Berlin
August 6th, 1927
Unification Day
It was hard to believe that it had been two years since the peace treaty with the former Union of the Low Countries had been signed. The day, having become known as Unification Day in Germany, was going to be celebrated by a march by politicians from all parts of the empire to the Reichstag.
The Emperor was of course to frail to attend. However, his son, the King of the Netherlands and of the Belgians, would march alongside the Reichskanzler. Together, they would cross one of the many bridges over the Spree, followed by the factions of Parliament in order of their numbers. Though of course, this would mean they would immediately be followed by the social democrats. Sänger could already see the headlines in some papers-
global leader of socialism marches on. But of course that would only be half the picture - more important was the message such a march would send.
There would be no military aside from the usual security. Instead, the military leadership would await the political leadership together with the emperor at the Reichstag. All in all, it looked like a good day to Sänger, where there not two facts bothering him. The first one was that Natasha was not able to attend due to the pregnancy - or rather, she had wanted to attend but her father and great-aunt had helped him to persuade her otherwise - and he did miss her presence, now that they only got to see each other when he came home from the Chancellery. Although, it was probably best not to expose a woman in her condition to a several-mile long foot walk.
The second fact bothering him were the two princesses. Maria Elisabeth was everything he expected. Smart, beautiful, a fiery temper and utterly like her aunt in that she and Sänger saw eye to eye. The Egyptian princess Faradiah meanwhile....that one was definitely a future Empress that needed watching, even though the reports he had read so far about her said nothing of the kind. And her future husband was as insufferable as ever.
As Sänger took his place besides the Crown Prince, he was far too occupied with such thoughts to notice the cheering populace, nor the boats that had lined the Spree river with spectators. As the walk had almost cleared the bridge, he never saw his bodyguard Hans clench as he looked at one particular boat driver. All he felt was Hans slamming into him and the crown prince, starting to push them both away from the bridge, before an enormous power lifted him from the ground. Sänger felt slamming into something. Then everything went black.
The explosion from the Dutch resistance barge
Vrijheid was tremendous. Shrapnel tore through spectators and politicians alike. With a tremendous shudder, the bridge collapsed into the river, drowning more men and women.
An investigation would later determine that the barge had been seen near the Stadtschloss several times, but had not approached it due to the high level of security. It would also determine that due to the high level of press coverage, the terrorists had been able to position themselves well in advance and that due to the Gardekorps not being used for security, the police protection had been inadequate.
However, none of that mattered right now for Hans as he discovered that while he and the Crown Prince had only sustained minor injuries, his Chancellor was lying in a puddle of blood.
General Staff,
Two hours later
As Admiral Scheer was let into the bunker that also doubled as the newly refurbished War room, he noticed a few things. First, the Reichskanzler was not here. Instead, it looked as if the Emperor would be leading things. He did however notice a familiar face - Sänger's secretary Elise, trying in vain to hide the fact that she had cried earlier. He quickly walked over to her and handed her a handkerchief. He waited for her to finish blowing her nose and then asked her about the situation. After having gotten a brief status report, he nodded grimly. It did not look good.
The Chancellor had been transported to the Charité, currently in emergency surgery after having been speared by an iron fencing post. Massive loss of blood, doctors refuse to give a prognosis. The Crown Prince had been transported to the Charité as well with broken legs and head trauma.
The Vice-Chancellor and five cabinet ministers dead, as well as over thirty department heads.
At least 300 members of the Reichstag seriously injured or dead, most of them having died when the bridge collapsed. And they were still pulling bodies out of the water....
Not to mention the spectators....
Shit.
Scheer finished recapping the situation in his head and immediately came to attention when the Emperor entered the room, followed by a gaggle of Generals and Admirals including von Mackensen and von Hipper. "Thank you. Be seated." The Emperor's voice sounded strained, as if the Emperor was close to loosing his countenance. As Scheer looked at his sovereign, he could not help but notice the Emperor twitching once it became clear that many seats around the table would be left empty.
"Who did this?" Nobody could answer the Emperor's question. "Could this be a part of a surprise attack?" More silence. "I want answers, and I want them NOW." This part, accentuated with the Emperor's fist hitting the table, caused the members of the emergency committee to look at each other helplessly. Finally, von Mackensen stood. "Your Majesty, nobody can say right now." Wilhelm snorted. "Great. I want a full mobilization of all our forces. I will not be caught off-guard again."
Scheer thought he saw a flash of panic in the Emperor's eyes. He empathized with the man. After all, Wilhelm's family had been the target of bombs twice now, not to mention the assassination attempt on his daughter-in-law. Still, he had a duty to voice his opinion. He stood. "Your majesty, with all due respect, but this might be premature. It may just be a simple terrorist attack - "
"Simple terrorist attack? Grand Admiral, have you gone insane?" The voice came from the back of the room. But Scheer recognized it immediately. "Herr Hugenberg, you are not a member of this chamber - " "He is here on my invitation", the Kaiser interjected. And soon enough, Hugenberg had muscled his way from the back to the front of the table. "I have been warning you for years, Scheer, about the dangers posed by the Poles and the British. About the danger of the soviets and of the Dominion. Now, in the time of crisis, we have to act. We have to safeguard Germany. We have to make sure our safety is -"
"Before you get ahead in your little speech, Herr Hugenberg, I suggest you actually come up with some proof. And besides, we all face a small problem here." Von Hipper had been silent so far, but now he had spoken up.
Hugenberg, whose face had become even redder than before, now swiveled around and glared at the Grand Admiral. "And what is that?" "None of us has the authority to call for a general mobilization, save asking the Reichstag for war loans. Not even his Majesty." The pointed look the Grand Admiral gave at the Chancellor's empty chair was not lost on the audience.
"Oh, pish-posh. We cannot stand here and let a little legalese get in our way in this time of crisis. Your Majesty, I implore you to act immediately. The Vizekanzler is dead. You can appoint an emergency chancellor. Your Majesty, I beg you - do so now, for the sake of all of us. And of our children. We know need a visionary to lead us. You are that one person, your majesty."
After a while, the Emperor nodded. "I am afraid Herr Hugenberg is right. We cannot afford a power vacuum. We have to act in a decisive manner. By the power vested in me by God and the constitution, I hereby appoint my loyal servant, Herrn Alfred Hugenberg, to the office of Reichskanzler until such a time the Reichstag confirms another - or the Chancellor recovers."
Almost as if by command, the military leadership rose at once, but before they could speak the Emperor himself stood up. "That is all. You have sworn an oath to me. I expect you to uphold it. Good day."
After the Emperor had departed, Hugenberg crossed the room and sat down in the Chancellor's chair. "You have your orders. I expect status reports by tomorrow. Meanwhile, enact the emergency plans."
After the officers had filed out, Hugenberg asked for any unanswered diplomatic correspondence. There was one telegramm left and reading it a smile played around his eyes.
Oh my. This is going to be interesting.
After having ordered a simple reply being sent, Hugenberg leaned back in the chair. Where Sänger failed to take the necessary steps to secure the German nation, he would not. And in the corner, Elise Li watched powerless as the newly appointed Reichskanzler went about to impose his vision on the world.
Radio Norddeich
The message had arrived from Berlin via the emergency line. The station had already received the earlier breaking news from Berlin and transmitted it, but this was cut short when the naval radio operators assigned to the stations took over. Soon, Norddeich and all other German radio stations that were servicing the vast German Merchant Fleet began sending out a simple messages, using the second, previously-unused secret merchant cypher.
Decoded Message wrote:
GREEN.GREEN.GREEN.
SS Columbus
Atlantic Ocean
Captain Jens Sänger already had had a rude awakening when one of his radio operators had announced that there had been a bomb blast and that his brother had been rushed to the hospital. When his
Funker, ashen as a sheet, approached him with the message "Fall Grün has been enacted", he knew his day was only to get worse. All too clearly, he remembered the secret briefings he and all merchant captains had received as part of regular briefings by the Kaiserliche Marine on security issues:
CASE GREEN
In the case of Green being transmitted over the secret cypher, all ships in German and allied waters (Spain, France, Tuscany, Portugal, China) and harbours will place themselves and their cargo at the disposal of the Marineamt.
All ships in non-German or non-allied waters will take the following general actions:
- The ships are to head for safe ports immediately.
- If possible, said ships will take onboard important cargo (see Appendix A). The Marineamt will cover any losses from any unfavorable transactions that arise out of this order
- The ships are to be made ready for scutlling and or firing
- Ships have to try to reach safe ports within 60 hours of receipt of this order.
Safe ports
- All German ports in Germany proper.
- Outside Germany, the following ports are to be first choice:
a) The German ports of Berbera, Dar-es-Salaam, Lomé, Tsingtao, Saipan, Flores, Sumbawa and the port of Timor
b) The French ports of Brest, St. Nazair and Lorient as well as the port of Cassablanca
c) Spanish ports of Cadiz and Vigo as well as the Spanish colonies of Curacao, Guyana and Uruguay
c) French ports of Brest, St. Nazaire, Lorient and Cassablanca
d) Portugese ports of Lisbon and Porto as well as Cap Verde, Madeira and the Azores.
e) Chinese and Tuscan ports [snip]
All ships may substitute allied ports if necessary.
Ships will avoid the following ports except in case of ship-threatening emergency:
a) Great Britain including her colonies
b) The Nordic Union and her colonies
c) Polish Commonwealth ports
Due to the ongoing limited naval war between the Nations, the ports of the Grand Dominion and Shepistan are to be avoided except in case of emergency. Ships are ordered to check with German Commander at Berbera and ask for permission.
If necessary, ships may enter ports of neutral and unaligned nations such as the Republic of Cascadia, The Empire of Mexico, The United States of America, Gran Colombia, [rest of non-aligned nations snipped]
Ships assembled are to wait for further orders from the Marineamt.
Cursing, Jens Sänger immediately ordered the ship to full speed. With good luck, she would reach Bremen in three days. All over the globe, an unusual flurry of activity was recorded on German ships. Liberty was cancelled, stores and cargo were quickly loaded and in some cases, ships even left harbor without any cargo at all.
And in Germany, reservists were called upon while the surviving members of the Reichstag were called in for an emergency session.
Kingdom of Spain
Madrid
Royal Palace
Queen Marian had received a simple telegramm from Berlin. It came from the office of the Reichskanzler and carried two simple words: GO AHEAD. "What about Johannes?" "We do not know, your majesty. Dead or seriously injured. In any case, I fear we will have seen the last of him." The Queen mulled this over. She did not like this one bit - but then again, this provided a rare window of opportunity. The interests of her nation demanded that she take it. Sighing, she went about notifying her cabinet.
Reichstag
Emergency session
It quickly became apparent to Jakob Burchardt that without Sänger around, the coalition he had built was quickly falling apart as the more conservative national liberals sided with Hugenberg, who had earlier read an address of the Kaiser urging the Reichstag to give Hugenberg "the help he needed to protect Germany in this time of crisis".
The socialists had been almost wiped out by the blast. Of their leaders, only Müller and Scheidemann had survived, both being in the hospital and unable to intercede. The catholic centrum was torn, a fact not helped by the young prince Otto having shown up to champion Hugenberg. Burchardt himself had tried to speak out, but had been quickly shouted down by the conservatives.
Disgusted, he left the chamber before the votes were tallied in order to stand by Natasha in the hospital. After all, there was nothing he could do now.
Hugenberg would have his way.
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