246

Episode 246: Battle of London (3)

"Let's smash Buckingham Palace into dust?"

"Yes, Mr. President!"

Hitler thought Richthofen was joking and laughed it off. But when he saw Richt Hofen's face, he realized it was sincere.

Hitler said, putting down his teacup.

"Is there really a need to go to such trouble?"

"Buckingham Palace is the King's residence and a symbol of London. "If we bomb that place, the morale of the British people will be at an all-time low."

"On the other hand, don't you think that it can only increase the fighting spirit of the British people? And if the king and his wife are killed or injured along with the palace, we will have to fight a long and tedious guerrilla war with the blind British. Maybe even after the war is over."

Hitler was worried that destroying Buckingham Palace would only increase the British people's will to fight.

Therefore, he rejected Richthofen's plan to bomb Buckingham Palace and shatter the British will to fight.

But Richthofen did not give up here.

He met and persuaded Göring, Kesselring, and Weber, and also met with Keitel, Brauchitsch, and Reichenau, had a meal with them, and gave a lengthy explanation of his plan.

"Think about it. The sight of the symbol of Britain collapsing. And how will the British people who witnessed that scene in real time react?"

"But as the President pointed out, on the day the King and Queen of England are injured or die, won't the entire British people become guerrillas and try to fight the National Defense Forces?"

"If the British had the courage to do that, they wouldn't have come this far. Of course, they might go crazy for a while. But what do you think when you see the National Defense Forces not even nodding even when they run wild? Will they try to fight more tenaciously, or will they realize the reality and become scared?"

"But I don't think Britain will surrender because of that, right?"

"On the other hand, if we leave Buckingham Palace as is, our enemies will not surrender. "If you're not going to surrender anyway, wouldn't it be okay to just beat him up and destroy him?"

"Only when the British people see their symbol being destroyed will they realize the reality. That this war has been lost. And from now on, we have to show it clearly. "What kind of hell will you go through if you resist Germany?"

Richthofen's goal was not simply to destroy Buckingham Palace.

His ultimate goal was to bring down the morale of the British people by thoroughly destroying all of London's landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, 10 Downing Street, the Tower of London, and the British Museum, to the point of pulverizing them with Leggero.

The marshals, persuaded by Richthofen's argument, unanimously told the Fuhrer that, as Richthofen had said, he should make an example of Britain for not surrendering.

"The Defense Forces are invincible, Mr. Fuhrer. If the British go on a rampage, all we have to do is suppress them with a force several times greater than that."

"The reason the British people are so arrogant is because they have not yet experienced the bitter taste of war."

"Seeing the symbols of their country being torn down will surely make the British people wake up to reality."

When he heard that the British people burned their fighting spirit and laughed at their allies by looking at their country's landmarks that had not collapsed despite air raids and artillery bombardments, Hitler's thoughts slowly began to change.

As the generals said, the British people may have strengthened their fighting spirit after seeing Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace survive the bombing.

Behold the magnificent Buckingham Palace! Buckingham Palace did not collapse even though the Jerrys bombarded it a thousand days!

"Isn't this proof that God is protecting the British Empire?"

"Tsk. "When I went to England, I wanted to take a commemorative photo in front of Buckingham Palace."

"Ha ha ha ha ha… … ."

"Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a picture in front of the ruins of Buckingham Palace. What's good? Give it a try. Instead, you must be sure to succeed. "If we get it wrong and only raise the morale of the British, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the Luftwaffe?"

"of course. Do not worry. "The best pilots in the Air Force will take on this job."

June 21, 1943

On that fateful day, Fw 200s carrying Leger took off for London.

"It's Buckingham Palace!"

"Take a good look. "That will be the last we see of Buckingham Palace."

"Drop the bomb."

***

June 22, 1943

Vienna Schönbrunn Palace, Ostmark, Germany

Leger's power was clear.

Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, Whitehall Palace, St. George's Cathedral, 10 Downing Street, Tower of London, British Museum, etc.

Almost all of London's major landmarks collapsed under the Luftwaffe's heavy attack.

However, despite its fame, Tower Bridge was excluded from the target of this bombing because it was essential for the movement of German troops.

In addition, there was a calculation that even if the British army broke down all the bridges in London, they would not dare blow up Tower Bridge because of its symbolism.

Richthofen reported the success of the operation to me in an excited voice. London is no longer London. They completely crushed the nose of those proud British bastards.

The fate of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth has not yet been confirmed.

What we can know for sure is that the shock to the British people from this bombing was enormous. And surprisingly, there was no significant change in the British resistance.

Time will tell. As Richthofen predicted, will the morale of the British people drop to the bottom, or will the Taliban possess all of the British and rush to fight until the end? If it weren't for the latter, I wouldn't want anything more.

"It's been a while since I saw you, Master. "Have you been safe so far?"

"I'm doing well. "It's been a while, General."

"Now, some people will be meeting each other for the first time today, so please say hello."

A meeting of the leaders of the Axis powers was held in Vienna.

It was soon time to have a serious conversation about the post-war aftermath.

It seems like there will be too much work to do after the war is over, so wouldn't it be better and more convenient if it was done in advance?

Schönbrunn Palace, chosen as the meeting location, was the summer palace of the Habsburg family and was built by Maria Theresa, the famous Empress of Austria, with the ambition to build a splendid palace comparable to the Palace of Versailles in France.

However, due to financial and technical problems, it was built only two-thirds the size originally expected, and not only in size but also in appearance it looked somewhat plainer than the Palace of Versailles.

Of course, if you look at the building itself, it is beautiful enough.

The yellow paint painted on the exterior wall of the palace is called 'Maria Theresa Yellow', and it is said that Maria Theresa herself liked yellow, so she painted the palace yellow as well.

The leaders of the Axis powers gathered in the splendid palace built by the former Empress.

Philippe Pétain, the old field marshal of France.

Pétain's disciple and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

Christian X, King of Denmark.

Norwegian Prime Minister Vidkun Quisling.

Belgian Prime Minister Leon Degrell.

Dutch Prime Minister Anton Mussert.

Although it is not an official country, Chandra Bose, the first president of the Provisional Government of Free India, attended this meeting through my consideration.

And me, Adolf Hitler.

These are the attendees of the first meeting of the leaders of the Axis powers, which will be recorded in the history books as the 'Vienna Conference'.

***

The first thing discussed was how to deal with Britain's colonies after the war.

I promised Pétain all of Britain's African colonies, and Franco the British West Indies and Guiana.

"Egypt, free from British rule, will be reorganized into a republic and become an ally of Germany. Management of the Suez Canal will be taken over by Germany. And South West Africa (Namibia) will also completely separate from the Union of South Africa and establish a new government."

"I agree."

"I agree."

Although Egypt is a vassal of Britain, it is a completely independent country, and I promised independence to the anti-Egyptian anti-Egyptians.

This part had been made clear to Pétain and Laval before, so there was no noise.

They tried to hand over South West Africa to France, but surprisingly, the National Defense Forces opposed it.

Although it became a British territory following the defeat in World War I, there are still many Germans living in South West Africa, and the question was whether they would accept French rule.

In particular, the opposition from Göring, whose father was the former governor of South West Africa, was the strongest.

So, rather than handing over South West Africa to France, it was decided to separate it from the mandate of the South African Union and turn it into a pro-German puppet state with native blacks and Germans from South West Africa.

In addition, African colonies such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia, and Sudan were all decided to be ceded to France.

"West Asian colonies such as British Aden (Yemen), Oman, Transjordan, and Iraq, as well as Malta, will be managed by Germany."

"I will admit it."

As promised to Husseini, we plan to make Palestine independent and make Jordan a puppet state.

British colonies in the Middle East.

Of course, they won't overtly interfere in politics like the UK, but will act like liberators and just suck up the oil and leave the rest to their own devices.

Britain intervened in local politics more than necessary, arousing local resentment.

In order to extract oil for a long time, winning the favor of local people is more important than anything else.

All we have to do is spread some moderately advanced medical technology and show that we don't care what they do.

Since Malta (316km²) is only slightly larger than Ganghwado Island (302.4km²), we thought about annexing it as an overseas territory of Germany, but then we expected strong opposition from Maltese residents, so we made it a formally independent country and joined the Azores Islands. Like the Canary Islands, it was decided to use it as an unsinkable aircraft carrier for the German Navy and Air Force.

Even if it is a superficially independent country, the difference between having sovereignty and not having it at all is quite large.

"British Guiana and the British West Indies will belong to Spain."

Franco nodded with a satisfied face.

"What are your plans for India?"

"Of course we should become independent."

I answered Quisling's question without delay. Then the expression of the boss present brightened.

"India has suffered from British exploitation and oppression for a long time. Just as Ireland escaped British rule, India too must become independent. "Independent India is a new member of the Axis Alliance and will be of great help to the Axis powers' advancement into the Indian Ocean and Asia."

In addition, British colonies in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, such as Burma, Malaya, and New Guinea, were also discussed.

"Anyway, that region will be tightly held by the United States after the war, so is there a need to discuss it separately?"

Common sense dictates that unless the United States goes crazy, it will not hand over the lands it has barely occupied by shedding the blood of its own military.

Then Pétain's complexion worsened.

They are thinking of regaining French Indochina as soon as the war ends, but it seems they have finally remembered the obvious fact that the United States, which dominates the Pacific and Far East, will not allow this.

"Hmm, hmm. Indochina must return to France."

"I have no objection to that."

"There I am."

Except for Boss, who did not express his opinion, the rest of the attendees agreed with Pétain's remarks. Since it is a French matter anyway, there is no reason to express opposition.

"What are you going to do about Indonesia?"

Mussert asked me. The Netherlands itself was occupied by Germany, but until the Southern Operation, the Dutch East Indies, or Indonesia, followed the Dutch government in exile.

I made Musert aware of this fact and quietly informed him that even after the war was over, there was a high possibility that Indonesia would be under the rule of the Dutch government-in-exile or that the United States would make it independent.

"If Indonesians support the current Dutch government rather than Queen Wilhelmina's government, then of course they should accept it as belonging to the Netherlands."

Of course, that won't happen at all.

Being generous, I have decided to leave Congo to the current Belgian government, just like Indonesia (if it can be taken over).

"All Danish territories occupied by Britain, including the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, must be returned to Denmark."

No objection. admit.

King Christian

He advocated punishment for Britain more strongly than anyone else.

However, as mentioned earlier, Africa and the West Indies were distributed to France and Spain. Accordingly, Denmark was given Ceylon as its share.

In addition to colonies, division of British territory was also on the agenda. The Channel Islands were given French territory, and Norway was given its share of the Shetland Islands in exchange for participating in the war.

Although I am not here, it was decided to cede Northern Ireland to Ireland after the war.

In fact, it was not given for free, but was handed over in return for Ireland's promise to participate in the war in the near future.

Considering the strength of the Irish army, it may not be of much help in the war effort, but Ireland's participation in the war will likely unsettle public opinion in the United States, where many Irish live, and among Irish who enlisted in the British army.

"What are you going to do about the British people in Northern Ireland?"

"Shouldn't we all move to England?"

"Will they just abandon their homes and hometowns?"

"Are you going to quit if you don't leave? If I stayed there, I would be beaten to death by the Irish. Of course, if we force them to move, they will be dissatisfied, so we will leave it to their own will. "You can just tell them to take responsibility for what happens next."

At this point, the agenda for dividing Britain was concluded and the next item on the agenda, punishment for post-war British 'war criminals', was discussed.

"All members of the current Churchill cabinet must be arrested, and all low-ranking officials and officers above the rank of lieutenant must be rounded up and brought to trial."

"We should never show mercy to those who started war."

"All those involved in ruling India must be arrested and brought to justice."

On this agenda, Christian X, Quisling, and Boss got along well. All three are people who have deep resentment toward Britain.

Pétain's reaction was 'Why did you do that?', but there were also some who were somewhat passive.

"The leaders who started the war should be tried, but isn't it a bit excessive to put even low-level officials and officers on trial? On the contrary, it may incur strong opposition from the British people."

Franco's words. It doesn't seem like something a guy whose daily routine starts with writing down whether or not the death penalty should be executed or postponed on a list of death row inmates would say, but the statement itself made sense.

"Let's bring to justice only those suspected of war crimes. "No one here wants to wage a guerrilla war for decades."

Stalin also suggested executing thousands of captured German officers to prevent Germany from going to war again, but Churchill and Roosevelt said, 'That's not right.'

In fact, if that were the case, the Soviet Union might have had to wage a guerrilla war in East Germany for the next ten years.

Christian

Therefore, it is assumed that only those responsible for the war are punished and the rest are quietly overlooked.

"Is the British royal family also included in the trial?"

"Isn't that obvious? Even if we don't abolish the royal family and make it a republic, the royal family should also receive appropriate punishment. "No matter how much they are not involved in real politics, on the contrary, they are not opposed to starting a war, so they are no different from sympathizers of war."

"That is correct. "Just because you are a royal family, you cannot avoid the strict judgment of the law."

Members of the British royal family have long since fled to Canada, and the fate of the King and Queen remaining in England is currently unknown, but even if they are alive and captured, I have no intention of treating them well.

A new king candidate had already been chosen, and above all, the punishment of the king and his wife was absolutely necessary to teach the British people that silence equals sympathy.

Even if he doesn't end up being hanged, he will have to spend at least a few decades in prison.

Because from now on, we need to show the world a lesson that royal family members are not excluded from all legal judgments