The wise man in the storm prays to God not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear.
Rotterdam, Südholland, Karlsland
15 May 1940
8:30 AM
For the first time since the days of Napoleon over a century prior, the military of Karlsland was in full retreat across the front, and in retreat from its own country.
For the first time since the days of the Mongols, the civilians of Karlsland went with them. Northeast to Suomus, north to Baltland, or west to Hispania, they traveled in every and any direction to get free from the shadow of the Neuroi that now loomed across both Ostmark and Karlsland.
But even those numbers paled in comparison to those escaping to the north. From as far west as Rotterdam to as far west as Konigsberg, Karlslanders, Poles, Jews, Ostmarkans, Danes, and Dutchmen poured by the millions to Karlsland's ports, hoping to escape the Neuroi hives - either to nearby Britannia (and then, to those who could afford it, Farawayland or Liberion across the Atlantic), Karlsland's own colonies across southern and western Africa, or even to the distant Karlslandic East Indies - though the latest information indicated conditions there would soon be as poor as they were in Karlsland. Most, though, were taking the twelve-thousand kilometer journey across the Atlantic to Neukarlsland, a stretch of pampas the size of Libya purchased with money directly from the Imperial Treasury (as well as that of dozens of Karlsland's largest businesses) to serve as a refuge for an entire nation of nearly eighty million. And only sixty million were expected to go there; the rest planned to flee to any nation that would grant them refuge, or simply stay put and weather the storm.
It would not be an easy journey - while the Central European Hive was by far the largest ever seen in recorded history, there were already several more known - three in Orussia, one in North Africa, and several small ones in Africa and southeast Asia. Attempting to detect a hive at sea was rarely worth the effort; even at this point in what would become the Second Neuroi War ships simply avoided any areas where large numbers of Neuroi were reported to be.
On land, sea, and air, the Reichswehr did its best to maintain order, but it was clear that that was very nearly the extent of its capabilities. Five years ago, Ichiro Miyafuji invented the Striker Unit with the help of some Karlslandic scientists - a pair of magically-powered engines, strapped to the legs of a Witch, enabling them to put up shields, use magic stronger than had been seen in anyone but heroes for centuries, and all around outrun, outturn, and outfight anything else mankind had to offer. By the end of 1937 there was a tank version that granted them even stronger shields in exchange for being no faster than a typical medium tank. For the first time, humanity had tools that could enable it to fight the Neuroi on equal (or better) terms.
With Karlsland's industry and military training schools kicked into high gear after the Fuso Sea Incident and the appearance of hives in China, it was believed that 'not even God could defeat Karlsland.
Not anymore.
To the north, anyone with sufficient altitude and good eyesight could still see the smoldering flames of Amsterdam, burned to the ground by Neuroi a short few days ago. Great black clouds covered the skies of Holland as other cities throughout the Low Countries burned. A hive had formed over the Ruhr and was moving towards Gallia; Paris was expected to fall by no later than September as the Neuroi swept through Belgica from the north and eroded the Maginot Line, slowly but surely, from the east.
In the harbor, cargo, container, passenger, and any non-warship by the dozens sat with almost visible nervousness as each one filled with people until she could safely carry no more. Protecting them by sea was a small fleet of anti-air destroyers and light cruisers led by the battlecruiser Scharnhorst, which would serve as the command center for the entire Rotterdam Evacuation Fleet until it could meet with the other Bifrost Evacuation Fleets out over the Rockall Plateau.
On land, those same refugees were protected by hordes of Bisons, Stugs, Flakpanzers, anti-air Hanomags, and any sort of Panzer or Hanomag with heavy machine gun armament - anything capable of killing Neuroi, preferably in large amounts, quickly, and with the ability to run away with a respectable speed. Anything else had been abandoned, or destroyed so as not to let the Neuroi have it. Neither MI5, KGRP, nor the Deuxième Bureau were sure that the Neuroi even could analyze human technology to adapt, but they weren't taking chances, and thus the military wasn't taking chances. Despite the prevalence of land Witches in Karlsland's military, most were in France at the insistence of Gallia, or out east in Copenhagen and Danzig - Baltland had graciously allowed Karlsland use of the port that it had sought dominion over for nearly a century, and the Kaiser planned to use it as much as possible.
Air cover was provided almost solely by Witches - The Bf 109 in its current form was good largely for serving as a distraction, spotting at high altitude, and getting the rare lucky shot, and the Fw 190's rushed production came too late to be of much help in Europe - it would have to wait for factories to be built in Neukarlsland. The remainder were headed to Orussia to cover the Tsardom's lack of high-altitude fighters.
As Operation Bifrost's early stage itself was predominantly an operation of the Marine, most of the Witches, including the Hauptmanns Adolfine Galland, Heinrike Bär, and Huberta von Bonin, led by Major Wera Mölders, were part of a separate but joint operation. Operation Gjallarhorn, as it was called, had two purposes. The first, publicly known one, was to maintain law and order during the evacuation efforts. This was the responsibility of the police, the KGRP, and the MPs. The second, which fell to the Luftwaffe and Heer, was to detect and destroy any Neuroi approaching Karlsland's ports, of which every single one was being used for Operation Bifrost. If it could cross the ocean and keep up with the average transport ship, it was being used. Even sailing boats were (unofficially) being used, though they would only be going to Britannia before their passengers transferred to self-powered ships there.
Adolfine tapped the ash off the tip of her cigar as she surveyed the city of Rotterdam below her. God, what a mess this was! The might of Karlsland, the strongest military in Central Europe, perhaps the world, reduced to covering the largest exodus of refugees in recorded history, running with tail between its legs. The little schwarm of Witches hovered over a religious square, consisting of a Catholic cathedral, a temple to Neptune, and a (damaged) temple to Njorthr, whose roof had collapsed when the wing of a Stuka sawn off by a Neuroi's ray fell into it. Said Neuroi had then proceeded to severely damage a shopping district and burn dozens of houses before being brought down.
As there was only one Neuroi, it was clearly nothing more than a probing attack.
"This is Mölders. Nothing to report."
<<Are you certain, Mölders? There's been reports of Communists in that area...>>
"Listen, Schneider, I don't know what Goering told you, but 'reports' mean very little without 'evidence.' Communists in this city aren't exactly being subtle with their activities; my orders are to find evidence of activities, not find evidence of Communists, or fascists. And that is still secondary to finding evidence of Neuroi."
"Perhaps they've moved to somewhere less open?" suggested Galland.
<<Perhaps, but you must admit that religious structures make excellent targets for reds.>>
"Perhaps, but this report came through many people who know many people who know things, some of whom are no more politically 'reliable' - whatever the Hell that means - than the Communists they're reporting on. I'm starting to think some of these 'reports' are only accepted because some members of our military elite are themselves fasc-"
<<I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, Mölders. You know the laws.>>
"And you know the brass, it seems. But very well. As I said, nothing to report."
That was the third purpose of Operation Gjallarhorn - to ensure no one considered 'politically unreliable' - Communists, fascists, and republicans - boarded any ship not specifically known (by the military) for such purposes, and for more extreme/dangerous members, to not let them board at all. Many Karlslanders had elected to stay in the country come Hell or high water, and a few thousands more, or so the Empire's intelligence divisions believed, would not be considered odd. In theory, it was meant to deliver equal treatment to all three, in practice, Mölders was correct - Communists and republicans, in that order, typically received the harshest punishment and were the most intensely hunted, as there were fascists in quite a number of positions of power in Karlsland; many of whom had ties to Gallian monarchists - though no one person could possibly gather enough evidence to prove that in a court of law, least of all in the Southeast Asian and South Pacific colonies where it was often the worst.
If they resisted, tried to spread their beliefs, or tried to create their own little state in the vacuum left by the military's abandonment? Well, a smaller population in the Fatherland would make it easier to find them - and no-one would suspect anything if a commune or two vanished due to a Neuroi attack. And if they tried the same in Neukarlsland, the Ministry of Public Relations would ensure they had no friends in the New World.
<<All forces in this region, this is Kapitän zur See Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann, commanding officer of the SMS Scharnhorst and of the Rotterdam Evacuation Fleet. As stated in last night's briefings, the moment the last refugee boards their ship, we will move out. Any vehicles not on board a ship or aircraft by that time will be left behind. No Neuroi have been sighted nearby, but the Freya system only has a range of 130 kilometers, so stay alert.>>
