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1-23-March-1920
''Hey, I was inspecting one of the prisons to make sure we were complying with the required treatment for prisoners of war and, well… I was a little surprised to discover that the prisoners were not locked up'' Manstein said, looking at me after entering the provisional administrative center of the Duchy, considering that Riga had been too badly damaged.
''Ah… that. I realized it was cheaper to keep the British and French confined that way than to have them breaking stones or helping repair roads'' I replied while moving some books.
''Excuse me, mein Herzog, but I do not understand how that can be cheaper than forcing them to work. On more than one occasion, I had to inspect our Russian prisoner camps during the war and… well, the conditions were completely different'' Manstein said, straightening a little.
''They are completely different situations. If they were Russians, I would probably keep them the same way. Here there is practically no risk of escape. France and England are hundreds of kilometers away. The chance of them finding someone who speaks English is minimal, unless it happens to be a German soldier or some bureaucrat. Perhaps they might find someone who speaks French, because some Russian elites considered it the language of the court before they began replacing it with English. But what use would walls be? To return to England, the British would necessarily have to travel by sea, and to reach France by land, they would have to cross Germany. Besides, with this cold… Puff, they would freeze to death before reaching anywhere'' I explained with a smile while taking out another book and continuing to review the war accounts.
''Besides, we have almost fifty thousand prisoners between British soldiers, French soldiers and members of the occupation forces that arrived to supervise the change of government. They represent almost one percent of our population. Having them perform work that our citizens would normally do would be counterproductive for the economy, especially now that we are suffering from a serious unemployment problem. It is better to allow those prisoners to live almost like citizens inside their colonies. That way we reduce the cost of keeping them because they produce a large part of their own food. In addition, those areas become excellent places to train spies'' I added, looking at Manstein.
''Spies?'' he asked, raising an eyebrow.
''Yes, spies. Most soldiers come from specific regions, so we divide them according to that criterion. The men from London live in one colony, the men from Manchester in another, and so on. That way, our agents can learn the local customs of each city, their way of speaking, their expressions and even their small regional rivalries. Our espionage agency is constantly studying the British. Many of the guards in those prisons are agents in training. When our intelligence chief considers them ready, we will try to infiltrate them into the islands. They should be almost undetectable'' I explained with a faint smile.
''Well, that explains many things'' Manstein said while removing his gloves and beginning to collect some of the books he was supposed to review.
''And do you know what the best part is? The original idea is for those soldiers to remember their captivity with a certain fondness. Let us be honest: for many men from the lower classes, that place looks quite a lot like a utopia. They have abundant food, good houses, reasonable work, medical assistance and even psychological treatment. We must not forget that the traumas caused by war are serious, and we will have to expand those treatments, although that will come after we win. When they return to their countries, they will be both a problem and an opportunity. They will demand better treatment from their governments and will surely be much louder in doing so. Ah… the weaknesses of democracies. But, with time, they could also open the way for a migration program toward the Duchy and Ruthenia'' I said, joining my hands while observing my Generalfeldmarschall.
''You want… British settlers?'' Manstein asked, surprised.
''Yes, why not? Naturally, there is the risk that some spies might try to infiltrate among them, but it would be enough to keep them away from our research and development centers. They would also serve to improve the training of our secret police. Besides, foreigners are the easiest groups to assimilate. The local inhabitants have support networks and have the right to use their mother tongue guaranteed by our laws. Foreigners, on the other hand, can be required to Germanize. That way we can create a true melting pot of cultures in which German is the common language. I do not deny that education in German and civil life administered in that language may need several generations to transform the local peoples. However, with foreigners, two generations should be enough for their grandchildren to barely understand the language of their grandparents'' I explained, looking at Manstein.
''It is a rather aggressive plan, if you want my opinion'' he replied.
''It is something we have to do, my good Generalfeldmarschall. The Baltic Duchy has an approximate population of five million inhabitants. Even if we add the population of White Ruthenia and Ukraine, we still do not reach Germany's population. How will we defend ourselves from our neighbors if we do not have enough men willing to take up arms for the State?'' I asked.
I leaned slightly forward before continuing.
''German colonization will only be the beginning, the core of everything. First we will bring the families of our volunteers. Then we will attract population from other States: Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Irish and British. People who have no nearby roots or neighboring homeland to turn to, and who are therefore easier to assimilate. If we manage to double or triple our population in two or three generations, we will be able to secure the future of the State. Those prisoners of war are only the first step, because when they return home, they will never stop talking about what they saw here'' I said, tilting my head while smiling.
''Then you already have everything planned for the negotiations'' Manstein asked while beginning to move some sheets from his books.
''Yes, but for the moment we have not received many answers from the British. They have simply dedicated themselves to maintaining their presence on the islands of the Duchy and exerting a certain naval pressure, firing on some cities, but without responding to our negotiation offers. So we will have to continue with our plans until that happens'' I replied.
''Well, fortunately, now that we have more industry available, we are preparing other measures. Tomorrow a shipment of naval mines will arrive, and we will try to place them later. However, from what we know thanks to the Red Baron, the British Navy limits itself to maintaining the blockade far from our coasts to stay out of range of the naval bombers and our artillery'' Manstein explained.
Without saying much more, both of us continued with our work.
The following days passed without too much activity. With the British keeping far from the coast, we only had to prepare new defenses and clear the areas covered with unexploded artillery shells to prevent them from causing problems during the reconstruction in the future.
However, one of the greatest inconveniences was the result of our own actions. We had sunk numerous British ships, but those damned vessels carried enormous amounts of fuel.
The fuel oil released by the wrecks had contaminated large sectors of the coast and the nearby waters. Those areas would have to be cleaned, but the British presence prevented us from doing too much. We did not have enough ships, and the shipyards in the Baltic ports had been destroyed or badly damaged by the bombardments.
For the moment, we could only hope the tides would disperse part of the contamination.
We also had to temporarily ban fishing to prevent the population from consuming contaminated fish. Notices were sent to numerous fishing villages informing them of the ban. In exchange, we would begin installing greenhouses, modernizing their supply systems and preparing everything necessary to help them once the British finally abandoned the region.
Taking advantage of the fact that enemy pressure had decreased, we fortified the old beachheads used by the British. We also prepared artillery positions capable of covering multiple areas suitable for a landing and began building several additional airfields to give our air force greater mobility.
Little by little, more pilots began using the new aircraft prototype. Following the Red Baron's instructions, we had also started producing aircraft designed specifically for aerial combat. They would have more powerful engines, lower weight and would not carry bombs or unnecessary equipment. All the engine power would be dedicated to improving speed, climb and maneuverability during engagements against other aircraft.
As the days passed, we used every opportunity to strengthen ourselves. The entire economy of Ukraine was working to sustain the war effort.
That was especially necessary because, on average, around four hundred German soldiers were arriving every day. While the British gathered new forces, or did whatever they were doing, we continued increasing our troops and our armament.
We also exerted more and more pressure on Romania. Every time we finished fortifying a position and freed up new units, we sent some divisions toward the Romanian border.
During three relatively calm weeks, we devoted ourselves to accumulating weapons, manufacturing more armored cars, tanks, aircraft and artillery pieces, in addition to equipping our new formations, whose men were eager to kill British soldiers.
Then, at last, we received reports of movement within the blockade.
A new British fleet had arrived, accompanied by several capital ships. The enemy naval presence had increased considerably. According to the observers, they had practically doubled the number of ships maintaining pressure on the region.
That put us on maximum alert.
Everything indicated that the British intended to try again.
We prepared our divisions and gathered around fifteen formations to organize a major defense against the next landing. This time, reaching land would not be so simple for them. We already knew where they had landed previously, what routes they had used and which areas of the coast they considered most suitable.
''Make sure the front depots are full of ammunition and that there are enough spare barrels for the machine guns. We cannot allow them to stop firing because of overheating. The number of ships indicates that this time they might be bringing an army of considerable size'' I ordered, pointing toward the soldiers loading numerous ammunition crates.
''The artillery shipment from Ukraine will arrive tomorrow. Four new artillery pieces and five hundred shells should come with it. Where do I send them?'' Alexander asked, walking beside me while noting down when each shipment had to be sent.
''The southern divisions should receive them. The latest shipments were sent to reinforce the north, so it will be better for all our divisions to have more self-propelled artillery pieces'' I replied, observing the figures for the available armament.
Around us, the movement of boots and the engines of vehicles transporting supplies to the front continued to echo. We did not know when the great British wave would arrive. Several enemy aircraft had already been sighted, and several aerial engagements had taken place to prevent them from locating the positions of our camps.
''Mein Herzog, we have received a communication from the British fleet. They request a temporary ceasefire to allow a small ship to pass through our defenses and transport a diplomatic delegation tasked with negotiating an end to the fighting'' reported a soldier who approached me after getting off a motorcycle.
I received the message and, after reading it, remained thoughtful for a few moments. It seemed the British were only showing their strength so they could enter the negotiations from a more favorable position.
''Good. Authorize the passage of a small vessel. Guide it through a route without mines and allow their delegation to come speak with us'' I ordered, handing the message back to the soldier.
''At your orders'' he replied before returning to his motorcycle and leaving to transmit the response.
''Prepare somewhere we can hold the negotiations, preferably in Riga. I have an idea of the arguments they will use, and it will be better to receive them among the ruins of the city than in some area that has not suffered the consequences of their bombardments'' I said, looking at Alexander.
''I will do so'' he replied before heading toward one of the trucks traveling in the direction of Riga.
For my part, I began preparing to negotiate with the British and ordered our diplomats to be ready to handle the details. It fell to me to settle the general conditions.
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