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What is this?

Right now, something seems off about Grandfather Wilhelm’s face.

[Hey, Anastasia, I have something to say.]

His expression looks like one of those lines in a dating sim.

Finally, when I gestured for him to speak, only then did the Kaiser open his heavy mouth.

“Ahem. Well, it probably doesn’t have anything to do with what we’re doing now. I didn’t expect Britain to fall so easily.”

Yeah. I thought he was going to say something about Britain. What does our uncle want to say?

I should probably go along with him for now.

To be honest, if it weren’t for me, Germany would have been torn apart by the Allied forces by now.

“Rather, that’s a good thing. If the Allied forces had won back then, you wouldn’t have fully recovered your homeland, Kaiser.”

If the Allied forces had won, would Churchill have given Germany entirely back to Wilhelm?

Would France have left the German Empire, which had plotted against it, intact?

I suspect they would have demanded Alsace-Lorraine, and even the Rhineland, which they had occupied.

“Come to think of it, that makes sense.”

“After Dunkirk, it’s tough for Britain to claim any stake in the war. France should be glad just to recover its mainland.”

And then Russia took the lead.

This means that if Russia wants to, they can give away all of Germany’s territory.

“Then France can’t claim any stake, and Britain can claim theirs, but we can just brazenly refuse.”

That’s right.

In this case, the Kaiser ought to be thankful to me.

There’s no way they would just leave the German Empire that had plotted against them.

“Yes. However, if the Kaiser has something to say…”

“What is it?”

“If the Danube Federation claims the southern German territories, that could be a bit troubling.”

I can’t give Hitler all of Germany.

But one of the justifications he presented when declaring war was the liberation of the German people.

In other words, to at least maintain a minimal justification, they might have to concede some German territory.

Initially, it was indeed nice of us to share, but it’s also true that Wilhelm here lost his homeland due to his own actions.

Am I wrong?

In that situation, it would be fortunate if we could at least get back northern Germany.

“Well, is that so?”

“Yes. We can’t just ignore the Danube, considering we supported them.”

Hitler’s role in this war is quite significant.

Thanks to the defense at the Sudetenland, we were at least able to push back on the Polish front.

The French Commune folks are truly vicious.

If the main forces from Sudetenland had come here, it might have taken longer, and we might have had to drop a nuke just to mitigate the damages.

“Hmm, I have one suggestion to make.”

I wonder what serious suggestion he has in mind.

“Go ahead.”

“Now that I think about it, isn’t the official government of France the French Commune?”

Did he just bring that up out of the blue?

“That’s true. Thorez isn’t even the head of a puppet state; he openly gobbled up the Low Countries.”

Of course, we regard that red government as hostile, but usually, people are different when they enter and exit a situation.

Coldly assessing the post-war settlements, if we ignore the views of the Free French Exile Government and choose to share the French Commune among ourselves, it makes sense to see the Commune as the official government.

But why bring that up now?

Thorez’s French Commune is different from Vichy France.

They didn’t just hand over Alsace Lorraine, a major dispute area between Germany and France; they entered into joint governance.

“In other words, as a formal belligerent, after this war, can’t we claim some of their land?”

You can’t be serious.

By the way you’re speaking, it sounds like you mean more than just Alsace Lorraine.

“Do you mean that you wish for land beyond Alsace Lorraine, such as mainland France?”

Isn’t that a bit greedy?

“I wish to take back Burgundy, the rightful land of the Germans.”

He speaks grandly, but Burgundy is simply Bourgogne.

Burgundy. Burgundy.

I never expected he’d desire that so much. Hmph.

Honestly, he should be grateful just for regaining the mainland, but part of me wants to smack him.

Unexpectedly, this could actually be a good idea.

Weakening France at this point would be beneficial; grabbing Burgundy could indeed weaken France further.

And since it’s connected to Alsace Lorraine, there shouldn’t be much resistance. But claiming Burgundy as rightful land now feels a bit odd.

But wouldn’t that be giving too much to Germany?

That’s something to think over.

“Hm, this is something I should consider.”

But it’s not impossible.

Unlike usual French territory, Burgundy maintains some degree of independence.

They only really began to integrate in the modern era, yet even in more recent times, their independence was still prominent.

The Burgundians themselves are a branch of the Germanic peoples.

Though by this time, their identity as Burgundians had mostly faded.

“Of course, it’s not just a matter of receiving it. If the south were to separate from the Danube, then. How about it? Think hard on it. There are still Volga Germans within Russia, and though we won’t flaunt our support during the Civil War, we are by no means outsiders. If Europe is reorganized under Russia’s order, we could do anything, right?”

“Hm.”

Yes, Germany and Russia aren’t on ordinary terms.

Regardless of whether Lenin’s final gambit was executed or not, the empire would ultimately have fallen.

By then, the limits of the Russian Empire were evident.

Many followed me, but there are still plenty who curse my father, Nicholas.

“And this war might end unexpectedly easily.”

I’m planning to thoroughly deal with the Reds in this war, but what Wilhelm is saying now has a different meaning.

There must be a level of trust in him for him to make such a proposal to me.

“Why is that?”

“There are Junkers among the German People’s Army. They’ve also stated that if we attack, they’ll surrender.”

Oh, that’s interesting.

I was gearing up to strike the German People’s Army with the justification of reclaiming Germany, making them suffer through rebuilding.

But what if that’s disinformation? If Goebbels has lured the Junkers in, and they’re deliberately leaking false information to trap us—wouldn’t that change things?

So I see potential for disinformation.

“But it could also be disinformation.”

“Didn’t Churchill fall victim to disinformation and get slaughtered at Dunkirk? This current situation is suspicious compared to what they call the Harvest Operation.”

Certainly, the Harvest Operation had some dubious information surrounding it.

Especially since that operation here was a massive gamble.

“There must still be hardcore Reds, though?”

If I’m not mistaken, Goebbels likely trained a good number of die-hard Reds.

The ones who’ve entered the Sudetenland are probably the main forces of the Reds.

Of course, while they think of wiping them out, even if a few Junkers come over, it’s unlikely Goebbels gave them any unnecessary authority.

“That would only be in the Sudetenland, so they’d be limited to Berlin and some other places. In any case, we can minimize our losses.”

Oh, he’s actually thinking this through, huh?

I never expected Wilhelm to be such a clever individual.

Our one-armed guy is impressive!

“I apologize, Kaiser, but tearing things apart like that could stoke anti-Russian sentiment in the post-war European order.”

“With overwhelming power, what could they dare do? Looking at Britain, it seems they might lose their colonies. Britain will merely be an island nation, and if France continues as it did in this war, they’d easily become an enemy if things go awry. When their national strength becomes an enemy, isn’t it clear how dangerous that would be, just looking at this war?”

That’s right. Honestly, if France hadn’t been on our side, Hitler might have gotten to end it right then.

Right now, the French People’s Army, which has turned into the Red Army, is defending the Sudetenland and this front.

Even though we have pressed forward based on our overwhelming national strength, the mobilization potential of France as Germany’s ally is still tremendous.

Weakening France is good, but on the flip side, giving them Burgundy might empower Germany too much.

The German Empire once posed a significant threat to the proud Britain as an emerging power.

“Alright. For now, let’s discuss it after the war. The Danube Federation is tearing Serbia apart, and even Italy might strip something away, so it might hamper our options for southern Germany.”

The Danube Federation is currently fending off the genuine punches from Communist Germany.

The fact that they are managing to withstand attacks from both countries signifies they’re clinging on for dear life.

In that process, one cannot say there won’t be any damages.

I suspect that in the future, Hitler might find himself fitting nicely into some justification.

“Thank you.”

The Kaiser bowed his head sincerely like he truly appreciated it.

It’s embarrassing to receive so much respect. I was originally surprised that this person even showed up.

Perhaps he’s trying to achieve a splendid end.

He wants to show off the mighty side of the German Kaiser with one last blow.

For now, if I strip away Bosnia and Italy adequately and put in effort on post-war handling, then the Danube might lack the strength to take southern Germany.

In any case, now that we’re allied with the Dual Monarchy, Danzig wouldn’t hold much meaning either, so I could hand it over to our one-armed guy.

Admittedly, part of the issue is the justification for Danzig, but we can’t just devour East Prussia like in the original history.

That’s because East Prussia is seen as a remnant of the Kaiser’s German Empire, and it carries a strong legitimacy of inheritance from the current German Empire, making it burdensome to take.

“I can return Danzig. Poland also acquired it because of Britain. It seems inappropriate to leave that region, heavily populated by Germans, as Polish territory.”

I’ve heard that in this history, the friction between the Polish army and the local Germans in that area was quite significant.

In this timeline, the Poles took Danzig under the flimsy excuse of protecting East Prussia from the Communists.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Being part of Poland and the Dual Monarchy means we can’t keep it. But even this will also be a matter to discuss after the war.”

Still, Burgundy feels a bit… It seems somewhat like a cut-up piece of something.

Burgundy is indeed something to think deeply about.

No matter what, we can’t invite resentment from France over the Burgundy issue.

But putting everything aside,

If the reorganization occurs under the Russian order, it practically means all countries exist under the same economic sphere, effectively uniting Europe.

Under those circumstances, it should be fine if I handle the territorial adjustments.

“I understand.”

“Does Vermont’s Army fight well?”

I’ve only seen Vermont so far in East Prussia when I witnessed their medal ceremony and during the parade; aside from that, I don’t know much.

So I’m curious.

“Indeed, those who have fought against the Communists tend to be skilled.”

After all, if Vermont hadn’t existed, Poland might have targeted East Prussia long ago.

Considering the opportunity to advance, Poland’s expansionist ambitions can’t be underestimated either.

For Poland, East Prussia signifies that the German Empire is being safeguarded by Russia, so they’ve been restrained.

“Well, I’m off now. To reclaim the homeland, we must fight better than anyone else.”

“Yes. Please continue sending information regarding the Junkers.”

If the war ends quickly, that’d be beneficial for us too.

It means we can finish this war without resorting to nuclear weapons.

But that means I could also drop that nuke on Belgrade.

In any case, we need to showcase the power of Russia, asserting that we are this strong! Europe needs to acknowledge Russia as their leader.

Let’s discuss this with the command later.

“Let’s do that.”

The Kaiser turned his back and made his way back to his army.

I couldn’t help but think how much better off he might have been had he worked like this since the beginning, even with his haggard appearance, trying to burn bright in his last moments.

Well, Russia’s not one to poke fun at.

In the final stages of the Great War, the military took over for the Kaiser. While he regained some power with appeasement towards Britain, that was all there was to it.

Yeah. Since there’s plenty that has been handed to Russia, I can easily overlook it within reasonable limits.

“It seems the Kaiser has set his mind quite well.”

Drozdovsky remarked with a hint of admiration.

“Still, wanting to gobble up Burgundy sounds offensive.”

Burgundy is indeed infuriating.

It appears he’s intent on restoring the German Empire to its former power, committing all kinds of acts in pursuit of that goal. This may actually be genuine greed.

Burgundy, eh? While it’s not good to overly coddle Germany, isn’t it necessary to inflict some damage on France while we’re at it?

One of those places might very well be Burgundy.

 

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