British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain went back and forth twice, returning to Britain after negotiations broke down, only to come back to Munich to negotiate again.
Damn it, I thought the Munich Agreement was just Chamberlain agonizing and then surrendering.
Who knew he'd play this push-and-pull game, coming and going so many times!
Lieutenant Colonel Oster continuously tried to launch the plan, but the High Command—especially Halder—demanded a halt to the ongoing plan every time Chamberlain arrived.
Hitler, who was determined to devour all of Czechia, not just the Sudetenland, openly presented conditions that Chamberlain could not accept.
He pressured Chamberlain by imposing conditions, including that Germany should immediately occupy Czechia and even give away Czech territory to Poland and Hungary. On September 23rd, Chamberlain, having reached the limit of his patience, also declared the breakdown of the talks.
Our last chance came when Czechoslovakia immediately declared a General Mobilization Order, but while Lieutenant Colonel Oster was demanding a decision from the High Command, Mussolini stepped in to mediate, and it all fell through.
On September 30th, the Munich Agreement was signed.
In the end, all Britain and France accomplished was delaying Germany's occupation of the Sudetenland by ten days, which Germany had been aggressively demanding to take immediately.
The Great Powers sold out Czechia to buy a false peace that wouldn't even last a year.
The Czech army, which had trusted Britain and France, built a fortress line, and even declared a general mobilization order, handed over the Sudetenland without firing a single shot. And Poland, which should have helped Czechia under the Locarno Treaties, joined Hungary in tearing Czechia apart.
Even France, which should have protected Czechia, bullied it under the pretext of helping its ally Poland, allowing Poland to be the first to tear away the Těšín (Cieszyn in Polish) region.
In the dirty international politics that could truly be called the Betrayal of the West, Czechia was miserably abandoned.
In the end, our operation could not be executed.
While all of Germany cheered wildly, praising their hero Hitler, I was leading my unit, being welcomed by the Sudetenland Germans who were praising Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Unable to do anything, I had to once again face the residents chanting "Heil Hitler," oblivious to what the future held.
-
October 15, 1938
Berlin, Northern Germany
[The Great Führer's Heroic Deed Reclaims German Territory]
[British Prime Minister Declares 'Peace for Our Time' in London.
Germany's Victory Achieved Without War!]
[Germany's Justice and the Greatness of the Germanic People Triumph!]
All sorts of sensational newspaper articles were scattered across the urban area of Berlin.
Berlin, upon my return after the occupation of the Sudetenland, was overflowing with praise for Hitler and joy for the unification of The German People, achieved without war.
The Munich Agreement. I knew in my head, from the records, how fervently all of Germany celebrated Hitler for achieving a feat that was hard to comprehend, not just for the people of this era but even for those of later generations.
“Sieg Heil! Long live the Liberator of the German People, the Führer!”
But standing in the middle of that era, seeing that worship-like fanaticism, that absolute support, it's suffocating.
All the residents, overwhelmed with joy, filled with emotion, are praising Hitler and shouting 'long live' to the Great Germany the Nazis have built.
“Germany is great! Heil Hitler!”
Truly, can we break this absolute support?
Did I really believe that a single individual could stop this nationwide stampede, created by the pioneers of the most extreme nationalist frenzy and propaganda in human history, just by using his head a little?
What on earth did I believe in, and what have I been running for all this time?
Was there nothing a mere individual could do within the set waves of history?
Was my resolve, our fight where we risked our lives, nothing more than a meaningless struggle?
Was it I, perhaps, and not them, who clung to a rotten rope, unable to see it for what it was because it was the only thing to hold onto?
The great wave of history is far deeper and rougher than I thought, and cruel.
-
An grating noise kept ringing in my ears.
An irritating knocking on the door.
“Damn it… what is it now…”
When I opened my eyes, the damn headache from my hangover felt like my head was being squeezed.
“Damn it, water…”
Only after finding and gulping down water did I realize I was in the mansion under my father's name, which I used with the working-level officials of the resistance force.
There's no one here but me now.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Meanwhile, hearing the relentless knocking, I staggered to the door and flung it open.
Claudia, who had been knocking with a rather bored expression, blinked in surprise and then covered her nose.
“Ugh, the smell of alcohol… just how much did you drink?”
“…Reporter Jung?”
“Yes, it's me.
Ugh, the smell. Seriously…”
Damn it, why is this woman here again?
“…Go back.
There's no one here anymore. Our work failed, and your job is over too.”
Yeah, it's over.
Now that the Munich Agreement has been signed and all of Germany has begun to worship Hitler, there's nothing we can do.
Soon, Kristallnacht will happen, and Germany will go nationally insane, starting to run wild with hatred for the Jewish people. And then, the annexation of Czechoslovakia, the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, the invasion of Poland, the invasion of France…
…It's all over.
No, is there any point in going back? Wouldn't it be better to just shoot myself in the head with a pistol?
“Ha, haha… hahaha…”
While I let out a cynical laugh, Claudia just stared at me without a word.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Do I look like a mad person? No, I am mad.
Yes. Reporter, this lousy Germany will become a hell.
If you want to live, leave for America right now. Soon a war will break out, and you won't even be able to do that.”
“Umm… Captain Schacht, may I come in first?”
Even though she hadn't done anything wrong, her calm reaction made my anger surge.
“Get out of this nation of madmen right now!”
And as soon as I shouted that, with a slap, my head snapped to the side.
Damn, fuck… for real. I've been getting hit a lot lately.
“Ah. Sorry.
A beating is the cure for a madman, isn't it? I'll assume you understand.”
Claudia declared this to a dumbfounded me, pushed me aside, entered the dark house, and drew the window curtains.
“Ugh, were you still sleeping? The sun's high in the sky, for goodness' sake.”
“Is that even important? It's all over.”
“What's all over?”
Her casual retort, a sight that would have been charming before, now only irritated me.
For real, this is so fucked up I'm going to lose my mind.
I wonder if this woman could even imagine my predicament: in this lousy world, I tried to resist, anxiously worrying alone about a future only I know, only to fail spectacularly, and now I'm just waiting for everything to go to hell.
“The resistance force is finished.
Hitler's popularity after winning the Munich Agreement has shaken even the Wehrmacht. That bastard Halder has already said he's backing out, and Beck, who was indecisive to begin with, is so shocked by the populace's support that his mind has gone blank.”
Yes, it's all over. Who would have the guts to rebel against Hitler in the face of such fanatical support?
Oster? He's a great man, but even he can't do anything alone.
“This Germany will follow Hitler as if he's some savior, run wild like fanatics, wage a massive war, and in the end, be destroyed.”
Germany is truly finished.
Everyone has boarded the ship of that madman Hitler, unaware of the destruction he will bring, and in the end, it will sink into a pitch-black sea.
“The Germans, driven mad by the Nazis, will kill tens of millions, slaughtering Jewish people, Slavs, and everyone else in a great war!"
Not even a year is left.
"In the end, this Berlin will be reduced to ashes, the men will take whatever weapons are left and die as cannon fodder, and the women will die or suffer a fate worse than that.”
Claudia was watching me quietly, then asked.
“How can you be so sure of that?”
How can I be so sure?
“Can you even believe me if I tell you? I know because that's what happened in history. Those Nazi madmen boasting about a Thousand-Year Reich right now will meet their downfall in less than ten years, and Germany will be reduced to ashes! That bastard Hitler, who hasn't learned his lesson from the Munich Agreement, will swallow up Czechia and invade Poland next year!”
To hell with that bastard God, let this fucked-up world go to ruin.
“Britain and France will be furious at Hitler for pulling that shit even after they gave him so much at the Munich Agreement, and they'll declare war immediately! We'll win against Poland, and surprisingly, we'll win against France too. Thanks to that, that bastard Hitler will be treated like a living god!”
I wish I'd just go crazy.
“Having gotten overconfident, he'll even invade the Soviet Union, and Germany will collapse. Only then will the resistance force, awakened from their dream, try to save Germany by killing Hitler, and fail."
The people of this era who talked with me, laughed with me, strove with me…
"They all die.
Every single one. Oster, Tresckow, Beck, Witzleben, all of them! …Probably you, too.
Haha, I don't know. What would I know, when the name of a mere reporter wasn't even left in the history books.”
Her eyes were trembling. Are you flustered for the first time?
“What, are you dumbfounded listening to the bullshit of a madman? I'm truly sorry, but this is all true.
I'm from the future! Ah, well, if I'm in my right mind, that is. To be honest, I don't know if it's my delusion.
At this point, I'm not even sure if my memories are correct.”
As I was chuckling, Claudia suddenly opened her mouth.
“I'm a Social Democrat.”
“…What?”
What is this sudden bullshit? I thought, but Claudia's face was serious.
“So, well. To borrow your expression, yes.
A commie. A somewhat moderate commie? I don't know how many people would understand the difference.”
“No, wait. What on earth are you talking about.”
Claudia continued talking, regardless of what I said.
“The German Social Democrats of the Weimar Republic either went into hiding in underground organizations to escape Hitler's oppression, or they went into exile abroad.
I'm one of those who stayed here to work in an underground organization.”
“…So, the spy from the liberal faction, who works as a reporter in a fascist regime digging up intel, was actually a double agent for the Social Democrats?”
I'm so dumbfounded I'm speechless.
“That accusation is a bit unfair. Not all socialists are of the faction that wants to overthrow the regime and have a bloody revolution.
The German Social Democratic Party was a proper legal political party, and a mainstay of the Weimar Republic.”
After saying that, Claudia furrowed her fine brow slightly and added.
“I belong to a moderate faction among the Social Democrats that believes an alliance between the liberal faction and us is possible. So let's call it a cooperative relationship, not a spy.
Well… though in the eyes of the Nazis or the Royalist faction, we and those extreme communists probably look the same.”
Right, at least I, who came from the 21st century, know how to distinguish between Social Democrats and Communists.
But…
“…But, so what? Why the sudden confession?”
“I promised, didn't I? That if you tell me your secret, I'll tell you mine.”
A secret, ah.
I remember hearing that. I just couldn't answer because I thought she wouldn't believe my secret even if I told her.
“…You believe that? That nonsense about me being from the future?”
“Hmm- to be honest. About half?”
A cynical laugh burst out.
“I thought you were a complete realist, Reporter, but to be naive enough to immediately believe the ramblings of a drunken, delusional patient…”
“Willy Brandt. You remember, don't you? The Spanish Civil War.”
The moment I heard that name, something came to mind. Back when I was less guarded about my future knowledge, I'd run into the future Chancellor of West Germany by chance in Spain, and babbled on about the future.
“With all the key figures of the Social Democratic Party from the Weimar era locked up in Dachau concentration camp, he's our leader. He made a request to me.
To look into a person named Dietrich Schacht.”
Claudia smiled slightly as she spoke.
“At first, I wondered why he'd ask such a thing… but after looking into it, it was interesting in many ways. Just an ordinary playboy with a successful father, who suddenly changed in Spain.
I could have thought he just matured after experiencing the civil war, but…“
Having said that much, Claudia looked straight at me and added.
“No one could have accurately pointed out in April of last year what would happen this year.
And the intel you leaked, whose source couldn't possibly be confirmed.”
Now, there isn't even a trace of a tremor in her eyes.
“Honestly, I don't really want to believe it either. But if I believe your 'nonsense,' Captain, everything makes sense.”
Claudia started striding towards me.
“Ah, no, that's.
I…”
She ignored my flustered state, walked right up, and embraced me.
My mind, soaked in a hangover and the smell of alcohol, felt like it was jolted awake by a scent that resembled her.
“…It must have been so hard.”
I couldn't see her expression, so I don't know what she was thinking, or what she was feeling, when she said those words.
“At first, it was just an order. I approached you because you were someone it wouldn't hurt to build a connection with, killing two birds with one stone.”
Her voice was calm and composed,
“After spending some time with you… I found it hard to understand. What could the son of a successful man, who wanted for nothing, possibly lack to act so urgently.”
it soothes a heart soaked in despair.
“I am a realist, Captain.
But… I can distinguish between the ramblings of a delusional patient and the desperation of someone who has put everything on the line.”
I felt as if my feet, which had been floating for who knows how long, were touching the ground for the first time.
But, even so.
“But… I, we failed.
Now that the Munich Agreement has been signed, Hitler's support is…”
“Like in that future you know, has the entire resistance force died?”
Her question cut me off gently, but firmly.
“…No.”
“Then, has the war already broken out?”
“No.”
Still embracing me, Claudia continued her questions in an incredibly calm tone that soothed even my heart.
“If not that either. Has everything we, everything you prepared, become useless?”
“…No.”
Having said that, Claudia pulled away from me slightly, looked up at me with a smiling face, and asked.
“Then, do you suddenly think Hitler looks cool and it would be better to side with the Nazis?”
“…Haha… No.”
I think I've laughed properly for the first time since the Munich Agreement.
“The members of the Confessing Church, recruited at your request, still support us.
We, the liberals, and the social democrats, too. We've decided to bet on you.
Ah, or have you come to hate me for deceiving you?”
“…Of course not.”
It's not hasty empathy, nor blind trust.
But a question filled with her unique consideration follows.
“I don't know how bleak the future you know is.
I don't know if that will really, truly happen. But, I've understood that if we do nothing, something terrible will happen.
Captain, are you going to let Germany be destroyed in Hitler's clutches?”
“…No.”
Her smile deepens.
Ah, damn it.
I finally understood what it feels like to be captivated by someone.
“Are you going to look away while other people… while I… suffer a terrible fate?”
“Hah… No.”
Her blue eyes curve gently, driving in the final nail.
“Then there's only one thing to do. Right?”
A laugh burst out.
Hah, fine. Let's do it.
Didn't I start this knowing from the beginning it was a fight with low odds?
Oster won't give up. The cards I've prepared are still there.
Not yet, nothing is over.
Claudia slapped my back with a thwack, straightened my shoulders, then stepped away and smiled playfully.
“Well then, would you like to wash up first? I don't want to remember our first kiss with the smell of alcohol.”