred but they sustained minimal damage and casualties.
The minister of defence sat in a olive green chair at the head of the room. Secretaries on phones flanked the other sides of the table calling in for other key officials, military officers and the Kaiser himself.
The minister of defence, a tall lanky fellow in his 40s with round eyeglasses and a slim fit suit, stood up from his chair.
It was pointless to have a projector out since no one was there physically.
"Well then. Let us start this emergency meeting. Two weeks ago, June 2nd, our glorious empire was attacked in Stavanger Norway as well as along the Atlantikwall in Nantes France. Judging from these attacks that they come from the Kingdom of Epruilon which is under control of the Junta. We currently hold their exiles but the Abwehr has made investigations which found no evidence that they knew of this."
He paused to let the secretaries on their phones relay his words to the other side. A lone female secretary on the side opposite of him was typing his words on a typewriter very quickly. She was a stenographer and was able to type full words in one stroke using a special method and skill exclusively taught to her and others of her field.
"Both attempts to put large numbers of foreign troops on our land has failed due to the perseverance of the Atlantikwall defenders and our air power. However the events prior to the attacks find our forces unsatisfactory. Usually the areas outside of Nantes would be patrolled with submarines but they were fortunately recalled to Marseille for repairs before the 'Vanishing'. But there was no significant recon preformed before the attacks not just in France but in Norway. The Kreigsmarine were not seen and an invasion fleet this large slipped through undetected."
He paused again to let the secretaries relay his points.
"I understand that we are in a situation which has never been a problem for us before but we need to change the way we conduct patrols on our borders to prevent more similar situations. I propose that only submarines and recon aircraft are to be launched because our fuel situation is so dangerous."
He waited for the secretaries to finish relaying his follow-up. After they were done the secretary assigned to Wilhelm spoke up.
"The Kaiser would like to input that he has spoken to his fiancée about the Kingdom. There were actually two reasons for the war, they were reluctant to express the latter before but these events forced them to speak about it. The Kingdom split between two core issues, succession and slavery. The crown wanted to continue the anti-slavery policy but the Junta did not. Andrew requested to help with the interrogation of captured Epruilan soldiers. What we found confirmed the existence of 'magic' and summoned slaves from other worlds like our original home. I have people in various departments running tests and examining all of our POWs for more evidence."
The secretaries continued to relay the conversations to their respective people.
The secretary for the minister of armaments then took the lead.
"Aside for all of the other problems the other ministries have now we have confirmed the reliability of the Tiger I and StG 41 with have left the experimental phase and entered full mass production. Since we do not know about the technology level of this new world, I still recommend that we ban all sales of goods outside of Germany except ones approved by our ministry. I don't suppose anyone objects?"
"No, none from me."
"You do what you do best."
"Have fun dealing with all that paperwork."
"Haha, I appreciate the comments but let's keep some professionalism."
The secretary for the minister of armaments then continued through his secretary.
"Regarding the radar systems we have contracted Telefunken to develop land-based radars since we have located very few air targets. We also have come to a conclusion that we are in desperate need of cheap saturation rocket systems. We have been developing Nebelwerfer 41s since the 30s and we only been filling orders for them in 1940 and early 1941s. However this machine is not enough, we need faster traveling, more capacity rocket launchers. I recommend launching a project with several companies with the requirements of using the Opel Blitz chassis and rail-based rockets."
After he finished and the secretaries finished transmitting the description of the new project.
Wilhelm's secretary then piped up.
"The Kaiser is asking if this project is designed to copy the Russian BM-13? We currently have the 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 in production, will this not disrupt production?"
"Yes, this will disrupt the production but the 15 cm Wurfgranate 41 is seriously flawed in its frontal engine and middle exhaust. The fin-stabilized rockets had very low accuracy but is very effective in its saturation level. We need this saturation immediately."
"No. This will cause more strain on our production and troops. Attach the Nebelwerfer on Opel Blitz trucks. The Blitz can carry a Nebelwerfer without the carrier. Just attach them like you would a mobile anti air carrier."
There was a pause as the secretaries were trying to keep up with the argument.
"I understand mein Kaiser. We will do your idea, lets wait for after the combat phase to start reorganization."
Another pause.
"Our military system is very complicated. I do not like this. Why must our officer have such long and complicated ranks even if they do not have extra requirements. I recommend following Western military ranks."
(AU: look at modern Bundeswehr ranks).
"But sir! We already have our ranks in place. This isn't that much different but it would eliminate the special names for our auxiliary ranks."
The secretary for General Henning von Tresckow of the eastern theater objected.
"That is the point. I want it to be more simple so it will create more bureaucratic sense. Every rank will be followed with 'der' and branch. I know that you generals enjoy the privilege of being the only ones having 'der' branch in their title but this is just a vanity at this point."
"I understand the intention but why now? We are locked in combat due to the invasions, any changes will cause more confusion."
"Alright. I understand. Shelf that request, carry on as usual. However I expect plans for a counter-attack back into the Kingdom within a week. I also want plans to solve our fuel problems. We have ample food production capabilities so put lower emphasis on that. General, make sure similar incidents do not occur in Poland!"
"Jawohl! We in the eastern theater will make sure of this!"
"General Beck, are you here?"
"Yes mein Kaiser. We have intensified land and air patrols. Our medium bombers are acting as mid-range reconnaissance planes. Rommel's 7th Division and Guderian's 2nd Panzer Division which arrived last week have helped securing the entire western border. We are gathering our troops for an attack. Currently we have 5 panzer divisions, 24 infantry divisions, 7 motorized/mechanized divisions and 4 flak divisions at the border. After another week of planning we will launch our invasion."
"Good. We will make them pay for violating our borders. Prince Andrew with me here also wants to partake in this operation. He has been studying artillery tactics during these past two weeks, I would like for him to get some field experience."
"I understand sir, assign him to the 3rd flak division. They are closer to our rear than the other ones. He will be an observer."
"I am sorry for the unreasonable request."
"Thank you sir."
The meeting ended without much debate. All of the respective secretaries put their phones back on their receivers. They then headed for lunch, it was about noon.
The minister of defense from his chair stared at a clock on the wall above the doorway. It showed 9:00 am. The wrong time.
Many things changed when the 'Vanishing' occurred. One of them was quickly discovered to be the length of day.
The first day the sun set much later then normal, at 9:00 pm. Then it rose at 10:00 am. This quickly threw off the schedules of all people.
It was within a few days calculated that each day was not 24 hours but 30 hours. This meant that each day, week, month, year and so forth was either longer or shorter. Only time will tell us or another civilization would give us the information.
It has been a normal month yet it is not known whether or not a normal month is the same as a new month.
In place of the now useless clocks, the radio broadcasting systems have been announcing every hour on live air which was the sole reference for all people.
The minister sighed, he pitied the minister of maintenance who was a new position made to be responsible for overseeing all maintenance and changes to public structures.
He would need to change or recalibrate every clock in the German Empire. Quite the daunting task.
However to the minister of defense, this was far from the most worrying part. Because there is a time gap in the daily hours there are two possibilities; either that this planet rotates slower then Earth or that it is much larger than Earth. The latter part is worrying which means that their previous logic will not apply to a large planet.
Artillery predictions with planetary shifts will be needed to be reworked. There will be more dangers with unknown air values. There might be unknown natural disasters. Only time will tell what will happen to us.
"Ah what a pain."
_____________
13 days ago
The shuffle of metal against metal.
The legs of thousands of souls marched by.
It was not a march of victory but a march of shame.
General Venix was leading the defeated army back to the homeland. He grimly knew his fate for his failure to win.
However he was completely to blame. The marshal was dead, killed in action by enemy fire. General Carlos was captured after the enemy counterattacked and the other two generals died from attacks from enemy grey dragon knights.
From his horse Venix looked back. None of the 1.4 million summoned slaves were brought back, they served as meat shields to cover their retreat. Of the 200,000 regular soldiers, a quarter were lost.
"Shit. When was the Empire of Kursk so powerful?"
He was still adamant that their enemy was the Empire of Kursk and not a new nation.
His tattered army shuffled past. They even lost the expensive cannons and all dragon knights.
The wounded which could be brought back walked or were wheeled on wagons and carriages. Their food supply was next to gone.
He could only curse and lament as they retreated.
Unbeknownst to him he was being trailed. From high above a Heinkel 111 was observing the retreating enemy.
"Sir, we have spotted the retreating enemy force."
"Good. Keep plotting their course. These maps recreated from the government are very useful."
These maps were remade versions of maps taken from the Master Marshal's caravan, specifically the captured carriage from the Elite Guards. They were supposed to be used to find their way back to base for the elites but were captured instead.
The spotter used the circular range finding device on the bomber to spy on the retreating force.
Since their enemy was travelling very slowly they were forced to slow their speed to dangerous levels. Any more slower and the plane will not have enough thrust to keep flying. To avoid this they flew in circles to not out-fly their targets.
"Commander! Our fuel levels are low. Our replacement radioed in, they will be here in a few minutes."
"Affirmative. We will be pulling off."
The Heinkel pulled off and turned to return home.
On the ground general Venix was staring into the sky. He could hear a faint buzz over the clanking of metal and turning of wooden wheels on their carriages and wagons.
He glanced around and spotted a dark black dot in the sky. It circled several times like it was stalking them.
He sighed, even animals could sense their defeat.
Vixen watched an injured man collapse from exhaustion and was left behind by the army.
Oh was the reality of war. The defeated army would be in the state they were in.
However he could not understand just how fast they lost.
_________
Yesterday
"Sir! The cannons are in place!"
"Good work, we can hit them now. Have the musketmen gather behind the main force. After the slaves break through we will flood the gap."
Venix watched his slaves rush past the strange black wire and explosions. They crawled up the walls and entered open boxes.
He could see flashes of light illuminate the insides of the grey stone forts.
"Ahhaha. They finally broke through, wait for the marshal's signal."
He prepared himself by drawing his sword. Unlike the elite soldiers he did not carry a saber. His blue uniform sparkled under his metal breastplate.
Around him the soldiers were dressed in similar attire.
From behind him a trumpet was blown, this was followed by other trumpets.
"Ready, ATTACK!"
Vixen yelled out as his troops surged forward.
They were racing to the front, passing by huge craters and piles of bodies.
Cavalry rode in front, they were going to use the piles bodies to vault the walls where they were lowest.
Before they could get close to the gaps huge metal beasts burst from the same gaps they were aiming for.
The closest rider had his head cleaved cleanly off by the weight of the metal behemoth.
The attack stopped dead with the appearance of an unknown threat.
General Venix from his horse in the rear observed general Carlos's line erupt in panic as similar beasts appeared on his side.
"Fire the cannons, take those things out."
"Sir."
The cannon crew poured gunpowder into the barrel, jammed a charge and round shot into its muzzle and put a piece of fuse into the back.
"Ready!"
"Adjust values!"
"Adjusting!"
The cannon crew spin a hand crank to raise the cannon's barrel higher.
"Ready, aim. FIRE!"
The fuses were lit by torches which sizzled into the rears of the cannons. The spark ignited the propulsion gunpowder and then the rammed gunpowder inside the charge.
The round shot flew out and soared towards the grey beasts.
A loud bang of metal hitting metal echoed as the boxy beast absorbed the shots.
Behind it several more of those beasts appeared.
They then bellowed fire from their long noses, cannons on wheels.
Positions around the cannons erupted into fire. Explosions annihilated several cannons with their crew.
From the tops of the small boxy forts figures in strange grey uniforms were blowing yellow air towards them.
On other parts other figures were blowing arcs of fire from tubes.
The closest soldiers were charred by the flames and further back soldiers started coughing and grabbing their throats.
"Poison! They are pouring poison on us!"
The general screamed in panic as his frontlines were broken by the flames and poison.
The boxy beasts rolled over the front most soldiers, the sickening sound of bone and metal creaked.
Those beasts were running over his soldiers!
One of their magical armored cannons lumbered forward. Its four wheels spun to reach firing range to the enemy beast. It charged its magical cannon and fired a solid projectile.
Venix watched the magic-infused projectile hit the enemy boxy beast and spark against its thick metal armor. The shot bounced off the sloped armor and exploded in the sand to it's left.
The head of the boxy beast rotated to face the magical cannon. The cannon fired another shot which hit the front plate of the boxy beast and bounced into the sky.
It's cannon faced Venix's magical armored cannon and fired its gun. Venix could see the enemy projectile easily slice though their armor and enter the chassis of the magical armored cannon.
A glowing orange hole appeared in the magical armored cannon's rear as the projectile passed through the entire vehicle. The sand behind the cannon erupted into flying sand and black debris.
Needless to say this magical armored cannon was out of action.
"What!? It punched through our most powerful siege equipment without fail!"
Line broken the soldiers started running on their own volition.
"Get back in line! No retreat!"
The general waved his sword at several fleeing soldiers.
His words had no effect as they continued to stream past him.
A sharp crack echoed from amongst the chaos and a bullet ricocheted of his right shoulder plate. It scratched his right cheek as it flew by.
The sound of his armor getting hit and the warm blood flowing from his face shocked the general.
He put a gloved hand to his face and felt the blood. This was real, he almost died.
"Retreat."
This order was barely uttered. No one heard him.
"RETREAT!"
He then screamed it, spurring his horse in the other direction.
With that the entire attack faltered and broke.
____________________
13 days later
Venix still didn't understand why the enemy did not pursue them. It must be the gods' will to allow them to flee.
He was still watching the dot in the sky as the sun began to set. Night will protect them from any attacks from the sky.
___________________
Nantes, France
A staging ground was in use outside the borders of the city in a field.
Thousands of soldiers, hundreds of tanks and hundreds of motorized equipment idled waiting for the orders to attack.
Nantes was one of 6 major staging grounds: (All are division sized)
Army Group 1 Brest: 3rd Panzer, 20th motorized, 1st - 4th infantry
Army Group 2 Nantes: 7th Panzer, 3rd flak, 78th motorized, 15th mechanized, 6th infantry, 12th infantry, 8th infantry, 5th RST
Army Group 3 La Rochelle: 1st Panzer, 14th flak, 1st motorized, 19th infantry, 37th infantry, 22nd infantry, 31st infantry
Army Group 4 Royan: 12th Panzer, 2nd flak, 20th infantry, 35th infantry, 78th infantry, 64th infantry
Army Group 5 Bordeaux: 21st Panzer, 10th flak, 3rd mechanized, 9th infantry, 17th infantry, 5th infantry, 29th infantry
Army Group 6 Bayonne: 4th mechanized, 13th motorized, 10th infantry, 25th infantry, 23rd infantry, 104th infantry
A grand total of about 610000 total men followed by Sicherungs divisions which performed sweeping actions and rear guard duty. Reserve divisions were also available for replenishing the lines.
Each divisions had appropriate equipment, training and logistical support. Artillery regiments were attached to every division (except flak) with other support companies such as medical, logistic, signal and military police.
Accompanying these army groups were assorted air fleets of fighter, close air support, medium bombers and cargo planes. They will provide air and logistical support.
In the northern waters the 4th Fleet under Admiral Raeder patrolled the shore with his destroyers. The 1st reserve fleet was stationed in Kiel, ready for action in needed.
In the south Admiral Donitz led the 3rd submarine fleet which started patrols along the entire known coast of south of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Epruilon.
Captured French vessels from before they 'Vanished' were obsolete and put into reserve fleets. It mostly comprised of older ironclads and dreadnaughts.
General Rommel was joined by generalfeldmarshall Kluge who was leading the 2nd Army Group. Generals Fredrich Paulus of the 6th infantry, general Theodor Busse of the 12th infantry, Helge Auleb of the 8th infantry, general Kurt Jahn of the 78th motorized, Paul Bader of the 15th mechanized and Wilhelm commanded the 5th KST, his personnel division. The flak divisions were commanded by army obersts.
There was protests from the central government about Wilhelm's personnel involvement in the conflict but it was assured to be safe with some of the best generals in the Wehrmacht.
"Attention!"
Several companies of the 6th infantry saluted Wilhelm as he walked past to the chief of staff's building. Wilhelm saluted as he walked by.
His escort of five KST personnel who wielded StG 41s. They stopped at the doorway and waited for him to return.
Wilhelm walked inside and up a flight of stairs to a cramped room.
"Oh mein Kaiser, you are just in time."
Kluge shook hands with Wilhelm and introduced all of the other generals.
"General Rommel, what a coincidence to see you here."
"Thank you, its an honor to fight with you. Everyone here is qualified to lead their divisions."
"Generalfeldmarshall Kluge, do not worry. You will have have final say in command here. I am just a division commander right now."
"Jawohl."
Kluge walked over to a wall, he pulled down a map which was recently made of the Kingdom of Epruilon. Andrew who was an observer sat in a chair in the corner. He was observing each person from their dress to how they talked to the field marshal and his brother-in-law.
"Here. Rommel's 7th Panzer will spearhead our initial attack western to point A."
Kluge tapped a red A etched on the map. It was about 50 km from Nantes.
"The 78th motorized and 15th mechanized will support the 7th as they push northward towards Army Group 1. All of the infantry divisions will spread out, 5km apart and create a protective shield from enemy attacks. The flak divisions will be in the rear preforming their duties."
All of the division commanders and Wilhelm watched Kluge explain the plan. It was simple but utilized their manpower well.
"After the 7th, 78th and 15th reach Army Group 1, they are to continue north towards Wallaceburg. The other divisions are to keep advancing toward point B and envelope the roads around Wallaceburg to prevent their retreat. The 4th fleet will assist with shore bombardments."
It was a sound plan. It used their speed and ability to move faster than the enemy. By seizing the roads they can expect to cut supplies off ensuring a quick victory.
"How many planes can we expect to assist us when we advance north?"
General Busse questioned Kluge after seeing how far his unit will need to march in order to complete the plan.
"Expect little air support. The engineer corps will be making makeshift airfields along the way but the majority of this operation will be beyond their range. This is why we have so many flak divisions with us."
"I understand but I can't help but worry about lack of air cover."
"We have assurances from Sir Andrew that the Kingdom lacks air power. All of their air units are organic living beings. They can be taken out even with small arms fire at low altitudes."
"Alright. I am satisfied."
Busse crossed his arms and studied the map once more.
"When does the operation start?"
"We will start in a week's time from today. The operation will dubbed Operation Westwind. Rest up until then. Dismissed."