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Chapter 120: The State of Europe (2)
🕑 Added 2024-12-29 11:52:30 +0000 UTC"I'll hold you to that," Daenerys said with a flirty smile. "I'll prepare the staff immediately."
Josh frowned slightly.
"What's wrong?" Daenerys asked, confused.
"Nothing much. Just a little suggestion," Josh said hesitantly.
"Go ahead," Daenerys said.
"If you could maybe... smile less?" Josh joked, half-seriously.
"Get lost!" Daenerys snapped, though her tone gave away her amusement.
"Right now!" Josh said with mock deference, ending the exchange.
Afterwards, Josh took some time to rest. Unlike Daenerys, Yuri—the other trading partner—was has a very different personality.
Daenerys enjoyed conversation and often sought Josh's insights because of his advanced knowledge and comparable status. Their intellects aligned in a way that blossomed mutual respect.
Yuri, on the other hand, was both a ruler and a scientist, consumed by his research. While Josh could carry on casual conversations with Yuri, discussions involving advanced technology left him completely out of his league.
Besides, Yuri wasn't the chatty type. In the beginning, he had been more talkative, probably due to the novelty of having a trading partner. But as Josh supplied him with industrial equipment, Yuri quickly retreated back into his experiments.
Now, unless there was urgent business to discuss, Yuri's responses were brief and focused solely on solving problems. Recognizing this, Josh avoided bothering him without a clear purpose.
After a few days in London to replenish his supplies, Josh embarked on a new journey.
He visited Paris to discuss business opportunities with Lyndon, checked on Jiaying's studies, and finally headed to Hamburg.
In this alternate timeline, the occupation of Germany after World War II was very different.
In the Original Timeline, the Allies divided Germany into sectors, the Soviet Union took eastern Germany, the Americans occupied the central and southern parts, and the French occupied a small part of the southwest, the British occupied the most essential northwest part of Germany.
Key industrial areas in the northwest were given to the British, the reason for this division was that many of the actions of the United States in Europe, including the confrontation with the Soviet Union, required the support of the British.
That was why the most important industrial region in northwestern Germany had to be handed over to the British—but in fact, the Americans were unhappy about that from the start.
In this world, however, Bavaria, which was supposed to be the most important part of the American occupation zone, was given to Austria on its own initiative.
Without such an important place, the occupation division naturally could not be the same as before, and this was one of the reasons why the Britain and France were dissatisfied with Austria, But there was nothing the Britain and France could do about it.
Josh knew full well who the real big dog was going to be in the coming decades, and knew that Britain and France would never be able to rise again.
So Josh easily influenced Austria's alliance with the U.S. through Hydra's subtle manipulation, and Austria became a strong ally of the U.S., backed by a formidable military composed of remnants of the Hydra and Bavarian forces. This greatly diminished Britain's importance to America, as Austria filled the role of a key European partner.
As a result, the post-war division of Germany saw America occupy northern industrial centers such as Hamburg, Britain control the central west, and France relegated to the southwestern region of Baden-Württemberg.
Although Britain formally received the largest sector, the American-occupied regions, if you count the American troops stationed in Bavaria, which Austria deliberately invited, then the US-occupied zone is still the largest and best, were more strategically and economically valuable. The British were reluctant to accept this arrangement, a fact that reflected their diminished postwar position.
The once mighty British Empire had been reduced to a shadow of its former self, forced to accept the new world order shaped by American dominance.
Especially now, with the Pacific War still unfinished, the British must still rely on the Americans to secure their interests in the Pacific. (TL/N: For those who don't know, Germany and Red Skull were defeated but Japan was still fighting which was called the Pacific War)
As soon as Josh landed at the military airport in Hamburg, he spotted the welcoming party, with Ophelia at its front, waiting in the distance.
“Have you made contact with them?“ Josh asked Ophelia as soon as he got into the car.
"We have made contact, but their hostility towards us is great, and they are unwilling to trust us," Ophelia replied.
By "them," she was undoubtedly referring to the Soviets.
"That is not surprising. When it comes to countries the Soviets despise most in this world, besides Germany, it's Austria. Their relationship won't be easy to mend," Josh remarked, rubbing his temples.
Despite Austria's union with Bavaria and its close ties to the United States, life wasn't as smooth as it seemed. Austria found itself surrounded by Soviet-influenced nations, Czechoslovakia to the north, Hungary to the east, and Yugoslavia to the south.
Half the country was surrounded by Soviet power, which was intimidating. Moreover, in the early years of World War II, Austria had collaborated with Germany in invading the Soviet Union. As a result, the Soviets harbored a deep hatred for the Austrians.
This was precisely why Austria was so eager to cling to America's side—seeking both necessary benefits and the only power capable of resisting the Soviets in today's world.
Josh had asked Ophelia to make contact with the Soviets, not only to prevent the U.S. from dominating the world, but also to ease Soviet hostility toward Austria.
As expected, however, this proved not to be as easy as he had hoped.
It seemed that Josh would have to push the Council to accelerate the production of nuclear weapons, with the ultimate goal of bombing the Japanese in the East to deter the Soviets. Only then could he use the nuclear weapons formula to negotiate with them.
On the other hand, Austria's industrial base wasn't weak, and perhaps they could try to develop nuclear weapons themselves. The only problem was that neither Austria nor Bavaria had high-quality uranium ore.
If Josh wanted Austria to produce atomic bombs, he would probably have to rely on Yuri's help.
(TL/N: New Year and Sem End Holidays started from now on expect more chapters daily)
