AN: Edited by Gremlin Jack, perfect_shade and Nla Eid
1951, July 15th, in Berun:
Deep down, Lergen had accepted that he would never truly be free from Tanya's influence, and yet he allowed himself a small measure of hope when she stepped out of Germanian politics. He'd hoped that she'd just prominently feature in the news, write her books or maybe make a controversial statement that the Germanian government would have to respond to at worst.
Oh what a fool he'd been.
The two went ahead and stepped up to stop a coup, and personally escorted the Akinese Emperor too. Even now she's making friends in high places. He wasn't sure if it was some sort of a complicated play to return back to Germanian politics with even more power now that the opposition that fully discredited themselves and also self-destructed, or instead the two had decided it was easier to just play the game of being a global puppet master that did not bother with the pretense of pledging allegiance to a country or abiding by some piece of paper called the constitution.
He mentally groaned as he continued to sit during a meeting that was called on by the Chancellor and President. And one of the agendas for the day was, of course, what to do with Tanya von Degurechaff and Viktoriya Serebryakov in the light of their recent actions.
He had been collecting newspaper articles and magazines about the pair's book publications and their following world adventures for some time now, and it had increasingly painted a concerning picture.
The two of them didn't need to be in charge of a government to exert their power and influence. In fact as private citizens, they had much less restraints on their activities. While they had no direct command over a military force, they didn't need that if they were rubbing shoulders with various world leaders and pulling strings as they pleased.
Simultaneously, President Paul had increasingly demonstrated his contempt for democracy when he took a 'creative' interpretation of the constitution. While the constitution allowed for 45 days of campaigning with the disbanding of the GWP that ended the coalition, the President had a creative interpretation of the exact date of when the governing coalition had failed. By declaring that the coalition had effectively failed before the official disbanding based on the endless gridlocks of previous votes on various bills, all of the parties had less than two weeks to campaign before the election started. He argued that it was necessary to expedite the elections to form a new governing coalition as soon as possible. Of course some people objected, until the President pointed out that he could instead just give them only a few days to campaign by using his emergency powers.
At this point he wasn't sure if it was more dangerous for the two women to keep this up, or to go back into politics again.
Chancellor Adenaue cleared his throat, "You have seen the news. While Degurechaff's actions have been overall beneficial to Germania, she is a loose cannon. We can not have our foreign policies dictated by the acts of two private citizens."
He then lifted an American newspaper that reported on the Shockley Semiconductor Company filing a lawsuit against Fairchild-Rosenvelt-Degurechaff Semiconductors, claiming that the FRD Semiconductors was infringing on Shockley Semiconductor Company's patents. The parent company Fairchild Camera and Instrument, countersued on behalf of their subsidiary FRD, arguing that the patents belonged to the individual employees and not to Shockley.
"The State Investment Ministry has protested the actions of Tanya von Degurechaff that resulted in the crippling of the Shockley Semiconductor Company, and they believe the BND could have stopped her."
Elya raised an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight, you want the BND to harass Germanian citizens? I also find it interesting that the ministry is still funding Shockley when almost all of his workforce walked out all in the same week after he tried to force them to all take a lie detector, because a secretary got a paper cut. A paper cut! And I thought the Russy Federation's counterintelligence service was paranoid!"
"I trust the SIM's investment decision. As for the BND, it is legally mandated to protect Germania and its interests." Paul sharply pointed out. "Would you show the same hesitation if it was some communist Germanian citizens that were firebombing the State Investment Ministry's oversea assets?"
"I would not, Herr Chancellor, for I cannot agree with the analogy. But nevertheless, having BND agents interfere with those two women's personal lives would likely cause them to become hostile towards Germania and potentially seek to create their own business opportunities that actively aim to damage Germania's interests." She leaned back on her chair and spread out the palm of her hands. "There would be little the BND could do about that. And before you ask, taking "direct" actions would just result in many dead agents along with a massive domestic and international outcry over Germania backstabbing two of its most prominent women."
"You're telling me that an agency that had spent years dismantling communists inside Germania and counter-spying foreign powers such as the Allied Kingdom and Francois Republic, can't handle two people who have to eventually sleep?" The President's eyes narrowed, "I find it concerning that you may be more loyal to them than to Germania."
Lergen internally rolled his eyes. President Paul had done his work of slowly winning over Tanya's now-former supporters, or pushing them out of their offices to be replaced with incompetent loyalists. He wasn't exactly sure how Elya still remained in charge of the BND even though everyone knew she was a Degurechaff loyalist. But just going off of the years of intel reports that the BND passed onto the military and the meetings that involved the BND, it was clear that Elya was far from a political yes-man that simply did what Tanya told her to do. Maybe that was why the two women didn't need to be directly ruling Germania, when they had a hyper competent proxy to do the job for them. The question is, why hadn't President Paul made any moves to undermine her? Maybe she has blackmail material on him?
"Are you threatening their lives?" Adenaue put his hand in front of Elya before she could speak.
"I didn't say to assassinate them. I don't want them to rule Germania in absentia or cause a situation where their personal preferences clash with Germania's foreign policy. If they want to dictate how we run things, then they shouldn't have left the office on a so-called 'retirement'. Too many chefs in a kitchen spoil the broth."
"We're getting off topic here." Adenaue spoke with a wave of his hand. "Where are Tanya von Degurechaff and Viktoriya Serebryakov heading next?"
And that would be another reason why Elya, or that upstart Captain Rickover hadn't been fired yet. Adenaue might not be able to keep the President in check, especially with the collapse of the GWP and the weakening of the GDU, but he had been effective putting obstacles in the President's attempts at installing loyalists throughout the government.
"That would be...South Bharat." Elya said after she'd looked through her notes. "They're going to be attending the opening of a joint Volksauto and Tata Industries automotive plant. Both companies' leaders will also be in attendance."
"Should we be expecting another coup that the two women will coincidentally be in the right place and time to intervene?" Paul asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Adenaue brushed that aside. "I've spoken with Dertinge. He met with the South Bharatian ambassador to ask their government to keep a distance from the two women, and their Prime Minister promised to not meet them."
Adenaue then turned to Lergen. "With Germania's defense doctrine now including tactical nuclear weapons, do you have any updates on the military research and developments?"
When the CSR first revealed their biological weapon, he had hoped that Paul would have toned down his love of nuclear weapons. Instead, Paul decided that tactical nuclear weapons would allow Germania to hit the CSR hard without crossing the threshold where the CSR would release their world-ending biological weapons.
"We had proposals for creating nuclear tipped air-to-air, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, and artillery shells and landmines. The surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles are to be launched from ships and land launch systems." General Lergen stated. "This will require investments into modernizing the army, navy and airforce for them to be able to effectively utilize tactical nuclear weapons."
"And the progress on the nuclear strategic missile development?" Paul asked.
"Slow progress. The air force reported that they had launched over three dozen rockets. Only one made it to outer space, and it crash landed after falling back from space. They did say that they have been learning many lessons about space rocket development, and every failed attempt simply revealed new design or manufacturing flaws."
"Adenaue, put together a bill to reallocate about half of the strategic nuclear bomb's funding for the tactical weapons." Paul sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "No point in having a massive stockpile of the bombs when the ballistic missiles are nowhere close to being ready and the other delivery methods can be countered by the CSR's anti-air missiles."
Adenaue nodded and started scribbling in his notebook when Paul switched topics.
"I've been told that President Mzhavinidze of Caucasia has been prioritizing agendas that favor his religion and ethnicity, at the expense of others. Which the communists definitely would have exploited."
"His military leadership was uncooperative when I asked them to explain why they were unwilling to assist us in the Second Battle of Groznaya." Lergen scowled. "Turns out their closest available forces were more preoccupied with cracking down a protest over the religious and ethnic discrimination, with live ammunition. I've also looked at reports of how their local forces fared in combat without Germanian or the rest of OZEV's assistance, and it always seems as if they're outnumbered by the insurgents."
"It's simple. Many of those promised soldiers only existed on paper." Elya responded. "Their commanders pocket the difference without disclosing that they only have a fraction of their actual forces. Of course it doesn't help that the religion and ethnic issue restricts Caucasia's military's ability to recruit and retain manpower, with at least one case of an entire regiment defecting to the communists after they watched their commanding officer get executed on the spot by a superior for going against the discrimination policy. As for President Mzhavinidze, the BND had photos of his lavish vacation home in the Francois Republic. I can provide those if you want to look at them."
"When did he go on vacation?" Paul asked with a hint of annoyance.
"About the same time when Dertinge was trying to pressure the local government to do something about the corruption and to tone down their discrimination policy. It was a coincidence that President Mzhavinidze "too busy" to meet with Dertinge, because he was not in Caucasia at that time."
"Was he meeting with the Frankish government?"
"No. One of our agents managed to set up a detailed surveillance routine on him and thus know his every move and word. They reported that he had boasted about how Germania can't abandon him because of the communist threat and OZEV's need for a secure oil supply, especially with the growing unrest in Aegyptus. President Mzhavinidze also said that he was confident that Germania will do whatever it takes to deny the same oil resources to the communists. She's now with him back in Caucasia."
Paul's face twisted for a few seconds. Lergen recognized that sort of look when a junior soldier did something so astoundingly stupid that his superiors are buffering rage while trying to determine what to say to the junior soldier.
And Elya's consistently excellent intel on foreign activities was probably another reason why President Paul hadn't tried to fire her.
"I'm out of ideas of how to help President Mzhavinidze when he seems bent on self-sabotaging his war effort against the communists. And speaking of the oil production, that has stagnated due to the insurgents repeatedly targeting the infrastructure." Paul groaned. "Is there a more competent person we could help put in charge?"
There was an awkward silence in the room.
"You want to oust President Mzhavinidze?" Lergen asked.
"Considering that President Mzhavinidze had ensured the personal loyalty of his government officials and military officers and appears to be the only person who can squash any factionalism within his government, that might have unintended consequences." Elya spoke with a sense of unease.
"Hasn't he already arrested or executed any major opposition, with the rest of them flocking to the communist insurgents?" Adenaue pointed out.
"We might be able to find someone who sought refuge in another country to avoid the entire mess." Elya responded.
"Unless there is a better idea, I'm tired of sinking resources into this mess and watching our so-called 'ally' squander much of it." Paul banged his fist on the table. "He is just as damaging to Caucasia and OZEV as the communists! Like he said, we will do whatever it takes to defeat communism."
There was an awkward silence in the room before Paul put his head in his hands and continued.
"I wish I had known about how much of a mess this insurgency war was going to be, before I had focused my efforts on improving nuclear weapons. We're going to need to shift back to improving our conventional forces because there is no way we can even use tactical nuclear weapons against insurgents without massive collateral damage."
1951, July 30th, South Bharat, in Bombay:
As I rode in the car with Visha and Akbar Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, Visha was staring out the window to see South Bharat for the first time.
"Some of the things you're seeing weren't around a decade ago, before the whole war between the north and south." Tata said in Frankish. He also knew Albish, and very limited Akinese. I had quickly learned that he grew up in the Francois Republic with his Frankish mother, and thus learned Frankish before his native Bharatian language.
"It's interesting seeing the classical architecture with the new constructions." Visha nodded.
It was only four years ago since I visited this place, and eight years ago since the war. In the city itself, a lot more stores and street vendors, and there were new factories in the outskirts that were either in operation or still under construction.
And of course there was a lot more traffic, which is why we're at a standstill again.
"Does the government have any plans for traffic infrastructure?" I asked.
"Lots of debates over that. The Americans' car centric approach wouldn't work here as even if we made the Bharatian version of the Volksauto widely available and found even more ways to cut production costs, many people wouldn't be able to afford it. At least for another decade or two." Tata signed. "Thankfully I did have my locomotive business started during the to take advantage of all of the newly built rail infrastructure that the coalition helped fund, but much of that infrastructure was optimized around heavy cargo traffic. No consideration for work commuting. Building underground tunnels would be prohibitively expensive for this country, so of course there are debates over the locations of new commuter rails and stations, and thus which part of the cities would have to be demolished. To bring in buses would also require new roads."
"I'm assuming you also have a bus and truck manufacturing business?" Visha asked, who then leaned towards the window to get a closer look at other vehicles on the road." I also noticed a lot of what appears to be carts pulled by bicycles or motorcycles."
"The buses and trucks will come after we start the first production run of cars at the Volksauto plant. One thing at a time. As for the carts, they are what we call cycle rickshaws. We started manufacturing the auto rickshaws a few years ago, using cost down versions of the small boat engine designs from the war. It was why Anton took an interest in establishing an automotive venture with me, as we were already building engines."
Ah, the 'play both sides to come out ahead' strategy. Cars, buses, rails, auto rickshaws, it doesn't matter to him as he'll make a profit anyways.
As the harbor came into view, I noticed that the makeshift harbor looked far less makeshift with all of the additional infrastructure, and off in the corner, I could see a large construction of something in the harbor.
"What's with that construction?" I asked.
"A Germanian and American shipping company is experimenting with 'containerized' shipping in a joint venture, and the two of them plan on demonstrating transoceanic shipping with the containers. Rumors have it that they want to try to ship the containers from the US east coast, to Germania, to here and then to the US west coast. Bidding on that construction project was a major headache. I was only able to secure some small projects here and there instead."
Yep, this guy is going for the full conglomerate route. I'm going to need to make a mental note to ensure that Germania and their allies aren't being subjected to giant monopolies or conglomerates that can control the media and politicians with their massive financial power. Japan's and South Korea's political and economic situations in my previous life painted a not-so-rosy picture of when major conglomerates control the economic levers.
The driver suddenly turned up the radio, which got Tata's attention. I wasn't sure what the radio was saying as it was in the local language, but something tells me that Tata was concerned to hear about it.
"I think those two shipping companies that I just mentioned might have to skip out on the Suez Canal." Tata groaned. "Oh this is going to make such a mess of the trade between South Bharat and Europe. Not to mention the oil shipments going through that canal might be in jeopardy."
"What's going on?" I asked in confusion.
"The local Aegyptian military was ordered by the pro-Albish monarchy to put down protests over high food prices. Last year I had read about their severe drought while Aegyptus was facing heavy foreign debt payments. I didn't think much of it as I thought the issue was handled when the Albish had pressured some of the lenders and investors to accept temporarily reduced payments and extend the loans, along with providing some financial and food aid assistance to Aegyptus. The military launched a coup that overthrew the pro-Albish monarchy. It occurred so fast that the Albish garrison was caught by surprise and are now trapped in their bases."
Visha and I looked at each other with alarm. I knew what happened in my previous life the last time someone kicked open the hornets nest that is the Middle East.
"Is this how my retirement from politics is going to end?" I asked no one in particular. "With a war in that region over the canal?"
Tata continued to listen to the radio, and then relaxed a bit. "The military officers announced that they will not interfere with the Suez Canal operations and other foreign investments, and seek peace with Europe and their neighbors. They also requested talks to further renegotiate their foreign debts. Looks like trade will continue as normal as long as the Ablish doesn't try something rash. They are going forward with seizing and selling the monarchy's royal assets with the claim of using the proceeds to import food."
Ah yes, I thought, good investment's capital foe. Uncertainty destroyed opportunity just as assuredly as bombs falling could. This could have been terrible, I needed the trade between the east and Europe to remain open or the investments in Germania, Unified States and Akitsushima Dominion that I had been putting money into would go up in flames! Investing in South Bharat would have also been insane if the canal was closed.
Good thing then that of course the new regime appears to be aware of the lucrative nature of this business, as well as the heat they'd bring down on themselves if they screwed with it. Everyone may be willing to ignore matters as long as a former colony still plays ball, but messing with such a strategically important shipping route would put an end to their little revolution in no time. I was going to sleep a little easier knowing that whoever took over wasn't going to sink my investments by kicking the waning colonial empires where it hurt. Besides, the Albish should have paid closer attention to such a critical country and saw how Germania benefited from assisting Akitsushima Dominion in their most desperate times, but they were probably stingy with their purse strings, like what happened to South Bharat before the communists invaded. It does suck for the Aegyptian monarchy to lose everything they have, but like the Albish, they probably should have kept their ears to the ground.
After the news from the radio ended with the Albish strongly condemning the coup but not making any immediate military moves, we chatted a bit more about the state of South Bharat and our conversation derailed to him asking me how our visit in Akitsushima Dominion went, as he had studied at a school in that country many years ago, until we eventually arrived at the Volksauto manufacturing facility.
"We're more than two hours ahead of schedule." Tata said as he looked down at his watch after we stepped out of the car. "I was worried about being late to this opening ceremony from the traffic."
Anton Ehrlich was also here, and walking fast towards us. He seemed ecstatic as always.
"Ah, good afternoon Chancellor!" he reached out his hand to offer a handshake.
"Please, just call me Tanya."
"I hope to see you back in the office again. The current idiots in office are actually going forward with divesting the government shares of Volksauto. Not that it matters as I wouldn't want them to incompetently micromanage my operations, but it will mean having to deal with shareholders that might not share the same long term look, especially with the new expansion here."
"Before the rest of the crowds show up, I would like to show the two ladies of the new plant." Tata said, this time in Albish. Anton nodded in agreement.
When we stepped inside and walked around, it reminded me of Volksauto's first plant, although it seemed that this place saw heavy use in the past.
"What was this place used before?" I pointed at the spots where old signs were removed. "It seems this place has some history to it."
"It was a warehouse before the Bharatian War." Tata said. "After the city was recaptured, the coalition decided to turn the empty warehouse into a vehicle repair hub, and when the front lines moved on, it was repurposed for combat boat fabrication and parts storage. When the coalition ceased their offensive operations, so did the demand for combat boats."
"I see that this place is still manufacturing auto rickshaws." Visha said as she overlooked a balcony and at the busy assembly lines.
"I don't foresee the demand for those cheap vehicles going away anytime soon." Tata shrugged. "Thanks to Anton's technical experts from Volksauto, we have implemented more efficient production methods, which proved to be valuable experience for establishing the more complex automotive manufacturing processes. Practicing quality controls on the auto rickshaws was also useful."
We spent the rest of the time observing a test run of a car assembly while talking about the future of Germania and South Bharat, before Anton looked down at his watch.
"We should head back outside for the opening ceremony."
1951, August 8th, somewhere south of Bombay:
…I regret eating so much spicy food at the marketplace. I'm still sweating and I could feel the burning regret in my stomach. I hope Visha doesn't taunt me too much when I have to use the bathroom.
I pushed aside those thoughts as we got off a bus and started walking towards a location I had been at about 8 years ago.
"Visha, I forgot to ask, but what do you think of the Nalanda University site?"
She glanced at her travel book for a second. "It's a fascinating place, in operation for over a millennium until it was caught up in a battle during the Mughal–Maratha Wars. While there was the archeological dig conducted by the Frankish a century ago, I feel like there are a lot of details missing."
I hummed, "Would you like to be an archeologist?" I looked towards Vishar as I asked that and saw her shake her head.
"Not really, no. But bringing many of Bharat's historical places to public attention would help."
Ah, tourism. With the advent of the jet age, many regions are going to be far more accessible for middle class tourists to explore. Mr. Tata would certainly take notice if I suggested the business opportunity to him. I might not like the idea of fueling his already sprawling conglomerate, but there are only a few other savvy, deep-pocketed entrepreneurs in Bharat like him who could take on ambitious goals without the risk of financially ruining themselves if anything goes wrong. Maybe I could pitch the idea of having him work with other entrepreneurs to ensure that everyone has a stake in every part of the tourism industry, with the justification of allowing him to focus on just the passenger aircraft operations.
As we approached the memorial, I saw the prison that remained etched in my Bharatian War memory. Visha tugged on my arm.
"Is this the place that pushed you into getting actively involved with South Bharat's politics and military?"
I took a deep sigh. "I had to put an end to the massacres. Even if I had looked the other way, the communists' propaganda machine would have been salivating at the opportunity to undermine South Bharat's and the coalition's war effort. And that was what led me to peeling back the layers of rot in the South Bharatian government and military."
"What…" Visha hesitated, "What was it like when you first saw this place during the war?"
I didn't immediately reply, opting instead to look to the side of the street that now had peaceful pedestrians going about their day, "...A lot of trenches full of bodies. They weren't making any attempts at hiding what they were doing. Claimed that everyone that was sentenced to death were communists, but seeing them execute children as well wasn't just crossing the line of ethics or legality – no, they sprinted past the line and kept going."
We continued walking past the rows of poster boards with names inscribed on them and some occasional photos, until I saw a monument depicting the little girl that I had saved.
"A shame there's no Albish translation for the plaque." Visha muttered.
There was a voice behind us.
"There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays a want of faith in one's cause." A voice from behind us spoke, "It was a quote from Bapu, or as a name that you might be more familiar with, Gandhi."
Visha and I snapped around and saw the speaker to be a South Bharatian officer that had snuck up behind us. "Oh? That's interesting to know." I said with a nod of acknowledgement. "Good morning to you, sir, how may I help you?"
The officer returned my nod, "Likewise, madam, and my apologies for the sudden interruption – I'm just here to deliver a message from our Defense Minister Motilal Ayyangar and Prime Minister Rajendra Prasad. They offered an invitation to discuss South Bharat's economic and security future."
1951, August 8th, At a DMZ location north of Lucknow:
When we saw the river, it had a different demilitarized zone than the photos of the DMZ between North and South Korea. While it still had the river bank defenses I was familiar with, there was a significant amount of boat traffic on both sides of the river, with warning buoys and ropes between them to mark the no man's zone in the center of the river. There were also patrol boats and floating observation platforms around the no man's zone.
"Where is the Defense Minister and Prime Minister?" I asked. "Didn't they say they were coming?"
"Both of them had changed their schedules at the last minute, and instead asked me to meet with the two of you." Sharada Prasad Shastri said. "I apologize for the inconvenience."
Too busy to meet with us after previously requesting to speak with us. Hmm. What could they be doing that is important enough for both of them to skip out on us?
"I'm assuming the Ghaghara River is too important to simply use it as a security boundary?" Visha asked, pointing at North and South Bharatian patrol boats passing each other.
Shastri motioned at a fishing boat. "This river, and other ones that also serve as the boundary between North and South Bharat, are too economically important to block all humans from them. Shipping traffic, fishing and so on. If we prohibited our people from using the rivers, North Bharat would have tried to monopolize the rivers as neither side wanted to be the first one to ignite a war by sinking a large number of civilian boats."
He pointed at an island in the middle of the river with a destroyed fort. "That fort exchanged hands a few times before both sides gave up on trying to occupy that piece of land. You missed the peak of the race to stake out claims on the rivers, where a few years ago we had frequent skirmishes while both sides were putting down the buoys, nets between the buoys to thwart diver infiltrations, and floating observation bases."
"What has North Bharat been doing other than the river skirmishes?" Visha asked. "Have they been gearing up for another war?"
"They surprisingly demobilized a large portion of their military after the war. What we do know is that they had been aggressively building up a heavy industry centered around metal processing, constructing hydroelectric dams in the mountains to power that industry, and completing the railway between them and Afghanistan, and the CSR. With the help from the Rus and Chinese of course."
Ah, now I remember. Afghanistan in my previous life had been known to be rich in mineral deposits.
"And I'm assuming Afghanistan is developing a mining industry?" I asked.
"Indeed. Railway traffic heading south from Afghanistan are increasingly transporting ores or quarries, and probably to the north as well to the Russy Confederation. They haven't been sending the ores all the way to the CSR, so it's possible that the Chinese deemed it was more efficient to process the ores in the Russy Confederation and North Bharat, then transport the metal ingots and finished parts to the CSR."
"So it's an economic race between the north and south." Visha said. "I guess when there are more military focused industries being built in the north, that is probably when they will start looking at rearming themselves."
"Yes, that is a major concern." Shastri responded. "They're likely expecting South Bharat to not launch any major pre-emptive attacks in the near future, even with the whole mess between the CSR and the Akitsushima Dominion."
An economic race between two countries. And Tata Industries is likely not the only company that is set on eventually becoming the mega corporations that have massive influence on countries. You can't have an efficient free market if a few players can constantly manipulate it to their personal preferences and to paper over stagnation or excessive risk taking.
Could the Prime Minister be busy meeting with Mr. Tata or other major businessmen, already setting the stage for South Bharat to become a corporatocracy? So where would the Defense Minister be then?
"The two railways." Visha muttered. "They're counting on their allies to quickly send in reinforcements in the event of war using those railways."
"Along with the roads in Tibet and the airfields in North Bharat." Shastri said, then he lowered his voice. "Both ministers have been unsure of how to confront a growing problem. We need some privacy to discuss the matter."
Visha put up her privacy spell immediately.
"Can anyone else potentially hear us?" He asked, looking around.
"Extremely unlikely, unless one of us is wearing a recorder." I responded.
He nodded, "Regarding North Bharat's railways, we have intel suggesting that North Bharat has been in secret talks with their western neighbor, Qajar Empire, to essentially trade the quarries from Afghanistan and metal products for oil. Part of the trade deal would include North Bharat funding and building a railway from them through the Qajar Empire, along with technical assistance for converting incompatible track gauges and trains to a single standard. Our intel analysts are certain that the Russy Confederation and the Chinese Soviet Republic would handle most of the railway constructions, and of course the 'standard' track gauge would be what the communists are using. The Qajar Empire's monarchy expressed interest in effectively tripling their railway mileage, but they were hesitant about going forward with the deal."
"I thought the Qajar Empire was under the Albish control?" Visha asked.
"And so was Aegyptus." Shastri shot back. "The Albish had lost control of such a critical country and appeared to be unwilling to retake it by force, or just slow to respond. That had not gone unnoticed by other countries in the Middle East. Now they have to decide if they still want to remain with the Allied Kingdom and Francois Republic, or align themselves with the new rising powers. They could also give into the ever growing nationalist movements by pushing for complete independence, but that carries a risk of being pushed around by the major powers. It is dangerous to be the unprotected tree full of fruits, and in this case, oil and trade routes.
"The communists have been starved of oil ever since the Second Europan War." I tapped my chin. "Their only reliable sources are from Sibyria, and based on how the CSR's first warships appear to be the coal burning types when all of the other major countries had switched to oil many years ago, I'd say they weren't getting enough. The oil from the Middle East would allow them to supercharge their economies. After all, melting down ores and making refined metals out of them takes a lot of energy, and that's just for North Bharat. Burma and the CSR would also want the oil."
"And if they're getting the oil over a railway, they won't be affected by a naval blockade." Visha added, then her face turned to horror. "They could also build an oil pipeline using North Bharat's metal industry!"
I turned to Shastri. "What did you mean by North Bharat 'tripling' the size of the Qajar Empire's railway network?
"That was another thing that concerned us," he frowned. "Based on the number of promised mileage, we believe that the communists wish to build their railways all the way to the Qajar Empire's western neighbors. The Turkmen Republic and Kingdom of Iraq."
"They want control of the Middle East, not just the Qajar Empire. Or completely bypass the Suez Canal using railroads so they can trade with the resource rich Africa without worrying about naval blockades. They can't beat us, the Albish, the Akinese or the Americans in the naval game, so they'll just remove the ocean from the equation." I chuckled. "And considering the ongoing chaos in Caucasia, they could be planning on denying oil to Europe, or at least use it as a blackmail to put political pressure on non-communist countries."
"Doesn't Europe have the option of importing oil from the Americans?"
"Not for long. We were just there recently, and they were bulldozing their city centers to make way for highways. Their domestic automotive companies, and Volksauto, are running advertisements about how every family should have two cars. Their trucking industry is also expected to boom with the growth of highways."
"I see what you mean. That's a lot of gasoline and diesel usage."
"Have you already informed Germania about this?" Visha asked.
"Not yet, this is a very recent development. What should South Bharat do?"
I mentally groaned at what I might have to tell South Bharat's and Germania's governments to do. Getting involved with the Middle East, the very region I was so afraid of lighting off that powder keg and watching the fireworks burn even long after the fall of communism, like what happened to my previous world. Just because the USSR kneeled over, didn't mean that the drama from decades of shenanigans didn't come back to bite everyone. And I would need to avoid angering the Albish and Frankish as they seem bent on maintaining their colonial status quo even with the world changing around them.
"Maybe tell the Albish?" Visha asked.
Shastri shook his head. "If it was a decade ago, we would have. But now we don't have confidence in their ability to handle this without risk pushing the Qajar Empire into the hands of the communists."
"How much does South Bharat trade with the Qajar Empire?" I asked.
"Other than buying oil, not much."
"Do you think the Qajar Empire would be interested in affordable automotives and other manufactured goods?"
"I'm not sure how the Albish would feel about us openly exporting products to what they perceive as their client kingdom. They are selective with who gets to trade with their colonies, and probably still hold a resentment against us."
"If they move to block your trade, then you could give them the hint that their so-called puppet is trying to go around them by making a deal with the communists. Even if they fail to pressure the Qajar Empire to stop the deal, it would expose to the world that the Albish can't stop their colonies and client states from trading with other foreign powers, allowing South Bharat to go ahead and trade."
"And what do you think Germania would be doing during all of this?"
I sighed. "I don't know for certain anymore. If the current Germanian administration decides to get involved with the Middle East, I have no idea how they would go about doing that."
A few days later:
As we rode in the train on our way to Delhi, I flipped through a newspaper that had an article about how the Allied Kingdom and Francois Republic were selling arms to Aegyptus's neighbors and providing advisors to help train their military forces. Of course they argued it was to help maintain stability in the region. The thought about how Germania would respond to all the new events continued to spin my head, until an idea came to me.
"Visha, I think we need to head back to Germania."
"Huh? Why?" Visha looked up from writing her travel guide notes, a surprised expression on her face.
"I have an idea how we can force him to keep his power in check. Remember how the Emperor used the TV to get his message across?" I smiled. "We should start a TV show, with a focus on economics, socials and politics. It's fair to say that the majority of Germania had bought at least one of our books."
"Indeed…" She looked at me for a moment before narrowing her eyes, "Are you going back to politics?"
A sour look crossed over my face, "That's still a no." I shook my head. "I don't want the stress of that work."
AN:
wiki/William_Shockley
Shockley became increasingly domineering and paranoid. In one well-known incident, he demanded lie detector tests to find the "culprit" after a company secretary suffered a minor cut.[34]
wiki/Traitorous_eight
Although Shockley was never diagnosed by psychiatrists,[47] historians characterized Shockley's state of mind in 1956–1957 as paranoia[note 2] or autism. All phone calls were recorded,[48] and the staff was not allowed to share their results with each other, which was not feasible since they all worked in a small building.[49] Shockley, not trusting his employees, was sending their reports to Bell Labs for double-checking.[50] At some point, he sent the entire lab for a lie detector test, though everyone refused.[27][51]
Shockley could never understand the reasons for this defection.[67] After that time, he never talked to Noyce again,[63] but continued to follow the work of "The Eight".[68] He also combed through all records left by The Eight, basing patents, held as Shockley Labs' intellectual property, on any important ideas.[68] (Technically, in accordance with U.S. law, those patents were issued to the respective inventing employees.)
wiki/Vasil_Mzhavinidze
Georgia prospered during Mzhavinidze's term of office against a background of corruption. Mzhavinidze himself became a symbol of corrupt, inefficient governance. He was accused of auctioning jobs, pocketing state funds and running illegal factories for his own enrichment;
wiki/Georgian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic
Although corruption was hardly unknown in the Soviet Union, it became so widespread and blatant in Georgia that it came to be an embarrassment to the authorities in Moscow. Eduard Shevardnadze, the country's interior minister between 1964 and 1972, gained a reputation as a fighter of corruption and engineered the removal of Vasil Mzhavinidze, the corrupt First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. Shevardnadze ascended to the post of First Secretary with the blessings of Moscow. He was an effective and able ruler of Georgia from 1972 to 1985, improving the official economy and dismissing hundreds of corrupt officials.
wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem#Religious_policies_and_the_Buddhist_crisis
In a country where surveys of the religious composition estimated the Buddhist majority to be between 70% and 90%,[101][102][103][104][105][106][107] Diệm's policies generated claims of religious bias. Diem was widely regarded by historians as having pursued pro-Catholic policies that antagonized many Buddhists. Specifically, the government was regarded as being biased towards Catholics in public service and military promotions, as well as the allocation of land, business favors, and tax concessions.[108] Diệm also once told a high-ranking officer, forgetting that he was a Buddhist, "Put your Catholic officers in sensitive places. They can be trusted." Many officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam converted to Catholicism in the belief that their military prospects depended on it.[109] The distribution of weapons to village self-defense militias intended to repel Việt Cộng guerrillas saw weapons only given to Catholics. Some Buddhist villages converted en masse to Catholicism in order to receive aid or to avoid being forcibly resettled by Diệm's regime,[110] with Buddhists in the army being denied promotion if they refused to convert to Catholicism.[111] Some Catholic priests ran their own private armies,[112] and in some areas forced conversions, looting, shelling, and demolition of pagodas occurred.[113]
wiki/Ghost_soldiers
Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions are names appearing on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army officers or others.[1] Soldiers may equally benefit from the corruption scheme by returning to their civilian occupation and routine while gaining marginal income.[1] The practice, however, weakens the military and makes it susceptible to military offensives and major defeats when leaders ignore available troops. Ghost soldiers have been cited in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries.
wiki/Nalanda#Impact_of_Destruction_and_influence_on_Tibetan_Buddhism_tradition
Nalanda still continued to operate into the 14th-century as the Indian monk, Dhyānabhadra was said to have been a monk at Nalanda prior to his travels in East Asia.[107]
Container shipping history: wiki/Containerization#Mid-twentieth_century
In April 1951, at Zürich Tiefenbrunnen railway station, the Swiss Museum of Transport and Bureau International des Containers (BIC) held demonstrations of container systems, with the aim of selecting the best solution for Western Europe. Present were representatives from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and the United States. The system chosen for Western Europe was based on the Netherlands' system for consumer goods and waste transportation called Laadkisten (literally, "loading bins"), in use since 1934. This system used roller containers that were moved by rail, truck and ship, in various configurations up to a capacity of 5,500 kg (12,100 lb), and up to 3.1 by 2.3 by 2 metres (10 ft 2 in × 7 ft 6+1⁄2 in × 6 ft 6+3⁄4 in) size.[17][18] This became the first post World War II European railway standard UIC 590, known as "pa-Behälter." It was implemented in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, West Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark.[19]
In 1952 the US Army developed the Transporter into the CONtainer EXpress or CONEX box system. The size and capacity of the Conex were about the same as the Transporter,[nb 1] but the system was made modular, by the addition of a smaller, half-size unit of 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) long, 4 ft 3 in (1.30 m) wide and 6 ft 10+1⁄2 in (2.10 m) high.[22][23][nb 2] CONEXes could be stacked three high, and protected their contents from the elements.[20]
wiki/Egyptian_revolution_of_1952
The leadership of the Kingdom of Egypt was seen as corrupt, with its elites viewed as either too incompetent and fearful to resist the United Kingdom, or actively pro-British. Moreover, the lavish lifestyle of these same elites seemed provocative to the Free Officers Movement, most of whom were from austere backgrounds. Government policies completed the image of the Egyptian state being a puppet in the hands of the British government. This general sense of grievance against the upper eschelons of Egyptian society extended to the great national institutions, such as the palace, the police, parliament, and the main political parties.
After the Egyptian revolution, the monarchies in the neighboring countries had conflicts with Nassar: watch?v=RYiGIQLo98s&t=959s
wiki/Gamal_Abdel_Nasser#Pan-Arabism_and_socialism
Relations between Nasser and King Hussein of Jordan deteriorated in April when Hussein implicated Nasser in two coup attempts against him[153][154]—although Nasser's involvement was never established[155][156]—and dissolved al-Nabulsi's cabinet.[153][154] Nasser subsequently slammed Hussein on Cairo radio as being "a tool of the imperialists".[157] Relations with King Saud also became antagonistic as the latter began to fear that Nasser's increasing popularity in Saudi Arabia was a genuine threat to the royal family's survival.[153] Despite opposition from the governments of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Lebanon, Nasser maintained his prestige among their citizens and those of other Arab countries.[148]
The economic recovery of North and South Bharats was inspired by how North and South Koreas recovered from their war: watch?v=dyxXMGYT3ws&t=596s
And Taiwan's post-WW2 economic recovery: /nGYzXNpQclo?t=688
Iran's railway network: wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Railways# _rail_ . .eSV_
Inspiration for the communists' "railroads go BRRRR" strategy was the Berlin-Baghdad railway project, which would had allowed the German Empire's trade with the Middle East and their eastern African colonies to bypass the Suez Canal (and the Royal Navy), and of course the more recent Belt and Road Initiative's railway networks:
wiki/Berlin_railway
Had it been completed earlier, the Berlin-Baghdad (and ultimately Basra) railway would have enabled transport and trade from Germany through a port on the Persian Gulf, from which trade goods and supplies could be exchanged directly with the farthest of the German colonies, and the world. The journey home to Germany would have given German industry a direct supply of oil. This access to resources, with trade less affected by British control of shipping, would have been beneficial to German economic interests in industry and trade,[10][page needed] and threatening to British economic dominance in colonial trade.
The railway also threatened Russia, since it was accepted as axiomatic that political influence followed economic, and the railway was expected to extend Germany's economic influence towards the Caucasian frontier and into north Persia where Russia had a dominant share of the market.[11]