Stupid Luck and Happenstance.
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
FBKampfer
Banned
Oh come on, this group wanks it to Kat harder than a group of horny, sexually frustrated 15 year olds. She invented Jesus, AND sliced bread according to them.
Honestly, I almost hope PM has a bit of a George RR Martin streak in him. They're getting ready for a drop on Okinawa and breaks her neck on a rehearsal drop. Unheroic, ignominious, and utterly mundane. The perfect ending.
Okay. I guess I was really asking for a peek into the future. I'll try to temper my impatience.
Part 33, Chapter 393
Chapter Three Hundred Ninety-Three
11th July 1944
Stupino, Moscow Oblast, Russia
The helicopter was flying into Stupino, the Russian City had been taken by the Fallschirmjäger a week earlier. The 3rd Army had finally reached it just the day before when they had leap frogged the 5th. Kat had been waiting in the improvised hospital for permission to move up so she could rejoin the 28th Regiment for much of that time. It was during that wait when Kat had been able to put a few things into perspective while talking to Doctor Holz in the off hours.
Kat had known all along that her career had been accidental and would probably end with the war. Now Kat was faced the reality of that. To her own surprise she found that she didn’t like the prospect of getting shown the door. Getting left behind was just the first taste of that. She had also explained to Doctor Holz her discomfort with the strange public persona she had found herself living with and her difficulties during the opening days of the current campaign.
Doctor Holz had told Kat that it was because she was becoming burnt out after so long fighting this war in one capacity or another. Then he had told her that he’d known that she had grown erratic and impulsive even before leaving for Russia the prior Spring which was why there had been talk of easing her out of the SKA after Thorwald was killed. That wasn’t exactly a surprise to Kat and she couldn’t exactly blame them for reaching that conclusion. Suddenly, the visit by General Holz made a lot more sense. They were worried what the reaction would be if they were seen as kicking out one of the most visible figures in the SKA and the Fallschirmjäger Corps. Kat realized that she’d put them in a difficult situation.
Doctor Holz had suggested that perhaps the best thing for her was a year or so of relative peace. She should just go back to being Kat Mischner, anonymous citizen and university student. Freiherrin Katherine von Mischner would fade from public memory soon enough and Kat would no longer have to live with her.
As soon as Kat stepped off the helicopter she was greeted by Schafer. He seemed to be happy to see her. “We were wondering when you would catch up Kleine Katze” He said as they walked towards the Kubelwagen that was waiting, “No one imagines that you’d be missing in action when we are so close to the finish.”
“What I was doing was necessary but not much fun” Kat said.
“Sounds like the last few years” Shafer said.
“This was worse than usual” Kat said, “Ended up handing out the Federal tags.”
Schafer grimaced when he heard that. The color-coded tags used in triage were like a twisted parody of the Federal flag with the color green thrown in, at a field surgical hospital, the green tags for walking wounded hadn’t seen a whole lot of use. “Damn, Kat” He said, “If we’d known that we’d left you in that sort of mess we might have woken you up but it was a longest that anyone had seen you sleep in weeks.”
“Don’t worry about it” Kat said, “I needed the break and I was able to get a bit of perspective.”
“Perspective?” Schafer asked.
“You said that for me there was no before” Kat said, “It’s time that I started looking for an after.”
“That’s a bit overdue if you ask me” Schafer said.
“Yeah” Kat said as they drove up to a brick building that Kat presumed was the current headquarters of the SKA. “What are we doing at the moment?” She asked.
“Koch wants the biggest prize of all and he wants him alive” Schafer said.
“Stalin himself?”
“Yes” Schafer said, “That was part of the reason we needed you back. You might be a temperamental pain in the ass but when it comes to getting into the heads of the Russians and coming up with insane plans on the fly few are better than you are.”
“Thank you” Kat said, “I think.”
Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States
The USS Montana was putting to sea. Upon commission, she had become the flagship of the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet and in a few months, she would be joined by her sister, the USS Ohio. But they would remain the only two of their Class built. Congress had decided that two completed Montana’s and three completed ships of the Iowa Class would meet the Navy’s needs for the foreseeable future. The reductions had been ordered after the German High Seas Fleet had decimated the Imperial Japanese Navy. Suddenly, the biggest rival of the USN in the Pacific was not so threatening. The proposed Alaska Class Battlecruiser had been axed as well.
To Admiral Nimitz it seemed short sighted. The British Royal Navy and German Kaiserliche Marine were still out there. He had read the reports from the ONI about the new ships coming online. The British had completed two fast battleships, the HMS Lion and HMS Tiger that were preparing to leave for the Pacific. The SMS Brandenburg, another of the Preussen Class had just been launched and was expected to leave for the Pacific as soon as she was ready.
Then there was the SMS Baier that had also just been launched. The German battlecruiser had been expected to be a sister ship to the SMS Graf Spee but she wasn’t. Instead she was an update of the earlier Yorck Class. That spoke volumes about the priorities of the German Fleet. As did the new Class of Aircraft Carrier that intelligence said was being built in Kiel.
Still, Nimitz felt in his gut that there was something going on across the Atlantic that the cagey bastards were up to. The ONI had the impression that they only saw what the Krauts wanted them to see. Nimitz could have told them that without ever setting foot in Germany.
11th July 1944
Stupino, Moscow Oblast, Russia
The helicopter was flying into Stupino, the Russian City had been taken by the Fallschirmjäger a week earlier. The 3rd Army had finally reached it just the day before when they had leap frogged the 5th. Kat had been waiting in the improvised hospital for permission to move up so she could rejoin the 28th Regiment for much of that time. It was during that wait when Kat had been able to put a few things into perspective while talking to Doctor Holz in the off hours.
Kat had known all along that her career had been accidental and would probably end with the war. Now Kat was faced the reality of that. To her own surprise she found that she didn’t like the prospect of getting shown the door. Getting left behind was just the first taste of that. She had also explained to Doctor Holz her discomfort with the strange public persona she had found herself living with and her difficulties during the opening days of the current campaign.
Doctor Holz had told Kat that it was because she was becoming burnt out after so long fighting this war in one capacity or another. Then he had told her that he’d known that she had grown erratic and impulsive even before leaving for Russia the prior Spring which was why there had been talk of easing her out of the SKA after Thorwald was killed. That wasn’t exactly a surprise to Kat and she couldn’t exactly blame them for reaching that conclusion. Suddenly, the visit by General Holz made a lot more sense. They were worried what the reaction would be if they were seen as kicking out one of the most visible figures in the SKA and the Fallschirmjäger Corps. Kat realized that she’d put them in a difficult situation.
Doctor Holz had suggested that perhaps the best thing for her was a year or so of relative peace. She should just go back to being Kat Mischner, anonymous citizen and university student. Freiherrin Katherine von Mischner would fade from public memory soon enough and Kat would no longer have to live with her.
As soon as Kat stepped off the helicopter she was greeted by Schafer. He seemed to be happy to see her. “We were wondering when you would catch up Kleine Katze” He said as they walked towards the Kubelwagen that was waiting, “No one imagines that you’d be missing in action when we are so close to the finish.”
“What I was doing was necessary but not much fun” Kat said.
“Sounds like the last few years” Shafer said.
“This was worse than usual” Kat said, “Ended up handing out the Federal tags.”
Schafer grimaced when he heard that. The color-coded tags used in triage were like a twisted parody of the Federal flag with the color green thrown in, at a field surgical hospital, the green tags for walking wounded hadn’t seen a whole lot of use. “Damn, Kat” He said, “If we’d known that we’d left you in that sort of mess we might have woken you up but it was a longest that anyone had seen you sleep in weeks.”
“Don’t worry about it” Kat said, “I needed the break and I was able to get a bit of perspective.”
“Perspective?” Schafer asked.
“You said that for me there was no before” Kat said, “It’s time that I started looking for an after.”
“That’s a bit overdue if you ask me” Schafer said.
“Yeah” Kat said as they drove up to a brick building that Kat presumed was the current headquarters of the SKA. “What are we doing at the moment?” She asked.
“Koch wants the biggest prize of all and he wants him alive” Schafer said.
“Stalin himself?”
“Yes” Schafer said, “That was part of the reason we needed you back. You might be a temperamental pain in the ass but when it comes to getting into the heads of the Russians and coming up with insane plans on the fly few are better than you are.”
“Thank you” Kat said, “I think.”
Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States
The USS Montana was putting to sea. Upon commission, she had become the flagship of the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet and in a few months, she would be joined by her sister, the USS Ohio. But they would remain the only two of their Class built. Congress had decided that two completed Montana’s and three completed ships of the Iowa Class would meet the Navy’s needs for the foreseeable future. The reductions had been ordered after the German High Seas Fleet had decimated the Imperial Japanese Navy. Suddenly, the biggest rival of the USN in the Pacific was not so threatening. The proposed Alaska Class Battlecruiser had been axed as well.
To Admiral Nimitz it seemed short sighted. The British Royal Navy and German Kaiserliche Marine were still out there. He had read the reports from the ONI about the new ships coming online. The British had completed two fast battleships, the HMS Lion and HMS Tiger that were preparing to leave for the Pacific. The SMS Brandenburg, another of the Preussen Class had just been launched and was expected to leave for the Pacific as soon as she was ready.
Then there was the SMS Baier that had also just been launched. The German battlecruiser had been expected to be a sister ship to the SMS Graf Spee but she wasn’t. Instead she was an update of the earlier Yorck Class. That spoke volumes about the priorities of the German Fleet. As did the new Class of Aircraft Carrier that intelligence said was being built in Kiel.
Still, Nimitz felt in his gut that there was something going on across the Atlantic that the cagey bastards were up to. The ONI had the impression that they only saw what the Krauts wanted them to see. Nimitz could have told them that without ever setting foot in Germany.
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FBKampfer, this story addresses two of my reading preferences, one intellectual and one emotional. I think I've mentioned somewhere at the start that I'm partial to CP victories or stories where Germany doesn't get stomped flat by Versailles.
Emotionally, I like stories where a young person does well in an adult arena. If that person is a young woman doing well in a traditionally male-dominated arena it's even better as long as the premise is believable.
To a large extent, Kat's career has been influenced by the 'Stupid Luck and Happenstance' of the title. The happenstance are the situations with which she is presented and the stupid luck is that she has the ability and training to respond.
Oh, and presliced bread is overrated; give me bottled beer any day (cans are overrated, too, and a waste of resources). Being an apathetic agnostic I'm not going to respond to the Jesus part.
I would rather hope not.
Germany can not keep secret the design of the swept back wings on jets now that they have been seen in battle over the skies of Warsaw and now Moscow.
Also with helicopters being used, Sikorsky will take one look at the helicopters and will know that they are basically his design.
In America, the main focus right now for jets will be for commercial passenger airline jets and I read either on this site or somewhere else that the US was on the right track for jet engine design compared to OTL Germany and Great Britain.
With Germany now having jet fighters the US bomber fleet is now obsolete and I think in this timeline Boeing, Lockheed, and Douglas will press for funds from the US government to develop jet bombers and the research from that will also be applied to passenger jets.
OTL the B-36 is now in the first stages of being designed and developed.
The US Navy will also be looking for their own jet aircraft and how they can be used on carriers.
If the US Navy has a honest fleet exercise between the USS Essex battlegroup and the USS Montana battlegroup, there will be a very big surprise shake up in the thinking of aircraft carriers vs. battleships.
And if the Navy tries to suppress the reports, well Sen. Truman in OTL was very good in uncovering what the Army and Navy did not want Congress to find out.
Also with helicopters being used, Sikorsky will take one look at the helicopters and will know that they are basically his design.
In America, the main focus right now for jets will be for commercial passenger airline jets and I read either on this site or somewhere else that the US was on the right track for jet engine design compared to OTL Germany and Great Britain.
With Germany now having jet fighters the US bomber fleet is now obsolete and I think in this timeline Boeing, Lockheed, and Douglas will press for funds from the US government to develop jet bombers and the research from that will also be applied to passenger jets.
OTL the B-36 is now in the first stages of being designed and developed.
The US Navy will also be looking for their own jet aircraft and how they can be used on carriers.
If the US Navy has a honest fleet exercise between the USS Essex battlegroup and the USS Montana battlegroup, there will be a very big surprise shake up in the thinking of aircraft carriers vs. battleships.
And if the Navy tries to suppress the reports, well Sen. Truman in OTL was very good in uncovering what the Army and Navy did not want Congress to find out.
Yeah, not when Stalin was around, and we're talking a guy so paranoid, he had AAA at his dacha, in addition to chairs that you could view from behind and not know if someone was in or not.
Jets on carriers requires the angled landing-on deck, pretty stout arresting gear and steam catapults. I have the feeling that Germany has all of that, unbeknownst by the USN. Carrier-type airplanes are heavier and more complicated than land-based versions (fuselage strength for cat shots and arrested landings, folding wings) but I think Germany has that well in hand, too.
The thing is the Americans haven't experienced it first hand, and generally until they get kicked in the teeth, the Military tends to be a somewhat conservative institution. The US pretty much proved it IOTL in the World Wars, and even into Vietnam (didn't take advantage of learning from the French experience in fighting the exact same war).
Also, the regular bombers are hardly obsolete. At the very least they have the advantage of a much bigger bomb-load and an already developed technology and manufacture base (and maybe ease of production compared to jet planes), so the Powers That Be may consider it an unnecessary strain on the budget. IOTL they had a lot of British help into developing jet technology, and first hand experience (of the kick in the teeth kind) over Germany. This time the relations with the British is probably a bit cold, and from the German airplanes over the Russian front they only have some 3rd party rumors.
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You get what I am aiming at. I actually did object to the Way she more or less randonly uncovered the assasination of the empress. Its a very tricky thing to tell the story from the Ground and keep it realistic
The regular piston-engined bombers and fighters are obsolete. If they intrude upon German-defended airspace the jet fighters will have the piston-engined escorts for breakfast, the leading squadrons of the inbound bombers for lunch and the bombers that survived the rader-directed proximity-fused Flak for dinner while they're outbound. The main bottleneck will be how long it takes to refuel and rearm the jet fighters.
The piston-engined bombers still have a role in maritime recon and might survive an encounter with carrier-based fighters and rader-directed proximity-fused Flak. There are other roles, too - tanker for mid-air refueling, freighter, early AWACS - just keep 'em away from enemy fighters and out of the AAA engagement envelope.
Actually I have a crush on Helene not Kat so jokes on you.
Great update Peabody, only one problem. The U.S. is making a mistake cancelling the most beautiful ship to ever sail the seas, Mass produce the U.S.S Alaska. Cal Bear will agree
Look, I'm not saying that turboprops and turbojets aren't the future - but the great innovators (actually the sole producers) were the British and the Germans, the US cashing in on Britain's technological sharing, and later from the defeated Germany technology and research trove. These are avenues closed to the USA for the moment, so jet development would be much slower (also, the full plans are not that easy to steal, on account of the sheer quantity - when the Brits gave the US the plans for the Rolls Royce Merlin, the full plans had to be carried with a van).
ITTL, the US sat on the sidelines, haven't got the tight relations they had IOTL with the Europeans, and again, IOTL they proved slow to learn from the experiences of others - so I presume the US Air Force won't have 'mature' first generation jet fighters (other than test planes and prototypes) earlier then the early to mid 50s at the very best. (Actually, is there an US Air Force yet, or there's still the Army and Navy Airforces?)
Part 33, Chapter 394
Chapter Three Hundred Ninety-Four
14th July 1944
Kiyasovo, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Hans was cautiously walking through the latest village. The period of rapid advance that they had recently enjoyed was clearly over and it was back to the grinding slog. It had been the uniforms that were the first clue. Too squared away. That was when they had realized that they were no longer facing conscripts but elite Guard units and that made perfect sense. At this point the Russian Capitol would defended by the most fanatical or stupid.
Then his ears picked up something strange. Men’s voices singing in English, a song about pile of bricks in Russia. Hans instantly recognized the black humor of it.
“What do we have here?” Jost asked.
“Our Irish friends” Hans said.
“How did they get ahead of us?” Jost asked.
“The Hell if I know” Hans answered.
As Hans’ Company advanced into the area where a similar number of Irish soldiers were dug in he saw that it was Jack Kennedy’s outfit. He’d not seen them since right before battle on the Volga river outside Stalingrad.
When Jack saw Hans greeted him warmly. “I never got a chance to thank you for seeing to it that we got winter gear last year” He said.
“If I recall correctly you were too busy running from my relatives to pay attention” Hans replied.
“With all due respect” Jack said, “The last time I saw someone from your family it involved threats of castration and resulted in a man being fed to a tiger.”
“Sounds like her” Was all Hans said.
“That doesn’t bother you?” Jack asked.
“Why should it?” Hans said, “I presume she was there to do a job and that was part of it.”
“Is that a joke?” Jack asked.
“Hardly” Hans said, “She’s actually kind of shy and reserved unless something really sets her off. Like attacking her or hurting somebody close to her.”
Jack heard that but it was strange. How could a handful of British turncoats have possibly anything to do with a girl in Berlin? And how did Ian Fleming factor in?
Near Chekhov, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Horst had kept up the momentum of the 6th Division. He had heard about what had happened elsewhere when the Russians had been given a chance to catch their breath. The result was that they had smashed through the same defensive line that had stopped the advance to the east of them in a few hours. That was why it came as a bit of a surprise when the Division stopped suddenly.
Horst was prepared to rip someone a new asshole when he got to the head of the column. As it turned out what had happened was that the 6th Division had linked up with the Polish 4th Panzer Cavalry Division which had been advancing out of Belarus. It was the first time that Army Group South had linked up with Army Group Center in the drive on Moscow.
Stupino, Moscow Oblast, Russia
It presented quite a few tactical problems. How did they grab a man in a basement of a fortress in the middle of a city? Then how to get out alive? Over the first couple days the leadership of the 28th Regiment had pored over all the public information on the Kremlin and came up empty. As they gamed out the possibilities it always ended the same way, badly. On the third day, they had received a piece of intelligence that changed everything.
When Mikhail Tukhachevsky had surrendered he had brought with him a cache of documents. One of them was something that Intelligence hadn’t recognized the significance of it at first. It was several maps of black lines imposed over street grid of Moscow. The only label on it was D6. Eventually someone had realized that it was a map of the rumored under-city of Moscow including a parallel transit system and the maze of tunnels that ran under the Kremlin itself.
Kat couldn’t believe the sort of paranoia that resulted in something like this. The lengths that Stalin had gone to in order to keep all of this secret. But the problem with secrets was that they cut both ways. If no one aside from Stalin on the Russian side who knew the full extent of those tunnels then that would give them a serious advantage. It also solved the major problem that they’d had. They thought of several ways into the city undetected but getting out again was where things got hairy. With this they could get into the Kremlin and live to talk about it.
“What’s right there?” Kat asked pointing at what the map said was a tunnel entrance at the northern corner of Red Square.
That had resulted in a flurry of phone calls but after an hour they had discovered that there was a vacant lot on that site. There had been a Russian Orthodox Cathedral there but Stalin himself had ordered it leveled years earlier, ironically it provided direct access to the basement where Stalin himself was said to be hiding. An idea was forming in Kat's mind about how this could be done. Even with the unexpected problems expected in combat factored in a smallish team could get in and out with the strong possibility that the Russian would never know that they were there until they were long gone.
“I guess this is when we ask for volunteers” Koch asked.
“No need” Kat replied, “This is an operation that is classic SKA, everyone will want in on it. You’ll have to draw lots.”
“Even you, Major?” Koch asked.
“Especially me” Kat said. If this was to be her last mission with the SKA then she wanted to have it something that would never be forgotten. Koch wasn’t the only one who wanted the ultimate prize and she had a better feel for tunnels under cities than anyone else in the SKA.
14th July 1944
Kiyasovo, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Hans was cautiously walking through the latest village. The period of rapid advance that they had recently enjoyed was clearly over and it was back to the grinding slog. It had been the uniforms that were the first clue. Too squared away. That was when they had realized that they were no longer facing conscripts but elite Guard units and that made perfect sense. At this point the Russian Capitol would defended by the most fanatical or stupid.
Then his ears picked up something strange. Men’s voices singing in English, a song about pile of bricks in Russia. Hans instantly recognized the black humor of it.
“What do we have here?” Jost asked.
“Our Irish friends” Hans said.
“How did they get ahead of us?” Jost asked.
“The Hell if I know” Hans answered.
As Hans’ Company advanced into the area where a similar number of Irish soldiers were dug in he saw that it was Jack Kennedy’s outfit. He’d not seen them since right before battle on the Volga river outside Stalingrad.
When Jack saw Hans greeted him warmly. “I never got a chance to thank you for seeing to it that we got winter gear last year” He said.
“If I recall correctly you were too busy running from my relatives to pay attention” Hans replied.
“With all due respect” Jack said, “The last time I saw someone from your family it involved threats of castration and resulted in a man being fed to a tiger.”
“Sounds like her” Was all Hans said.
“That doesn’t bother you?” Jack asked.
“Why should it?” Hans said, “I presume she was there to do a job and that was part of it.”
“Is that a joke?” Jack asked.
“Hardly” Hans said, “She’s actually kind of shy and reserved unless something really sets her off. Like attacking her or hurting somebody close to her.”
Jack heard that but it was strange. How could a handful of British turncoats have possibly anything to do with a girl in Berlin? And how did Ian Fleming factor in?
Near Chekhov, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Horst had kept up the momentum of the 6th Division. He had heard about what had happened elsewhere when the Russians had been given a chance to catch their breath. The result was that they had smashed through the same defensive line that had stopped the advance to the east of them in a few hours. That was why it came as a bit of a surprise when the Division stopped suddenly.
Horst was prepared to rip someone a new asshole when he got to the head of the column. As it turned out what had happened was that the 6th Division had linked up with the Polish 4th Panzer Cavalry Division which had been advancing out of Belarus. It was the first time that Army Group South had linked up with Army Group Center in the drive on Moscow.
Stupino, Moscow Oblast, Russia
It presented quite a few tactical problems. How did they grab a man in a basement of a fortress in the middle of a city? Then how to get out alive? Over the first couple days the leadership of the 28th Regiment had pored over all the public information on the Kremlin and came up empty. As they gamed out the possibilities it always ended the same way, badly. On the third day, they had received a piece of intelligence that changed everything.
When Mikhail Tukhachevsky had surrendered he had brought with him a cache of documents. One of them was something that Intelligence hadn’t recognized the significance of it at first. It was several maps of black lines imposed over street grid of Moscow. The only label on it was D6. Eventually someone had realized that it was a map of the rumored under-city of Moscow including a parallel transit system and the maze of tunnels that ran under the Kremlin itself.
Kat couldn’t believe the sort of paranoia that resulted in something like this. The lengths that Stalin had gone to in order to keep all of this secret. But the problem with secrets was that they cut both ways. If no one aside from Stalin on the Russian side who knew the full extent of those tunnels then that would give them a serious advantage. It also solved the major problem that they’d had. They thought of several ways into the city undetected but getting out again was where things got hairy. With this they could get into the Kremlin and live to talk about it.
“What’s right there?” Kat asked pointing at what the map said was a tunnel entrance at the northern corner of Red Square.
That had resulted in a flurry of phone calls but after an hour they had discovered that there was a vacant lot on that site. There had been a Russian Orthodox Cathedral there but Stalin himself had ordered it leveled years earlier, ironically it provided direct access to the basement where Stalin himself was said to be hiding. An idea was forming in Kat's mind about how this could be done. Even with the unexpected problems expected in combat factored in a smallish team could get in and out with the strong possibility that the Russian would never know that they were there until they were long gone.
“I guess this is when we ask for volunteers” Koch asked.
“No need” Kat replied, “This is an operation that is classic SKA, everyone will want in on it. You’ll have to draw lots.”
“Even you, Major?” Koch asked.
“Especially me” Kat said. If this was to be her last mission with the SKA then she wanted to have it something that would never be forgotten. Koch wasn’t the only one who wanted the ultimate prize and she had a better feel for tunnels under cities than anyone else in the SKA.
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