Chapter 32: Reactions Across Nations, German Preparations

George V tapped his fingers on the armrest of the throne, chin resting on his hand, deep in thought.

The Lord Chamberlain and the Prime Minister exchanged a glance — both of them caught the detail. They knew this was the King weighing his options, getting ready to make a call.

Neither of them said a word. They just waited quietly for the King’s decision.

Sure, Britain was a constitutional monarchy. But the King still held serious power back then — he could shoot down major decisions from Parliament and the Cabinet.

George V thought it over for a moment, then finally made up his mind:

"Have General Haig — the one on leave back home — return to the front. Even if we don’t end up using force, we need to show our teeth. Negotiating is fine. Flipping the table? Not happening."

Lloyd George nodded. That was exactly what he was thinking.

Britain wasn’t like France. France didn’t have rebellions on its own soil — but Britain did.

Just a few days ago, Ireland had erupted in rebellion. The British had to pull troops off the front lines to go put it down.

Based on past experience with putting down revolts, this mess could drag on for a long time. The British had to be ready for a long fight.

And beyond Ireland, the overseas colonies were sitting on a powder keg too.

Because of the war, the British government had pulled massive numbers of troops from every colony to fight in Europe — leaving the colonies dangerously empty.

India, Canada, Australia, and South Africa had all seen unrest because of it.

That meant Britain had to re-project its forces back out to the colonies ASAP to keep the troublemakers in check.

At a moment like this, the British really didn’t have the appetite to go on some risky adventure with the French. They just wanted the war over with.

Washington, D.C., United States.

President Wilson received the French’s second plea for help — and the news that the British were getting ready to send troops. He had no choice but to call another small closed-door meeting with the Vice President, the Secretary of State, and his White House advisors.

"Alright, let’s hear it. Do we send troops or not?"

Secretary of State Lansing snuck a glance at President Wilson. Couldn’t read anything off his face.

But judging from the President’s unpleasant experience at the Paris Peace Conference, he was probably pretty damn disappointed with the British and French — otherwise he wouldn’t have turned down the French the first time they asked for troops.

So Lansing answered without hesitation:

"I say we don’t send troops."

"And your reasoning?"

President Wilson and everyone else in the room turned to look at him, waiting for an explanation.

"Because sending troops doesn’t pay off for us.

First — we’re not a European country. Whatever territory the Entente forces Germany to give up, we get zero share of it. And Germany’s military can’t directly threaten us. No reason to go to war over two things that have nothing to do with us.

Second — we’ve already got a private deal with the Germans. Their market’s opening up to us, and our financial capital gets to flow in. Helping Britain and France beat on Germany would just wreck our own market.

And if the British and French troops march into Germany and decide to stay? They’d squeeze us out of our market share. If they actually destroy Germany entirely, we lose a foothold in Europe — that’s terrible for our interests."

Everyone in the room was nodding along as the Secretary of State laid it out.

Carving up or dismantling Germany did nothing for America. Unlike Britain and France — who were Germany’s neighbors and could grab a slice of the pie — America had nothing to gain.

Worse, if Germany got wiped out, America would lose a leverage point in Europe.

And if Britain and France absorbed Germany and got stronger? Then America’s chances of overtaking them and tearing down the colonial system would get even slimmer.

Wilson gave Lansing an approving look. The man had said exactly what he was thinking.

"What about the rest of you? Your thoughts?"

Treasury Secretary William McAdoo pushed up his monocle, clutching a thick stack of ledgers, and spoke up:

"I agree with Secretary Lansing. Folks, you might not realize this — over the past year and a half, we’ve burned through $38 billion in military spending.

If this war keeps going — even just another six months — that number’s gonna blow past $50 billion. That’s 60 times our annual peacetime federal budget!"

The Treasury Secretary’s words sent a ripple of shock through the room.

Everyone knew war was expensive. But nobody thought it was THIS expensive.

From the moment they entered the war to now — just 21 months — they’d burned $38 billion?

For context, back in 1915, before America entered the war, the total annual federal spending was only $760 million!

War really was a money-devouring monster.

The second money came up, everyone in the room suddenly had crystal-clear eyes.

The ones who’d been on the fence, too hesitant to speak — they all stepped up to voice their opposition:

Why the hell should we spend our money fighting Britain and France’s war?

The only reason they’d been gung-ho before was because Britain and France had dangled a carrot in front of them. But after getting stabbed in the back at the Paris Peace Conference, the Americans were done believing in British and French promises.

Lending you money to fight? Fine. But us actually getting on the battlefield? Not a chance.

"Oh? The Americans said no? Aren’t they always so eager to jump into international affairs and boost their global standing?"

When the telegram with America’s refusal arrived, the British were genuinely surprised.

Ever since President Roosevelt took office, the Americans had been extremely active on the world stage — busting their asses to show off their strength to every nation on Earth, trying to claim the great-power status they thought they deserved.

That’s exactly what Britain and France had exploited to drag America into the war and help them win World War I.

But now, the British suddenly realized the Americans weren’t falling for it anymore. That was a problem.

"Without American troops, we don’t have enough manpower to defeat the German army and occupy the whole country. This war could turn into a quagmire — just like the Boer War!"

Just mentioning the Boer War made the Cabinet members shiver.

Back then, the British Empire — at the absolute peak of its power — had pulled hundreds of thousands of men from around the globe. And they still couldn’t crush a people with a total population of a few hundred thousand Boers.

Instead, the Boers dragged them into a quagmire. It took years and tens of thousands of casualties before they finally forced the Boers to the negotiating table and got them to accept their terms.

That war was the turning point where the British Empire went from peak to decline. After that, the Empire’s expansion ground to a halt. Colonies around the world declared themselves dominions — massively weakening Britain’s grip on them and planting the seeds for their eventual independence.

Now, facing a country with a population of over 60 million — and an industrial base that might even be stronger than theirs — they couldn’t even imagine what it would cost to beat an enemy like that.

Berlin, Germany.

Battle reports from the front came flying in like snowflakes. After being organized and compiled by Manstein and the other young officers, they landed on Wilhelm III’s desk.

Wilhelm casually flipped through the reports. The situation was playing out about how he’d expected.

The British-French coalition, relying on their numerical advantage, had broken through on the Belgian front and were already closing in on the gates of Liège Fortress.

Liège Fortress sat right on the border between Belgium and Germany. If they took it, the Entente would have an open door straight into Germany.

But that fortress wasn’t gonna be easy to crack. Back in the day, it cost the Germans 25,000 casualties to take it — and they only managed it thanks to the Big Bertha siege guns with their 420mm barrels.

Now it was the Entente’s turn to attack this fortress. But what they were facing was a fortress the Germans had fully upgraded!

Learning from the lesson of how Liège fell to their own assault, the Germans had expanded and built even bigger gun emplacements on top of the original structure — big enough to house 305mm heavy guns.

And to reduce casualties for the defenders and make rotation and resupply easier, the Germans had poured serious effort into building extensive underground bunkers and tunnels beneath each emplacement.

The wounded and supplies could be moved through those underground tunnels. The soldiers manning the gun positions could also duck into the underground shelters to ride out enemy bombardments.

In the original timeline, all these German improvements never got to prove themselves — because the Entente never even made it to Liège Fortress.

But in this timeline, because the Germans had voluntarily pulled back after the armistice, the Entente actually got the chance to get close to the fortress.

Wilhelm was genuinely looking forward to watching the Entente smash their heads bloody against Liège Fortress. Unfortunately, as Emperor, he couldn’t go to the front lines himself.

But just because he couldn’t go didn’t mean he couldn’t send someone else.

He personally hand-picked Model, Bock, Rundstedt, and the others — along with a contingent of elite Stormtroopers — to head to Liège Fortress and reinforce the defenders.

Just like how a sharpshooter is made by bullets, a great commander needs battlefield experience.

After this battle, there probably wouldn’t be any fighting for a long time. So he had to make the most of this precious opportunity — get as many of his young officers onto the battlefield as possible to cut their teeth.