June 29, Unified Year 1941

Berun, Prussian Republic

The Kriegsadler Palast was now Tanya's residence. Her bedroom had once been the Kaiser's. A few of the opposition papers had screamed about her behaving like a new would be emperor. The radio and the majority of the papers didn't even mention the fact. Tanya had specifically told Goebbels to keep her move to her new residence quiet. The Propaganda Minister didn't have absolute control over the newspapers, but most of the editors knew better than to ignore his 'suggestions.' Those papers still in open opposition were read by a very tiny minority of the population and simply ignored by most people.

The former imperial palace would also serve as the meeting place for the newly formed European Confederation's Supreme Council. Under the EC's constitution, each member state would send a single representative. This delegate would be selected by the member nation by whatever method they chose. Each delegate would have a single vote, all members would have equal standing regardless of size or population. Decisions would be carried out by a simple majority, and delegates were not permitted to abstain. In the case of a tie the EC President would cast the deciding vote. The President would also be elected by a majority vote of the delegates.

Tanya entered the meeting room with Viktoriya at her side. They were both dressed in their political uniforms, with Tanya wearing the rank badges of a Reichsmarschall. They didn't feel out of place since everyone else in the room was also dressed in an NUP uniform. The moment she entered the four men got to their feet and saluted her. Tanya halted and returned the salutes.

Well this should be quick, she thought. Tanya seated herself at the head of the conference table, Viktoriya took the seat to her immediate right. Though there were only six people present, fifteen chairs were set up.

"Gentlemen," Tanya said with a triumphant grin. "Let me formally introduce you to Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakova, Foreign Minister of the Prussian Republic and the Prussian delegate to this council." Tanya chuckled. "I think you all know who I am."

That produced a quick round of laughs.

"Though I am the President of Prussia and the Leader of the National Union Party I, of course, have no standing here as only members of the Supreme Council may discuss measures and recommend votes, and I absolutely would not want to overstep my bounds." Tanya waved a hand over to Viktoriya.

The delegate from Prussia cleared her throat. "I formally nominate Tanya Degurechaff for the position of President of the Supreme Council. Is there a second?"

All four of the other delegates shouted 'second!' as quickly and loudly as they could.

"Are there any other nominations?" This got laughter. "Then can I have a show of hands?" Five hands shot into the air. Viktoriya turned to Tanya. "Congratulations, Fräulein President."

Tanya nodded. "Well, now that that's out of the way let's move onto the first order of business. All member states will have detachments of the Secret State Police, or Gestapo, operating within their borders. These units will have the authority to conduct investigations and arrest individuals as they see fit. They will under the direct authority of the head of the organization, Colonel Gunter who will report directly to me as President of this council. The Gestapo will not be answerable to any local or national authorities including other branches of police or judicial system. They will also be at liberty to move incarcerated individuals between national borders. Do I have a second?"

And again, everyone shouted second.

That initial session of the Supreme Council passed several mandates that would have the force of law now in all member states. The Reichsbank would be allowed to open new branches. The Reichsmark would be the new currency with all others being demonetized within six months. All new national elections would be delayed for a period of four years to allow time for integration. There would be formal reviews of all policemen, judges, and public officials to confirm their qualifications and competence. New taxes were implemented and public works programs created to guarantee all unemployed some work and income. Also the requests from Ostland, Mecklenburg, and Brunswick for membership were approved. Not surprisingly all the measures were passed unanimously and without debate. The entire session lasted less than twenty minutes.

Afterwards, Tanya treated everyone to a nice brunch.

XXX

July 5, Unified Year 1941

Peenemunde, Prussian Republic

Tanya had gone through the entire Great War without wearing a helmet. No aerial mage in any country's air corps had. In one sense she figured that was probably dumb. Aerial mages did get wounded in combat, so it would only be logical to get what protection you could. But in practical terms it wasn't worth the effort. Aerial mages relied on maneuverability, speed, and magical barriers to protect them. If all that wasn't enough then a little steel on top of your head probably wouldn't make any difference. Certainly if she'd worn one in that fight with the insane American bitch it wouldn't have mattered. And since she had the Type-95 around her neck she didn't think she needed it now. But it was a standard for weapons tests, and she didn't want to set a bad example for her subordinates. So she wore the stupid helmet.

She crouched down behind a line of sandbags and brought the experimental weapon up to her shoulder. It was essentially just a steel tube. She had already loaded in the rocket, the head of which reminded her of a tiki torch from her old world. About twenty yards away was an old Mark 3 Panzer. The weapon didn't have any sights so she aimed it as best she could and gave the trigger a squeeze. There was a 'woosh' and a moderate kick to her shoulder. Flame leapt from the tube. There was an explosion as fire and smoke spurted from out of the side of the panzer. Tanya was disappointed to see the machine was still there, it had been hit but not destroyed. There was a fist sized hole in the panzer, and she could see it was burning, but compared to what one of her artillery spells could do the result was definitely underwhelming.

Tanya then looked at the weapon in her hands and reconsidered. It was light enough to be carried and used by one man and could be used repeatedly so long as you had rockets. And even if the panzer wasn't demolished it would be out of action. If this allowed a single infantryman to take out a panzer then it was an effective weapon.

The weapon's inventor strolled up to her in a white lab coat with a triumphant smile. "Well? Isn't it fantastic?"

Tanya's eye twitched at the sight of him. "I suppose it'll do." She deliberately dropped the weapon to the muddy earth.

Dr. Schugel's face reddened and he stabbed an accusing finger towards her. "What do you mean by that?! It's a magnificent weapon unlike any other!"

"If doesn't seem to have very much punch."

"The directive was that a single infantryman be able to carry it into combat. Of course the requirements of making it man portable limit its destructive capacity! But even within those limits it will give an ordinary soldier the ability to defeat a panzer. It's a superb achievement of engineering!"

"What's its effective range?"

"Roughly one hundred meters."

"That's not very far."

"It's further than one can throw a grenade or explosive charge."

"I notice I was shooting at the side of the panzer. Will this weapon destroy one head on?"

Schugel gave an annoyed shake of his head. "Nein, the Mark 3's armor is too thick."

"If the Mark 3's is too much then it's got no chance against a T-34 or KV-1."

"The weapon is effective against the side or rear armor of those models. As I said, the size and weight requirements limit its capacity. But this weapon will still give the Wehrmacht a significant advantage against enemy panzers. It's a triumph and you should be jumping up and down with joy at having it!"

The truth was Tanya was satisfied with it. Given this world's level of technology it was definitely a success. But there was no way in fucking Hell she would give the maniac the satisfaction of hearing her actually praise it. "Like I said, it'll do, for now. You can keep working on upgrades."

Schugel growled and stamped his foot.

"So what are you calling it?"

"Der Schugel, what else?"

"You're naming it after yourself?!"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Tanya sighed and rubbed her face. "Whatever."

XXX

The following day, Joe DiMaggio went oh for four against the Chicago White Sox to snap his forty-seven game hitting streak. It wasn't quite as impressive as what another version of him had done in an alternate world, but he was still the all leader in consecutive baseball games with at least one base hit. Tanya had been following along privately. She was hoping to have the New York Yankees visit Berun next year on a good will tour and maybe play a game against an amateur Prussian team.

She also wanted him to sign a glove for her.

XXX

The Red Army launched a major summer offensive in mid-June and achieved a major victory. Tanya had military observers serving with the Akitsukushima. They reported that the communists had succeeded through sheer numbers. They had more aircraft, aerial mages, panzers, artillery, and men that their opponents and had simply stormed forward. They relied on firepower and overwhelming force. From the reports the Red Army's panzers were significantly better than the Akitsukushine models. Their aircraft were slow and clumsy. Aerial mages, infantrymen, and artillery were roughly of the same quality on both sides. The problem was the Rus had built up to the point where they held a numerical advantage of three or more to one. Attacking all along the Manchurian front they'd broken through at several places.

Yet despite great success, the Rus summer offensive didn't achieve as much as it might have. Even when the Akitsukushine line was torn wide open, their soldiers were usually able to retreat in good order, form a new line, and continue to fight. Whole divisions, and even army groups, that were in danger of being surrounded were able to escape. The reason for this was that the Red Army's greatest flaw wasn't its fighters or its logistics, but their tactics and quality of leadership.

The Red Army had been through multiple purges since the revolution. These purges often focused on any officers who showed any sort of initiative or free thought. Officers who did more than was expected of them were deemed to have a 'reactionary spirit.' Such men were a threat to the regime and liquidated. It became as clear as crystal that what Vorshilov wanted in his officer corps wasn't professional excellence or even competence. No, what he wanted was obedience and nothing else. So long as officers followed their orders to the letter they received the approval of their superiors, regardless of what the results were. Officers were taught to obey their orders exactly and to never deviate from them no matter what. If the orders were to march over a cliff, then that was what you did, and you did it without questioning those orders or even requesting confirmation.

Tanya could well appreciate the need to follow orders. But in the old Imperial Army field officers were still allowed a certain amount of leeway. They had to follow their general orders, but could adjust them to deal with the situation on the ground. If the Imperial Army had been run like the Red Army Tanya would never have won any of the victories she did as a major with the 203rd.

The tactics the Red Army used were straight out of the Great War. Battle would begin with a huge artillery and aerial barrage that would last for between one to six hours. Then ground forces would advance and aerial forces would provide cover and attack any opposing air units. In every advance every unit was given an objective to reach by the end of the day. Units were not permitted to advance beyond this line of demarcation. Also the panzers did not fight as separate units. Their role was to provide infantry support and they were not to advance faster than the infantry could move.

This meant that even if the enemy had been completely obliterated and there was nothing but open ground in front of them, Red Army units would halt and begin to dig in as soon as they reached the objectives for that day. Badly mauled Akitsukushine were allowed to retreat when they easily could have been surrounded and cut to pieces. There were no battles of encirclement where the objective was to destroy enemy forces completely. Instead the focus was to gain ground and maintain a continuous line of advancement. So the Red Army won battles, killed enemy troops, and gained ground; but they never achieved anything decisive. The Akitsukushima were allowed to recover.

By the end of August the Red air units had been decimated and the Akitsukushima controlled the skies. Reinforcements came from the home islands, while the Rus advance took them further and further from their rail heads. Akitsukushine units were ferocious and had the advantage of fighting on the defensive and with growing air support. The Rus suffered close to half a million casualties. By September the offensive had run out of steam. They had captured roughly half of Manchuria, but the war would continue.

XXX

September 15, Unified Year 1941

Londinium, Allied Kingdom

Prime Minister Cromwell called the cabinet meeting to order. Parliament was also meeting at the same time. They would be yelling about placing new tariffs on Republican agricultural imports; especially on wheat, beef, and wine. These were in retaliation for recent tariffs on British iron and steel products. Cromwell would have preferred to not have a trade war with the Republic. Trade wars never helped an economy and the Depression hadn't gotten much better despite their best efforts. Domestic issues could wait though.

"What happened in Mumbai?" Cromwell demanded. "I thought the city was fully pacified general. You assured me it was completely secured."

Field Marshal Hamilton wiped his brow and stood. "My apologies, Prime Minister. I am afraid I must report-"

The Field Marshal cut off as there was yelling at some sort of disturbance coming from outside the building. He was just about to continue when two bullets enchanted with artillery spells entered the room and detonated.