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1917-September-2-12
''Herr Alexander, I suppose you know very well why you are in front of me'' I said, looking at the officer of my special forces.
Alexander breathed audibly as he inhaled what seemed to be nasal secretions and licked his lips before answering.
''It has to do with my father, I suppose, does it not?'' Alexander replied after closing his eyes and looking at me directly.
''Clearly. It has been proven by multiple sources that your father financed and delivered equipment in the recent insurrection we have had. According to the information I have, you have had no contact with your father for several months since you entered the training program, so I doubt you have any kind of knowledge about that event… but the question here is very simple. What will you do in the future after this?'' I said, turning my head while observing the young noble.
''Certainly, my father's hatred for the policies that have affected the influence of the knightly institutions was fully known to me, but if you ask me where my duty lies, it lies with the State. To my father I was nothing more than a political tool he called son, no different from my sisters, since we were only what he needed to keep increasing his power'' Alexander replied.
''It is good to hear that, but you will certainly know that I cannot simply let you go just like that, especially considering that you share blood with someone who is an enemy of the State, not without first proving your loyalty'' I said, taking out the map for the next operation.
Alexander closed his eyes and clenched his fists while thinking about what seemed to be a difficult situation.
''What do I have to do?'' the young noble asked with determination on his face.
''Well, we already have the operation ready to close the encirclement around the nobles. There are forces blocking the ports and most of the known roads that would allow them to escape, so you have to do what is necessary to prove that you were not and have no interest in being part of this anti-government plot. We have to be greater than this and aim toward a common course. The future is for everyone, not for a few'' I said with a slight smile while placing a silenced pistol in front of him.
Alexander sighed deeply and, after audibly swallowing, reached for the pistol and took it.
''Good, my Herzog. I will end my father to show my loyalty'' he said with determination.
''DUDE, WTF?!!!'' I said, opening my eyes completely. ''I do not want you to kill him, I want you to capture him. You put the handcuffs on him and that is all… I would never ask someone to kill his own father. I am not a monster. Or did I make it seem like I was asking for that?'' I said, looking at the rest of my men, who were with me and making some grimaces.
''Ah… he, he, he, well, it seems I misunderstood everything'' Alexander said while passing a hand over his face.
''Are you all right? I mean, being able to mentally prepare yourself to kill your own father must have been a terrible indication'' I said with concern, looking at the soldier.
''Well, it is just that my father saw me as a tool he called son. I never saw him much. Always traveling, never at home, so no… I never… well, it is not as though we have the best relationship'' Alexander said, lowering his head.
''Relax, just arrest him. We are going to strip him of his lands. I will be more generous with you, since you are one of mine and, therefore, you are under my protection. I will leave them the house where they live, since I do not believe your mother and sisters have anything to do with this, but I will drastically reduce their agricultural lands, to the point that I will leave only a few hectares'' I said, calmer now.
''Thank you. Well, I will lead my men for the mission'' Alexander said, taking the documents and the pistol before quickly leaving the room.
''Nobody speaks of this… we have work to do'' I said, rising from my chair and beginning to move.
Abteilung IIIb did not take long to interrogate the noble guards and make them spill everything: who had devised the plan, who had financed it, who had delivered the weapons and how they had obtained the information about where I would be that day. All of that gave us the information necessary to carry out the purge of the noble institutions, dissolving their councils, dissolving their courts, dissolving their organizational associations and beginning to hunt them throughout the duchy without the slightest mercy.
I had blocked every exit. The ports were forbidden from moving anyone out; nobody could take a ship out of the ports for the moment, in addition to reinforcing the borders to prevent them from trying to flee on foot, so it was only a matter of time before this whole event began to end and I could take the lands I was supposedly meant to protect from the nobles.
For the moment there was not much reaction from Germany, since all the State's attention was focused on gathering the maximum possible amount of supplies and equipment to continue its offensives.
So it seemed I would get away with it without many problems, since I had received no complaint that I was taking the lands of hundreds of German-Baltic noble families without any kind of option and increasing the lands controlled by the State, beginning to control enormous extensions of land directly, especially the forests that were mostly noble property.
I had gone from directly possessing around 11% of the State's land to possibly 70% once all this ended, so it seemed that in the future I would be able to carry out agricultural reforms as I pleased, since the rest of the land simply belonged to small native proprietors of Estonian and Latvian cultures, giving us the perfect foundations to move forward.
Meanwhile, in Germany, everything seemed to be going relatively well. According to the information arriving, the OHL was launching offensives against France, not with the intention of breaking the front as much as possible, but taking advantage of the fact that we had numerical superiority by far, or at least those were the technical estimates supposedly provided by intelligence.
Hundreds of carefully calculated offensives had been launched with the intention of preparing the spring offensive of the following year, since with winter close, they were preferring to save ammunition.
Great advances had been achieved. They had pushed through the Somme, managing to break the British lines and preparing the attack on Paris, moving the front closer to the Seine River.
Meanwhile, in the south, Reims had been taken and they had advanced toward the Marne River, in addition to crossing it and preparing for the attack on Paris that would come in spring.
Farther south, many advances had been achieved after breaking the French, whose morale was very low compared with the British. The front had moved all the way to the city of Besançon.
The French defenses had been greatly weakened, so the advances supposedly continued there, but they were securing the intermediate area where the rivers were, strengthening the border.
Although a plan was also being prepared to launch a total offensive in the south, surround the troops in the Alps and break the southern front.
This had placed an enormous amount of French territory under German control, including several cities that were important for French industrial production, in addition to placing many other cities or mineral extraction zones within artillery range. So I believed they would be bombarded to destroy factories and wreck the mines that were within range.
This, of course, was in preparation for the fact that it was known millions of Americans would soon arrive to reinforce the enemy lines. But considering that there were extensive preparations for the next offensive, in addition to using slow but secure advances without so many casualties, perhaps unless the Americans arrived with several million, they would not have an easy time matching the force concentrations of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
In addition to that, the Austro-Hungarian navy and the Regia Marina had begun causing trouble in the Mediterranean, bombarding important British ports, which had sent many ships from the Atlantic to defend the area, since they were bombarding many southern French ports that were vital for the ships traveling around Africa.
That had put a great deal of pressure on the Ottoman front, since the Suez Canal remained closed. The German general continued resisting attempts to expel him and reopen it, and the Ottomans had begun recovering parts of Arabia as well, since apparently the Arab sabotage operations had decreased. In Mesopotamia, the British were retreating and a total withdrawal from the front seemed likely.
And this had opened a possibility for the German navy. The policy of trade interception had done nothing but increase, and now that a large part of the forces supporting the blockade had withdrawn to help in the Mediterranean, there was a real possibility of breaking the blockade, or partially breaking it, and continuing to strike even harder at the ships importing food to the British.
''Karl'' said one of my Jaeger Kommandos, pulling me out of my review of documents.
''What?'' I said while scratching my hair with a pencil and continuing to review information from the accounts of the nobles who had been expropriated.
''A German officer you had summoned has arrived'' the soldier said.
''Who?... I do not remember requesting any German officer in… oh, Manfred?'' I said, raising my head from my books.
''Ja. It seems he has recovered from his wound, which was not as serious as had been thought, and he has come for the education program of a joint air force''.
''Excellent, let him in''.
I became a little excited at being able to meet another historical figure, considering that this one was very famous for being one of the best German pilots.
It did not take long for him to appear, although he was not as I expected. He had arrived with his head bandaged where, apparently, the shot had struck him, and I also noticed him clearly lacking motivation.
''Herr Manfred, it is a pleasure to have such an experienced pilot with us'' I said, looking at him carefully.
''I have come to fulfill my duty. There was not much I could do by complaining about returning to the front'' he replied dryly.
''Well, you escaped death by a thread, yet you are so eager to return to combat'' I said, placing my fist beneath my chin.
''I have been denied the possibility of continuing to fly and meeting our rivals in fair duel in the air. Clearly I am going to be upset. There is no sensation that rivals cutting through the skies and proving oneself in aerial combat'' the pilot replied.
''Ah, curious… I suppose we have completely different doctrines. Sniper duels are usually a headache because of all the time one has to remain still, waiting for the enemy to make a mistake. But well, Herr Richthofen, you are mainly here because we want to create a joint training system between the eastern States, since for budgetary reasons none of them can afford it by themselves, but together the three can'' I said, rising from my chair and observing the officer's bandages.
''Yes, that was explained to me. That they would pat me on the back, give me a medal and now I would dedicate myself to training instead of helping in the war'' the pilot replied again without looking away.
''Believe me, you will do much more than you alone could do at the front. With the king of Ukraine, we intend to establish a joint industrial complex that will produce reconnaissance and combat aircraft, in addition to developing equipment. That is where you come in: you have to train competent soldiers to use them, give them your experience, as I did with the snipers of the Eastern and Western Fronts. My teachings caused a great increase in kills on the ground, in addition to many tricks'' I said with a smile.
''As you say… When do I begin and where?'' he said after sighing.
''Soon. Go to your quarters so you can continue resting from that wound, and we will have everything ready for you to train the others'' I replied dryly.
''Understood, Herzog'' he said, saluting and withdrawing.
''Now I understand why they say you should never meet those who seem to be heroes. The blow between what one imagines and reality is very large'' I said, looking at my men.
They nodded, although they kept looking at me.
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