Chapter 61: 61
March 29, 1940
Oslo, Norway Royal Palace of Norway
Norway's Prime Minister Johan Nygorswoll waited for the king with an anxious face.
He was restless and constantly breaking into a cold sweat, like a child waiting to be punished for making a mistake.
Soon, King Haakon VII appeared and greeted him.
"Welcome, Prime Minister. "I'm sorry I'm late."
"No, Your Majesty."
"So, what brought you to visit me today?"
In response to King Haakon VII's words, Nygorsvol handed over the document in his hand.
"I received it from the British ambassador. "I came because I thought Your Majesty should see it in person."
"The British ambassador?"
The King accepted the document handed over by the Prime Minister with a puzzled look, read it, and then sighed.
It was a sigh full of frustration.
"Hey, I really want it..."
The document contained a request from the British government to the Norwegian government.
The message was that if the export of Swedish iron ore to Germany was not banned, Britain would have no choice but to take necessary measures.
Although the tone was polite, the content of the document was practically a threat. Previously, Britain, along with France, had demanded that the Norwegian government stop exporting iron ore.
Norway has repeatedly rejected Youngf's demands, and they have been repeating the same demands endlessly.
"Even though we are at war with Germany, this is too much. Haven't we already provided our own merchant fleet? "But what more do you want here?"
The more I thought about it, the more shameful it became.
In order not to offend the British government, Norway provided various conveniences, such as providing its own merchant fleet as requested by Britain.
But instead of thanking me, they kept pressuring me to stop exporting, and now they're even sending me these petty threats! Is this something a self-proclaimed country of gentlemen would do?
In particular, Haakon VII, who had long had an affinity for England because his wife was a British princess, felt extremely betrayed. Since you're his in-laws and you don't need anything, are you telling me to just follow what he says?
"What is the cabinet's reaction?"
"There are many opposing opinions, but some are arguing that we should accept Britain's demands just in case."
Nygorsvol took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sweat from the back of his neck.
"What will you do, Your Majesty?"
"Reject."
Until now, we had taken a low-key approach to Britain, even giving up our pride for the sake of the country and the safety of its people, but we could not stand it any longer.
If this were to happen, Norway itself might be reduced to a puppet state of Britain.
Above all, if iron ore exports were banned as Britain demanded, it could have irritated Germany.
It was scary to lose ground with England, but I wanted to avoid war with Germany even more.
Germany defeated Poland, which was considered the powerhouse of Eastern Europe, in four weeks.
The Soviet Union may have played a role during that four-week period, but how long could Norway, which was so weak compared to Poland, last against the German army?
At best, two months would be the limit.
Haakon VII had no desire to see his country changed from the Kingdom of Norway to a Protectorate of Norway.
"If we continue to listen to Britain's demands, they will make bigger and bigger demands. In the future, they may even demand that diplomatic rights be handed over to Britain. "We have to show that Norway is a country of Norwegians!"
"I understand, Your Majesty."
"Britain is in such chaos, what about Germany? Has Germany ever made a similar request?"
"I have nothing to say other than to increase iron ore exports."
"For a country that has caused so much chaos in Europe, it is strangely quiet."
Unlike a country that intervened in the Spanish Civil War, sent military advisors, annexed the Czech Republic, and even conquered Poland, no demands have been made so far.
Apart from a strong protest when the national merchant fleet was provided to Britain, Germany did not interfere in Norwegian affairs at all.
Quisling's National Union Party also called for an alliance with Germany until a few months ago, but has now quieted down.
Although they did not give up their insistence on forming an alliance with Germany, they no longer made as much noise as before. I don't know if Germany was involved in this either.
"Tell this to the British ambassador. Norwegians don't give in to threats. "Please convey this clearly."
"I will do so."
***
After leaving the royal palace, Nygorsvol went to the British ambassador and conveyed King Haakon VII's wishes.
The British ambassador immediately sent the coded text to his home country.
-The dog was not on a leash.
The coded text sent by the British ambassador to Norway was immediately delivered to Chamberlain and Churchill.
After receiving the full text of the ambassador, Churchill sighed briefly and smiled meaningfully.
"It's foolish. "You're trying to take a difficult path to the end."
"What do you plan to do now?"
"We should tell our French friends. "Norway kicked away their last chance."
***
April 1, 1940
Magdeburg, Germany
"Is this... the new pill that came out?"
"Yes, Mr. President. "I had a hard time making it."
The name of the doctor standing next to me with a smile on his face is Theodore Morel.
In real history, he was Hitler's personal physician.
He is known as a quack who prescribed drugs to Hitler as a cure, but unlike other human beings such as Josef Mengele, Karl Gefhard, and Karl Brandt, he refused to conduct human experiments, saying it was not something humans should do, and was far from racist. .
There is some ambiguity in the term quack. From a 21st century perspective, Morel's prescription was unreasonable and extremely dangerous, but it was not that strange by the standards of the 20th century, when medicine had not yet developed.
It was a time when it was taken for granted for doctors to recommend cigarettes to their patients, saying that cigarettes were good for the body, and to ingest radium, a radioactive substance, claiming that it was good for the body.
On the contrary, considering that he managed to keep Hitler alive until he committed suicide even after taking dozens of drugs that were no different from poison, he is a friend who can be called a doctor rather than a quack.
Considering that his original specialty was obstetrics and gynecology, it was no exaggeration to say that Morel's abilities were truly innate.
Still, I was a little reluctant to have him as my doctor, so I thought about what I could use him for and sent him to the new drug development department.
Considering his genius-like ability to mix drugs, the idea was that meaningful results might come out.
As a result, a new drug that had never existed in history was born.
"It has a much more powerful effect than the existing pervitin, and puts less strain on the body than pervitin. "If you take just one pill, you can maintain your best condition without sleeping for up to four days, and after one day of sufficient rest, you can return to the state you were in before taking it."
······What the heck?
This really came out in 1940? Is this true?
A miraculous stimulant that doesn't even exist in the 21st century was released in 1940. It's something we will live to see for a long time.
Oh, what on earth is pervitin?
It is the German brand name for methamphetamine, which comes to mind when thinking of drugs along with cocaine, morphine, and opium.
The commonly referred to heroin and philopon are methamphetamine.
As the times changed, not only Germany and Japan, but also the Allies used methamphetamine, which was issued to soldiers under the name Benzedrine.
As soon as I became President, I banned and cracked down on the distribution of Pervitin, which was already in circulation among civilians. However, because stimulants were essential for war, I did not completely ban it and used it strictly for military purposes.
However, it can only be taken with a prescription from a military doctor, and safety measures have been created to ensure that anyone who violates this will be severely punished.
However, since a product has been released that is more effective than Pervitin and has fewer side effects, there seems to be no need to make it anymore. Good, good.
Satisfied with Morel's performance, I awarded him the Battlefield Achievement Medal 1st Class and named him 'Morel Pill' after his last name.
The development of antibiotics, which are as important as stimulants, is progressing smoothly. It was reported that they had succeeded in making sulfonamide and sulfanilamide by combining it with aniline.
They tried to import penicillin when relations with Britain were still good, but they were unable to do so because Britain refused. Heartless guys.
However, since we have also created sulfonamide and sulmanilamide, I think the number of soldiers dying due to lack of antibiotics will be greatly reduced. How unfair it would be if you could live but die because there are no antibiotics.
After having lunch with new drug developers such as Morel, I attended a weapons demonstration.
New equipment, including the Type 4 Tank G and Hatcher, were lined up, and the officials were waiting for me with tense faces.
"They look really cool. Yes, it has to be at this level to be considered German-made."
"ha ha ha······."
They all looked like the pictures I remembered and saw on the internet and in books. It was a refreshing feeling to meet these people in real life who I had only seen in pictures.
"This tank...?"
Some vehicles never appeared in history due to the end of the war or remained only as prototypes.
A representative example is the No. 4 anti-aircraft tank Kugelblitz, and I heard that only one turret is on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia.
"It's the No. 4 anti-aircraft tank I mentioned before. "It would be perfect not only for anti-aircraft use like the 88, but also for ground use."
"You saw it correctly. The 30mm cannon is great for infantry support, but is also capable of anti-tank warfare as it can penetrate 45mm armor plates at 500m. In addition, it is equipped with a sealed swiveling turret, so it has higher defense power than existing anti-aircraft guns and can safely protect the crew."
I only said a word without thinking, but the officials gave me a series of explanations as if they had been waiting for me.
It's okay to work hard, but can't you take a break and talk? I'm going to run out of breath while explaining this.
Ketzhen, planned as a new APC, can carry six infantrymen excluding the driver and commander, and considering its small size, it could carry more soldiers than expected. The speed is also respectable at 48km/h.
After looking at the heavy equipment, next was the fire extinguisher.
Various types of guns, including the StG39 that I had seen before, were waiting for my visit along with the officials.
"huh? "Isn't this an MP38?"
This is a gun carried by one in three soldiers guarding the official residence, so is it really necessary to show it here since we see it every day?
When I looked at him with puzzled eyes, Heinrich Folmer, who created the MP38, smiled and shook his head.
"As expected, the President also sees this as an MP38. But this is not an MP38."
"Then what?"
"It looks the same as the MP38, but the inside is different. It is characterized by reducing the number of parts and making it lighter, making it easier to produce and maintain, and its weight is also lighter. "It's even cheaper than MP38."
"Hoo?"
It looks the same as the MP38, but it's easier to produce and maintain, and it's cheaper too? I can't stand this!
Of course, if there are advantages, there are also disadvantages. The parts were simplified to make maintenance easier, but the recoil became stronger, so the accuracy decreased compared to the original.
Still, this was pretty good performance. Originally, the most important thing about a submachine gun was its ability to unleash strong firepower in a short period of time, not its accuracy.
The name of the new submachine gun was decided as MP40.
Next to the MP40, what caught my attention was the new machine gun.
It was the MG42, which was called Hitler's Chainsaw in history and was recognized as an object of fear by Allied soldiers (it is now 1940, so the name is MG40).
"It weighs 10 kg, about 2 kg lighter than the MG34, and its unit price is also cheaper at 245 Reichsmark. The effective range is 2km, the maximum range is 4.7km, and it can fire 1,200 bullets per minute. It is easier to replace the barrel than the MG34 and is resistant to contamination. Besides-"
"stop. There's no need to say more. "It's a perfect gun."
These are all facts that we all know because we have seen them all on the Internet anyway.
However, it is surprising that the weight and price are lower than the original. Still, I don't think there will be a big difference in performance, so I would say it's actually better.
"It is a gun that surpasses the MG34 in all aspects, so we will soon stop producing the MG34 and make only this one to give to the soldiers. Perfect."
"Yes, Mr. President."
"I'm impressed that they created such great guys. "Thank you all for your hard work."
The smiles did not leave the faces of the officials, who said that praise makes even whales dance.
Those guys who would have come out in 1942 or later came out in 1940, so I feel invincible.
The problem is the damn British Navy...
The Army and Air Force are confident, but the Navy is the opposite.
There is still one year and eight months left before the Pacific War begins, but we are not confident that we can defeat Britain, or more precisely, the British Navy, by then.
Donitz is loudly saying that he can blockade Britain with Type 21 U-boats, but is that as easy as it sounds? If you make a mistake, you could drag the United States into it, so be careful!
If Britain had been connected to the land like France rather than an island country, we wouldn't have had to worry like this.
The separation of Pangea was once again heartbreaking.
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