AN: Credits to gdstriker, perfect_shade and Readhead for the revisions.

1953, October 22nd, in Berun:

I calmly waited in my office until, at last, the door opened to admit a very nervous Francois Foreign Minister, who was, at least for that moment, still Pierre Bidault.

The door abruptly shut behind him, causing him to startle.

"Where's your new so-called president, hmm? I clearly requested a visit with him, and him specifically," I snapped, and then, when no answer was immediately offered, added, "Oh yes, I must speak with him specifically, as my other options have far-reaching consequences for all of Europe. Or…" I thinly smiled, "is Raoul Massu still using his title 'Général d'Armée' and has not bothered to swear himself into office yet? Is that why your alleged president isn't here to explain himself?"

"He sent me on his behalf," Bidault said, glancing around the room. I couldn't help but notice how careful he was to check each of the corners. Including the ones with the ceiling. "The political situation in the Francois Republic is still fragile, you see. He is doing his utmost to stabilize matters…"

"Which have only been destabilized because you scammed me!" I slammed my fist onto the table. "As far as I am concerned, our prior agreement has been invalidated, as it was made with your previous government. I can't in good conscience maintain free trade and other economic deals with an illegitimate dictatorship, certainly not a dictatorship on my very doorstep."

Interestingly, the man's Gallic pride didn't rise to the surface to rage with typical vitriol against the truths I had slung at his feet. Instead, after glimpsing around the room again and swallowing nervously, Bidault asked, "Do we have privacy here?"

"Of course," I purred, leaning forward in anticipation. With that much build-up, whatever he had to say must be interesting.

"I had to back the coup," he said, his tone instantly pleading. "You can't understand just how chaotic things have gotten behind closed doors. Historians will spend the next century debating over what exactly happened! A civil war was the only other alternative! A civil war that Massu's faction or other like-minded leaders would have won, due to much of the military and the intelligence services backing their politics, and because those same services wish to hold onto the rebellious overseas colonies at all cost. The organized criminal groups would have thrown their backing behind whoever would allow them to continue business as usual, which Massu's faction was all too happy to agree to do! The only move I could play was to bet on the winners."

All of this mess right on my doorstep, and the Francois Republic wasn't an insignificant country. They would drag down the rest of Europe if they imploded.

Even when I win against the Frankish, they still find a way to cause me headaches!

"And what's stopping me from ordering a military intervention to restore democracy…?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"I will be destroying the coup plotters from the inside," Bidault frowned, refraining from answering my question directly. "Discrediting and undermining them. That will allow a restoration of democracy, once the public loses all faith in Massu and his supporters. We Frankish have a long history of alternating between republic and monarchy, you know. I just have to complete my work before the junta fully destroys the Republic or, worse yet, spreads their chaos all throughout Europe. A direct intervention from you would cause intense resentment towards Germania and the perceived 'puppet' government that you put in power. If you remember the history lessons from over a century ago, Napoleon tried forcing his liberalism onto Ispagna after overthrowing their monarchy, and only accomplished an endless guerrilla warfare that the Albish backed."

"So you say… But why should I trust you?" I asked skeptically. The man had a point, but he also had an agenda. "After all, you could put yourself into power after Massu and his cronies have all been pushed out."

"And you would still have the military intervention option if I seized power myself," he shrugged. "The alternative is that the Francois Republic becomes a failed state from the new government's mismanagement, which will invite the communists to exert their influence or the criminal groups deciding that they would like to run a state instead of operating in the shadows."

He smiled slightly. "I think you would much prefer a restored democracy over a failed state or a communist one."

I paused for a moment to contemplate before shaking my head. "Why are you coming to me for help, of all the people?"

"Name my other options. Inaction is not possible; so long as the dictators rule, only ruin will come to Frankia." Bidault had a brief look of despair. "The Albish and Americans couldn't care less about the internal Frankish politics. You, on the other hand, have excellent reasons to care, and have the military and economic power necessary to force any new government, including one led by me, to listen to your concerns."

"And what about your own safety?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you that eager to earn an assassination all of your very own? Massu will figure out that you are playing your own game at some point, I'd assume."

"Perhaps," Bidault allowed, but then chuckled and shook his head. "But perhaps not. I suspect that even firing or demoting me would lead to their downfall. I'm the one who has been carefully keeping our African colonies from exploding into rebellions, and they know they don't have the military strength to crack down on Africa when Francois Indochina and Algeria are already bleeding us dry. But, my credentials could always be burnished, which is why I want to construct a public image that only my negotiations are keeping you from invading the Francois Republic."

I could only marvel, eyes wide, at the sheer temerity of his request.

"Yes," Bidault nodded knowingly, my rising irritation clearly not lost on him. "Our home military is extremely weak from the colonial wars and our continuous declining economy. We certainly can't borrow more money after our default on debts. Even Lothiern could give us serious headaches if they mobilized and declared war, to say nothing of a struggle against OZEV."

"What is your goal?" I narrowed my eyes.

"There are some things that I need you to make as a demand so I can present them to my government. And tell them they will need to accept the carefully negotiated deal to avoid economic sanctions or even a military intervention." He smiled, and I motioned to him to get on with it.

"Allow political dissidents and draft dodgers to safely leave the country, for starters. Eventually, a fissure will rupture between those that want to keep making concessions and those that decide they are willing to risk a war. The diarchy of dictators won't last long if they have internal splits."

"I see…" I rubbed two of my fingers together while my mind raced.

I can't exploit him entirely for my own gains. It has to be something that would benefit his claimed goal of restoring democracy, drive a wedge into the Frankish autocracy, keep him politically protected long enough for all of that to happen, and also keep the Francois Republic from completely collapsing in the meantime.

I popped a magic painkiller to dull the pain from realizing that I've been sucked into an incredibly messy political web, and the easy option of just torching the whole place to the ground to start over would undermine the restoration of a legitimate government. All of this reminded me of the post-war economic and political rebuilding that the US and others in my previous world had to do after crushing Italy, Germany, and Japan.

"I want employees of Germanian businesses to be exempt from military service, including conscription," I said, and then offered my hand for a handshake. "And I will publicly thank you for helping find a common ground between our two countries, thus ensuring peace in Europe."

"Thank you for the assistance. I'll be in touch." Bidault gripped my hand for a firm shake.

I sat down to think over his willingness to essentially commit treason against his new government, when he then dropped a bombshell on me. "Just for your awareness in case your agents haven't already discovered it, but we will have a working atomic bomb sometime next year. Although there have been disagreements over how we would utilize the atomic bombs, ranging from keeping the nuclear program activity to a minimum to prioritize resources for boots on the ground in the overseas colonies, to outright dropping atomic bombs on insurgent held areas to force them to submit."

I curled one of my hands into a fist. "You will seek an end to the development of nuclear weapons, and allow international inspectors to verify that. Maybe when your country is on much more stable footing and if the communists have the delusions of trying to invade Europe, then we can revisit the topic."

"I'll let my colleagues know what needs to be done," Bidault nonchalantly replied. "And step back to watch from the spectators stand when arguments rage over shutting down our program end up fracturing their fragile united political front. The major risk I foresee is some extremist SCE faction stealing parts of the atomic project, including kidnapping staff, and continuing to try to carry out the program in secret."

"What a shame," I shook my head. "Then it will be your military and the rest of the SCE that will have to put a bullet into the rabid dog. Harassment of the international inspectors would only result in the next group having OZEV military escorts, and if those escorts are harassed…"

"I get your point," he smiled. "I expect my colleagues to mess up somewhere, and I'll let you know where to look if I know about it."

"Are you sure they will accept all of those demands?"

"All of their other options are worse," Bidault replied with a surprisingly jaunty grin.

"I see. One of my agents will be in contact with you when you return home, for your personal security."

Of course, that agent would also be there to keep an eye on him in case he tried to scam me again.

"Thank you for the help. I look forward to meeting your agent."

I was not expecting him to be so enthusiastic about being put under watch. What is going on?!

I wanted to scream and wake myself up from this nightmare. Just power up my orb and fly out of my office, crashing through the window. This was not the victory over the Francois Republic that I wanted!

After he exited my office and shut the door, I put my head in my hands in agony. Francois Republic's political disaster while I also worry about what Elya could accomplish if Calvar is truly honest with his stated goal of bringing down the dictatorship, Lothiern's natural gas dealing, Allied Kingdom likely to throw a hissy fit over the North Sea hydrocarbons, Russy Confederation being an ambiguous problem, Chinese Soviet Republic stirring up trouble in Southeast Asia, the entirety of the Middle East just having another thunderdome session this time with foreign backers, Africa apparently being barely kept under the lid if Bidault turns out to be unfireable as he claims, South America being a full blown war zone where I would likely have to increase my involvement there, Unified States having their own political drama of an exceptionally weak president battling against his shadow cabinet, my own domestic politics of trying to figure how to dispose of my Maire disguise while the bloody so-called prince is running around in Germania, and there are probably some other things I'm forgetting.

"That was an interesting turn of events," Elya said, dropping the false wall disguise while my mind was still spinning. "Quite an interesting offer too."

"Indeed," I leaned back into my chair and let out a deep groan. "I can't believe they ran themselves into the ground so deep that their only solution to avoiding a conflict with us is to just give into all of their demands. Then there's the mess where their foreign minister is dragging me into the dumpster fire of their internal politics."

"What do we do now?"

"Bidault could be a powerful ally for us if he was even halfway truthful just now," I looked uneasy. "He could provide the political shield for our operations, while you undermine his political opponents. It will be a risky and messy campaign, but a necessary one."

"I'm nervous, but I'm excited for this." Elya looked flustered. I don't envy her for having to also play this political intrigue game.

"Just take it slow, we're walking on a tightrope with the wind howling around us." I sighed. "And don't lose sight of all of the other things that we have to track."

1953, November 2nd, in the Formosa Strait:

Chung Lung chuckled as he watched the mainlander destroyers helplessly trail behind, belching massive clouds of thick, black smoke from their boilers being filled with presumably low grade coal.

'What a pathetic sight. They can't catch a fully loaded merchant ship that had an engine upgrade.'

"Captain, there's a small vessel moving directly in front of us!" A lookout called out.

He put his binoculars to his face to get a closer look at the vessel.

'It's just a shrimping boat. Nothing to worry about.'

"Maintain course and speed! We are carrying enough concrete powder and other construction materials to fortify our rightful island from the mainlanders' attacks! A little wooden vessel isn't going to stop us!"

"Maintain course and speed aye," the helmsman replied.

As the shrimping boat got nearer, Chung continued staring at it with his binoculars. Something didn't seem right.

"They are light on actual shrimping equipment and while they are riding low in the water, it doesn't look like they have recently caught anything…"

His eyes then widened in concern as he spun around to the helmsman. "Reduce speed to one third, hard a starboard!"

The shrimp boat's engines revved to close the distance against the fast but unmaneuverable cargo ship, and Chung helplessly watched with horror as the shrimp boat collided with his ship.

But nothing happened.

He took a big sigh of relief and then laughed at the floating wreck of the shrimping boat as his cargo ship sailed past it.

Just when he looked away to focus on what was in front of the ship, there was a loud explosion and he looked back to see that the shrimping boat ceased to exist, its pieces raining back down into the water as shrapnel rain.

"Those monsters, they actually tried to sink us!" Chung threw his binoculars into the air and over the ship.

"Captain, do you hear that noise?…" one of the crew members cocked his head in confusion.

"I do hear it… What in heaven is that?" Chung stopped to also turn his head. "I need another pair of binoculars."

The noise rapidly ratcheted up in intensity as he grabbed another pair of binoculars. Just as he obtained sight of the inbound propeller aircraft, the noise was soon becoming unbearable to the point where the crew members were fleeing back inside the ship to seek shelter. Occasionally an unfortunate crew member would vomit, soil themselves, or convulse from the unbearable noise.

He ducked for cover as all of the windows in the pilothouse shattered, and then scrambled to the hatch to enter the lower level of the ship to escape from the nauseating noises.

After clamoring through the hatch and shutting it, he almost slipped on a puddle of vomit while continuing to flee from the ever-increasing noise, which was now vibrating the ship's structure.

'How are we going to pilot this ship if everyone is forced below decks to simply survive?'

1953 November 4th, Berun:

"Shu, you just had to add to the flaming dumpster fires that I'm already busy monitoring, much less being able to actually put them out…"

I put down the report in annoyance. His damn chartered construction supply ship provoked the CSR. The only minor benefit was that they fully revealed their operational 'sonic boom' aircraft that didn't disassemble itself in mid-air from a single flight. Half a dozen of them demonstrated their destructive capability by thoroughly wrecking the ship's pilothouse and all other surface-mounted equipment by just utilizing their extreme noise. All for the communists to claim they didn't fire any shots.

So far the CSR hasn't outright tried blockading Formosa's outer islands, probably due to the Akinese warships that were observing the situation just a few kilometers away. At some point, someone's nerve is going to snap and a very kinetic "skirmish" will ignite again with significant destruction, or maybe even a full-blown war.

As Shu was clearly not going to calm down and telling him to back off on the communists would be politically awkward, maybe I could pull a "good cop, bad cop" routine on the CSR…? Tell them to get with my program or I would just keep enabling Shu to accomplish his ambitions. Then, if the communists chose to act uncharacteristically reasonable and make a deal, I would have the political justification to tell Shu to knock it off, resolving my current headache, hopefully for a few months at least.

The question with all of that was, of course, whether or not the current illegitimate government in the CSR would even try to negotiate over the fate of Southeast Asia. I would like for them to stop supporting the insurgents in the East Indies when Lothiern lets their colonies form their own independent democracies, but unless something exciting happens in the Formosan Strait again in the near future, actually bringing them to the negotiating table would be tricky…

Then there are the many other problems I had to juggle…

I heard a knock on my office door.

That must be Visha, I thought, checking the clock. Come to tell me that it's time to join her in bed…

Instead, I heard Elya's voice. Somewhat confused and slightly frustrated, I let her into my office, concerned about what her late-night brief might be.

"Calvar is begging us to intervene before Francois Republic destroys itself by going into a total war economy, drafting people, and defaulting on its foreign debts," Elya immediately reported, effortlessly destroying my hopes for an early evening. "He claimed the draft in particular will not only destroy the country but also bring a communist threat right into Europe."

"Alright, I'll bite…" I grumbled, slouching deeper into my office chair. "Why is he concerned with the draft in particular?"

"Because some of the draftees that aren't pro-colonials will defect to the communists, ignite mutinies among the ranks, or eventually come back home to cause serious trouble, this time with military experience and stolen equipment," Elya promptly replied, and frowned. "While he had no issue with brutally putting down the rebels in Francois Indochina and elsewhere, committing economic and social suicide was too much of a leap for him to tolerate."

I learned forward with a deepened tone. "An outright military intervention would only cause us more problems. The only solution I can think of is a counter-coup, but it can't look like it's from us. I don't know if I have the risk appetite to sign off on that…"

A murderous smile was suddenly in evidence on Elya's face, seldom a good sign.

I sat upright in alarm as Elya confidently started speaking. "I will take a very extended vacation in Francois Republic to work with him. I also finished the report on the Chinese training camps for you to hold a meeting with Lothiern prime minister Vondel as my last assignment."

"That's not what I had in mind when I suggested that you should take a vacation." I started rapidly breathing in panic. Elya being off the chains would be a hazard to everyone, including me!

"Oh please, going back to being a direct handler for a field agent is a major downgrade in the responsibilities that I have to worry about!" Elya smirked "I also finished helping Anna reorganize the BND, so she is ready to take my position."

"A field agent that still might act against us."

"Just another normal day for me then," she giggled. I couldn't tell if she had gone insane or finally found an opportunity to stay away from office work.

"Who will take over for the BND?"

"Like I said, Anna will be in charge now. I will be acting independently."

I sat down and slouched in my chair, defeated. "I understand. I deeply appreciate all of the work you have done for Germania."

"Don't be so sad!" Elya chirped. "It's just going to be a new chapter of helping you and Germania! If Calvar undermines the extremist Frankish government before they cause harm to us, I'd consider that a major geopolitical win. We'd avoid an open war by waging one in the shadows. And I look forward to the fun of going back to what I was doing as an Imperial Intel agent."

"Didn't you mention a while ago about how you were too… noticeable, to be a field agent?"

"That was before sustained stealth casting with disguises became possible," Elya flipped her hair, and in an instant transformed into a different person with her magic casting. "You lead the way in that with your 'Marie' disguise, and I had been closely studying how you were doing it. The new prototype transistor orbs that the BND has recently received in limited numbers certainly helps."

As Elya prepared to leave, I motioned her to stop.

"Do you think I made the wrong decision of previously remaining passive with foreign policy? Or giving the bare minimum support to Aegyptus?"

Normally it'd be dangerous to be this blunt about my concerns. Showing weakness in a corporate or political environment was an invitation for the sharks to circle around. No, the only way was to avoid publicly admitting fault and then carefully back away from the bad position. But I needed to know what to do when my current strategy had caused unintended consequences and Elya was about to disappear off the grid for some intense shadow games against the Frankish intel agents and their new dictatorship.

Elya pondered for a moment. "It's easy to look back and grumble about wishing how things could have been done differently back then. So my question for you is what will be your new plan if you think your previous strategy wasn't working."

"Take more proactive measures," I shrugged my shoulders. "But somehow also avoid the risk of blowback."

"Not making a decision means the decision will be made for you," Elya softly smiled. "There's always a risk, but so is there with letting others just walk over you."

"Should I start planning to force the illegitimate Frankish government out?"

"Calvar and I will probe around first, along with 'informal' and 'unofficial' cooperation with the BND as we will be private citizens and not employed by Germania." Elya winked. "What is your plan for other regions?"

"Keep Nasser and Aegyptus from doing anything reckless…" I then frowned. "But if anyone tries to sabotage or invade them, it's gloves off. And for the CSR, actively contain them while keeping Shu from igniting a direct war."

"Sounds like a plan!" Elya reached out her hand for a handshake. "Also, do run those plans with Visha. In bed. Naked. I think she sensed that you were in a depressed mood and had been buying things to spice up your bedroom for a romantic evening. Rose flowers and fine wine."

"I sure will…" I awkwardly coughed.

1953 November 12th, in Lothiern, Amstreldam:

"I know what you're here for. The future of our East Indies." Vondel had an unpleasant look on his face.

"The CSR had already decided that for you."

"What are you talking about?"

As tempted as I was to smile, I swapped that with a disappointed face. The last thing I wanted to do was rub it in his face when he was about to learn about the extent of the communist cancer in the overseas territory that he had proven so reluctant to release.

I removed a folded-up map from my briefcase and unfolded it on the table. Then set out photos of training camps, placed next to the map's marked locations.

"Communist rebel training camps that the Albish claim they will take care of when I ask them about it," Vondel raised an eyebrow as he looked at the map and photos. "I'm assuming you have some sort of evidence that won't be the case?"

"See the table tennis setup everywhere? How popular is table tennis among the locals in your colony?"

"Not at all, as far as I know," Vondel responded absently, picking up one of the photos to take a closer look.

"And table tennis is popular in the CSR." I pushed forward a document detailing the table tennis sports in the CSR, including some Chinese newspaper clippings of table tennis competition results.

"They would be foolish to have their personnel in such visible camps," Vondel's face twitched, fury buffering.

"And yet they are there anyway. The Albish could have easily identified those camps for bombing or naval bombardment. But it hasn't happened. And I would assume the CSR has contingency plans if the Albish hammer does come down on their exposed camps. Has Londinium told you of the progress of their operations in your colony?"

"Few details after they invaded Aegyptus. And no details after the Prime Minister William stepped down." Vondel then let out a deep sigh.

"I'd imagine the ongoing events in Francois Republic also have their full attention," I nonchalantly shrugged.

"Speaking of that, Lothiern had a large number of Frankish citizens lining up at our border stations seeking political asylum. What is your policy on those asylum seekers?"

I don't like the dual risk of Frankish intel agents and communists being let into Germania. But anyone remotely suspected of not being pro-colonialist is now in danger. Ispagna is also pro-colonialist, the Albish will likely wait for a long time before doing the right thing, and the remaining border countries can only take so many asylum seekers before having domestic political backlash.

Wait, backlash… Yes, I should have Germania welcome the asylum seekers. And even if the backlash is muted, it could help Germania in the long run. I expect a large portion of the skilled and educated workforce to migrate to somewhere that has higher living standards in a free society instead of sticking around in a total war economy with an oppressive police state. They also would be a source of intelligence as to the state of the "Republic", and maybe we could even send some of them back as our agents. Similar to how Shu has been sending his agents over to the CSR's mainland.

"If your country is concerned about taking in large numbers of their citizens, then Germania will take all of them. It won't be cheap for us, but resolving our natural gas situation would help both of us."

"All of the refugees? Really?"

"Do I look like I make half-hearted political statements?"

"Quite the opposite…" Vondel coughed.

"Anyways, the question I have is what happens when the referendum you are holding on the Lothiern East Indies ends up being in favor of continuing the current course of action?"

"Leave me," Vondel motioned me to leave. "I need to think. And then there's also that natural gas situation that needs to be resolved. May I have those documents?"

1953 November 19th, in Germania, Munchen (Munich):

Prince Karl Ferdinand looked out at the small gathering of people, which he could have sworn included more media personnel there to record him then actual supporters. Oh well, every new political candidate has to start somewhere.

'I would have been content to stay in Lothiern, but now that the Francois Republic had switched to a military dictatorship, it's only a matter of time before they have another go at us. Their colonial troubles are only temporary. And Maire's suggestion for embracing "diversity" for an unstable alliance is insane when we should be enforcing Preussian culture and languages on our subjects!'

"Thank you all for gathering here today. You may be wondering what a prince is doing out here instead of enjoying their time in Lothiern."

A reporter in the crowd shouted, "Who made you a prince?!"

Ferdinand stifled a look of annoyance at the interruption. "My grandfather was forced to abdicate from the throne by the invaders, in a war that the foreign powers started and dragged out until we were ground down into submission. Not much different from pointing a gun at someone's head to force them to sign a contract to hand over their house and belongings. They wanted to dismantle a rival great power."

"And why are you coming back here now, three decades since the formation of the Germanian Republic?"

"I was going to address that question if you had waited for a short moment," Ferdinand lost his patience and snapped at the reporter. "I was content with a quiet life, right up until a new military dictatorship was established in the Francois Republic. The last time they leaned heavily into their military, they were a threat to us! And even if I still wanted to stay out of it, Lothiern's recent developments shifted that country closer to OZEV and away from their previous allies. That puts them in the crosshairs of the resurgent Frankish military. I'm not going to sit idly and wait for war to come to my doorstep."

"We need to attack the Franks before they attack us!" Someone in the crowd shouted.

"I agree, we need to directly restore order in the Francois Republic to throw out the illegitimate coup plotters." Ferdinand smiled.

"What is your opinion of President Degurachaff and Marie Kirschmann?" Another reporter interjected.

"Both of them aren't going far enough to ensure the security of our way of life. As for Marie Kirschmann, her idea of a European Federation is admirable but flawed; any such entity will be eternally fragile and always gridlocked by infighting among wildly different political factions. Many so-called members will always prioritize their own country's well-being above the interests of the weak federation."

As Ferdinand continued his speech, someone concealed from the crowd both by the separation of quite some distance and the shadows of a well-cast illusion quietly observed the miniscule rally with ever-increasing concern.

'Now I can't get rid of my disguise. Not while this self-proclaimed prince is trying to rally war fanatics,' I thought to myself, disgusted. 'The only choice I have is to have "Maire" draw the war fanatics from him to keep him politically irrelevant, while also ensuring that "Maire" doesn't win the elections. As for me, I'm going to need to make a phone call to arrange a direct meeting…'

1953 December 1st, in Londinium:

John Macmill, the new Allied Kingdom Prime Minister, stared at the TV while watching Lothiern Prime Minister Vodel give a speech.

"That's what he meant when he asked what our plans were for bringing peace to their East Indies." Macmill crushed his cigar into the ashtray. "I didn't think that telling him we were overhauling our war plans would result in him telling his people to vote for a natural gas deal that favors OZEV. And while he has the fig of a referendum to pretend that it's his voters that forced the issue, he has intentionally tipped the scale in one direction only one day before the referendum voting starts."

"He was working behind our back the whole time. Working hand in hand with the Devil of the Rhine," Shone growled through gritted teeth.

"That's an obsolete term for her," Macmill shook his head. "To be honest, I'm impressed by what she pulled off while also making her look like a saint. It's just that it came at our expense."

"How is she a saint?! The natural gas deal-" Shone was cut off by Macmill holding up his hand.

"She convinced Vodel to peacefully let go of the East Indies and establish an independent democratic government. It will be a mess even without the communist insurgency, but it's clear he doesn't trust our methods anymore. And I can't blame him when we embarrassed ourselves in Aegyptus while not making any progress in the East Indies." Macmill leaned back in his seat as Vodel concluded his speech. "Then there were the sweeteners she tossed at him, such as taking on all of the Frankish asylum seekers that pass through Lothiern. Which would settle the fierce debates between Vodel's anti-immigrant and pro-refugee factions by offloading the immigration controversy onto Germania."

"We should pull our forces out of the East Indies. Show them a message for blatantly cooperating with Germania when Albish blood is being spilled in the East Indies." Shone scowled his face.

Macmill pounds his fist on the table. "No. That move would push Lothiern into OZEV. We need to focus on incentivizing and pressuring countries to not join OZEV. And the only reason I kept you around is because you're one of the few people who knows her well. So I need you to tell me how she may respond to my plans of taking a softer approach to matters. We are no longer a great power and our military is overstretched to swing a stick in multiple places."

"Speaking of incentivizing and pressuring, what should we do about the new Frankish government?"

"If it looks like they are in power for good and things calm down, we'll need to reopen talks with them. Hopefully before Degurechaff gets to them first."

"Degurechaff working out a deal with them?" Shone chuckled. "I consider that unlikely as she would be furious and suspicious of the new Frankish government."

1953 December 7th, in Nanjing:

Kang almost considered throwing something in his office upon finishing reading about Li's impending invasion of Afghanistan, before reminding himself to not lose his nerve in front of his subordinate.

"I could have stayed in Central Asia to personally observe the destruction of Li's army and the arrest or death of the traitor. I needed a bit more time to find suitable replacements for my generals who proved unable to handle the campaign," Luo sighed deeply. "I'm assuming you had a good reason to ask me to implement new naval and air doctrines for the Formosan Strait, East Jizhou Sea, and South Jizhou Sea?"

"I asked you to have a trusted general take charge of the Central Asia hunting campaign because Shu is also making his moves in Formosa."

"Li's army is about to enter Kabul according to my latest report, and a large portion of the Afghan army was already deployed far elsewhere outside of their country," Luo retorted." Our military, the Rus, and other allies are all about one to two weeks behind Li's army due to the disaster in the Caspian Sea."

"He's several thousand kilometers away and his army dwindles by the day. If he takes over Afghanistan, we'll just storm in and keep grinding him down like what we did in Caucasia." Kang flared his nostrils, then pointed his finger at the map of Francois Indochina. "The Frankish keep pouring more men and resources into their war, and we have to match theirs to prevent them from undoing our gains."

Then he pointed at a map of the Formosan Straits. "Meanwhile Shu is posturing right on our doorstep! His fortification efforts in the outer islands escalate with each passing week. My agents received reports of Shu negotiating with Germania to have Formosa acquire Germanian destroyers and jet aircraft. The NKVD reported significant shipyard activities in Germania along with significantly heightened security at those shipyards, which means Germania's fleet will be expanded. A strong naval fortification system with a domestic navy and airforce that is superior to ours in quality would allow Shu more flexibility to take action against us without needing the Akinese or Germanians. And his capacity to cause trouble will grow over the years from the industrialization of the island."

"His little island would not survive a war," Luo scoffed, but Kang cut him off.

"If he builds up a sharp force with a layered defense to fallback on, he can cut us a little bit at a time, at a place and time of his choosing." Kang glowered. "And then he can do it over and over again until we overreact and Shu's allies are forced to act against us. Or we just let him slowly cut us to death. You don't have to win a direct war if you can wear down an enemy over the decades until they topple over or are trapped in a corner. This is why we need to stop him now."

"You're suggesting we strike at Shu?" Luo suddenly had a deep worried look. "How are we going to avoid provoking his allies while preemptively attacking him?"

"We cut him with a thousand slices like what he is going to do to us. It's a risk we have to take so that he doesn't slice us first." Kang then gestured at Luo to hand over something. "Now, regarding our air and naval developments?"

Luo opened his briefcase and withdrew a large folded poster, then unfolded it on Kang's desk.

"For the first part, we continue what worked or will work if further refined. Ground and air launched missiles, patrol boats with missiles to replace our destroyers, jet aircraft, and improved submarines for underwater mage deployments."

"Our enemies will continue to be years ahead of us in aircraft development and production," Kang tapped on his desk. "I don't want a repeat of the past air skirmishes that resulted in us taking tremendous losses."

"Our new interceptor jet in development will have the payload to launch long-range missiles to continue keeping the enemy away from returning fire, and the speed to disengage after launching the missiles to fly back to base for rearming. Then repeat the hit and run. We have already tested that concept with our current jets against Li's mages and propeller aircraft with promising results. Our missile sites being constructed along the coastline will deny the enemy from giving chase, allowing our jets to safely return to their bases to be rearmed and fly back up again."

"Wouldn't the capitalists have more advanced engines?"

"Yes, but we will be using quadruple engines to propel our new jet at high speed, along with sacrificing maneuverability and flight stability. The augmented mage pilots will have to constantly use their spells to help maintain control of their aircraft."

Kang looked closer at the poster. "We are essentially building high-speed bombers to use as fighters… What about their bombing capability?"

"They will be multipurpose to maximize the use of the limited number of those jets that we can build and maintain. They can launch missiles at ships, or drop an atomic bomb. As for our nuclear weapons program, we are making good progress."

"Enough cargo capacity to haul an atomic bomb?"

"Its default configuration is four of our standard missiles, so yes it will also be able to carry an atomic bomb and other heavy payloads."

Kang nodded as he folded the poster. "And how many of these interceptors will we be fielding?"

"We're not exactly sure as it's the first time we embarked on such a large aircraft project," Luo hedged, clearly very unwilling to commit. "We may end up only building at most a few dozen before developing an improved version using the lessons learned from our first interceptor. The other limitation is that only mages can fly the interceptors, as our wind tunnel tests showed that it will be very difficult to fly at high speed."

"I have no further questions about our military developments… Oh, how is the training of our political compliance officers going?"

Luo smiled. "I am confident that they will prevent Li Lisan from causing further defections from our military."

1953 December 10th, in Kabul, Afghanistan:

Li Lisan confidently smiled as he looked upon the large crowd, with two translators next to him. One was to translate from Chinese to a language that both translators knew, and the other one was to translate to the local Dari language. Fire and Shusheng stood off to the side, with Shusheng providing the voice amplification magic spell.

They won't be so skeptical when I free them from their slavery to their bourgeoisie monarchy!

"I am here to usher in a new age of utopia, where everyone is free to live their life with equality! No more hailing to a king. However, this will take many years for us to achieve utopia, and in the meantime, there are those that seek to deny all of that!"

Li Lisan then gestured off into the western direction of the city. "A counterrevolutionary army is marching onto us, to crush our blossom of freedom and put us back in our chains!"

A disheveled Mohammed Zahir Shah was dragged onto the stage as Li Lisan finished his speech.

"And now your former king will read out his confessions of betraying his country by cooperating with the counterrevolutionaries!" Li Lisan gestured towards the king.

There was a long pause as the king breathed. Fire kicked the king in the shin to prompt him.

The king stared at Li Lisan for a moment, then turned to the crowd and yelled in Pashto language. "I declare a jihad against the infidels! While the other communists have been difficult to work with, these ones intend on banning our religion and way of life!"

"What is he saying?!" Li Lisan shot a glance at his translators.

The Dari translator had a look of confusion, then said something in panic to the Chinese translator who turned to Li Lisan. "He said the king is speaking in Pashto, and he doesn't know that because he is from the north."

As the king continued to shout, Li Lisan could see the crowd quickly becoming agitated. He then turned to Fire while pointing at the king. "Silence the king!"

Immediately, Fire turned and fired a magic-casted explosive bullet into the king's ribs, instantly vaporizing him.

"I said to silence him, not shoot him!" Li Lisan choked, while Fire's face went from an expression of "I did what you said to do" to "Oh no".

"We should leave," Shusheng coughed.

There was a brief pause from the crowd as the charred pieces came raining down. Then the locals surged forward at Li Lisan's group, screaming and chanting, with occasional rocks being thrown at Li Lisan's direction.

"We have to leave now!" The Chinese translator pulled on Li Lisan's arm, right before a well-placed rock cracked against the translator's head.

Fire and Shusheng then emptied their machine guns into the crowd with magic-casted armor-piercing bullets, silencing them entirely.

"Where do we go now?" Shusheng breathed heavily at the sight of what was left of the crowd.

"Tibet, back where my campaign started." Li Lisan shook his head. "This entire year of marching had all been for nothing!"

Several days later:

General Shi Yousan looked through his binoculars, frowning in annoyance at his recon team shouting with their megaphone at the locals standing behind their hastily erected barricades in front of Kabul

"What are the locals shouting about?" He put down his binoculars and looked at the NKVD agent who was listening to the radio.

"They accuse us of sending scouts to murder their king, and several hundred people. Their queen declared a jihad against us."

Then gunfire erupted from the Kabul defenders, downing a few of the recon members.

"Li Lisan, why do you have to make all of our lives miserable?…" Yousan let out a deep sigh.

A little later…

"Idiots… Idiots!" Kang threw the papers off his desk.

"We can't keep searching and chasing after him," Luo looked down at his feet. "Not when Afghanistan is in a state of anarchy."

"So our men's genius solution was to storm Kabul under the name of 'restoring order', which resulted in the death of the monarch's family?!" Kang slapped the table. "We played right into Li's trap! He started an uprising and expected us to shoot our way through!"

He then slumped into his chair. "Now we have to find replacements to run Afghanistan when Mohammed Zahir Shah was doing a fine job of exporting minerals and quarries to the Russy Confederation, North Bharat and us. And more importantly, we didn't have to worry about railroad disruptions for the traffic between the north and south. If I just leave some Chinese or Rus directly in charge, that would only inflame tensions."

"We could tap the local Afghan communist party that calls itself the 'People's Democratic Party'," Luo rubbed his chin. "I am not sure if they are ready to manage an entire country, as none of their party members held actual government positions. Mohammed Zahir Shah had been deliberately slow with political liberalization before his death."

"Politically reliable but inexperienced… or Shah's subordinates that are experienced but likely politically unreliable after what Li Lisan and we have done in Kabul." Kang stared off into the distance. "Putting them both in charge would quickly dissolve into infighting, but leaving Shah's subordinates out in the cold would drive them into running the rapidly brewing resistance."

"We could ask the Afghan army to run the country while we establish elections. If we boost the PDP, some of the Shah's subordinates may join the obviously winning party."

"We could do that," Kang smiled.

"One question before I have to go to another meeting, what is our plan with Brasilia's request for aid?" Luo prepared to leave the office.

"Their war is in a perfect equilibrium of stalemate after New Granada's counter offensives that went nowhere except into the misery of the jungles, and stepping on the American capitalists' feet would just invite them to step on our feet in Asia." Kang snorted in annoyance. "In fact I want you to verbally instruct your subordinates to destroy any documents that mention Brasilia's communication attempts with us, in the event that they have such information. I don't want any idiots to get the idea to touch South America."

AN:

wiki/Republic_XF-84H_Thunderscreech

The XF-84H was almost certainly the loudest aircraft ever built, earning the nickname "Thunderscreech" as well as the "Mighty Ear Banger".[16] On the ground "run ups", the prototypes could reportedly be heard 25 miles (40 km) away.[17]

wiki/Transonic

The issue of transonic speed (or transonic region) first appeared during World War II.[2] Pilots found as they approached the sound barrier the airflow caused aircraft to become unsteady.[2] Experts found that shock waves can cause large-scale separation downstream, increasing drag, adding asymmetry and unsteadiness to the flow around the vehicle.[3] Research has been done into weakening shock waves in transonic flight through the use of anti-shock bodies and supercritical airfoils.[3]

wiki/Relaxed_stability

In aviation, an aircraft is said to have relaxed stability if it has low or negative stability.[1][2]

An aircraft with negative stability will have a tendency to change its pitch and bank angles spontaneously. An aircraft with negative stability cannot be trimmed to maintain a certain attitude, and will, when disturbed in pitch or roll, continue to pitch or roll in the direction of the disturbance at an ever-increasing rate.

What the CSR mage pilots would essentially have to replicate using magic: wiki/Fly-by-wire

Malaysia independence: watch?v=_hnv_oh1bus

Indonesia war of independence: watch?v=LBh3quIaTsI

How a CIA Coup in Indonesia Failed: watch?v=Vx2LnduUEU4

Konfrontasi: Indonesia and Malaysia Go to War: watch?v=k0l2Iz2lvao

Indonesia and Netherlands war over West New Guinea: watch?v=CP1oVfPB0GU

Alt-Sukarno would turn to the CSR for aid and invite them to build military bases and missile sites: wiki/Sukarno

wiki/Reichsb_movement

The Reichsbürger movement is characterized by a rejection of the modern Federal Republic of Germany;[5][4] denial of its legality[11] and legitimacy;[12] and denial of the authority of the federal, state, and local governments in Germany.[12] Reichsbürger believe that the German Empire borders of 1932 or 1871 borders still exist and that the modern Federal Republic of Germany is "an administrative construct still occupied by the Allied powers".[11]

The Reichsbürger movement has used some of the concepts and techniques of the One People's Public Trust, an American sovereign citizen movement operated by pseudolaw ideologue Heather Ann Tucci-Jarraf.[13]

wiki/2022_German_coup_d_plot

On 7 December 2022, 25 members of a suspected far-right terrorist group were arrested for allegedly planning a coup d'état in Germany.[4] The group, called Patriotic Union [de] (German: Patriotische Union), which was led by a Council (German: Rat),[5] was a part of the German far-right extremist Reichsbürger movement.[1] The group aimed to re-establish a monarchist government in Germany in the tradition of the German Reich, with the government being similar to the German Empire. The group allegedly wanted to provoke chaos and a civil war in Germany so that it could take power.[6]

Where the 5,000kg bomb capacity question came from: .

This implosion-type plutonium bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, weighed 10,800 pounds.

Surface-to-air missile that CSR's missile is based on: wiki/S-75_Dvina

Designed: 1953–1957

V-750V: Firing range 7–29 km; Firing altitude 3,000–25,000 m; Weight 2,163 kg; Length 10,726 mm; Warhead weight 190 kg; Diameter 500 mm / 654 mm

Propellant: Solid-fuel booster and a storable liquid-fuel upper stage

Guidance system: Radio control command guidance

The missile that CSR is using is magic control command guided and has a single solid booster, which means lower missile weight and range (up to 26 km when launched from a flying propeller driven aircraft, probably closer to 21 km when launched from the ground, and over 26 km when launched from a high altitude, high speed jet).

Reference to the CSR general in Afghanistan:

wiki/Shi_Yousan

Shi is also notable for joining/defecting to, and betraying the forces of Wu Peifu, Feng Yuxiang, Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei, Zhang Xueliang, the Chinese Communist Party, and Japan, in that order.

For his many betrayals and defections he is known as the "Defector General" (Chinese: 倒戈將軍; pinyin: Dǎogē Jiāngjūn) or as Shi Sanfan (Chinese: 石三翻; pinyin: Shí sānfān, "Shi [who] turns three times").[1]

In 1928, Shi's troops set fire to the Shaolin Monastery, burning it for over 40 days, killing more than 200 monks and destroying 90 percent of the buildings including many manuscripts of the temple library.[2][3]

watch?v=LEIhPddX-cY

wiki/Languages_of_Afghanistan

Dari[Note 2] and Pashto are two of the most prominent languages in the country, and have shared official status under various governments of Afghanistan. Dari, as a shared language between multiple ethnic groups in the country, has served as a historical lingua franca between different linguistic groups in the region and is the most widely understood language in the country.[4][5] Pashto is also widely spoken in the region; but the language does not have a diverse multi-ethnic population like Dari, and the language is not as commonly spoken by non-Pashtuns.[6][Note 3] Dari and Pashto are also (in a linguistic sense) "relatives", as both are Iranian languages.[7][8][9][10]

Reference to Afghan communist party:

wiki/People_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan