A THOUSAND YEARS - Countryhumans story (TNO)

Westgermania - Chapter 7

Kiesinger was taken aback by Speer's proposal. "...You want me to be Vice-Fuhrer?" he asked, surprised by Speer's offer. Speer nodded, confirming his offer. "Yes, I believe that you would be a valuable asset to the Reich, and a valuable addition to my team." Kiesinger was silent for a moment, processing Speer's proposal. "...Are you sure Treskow, Erhard or Schmidt wouldn't be mad?" Kiesinger asked, raising a brow. "Already asked them, even they think your perfect for the job." Kiesinger's eyes widened, well this was a pleasant suprise. "...Oh- Uhm... Wow, I'm flattered." Kiesinger responded, not sure what to say. "So, do you accept the position?" Speer asked. Kiesinger rubbed his temples for a moment and thought. "...Eh." Kiesinger took a long pause.  Speer was surprised and intrigued by the sudden long pause. "Eh?" He wondered what Kiesinger meant by this response.

Was he unwilling or simply undecided?

"Do you still need some time to consider my offer?" Speer politely inquired. "Hmph...Well." Kiesinger took another pause, Speer anticipated his answer. "Sure, why not." The announcement was a bit anti-climatic.  Speer was a bit taken aback by Kiesinger's response. He had predicted that Kiesinger would be more reluctant and would have more hesitations about accepting the offer. But instead, Kiesinger had accepted surprisingly quickly and without much fuss. Speer was glad that Kiesinger had accepted, but he was still a bit puzzled by the ease of it all. "...I was expecting you to be a bit more reluctant, not that I'm complaining." Speer spoke surprised. "Listen, i hate that balding bastard as much as the next guy, i'm not letting him take power." Kiesinger explained. Speer rose a brow. "And Heydrich and Goring?" Speer asked. Kiesinger shrugged. "Those two are your problem." Speer laughed at Kiesinger's dismissive response. "I suppose you're right," he said. "Heydrich and Goring are indeed my problem." Speer couldn't help but appreciate Kiesinger's candid and upfront response. He was beginning to believe that he had made the right choice in offering the Vice-Fuhrer position to him. "So, what about the other three? You know, Treskow, Erhard and Schmidt?" Kiesinger asked. "Well, I've put Treskow in position of Military high command, Schmidt as the foreign minister and i'm still figuring out what to do with Erhard." Speer responded. Kiesinger nodded at Speer's response.It seemed that he had already planned ahead and taken care of the other three potential figures.He was curious to know what Speer's plans for Erhard were, however."And Erhard?" Kiesinger asked. Speer hardly sighed, leaning back. "Well, he's an trainwreck of a man. His predictions are rather crazy, and if you ask me, Erhard seems kinda insane... However He had already predicted the coming collapse of the German economy during the early 1950s. And the economy did indeed collapse in 1952...his economic predictions are always spot-on. So i think i will make him the Minister of economics. What do you think?" Kiesinger considered this for a moment.Erhard had indeed predicted the collapse of the German economy several years before it actually happened.He seemed to be quite brilliant when it came to economics."I think that makes sense," Kiesinger replied. "If anyone can fix our economic issues, it would be Erhard." Speer nodded.

Somewhere else in Wilhelmshaven, Treskow sat down at the other side of the table, looking down at a map. "I say we cross this river, their defences in this part seem rather weak." The figure opposite to Treskow simply nodded. Treskow looked at the figure, with uncertainty in his eyes. "Are you okay, mister?" Treskow asked. The man gestured him to continue talking. "I'm fine, continue." Treskow felt uneasy as he looked at the figure across the table. The man's response was rather terse, and his gesture was vague. There was an air of uncertainty in the atmosphere. Treskow decided to press on, regardless. "Alright, so we cross this river, then what?" he asked. "Well...If we manage to cross our tanks in time, i think we should be able to win the battle." The figure responded. Treskow nodded. "Your still the same tank enthusiast." Treskow chuckled softly, but the figure didn't. "Apologies." Treskow apologized. Treskow was surprised by the figure's lack of response.He had been hoping for a more engaged and upbeat conversation.Instead, the atmosphere was rather tense and devoid of any sort of lively interaction.Treskow's apology went unanswered, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.He kept his composure and attempted to continue the conversation."So, Mr. Rommel, what made you come out of retirement." Treskow asked. Rommel looked Treskow in the eyes. Before speaking. "If i'm being honest, i'm only fighting this war because of bormann." Rommel explained. Treskow raised his eyebrow in curiosity as Rommel spoke.The older man was fighting in the war purely because of Bormann?That was a surprising revelation."Could you elaborate on that?" Treskow asked. "Bormann, the conservatist. As in the bastard who conserves nothing." Rommel went on a tyrade of insults directed at Bormann, while Treskow just watched him ramble, perplexed. "...You really hate Bormann, huh?" Treskow asked. "Yes, indeed..." Rommel answered Treskow's question.  Treskow was impressed by the sheer extent of Rommel's hatred towards Bormann. It clearly went beyond just political disagreements or rivalry. a personal vendetta of sorts. "Why do you feel such strong dislike for Bormann?" Treskow inquired, curious to know the reasons behind Rommel's hatred. "One simple reason, 23 years go, that bastard told reich that he should abandon me in libya to die! He wanted me to die there in the desert! after everything i had done for the country, he just wanted to leave me to die! ofcourse, reich being the sane one refused. but ever since that, me and my allying brigates held a personal vendatta against him." Rommel explained. Treskow was shocked by the revelation.He had known that Rommel held a grudge against Bormann, but he hadn't known the extent of the anger."So this is all because of one incident?" he asked. "Well no, there's also the political disagreement i have with him." "Fair enough," Treskow replied.Political disagreements were a pretty common occurrence amongst people, so he wasn't too surprised or overly concerned about Rommel's disagreements with Bormann.But the bitterness stemming from that one incident 23 years ago was quite surprising. "...Well then, let's continue with the military plans?" Treskow suggested. Rommel followed suite, nodding.