It'll Take Blood, Sweat und Tears

[drakazure]

Staas had seen his fair share of battles, lead armies and watched men die. Witnessed empires fall, even knocked down a few himself. That was all difficult, yes, but it was something Staas was good at. Doing the opposite- building a nation- was meant for a different breed of person. He had spent the last some 14 hours pouring over everything Wilhelm did that needed to be undone- every corner of the country that Staas didn't have direct control of was nothing short of a nightmare for anyone who wasn't a close government official.

Staas knew that Wilhelm had created a dictatorship for himself, but this was beyond what he thought the madman could even dream of. As he flipped the paper in front of him over, the door directly to his left creaked open. Out of pure habit, the Marshal grabbed his Luger and pointed it towards the door.

"Put the gun down, you know it's me." A familiar feminine voice said calmly to Staas.

"Ja, I do. Coffee?" Staas replied, laying his Luger back down on the mahogany desk and pivoting in his chair towards his old friend.

She sat down a familiar ceramic cup next to his work and pulled up a chair directly opposite of him and laying back in her seat. "Of course," She said. "-can't leave my friend to die of exhaustion- or maybe I should?"

Staas chuckled. "You saved my life at Danzig und Berlin, don't turn your back on me now, Helena." He laid back in his chair. "But this? This is more difficult than any war we've ever fought."

"Don't doubt it." Helena said, taking a sip. "Where do we sit?"

"We've got a population of about 140 million on the mainland, some 20 million in the occupation zone, just about 100,000 men across the Wehrmacht, enemies on all sides, and an overinflated currency." Staas said, peering at a map of Central Europe. "Effectively, we've inherited a disaster."

"Not the most ideal situation, no." Helena replied. "Hand me that map, will you?"

Staas sat up and handed her the map. Helena poured over it for a moment, before sitting it back down. "Well, the way I see it, we've surrounded, our backs are against the wall."

Staas frowned. "Is that all you had to sa-"

Helena interrupted. "Let me finish." She chuckled. "Morale in the civilian population is low, just as much as the Wehrmacht. We need to lead them to some victories if we want to win their trust. First, deliver some kind of speech. I remember what you told those men at Konigsberg, don't pretend you can't make a speech. As for the Wehrmacht, I suggest taking-" She put down the map, spinning it to face Staas, and pointing at the country to the south-west. "-this country. Lots of ethnic Germans- and, if we recognize Swiss and Italian as languages- potentially more bargaining power to our southern friends."

"That being?"

"Italy- or the Kingdom of Two Italies." Helena said mockingly.

Staas chuckled. "Well, I haven't any better ide-"

Helena interrupted again, "Let me finish."

Staas sighed. "Go on."

"Invading neutral countries will likely anger our western superpower- Franco-Iberia. I suggest sending a diplomat to them, as well as Italy."

"Let me guess, Ribbentrop?"

"You know me too well." Helena laughed. "Now, the Poles."

Staas sighed. "Don't remind me of the Poles."

"We need to ally them."

"By Gott, you really have turned soft."

"We don't have any other choice- if we want to restore Germany- and I know you do, don't lie to me- we need to go north, into Denmark, but we can't compete with the Scandinavians- but, if we allied with the Poles, then we may have a chance."

"Unfortunately for me, you're right, on all accounts." Both of them stood up, moving towards the door. "Before you leave, any ideas for the inflation issue?"

"Why would you ask me? I'm a pilot, not an economist."

"Point taken."