Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:09 pm
Disclaimer: this is not a representation of my geopolitical views. Anything is purely for story-telling purposes.
Robert sat on some rubble.
He was eating his M.R.E. ration.
The rubble in question used to be part of the most important building in Europe.
That building had stopped being important merely 12 years ago.
He dusted off his helmet and put it back on.
Overhead, two Blitzkrafte flew past, the sonic booms they created no doubt sending German anti-air batteries into full alert.
The year was 2042.
He threw the package of the M.R.E. on the ground.
There was already trash strewn everywhere, and it wouldn't change much in the short run.
Well, it might make a german soldier slip if they ever crossed the Rhine.
12 years ago the EU fell.
He got up and stretched.
France, Britain, Italy, Spain, even the western parts of Germany: all of them imploded because of political tension and regions separated.
He brushed some dust off the Elsass Freí graffiti on a half demolished wall.
Out of the ashes of the Rheinland-Pfalz, NordRhein-Westfalen, Saarland, Baden-Württemberg, Alsace-Lorraine, the North of Switzerland, and the south of Belgium rose Denn Rheinland Föderation.
He popped a mint into his mouth.
The Rhineland federation had finally united the multiple ethnicities around the Rhine that had been separated across multiple countries for centuries.
Many weren't that different.
The dialects spoken and the culture in the western German border had always been closer to the Alsatian spoken in Eastern France than Berliner Deutsch, a similar story for the northern Swiss.
Lorraine had joined the federation because the République Française Centrale had refused to incorporate it because of the poor infrastructure and resources.
Southern Belgium had been annexed after a brief war with Belgium over military naval rights in the Rhine.
Robert sucked on it thoughtfully.
Germany had lost multiple major cities and assets and had never really been happy about it.
Of course, no one had been happy about the sudden and rapid militarization of the federation, as it produced massive amounts of new weapons and equipment for the thousands of conscripts it quickly acquired.
The people of the Rhineland had tasted freedom and unity, and now they were alarmingly ready to die for it.
Federation politics had been uncertain too, to say the least. A surprisingly democratic system had been put in place with the army having the power to remove the president, but the president having the power to dissolve the military's high command, and the parliament having the power to do both.
It was an effective state of limbo which forced co-operation under the watchful eye of the population.
Two civilians lay half covered by a building. Dead of course.
They had been ready when Germany attacked- or rather, as ready as they could be when they were outnumbered 7 to 1. Their tactics had been to allow the Germans to progress to the Rhine, after mining every road, burning all the crops, and ambushing in every village first, of course.
The Rhineland would not give up freedom without spilling German blood for every square centimeter of land.
"WE HAVE SURRENDERED ENOUGH THROUGHOUT HISTORY ALREADY.
NOW, WE WILL FIGHT.
WE WILL FIGHT FOR UNITY.
WE WILL FIGHT FOR FREEDOM.
WE WILL FIGHT SO OUR CHILDREN LEARN THEIR LANGUAGE AND NOT FOREIGN WORDS!!
FÜR DIE MUTTERLAND!!
FÜR DER VATERSPRECHE!
FÜR DER FÖDERATION!!
LET THEM DROWN IN THEIR BLOOD IF THEY WANT OUR LAND SO BADLY!
The enraged and extremely fervent speech that had blasted throughout every radio, every speaker in that fateful day still rang in all of their ears.
It had been 8 months and they had done just as they promised.
Germany had a far greater population than the Rhineland Federation, yet, they were not defending their homes and all that was left.
Of course, many had left the country saying the war was lost and there was no way the Federation would win.
Entire villages had been deserted in some cases for various reasons, the men and women being conscripted and the children and elderly evacuating.
In other cases, the children and elderly became the last line of defense.
Like at Kehl.
It was only 200 meters away from him.
All that separated the main corps of the German army from Strasbourg was a stretch of water known as the Rhine.
The east of Strasbourg had been thoroughly shelled by hidden German artillery and lay in ruins.
Kehl had been razed to the ground.
Yet, concealed Federation machine gun nests and mortars on the west bank of the Rhine would fire a volley occasionally to remind the Germans the Rhineland was still eager to fight.
It was the only reason they had not crossed yet.
Federation submarines patrolled the Rhine underwater and the only way to get across now that the bridges had long been blown up was an amphibious landing.
The first two attempts had stalled after concentrated air strikes had forced the Germans to seek shelter before their own aircraft could respond.
Federation tanks and Armoured vehicles patrolled regularly to make sure that all the defenses were operational.
Robert walked up to his own convoy.
They were carrying backup ammunition to a nest that had fired too many volleys as a reminder.
Waste of ammunition and oxygen.
That was the kind of thing his Sergeant would grumble.
His wandering thoughts came back to Kehl.
It had been a bloodbath.
Children no older than 10 years old had been taught how to fire guns and men and women aged over seventy were manning machine guns and artillery posts.
Why? Because the Germans no longer took prisoners.
Then again, why should they? These were the same people who had killed their friends and family.
Neither side had any mercy left and warcrimes were being committed openly.
From what he had heard, the Germans would line up every man and woman aged above 13 and slit their throats one at a time do as to conserve ammunition.
Then they would bury them.
In response, every so often, a German soldier would suddenly disappear when German convoys crossed the Black Forest. The German in question would generally be found decapitated and with some unpleasant displays of gore.
A note was generally attached threatening the Germans, etc, etc.
Federation troops knew who was doing it, but the Germans did not.
They would tell each other stories of the "Wolves of the Black Forest".
It was rumoured they would hear a wolf howl before they found their dead comrades.