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Chapter 136: The SeaPort
🕑 Added 2025-01-05 15:26:07 +0000 UTC"What a shame!" Josh sighed as he put down the newspaper on the terrace of Neuschwanstein Castle.
The news on the paper was about the nuclear devastation in six cities in Japan, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, Kokura, Niigata, and Nagoya.
But not Japan.
Due to America's political interests, Japan was excluded from the list of targets.
Even so, Japan had not fared much better. Even before the Weimar Conference, the famous General LeMayhad turned the city into a fiery wasteland with a precision bombing campaign.
With the European war ending early, the Allies had diverted more air power to the Asia-Pacific war.
The result? Larger-scale destruction compared to the original timeline. The flames may not have reached nuclear temperatures, but they still reached about 1000 degrees, enough to leave many familiar faces well cooked.
He tossed the newspaper aside and walked to the edge of the tower, taking in the breathtaking landscape of mountains and forests below. The view filled him with peace and contentment.
In the courtyard, workers were busy with construction.
Josh had arrived three days ago.
When manpower, materials, and motivation were plentiful, the progress was astounding. In less than half a year, half of Neuschwanstein Castle had been completed.
This level of efficiency far surpassed the days of Ludwig II, when workers often went on strike. It also surpassed the slower modern methods.
By next year, Josh expected the castle to be ready for vacations with Margaret and their growing children.
Across the mountain, Hohenschwangau Castle had already been completely renovated. Because of its smaller size and better condition, it took much less time to restore.
"Boss, it's done!" Ophelia came running, excitement written all over her face.
"The Soviets agreed to our terms?" Josh asked, turning to her.
"Yes! As long as we provide the complete data, they'll recognize our control over the Slovenian region!" Ophelia replied, barely able to contain her excitement.
"That's fantastic news!" Josh's face lit up with a bright smile.
Although the European war had ended months ago, the conflicts weren't really over.
Cold War tensions between East and West left many small nations in turmoil. One such hotspot was Yugoslavia in the Balkans.
Like many countries, Yugoslavia was split between two factions during the war, the Royalist Chetniks, loyal to the Yugoslav government-in-exile, and the Communist Partisans, led by the infamous "Tito".
In the original timeline, Draža Mihailović and his Chetnik forces had attempted to surrender to Allied forces in nearby Italy and Austria, hoping to preserve the Yugoslav monarchy.
But the Allies, unwilling to provoke the powerful Soviets who dominated Austria, sold the Chetniks out.
As a result, Mihailović and his forces were surrounded by both the Soviets and the Partisans, and left as isolated remnants of a lost cause.
In 1946 they were completely wiped out.
But in this world, just after the end of World War II, before the Hydra forces in Yugoslavia were completely purged, Austria had already taken the lead over Tito and made contact with the Chetniks and the exiled Yugoslav King Peter II, who was living in Britain.
They agreed to accept them and help rebuild the Kingdom of Yugoslavia—though not a complete kingdom, of course. Josh wasn't foolish enough to start a war with the Communist Partisans and the Soviets over this.
Instead, a smaller Yugoslav kingdom based in regions like Slovenia was feasible.
This plan also had the tacit approval of the Americans.
No doubt this was a risky move that would anger the Communist Partisans and displease the Soviets.
But for Josh, Austria, and the United States, the risk was worth it.
Why was it worth it? Because of a seaport.
Anyone with a basic knowledge of geography understands how important a seaport is to a nation.
Austria, originally a landlocked country, and Bavaria, another landlocked region, merged to form a stronger Austria. However, the lack of access to the sea was a significant obstacle to their development.
To secure a seaport, Austria had only one direction to expand; south.
And there were two countries to the south, Yugoslavia and Italy.
Italy, which had earlier surrendered to the Allies, was now firmly aligned with the United States, making it an impossible target for Austria.
That left Yugoslavia. Slovenia and western Croatia became the focus of interest.
The existence of the Chetniks gave Austria and the U.S. the perfect excuse to act. To gain American support, Austria even agreed to give the U.S. a naval base in the region—a sacrifice they didn't mind since it was Yugoslav territory anyway.
As for the original owners, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Chetniks, did they have a choice?
Not at all.
Tito of the Communists was ruthless with them, executing anyone he captured without hesitation.
On the other hand, with Austria and the U.S., they would only lose control of some territory. With the Communists, they wouldn't even keep their heads.
This led to a major fallout between the Soviet and Communist delegations and the American-Austrian side at the Weimar Conference.
Ophelia even had a private confrontation with a Soviet representative—a woman. Based on Ophelia's description, Josh couldn't help but associate her with the first Black Widow, Claire Voyant—though wasn't the first Black Widow supposed to be Dottie Underwood?
Meanwhile, in Croatia, the standoff between Austrian and Communist forces grew tense, though the Soviets and Americans avoided direct involvement.
The Soviets were still recovering from the war, while the Americans were in a better position.
This balance shifted dramatically when the U.S. dropped six nuclear bombs on Japan
This made the Soviets desperate enough to sell out the Communists and agree to Josh's terms in exchange for nuclear weapons technology.
Of course, the Communists wouldn't give in easily—Tito was the first in the Soviet bloc to openly defy Moscow.
But without Soviet backing, the Iron Emperor couldn't cause much trouble on his own.
After all, Yugoslavia was bound to crumble within a few decades. Josh figured he might as well claim the region early.
"Get the plane ready at once; I have to meet Eisenhower!"
As the Soviets retreated, Josh was thrilled. He didn't rush to hand over the nuclear data, but instead focused on acquiring warships.
Having secured a seaport, a navy was the next logical step.
As a landlocked nation, Austria lacked a shipbuilding industry—except for small riverboat facilities.
Fortunately, Josh had secretly acquired a decent shipyard in Hamburg. However, building warships required immense resources, effort, expertise, and most importantly, time.
For now, buying ships was the only option. Josh's first target? The recently divided German fleet, which had been handed over to the Allies.
The German fleet wasn't large, so Josh's options were limited.
One ship, however, was easy to acquire, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, given to the U.S. Navy.
Although Josh's relationship with the U.S. Navy wasn't great, buying a warship didn't require Navy approval. He could deal directly with Eisenhower.
Besides, the Prinz Eugen, being a non-standard ship for the U.S. Navy, had little value to them—why else would it be used as a nuclear test target just a year after the war?
Comments
Amaan Shaikh
Yeah, I also thought there was no reason to drop all 6 on them
incognito viewer
Made the japanese bombing even fiercer, truly feel the chinese patriotism here, no humanity just pure chinese communist blood.
