Winter comes early in the Reich.
By November, daytime temperatures rarely climbed above ten degrees Celsius.
I already knew that from the memories I’d inherited from the little-mustached man, but experiencing it firsthand still made me appreciate just how different it was from Japan.
Last month, after meeting with former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, I had secured Britain’s approval.
At this point in history, what Britain wanted most from the Reich was a bulwark against the Soviet Union.
As long as our actions could be framed as anti-Soviet or anti-Comintern, there was a certain willingness in London to look the other way.
And under that understanding, today’s agenda was clear:
The Reich would formally recognize Franco’s Spain.
The Spanish Civil War had broken out in July of this year.
General Francisco Franco had been one of several leaders of the Nationalist uprising.
Or rather, one of several.
Once Germany and Italy began providing military aid in August, Franco quickly emerged as the Nationalists’ undisputed leader.
France, meanwhile, was backing the Republican government, so recognizing Franco would naturally worsen relations with Paris.
Fortunately, being from the future had its advantages.
I already knew the French government would soon collapse under internal political divisions.
If anything, the real Hitler’s habit of acting almost recklessly without that knowledge was impressive in its own strange way.
People who had initially viewed him with skepticism gradually began to support him.
After all, he somehow kept correctly predicting Britain’s and France’s reactions all the way up to the invasion of Poland three years later.
In any case, I intended to recognize General Franco just as history recorded.
Unlike history, however, I would be sending a much larger Condor Legion to Spain.
The Luftwaffe contingent would be significantly expanded, and additional German ground units would accompany the Italians.
One thing I would not do was continue selling weapons to the Republican government.
Nor would I pursue the other schemes that had deliberately prolonged the civil war.
Historically, those policies had partly served to camouflage the Reich’s actions from the rest of the world.
But I already knew there were limits to that deception.
If it was destined to fail anyway, there was no point in dragging the conflict out.
Quite the opposite.
In a few years, I wanted Spain to stand on the world stage as a friendly neutral—or, better yet, as a member of the Axis.
To make that possible, the civil war needed to end as quickly as possible, minimizing the devastation inflicted on the country.
That was one reason.
The other was much simpler.
Katsu Nakajima wanted to save as many lives as he could.
If Germany’s contribution to Franco’s victory was significant enough, perhaps I could even persuade him to moderate the bloody reprisals that would follow the war.
Which was why…
“Göring, how is the training of the paratroopers progressing?”
“They’re coming along well, my Führer.
The Luftwaffe personnel should complete their training very soon.”
Göring answered confidently.
It seemed he had finally come to terms with the Luftwaffe’s new direction.
The self-assured aristocrat I was used to seeing had returned.
“Excellent.
Then begin accepting personnel transferred from the Army and expand the force.
I want them capable of conducting company-sized airborne operations by next summer.”
“…Next summer?”
For the first time in a while, Göring hesitated.
“The Fallschirmjäger are still far from being fully combat-ready.
We haven’t even finalized their equipment yet.
Realistically…
we’ll need at least a few more years.”
(Seriously…?)
For Göring—the man who was almost absurdly confident about everything—to hesitate meant the situation was genuinely that far behind.
My plan had been to use airborne troops to seize key objectives and help bring the Spanish Civil War to a swift conclusion.
Apparently that wasn’t going to happen.
“I see.
If you say they won’t be ready, then they won’t be.
Very well.
There’s no need to rush.
Take the time necessary to build them into a proper fighting force.”
So much for my intervention plan.
It had run aground before it had even begun.
(I’ll have to come up with another approach…)
For now, I decided to set Spain aside.
The civil war would drag on for quite some time anyway, so there was still room to adjust my plans.
“Heil, Hitler!”
With that, Göring strode out of the office.
A moment later—
“You sent for me, my Führer?”
“My Führer!
It has been far too long!”
The two men stepped into the room.