The Next Day
After doing my usual morning routine which consisted of waking up from my bed, washing my face then brushing my teeth, checking the resources available and upgrading the walls and towers, it costed a little over two-hundred thousand to upgrade everything, I also decided to upgrade the barracks at least three times, using the gold I got from transferring the gold I found in that cave to KzTD, I also upgraded the Vehicle Depot three times, which unlocked the Panzer III and all of its variants, I tucked away my phone for now and headed out, my notes have already been typed out in paper and copied.
Opening the door and closing, Helmine popped up from my side.
"Good morning Heinrich!" She gleefully greeted me, I smiled back and greeted her back.
"What's for breakfast?" I asked, now walking to the elevator to head to the cafeteria.
"There's ham, bacon and eggs with a glass of Orange Juice and Milk, Japanese Rice is also available as a side dish." I nodded along to Helmine.
"I'd like Ham and Eggs with Japanese Rice and Juice" Helmine took note and proceeded, we were now going down.
"Good Morning General, Good Morning Secretary Helmine" An elevator girl was posted here for some reason, a new update for security purposes? I wasn't quite sure, well we both greeted her morning and went inside.
The ride was smooth and nice, it was well-lit with an elevator girl on duty to assist. I was tinkering my phone, producing four Panzer III Ds and four new Panzer II Cs, I also queued up Opel Blitz trucks on another Vehicle Depot, another was dedicated to Panzer III D production, so I was expecting at least fourteen new Panzer III Ds and four new Panzer II Cs, time for producing a Panzer III was only 5 seconds, while the Panzer II took only 2.
As for the boots on the ground, now that I have upgraded the Barracks, training times were down and a new squad was unlocked called the Grenadiertrupp, the Infantry Squad that I was used to see was now called the Schützen Gruppe, both have ten men, the Grenadiertrupp have six standard riflemen, using the K98k, two were wielding MP40s and one-crew served MG34 LMG and a Panzerfaust, while the Schützen Gruppe only had eight riflemen, one SMG user and one crew-served MG34.
The existing squads were quickly updated once I unlocked the upgrades, the tanks weren't updated though, which was a shame.
"We are here General" the elevator girl said once the chime chirped, I thanked the girl and went to the Cafeteria, Helmine walking closely by my side.
"Oh right!" I almost forgot, but luckily I remembered suddenly.
"Helmine, can you ask Joachim to come to my room after we eat? I need his advice on something"
"It shall be done, General" Helmine nodded.
But once people caught sight of me, a person suddenly yelled "General Heinrich has arrived!" prompting everyone to stand up and raise their arm.
"HEIL HEINRICH!" Everyone greeted.
"At ease!" Everyone went on to the usual, eating their breakfast, chatting with their friends, it was the nice type of noise you'd long for after you've been cooped up in your room for months.
I smiled slightly, reeling in the charm of the place.
Helmine giggled at what looked like I was breathing in, huffing like I was the big bad wolf from that old piggy fairytale.
"You seem in a good mood Helmine" I commented.
"Well it's because I am with you" Did not expect that to be her answer, it took me off-guard, almost choking on my own spit, but after a few more coughs I was fine, I reassured Helmine some more after watching me.
"Let's eat shall we?" I said, lining up with the rest of the normal folks here, most of them made me take their spot in the line, I tried convincing them they didn't need to, but they insisted so by the time I knew it I was already face to face with the chefs, greeting me with the usual salute he asked me what I wanted.
Helmine answered for me almost immediately, and sooner than later, I was out of there in under ten minutes.
Breakfast was pleasant, the people were too, the quality of the food was getting a bit stale to me however, maybe because I was getting used to the flavor, unlike how it hit me back then, I was like those people from Food Wars, having a fucking orgasm every time I sipped on soup, eating kale, the level was just incomparable to the ones on earth, I bet people would DIE to eat this type of quality produce.
"I'll get someone to call Joachim, please go to your room without me General" Helmine walked away.
1 Hour Later
It has already been an hour since Helmine asked someone to summon him.
"Woah" Helmine was surprised, She and I were watching a movie I downloaded on my phone when I was still on Earth, it was a movie called War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise acted in it, it was about aliens killing humans, the aliens were beating the humans because of their technology, but the tides change when the aliens die due to the conditions of the planet.
We were on the scene where the US Army and Marines were doing a final stand, with attack helicopters flying over to rain missiles on the tripods.
"Ah!" They were defeated after a while, Helmine seemed downed by it.
"It's because of that field! That's why nothing was hitting!" She exclaimed, I looked at her, she seemed prideful now that she knew the tricks.
"Now I wonder what could be a counter to that? Tanks and Missiles more powerful than what we have are a problem...." She was deep in thought now.
"Should I pause?" I asked.
"Nein, every piece is crucial information, more must be revealed later in the film!" Awfully enthusiastic huh?
"Why not rewind the film then?" I suggested.
"No, this is great memory training, to find out what makes it tick in real time is a great strength" So she says, so I just continued.
But once we were at the part where Tom Cruise was inside of the Tripod's cage, a knock was heard on my door.
knock knock
It was when I realized what has happened while we were watching, our bodies were touching, her body was wrapped around in my arm, she held one half of the phone while I held another, she innocently looked at me as I was looking at her.
"We should get that" She said as she tried to stand up, only for the mattress of the bed to fall through, yup, you heard it correctly.
we
were
in
bed.
She blushed profusely, she was on top of me, her cap was on my head, her eyes and mine locked together, watching as I slowly held the side of her face, she was pushing her head to it, accepting my caress.
"SIR! ARE YOU HURT!?!?!" Joachim who was there.. barged through the fucking door.
Helmine immediately got off me, rolling over to the side where the floor was, she fell with a loud thump, then got up and fixed herself.
"HEIL HEINRICH!" She raised her arm to greet Joachim, who was genuinely confused.
"I-I am so sorry General, I-I didn't know! I'll let you two be!" But before Joachim could leave, a chilling air formed around Helmine, Joachim stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning around to meet the cold eyes of Helmine.
"You will stay." She said.
"Y-Yes Ma'am" He complied.
....
Well after the misunderstanding, we went to business, I laid down everything that I wanted to get from KzTD, most of the things I wanted to get sounded reasonable to them.
"Well we can really use something like the Ratte for intimidation and it can act as a mobile command center in case the phone doesn't work or is unavailable" Joachim said, Helmine and I were in total agreement.
"I'll pick up the Ratte then" scrolling through the things in the Ratte's category, a lot of additional options appeared compared to last time.
I tapped on it, revealing all of the information the game had on it, I couldn't help but feel giddy about getting a fucking Land Battleship this early on, according to the research tree, we could get the Ratte in 1942 in the Wunderwaffe category, but the amount of resources needed to start research was tremendous, we needed five million minerals and oil, but thanks to the freebie, we have the blueprint.
I tapped on the cart icon, it revealed two options, the add to cart option and the buy now option, I tapped on Buy now and waited for confirmation.
'Congratulations on getting the P 1000 Ratte! Happy Shopping!' The alert said, my screen suddenly got flooded with confetti, I exited the shop and checked the Vehicle depot.
Hmm...
"We should build it right away General" Joachim proposed, the costs for the Ratte wasn't cheap, but we can manage, costing me over five hundred thousand in minerals and oil, I tapped on the Ratte two times on two vehicle depots, the time to produce the Ratte was only ten minutes so I moved on with the next thing I want to get.
We perused through the options, most of the items we agreed could benefit us like the Drache.
It took us a total of an hour to pick the items, we chose the Ratte for intimidation, it can also act as a miniature vehicle depot once I selected the Ratte, though it was more accurate to say a Motorcycle Bay Area, because it was only limited to motorcycles with and without a side car, then there was the Drache for helicopter transport, allowing us to gain control of a part of the battlefield with a high-speed transport helicopter which was more versatile than the standard transport airplane we had available at this time.
Then lastly, we took the Uranprojekt, not only because of the potential energy output from it but also because it acts as a fail-safe weapon, I hoped not to use it for offensive purposes, but it looks like I was the only one not in favor of a Nuclear Weapons Program.
I immediately started construction on a Nuclear Powerplant, providing a research bonus on all Nuclear Weapons and Infrastructure, well all of the things we picked gave us bonuses on the relevant tech tree, because not only did the Ratte give bonuses to Battleships because of it's superior main cannon, but it also unlocked the Maus and the Type VII U-Boat, as for the Drache, it unlocked all of the helicopters before it except the Hummingbird, I don't know why specifically the Hummingbird but it wasn't a total loss so I ignored it.
"We've picked some pretty good ones today" I commented.
"Yes General, I am most excited to deploy the Ratte to finally quell the goblins and orcs" Joachim said and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to deploy them too.
"Thank you for your time Joachim, you are dismissed now" Joachim saluted then left the room, it was just Helmine and I now.
I looked at her then suggested "Wanna take the Ratte out for a spin?"
....
Deep in the forest were the terrible tremors of a gigantic iron beast, this accursed forest full of demons and monsters were quick to steer clear of the path.
I watched as it happened, the trees were not much taller than this Ratte, it's main cannons just peaking over the treeline, down below me were a hastily formed group of motorized infantry, making use of the motorcycles that kept getting popped out of the rear, we advanced through.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed, it felt like I was conquering the world, but now that I noticed it, there was nothing miles upon miles, this literally was a sea of trees, even the map on my phone kept showing green and the occasional blue river snaking around.
My men suddenly yelled "Incoming!" I hurried to look at where when my phone suddenly rang "Unit 28, 29, 30, 32, 35 are under attack!" a second later and the Ratte was hit by something multiple times, it brushes off the attack thanks to it's thick armor, but I was still confused where the attack was coming from.
Then the flash after the lightning
RATATATATATATATATATAT
Tracers fly out from below and from the Wirbelwind AA, thousands upon thousands of rounds were shot at the sky, I was the only one who didn't know who we were fighting.
Dragons? But I don't see them! Wyverns? Probably? I didn't know.
"Who are we fighting?" I asked an operator, he said "I don't know sir! But there are multiple fast moving airborne hostiles!" I looked out and still saw nothing.
Wracking my brain together, I lifted up my phone, this was something that held multiple functions, if I could atleast try to get it on camera, I can see who we were fighting with..
Acting as a sort of security cam, I pointed the camera to the skies, watching...
Then I caught it! I stopped the recording and examined the footage.
It was just in the tenth second that I managed to capture a humanoid figure with wings, they were color purple and flew at high-speeds, it had a spear or pitchfork of some kind as a weapon and a long tail with a sharp black tip.
Were these Gargoyles? Imps? I wasn't sure yet, but I knew that all we had to do was keep firing, we don't need to worry about ammo or fuel, we only needed energy and basic human sustenance to survive.
Maybe these flying fuckers will get tired after dodging their thousandth bullet? We just need to catch them at their weakest.
And sooner than later, as if right on cue, the soldiers celebrated after knocking one out.
"Y-Yes! WE DID IT!" Everyone cheered, medics were quickly dispatched from the Ratte.
Most of the injuries were possibly from bullets landing back here, some have been stupid to fire overhead to try and kill the flying purple demon, but it was with great honor to say that we have successfully taken out our first aerial target in this new world.
We kept advancing through the forest, this wasn't a simple joyride, this was simply a test, and it was also going to be used as a FOB, the base has expanded way across the original plain borders, we had to expand to accommodate the rise of troops, resource demands and other sorts of infrastructure like hospitals, schools and training fields, there was even an entertainment district to keep the men happy, though morale was never an issue by the looks of it in the game.
The Ratte halted, I checked the map again then nodded.
"This'll be a good spot for the FOB" This was a section of the forest that was close to a mountain, I decided to create a mountain FOB to act as a sort of artillery platform.
"There isn't a lot of space here so we might have to resort to deforestation and terraforming to support base expansion" Helmine commented and I wholly agreed, but this was just a small Firebase/FOB, I decided to create a Motorized Pioniertrupp, this was available at both the vehicle depots and the Ratte's Motor Bay, I waited ten seconds and out came three pairs of people on motorcycles.
I tapped on them and told them to create a new base, they happily complied.
I decided to create five more Motorized Pioniertrupp and ordered them to either terraform, create defensive structures or deforest, this looked like it was a sufficient force, but just in case, I left two Infantry Sections from my escort to guard the construction.
I then switched to the main base, tapping on the airfield I produced a Drache, I waited ten seconds for it to produce then I ordered it to fly to me.
"General! We have spotted Hostiles closely moving in, range is about three thousand meters, should we fire?" The fire control officer asked me, I was surprised they were even able to spot them before my phone was able to, but I didn't want to delay them so I simply nodded and waited for the Drache.
"Hostiles spotted at the front, elevation 23 degrees, fire for effect"
The steel titan rocked the earth, the leaves shook and stones tumbled, I worried for an avalanche that never came, the Ratte was one of the greatest purchases I've ever made!
The red dots on my phone disappeared in a second, outside were large plumes of black smoke, probably gunpowder and fire from the High Explosive shells these guys used.
Well hey, I wasn't complaining! I got 30 gold from that.
I tapped Helmine on the shoulder, telling her our ride was here, like waiting for an uber, the Drache landed on the clearing the engineers and Ratte made.
"It was a great ride guys, we'll be heading home now!" I thanked the crew of the Ratte, they were probably veterans of this thing.
The ride was comfortable, no issues were found when we flew across the forest, well maybe it was a precaution but it looks like Joachim sent out several fighter-escorts as well as two additional Drache full of infantry sections.
Joachim wasn't taking any chances for the security of this flight, it was great.
Not only that but there were also heavily armed bodyguards at all entrances and exits in the craft, it made the Drache heavier but it was much safer.
I looked over to Helmine, who was just watching
"So how'd you rate the Ratte, Helmine?" I asked.
"On what criteria should I base my rating off of?"
"From reliability, crew aptitude, comfort and combat value, rate them on a scale of one to ten"
"Well from reliability, because of its heaviness, we might as well say goodbye to swamps, bridges and roads, any place with soft land will be money sent to a shredder, I'd give it a five out of ten for reliability" She paused, taking a sip of water.
"Crew aptitude is a ten out of ten, they seem very well coordinated and know everything wrong with the vehicle, they managed to take down a small flying target with its AA and communication on possible flight patterns, they were also able to obliterate a potential raid horde with much ease and complete trust in one another, so a ten out of ten for me"
"Comfort could use a little work, there is barely any place to sleep in case the outside is harsh or unhabitable, at least they have basic needs provided like clean water, on-board food storage and a bathroom for long distance travel, it gets a seven out of ten"
"As for combat value.... the reason we picked up the Ratte was so that we had something to intimidate the natives, to make ourselves shine brightly, it is also a great command vehicle thanks to its ability to create units, its multiple armaments are very useful too, now if we had guided weapons, that would have changed, but that fight with the demon was something we should be worried about. I would rate combat value a six out of ten" I took note.
"If we revolve around the use of the Ratte as a command vehicle, then I'd say that our combat doctrine emphasizes destructive power over speed, if we were fighting just the goblins then we don't need speed thanks to the firebases you will be building in the future" Helmine added.
"I think we should have a more balanced approach, maybe we should create dedicated motor squadrons or something similar that we can make use of its speed and all-terrain ability" I concur.
"Hmm... I don't know, motor squads will suit your description of the speed part, but motorcycles don't provide enough armor against goblins"
"Well what about an all-terrain version of the Opel Blitz trucks should satisfy our needs right? We just need to add armor plating to the cargo bed and the driving area" Helmine nodded.
"That can work, do you want to spend your gold on finishing the research projects you have currently then?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm spending thirty gold each"
And there it was, on my screen displayed all of the things researched, in only five days we've acquired technologies that would outclass the monsters, even though we outmatch then by a few thousand years or so, the gap in strength will only continue to spread.
I started upgrading everything, from the barracks, the vehicle depots and the resource buildings to even the traps set up as deterrence, the HQ was the last to be upgraded, only requiring me to spend fifty-thousand of all the resources, and twenty gold to finish the upgrade quickly, I spent so much gold and resources and it was all worth it.
The Barracks allowed me to produce the Granatwerfer Trupp (Mortar Squad), Maschinengewehr Trupp (Machine-gun squad), Sanitäter Trupp (Field Medic Squad), and the Sturmtrupp (Assault Squad).
These were their descriptions, squad sizes and weapons.
Granatwerfer Trupp
Description: Provides indirect fire support to suppress and destroy enemy infantry and fortifications.Squad Size: 6 men
Weapons:1 x 8cm Granatwerfer 34 Mortar4 x Kar98k Bolt-Action Rifles
Maschinengewehr Trupp
Description: Heavy support unit designed to suppress enemy infantry and defend key positions.Squad Size: 6 men
Weapons:1 x MG42 Medium Machine Gun (crew-served)5 x Kar98k Bolt-Action Rifles
Sanitäter Trupp
Description: Dedicated medical team responsible for treating wounded soldiers on the battlefield and maintaining unit morale.
Squad Size: 4 men
Weapons:2 x Kar98k Bolt-Action Rifles (carried primarily for self-defense)2 x Medical Kits (primary equipment for treatment)
Sturm Trupp
Description: Close-quarters combat specialists, ideal for urban and trench warfare.
Squad Size: 8 men
Weapons: 6 x MP40 Submachine Guns
2 x Kar98k Carbines
I then went to tap on the vehicle depot, it greeted me with a new list of tanks and vehicles that were greyed out before.
Panzer IV Ausf. D
Description: A more heavily armed and armored medium tank, designed to provide fire support with its larger gun.
Crew: 5 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver, Radio Operator)
Armor: Moderate (30mm frontal armor)
Speed: Average (40 km/h)
Armament:1 x 75mm KwK 37 L/24 Short-Barreled Gun2 x 7.92mm MG34 Machine Guns
StuG III Ausf. A
Description: Self-propelled gun designed for infantry support, capable of destroying enemy bunkers and fortifications.
Crew: 4 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver)
Armor: Moderate (50mm frontal armor)
Speed: Average (40 km/h)
Armament:1 x 75mm StuK 37 L/24 Gun
Sd.Kfz. 251/1
Description: Versatile half-track armored personnel carrier, used for transporting troops into battle while offering light protection.
Crew: 2 (Driver, Radio Operator) + 10 passengers
Armor: Light (8-14.5mm)
Speed: Average (30 km/h)
Armament:1 x 7.92mm MG34 Machine Gun
Panzerjäger I
Description: Early war tank destroyer based on the Panzer I chassis, equipped with a captured Czech anti-tank gun.
Crew: 3 (Commander, Gunner, Driver)
Armor: Light (13mm)
Speed: Slow (40 km/h)
Armament:1 x 4.7cm PaK(t) L/43 Anti-Tank Gun
Sd.Kfz. 9 FAMO
Description: A heavy half-track primarily used for vehicle recovery, towing artillery, and transporting heavy equipment.
Crew: 3 (Driver, Commander, Assistant) + Capacity for passengers or towing
Armor: Very Light (6-14.5mm)
Speed: Slow (27 km/h)
Armament: None
Sd.Kfz. 7/1
Description: Anti-aircraft half-track equipped with a 20mm Flakvierling 38, capable of engaging aircraft and light ground targets.
Crew: 5 (Driver, Gunner, 3 Loaders)
Armor: Very Light (8-14.5mm)
Speed: Average (30 km/h)
Armament:1 x 20mm Flakvierling 38 (Quadruple 20mm AA Gun)
Sd.Kfz. 10/4
Description: Light half-track armed with a single 20mm Flak gun for anti-aircraft and light ground support roles.
Crew: 4 (Driver, Gunner, 2 Loaders)
Armor: Very Light (8-14.5mm)
Speed: Fast (40 km/h)
Armament:1 x 20mm FlaK 30
I showed Helmine the things we can produce now, she was of course, visibly excited.
She could barely keep her butt on her seat when I let her look at my phone, but it was alright, I liked seeing her sort-of cool-type expression break, it was a cute gap-moe to me.
I could hear the soldiers all around me chuckle a bit, sure it was noisy, but they could see Helmine's movements that were once full of maturity break like an excited kid.
I let Helmine borrow my phone, and she went bonkers, tapping on the Vehicle Depot and the Barracks every two seconds, goodbye! Shabby looking barracks with just a couple of tents and a flag pole, goodbye! the almost run-downed vehicle depot, and say hello to the all new and improved barracks and depot, a far cry from their original self, they were both built with reinforced concrete, there was a perimeter fence and a gate house of some sort fit with watchtowers and spotlights, the barracks turned into a complex with multiple high-rising buildings and a training center inside of it, it looked more like a condominium rather than a barracks, they even had their very own cafeteria and parking lot, it was a massive upgrade and it looked like the soldiers loved it too.
Then there was the vehicle depot, although it was probably better to say a vehicle factory! It was bigger than the barracks-condominium complex, hell it was probably bigger than the original base I started with, it was fitted with all sorts of facilities, things like vehicle repair and maintenance warehouses, a vehicle manufacturing site, a large parking lot, it even had a fucking showroom! I was flabbergasted at the scale.
Now you are probably thinking how this was all able to fit in the base right? Well I expanded the base, it stretched from the original grass plain to the cave I stayed in, I think I upgraded it to like fifty times its original size? I wasn't quite sure.
But it was all worth it, training times were down a solid five seconds, the usual infantry production time is instantaneous, same with the vehicles I started, oh and get this, these buildings are able to be merged and the production slots have been expanded, so I can have three units training all together, it was super OP.
Helmine gave back my phone, sufficed to say that she has calmed down, I could tell because she was as calm as a lake or whatever.
"Thank you" She said.
"Your welcome"
Tapping on HQ, I was greeted with another congratulations message, but this time it showed me the year?
It was some sort of analog clock, revealing the numbers 1-9-3-8, it moved up from that to 3-9 then finally to 1-9-4-0. Cheers of congratulations and those party poppers and confetti played.
"We are now landing Sir" A soldier told me after tapping on my shoulder, I took a look out the window, the once shabby base has turned into a massive military complex, the Drache and our escorts landed shortly after, touching down on the once dirt-padded runway to a designated helicopter landing site.
The doors opened a few minutes later, Helmine and I were greeted by base personnel, raising their hands and shouted "Welcome back home Sir! Heil Heinrich!" my bodyguards, armed with their new MP40s surrounded me, escorting me until I got into my staff car.
The airfield, which was once decrepit and lacking in any sort of aircraft maintenance, actually, any maintenance at all! Was a modern (for it's time) airbase, fit with fuel trucks, military versions of emergency vehicles, hangar bays, buildings to house pilots and other staff and other purposes, ATC and anti-air emplacements for defense, there was also a super-powerful radar device, though I don't know how useful that would be.
Everything was massive, it was like walking through a small city, there were people walking around, though they were in uniform, fit with all sorts of roles that would make a city function, though we don't have to worry about the economy. I whipped out my phone and decided to look through the research center.
I was greeted with another congratulatory message as piles of notifications of research completed, I tapped on Engineering Technology, and researched Centrimetric Radar, the research center is another type of training building, it has slots and queues and the level of the research center allows me to cut research times, there are also modifiers that help research speed like Computing Technology and investing into the Research Center with gold, I can also build other centers to cut down time or merge them to make slots to add a new research project that can be worked on simultaneously, of course that's what I did, there are a total of three research centers, all have been merged with other research centers and upgraded, I can upgrade some more but that would strain the economy, so I decided to do this and upgrade and build more eco buildings, all of these centers are currently researching Centrimetric Radar.
"Maybe I should also research this" I tapped on the Ju 87 Stuka Dive-bomber and the Messerschmit BF. 110, my reasoning was that if we wanted to control the forest, we must control the skies, if we suspect any monsters are in the area, we can do a saturation bombing and focused artillery fire from the Ratte's and the Firebases I have planned to build, as of this moment two are complete, fit with multiple defense layers and personnel to man those bases, they are on automatic production and have their own eco-buildings, they also have a small airfield just in case we need more bomber or fighter support, it's like a mini-FOB in a sense, they also have their own Ratte to support the artillery.
I planned a total of twenty, all of them surrounding the main base, maybe they can be expanded too? But in due time, we have to secure the land first.
There are also roads leading to those bases thanks to the Ratte just pushing through those trees, I already assigned Pioneertruppen to clear the road and build towers and a barracks and vehicle depot at the midway point to serve as patrol points and checkpoints.
I left the research center and focused on upgrading the eco buildings again.