By The Waters Chapter 2
Lucy looked at the machine's controls with amazement. "And you say that Germany will invade Poland in less than a year?" "Afirmative." "On September 1, 1939, Gemany claimed that the Polish Army had attacked one of it's radio stations. What had really happened was that the Germans had taken a number of their convicts, dressed them in Polish Army uniforms, and then shot them all. That was the pretext for invasion." "By October 6, they had forced the Polish Army to surrender, at least partially because the Soviet Union had attacked the Eastern half of Poland." Lucy asked "What happened to Jews?"
The "Bolo" replied "They were rounded up and placed in Ghettos in Warsaw and other Polish cities. Eventually they were sent to special camps where, through use of poison gas, hundreds of thousands or millions were killed." Lucy stared at the machine. "How could that Happen?" The machine replied "No one believed that people could, but no country, including England, was willing to take in the Jews. Hitler's policy made it imperative that that be done as soon as possible, no matter that he was losing the war and needed all the material he could get." "And what can you do to stop this," asked Lucy.
I calculate the strength of the German army and that of the other two partners in the Axis, and am rather shocked. Neither Italy nor Japan seem to have any tanks or armored vehicles worthy of the name! And Germany has very few compared to the number the Soviet Union and the other allied countries have, or can bring to bear. I direct my attention to Lucy Rosenblum, and prepare to tell her. "A Bolo Mark XXXIII is usually classified as a Planetary Siege Unit, and capable of taking on a regular armored Corps. With the technology of this time, I could probaby engage an entire Army Group with a good chance of victory. So yes, I can stop this.
September 1st 1939
Generaloberst Walter Model watched his tanks and men roll in, and smiled. The Fuhrer was a wise man, wanting to destroy Communism at its beginning, the Soviet Union. But first, the Reds must be lulled into a false sense of security by this. And the German Army was going to crush the Poles like bugs! But what was that.... My GOD!!
I target 60 mark Is and 30 mark IIs and only 20 mark IIIs. I fire secondary 20CM Hellbores at the division. Ten seconds later the Second Panzer Division has no tanks. I target Divisional artillery next. This time I use VLS missles and the time to target is longer. So I must wait a full 120 seconds until their artillery is destroyed. While that volley is in the air, I fire 200CM Hellbores at antitank guns and troop concentrations. The Second Panzer Division is no longer a elite armored unit, but a battered infantry force. I move on, knowing I can come back to them, but trying to maintain surprise as long as possible. The Fifth Armored Division is my next target....