Chapter 8

Temper, to Play a Game of Threatening

Berlin, 1939…

“My Führer, here is the plan for the battle of France.”

“,,Case Yellow”. Interesting…”

Says as he opens the article for a quick review of its contents.

Upon closer inspection, he seemed to have spotted something (judging by his expression) absurd.

He slowly places the papers back on the desk in front of him and turned his look to the messenger delivering the important information.

Quickly hitting the desk in a mix of emotions he said to the messenger:

“Are…you…kidding me? Is this some kind of joke? What’s with this plan?”

“Excuse me my Führer, but would you allow me to give you the rest of the information and the reasoning behind this plan?”

“Speak up!”

He uttered those word in a dark undertone, furrowing his brows he made a close inspection of the supposed messenger.

“First and foremost, I am not just any messenger, I for one, am here to deliver the most important and crucial information about the battle of France, so please, listen carefully my Führer”

As if Hitler saw right through him he said with a smile.

“Of course I am aware of the importance of this information and I am not saying I entirely disagree with the plan but I’d like to know the reasoning behind it.”

“The invasion of Poland was fast but that doesn’t mean that the German soldiers aren’t tired. In a quick burst of energy we unleashed all our power upon the neighboring nation, the consequence will be put upon the soldiers. Pushing through the Maginot line is so unpractical, it’s almost unthinkable, a quick surround would do us magic.”

“So you are saying we repeat the tactic from the Great War?”

“I have faith in general Rommel that he will be abl-”

“Well, I do as well, and that is why I promoted him but this plan needs tweaking if we are going to execute it!”

“And what do you propose, My Führer?”

“Include the Netherlands and make the invasion as fast as possible, that’s all I have to say. Bring that to General Rommel and report me his reply. Now get out before I get you out!”

After the messenger left, Hitler let out a short sigh and got back to writing some report.

As for a quick report of the world…

It is as follows: Poland has capitulated to Soviet and German forces advancing on both sides, The UK and France have refused the Reich’s proposal of peace and the battle of France has begun.

Just as expected, the Maginot line hasn’t moved, except for a failed attempt to push from the French.

The winter war is in its first stages, some of the Karelia region has been pushed back, but for now it’s mostly stagnant as well. The Finnish are defending the sparse roads, a tactic that seems to be going pretty well. While it is a short-term solution, it isn’t expected to last for much longer.

A form to kick the Soviet Union out of the League of Nations for their unjustified actions has been made.

Zooming in further down, into a small town, half destroyed, one foot in the grave we find the Arnold we crave.

He has put the horrible incident in the recycling bin and he is ready to rock.

He and Simo were called over by the commander to discuss something serious by the looks of it.

They were brought to the bar again.

Today might just be a day of peace in this town as no Soviet soldiers were seen anywhere nearby and you bet they will take up an opportunity to regroup.

“Just as to not give the general the ,,I met him randomly,, reasoning I want to discuss with you the role that your powers may play here in this war. So just spill it out, I’m all ears!”

“Well, I come from ano-”

[another realm] Was what he was going to say, however, a sudden pain in his chest stopped him from saying anything more.

Biting his lip, as to bear the pain he slowly tucked his head down.

That sudden burst of symptoms of heart failure baffled the observers-Simo and the commander.

“Arnold, what is it?”

The worried voice of Simo passed from one ear and went out the other, he lost all contact with the world.

“Do you think you can tell everyone everything? I didn’t put you in this world to tell stories.”

“W-what do you want?”

“Just don’t mention anything about our world or me, got it?”

“Fine, just let me breathe goddammit!”

He gently opened his eyes yet again, to find himself on the ground surrounded by the commander, Simo and what is presumably a medic.

“Oh thank God, you are okay.”

“I’m fine, don’t sweat it.”

“Mister you probably shouldn’t be standing up after th-”

The medic watched in amazement as Arnold quickly stood up and got to his chair without even flinching.

“I guess that’s all the work for me. Mister, please do not drink alcohol today, it may be causing these bursts.”

Arnold nodded as if ignoring everything she said.

She slowly made her way out of the room, probably not to cause any disturbance.

“Are sure you are alright?”

“I’m fine. It just…happens sometimes.”

“If you are certain that you are fine we might as well continue with the conversation since we don’t have much time to spare. So, Arnold…”

Launching a sharp gaze towards Arnold, who was sitting beside him, he said:

“I figure it would be of much use to talk about how you got these powers, for now, it is important to understand the significance you may hold in punching back the Soviets.”

Picking up the seriousness of this discussion, Arnold placed his elbows on the bar and pierced the commander with his intensive stare.

“Anyway, considering the fact that you wiped out thousands of Soviets in no time, I’d consider that as evidence that you are really strong. By the way, have you heard about the fight at Bzura, I head really strange things happened there.”

“I heard that two people with godlike powers clashed in a battle to the death in which both died in a huge explosion.”

“Thanks for clarifying Simo, more importantly, do you happen to know them?”

A chill tingled his spine and a cold sweat dropped down his forehead.

The simple answer would be no, but what would happen if he actually answered with yes?

Arnold hasn’t chosen Finland as THE nation and he still doesn’t know if he’ll be here for much longer, still, he felt some sort pressure to stay put and follow orders.

Maybe it is some vibe that he developed in his previous military training?

Or maybe, deep down, he had chosen Suomi?

Either way, he still didn’t want to blow his cover so he answered with a straight [No].

“Okay, getting onto my main point..”

He said pulling out a map of Finland and the surrounding Soviet land.

Somehow just seeing a map arose passion from deep within Arnold, and in no time he quickly analyzed it.

“Hey hey, you seem to be pretty interested in maps, what is it that caught you attention?”

Not saying a word he kept looking at it with a child’s curiosity. This may be the part you’d never expect to see in Arnold. He is almost always as cold as Finnish winter but the aura of curiosity emitting from him was far greater that anyone would imagine seeing in a grown man.

“You look like you’ve never seen a map.”

“Yeah, he really does look like it. Arnoold, snap out of it!”

Despite Simo’s best efforts, he just couldn’t stop Arnold.

After a few minutes of staring at the map had passed Arnold finally snap out of it.

“I know what we have to do!”

Saying this loudly he launched a cold glare at the commander, awaiting his response.

“Ay, remember, I am the commander here, first hear me out!”

“Either we go by my plan or I am not taking any orders from you.”

“Who do you think you are to make agreements?”

“Look, we either do this peaceful or we go at it the rough way, in which I am guaranteed to win, so pick one.”

As if Arnold had a sudden change of heart about this whole situation he made a threat towards the commander. Standing out of his chair he awaited a response.”

“Look, rookie, you’ll go by my orders anyway, why not hear them first before jumping to conclusions?”

“Because my plan is guaranteed to win the war.”

“Tough talk for someone who hasn’t even made it to officer.”

One of Arnold’s eyes lit up in anger. Seeing this, Simo, who has been observing closely, tried to stop Arnold with no success.

“Come on Arnold, it’s not worth it. Why are you even doing this?”

“Because I know, to the best of my knowledge, that whatever he says will be complete bullshit.”

“At least hear him out for crying out loud!”

His anger suddenly vanished when he realized what it has come down to. In a moment he had lost his temper and in a moment he could’ve caused a catastrophic event.

“You kid have a short temper, that is bad for someone with your power. My plan is the plan passed down by the generals-we probably cannot win. Even with your power the might of the Soviet force is way too big for a single man to handle. At best we would like to send you to defend alongside fellow Finnish.

For what I said, I do believe that you could make a great contribution and that is to defend the homeland as best as you can.”

“See… Complete bullshit!”

“Oh, I like how this is turning out! Pretty exciting to see you get all worked up!”

“The last thing I need right now are you, so wait at least until this is over!”

“You seem to want to give orders today, what’s the motive? Have you perhaps, moved to the dark side?”

He decided to ignore her and continued his talk.

He proposed a plan in which they use him, pretty much, as a ram to break through the enemy lines and cut a major part of the 7th army before they could retreat to Leningrad. After being victorious, they would go on to siege Leningrad and hopefully take it in a swift maneuver.

Then they would go for another encirclement, provided that Arnold is all fine and well and there are enough troops to fill in the gaps.

All the while the commander watched in amazement at the high hopes of the young man.

In the entirety of the campaign, he would put his life at full risk to win. Almost as if…he could return.

After a thorough investigation of the battle plan, the commander agreed to send it to the generals as his main proposal.

At last, they agreed upon a peaceful solution.

A few seconds of silence arose as all celebrated relief.

Cold breeze made its way through the tiny gap on the bottom of the door.

Wind started furiously whistling, a storm was coming.

As Arnold stands up to check what is happening a soldier bursts through the door with full force.

“Commander, a Soviet tank regiment has been spotted near! Also reporting two infantry regiments approaching our area on the opposite end of the tanks!”

“Round up the men and swiftly entrench! Order someone to drive and alert the surrounding area! Arnold, Simo, you come with me!”

Moscow earlier that day…

“Vozhde, are you sure you want to focus that amount of troops in an almost worthless village?”

“It is a matter of honor, honor which we will take back today! Round the troops up and ready an assault, we are heading straight for the wizard’s cave!”

…