AN: Credits to gdstriker, PervySageChuck, Readhead for the revisions. I also would like to thank Readhead for pointing out writing issues that were consistent through my chapters and recommending on how to address them.

For those who haven't seen it, Chapters 7, 8 and 9 have been rewritten with major plot changes and new characters. The 1940s war has been expanded across Asia, and more context is provided for what eventually led to the Aegyptian Revolution and CSR's coup.

1954 April 1st, in Sakakah, northern Saudistan:

From the safety of his command car, Ali looked out across the field of abandoned military equipment and vehicles adorned with symbols of the Royal Saud and laughed at the steel harvest. Next to him sat a nervous General Memduh Tural, deep in troubled thought about something.

"They didn't even destroy their materiel before fleeing like rats!" Ali cackled. "All the wealth the Saudistan monarchy sat on, and yet still not enough to buy a shred of competence! Now their vehicles and supplies will be fine additions to my trophy collection!"

His radio crackled, interrupting the royal gloating.

"Your Highness! Our supply convoys are under attack!"

Ali grunted with annoyance. "Not possible, we have the Sauds on the run."

"It's not them!"

Then the radio cut out.

"Hello? Hello!?" Motioning for the driver to stop, Ali turned to Tural, eyes burning with irritated anger. "Call off your divisions from the pursuit and have them head back to investigate. I will not brook any undermining of this glorious victory – my glorious victory."

"And where will you be?" Tural sighed as the car came to a stop.

"At their royal palace in Riyadh to deliver a peace deal in person. I am not going to allow a minor setback to distract me from the cusp of victory!"

Tural wordlessly stepped out of Ali's car to walk over to his car, never looking back.

Meanwhile, in Mosul, Mesopotamia:

"Not great, not terrible," Selim sighed as he stared at the map of the Quajarians' renewed offensive all along the Tigris River, the strongholds of Tikrit and Mosul included. Already the skirmishing had reached the flatlands just east of Baghdad.

The question was, which of the many points of contact represented the true focus of the offensive? Surely the Quajarians wouldn't just evenly spread their forces to headbutt into fortified river defenses, this time girded with chains, underwater spikes and mines meant to leave riverine boat assaults dead in the water.

General Ragıp Gürsel suddenly burst into Selim's messy office, then carefully stepped over papers.

"Let me guess, there's been a disaster," Selim growled, turning away from the map to face the general.

"Karbala fell yesterday and now the Qajarians are racing westward towards Nukhayb, the last major Mesopotamian settlement before reaching Saudistan's border. They have captured your brother's logistics hubs." Gürsel said, breathless with anxiety and with his rush into the office.

Selim looked back at the map of Karbala. The city his brother selected as his logistics base even though it was a full one hundred kilometers southwest of Baghdad's defenses. Further west and the last major settlement between the advancing Qajarian forces and Saudistan's border, laid the city of Nukhayb, equally vital in its logistics link between Karbala and Ali's forces in Saudistan.

"My idiot brother, even knowing his supply hub was situated in a city doomed to be the first to fall under the attack by the southern prong of the Qajarian forces, failed to properly garrison and defend his rear. Even after I had made it clear to him that I would not overextend my forces south of my defense lines at Baghdad and Fallujah, he still neglected even to..." Selim trailed off, one of his hands shaking in anger. "And I warned him I would not compromise my defenses against the Sauds and Qajarians to save him! I warned him, and yet!"

"He did not set up alternative supply hubs for his army to use to reconnect his supply line back home. He is on his own now..." Gürsel tugged at his collar nervously.

"Do you know if the Qajarians will be continuing westward?" Selim asked, trying to push the matter of his fool of a brother away. "I know Ali's last known position was at Sakakah…"

"We have intercepted radio communications of arguments between Qajarian commanders arguing about whether they should stop at Nukhayb or push to the border."

Suddenly, Selim began to maniacally laugh. Gürsel took a few steps back in concern when Selim took a deep breath and continued laughing, before finally settling down.

Selim intensely stared at Gürsel. "Ali is clumsy as he is stupid, and he has failed our country for the last time. Have our radio station broadcast in clear text that our defenses are holding strong, so we will be sending a relief force to link up with Ali in Sakakah in a few days. We will congratulate him on destroying all of the opposing Saudistan forces and he needs to continue his offensive to Saudistan's capital city of Riyadh to make them a puppet state, before the Qajarians catch up to him."

"Are we actually sending a relief force?" Gürsel blinked his eyes.

"No."

"I don't understand…"

"Now is not the time to question my orders or to speculate on it. Do what you were told. And remember you are the only one I held this conversation with." Pointedly, Selim withdrew his pistol, possibly as if to inspect it.

"It will be done!" Gürsel garbled out, and then, not being a fool, raced out of Selim's office, slamming the door shut behind him as he fled.

Selim slouched into his chair in deep relaxation as if all of the stress was taken off of his shoulders.

'The Qajarians will seek his blood for the Great Mosul Flood. The Sauds will react with panic at Ali racing for his capital with their impressively incompetent forces being swept aside. The equally hated Qajarians will also invade their lands. This will provoke the two stagnant rival forces in southern Mesopotamia to switch from their tense standoffs to active shooting. I would finally be able to go from the defensive to conquering Mesopotamia while my enemies are busy killing each other. When Ali dies in the middle of the Saudistan desert, my position to become the next king of my country will be secure, and I will no longer have to worry about cleaning up Ali's mess.'

1954, April 7th, in Germania, Munchen:

"Every day we sit idle while the Francois Republic gears up for total war, leaving us less prepared when they finally stab us!" Prince Karl Ferdinand shouted at his small but energetic crowd.

As I watched the prince whip up the crowd, I decided it was time to cut him down before his support base got too large. While I myself would not be involved with the upcoming Diet elections, even allowing a single Diet seat to his party would allow him to copy my old playbook of disrupting Diet sessions and whipping up his rabid supporters. If his party somehow ends up growing large enough to require another party to form a coalition with him, then it would set the stage for him to become Chancellor.

I ducked away into an alleyway to activate my Marie disguise and used a mirror to check myself, before spinning up a suite of stealth spells with my prototype E-2 Block 3 orb to move closer to his stage, and a prototype Absorbieren Type 2 orb on standby in case the prince has mages in his employment as a copy of my 1920's political campaign strategy.

He was still madly ranting when I walked up onto the stage, and he immediately turned his attention towards me.

"Ah, Marie Kirschmann! Shouldn't you be at your own rally?"

"I'm not interested in preaching to the choir of my own supporters," I smiled. "I am here to explain to your supporters there are better options."

"I'll have to admit you're bold enough to engage in a debate during my rally, and I'll take you up on your offer." Ferdinand confidently smirked. "So, what is the first topic you want to discuss?"

"Let's start with our favorite neighbor," I gestured my hands towards the general direction of the west. "Francois Republic and their self-destruction. You think they are still a threat?"

"A fully mobilized country is not to be ignored. And now we have a rapidly growing Frankish refugee population in Germania and the rest of OZEV. They are nothing more than fifth columnists!"

"Francois Republic is rapidly depopulating itself in their hamfisted, desperate attempt to cling to their unsustainable colonies." I dismissively scoffed, then brushed a small bug off of my shoulder. "Not a military threat when their men and boys are being butchered in Indochina by the Chinese. And speaking of them, the Chinese are the actual threat we should focus on! The communists in Moskva and Nanjing would be all too happy for another European war, allowing them to expand their tendrils around the world!"

"I agree with you on the communist threat, they can not be tolerated." The prince nodded. "But are you going to ignore the Frankish threat? They swindle, they deceive, and they will enlist the aid of other countries to press us down and steal the fruit of our labors!"

"I'm more concerned about them economically imploding and taking the rest of Europe with them."

"We would not be-"

"Yes, we would," I clenched my fists. "Have you not noticed the Germanian companies having operations in the Francois Republic since the end of our second war, and have only further entrenched themselves with the flock of Frankish citizens applying for jobs to work for them? Or even after the coup, the new Frankish government still maintains the free trade policy?"

"So you're suggesting we subsidize them if they collapse?!" The prince's face turned red. "I will not allow a single coin from our treasury to get into their hands!"

"Ah, but that's short-sighted thinking." I chuckled with glee. "We will help keep their failing economy afloat, but with conditions attached. Or their leaders could choose to reject our fair deals, and then watch as the hungry mobs drag them out of their offices."

"What, you plan on forcing them to join your so-called 'European Federation'?"

He then turned to his crowd. "You all see this enslavement scheme she wants to pull? And somehow that is better than just demilitarizing the Frankish for good?!"

I see what he's doing. Appeal to emotion when logic doesn't work…

"So what if a democratic Frankish government puts in a membership bid?" I nonchalantly shrugged my shoulders. "OZEV membership is voluntary and requires consent from the existing members. The Frankish may be able to pull the wool over one country's eyes, but not against about a dozen countries all at once, which an unanimous approval is needed for a new member to join. And as much as you criticize the OZEV, as a unified front it has annihilated the Russy Federation." I held up one finger as I turned to the crowd.

Time to set the trap for him!

"It has banded together to contain the Chinese menace halfway across the world in a region some of us struggled to find on the map, giving up on our opportunity to finally enjoy a post-war demobilization." I held up a second finger.

"It continued to stay together even with President Paul in charge of Germania, which proves Germania is not some puppetmaster, nor a caretaker for the rest of the OZEV. Because otherwise, OZEV would have collapsed along with his administration." I held up a third finger, then a fourth. "Not something that could be resolved by throwing tanks at the problem. Although Pullska sending their tanks into Berun to oust President Paul probably would have been welcomed by the Berun residents."

I could hear loud chuckles from the crowd.

"It has held strong against the oil crisis and the economic recession, while the Allied Kingdom and Francois Republic buckled under their own hubris and follies." I held up the fifth finger. "And recently Lothiern's public voted on keeping natural gas supplied to OZEV, rejecting the Albish offer. All of these prove OZEV's military, political, and economic strength."

I then turned back to him with a smirk on my face. "Do you think the Empire could have obtained the same accomplishments even if Legadonia Entente never started the first war?"

Come on. Take the bait. Defend the indefensible position of the Empire's shoddy track record of handling its diplomatic challenges.

I could see him breathing heavily as if his mind was racing on how to get out of a trap of his own making.

Well, time to finish this.

"We both knew how the Empire time and time again relied on its military strength to bully its way around. That brute force didn't keep peace in Europe when everyone became paranoid of the Empire, and brute force is useless against the Chinese hordes as the Albish learned the hard way."

He was about to say something when I leaned forward.

"Would you have volunteered to be part of the ill-fated Albish invasion operation of the CSR? While the Chinese may have been lacking in iron, they had plenty of blood to suffocate the Albish coalition."

I walked away perfectly satisfied after answering a couple of questions that the attendees had in the aftermath of our debate, and also to avoid any retaliation from any would-be fanatics of the Bloody Prince. The last thing I want to do is reveal that Marie is a mage and thus rapidly unravel the connection between my disguise and myself.

"Marie Kirschmann!" I heard a distinctive voice from behind me. I mentally braced myself for meeting an old colleague.

I turned around and indeed it was Adenaue. The man who both hated my guts and fell for my disguise hook, line, and sinker. Getting rid of him might be more difficult than trash-binning the prince.

"Mr. Adenaue, good to see you." I faked a smile.

"Getting a hold of you is like chasing a ghost," Adenaue huffed as he walked up to me. "I don't know where to even send mail to you, nevertheless call you. Damn private investigators were useless."

"Had to sell my estate to fund my political campaigns," I continued smiling with my blatant lie, knowing it would only give Anna a headache. "And with the constant campaigning, what's the point of a permanent residence?"

"Impressive…" He rubbed his chin, then reached out his hand for an offer. "I would like you to run my European Democracy Coalition party."

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not sure-" I was then cut off by him.

"You don't have a formal political party," he interrupted, jabbing a finger at me. "How can you become Chancellor without one?"

"Well, I was more focused on making myself known to the public…" I trailed off.

"And here I am offering you the means to accomplish your goal, while firming up a political base. I guarantee that all of my party members will support you and have no hesitation accepting your leadership. Their support will be critical in the political fight against Chancellor Dertinge, who is nothing more than a puppet for Degurechaff, and also against the intolerable Prince Karl Ferdinand. While you did well in your impromptu debate against the prince, he has considerable family wealth and television stations under his ownership to keep going. It is too much for any woman alone to overcome."

I took a deep breath. Stubborn though Adenaue was, he had a good point, one that Marie Kirshmann would recognize immediately. He might even be correct in saying that his political party would be the key to the Chancellery.

It was unfortunate that Marie Kirshmann was only a disguise. If I accepted his offer… I could only imagine the confusion. How would I explain my deception to everyone, should I ever be found out? Would I have to fully inhabit "Marie" from this point forwards, effectively turning my stalking horse persona into a long-term infiltration?

And if I did choose to wear "Marie" as my new face and walk as someone else for the next decade… Would it really be that much different from what any politician did to get elected? A personality crafted for the media was only a shade less deceptive than a face spun from optical magic, wasn't it?

If I chose to wear "Marie," to become Marie… What would happen if I succeeded, if I fulfilled Adenaue's dream of electoral victory?

What could I accomplish…?

1954, April 11th, in Russy Confederation, Moskva:

"It's a bold strategy. I'm not sure how it will play out." Ambassador Liu Xiao put down the papers of the proposal. "Keeping in mind that the anticipated outcome is the restoration of a monarchy to Germania. After all, if the prince takes the reins… It will be the Empire, born anew. It's like rats trying to stop a cat by setting up their own rat traps."

"Exactly as we desire! A new emperor, determined to recreate the Empire in his grandfather's and great grandfather's visions, complete with all of the inherent flaws and inefficiencies." Loria downed a glass of vodka. "It's unorthodox, but trying to back a plain communist in Germania is just begging for the full attention of the BND, and that's assuming any such candidate isn't just easy bait for our agents. We need something they won't expect nor easily counter; backing the most damaging candidate sounds like a promising option."

"I… don't follow," Xiao replied, stonewalling behind a diplomatically blank face.

"He talks about wanting to annihilate the Francois Republic first before coming after us!" Loria chortled. "What a fool, already lining up a second war before even declaring the first! He will never start on his second goal should he achieve office, mark my words. He talks so much about reforming the Empire, and that alone would be enough to trigger paranoia throughout Europe even before hostilities against the Franks begin. The Allied Kingdom and the Legadonia Entente would all but leap for joy as they loft away on wings of nostalgia at having their old, familiar, plodding enemy returned to them; they would revel at the opportunity to reassure the panicky states of central and southern Europe that their old protectors still stand ready. The Unified States will, of course, question whether they wish to find themselves chained to an Empire that failed so colossally before, particularly if the new Emperor continues to denounce all of Degurechaff's work; they will be neutral with Germania at the worst, and possibly even hostile if we get lucky. Some of the OZEV members themselves will doubt the wisdom of sending their citizens off to die for a monarch's senile delusions of grandeur!"

As Xiao's face lightened up, Loria poured a glass for him while delivering the final line. "The prince is so desperate to recreate the Empire that he will also recreate its downfall."

"Maskirovka on the grandest scale…" Xiao tapped one of his fingers on the table as Loria pushed the glass of vodka to him. "And if the Germanians crush their European rivals?"

"Didn't your ancient general say that all warfare is based on deception?" Loria replied, grinning widely. "Besides, once the war in Europe begins, it doesn't matter a damn to us who winds up the victor. If it's anything similar to the first European War, they would have nothing but ashes to declare the conquest of, and that's not even factoring in the use of nuclear weapons by European powers against European cities! What better show for all the world to see the final degeneracy of that entire cursed continent?

"And then…" Loria paused, savoring his words. "Then, when they are all scrabbling at one another's throats with nails and teeth… We deliver the killing blow. We will finally obtain our revenge and secure our positions in the world."

Xiao took a deep breath as he looked down at Loria's vodka offer and his now cold tea, then back at Loria. "Whatever happened to trying to build contacts with this Marie Kirschmann figure?"

Loria looked off to the side and away through the window, clearly uncomfortable with that line of questioning. "We abandoned influencing Marie after my agents reported inconsistencies in her attitudes and thought process across multiple fundraising meetings, after they had gotten past the public political facade. It's as if she has a minor case of a multiple personality disorder, or has a hidden agenda. Her fickle ways, as well as the utter lack of progress, convinced me to adjust my course. While she is clearly insane, she is too unfocused to be an effective weapon against her country and too unpredictable for us to create solid plans. So, we contacted the prince's subordinates instead, who replied to our offer of financial and campaign assistance much more favorably."

Minutes seemed to pass as Xiao silently stared at Loria before finally opening his mouth. "I will speak to Kang Sheng about your plan. It is too risky for me to fully back it, but the prospective reward is significant. A Europe consumed from within by its own controversies and renewed feuds would open many doors, after all. Both for us, and for you. If this plan works as you anticipate, I believe that the Chairman will maintain the NKVD's independence; perhaps he will be so generous as to consider allowing you to rule the Russy Confederation with the Rus military under your full and undivided control."

Loria relaxed for a moment before Xiao continued. "But I don't know how he will react if the BND discovers our scheme and blows it wide open, because Degurechaff will use the discovery against us. Even the governments and people of the Francois Republic, Allied Kingdom and Legadonia Entente will be disturbed if they learn what we are doing, and uniting Europe against us will be our end. I would expect the isolationist Unified States to also react with disgust at us trying to puppet their ally."

Loria narrowed his eyes. "Will the reward of the success of our mission mean more power to General Secretary Vannikov?"

"Of course not," Xiao scoffed as if it was such an obvious answer. "Your NKVD would be credited and rewarded for their hard work. Besides, there is no point in praising General Secretary Vannikov when he has just as much authority as Chairman Gao. There is no benefit to us in it."

"You mean your puppet, Gao? That one?" Loria raised an eyebrow.

Xiao let out a dismissive sigh. "What's the difference? Why are you keeping Vannikov around anyways, given how many people want him dead?"

"Some unpopular decisions need to be made from time to time, and he's the perfect one to make the announcements." Loria poured himself another glass of vodka. "For instance, should the Albish or even Degurechaff learn about this plan before it comes to fruition, you can be certain that they'll know that Vannikov is the one to blame. See? He's the perfect model of a Marxist-Leninist leader. He remain as such until he is no longer useful."

"Hmm…" Xiao hummed thoughtfully. "It is quite interesting to learn so much about your relationship with Comrade Vannikov. I had been wondering about his recent announcement of an increase of funding for the social services, particularly the orphanages housing wayward and orphaned girls. Thank you for satisfying my personal curiosity."

Loria glared at Xiao, who smiled serenely in the face of Russy's outrage.

"Orphanages aside, there were two other topics that I was wondering about, and perhaps you could shed some light on both… The first is in regards to our unexpected new friends in South America… Recently, Brasilia reached out to us via discrete channels to request assistance in their stalemated war against New Granada. Apparently, the Granadians' counteroffensive is proving quite… difficult to halt. The recent purchase of Germania's old destroyers by the Granadians, with the expected delivery being sometime next year, by the by, was enough to push them from worry to outright frenzy. While of course Nanjing has no interest in trying to sail cargo ships to Brasilia when the Akinese and Americans rule the Pacific Ocean, perhaps we could offer more covert assistance?"

"I'll think about it," Loria said, calming himself. "I will admit, I'm curious about how they pulled off the decapitation strikes on New Granada's government and military to start their war on such a good footing to temporarily take away New Granada's industrial and military buildup advantages. The timing was superb and the reach, all the way to the very heart of the Unified States… It was shocking in its competency. Paired with the simultaneous mass labor strikes and rebellions… I couldn't believe it when I first heard about it."

"If you're sending agents to Brasilia, that would make it easier for a certain faction in Nanjing to argue in favor of dispatching mage advisors to Brasilia." Xiao nodded. "Perhaps even some researchers and scientists as well… After all, who knows what those deep jungles could contain? Perhaps even new raw ingredients for the next generation of magical enhancement drugs. Or at least, so they hope."

"Fine. What was your other problem?" Loria downed his vodka immediately afterward.

"What should we do about the Qajarian Empire and their recent reckless invasion into Saudistan after the Turkmen invaded the Sauds first?" Xiao shifted in his chair. "While the Qajarians are currently winning in southern Mesopotamia, the Unified States won't allow Saudistan itself to be defeated, much less invaded."

"That worries me too," Loria admitted. "It's too late to restrain them, as my agents in the region reported the damned fanatic priests or whatever they call them leading the Sauds have declared a jihad and are fully mobilizing for war and stepped up their orders for American military hardware, most notably artillery guns. Even without the hardware, a population whipped up in a religious frenzy is something not to be taken lightly." Loria grunted with annoyance. "And then the Qajarian Empire is going to ask for more from us when their victories are reversed."

"Well, at least Aegyptus is not involved in this three way pileup of incompetence and insanity, because that would drag Germania directly into this mess…"

1954, April 12th, in Germania:

"Quite the rocket they got going," Ludvík Nejedly, President of Czechoslovakia, blinked his eyes as he got out of his car, looking at the massive rocket in the distance and at a plume of vapors billowing from the bottom of the rocket. "Is this the first launch?"

"I've been briefed that we had two successful launches with dummy payloads to test the reliability of the rocket," I smiled and stretched my arms, gratified when I felt the joints pop. "That was after the launch of several prototype rockets."

There was a quiet murmur among the rest of the crowd as René Zettour rapidly walked up to us, while Alfred Zettour trailed behind.

"Ah, good to see all of you here! We're about to make history!" René Zettour bubbled with enthusiasm.

"What are you launching into space?" Nejedly rubbed his chin. "Your invitation letter was vague on the details."

"I didn't want to reveal all of the details too early. Please follow me to the bunker." René gestured towards a bunker in the distance. "As for the payload, a satellite with a radio transmitter for limited data transmission and to test Telefunken's concepts for space television broadcast, some scientific instruments that various universities and research institutes have collectively built, and tape recorders that will store the data before being ejected by the satellite over the Atlantic Ocean for retrieval."

"It will also test some military theories, such as communication with a ship and aircraft, and photo reconnaissance. It's a joint civilian and military project after all," Alfred added.

Quite the informative brief, and of course one that left out the part where Anna got her fingers into the project and diverted some of the BND's funding to it in exchange for the launch of a few BND-specific 'research' satellites with the rocket as well as more favors to follow in the future. The BND's own in-house researchers were already thinking about how they could stuff a giant magic detector into a satellite package to detect magic emissions from space, and how that idea could be refined further to reduce the minimum specifications required to detect 'abnormally high magic power emissions'.

Anyone who is remotely familiar with the CSR's magic developments would know exactly who the space magic detectors are meant for.

As I walked in lockstep with René, Maciej Moscicki, annoyingly still the President of Pullska, cleared his throat. "Does this rocket have any potential as a weapon?"

First I had to worry about him trying to ram down OZEV integration into everyone's throat, and now he wants to bring about the end of the world?

"Yes it does," Alfred confidently stated as I turned my head to glare at him, trying to remind him not to mention anything about our delayed 'hydrogen bomb' development project or how the end goal of this particular rocket's design was to shrink its size to fit in our upcoming ballistic submarines while retaining the capacity to deliver a nuclear payload. I wanted to keep that as a secret to avoid spooking other countries into doing something rash, such as further accelerating nuclear weapons development when I really don't want to get into a spiraling arms race.

"The weapons development was delayed and now we have two additional rockets with nothing to launch, and more rockets under construction which may also end up having nothing to launch." His smile widened. "Until now."

René opened the bunker entrance, "We are about to start the rocket launch soon."

"Can't be too cautious," Ana Rabinsohn, Prime Minister of Dacia, looked around at the bunker construction of the reinforced concrete.

"After some unscheduled rapid disassembly incidents with the previous prototype rocket models, I insisted on having this bunker constructed," René nervously chuckled, just as my eyes stopped at a heavily reinforced camera set.

"I am assuming we are televising this?"

"It won't be live just in case the rocket ceases to exist on the launch pad, but if it is successful, it'll be broadcast, followed by a group photo shoot. We'll also be announcing what radio frequencies the satellite will be transmitting so that anyone can track it as it orbits around our planet, which would also refute any claims of us faking the world's first satellite launch."

"Transmitting radio frequencies…" I trailed off. "I look forward to seeing satellite phones."

The two Zettour sons briefly looked at each other just as Nejedly blinked his eyes. "Satellite phones?"

"We have radios for communicating over a long distance," I shrugged as I stated what was obvious to me. "A satellite or a group of them can relay signals across the world. We would also need satellite receiver stations around the world for continuous communication coverage."

Nejedly then turned to René and Alfred to whisper something, before the Zettour sons split up to work on their tasks. Strange…

I then heard someone bring up a subject I did not want to discuss. "While they're off doing whatever it is they do, I want to discuss my prospect of a European Federation."

"...I think the OZEV is fine as is," I stared at the offending Moscicki.

"Is it?" Moscicki raised an eyebrow, seemingly unintimidated by my piercing glare. "Even your own citizens are flocking to Marie Kirschmann."

"She's just attracting the type of folks who want to see Germania dominate rather than cooperate," I scoffed with an annoyed tone. "And what about in your country?"

How could he be so willing to give up his country's sovereignty?

"Marie Kirschmann is also popular in Pullska," Moscicki smiled.

"I have to agree, as I've also been monitoring the situation in my country…" Nejedly interjected.

I panned around the room. "Is there anywhere that Kirschmann isn't popular?"

The OZEV attendees awkwardly looked at each other.

"Well, why are you so worried about a closer European integration?" Moscicki pointed his finger at me. "At this rate you might end up with a government where the majority is your political opposition, unless you adopt some of her policies to deny her a majority victory."

"None of you are worried about giving up your countries' sovereignty?"

"We all pulled it through the Suez Crisis," Hans Hansen, Prime Minister of Daneland, said, appearing to be confused about where the point of disagreement was. I found myself rapidly growing equally confused as he went on. "The electrical grid integration, your nuclear power plants, investments into other alternative energy sources, hydrocarbon explorations and drilling where the entirety of OZEV backed those risky and expensive efforts instead of just being Dacia and Daneland. We wouldn't have discovered the natural gas in Lothiern on our own, and certainly wouldn't have been able to continue operations without OZEV keeping the Francois Republic and Allied Kingdom off of our throats. The list goes on."

My mind raced as I restrained myself from panicking. My disguise and her 'insanity' were actually popular, somehow! But what should I do? Maybe I could adopt some of the watered-down insane popular ideas to undercut my disguise's popularity and make 'Marie' grow even more extreme to drive people away from her. But I couldn't risk the prospect of driving those disaffected with Marie into the Bloody Prince's hands.

"Besides, we're watching the Francois Republic implode and the Allied Kingdom returning to its splendid isolation." Hansen's face turned sour. "Although shortly after we started finding possible hydrocarbon deposits in the North Sea, the Albish coast guard began shadowing our deep ocean hydrocarbon exploration vessels and platforms. I suspect they placed informants in our hydrocarbon business after Lothiern voted to reject the Albish offer. Now, they know what we found."

That jolted me out of my train of thought.

The Formosa Strait will eventually have another brewing conflict. The Germanian Navy was currently in an awkward transitional period, where our rust bucket destroyers from the Thirties were undergoing the minor refurbishments that would punctuate the final end of their service before they were to be sold off to New Granada and South Bharat. Yet, the first of our new destroyers had yet to start its sea trial and the rest of its sisters would only be built once the proof of concept had been established. Our new carriers had just started having their keels laid due to the Admiralty waiting on the two nuclear submarines' sea trials to confirm which reactor technology to use. And speaking of the submarines, one of them almost killed me in its sea trial!

"We can't risk a conflict right now. Even if we wanted to start a war, the timing's off." I looked down at my feet, chagrined at the admission. No leader wanted to be put in a position where they had to admit weakness.

"That's why you have allies," Moscicki smiled. "You have done a lot. Your country has done a lot, but we all have to contribute to sustain the alliance."

"You're suggesting sending your vessels out into the North Sea to challenge the Albish Navy?" I looked at him with alarm. I wasn't too familiar with the naval capabilities of Daneland and Pullska, but for the Ildoan Kingdom, Carinthia, Croatia, and Dacia, their ships would have a long trip getting to the North Sea. I suspected that, even with advisors from Germania, Daneland and Pullska, their navies would have a steep learning curve ahead of them before they could truly handle the cold and harsh North Sea.

"They shadow us with their coast guard, and we'll shadow them with our small vessels in return. Surely they wouldn't want to risk escalating to a full-blown war over underwater resources that they can't even tap themselves."

With friends like these to give me a headache, what use did I have for enemies?

My attention snapped to René's sudden announcement, "All checks completed. Launching the rocket in five minutes."

"You seem quite comfortable with our rocket program and the satellite. Yet there were many skeptics that we dealt with," Nejedly said, and suddenly turned to me. "What is your vision of the rocket program?"

I nodded. This was much easier to field. "I would like to put a regular human being on the moon. To understand more about our solar system and beyond."

That got René's attention as I noticed he was obviously scribbling in his notebook.

"Do you intend on sharing your rocket program with the rest of OZEV?" Nejedly had a slight smile. "My military is working on their own tactical military rockets and missiles for battlefield usage, so we could contribute engineering and financial efforts. After all, space is the final frontier for exploration."

"I'll consider it," I tersely replied.

"We're almost ready for the rocket launch!" One of the staff members called out, which prompted René to stop his writing and look at me.

"You should have the honor of announcing the countdown and launching the rocket," Alfred smiled at me as he gestured at a large red button with the cover box removed.

"To infinity and beyond," I nodded. The two brothers and the rest of the crowd then walked up towards the thick reinforced glass to look at the rocket.

"10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

I hit the button, shortly followed by a muffled roar of the rocket engine spewing flames everywhere as the rocket slowly lifted into the air.

"Why do I feel… happy?"

1954, April 13th, in South Bharat, at Tata Industries' headquarters

"They're onto us," Tata said, slouching dispiritedly in his chair. "Our contacts in Peru reported that New Granada is massing forces along their border. Apparently New Granada's government is displeased with the arms smuggling from Peru to Brasilia, and Peru's government is also equally displeased that some of their officials were kidnapped and tortured by Granadian agents on Peru's own soil."

"It was a risky gamble, but from the sales of our vehicles and knock off military equipment that were just copies of the old allied equipment left behind in our country after the Bharatian War, we earned just enough to recoup our investment." Ehrlich nonchalantly shrugged. "Now we just need to find new markets before we have to idle our factories."

"Let's just hope the Americans don't kick up such a fuss that they cry to Germania," Tata took a deep drink of his chai. "Prime Minister Prasad may have verbally approved of our arms sales to both Brasilia and New Granada, but he'll push us under the train if Degurechaff pays him a visit, despite my generous donations to his political party. And I don't think she knows you are here."

"I don't think she'll bother herself with something so minor," Ehrlich smiled as he prepared to leave Tata's office. "As for our military hardware export, I'll be working on finding willing buyers."

1954, April 29th, onboard the RMS Alcantara in the North Sea:

"Interesting choice for our meeting," John Macmill, Allied Kingdom Prime Minister, settled in his seat across from me.

"I figured it would be appropriate given our discussion over the North Sea," I smiled in return as I opened the seal on my envelope. "Besides, I was told this ship had beautiful interior wood engravings."

Although I would have liked to see how our first hydrogen bomb test goes, I'm a bit tired of putting my life at risk with experiments and prototypes. Besides, I need a peaceful North Sea hydrocarbon deal to avoid escalating conflict with the Albish. Given the obvious CSR and Formosa clash in the near future, as well as the ongoing mess in Saudistan and Mesopotamia so confusing that even the BND isn't exactly sure what is happening, I had no desire for a European conflict to boot.

I just hoped that the conflict in the Middle East didn't spiral entirely out of control.

"That was why you rented the entire ship? The carvings?" Macmill chortled. "You have some interesting tastes."

"Life gets boring at times," I replied, moving my hands away from my envelope and shrugging. "I wanted to try something new. As for what we are discussing today, you are probably already aware of the activities in the North Sea."

"There's nothing wrong with His Majesty's Coastguard in watching what the Danish and Dacian ships and floating platforms are doing in the middle of the North Sea," Macmill said nonchalantly, a pleasantly vague smile on his face.

"You don't have to sugarcoat it," I leaned forward. "You are nervous about what Daneland and Dacia are doing in what you would consider your backyard. And I want to address it before a pileup of misunderstandings and ignorance leads to fear, which leads to hatred, and then to violence."

"Oh? Then perhaps you could tell me what they are doing out in the drink?"

"I thought you would already know from your agents and informants embedded in the Danish and Dacian hydrocarbon companies and their suppliers." I lifted my cup of coffee and took a long sip, waiting for his reaction.

"I want to hear what you have to say," he deflected.

I set down my coffee cup. "They're looking for hydrocarbons. Now, I am aware that one day your country will have the technology and supply chain for deep sea exploration and drilling, but today isn't that day. The Americans are the only other ones that can make an attempt in the North Sea, but we both know how they like to do business. But, I do see a way to reach a compromise over this."

Macmill had an unhappy expression on his face, but nevertheless motioned for me to continue speaking. I proceeded to withdraw a map from the envelope and unfold it onto the table.

"Divide the North Sea into sectors, and leave us with that allocation?" Macmill pointed at the marked Albish sector. "The Danish-Dacian sector is almost as large as ours!"

"There are hydrocarbon deposits that the Danish and Dacian companies have identified in your sector, and are willing to give those up if it removes the uncertainty of who has claims over what parts of the North Sea. You wouldn't believe how agonizing it is to convince businessmen to voluntarily give away something that they found first." I let my eyes roll. "I also have to keep my allies and domestic constituents pleased, especially with the ongoing Diet elections. I'd prefer to keep Marie Kirschmann and Prince Karl at bay."

Although I should give credit to Visha, as she was the one who handled those business meetings. I was surprised that she accomplished it so quickly and with minimal government concessions.

"As much as I agree with your concerns regarding Kirschmann and Prince Karl, I too have to deliver, especially after my constituents ousted my predecessor and most of his party from their offices with extreme prejudice," Macmill sighed. "Besides, we need to have a meeting with Legadonia Entente and Lothiern to discuss their allocations as well."

"Already taken care of," I said through a thin, tired smile. "I've had a busy month."

"What did you promise them?" Macmill inquired, a mix of curiosity and anger on his face.

"I didn't promise them anything." I pulled a copy of the agreed deal and pushed it towards him for his reading. "I signed a deal where Danish and Dacian companies would build deep ocean hydrocarbon infrastructure in the ocean sectors allocated to Legadonia Entente and Lothiern, and the two countries set the tax rate as they desire on the hydrocarbon outputs and who gets the hydrocarbons, or buy the constructed infrastructure and receive the training and technologies at a fair market price to directly operate the extraction themselves."

I pushed another document to a now bewildered Macmill. "I also signed a generous check to accelerate the buildout of Legadonia Entente's hydroelectric infrastructure and electrical grid, in return for Germania's guaranteed purchase of a minimum quantity of power at a set price. Many of Germania's coal fired power plants will be driven into bankruptcy, especially with our future design and construction of our next generation nuclear power plants, but that is something I am willing to accept."

A few minutes passed before Macmill finally spoke, "And you left us just the scraps by securing everyone else's positions first?"

"You are welcome to hire American companies to do the deep ocean exploration and extraction, which means playing by their rules," I gestured at the window. "What I propose to you is similar to what I have already offered to Legadonia Entente and Lothiern, and I already threw in the sweetener by showing you where the hydrocarbon deposits were found. While His Majesty's agents can steal blueprints and scrap notes, they can't steal all of our knowledge so easily. Nor can they steal the supply chain that allows the construction and maintenance of exploration vessels and drilling platforms."

I could see the gears grind in Macmill's head before throwing in one last thing. "I am offering you an opportunity for quick energy independence. No more being held at the mercy of the chaotic Middle East."

"I'll think about it and get back to you on it," Macmill slouched in his chair.

And with this problem taken care of, now I can start on building the OZEV sovereign wealth fund utilizing the North Sea hydrocarbon taxes and see if Kennedy will follow through on our upcoming pressurized water reactor deal. Other than my domestic politics problem, I am feeling good about this!

Meanwhile at the Saudistan-Aegyptus border:

"This is madness!" General Tural stared in shock at Ali's plans.

"I read about the communists in Francois Indochina successfully fooling the Frankish forces into accidentally invading the CSR," Ali grinned, proud of his own genius. "If we invade Aegpytus by ourselves to retreat to Syria, they will squash us. But if the Qajarians and Sauds give chase, then the distraction will allow us to move through Aegyptus unimpeded as the Aegyptians would also be shooting at the hated Qajarians and Sauds."

"It will be done. We'll modify or destroy any signs and landmarks that indicate the border between Aegyptus and Saudistan," General Tural sighed in resignation. "I just hope you are prepared for the fallout of dragging Aegyptus into this conflict when our new Syrian territory is still full to the brim with unrest."

"And I hope my backstabbing brother is prepared for his consequences when I return back to our capital to have a word with my father," Ali sneered. "If he expected me to just lie down and die in Saudistan's empty desert, he is delusional!"

The next day during the early morning, somewhere in the South Bharati Ocean, in an island bunker:

General Ugar rubbed his eyes as he stared at the report from Dr. Werner Wecklein. "Could you explain in simple terms the changes that were made to the bomb yesterday? And why wasn't I informed about this until now?"

"Recent experiments from my colleagues back home confirmed the lithium-7 isotope will not contribute to the fission process, which runs the risk of the bomb detonating with a fraction of the expected yield or fizzing out," Wecklein confidently stated. "We tripled the lithium content in the bomb just to be sure that it performs as expected. Or we could delay the test out of precaution to wait for a second round of the experiments to confirm the findings…"

"Thank you, you may proceed with the bomb test," Ugar nodded before walking away.

The schedule is aggressive, but I don't have a choice. The BND reported that the Unified States and Allied Kingdom tested atomic weapons just last month. Even the damn communists detonated an atomic weapon! The only one left is Francois Republic, and while we know they do have a bomb, they have not yet tested it. For some reason President Degurechaff was indifferent to the global atomic developments when she was briefed on the developing crisis. Perhaps she was confident that Germania would still maintain the lead in nuclear weapons. All the more reason for me to keep up the pace.

Ugar's fists then clenched as the staff went about making their final preparations for the test.

Then there's that damn American who only got saved from being fired, and stole my oversight responsibility for all nuclear reactors! All because he kissed up to Degurechaff!

"General, we are ready to commence the test." Wecklein walked up to Ugar as the television screens turned on, showing the video feed from various instrument locations' armored and reinforced cameras, all facing towards the bomb's location. "All of the recording equipment is in place and the personnel out there have safely evacuated. Standing by for your order."

"Excellent," Ugar smiled as he turned to look at the television screens. "Detonate it."

Wecklein picked up the microphone and turned it on. "Commencing detonation in 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

Immediately after Wecklein hit the detonator switch, Ugar had a deep worried expression.

"Something isn't right…" Ugar said out loud as all of the television screens in rapid succession turned bright white and then blinked into a static fuzz, while Wecklein stared incomprehensibly as the gauges displaying the readings from the various remote sensors all spiked to their maximum level for a brief moment before the gauge needles fell back to their resting positions.

Then the shockwave slammed into the bunker, shaking everything. Electronic and gauge instrument panels broke apart. Some of the televisions fell from their mounts and crashed onto the ground. The reinforced concrete rumbled as everyone fell or struggled to hang onto something.

A stunned Ugar heard gurgling noise from the nearby restroom, followed by geysers of water spraying out from the toilet and sink as the overpressure pushed the water back through the sewage line.

"My god, what have we done?!" Ugar cried out in fear, as the guard mages in the bunker powered up their radiation blocking shield spells.

About 80 kilometers away, in the open ocean:

Cheng Guanxiong was scanning the dark horizon with his binoculars as the surfaced submarine chugged across the water and the last marine mage returned from their reconnaissance flight. Then he heard someone come climbing up the conning tower. He looked down to see who it was.

"Good morning captain! The sun isn't out yet." Cheng chirped while he and the marine mage saluted.

"And good morning comrade. I'm here to see the sunrise before we have to go back underwater," Captain Yuan Zhenbing wearily smiled as he returned the salute.

"I can't wait to return home. This has been a long journey for us."

"But a necessary one," Yuan proudly thumped his chest. "We are the first ones to sail beyond the East or South Jiuzhou Sea, and future submarine crews and marine mages will learn from our experiences!"

Cheng nodded, then looked at the suddenly brightened horizon.

"Why is the sun rising from the west, and this early?" Cheng slowly said, as if he was trying to comprehend the sudden change in reality.

"Get back inside, we're going to sail towards it!" Yuan shouted as he and the marine mage jumped back down into the submarine.

"We don't know what is out there! It could kill us!"

"We're submariners, we always sail into danger!"

AN:

Inspiration for Ali's success against the Sauds: watch?v=8LI2a6qtvwg

Youtube comments:

"Conrad Von Hotzendorf Vs Luigi Cadorna, a stoppable force meeting a movable object"

"An army of 15 divisions still has the element of surprise after detailed plans were published in Italian and French newspapers? That sounds impossible! But... nothing is impossible, with Cadorna on your side…"

wiki/Russian_military_deception

The Russian term маскировка (maskirovka) literally means masking. An early military meaning was camouflage,[3] soon extended to battlefield masking using smoke and other methods of screening.[4] From there it came to have the broader meaning of military deception,[5] widening to include denial and deception.[6]

wiki/Reflexive_control

As defined by Soviet scholar Vladimir Lefebvre reflexive control is a process in which one adversary hands over to the other the basis for decision-making.[4] In other words, there is a substitution of motivation factors of the enemy in order to encourage him to take disadvantageous decisions.[5]

wiki/Active_measures

Active measures (Russian: активные мероприятия, romanized: aktivnye meropriyatiya) is a term used to describe political warfare conducted by the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The term, which dates back to the 1920s, includes operations such as espionage, propaganda, sabotage and assassination, based on foreign policy objectives of the Soviet and Russian governments.[1][2][3]

…

Soviet intelligence, as part of active measures, frequently spread disinformation to distort their adversaries' decision-making. However, sometimes this information filtered back through the KGB's own contacts, leading to distorted reports.[50] Lawrence Bittman also addressed Soviet intelligence blowback in The KGB and Soviet Disinformation, stating that "There are, of course, instances in which the operator is partially or completely exposed and subjected to countermeasures taken by the government of the target country."[51]

"Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness" book reference:

Page 162:

For example, the Iraqi 52nd Armored Brigade was deployed with the rest of the 52nd Armored Division as the operational reserve of the Iraqi VII Corps, and therefore its primary mission was to counterattack a Coalition attack into one of the VII Corps infantry divisions. Late on February 24, the commander of the 52nd Armored Brigade received a frantic message from the headquarters of the 48th Infantry Division directly in front of his brigade that they were being overrun by American armored forces. Nevertheless, because he had not received orders from corps or divisional command, the commander of the 52nd Brigade did nothing. He did not execute his primary mission by moving to support the embattled 48th Division. He did not ready his brigade to move or fight; he did not even contact divisional headquarters to report the message and ask if he should counterattack. As a result, the 48th Infantry Division was overwhelmed by the US 1st Infantry Division, and the Iraqi 52nd Brigade was itself overrun by the British 1st Armored Division with barely a fight.23

Page 175: Analysis of South Vietnam military dysfunction, corruption and incompetent senior commanders. Lower ranking officers did well.

Page 205: Argentina military performance. Bad enlisted, good junior officers, really bad senior officers. Massive inter-service rivalry, with the army and navy fighting a battle against each other for control of the government.

Page 386: Arab culture analysis

Page 445: Strict military doctrine with predetermined standard solutions to anticipated problems, no deviation allowed:

During Operation DESERT STORM, the US military captured a significant number of these indigenous Iraqi manuals (along with a number of older, verbatim translations of Western, mostly British, manuals).23 They make for fascinating reading (well, for someone like me) because they demonstrate the rote, unimaginative, and unchallenging training methods of Arab forces.24 They are simplistic, step-by-step, how-to procedures for conducting even the most basic military tasks—at far greater levels of detail than corresponding British manuals. In most cases, in the indigenous Iraqi manuals, tactical situations are depicted as having only one possible "solution." Many of the Iraqi manuals tell a commander exactly how to handle a given situation with little allowance for, or encouragement of, flexibility and improvisation. For instance, in a May 1986 manual on how Iraqi armored formations were to conduct counterattacks against hasty Iranian defenses (especially earthen berms) erected after breaking through an Iraqi defensive position, the manual takes the reader through every last step in the operation, including actions that should be standard procedure in all military operations and all counterattacks. Indeed, the parts of the manual related to specific features of this particular kind of operation—how the Iranians attack and set up their hasty defenses after a penetration, their weaknesses while conducting such an operation, and how to go about attacking them—actually make up a very small percentage of the manual. Instead, the vast majority of the manual is a detailed account of how to conduct any armored offensive operation: information that should be covered in the basic manuals on armored operations and not in a supplementary manual on a specific type of operation. Although the manual is intended for brigade-level operations, it still contains instructions for the brigade artillery commander to make his registration fire appear to be part of normal operations so as not to tip-off the enemy, it warns tank and mechanized infantry formation commanders to redirect their fire to the flanks so as not to kill friendly infantry when they dismount and advance in the center, and it explains precisely when tanks are to start and stop firing.25 As an example of the level of detail contained in this manual, the section on preparation for the attack admonishes the commander:

Fourth, in order to gather information for developing objectives, the following sources of information are tapped, from which information is gathered and analyzed to come to conclusions, or they may be converted to intelligence reports by the intelligence cell at the corps or division levels or below.

1) Our front troop observation points, including reserve points for observing our artillery.

2) Overlays featuring fire plan targets for our defensive troops.

3) The overlay showing the location of the enemy mortars and artillery, kept by the artillery commanders.

4) The overlay for immobilizing enemy concentrations. The areas of his effectiveness as defined by land observation radars.

5) Aerial photography, after scrutinizing them and highlighting the information they contain about enemy troop concentration on the maps.

6) Air reconnaissance for commanders and consultants or information obtained by air observation points if available.

7) Analyzing the movement area and available information in the headquarters to use them in gathering information about the terrain, critical terrain, features, obstacles, and so on and so forth.

8) Prisoners of war who have been interrogated or those who surrendered as refugees to our troops.

9) Areas of enemy activities and his daily routine as detected by our front troops, such as distribution of rations, approaches, departure and return time for patrols and time of their return, ambushes areas, screen line, etc.

10) Headquarters location and areas of his effectiveness as determined by the technical equipment system.

11) Documents such as maps that can be obtained by our troops during a raid, combat patrol or an ambush.26 Likewise, in the 10 pages of instructions on how to conduct the artillery bombardment prior to the counterattack one finds a seemingly endless series of instructions such as this:

The concealing fire is taken off the second cover by the observation officers accompanying the attacking infantry when our troops start the attack to occupy the first cover [the first Iranian defense line] for a distance not less than 400 meters for the dismounted infantry and 200 meters for the mounted infantry. At this point the infantry soldiers prepare the assault hand grenades to hurl at the cover or behind it before climbing the cover to keep the enemy in hiding. A switch is then made to dog fight [hand-to-hand combat] and close engagement to kill the remaining enemy elements in their positions, on or behind the dirt cover [earthen berm] with a view to purging the cover. Meanwhile, firing continues at the second dirt cover during the dog fight at the first cover and the time it takes to open passes, which is about 10–15 minutes. . . .27

In short, the manual is a "cookbook" that a tactical commander can use as a step-by-step guide to conducting these operations without having to rely on any basic understanding of armored counterattack operations.

This level of detail might seem excessive in Western armed forces if found in a company-level manual, and would be simply unheard of in a brigade-level manual. Overall, the impression one gets from reading Iraqi manuals from the later years of the Iran-Iraq War is that the Iraqi high command had by then figured out how to beat the Iranians but they just could not get their tactical formations to do the things needed to win. Consequently, their training and doctrine became ever more detailed in hope that they could lead their tactical commanders by the nose through the specific actions necessary to defeat the Iranians in battle.

en. wiki/Fifth_column

Reference to iron and blood: wiki/Blood_and_Iron_(speech)

wiki/Splendid_isolation

wiki/PGM-17_Thor

wiki/Sputnik_1

On 30 January 1956 the Council of Ministers approved practical work on an artificial Earth-orbiting satellite. This satellite, named Object D, was planned to be completed in 1957–58; it would have a mass of 1,000 to 1,400 kg (2,200 to 3,100 lb) and would carry 200 to 300 kg (440 to 660 lb) of scientific instruments.[21] The first test launch of "Object D" was scheduled for 1957.[16]

…

Fearing the U.S. would launch a satellite before the USSR, OKB-1 suggested the creation and launch of a satellite in April–May 1957, before the IGY began in July 1957. The new satellite would be simple, light (100 kg or 220 lb), and easy to construct, forgoing the complex, heavy scientific equipment in favour of a simple radio transmitter.

wiki/Sputnik_2#Experiments

Sputnik 2 was the first platform capable of making scientific measurements in orbit. This was potentially as significant as the biological payload. The Earth's atmosphere blocks the Sun's X-ray and ultraviolet output from ground observation. Moreover, solar output is unpredictable and fluctuates rapidly, making sub-orbital sounding rockets inadequate for the observation task. Thus a satellite is required for long-term, continuous study of the complete solar spectrum.[8]: 5–6, 63–65 [9]

Accordingly, Sputnik 2 carried two spectrophotometers, one for measuring solar ultraviolet rays and one for measuring X-rays. These instruments were provided by Professor Sergei Mandelstam of the Lebedev Institute of Physics and installed in the nose cone above the spherical PS. In addition, Sergei Vernov, who had completed a cosmic ray detector (using Geiger counters) for Object D, demanded that the instrument his Moscow University team (including Naum Grigoriev, Alexander Chudakov, and Yuri Logachev) had built also be carried on the flight. Korolev agreed, but as there was no more room on the satellite proper, the instrument was mounted on the Blok A and given its own battery and telemetry frequency.[4]: 30, 32

Engineering and biological data were transmitted using the Tral_D telemetry system, which would transmit data to Earth for 15 minutes of each orbit.[2]

wiki/RMS_Alcantara_(1926)

wiki/North_Sea_oil

The Ultimate Guide to Nuclear Weapons video, where it discussed the Castle Bravo incident and explained how the misunderstanding of the Lithium-7's decay behaviors when bombarded with very high energy neutrons instead of just regular neutrons, resulted in a bomb that yielded 15 megatons of TNT explosive power instead of the expected 6 megatons: watch?v=QHL2nTFPdpg

The video mentioned that a one megaton thermonuclear bomb generates a fireball that is brighter than the noon sun, and can be observed at over 100 kilometers away. For a bomb with an accidental 10-20 megaton yield, I'd expect that observable distance to be even greater. It also mentioned that due to it being detonated at the surface instead of in the air, about half a million tons of coral sand were irradiated and sent flying into the air.

wiki/Castle_Bravo

The fallout spread traces of radioactive material as far as Australia, India and Japan, and even the United States and parts of Europe. Though organized as a secret test, Castle Bravo quickly became an international incident, prompting calls for a ban on the atmospheric testing of thermonuclear devices.[52]