Hello everyone, here is another chapter. Ordinally, it was going to be something else, but I was feeling burnout and decided to write another chapter on Bismarck briefly with the items that were going to be added.
Here is what I got thus far from some of my questions from my recent chapter:
On Dottore, the consensus is that he would be looking for prisoners to experiment on the Russian Theater. He already has that Mengle inspiration feeling to him apparently to some.
On question, if I should keep to my two book idea, a good number are telling to keep to the two book idea with an example being provided to me on one author who had to do it. If I need to though on merge, I just need to mention it. The other thing that I was told by readers is that if I get to Book 2, then to ensure that I put a notice saying that it is up which I will do.
On the question earlier on Roosevelt and Childe, Roosevelt should be cautious but keep talking to Childe.
Here are some questions that I was asked thus far:
1a. will it be possible for American art and literature be sent to Teyvat while they are still officially neutral?
Yes, but it will be soon especially once something happens. It might feel like a jump when I do or at worst might require me to add, because I do want Aether to at least meet FDR.
1b. This wasn't a question, but I wanted to put my take. Would Paimon and Aether would movies of the period like the Wizard of Oz and the Great Dictator?
Oh, no doubts. I hope that I am not the only one imaging Paimon flying around singing that their (she and Aether) "off to see the Wizard" when they get back to Teyvat.
2. This one too was not a question, but felt to add my cents as well. When the Tsaritsa is finally release in 7.0 or some point when the in-game Universe gets to Snezhnaya, that the Tsaritsa is not casted as misunderstood by the Traveller?
I will repeat what the person said as I agree with them on it. Please Hoyo don't...just don't. The Fatui, which in a sense represents her authority, is responsible for many bad things and she should be held accountable for things like the Inazuman Civil War. I could write a thesis on why she should not be portrayed in a good light.
On the recent release of 6.6, I have finished recently and still processing it. But I will say that I am at least glad that I guessed that Pantalone is a heavy smoker and that he is buddies with Dottore, which makes things easy for me. So far, it has not damaged my plot for Book Two or this on much that requires immediate changes to my tags liek Cannon Divergence. It turns out that so far it might actually work out to my favor.
___________________________________________________________________________
At the Snezhnayan Embassy in the Tiergarten
Berlin, Germany
May 26th, 1941
Arlecchino sat at a chair in front of her desk as she started to read the latest reports on the preparations being done for the upcoming Invasion of the Soviet Union. Almost every Harbinger was being used to ensure it was ready and so many components twisted Arlecchino's stomach as the Red X's in her eyes lost their brightness as she read. The only Harbinger that referred to not have any part was Columbina, who told the Tsaritsa personally that she wanted no part in the actions connected with the Germans. The Tsaritsa surprisingly accepted on the condition that the Damselette take on internal roles in Snezhnaya relating to messaging and morale to the populace. Arlecchino personally did not blame the Damselette at all as the more deeper that the Fatui connected itself with this Third Reich, the more the Knave felt that slowly she was living back in the world of the House of the Hearth under Crucabena but the Reich was much worse.
She turned a page on a report from Pantalone where he wrote a memorandum on the upcoming invasion. He wrote on the German's taking grain from Ukraine, the Donbas of its coal, and the Caucasus in terms of oil. In the report, he suggested as part of the alliance that the Tsaritsa approve of negotiating with the Germans on taking a percentage of those resources to feed the Snezhnograd on its resource problem due to on-going projects. In it, he did not ignore the people living there as he mentions them enough as population density, labor availability, food consumption, and likely resistance. However, these problems were ones that the Germans had thought of already under its 'own plans' for the area which was not a concern to Snezhnaya. That phrase was enough that it could turn tables in the way that Pantalone wrote it: Not a concern to Snezhnaya.
She remembered how days before Pantalone said in a conversation that the administration of these Eastern Territories that Hitler desires so much through his book are not a concern for the Tsaritsa as long as the manner in how it is administered is sufficient enough for the purposes of this alliance that it requires no further support from the Fatui to run. The only Harbinger that had to take additional support actions was Dottore, which was to collect data and information through the SS for purposes that did concerned only a small number of the Fatui higher circles. Apparently, Arlecchino was not included in that circle for the major reasons for this alliance besides resources and experience in large-scale warfare.
Arlecchino had served the Tsaritsa long enough to know the difference between secrecy and compartmentalization. Project Stuzha was the perfect example for it when she was first asked to be included at the front of it, but after some time she suspected that it was to keep the growing influence of the House of the Hearth in check. However, whatever this project that involved allying with a murder machine nation had many more doors to it with Pantalone as well as Dottorre working together, Pierro holding the keys, and now Arlecchino was given the front parlor, the knives, the children, and the tasking of making sure none of the guest noticed the smell coming from downstairs.
She closed Pantalone's memorandum and set it carefully to one side of the blotter as she grabbed another folder and opened its contents where she noticed that it contained the name of the OKW, the Wehrmacht High Command, on the top right on it said the word 'Entwurf' or 'draft' on it. Thankfully, Arlecchino had known how to read and speak German as she looked at the title of the whole work before her where it said: Guidelines for the Treatment of Political Commissars. She read the draft twice with one to read and the second to process its words.
"The fact that they want this in limited writing in its military and be given in verbal form to lower sections tells enough," Arlecchino said quietly.
This draft of an order made out political commissars of the Soviet Union in enemies that were outside the normal protections of soldiers that this world would give, while the Fatui are guilty of this issue. They, unlike Germany, had not signed the conventions that bound them and while she would have respected them, the actions in Greece and Yugoslavia were ones that the Tsaritsa required from her. However, this order was only an ounce of the atrocities that the Reich and its military was planning every time that she heard that Dottore had been meeting with the SS. The recent one she heard but was not given the full information on was special action squads called Einsatzgruppen that were to be deployed on the front behind the army and from what she understood, Dottore would not be far behind these squads especially.
Now, it seemed Dottore had placed his own fingers on this draft of an order as well. On the last page was a series of supplementary provisions. The provisions added by Dottore that the order allows Snezhnayan liaisons under his directive to each Army Group be allowed to select Commissars and other Communist Party Officials attached to the Red Army be preserved for transfer to Snezhnayan custody where they were to be transferred to holding at Snezhnaya.
"And now we allow our monster to be making suggestions that allow even more atrocities that will boggle the mind of not just this world, but Teyvat as well," Arlecchino spoke, "The moment that it is learned that Snezhnaya is sponsoring mass murder and partaking in killing prisoners in such a scale, then all the other nations will refuse to even look at Snezhnaya without genocide in its name."
The word remained in the office after she had spoken it…..Genocide. It was not a word that belonged naturally to Teyvat's political language. Teyvat had known massacres, purges, wars of conquest, divine punishments, vanished civilizations, and gods who had buried their enemies beneath mountains or memory. But this world had a special talent for turning murder into such simple administration that it possibly dwarfed anything in the recent Teyvat memory. This Reich was spending resources and manpower to build an entire system that made hate combined with violence the order of the day.
Then a soft knock came at the door. Arlecchino immediately closed the folder at once, but not before placing a gloved finger on the corner of the page where Dottore's supplementary provisions began.
"Enter," she called out.
An Operative entered with a couple of sealed packets on a silver tray. She was young, but not fresh in her duty as she was one of her first of children to help set up the organization of the Embassy.
"Father," the operative said with a bow.
Arlecchino looked at the packets on the tray.
"Who sent them?"
"One came through German naval liaison," the operative answered. "Marked for your personal attention by Admiral Raeder's office, with an attached operational note from Admiral Dönitz concerning the Bismarck operation."
"And the second?"
"American diplomatic channel. Lisbon, then Bern, then Berlin. It bears Commander Henry's hand."
Arlecchino's eyes moved from one packet to the other. The German Battleship in one and then a letter from America in the other. The day almost seemed to have decided for her how to best arrange itself for her, which to be a strong symbol of tension.
"Which arrived first?"
"The American letter, Father."
"Then that one first."
The operative stepped forward and placed the smaller packet on the desk. Arlecchino broke the seal and unfolded the letter within, where she began to read it.
Your Excellency,
I write regarding a matter that has recently come to my attention through family correspondence.
My daughter-in-law, Mrs. Natalie Henry, presently in Italy, and her uncle, Professor Aaron Jastrow, have reportedly received visits from representatives of the Fatui. I am informed these visits have been repeated and that their purpose has not been clearly explained. These questions that I have been told range from their status in Siena to their Jewish ancestry, which has not done well on the already stressful situation that they are facing in getting Aaron out of Italy due to his unique citizenship issue with the United States Government.
Given my previous conversations with you in Berlin, and given the present irregular relations between your government and mine, I ask plainly: why have the Fatui taken an interest in Mrs. Henry and Professor Jastrow?
Professor Jastrow is an American citizen by naturalization, a scholar, and a man of international reputation. Mrs. Henry is an American citizen by birth as well and the wife of my son, Lieutenant Byron Henry, United States Navy. Neither is, to my knowledge, connected with military operations, intelligence work, or any matter that should concern Snezhnaya and the Fatui.
I would appreciate clarification.
Respectfully,
Commander Victor Henry
United States Navy
Arlecchino wanted to at this point pinch her nose as she knew that by this point what happens next could be a diplomatic situation that the Tsaritsa or the Fatui did not need at this moment with Barbarossa not far in the future. She placed Pug Henry's letter beside the closed folder containing Dottore's supplement. This situation had Dottore's fingers on it no doubt.
"Natalie Henry," she said.
The operative opened a notebook at once, "Natalie Henry née Jastrow. American citizen by birth. Wife of Lieutenant Byron Henry, United States Navy. Presently believed to be in Siena with an infant child. When the war started, she and her now husband were in Poland, especially Warsaw as the fighting intensified. They were evacuated through the Swedish Embassy with a large group of neutrals that were present in Warsaw."
Arlecchino looked over the name of the scholar as she spoke, "And Professor Aaron Jastrow?"
"American citizen by naturalization. Scholar. Author of A Jew's Jesus. German cultural offices maintain a file on the book. German racial offices maintain a file on the man. There are notes regarding his difficulty obtaining travel papers because of citizenship complications."
"Which Fatui representatives visited them?"
The operative held the tray a little tighter, "The first visits appear to have been made through Northland Bank intermediaries in Italy. But a request was made through a Snezhnayan cultural office in Rome for background material on Professor Jastrow's book, his religious affiliations, public reputation, and known correspondence."
Arlecchino looked at the Operative with eye to eye contact that expected an immediate answer, "Who made the request on the background material?"
"Il Dottore, Father," The Operative swallowed.
"I see," Arlecchino said as she processed it, "And what was his stated purpose?"
"I am afraid to say, he has not given one, Father."
"Has Professor Jastrow been requested for transfer?" Arlecchino asked.
"Not in any file available to the House."
"Do not comfort me with what is available."
The operative took a breath, "We have no direct evidence of a transfer request. We do have evidence that a medical courier attached to Lord Dottore's network requested a summary of Professor Jastrow's age, health, nationality, ancestry, publications, and travel restrictions."
Arlecchino looked as if she was in deep thought for a moment. There were too many questions running through her mind at this moment. She knew enough that if Dottore was interested in something or someone, then it was not always with the best intentions. Now, with this connection that these two individuals hold to Commander Henry, it makes things much more diplomatically toxic.
"No further contact is to be made with Mrs. Henry or Professor Jastrow without my authorization," Arlecchino said.
"Including bank and research personnel?" The Operative wrote down quickly.
"Yes, If questioned, you will say that the matter concerns an American naval officer with direct access to President Roosevelt. Therefore, it falls under diplomatic leverage, counterintelligence, and my authority."
"Yes, Father."
"Then get in touch with our Operative in Rome and tell them to travel to Siena personally to speak to Mrs. Henry and Professor Jastrow, reassure them that they will only receive visitors through me," Arlecchino stated.
The operative wrote that down with immediate care, "And if Mrs. Henry refuses to receive them?"
"Then they will leave a letter in my name and depart without argument."
"And if Professor Jastrow refuses?"
"Then they will do the same. Now hand me the folder from Donitz and Raeder."
The Operative nodded as she handed it to Arlecchino, where she began to read its contents. It contained the current status of the Bismarck with damage in its bow with future tanks ruptured, but still sea worthy. The information went on how the Bismarck sank the Battlecruiser Hood, where said British battlecruiser only had three survivors. Nothing in it pointed to Snezhnaya directly involved at first, but it was after the battle and when Bismarck was chased by a pair of cruisers as well as the damaged Prince of Wales. Then the part that mattered was what she read, the Heavy Cruiser HMS Suffolk was sunk by elemental torpedoes that sank it within 25 minutes. The German Cruiser Prinz Eugen was successfully detached and made its own course to refuge for France. The British Royal Navy have announced the sinking of the Suffolk, but have not yet announced the number of those lost. However Bismarck managed to shake the Cruisers off and now continue to German occupied France until it was recently spotted in the morning by a Catalina flying boat.
"She has been found by the British, very quickly," Arlecchino said.
The operative did not answer immediately, "Yes, Father."
"I would not give it long before the British are in position to make attacks on the Bismarck by air."
"They already did the previous morning."
"Yes, but they only hit the belt of her armour. Who says that some British pilot might get lucky and hit something more serious?"
The Operative said nothing as she felt it was not her place to make a comment on such a thing.
"Sandrone was right in her naval assessment of this world, the age of Battleships is passing and Snezhnaya has no need of them."
"Admiral Donitz requested to know the name of the Submarine that sank the Suffolk as well as her captain," Operative continued, "He wants to give them a Knights Cross. He's even sent the request to Pierro directly. Reichs Minister Goebbels has already claimed that the Suffolk was sunk by the great and patriotic work of the Armed Forces of Her Majesty the Tsaritsa. Pierro has already accepted Donitz's request."
The operative seemed to realize, a moment too late, that the last sentence had changed the room more than all the reports before it. As Arlecchino did not move and just looked her in the eye as the Knave's red eyes flared at her.
"I see, tell Director Pierro that I wish to speak with him as soon as possible," Arlecchino stated.
The Operative nodded swiftly as she continued on the report on the Bismarck situation.
Several Hours later
In the Middle of the North Atlantic (at least 400 miles west of Nazi occupied France)
Raskolnikov stood on the port bridge wing of the Bismarck as the Swordfish planes came into view of the clouds. The Fatui liaison was very tall with blue and white robes with metal plates on his shoulders, he wore a visor like helmet with a hat attached. To the outside world of his outfit, it looked like a glowing orange line from his vision. Originally, he was placed in charge of the Kuuvahki Experimental Design Bureau, but was transferred by Sandrone to oversee the new equipment that was installed on Bismarck. The rangefinders that were installed did their job, but the issues that the ship lacked were problems that were caused by the German's own doing on building the defenses of the ship. The problem that the ship had was observed just the other day where these Swordfish that they are called, small slow biplanes that would be like toys in Teyvat were impossible for the German anti-aircraft weapons to hit. He had watched as the ship steered yesterday and dodged torpedoes, but took one that did minor damage to Bismarck.
The ship had made a loop around the Zig-gagging of the shadowing cruisers, which included the now sunk Suffolk, and managed to shake it off. However, Admiral Lütjens felt that he had not indeed broken them and radioed Berlin. Then not long afterwards, the Catalina recon plane flew over them and gave them away.
The sight of the now incoming fifteen Swordfish aircraft tells him that the British had pulled more weight into the chase and he was watching that weight flex before him. On top of the metal conning tower of the Bismarck was Ania, a well-disciplined Thunderblitz Gvardiya, in a dark blue uniform similar to his and a peaked hat as well. Her face was hidden behind a mask with the visor a bright light purple. However, the more prominent feature was her weapons of Sneznayan Gaulting Guns that were purple and filled with energy in their rounds.
As she got into position and pointed to Bismarck's portside, the alarms on Bismarck began to ring as men ran to their stations manning their anti-aircraft guns. Even the four dual-barreled 15 inch turrets on Bismarck began to point towards the incoming old and outdated Swordfish as they fired a salvo, sending shells into the water in front of the planes and creating massive columns of waters that missed.
The biplanes kept coming charging at low and slow attitudes with focus towards the German Battleship. As they kept charging with their torpedoes visibly below the bellies of the planes, the gunners on Bismarck's flak weapons continued to fire. Bismarck's entire port and starboard side seemed to be spitting flame and metal at its attackers.
Ania waited a heartbeat longer as the Swordfish came closer. Then her rotary electro guns began to spin as purple light gathered inside the barrels and pulsed brighter with each turn. Then she fired and the sound cut through the German barrage like a knife through cloth. As bolt of purple light head towards the lead Swordfish plane. Raskolnikov watched as the biplane shock side to side to avoid the bolt of purple electro energy as they came. However, one hit the lower left wing of the lead aircraft as it broke apart and the fuselage spun into the sea.
"Treffer!" was the shouts of the German crew as they briefly cheered.
Ania did not move except to correct her aim and Raskolnikov did not cheer either. As he knew that there were fourteen more. Another Swordfish dropped lower, slipping beneath the worst of the flak. It came in so close to the water that spray lifted around its wheels.
"Hart Backbord!" Captain Lindemann shouted from inside the bridge, which was the German order to the helmsman to turn the rudder fully to the port.
The order passed through the bridge quickly as the Bismarck began to turn left slowly. Fifty thousand tons of steel maneuvered in a move to prepare to dodge a possible torpedo. Ania continued to fire to try and hit the incoming Swordfish, but by the time that she got her bearing on it was when the pilot on the plane torpedoed his weapon. Raskolnikov's gaze left the aircraft at once as the weapon struck the water cleanly and began its run, a pale line cutting across the grey sea toward Bismarck's port quarter.
As the torpedo sped closer to the Bismarck, Ania was unable to aim at the incoming weapon and began firing at the next incoming Swordfish. As the torpedo track seemed to aim directly for the stern of the ship.
The white line slipped past, but too close for comfort as it passed astern. Raskolnikov watched as Aina shot another Swordfish into the sea as it violently crashed into the ocean after its engine took a direct hit. Then a second after she fired another burst, a click from her weapon could be heard as she ran out of ammo. Quickly a couple of Oprichniki Line Trooper's quickly came with drum mags to replace her empty ones.
Raskolnikov immediately noticed another Swordfish focused on Bismarck astern, but what was going on in the plane caught his attention. He noticed that on the three man crew of the swordfish that the man in the middle was leaning over the side of the plane with his rear in the air. Raskolnikov almost thought that the man was hit and dead until he noticed that the man was shouting at the pilot. To anyone else from Raskolnikov's view, it looked ridiculous.
But Raskolnikov understood why as the man in the middle, the plane's observer, was not panicking but judging. In this kind of attack with rough seas like this, the plane's observer was judging the waves waiting for the right moment for the pilot to drop the torpedo. If the torpedo hit top of a wave, the torpedo would not keep the pilot's planned track. Raskolnikov respected the observer instantly for his insight under such stressful conditions, something that Raskolnikov knew a lot of recruits that he handled at Nod-Krai at times lacked.
The Swordfish continued its approach as it came low and slow. The observer remained half out of the cockpit, one hand braced, head turned downward toward the moving sea. The pilot held the aircraft steady through flak, wind, and the broken smoke of Bismarck's own guns.
Ania's loaders slammed the fresh drums into place.
"Ready!" one of the Oprichniki shouted.
Ania's rotary Electro guns began to spin again, but they needed a breath to gather charge.
However, it was too late as the observer's arm snapped down and shouted to the pilot. The torpedo fell perfectly into the trough and vanished into the spray, where it reappeared as a pale track running towards Bismarck's stern.
Ania continued firing at the next Swordfish coming as she could not angle lower her guns low enough to hit the incoming torpedo, while the Swordfish that dropped its torpedo under such bravery and intelligence flew away against all reasoning without a scratch.
"Hart Steuerbord!" Lindemann shouted from inside the bridge.
Raskolnikov watched as seconds later the torpedo disappeared beneath the quarter and the Bismarck lurched violently. The deck kicked beneath Raskolnikov's boots with such violence that one hand tore free from the rail. He slammed shoulder-first against the bridge bulkhead, pain flashing white behind his visor. The air seemed to burst around him with salt spray, smoke, and the deep metallic scream of something far below being bent beyond tolerance.
On top of the armoured conning tower, Ania was thrown hard against the metal deck. One of her rotary Electro guns spat violet discharge into the air before the grounding rods caught the surge. An Oprichnik loader lost his footing and fell backward, the fresh drum magazine rolling away across the wet steel.
Then reports could be heard from inside the bridge.
"Hit aft!"
"Flooding reported!"
"Steering compartment damage!"
"Rudder response sluggish!"
Raskolnikov pushed himself upright and looked toward the stern.
The Swordfish that had delivered the torpedo was already vanishing into the smoke and cloud. Its observer had pulled himself back into the cockpit. The little biplane wobbled once, then disappeared into the grey like a ghost returning to whatever absurd corner of the sky had produced it. He hoped, with a clarity that surprised him, that those men would be decorated.
He called for the other Oprichnik that was still standing.
"Send a message to the Embassy, Bismarck has taken a possible critical hit on Stern. Request permission to use the Mobile Aperture Device at the first opportunity, if damage prevents France from being an option."
"But sir…." The soldier muttered, "It hasn't been fully tested yet and if we are circling, we would need to use more power to accommodate for it."
"We may not have an option," Raskolnikov said.
Mondstadt, Teyvat
Earth Time: Same Day
The wind over Cider Lake carried the nice water, the apple blossoms, and the sound of the creaking of mill sails as Beidou walked over the stone bridge that led to the city gate. The city rose bright from the lake, its stone walls warm under the afternoon sun, its windmills turning with lazy confidence above the rooftops. From a distance, the great statue of Barbatos stood up with the great Cathedral behind it with its arms together.
Beidou almost envied the place…almost. As she walked the bridge, she carried the small lacquered dispatch box in her leather bag. The box still had the visible electro crest on it. However, her bag also carried an extra item from Liyue to Mondstadt which was a sealed note with a golden wax stamp on it.
"I have carried many things before, but some this is the most important contraband that I have ever transported." Beidou thought to herself as she thought on how to avoid the Fatui getting the sense that she was being more suspicious than she normally is, she docked the Alcor at Dornman Port.
"I wonder how Kazuha is doing on his run to Sumeru considering that he has get around the Chasm," Beidou thought to herself more.
She had not liked sending him that way, but it she had no doubt that he could do it. In fact, he made the suggestion that he would take the Sumeru letter to cover more ground. When he read the Steambird reports and when she told him about the meeting she had with Kujou Sara and Kamisato Ayato, he had gone silent in the way he did when he heard something in the wind that no one else had noticed yet.
"Some storms arrive before the clouds," he had said.
Beidou had told him that if he started speaking entirely in poetry while carrying state secrets, she would personally throw him overboard when he returned. However, he had just slightly smirked and gone anyway.
The two guards, Swan and Lawrence, straightened when they recognized her.
"Captain Beidou?" one of them asked as apparently her reputation preceded her to some circles of Mondstadt.
"In the flesh," Beidou replied. "And before anyone starts looking worried, I am actually here for official business for Acting Grand Master Jean….quietly though."
The expression on Swan changed first but not much. However, it was enough that Beidou noticed, gate guards were like sailors on watch.
"Official business," Swan repeated, "Quietly."
"That's the troublesome word," Beidou said, "The Fatui cannot know that I am here with what I am delivering. And I cannot tell you what I have, I have strict orders that it is to be given to the Acting Grand Master to read."
Swan's eyes moved past Beidou toward the bridge behind her.
"Are you being followed?" Swan asked.
"Not by anyone I have caught yet," Beidou said.
"That doesn't answer the question."
"No," Beidou replied, "It is not."
Lawrence shifted his grip on his spear. "If the Fatui cannot know, then walking you straight through the plaza may be unwise. The road to the Knights' headquarters passes close enough to the Goth Hotel that anyone watching from there could notice."
Beidou gave him a sideways look and a big smile, "You two are sharper than you look."
Neither of the pair of guards blinked.
"Captain," Swan said, "with respect, you arrived from Liyue with a sealed bag, asked for Acting Grand Master Jean, and said the Fatui could not know. Be thankful that there is a section in the handbook about citizens reporting danger under duress and that this feels close enough."
Swan looked behind him as he looked at the two Fatui diplomats off in the distance up in the balcony that overlooks the fountain.
"Go right and head to Angel's Share," Swan continued, keeping his voice low. "The Fatui here don't go in there. Before entering, find Huffman. Ask him about finding a bottle of Red Wolfenhook wine from Dawn Winery's eastern cellar."
Beidou raised an eyebrow, "Nice Passphrase, I didn't know that you can make Red Wolfenhook into wine."
"Captain Kaeya made it," Lawrence look toward the plaza again, "But when you tell Huffman, he will know what to do. As long as you keep right, you should not be seen."
Beidou nodded as she adjusted the strap of her leather bag, making sure the dispatch box sat low and steady against her side. She began to walk for a good ten minutes, where she saw front of Angel's Share with the sign hung with its name and logo. Then just before the Angel Share door, she saw a Knight of Favonius talking to a man that was beside a sign on the ground that was from Dawn Winery recruiting fighters to deal with a boar problem that were destroying the winery's Vineyard vines.
"Captain Beidou," he said in a tone suitable for public streets, "I did not expect a person of your reputation to be in Mondstadt."
"Neither did I," Beidou replied. "But the sea gets boring when it behaves. But I was told you might know where to find a bottle of Red Wolfhook wine from Dawn Winery's eastern cellar."
"Red Wolfhook wine," Huffman repeated, just loud enough for the street. "From Dawn Winery's eastern cellar."
"That is what I was told," Beidou said.
"We might have a bottle in our reserve, just head up to the top floor room and we can see about bringing it up soon," the man at the signs said, "Name's Patton, I work for Dawn Winery and Angel's Share. Just head inside and we will take care of you."
"Much obliged," Beidou said.
Huffman opened the door for her.
Angel's Share swallowed her in as the sight of oak everywhere from tables to chairs as well as bar were near her. A few patrons sat at the tables, cups in hand, and voices overlapping as they drank with merry songs. Behind the bar was a tall man with red hair tied in a pony tail and a black trench coat. His facial expression told Beidou instantly that this gentleman had more hidden about himself than she could see. He said nothing as he watched Patton lead Beidou up the spiral staircase up the upper floor to where once they reached the second floor, they passed a wooden door blocking off access to the rest of the tavern. Once they reached the top, Beidou was led to a dark room where there sat a table in the center. Patton closed the door behind them as they sat and waited for a while.
Footsteps could then be heard as they came up the staircase until the door opened. The red-haired bartender came up, but he was not alone as the Acting Grand Master came up not far behind him.
Beidou stood at once.
"Acting Grand Master."
"Captain Beidou," Jean said with a voice that was controlled, but Beidou saw the strain underneath it.
Jean looked like someone who had been awake since before sunrise and had spent every hour fighting a battle made entirely of paper, rumor, and things no sword could cut. Her uniform was neat, but her eyes had a line of shade on them.
The red-haired bartender closed the door behind them.
"I am told that you needed to see me and Fatui could not see you coming to me," Jean said.
Beidou looked at the red-haired bartender, where Jean followed the look for a moment.
"Master Diluc is aware that this meeting is confidential," Jean said, "He is also the reason we can have it here."
Beidou blinked for a moment with a mixture of a blank and dumbfounded look on her face as she processed the word of 'master' from the Acting Grand Master.
"I told you to stop calling me that," Diluc said quickly with a cough.
"And as I told you, my cautious and meticulous superior, if you are willing to have run our witness under duress platform with you, then you must receive formal gratitude," Jean replied with a smirk.
Diluc responded with a groan as he sent Patton away.
Beidou looked between them, her brow slowly rising.
"Well," she said, "I came here expecting secret business. I did not expect to learn that Mondstadt's underground network comes with etiquette disputes."
Jean threw out a chair across from her and sat down.
"You said the Fatui could not know what you are carrying," Jean said, "So what is it."
Beidou opened the bag as she placed the box on the middle of the table with the the folded note sealed in gold wax.
Jean's eyes moved from one to the other as she noticed the crests on the two items.
"Inazuma," she said.
"And Liyue," Beidou replied.
Diluc looked at the golden wax. "Ningguang."
Beidou gave him a sideways look. "That easy to tell?"
"I've had my dealing with her before on many occasions."
Jean reached toward the dispatch box, then paused. "May I?"
Beidou unlocked it and turned it toward her, while placing the folded note away for a moment. Inside the box was the scroll for Mondstadt. Jean grabbed the scroll and opened it as she read its contents. As the Acting Grand Master read, she made no sound as her face remained focused. The room was quiet enough that Beidou could hear the low life of Angel's Share beneath them, which ranged from cup clinking, drink games and cheers, singing, and the sounds of drunkenness. After a few minutes, Jean lowered the scroll.
"Inazuma is proposing a confidential exchange of intelligence between the nations of Teyvat," she said, "Concerning Fatui activity and their allies."
Beidou nodded and replied, "That's the heart of it."
Diluc's eyes narrowed slightly, "What caused Inazuma to send this?"
Beidou leaned back in her chair, "Japan."
Jean's expression sharpened, "The other Earth nation allied with Germany and Snezhnaya?"
Beidou nodded as she explained what happened as the Japanese sailed in with the Katori and the spotter plane that flew around Inazuma. She went onto explain how the Japanese delegation brought in the suggestion of Inazuma joining a thing called the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.
"And they admitted that they were at war with another country as well?" Diluc asked.
"Yes, some place called China," Beidou answered, "But they claimed that China started it."
"I have heard similar phrasing from the Fatui before," Diluc replied.
"And the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing?" Jean asked as she grabbed the sealed note with golden wax on it and broke the seal to begin reading it.
"She is giving her endorsement to the idea," Beidou explained, "but she also added her own warning. Liyue has been watching the Fatui's money, ships, and cargo longer than most people realize."
Diluc gave her a dry look, "That sounds like Liyue."
Beidou smiled, "It is practically their national sport."
Jean did not look away from the note as she continued reading as she her eyes moved steadily over the page. After a minute, she dropped the paper and placed it beside the Inazuman scroll.
"Ningguang believes the Fatui are moving resources out of local pressure positions and toward larger strategic efforts," Bediou said, "Particularly to help support the Germans in their theater which would align with the events we know in this Yugoslavia."
"This network would have Mondstadt, Inazuma, Liyue, and Fontaine?" Jean asked.
"Sumeru and Natlan as well. I have someone delivering Sumeru's and the Tianquan is having an agent deliver Fontaine as we speak," Bediou explained.
"I see," Jean replied, "Mondstadt will join, but I will tell my conditions once I talk with Diluc and others on it tonight. Stay at Dornman Port for a while until I can get Diluc to route some cargo your way to take to Liyue and expect Albedo to come down to you to go to Liyue as well. He will have some information to personally tell the Tianquan, herself. We have some information on how the Fatui are doing their communication traffic and the less people in the know the better."
Diluc's eyes moved toward Jean.
"Albedo?" he asked.
Jean did not look at him immediately. Instead, she began folding Ningguang's letter with slow care, making sure the creases were neat before she placed it beside the Inazuman scroll.
"Yes," she said.
"What kind of information?" he asked.
Jean reached for the dispatch box and turned it slightly so the Inazuman crest faced her.
"Something that I can't tell you for now," she replied.
"That is not an answer."
"No," Jean said, "It is not."
Diluc folded his arms as he glared at Jean, "Jean."
Jean closed her eyes, "I trust you. But it's better this way."
"I have heard that before," Diluc retorted.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring back bad memories," Jean said looking Diluc in the eyes, "But this is something that I can't risk the Fatui knowing we know ... .Only five people know about it, including me and Aether. Not even Kaeya knows about it."
Diluc did not answer immediately as he raised an eyebrow.
"Not even Kaeya," he repeated.
Jean's expression did not change, but Beidou saw the sentence hit.
"No,not even Kaeya," Jean said as she shook her head.
Diluc's eyes remained on her. "I am very surprised, this is outside the normal behaviors of the Knights of Favonius."
"It's safer this way."
"What? You don't you trust your fellow comrades?"
Jean continued before he could respond. "This is not about trust. If it were, you would already know. It is about damage that can be done. If the Fatui learn that Mondstadt has discovered even the smallest part of this matter, they will change how they operate before we understand what we are looking at. Especially if things should ever get out of hand and that war on Earth comes here."
Diluc's eyes narrowed slightly as he put a piece together, "You said communication traffic."
"I have already said too much," Jean stressed, "If the Fatui are learning through their allies, then what they are using comes from their friends. We may need to be ready."
"Ready for what?" Diluc asked.
"In case, the Fatui decide to start playing whatever playbook these Axis Nations use," Jean admitted.
The meeting continued for another twenty minutes, but it was agreed that Mondstadt will join in the network of intelligence sharing with Inazuma and Liyue.
North Atlantic
Night of May 27th, 1941 at 2:30am
HMS Cossack sailed closer to the wounded and circling Battleship Bismarck, while its dual barrelled 120mm guns fired starshell flares over the Battleship to keep it visible for the coming British Battleships Rodney and King George V. The starshells burst above the German ship in hard white flowers, where the night became day light. Bismarck appeared beneath the glare, enormous and wrong, its black hull shouldering through the Atlantic in a slow, helpless turn. Smoke dragged from its funnel, while its bow rose and fell heavy in the dark sea. Its stern looked lower than it should have as it moved forward.
On Cossack's bridge, Captain Philip Vian held his binoculars steady despite the spray striking the open bridge.
"Maintain course," Vian said to one of the officers nearby.
"Aye, sir."
Cossack drove forward through the chop, her bow throwing up spray that blew back across the forecastle in sheets. Somewhere off in the darkness, the other destroyers of the flotilla were making their own attacks. The other destroyers Sikh, Maori, and Zulu all moved through the night. The five Tribal-Class Destroyers, which included Cossack, were getting ready to harass the Bismarck again and fire some torpedoes if the chance came. The destroyers were part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, which also included the Polish destroyer Piorun. However, Piorun approached very close to the Battleship with determination to get revenge for the 1939 conquering of their homeland by the Nazi's but had to break off after the Bismarck made damage to the Destroyer that nearly sank it with heavy damage to its hull.
Another starshell went up as they got into position to try for another torpedo attack. Captain Philip Vian kept his binoculars on the forward part of the Bismarck, where he noticed the forward rangefinder on the battleship. It was a crystalline mirror had begun to glow faintly of pale blue but not from the starshell light.
Vian lowered his binoculars for half a second, then raised them again as he called out, "What the bloody hell is that light?"
However, no one answered his question.
A junior officer beside him tried anyway, "Could be electrical damage, sir."
"The devil it is," Vian replied sharply.
Cossack rolled as she came about, the sea striking her port side hard enough to send spray over the bridge. Her guns barked again, firing another starshell. The flare arced upward and burst above Bismarck's bow, turning the rain silver.
"Compass!" someone shouted, "Compass is swinging!"
"Wireless is reporting interference," an officer reported from one of the speaking tubes.
Vian kept his binoculars fixed on Bismarck as the crystalline mirror on the forward rangefinder shone brighter, and aft, the brown machine-head mounted near the rear rangefinder opened its central optic with a red light. The front turret's pointed forward as if they were expected to not be used, while the rear turrets were still pointing at targets. Then one turret came alive again as it fired blindly into the night. One shell landed wide from the Cossack, but the next one did not. It passed close over Cossack's bridge with a tearing scream and struck the sea off the port quarter. The explosion threw up a wall of water that came down over the destroyer in a solid mass. The deck vanished beneath spray of water as men clung to rails and voice pipes. The bridge shook hard enough that Vian felt his teeth strike together.
"Damage aft!" someone shouted.
"Keep us on her," Vian said.
"Aye, sir!"
Cossack climbed another wave, her bow cutting into the dark water, then dropped hard into the trough beyond. However, Vian kept sight of the Bismarck through the binoculars as the forward crystal rangefinder brightened itself where even a starshell was muted out in pale blue. The waves around it suddenly calmed and flattened. The bright light on the forward range finder became even brighter where one might think that moon was gone. Light project forward ahead of the ship where it acted like a search light, but the light it projected outwards widened. It continued to widen more and more to where it seemed to be almost as wide as the length of the Bismarck.
The light ahead thickened into a bright blue curtain that hummed as a bright circle in the air with only half of it buried in the flattened water and the other half above the waves.
The bridge on HMS Cossack went silent in disbelief.
"Sir," the junior officer said with his voice barely carrying, "What is that?"
Vian did not have an answer at all.
Slowly the circling Bismarck sailed into the curtain as its bow disappeared into it as it the bow was being absorbed. The barrels of her forward guns were being swallowed as she sailed onwards, while her stern continued to swing in the circle. The aft end of Bismarck continued its wide port swing, dragging through the old circle as if the ship had forgotten that half of itself had already left the Atlantic. The hull began to angle against the bright edge of the curtain. The blue rim bent inward where steel met light.
The Bismarck's after turrets were still visible, black and wet under the starshell glare. Then they answered the starshells as they fired one more time as the stern continued to swing, where it looked like as if part of the stern's starboard side might miss the right edge of the curtain.
"Down!" a Rating yelled.
The first shell went wide. The second passed over Cossack with a scream that seemed to split the night open. It struck the sea beyond the destroyer and threw up a black tower of water. The third burst close off the wing as it sliced the ship's antenna. The fourth shell zoomed way under as made another column of dark water.
Vian, who had ducked, looked back to the the remains of the Bismarck as the rear turrets of Bismarck aligned back to the center as the stern managed to align itself properly and disappeared into the curtain where nothing of the battleship was visible. All that he could see was that blue curtain as it quickly shrunk within seconds and then disappeared.
Everyone on the decks of the destroyers watched in silence as they comprehend that the Bismarck was no longer in their sight and vanished behind a manner that was impossible.
An hour later, the first telegram of what transpired reached the rooms of the British Admiralty and a sense of anger was felt throughout every member of the Operations Division as they understood that their chance for vengeance for Hood and even Suffolk had vanished. They would bring word to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was seen to an emotion of anger. Afterwards, he would call for a meeting with all members of his war cabinet in response to the events that occurred.
History would later quote Churchill in saying the following words, "The only thing that really frightened me during the war used to be the U-boat peril, but the Tsaritsa by her own effort put herself in that number."
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I hope that you like the chapter, please feel free to leave a review/comment on what you felt about the chapter or what you liked about it even (or put your own historical input on it).
Originally, I was going to have Bismarck escape to Brest but started to doubt that she would be able to escape the torpedo that hit her rudder and felt that the Fatui would have a item that be possible of such a thing. I won't go into the details yet, but it won't be something that we will see a lot really. In fact, Bismarck will not be seen a lot in this story really as I took a look at a report by James Cameron on the damage that she received from Prince of Wales and the torpedo that hit her rudder. I am not an engineer and am basing it on similar damage on lose of bows, but I suspect that it would take at least 3 months to fix that damage. And if she is in Teyvat, let's maybe Nod-Krai without a Dry Dock, even longer like 6 months. But that's if Sandrone would even care to fix it really as I really believe that realistically that she would see Battleships as useless.
Also, I didn't have Bismarck carry a lot of the advancements that might have been expected as I based it on the idea that the Bohemian Corporal (You Know Who, I am going to using some of the names that Animarchy History would give as I really like them) would not want the serious tech that they get from Teyvat to go a lot to the Kreigsmarine with Barbarossa so close around the corner.
Historical Notes:
1. The Swordfish Attack on Bismarck: The air attacks on Bismarck were done by two different carriers,one was Ark Royal and Victorius. In the one in this chapter, the planes came from Ark Royal and the planes that they carried for this were old and outdated Swordfish Biplanes. In real attack, believe it or not, but Bismarck never really was able to shot any of them down cause they were moving slow and very low beneath the flak of the gun. On the one that had the observer leaning over, this is something that I really did not make up, there is documented proof on it and World of Warships recently reference it on a new video. But the plane in questioned was piloted by Jock Moffat, where his Observer ("Dusty" Miller) was shouting to him 'Not Yet!' A lot of people credit his plane with being the one to drop the torpedo that hit Bismarck's rudder and stern, which by the way you can find a picture of the damage from the wreck online and James Cameron's 'Expedition Bismarck' Documentary shows the inside of the hole the torpedo made which did a heavy hit.
2. The Destroyer Attack on May 27th: This also happened, the Sink the Bismarck dramatizes it a bit. But the British did harass the Bismarck throughout the night, where the crew of the Bismarck did not get sleep and their already low morale dropped from it. They never scored any torpedo hits on Bismarck with the Polish Destroyer Piorun madladding it by signaling to Bismarck 'I AM A POLE." None of the Destroyers received any serious damage with only Cossack and Zulu getting only minor damage.
Here is some of my engagement questions for you:
the Bismarck part, I know I said that I do not intend to have it in action again in this story; but when we might see again in book two, should it be back in Earth or be staying in Teyvat? If in Teyvat, what do you imagine? A situation where she is stuck in the Teyvat equivalent of a fjord or something else?
2. If FDR and Churchill, for example, had to come to Teyvat to meet with the Leaders of Teyvat that are against the Fatui in a sort of Atlantic Charter or Yalta like conference about Snezhnaya. Where do you think would be a great place for the conference in Teyvat? My thoughts were on Wangshu Inn in Liyue or the House of Daena in Sumeru. Give me your thoughts and opinions.