Ch.223Opening Battle (Revised)

# Danube Federation, Vienna

Recently, official declarations of war arrived from the Red Front and Yugoslavia.

Of course, having completely severed ties with the Red Front nations long ago, one could see their intention to crush the Danube Federation by deploying troops at the border.

Just looking at the Yugoslav ambassador’s declaration of war made it clear that the Red Front would invade.

At last, the clouds of war were gathering over the Danube Federation.

During the Great War, the Serbs were the first to commit aggression against Austria, and now that it had become the Danube Federation, the Serbs were behind the second one too.

Though Yugoslavia’s declaration was almost forced, Hitler wanted to crush Serbia anyway.

“These people are a race that shouldn’t exist on Earth.”

Damn Serbs. Both during the Great War and now, they were a contemptible and vile people without a single redeeming quality.

The Russian Empress had dragged the Slavs up by their collars to their current position, yet after taking Croatia and Bosnia from the Dual Monarchy, they brought about discrimination and division rather than integration.

Now they even dared to side with the Red Front to attack the Danube Federation.

Truly an infuriating, vile, and contemptible people.

Under heaven, they must be exterminated along with those Reds.

Similar to what Japan was doing to China in the Far East. A vile race that shouldn’t exist in this world.

A cunning people always looking to exploit and feed off neighboring countries.

They too must be torn apart someday. How fortunate that Russia was on our side this time.

“Are we going to lose?” asked Göring, who was skimming through the declaration of war beside Hitler, sweating nervously.

Hitler shook his head.

Lose? Who? The Danube Federation? Or Hitler himself?

Although the Dual Monarchy had struggled somewhat against Serbia, today’s Austria—no, the Danube Federation—was different.

Everyone had united against communism, and Croatia, which had recently been incorporated, had escaped Serbian oppression and submitted to Danube Federation rule.

It was time to show the united power of the Danube.

The power of the honorary Aryans.

They would certainly win for the true liberation of the German people.

Hitler clenched his fist with a relaxed expression.

“No, we will win.”

They would definitely win. They would win and liberate Germany.

Goebbels had mentioned something about total war, hadn’t he? Then they too would respond with total war.

“It’s time to go to the Danube Parliament. Have you prepared?”

“Yes. I’ll escort you.”

Hitler headed to the Parliament with Göring.

# Danube Parliament

From the podium, Hitler looked out at the Federation’s representatives who packed the Danube Parliament to hear his speech.

The representatives already sensed what was coming and could guess what Hitler was about to say.

And then.

Finally, Hitler forcefully opened his mouth on the podium.

“Representatives of the Danube Parliament! For the past decades, we have all been dismantled by the Treaty of Saint-Germain—or rather, the dictate of Saint-Germain—and have become increasingly divided with each passing day. But we are all one under the Habsburg and Danube flags, and now we have united once again. Without us, the Danube lands would still be uncivilized, with only barbarism existing.”

Hitler paused briefly to catch his breath.

Then once again, he placed his hand on his chest, clenched his fist tightly, and carelessly threw down the declarations of war from the Red Front nations that he had kept inside his jacket.

“Just recently, declarations of war arrived from the three Red Front countries and Yugoslavia. The goals of Communist Germany, Communist Italy, and the Allied betrayer France are to communize us, while Yugoslavia, not knowing its place, is once again clinging to a great power, trying to win shamefully, which is truly outrageous. However, no matter how powerful our enemies may be, the one word I never recognize is surrender! And I solemnly declare to the whole world that at this moment, I will not repeat the history of September 10, 1919! Just as I, Chancellor Adolf Hitler, am ready to sacrifice my body and life for the Danube people and the Danube Federation at any time, I ask the same determination from all of you. I ask you: will you fight or will you submit? Will you be slaves to communism or will you enjoy freedom?”

With Hitler’s perfect oratory, the representatives of various nationalities in the Parliament, already heated by the atmosphere, rose from their seats.

“We will fight back!”

“Long live the Danube!”

“We want freedom!”

“Long live Habsburg, God protect the Kaiser!”

The representatives called for war, swayed by Hitler’s dazzling rhetoric.

The stage was now set.

With this, they would at least survive under the invasion of the red tide.

They would resist the red tide’s invasion not as a state that would easily collapse like the Dual Monarchy, but as a united Danube Federation.

Hitler’s speech was enough to ignite the hearts of the Danube people.

They would repel the red plague with an intense flame that the red tide could never defeat.

“If we lose this fight, only death, submission, and the terrible oppression of communism await us. But if we win, we can overcome the pains of the past and show our will and strength to the whole world! We will liberate the Germanic people from those communist regimes, punish Italy, the betrayer of the Great War, and recover the rightful territories of the Danube from those Serbs! Come, let us fight! All peoples of the Danube Federation! People of the Danube! Let us all tighten our belts and rise up against the invaders! At this moment, I declare the general mobilization of the Danube people!”

The Danube people, entranced by Hitler’s speech, united in their determination to stand against communism.

This speech was broadcast throughout the Danube region via radio and television.

“Hitler! Hitler! Hitler!”

At this moment, general mobilization was declared in the Danube Federation.

Coincidentally, this day was April 6, 1941—the same date when Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers in the original history.

With Hitler’s war declaration speech and the announcement of general mobilization, the entire Danube Federation entered a wartime system.

The Danube Defense Force, which could be considered the regular army of the existing Danube Federation, was deployed across all borders, and lines of volunteers at recruitment offices never ceased.

Tanks and fighter planes, with technology transferred from Russia, were produced in factories of various companies including Škoda, and preparations for defense began in earnest.

All kinds of supplies poured into the Danube from Russia via railways, and the Danube Federation’s military was incomparable to that of the Dual Monarchy era.

Italy was the first to move upon hearing this news.

“Now is the time! Attack Austria!”

The Italian Red Army, which had been blocked by the French mountain division, moved north to attack Austria, but…

“Mussolini’s attack is blocked by the Austrian mountain division.”

“Blocked again? Ugh, what idiots.”

Mussolini achieved the triple crown of being blocked by mountain divisions from three different countries.

Around this time, he earned the titles “Mr. Dunkirk” from the British Commonwealth nations and “Double Mountain Range” from others.

# State Duma

Today’s report card shows that the Reds have finally declared war on the Danube Federation.

Now that the Red family has declared war on the Danube Federation, it’s our turn to move.

As Russia and the Danube Federation are bound by a mutual defense treaty, Russia had to enter the war.

I looked straight at the White Army generals who made up the majority of the Roman National Party.

“Austria—no, the Danube Federation—has entered a state of war, so according to our mutual defense treaty, we too must enter the war. Are you prepared?”

“Your Majesty, we have already prepared a great army to sweep across Europe, so you need not worry.”

Good. That’s good. Now we need to formulate an operation plan, right?

“What is the White Army Department’s plan?”

“First, we will reorganize the remaining Polish Republic forces that came from western Poland into the Polish Kingdom Army, and immediately attack together with the German Imperial Army and our White Army. We will recapture eastern Poland and then strike the enemy from behind to support the Danube Federation. The only variable is the French Commune.”

Yes, that French Commune. They’re the problem.

I heard the French have also issued a general mobilization order, haven’t they?

Coincidentally, that French Commune seems smarter than expected.

Is it real that they’re doing things properly now that they’re enemies, after being swept away in one go by Operation Sickle?

“The French Commune has also issued a general mobilization order.”

Yes, well, France is a bit of a problem.

Though they were swept away by Operation Sickle in one go.

We need to consider France’s domestic situation too.

There was anti-war sentiment to begin with, and now they’re acting all high and mighty as a victorious nation.

They just jumped on Communist Germany’s bandwagon.

But since they invested in the army instead of the Maginot Line, it might be difficult if we’re just talking about land forces.

Of course, that’s only regarding the army.

“Yes. Although our weapons are qualitatively superior, if they’re determined to block us and deal with Austria, with Italy below them, it might be difficult.”

“But that’s only when considering the army.”

And we have new weapons.

Things like jet fighters, rockets, and even nuclear weapons.

Even in terms of scale derived from population numbers, we’re certainly not inferior.

“Yes, Your Majesty. If our new weapons like jet fighters, bombers, and rockets perform as expected, the Red Front will lose air superiority and be bombarded on land as well.”

They’ll probably take quite a beating, won’t they?

War isn’t just about running your mouth, but I’ve got a good feeling about this.

“Leave Spain alone for later and request the Balkan countries to join the war. Tell them it’s finally time to tear apart the communist bloc.”

Since Yugoslavia has joined the Red Front team, it’s time for Bulgaria to start acting up.

We’ll dismantle Yugoslavia and restore the original state of affairs.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Can the Danube Federation hold off the enemy?”

“Communist Germany, the French Commune, Italy, and Yugoslavia are attacking from all directions, but thanks to their solid defensive preparations, they should hold out until we arrive. Additionally, the Balkans are also planning to send troops first.”

That’s good then. But what’s this?

It seems Yugoslavia has sent some kind of explanation to the Duma.

I don’t need to read it thoroughly since the Duma probably already knows the content, so I just checked it and gave a nod to the Prime Minister to tell me about it.

“Yugoslavia has sent us an explanatory note. To summarize, it’s a plea for leniency, saying they had no choice but to attack the Danube Federation.”

The Prime Minister presented me with a piece of paper sent by King Alexander or whatever his name was from Yugoslavia.

It’s probably an explanation saying they had no choice.

They must have judged that if they refused, they would immediately face an attack from the Red Front.

At first glance, it seems they want to preserve their national bonds diplomatically, but the problem is that Yugoslavia has made a major mistake.

They judged that the Danube Federation would lose.

That’s why they’re trying to attack the Danube with the Red Front now.

I was planning to tear Yugoslavia apart anyway, but this is quite annoying.

Did they think they could take the Danube Federation’s place?

“How pitiful. They seem desperate to survive.”

Yugoslavia is pitiful, but what can we do?

If they were so upset, they shouldn’t have killed the Austrian Archduke. When you think about it, wasn’t the Sarajevo incident what led to World War I?

Although war was bound to break out eventually, Serbia was ultimately the cause.

“For now, let’s pretend to accept it and tear them apart later.”

“Understood.”

Now, let’s get to the main point.

Hitler gave a war declaration speech in the Austrian Parliament, right?

Then I think we should give a war declaration speech too.

“Can we use the rockets and fighter jets we’ve developed so far across Europe?”

“The late Dr. Tsiolkovsky improved on the rockets made by Dr. Goddard to enhance their performance.”

Tsiolkovsky. Along with Goddard, he essentially laid the foundation for space science and technology in the current United States of Greater Russia.

The legacy he left behind will now pound all over Germany.

The rockets he created will be the signal flare announcing the fall of communism in this war.

We must hit hard from the beginning because we can’t afford to be careless.

“Deploy them at the border and prepare to bomb as soon as the war starts.”

“Yes. As soon as preparations are complete, we will bomb the Communist German Army’s defense line.”

If we start the war right now, we’ll have to take some damage too.

Even though it’s just eastern Poland, we need to deliver a painful blow to Communist Germany.

If we’re going to war anyway, we should sweep across the border in one go.

Although war has essentially been declared, the Red Front can’t launch a first strike against Russia until they’ve captured Austria, unless we attack first.

“I’m telling you in advance, I will personally take the field again this time.”

“Your Majesty! You cannot!”

“This war is different from the Russian Civil War!”

No, it’s not different at all.

It’s just that the Russian Civil War was an internal conflict, while this war is external. Of course, we’ll be fighting on foreign soil, but I am not a body that dies.

So I will write another legend.

“Different? It’s all the same. The opponents are communists, and we are the White Army. What’s different? I will never die like the Emperor of the Far East.”

I am different from Hirohito.

Didn’t I already prove it during the Russian Civil War?

“Then let’s declare war. Since we never established diplomatic relations with Communist Germany and Communist Italy, I will do it directly through radio and television.”

I stood up abruptly.

I had already prepared to give a speech at the Moscow Broadcasting Station.

The day has finally come for me to give my World War II speech.