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(6.12) Early Morning Briefings
(6.12) Early Morning Briefings
On Departure, Twenty Hours Out
Inner Rim System of Hu'uf
Generation Ship, Narshana
Ambassador Zall's Personal Office
January 6th, 1937
“Good morning Ladies, and Gentlemen” the young Bothan analyst said softly as he shifted through his papers, “My name is Markus Day. Please forgive my awkwardness, but they normally don't allow us out of the pit. Um, anyway, My department within the pit specializes on the Reich solely. And my job for the past six years has been to study the Reich Military primarily their leaders and the units which these men and women command. Within our department, we each have our leaders that we become specialized with. Which is the reason why they brought me all the way out here for this briefing. A few days ago, my department was asked which, if any Reich Heer, um, that's Army in the Human language. Heer of any other name is still a here, right?” he said trying to lighten up the mood a bit. He actually read the instruction for him to laugh. He looked up in horror as he realized his mistake, “um....oh...yeah....anyway, which Field Marshal or General of the Reich would be most likely work along side the Dorins during a joint invasion of one of their neighbors.”
“First we ruled out Field Marshal Halder. While his skills would work very well in this role, however Field Marshal Halder's only son was murdered by a Nu Dor Jedi five years ago. It is highly unlikely that he could ever get over the murder in such a way to work with the Dorins on any venture. We turned to Halder's favorite student, Field Marshal Kessler. A wise choice, however the Panzergruppe III is too large of a unit for us to miss, even in parts. These were the top two picks on a very long list of very able Field Marshals. There was quite the debate over who's Field Marshal would have been sent by the Emperor to serve with the Dorins. See we each had our own favorites for this mission. There were a number of qualifying factors and disqualifying factors. As we eliminated Field Marshals and Generals, one name kept popping up. Field Marshal Walther Model, as you will see, my guy is clearly the only choice the Emperor had to send. And while my colleagues do not completely back my suggestion, none of them can offer any other candidate that is as qualified or so easly able to be over looked.”
“Walther Model, more commonly known as the Fireman is a tall strapping commander born in 1891 on Vandor II. He attended the Kriegsschule, a Military Academy only for those of exceptional leadership and tactical minds. However during his school years, he was an 'unexceptional student.' If not for his father's and grandfather's influence, he would have been washed out of the program. Walther graduated as a below average student. Well below the standards which is expected from students of Kriegsschule. After being rejected from other commanders, his father recruited Walther in to his own unit, the Tenth HopLight Division. A elite light division with a history all of its own. While during his years of service Walther served with pride and honor however he still didn't live up to his families expectations. However he did start to make a name for himself as an outspoken commander who put his men first.”
“During a few minor engagements, Walther Model started to make a name for himself as a hard-driving and aggressive commander who demanded the very best from his men and the commanders above him. His tactics, while successful, were so completely out of step with Heer Command that he was reprimanded for unnecessary risks during battle. Though in retrospective, these risks appeared to be well thought out and executed flawlessly. In 1915 he returned to school to continue his education, with a minor in Free Worlds Council Military History. It was there over coffee and cakes that he met Sheerder, the Emperor's niece. The two became secret lovers till they both graduated in 1919. Then the pair were married in a private ceremony. Sheerder, by this time was already pregnant with their first of three children.”
“Walther returned to his unit to serve through the Vixton Conflict of 1920. He finally started to live up to his family's reputation and his own unique style of tactics started to become more developed. However no one saw how much he would surpass those expectations nor did anyone realize how important his style would become to the Reich Navy. He repeatedly forced his enemies to fight on his terms and engaged them when he was ready. In 1923 he was awarded the Iron Cross of Vandor for capturing an entire enemy battalion. In 1924, He was promoted and reassigned to the Emperor's personal Bodyguard unit. He served again with honor during his time when the Bodyguard unit. However it was clear he didn't enjoy the assignment. He hated talking politics and never discussed his work when he was off duty. He did his best to avoid official functions when not required to attend. Of all the Reich Field Marshals, Model had all the opportunity to advance his career through his wife but didn't. In 1927, his father retired from service leaving the Tenth in need of a commander. By special orders of the Emperor, Model was resigned from his position within the Emperor's Bodyguard and ordered to take over Command of the Tenth HopLight Division.”
“During the 1930, what has become known as the Silent War between the son and daughter of the Emperor after his death. Many Heer commanders wanted to take up arms and to choose sides. It was a passionate speech by Walther Model that kept the military from intervening during the war. Shortly after the Emperor' son was crowned Emperor of the Second Reich of Humanity, the Heer changed the official uniforms. The change gave them the black/gray uniforms that we see today. However the Tenth Hoplight still wears the traditional blue/red uniforms. This is likely because of his close relationship with the royal family and due to Model's strong traditional beliefs. They have been seen in many military photos in their traditional uniforms. These traditional colors do show up on their equipment as well. The Tenth still wear these colors today.”
“In 1932, the Heer, decided to disband the HopLight units citing the high costs to train and maintain these elite units. Now, a full Field Marshal, Model fought to keep these light, fast hitting units within the Heer. He lost the war against the Heer, but the Emperor made the Tenth exempt from the disbanding. It was a painful blow to Model to see the units that his family help create become disbanded. However, Model never questioned his Emperor,and silently accepted the fate. During a number of short engagements, the Tenth proved over and over again that they could compete with any Ghost Division of the Heer. However, the technology gap between the Ghost Divisions and the Hoplights continue to grow. In late, 1932 The Reich Naval adopted the Tenth in a force exchange and opened up a new type of unit called Naval Infantry.”
“These units were modeled from the HopLight divisions which Model's family had commanded. Field Marshal Model helped build these units and train them up. One of the Heer's concerns regarding the Hoplight units was their lack of heavy fire power to deal with a modern unit. Most modern units fielded heavy armor and highly mobile walkers. Model worked closely with the navy and tech designers to create a armor/weapon system for his unit that fit their fighting style. It is because of this close working relationship that allowed the designers to produce the Hoplight Armor Mk1 in record time. The Tenth was the first unit to receive the Hoplight Armor and become field tested with it. It ws just in time also, because the Tenth was going to war again.”
“1934 saw two major events. The Tenth under personal permission from the Emperor was allowed to create a alien company assigned to the Tenth Hoplight. This company is called the Loyalist Company. Their role with the Tenth was as a flank defense unit. However Model had larger plans for this unit. Later during this same year, the Tenth spearheaded the Reich Navy's ground operations against the Polash defenders. The Polash army fielded a fully modern army with heavy armor and walkers. The Hoplight Armor Mk1 was finally put to the test under fire. Model demanded that the designers and builders of the armor join the unit during the engagement. The Hoplight Armor proved to be devastating to enemy armor units. The main gun of the Mk1's was a powerful eighty eight millimeter rifled cannon. The range and power out matched the Polash armor and walkers nearly every time. However during the engagements, the designers and Model saw improvements that needed to be made. Before the campaign was over, the ideas for the Mk2 were already well underway. The Mk2 added more armor, and dropped the heavy eighty eight with a lighter twenty millimeter that could carry more ammo. The Mk2 were seen throughout the Fra civil war and no Mk1's have been noted in service with the Heer, though the Mk2 are.”
“Model is a strong military leader who holds honor at the same high level as Loyalty. He is a traditionalist to the core, and views the human superiority as clear evidence that humans should rule the Galaxy. Though he still finds value in alien races and has a whole company of loyal Aliens within his own ranks. His unit is the only mixed unit within the Reich Military and this has caused him some problems with Higher commands. Because of this, the Navy allows him to operate nearly independently. He trains his unit hard and demands results from both his soldiers and their commanders. His hot temper has landed him in trouble with superiors before when his men are put in harms way. He has never left a soldier or body behind during his few combat campaigns.”
“This is the reason why he is called the Fireman. During the last ten engagements that the Navy has been involved with, he pushed his unit to lead the charge within that engagement. He has a chip on his shoulder for what the Heer did to his beloved Hoplights. He means to show the Heer their mistake. When the Tenth is ordered in to combat, you will find him leading his troop from the front. In fact, the Hoplights are such a prized unit that the Navy built a small strike fleet around them to further take advantage of their tactics and abilities. The Hoplight armor give the unit on the ground the speed and maneuverability they need as well as the hard hitting power of their eighty eights and the lighter twenty millimeters. The strike fleet gives them the range that they need to hit targets normally out of reach of larger units. Hit far, hit fast and hit hard. It is the motto of the Hoplights.”
“See since the Hoplights took to the battlefield over a hundred years, they were a force to be reckoned with. The original reason for the creation of the Hoplights was to off set our rapid reaction forces of the time. With the development of walker technology, our rapid reaction forces were replaced and the Hoplights had no counter of the battlefield. That didn't stop them from making a massive impression during our last conflict together. The Hoplights' most notable operations during our last war with the Reich. As our forces were pushing the Reich from our space, the Fifth Hoplight Division was called in to provide a diversion raid so that trapped Reich forces could make a break out. The Fifth Hoplight division carried out a twenty seven kilometer forced road march and flanking action during the cover of darkness. By the morning of the next day, the unit had arrived at the rear of our front units. They launched a clever raid against normally protected unit. The attack was so hard that many of our units along the lines fell to chaos. As the day continued and the chaos of the Fifths attack grew, the Reich forces that were trapped managed to withdraw from the battlefield with little opposition. By time darkness fell once more, the Fifth vanished in to the darkness before our forces could organize a counter offensive. This was not the only time the Hoplights played a critical role in flanking operations. But it was the first of many hard lessons our commanders were taught about under estimating these very versatile units.”
“See the Hoplight is only one example of this is the kind of warrior culture Model and commanders like him come from. The saying that the Reich has never lost a war is a misunderstanding of the Reich Military mind set. The Reich has lost a number of conflicts with a number of powers. What the Reich does that very few do, they take the time to learn from their mistakes and correct them. A lesson that our own High Commander has failed to learn. After our last war with the Reich and our victory, we celebrated the hard won victory. Stores were closed and parties were thrown. This opened up a whole new level of enterprise. New cooperations were born and the wealth of the Council grew greatly. Former soldiers returned to their lives and our military shrank back to its prewar ranks. That shrinkage came at a cost of some of our most experienced units as they were disbanded. Our victory came because of two critical events. General Stresser and his brilliant staff. It was because of his ability to read the Reich and their intentions which allowed us to better battle them. Second was the invention of the Walker. Walker technology paved the way for new tactics and firepower which devastated the Reich Forces along all fronts. Our production levels were so high that for every one ship, fighter, tank or walker the Reich destroyed, we were producing two more to replace it.”
“After the war, General Stresser fought hard to retain the size of the military and increase funding for training future leaders. General Stresser knew the Reich better than anyone else did. After all, he had been a member of their military for nearly all of his life before he defected to our side. He pushed for the creation of my very department and our mission. He started the Grover Military Academy, which attempts to mirror the same level of training the Reich Military Leadership receives. He pushed for more focus on expanding the technology gap between the Council and the Reich. He knew that the gap would not last, that the Reich would lick their wounds and learn their lessons. He had help from other Army commanders, however he had opposition from the Navy who stood by the claims that they actually won the war rather then the actions of the Council Army. This caused a political show down between General Stresser and the Army on one side and the Navy and their supporters in the Parliament. This battle between General Stresser and the Parliament became so heated that within ten years of his historical defeat of the Reich, the Parliament asked for his resignation. He left the Army in disgrace and vanished from public live. On his death bad, he warned his closest aides who then commanded the army, that if the Council did not learn to wage war like the Reich, the Council would loss the next war with them.”
“Now lets look at what the Reich did after their defeat at the hands of the Council. Even before the ink was drying on the Peace Accords, the top military leadership were reviewing battlefield data and interviewing commanders and soldiers. These investigations didn't lead to a blame game as many in the Parliament had assumed. The Reich military leadership started to go through massive fundamental changes. Against our suggestions, this was seen by many Council politicians as a complete meltdown of the Reich military. Within ten years after the war, the Reich started a youth program called Siegen Strategie, based off of a game, the name means 'Winning Strategy'. You all have heard of the game? Its a game where the name is the game and the nature of the game is the name. Catchy right? No? Okay, so the Reich opens this youth program up for all children of all age groups and cultural background. Each and every day, these kids play and learn the concepts of strategy. The very best are selected from the program to move on to the next phase of the program. But wait, that was fifty years ago, how can this effect us today? Right, see, the Reich has been planning this war before the inch dried on the Peace Accords. They didn't want the best minds of the time. They needed the best teachers of the time to train the best strategist of our time now. They knew that they had to over come our higher level strategy. General Stresser was our best, but he pulled together a group of Generals that flowed together. He weeded out Generals who's egos would create problems with other commanders and limit their over all effectiveness on the battlefield. The Reich learned from our success and turned it on us.”
“As the Siegen Strategie Program started to build momentum, it became a measure of pride among families, worlds and systems to have their very best receive a SS Rating. This is the place number that an officer could be awarded for his level of understanding and employing strategy. The top ten percent of the SS ratings were kept to teach at the military academies. Each year, the games were held and each officer was pushed to raise their SS Rating. While our former military leaders were starting up their own businesses their experienced officers were training the next batch of leaders. Each year they were pushed to challenge harder and push the limits of strategy. The very best then went on to teach what they know! Halder, Sacher, Model, Sachsenheimer, Kesseler, Salamon are only a few of many who took part in this program. But it is not just the Heer, but the Reich Air Force and Navy also trained through the same program. But this was just one part of the answers they uncovered. It was clear that the technology gap would not last forever. However in the guise of cutting costs and lowering taxes, we shifted funds away from military research. Yes we still have an edge in many fields over the Reich. But the gap as we all know now has closed and in some cases, the Reich has surpassed us.”
“That is just one part of their warrior culture that will be hard for us to over come. The other is their traditions. Model during his military career showed a strong love for the nature of defensive combat. He studied it on so many levels. He wrote a book about the battle of Port Engsh during our war with the Reich. As our forces were retaking the world, we cornered the Tenth Hoplight Division on a ridge line that over looked our intended landing sites. The unit had to be removed before we could start our landings and retake the world. For six days, the division held out against over whelming odds and despite being cut off from supplies and reinforcements. During this time our surprise attack had been stopped dead in its tracks as the Tenth called in artillery on to the landing sites. The battle nearly cost us the entire campaign for the world. Nothing our forces could do, could force the Tenth off the ridge line.”
“The former Emperor, then just the Crown Prince heard of the heroic stand off, he ordered his army to assault our flanks in support of the embattled Tenth. The assault allowed what remained of the Tenth to withdraw and allowed the Reich Forces to continue their retreat off world. The Reich leaders were able to shift the battle and fight a defensive war that denied us the crushing victory that was planned. Why? Because the Reich officers have a way of seeing the situation and changing it to suit their needs and pulled remarkable results from their men. The soldiers of the Tenth did not call for help, they stood their grounds ready to die and to take as many of us with them as they could. This was because saving the larger forces to fight another day meant more than living through this one battle. It is a trait that is common among all Reich soldiers, the ability to see and understand the larger picture of a battle. This single battle earned the Tenth its nickname, the Iron Brigade. Because of their iron will to stand and fight regardless of the outcome or the situation. So you have this highly experienced unit and many others like it, what does the Reich do? They took all of the surviving soldiers from that unit to train the next ones coming behind them. Of our hero units, over two thirds of their personal left service and entered the civilian sector. Can you see a difference in leadership from the top down?”
“This is how Model and the Reich officers trains and leads their troops, from the top down. Reich officers train, eat and sleep with their soldiers. For Model, he visits each member of his unit and knows them by name. This is what his father taught him about leadership. Leading his troops with them, not commanding them from afar. During the war with the Polash, his unit faced off with the first Polash Division. A heavy mechanized division with heavy walkers and heavy armor. Model's unit had only their Hoplight Mk1s and Mk2. No heavy armor or walkers, you know how this battle should have went when speaking solely from a technological stand point. In traditional thinking, the Polash should have swept Model and his unit aside and hammered the landing zones they were covering.”
“So what does Model do? He shifted his lines and forced the Polash to attack in split formations. This divide their armor and walkers and limited their ability to support each other. He hit the now exposed flanks of the slower armor columns while the Walkers were powerless to stop them. As the Polash were turned to face this threat, Model again shifted his forces to reveal his original target. He hit the walkers at a point where they should have been the strongest. However because of their shifting positions and change in tactics, he was able to turn their strength against them and crushed the enemy division. Walkers were the kings of the battlefield over sixty years ago. The Reich spent sixty years perfected the strategy to stop them. This is what the Reich warrior culture has taught him to do. Be fluid on the battlefield and understand how he can change the battlefield to his advantage. And where did the Reich learn this lesson from? The defeat that we handed them thanks to General Stresser. They learned from us how to defeat our own tactics. What have we learned from them in the past sixty years?”
“While he is not their most brightest star, he is their most loyal. When we were asked which unit the Wehrmacht, Reich Military High Command, which consist of the Heer, Kriegsmarine their navy and the Luftwaffe their air/space force, would send to aide the Dorins, Model is the only commander and the Tenth Hoplight Division is the only unit that fits all qualifying factors while avoiding the most disqualifying factors. He is a sound strategist that can hit whenever and wherever he pleases across a battlefield and a theater. He is a very loyal and honorable leader. He is experienced in naval tactics as well as ground warfare. While he still holds true to Reich Ideology, his views on aliens makes him a logical candidate to work with other alien races. He is one of the finest officers and brilliant strategist I have ever studied while in the pit. Field Marshal Walther Model is your commander and the Tenth Hoplight is your unit to aid the Dorin Invasion of the Y'Ish.” He paused for a moment and nodded, “Thank you for your time.”
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