The French Premier, M. Chautemps, with his Foreign Secretary, M. Delbos, and his Minister of National Defense and War, M. Daladier, could easily take the train from Paris to this little scrap of a Grand Duchy between the great powers and the neutral low countries. The new British Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain, his Foreign Secretary, Mr Eden, his First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr Churchill, his Secretary of State for War, Lord Halifax, and his Secretary of State for Air, Lord Swinton, could take the boat over to Dover and then the train across Belgium.
Not surprisingly, therefore, there was a crowd at the airport, and the red Junkers Trimotor with the German registry had quite a number of welcomers. Inside, before disembarking, the pilot accepted a wet towelette to wash his face, shrugged out of his old leather flying jacket, and cheerfully said to one and all as he put on his more businesslike suit jacket, "Affairs should go better this time, or more peaceably, anyhow. The last time I was here I tried to arrest a policeman."
Neurath was horrified. "Herr Reichskanzler! Whatever will the Luxemburgers say!?"
"It was during the War. My squadron had been detached and they shipped us all the way across the Reich to the front, to rejoin the rest of the Regiment. We went through here and I saw a policeman. I didn't know where we stood regarding Luxembourg or its police, so I ordered the men to take him into custody.
"He told me that he was going to complain to the Kaiser, so I had the men let him go. The Kaiser never mentioned it, so I guess he didn't after all."
For him, the tradition of senior man first was devoid of one common disadvantage; he didn't have to fumble his way over people's knees because he was not in the rear, but up front, next to the exit door. The Luxembourgeois airport staff had brought in a small step for them to use, and the German delegation disembarked; the Chancellor, the Foreign Minister, the Armed Forces Minister, a minister from the Center Party, and a gaggle of aides.
Papen commented as he got to his feet, looking out to make sure he didn't hit his head on something low in the cabin, "Chautemps is in because Blum was out after those riots in Paris. French commentators compared Blum to our Herr Noske, but they didn't mean it as a compliment."
"What was that damned cartoon?" Noske snorted. "Blum drenched in blood and saying, 'Who says I haven't any French blood?' Not only is it Nazi, but it doesn't even apply. We have bloodier riots all the time, it seems."
The attendant outside opened the door. "Remember, they speak German here," Neurath said as they filed out of the Junkers.
"Sort of," was Papen's reply.
There was a file of police on the tarmac -- the country hadn't had much of an army back then and still didn't -- and Manfred gravely inspected them, the senior inspector who was the official greeter marching placidly at his side. Would Chautemps or Chamberlain be getting the Grand Duchess or Prince Felix? This would show him where he stood. Did anyone in the country even own an airplane?
He feigned deep interest, then at the end turned to the chief inspector and said, "Herr Chief, I believe I now have formed an idea of what our relations are with Luxembourg, and there is no need to bother his Imperial Majesty with such details." Such was the price of fame; a snicker ran down the line of policemen.
The streets were packed, even though there was an absence of flags for them. The French and English leaders had presumably been welcomed with fluttering flags; but the German leader, now, there was someone interesting in his own right. The plenary session would be in the Grand Ducal Palace, and they would pass through the picturesque Old Town to get there.
Bodenschatz, in the third car, carried the portfolio with their talking points. (Manfred had, reluctantly, left Stauffenberg in Berlin, as otherwise he would have had to have bent the man double to fit him into the plane.) They had worked those up over the previous week and a half. "I intend to ask for parity with the French, citing the Italian disturbances in the Balkans and Spain," Manfred had said to the Cabinet. "Then I will, reluctantly, back down and accept only a fifty percent increase in our armed forces."
"Which will enable the Army to bring the units up to full strength and add those 'assault guns' the little Huguenot is so enthused about," Noske had said. "The Navy can complete those last two armored ships, start building new cruisers, and finally I can get that Gottverdammt Kapitan Dönitz off my back and into his new little U-Boats. Your friend Udet can have those two extra fighter groups he wants and we can start issuing the new Bavarian fighter and Junkers ground-support bomber. And a Naval air squadron."
"French acceptance of our strengthening of ties with Austria and Czechoslovakia is vital," Neurath had said. "Once our southern frontiers are guaranteed, we will be able to press for revision of the eastern border and gain the right to introduce troops into the Rhineland."
Going to such a meeting without plans would be disastrous. So Manfred pushed them below the surface of his thoughts and made as to enjoy the hearty welcome the Luxemburgers were giving the famous pilot who just happened to be a head of government. It seemed like everyone in the country -- and some Belgians, too, not to mention French and German tourists -- was out there to see. They must have tourists, there couldn't be that many people in this little place.
"Churchill had told me he was on the outs with the government," Manfred said to Papen that evening. "Then last year, all of a sudden, he became their Navy Minister! Again! And he says it's my fault. I think he's joking about the 'fault'."
Papen said suavely, "You mean, I presume, that his opinions regarding the matter of the unequal marriage of the then King would have consequences? It seemed that Herr Churchill would come out in favor of it and then he became quiet about it."
The leaders had been given rooms in the Grand Ducal Palace, but their entourages would be put up elsewhere. Manfred would compose the night's notes before going to bed, but for now he was trying to sort out the foreign relations.
He shook his head. "Na, na. I did discuss the problem we had about the Kaiser's brother Wilhelm, but that was a joke! I was more worried about what Gandhi had to say with Mussolini and about Hitler. And now this Government of India Bill has gone into effect, which by the way Churchill did not like at all, and Gandhi has gone into retreat . . .
"He said he didn't know who was more dangerous, Stalin or Mussolini. So now, I hear, the English want to expand their Navy, to rearm. Do you think that will help us?"
"We could leak those superbattleship plans Admiral Raeder had," Papen said with a snicker. "That could well serve to persuade them we just might be serious about naval warfare. Another bargaining chip."
"I reluctantly offered to forego much more than a few coastal U-Boats, finishing the two armored ships, and replacing the old cruisers we have," Noske said. "In return, I got the Army and Air Force increases we wanted.
"Daladier is suffering from a certain constipation of the budget. And he's suspicious, they all are. That fortified line we hear about, and it's not as if we can even send troops into the Ruhr. Even if there is rioting going on." An old memory brought a sour look to Noske's face.
That afternoon, while the leaders met to discuss the general principles, their military ministers met separately to discuss the particular items; what they thought they needed to have and when they could have it. Noske had been alone against the three English service ministers and the one French one, but he was used to fighting against odds.
He went on, "When we were done talking, Herr Churchill pointed to me and said, 'Now that's what I want to see, a Minister of Defence over the service ministers.' And the Herr Swinton said, 'You, I suppose, Winston.'"
"Churchill in return wanted you to sign off on their Naval rearmament, I would venture to say," Manfred said.
"Naval and air. The French are building this elaborate concrete fence along the border, so Daladier was willing to compromise.
"What was it Herr Churchill said, oh yes, 'I have never thought anything wrong with having a thousand airplanes in reserve.'? While I don't object to the general principle, I think we have to
plan a little better than that. You have been a good teacher, Herr Richthofen, you taught me how fast airplanes become obsolete. We can't afford to keep that many in reserve right now. Now that the new monoplanes are coming into production, we can retire those old-fashioned open-cockpit biplanes to training. I suppose you're not sorry to hear that."
"I was sorry to hear about your brother Sixtus, your Highness," Manfred said. "I think he did a good thing in trying to end the War, before we were all utterly torn apart. He should have been proud of his effort, even if it didn't work out. How is, er, your nephew?"
Friday had been devoted to working out the details. This freed the leaders to go on a shooting expedition with the Consort, Prince Felix -- at least Manfred had shot, Mr Chamberlain and M. Chautemps had carried broken-open guns and tried to look enthusiastic. Manfred thought they were both good party men, which he was coming to feel wasn't necessarily the best training for leadership. If Papen were somehow Reichskanzler again . . .
He let Prince Felix get more partridges and nearly blundered, he almost mentioned this place on the Baltic coast where the shooting was good, but when he realized his gaffe covered up by saying, "But it would have to be a state visit. More likely you would be shooting bison at the Pless estates while the Grand Duchess went on the tour with the Kaiser."
The "nephew" was, of course, the exiled Austrian pretender. There was no need to stir up the Czechoslovaks, the Romanians, the Yugoslavs . . . whatever, with even the hint of an Austrian restoration. Or Dollfuss, for that matter. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep a channel of communication open. The shooting at "that place" included rockets, after all . . .
"Baron von Richthofen," Chamberlain said, in that hesitant way of his, "Baron von Richthofen, I do hope you will join in our support of peace. The War so destroyed our nation, and you more than anyone else saw its effects at first hand."
Manfred carefully broke open his shotgun and removed the shells before turning to reply to the English prime minister. Father had taught him about pointing loaded guns, and he had in turn taught that to the boys. "It's contradictory, isn't it, Herr Chamberlain? We don't want a repetition of the War, or even a worse one, and yet the best way to prevent it is to have arms. If the late Herr Hitler had come to power we would have had war, if not by now then not before long; he used to speak approvingly of how war was good for a people."
"Oh he couldn't have been serious! That must have been rhetoric, campaign talk. He was in the front line, like Anthony, Winston even. No, that was just talk. The terrible weapons that exist, weapons too terrible to use, have made war unacceptable, far too destructive. We must have peace in our time or humanity will perish from the Earth."
Manfred wondered who was making political speeches now.
"We are agreed, therefore, to continue to apply collective security against the Italian aggression in Africa and Spain," Chautemps said, reading out the joint statement. "We are agreed, therefore, to increase our military spending to bring it into line with the increased hazards of the perilous world situation." And he droned on in that vein for some time, everyone else (including the ostensible hostess, the Grand Duchess Charlotte, actually allowed to attend the sessions with her ministers for the first time today), listening with various degrees of boredom.
Papen, for example, who had predicted such a result. "Lots of high-flying words, but no action. Maybe that will get the Czechs to move. Still no luck over Austria," he had said, before they left.
Manfred wished to address the assembled ministers before the session broke up, and Chautemps said, after finishing the official statement, that he had leave to do so.
He got to his feet, looked up and down the table, and put on his cheeriest smile. "We have done much here and it is my fond hope that we shall come to understand each others' problems and interests better in the years to come. If we had become used to negotiating so regularly, the crises that led to the War might have been averted.
"But my colleagues Chamberlain and Chautemps have said these things, far better than I can do. I rather wish to discuss a matter more personal. No not personal to me, though I hear enough.
"It is my great and distinct pleasure to announce that his Imperial Majesty, Kaiser Louis-Ferdinand, the German Emperor, will be wed to the Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia on this coming fourth of May, in his capital of Berlin. It is to be hoped that all these countries will be represented officially at the wedding."
But if only the site of the wedding could have been happier. On a wave of good feeling, Manfred and his party were swept back to Berlin. Where it seemed there was someone else with a story of his own to tell.
"Thank you, Herr von Rabe," the Kaiser said.
"Rabe," the man replied. "Oh."
Manfred and the rest of the cabinet sat in the long room at Sanssouci hearing the little man from Nanking report on his recent acts. At several moments during the course of the ghastly narrative he had given serious thought to getting up and leaving for the loo, but he overcame his nausea and soldiered on. Some of the younger under-ministers had not been so strong-stomached. Even his Imperial Majesty looked a little green. The palace that Great Friedrich had built so that he could have a place where he could be without care was having his intent rudely contradicted.
As Reichskanzler, it was up to him to end the session. Slowly he got to his feet and looked at the man who had recounted these tales of ghastly horror. He said, "Thank you, Herr Rabe, er von Rabe, for your report. Your actions in Nanking in establishing a protective zone and saving thousands of lives were indeed noble, highly meritorious of ennoblement. If your Majesty will permit us to withdraw and discuss this matter?"
Louis Ferdinand also got to his feet and said, "Herren Ministers, I am certain you will formulate a policy that will meet with My approval. Will it be needful to have Herr von Rabe at your disposal? Having relived the events he has just recounted must have been greatly disturbing, and it was My wish to grant him My hospitality, to rest for a time."
Manfred had thought it might be a good idea to let the poor man rest. He looked as if he had barely been able to make it through the recital. After a moment, as the cabinet sat in an unprecedented silence, he said, "Your Imperial Majesty, we do not need his services at the present time. Your courtesy is to be appreciated."
If it hadn't been for formality, no one would have been able to get through the session.
It had been Noske who had first brought him in. "Since when do you deal in foreign policy?" had been Manfred's comment when Noske first brought up the matter.
"He went to General Falkenhausen, who referred him to General Fritsch and myself," Noske said. "Then, when I heard his report, I knew it would have to be presented to the entire cabinet."
Neurath and Papen probably wouldn't like being bypassed. Herr Rabe had been a commercial representative for Siemens in China, and (it turned out), an activist for the KGNS. He had been working in the then Chinese capital when the Japanese moved in. Most people had heard reports of heavy fighting there, but the Japanese had been very strict about controlling access by the press. They might get in trouble at the front, and would surely entail trouble. Having had to hide from journalists each and every one certain that the Red Battle-Flyer had all the time in the world to answer questions, most of them very personal, the rest even more so, Manfred had a certain sympathy for the general attitude, but not in this case. Oh no, not in this case.
Noske had been the least sickened, but then he had heard it before. Or some of it, anyhow. When the convoy of automobiles carrying the Cabinet had made its way to the Reichskanzlei and the Ministers had disembarked and reconvened in the Cabinet room, he made the first statement. "Herren, I thought I had heard the worst of what men could do to their fellow men. But today I learned that I had been wrong."
Braun agreed. "Comrades, I think it is necessary that we call the Japanese government to account for this atrocity. Alone, if need be, though we must communicate Herr Rabe's report to the League of Nations, and to
the English, French, American, and even Italian and Soviet governments. This is not the action of human beings, but of beasts. No, beasts would not be so vile."
"We shall have to review Herr Kommerzerat von Rabe's report," said Neurath. "How long is the document? Two hundred sixty pages? It will have to be confirmed. And the Japanese government, they must be allowed to give their side of the matter. Some of these reports may be exaggerated."
Which was what the Japanese Ambassador said. Baron Oshima, who was also a general (it made Manfred think of the old days, when every ambassador longed to be in uniform), was quite contemptuous. "This Rabe is just out to make money," he said. A bound copy of the Rabe Report lay on a table at his elbow; he did not even deign to look at it.
"Not according to his own party leader, Herr Strasser," Manfred said. He was receiving the Ambassador in the Chancellor's office; Neurath had escorted the man there and Papen was also sitting in. "In fact, some people in the Black Front have been critical of Herr von Rabe for his cooperation with the government."
The ambassador dismissed him with a wave of the hand. "Herr Reichskanzler, you should know better than to believe such idle tales! No doubt this Rabe has taken some hysterical comments heard in the street and blown them up into tales of a great massacre. A few soldiers of the Chiang regime who have deserted their ranks, discarded their uniforms, and started looting, only to be suppressed by the peacekeeping forces, have become a vast assembly of civilians herded into pits and shot.
"Whereas our army is obedient and adheres to the strict standards of bushido, the Way of the Warrior. The troops in Nanking were fighting under the eyes of an Imperial Prince, they would not disgrace themselves by any indiscipline.
A Man and a Plane: An Alternate Germany Page 42