On the 1st of June 1941, while the Germans were fighting hard at the gates of Stalingrad, keeping most of the Soviet armor locked, 800 Ferdinand light tanks and 400 Grey Wolves debarked in Batumi and began advancing rapidly towards Baku, followed by 800 Wolves with rocket launchers and 10 motorized divisions.
While Romania still had 3200 Grey Wolves in reserve, plus 400 Ferdinands for the training, they were meant for something else.
Adolf was ecstatic at first, thinking we were coming to help strike Stalingrad from the South, but General Antonescu had a completely different agenda. Grab Baku and the oilfields, then the entire Caucasus. It took until late August for the first light tanks to see Baku, and by that time Leningrad was already surrounded, Stalingrad was still disputed and Moscow was still 200 kms away from the nearest German units.
On September first, Japan took Indochina from the French, causing America to begin partial mobilization, while sending to the Pacific half of the Atlantic Fleet.
On October 13th, the Japanese Kido Butai battlegroup, comprised of 6 carriers and their escorts attacked Hawaii, prompting America to enter the war on the Allied side.
The battleship Texas still sank, being on old training ship, but the carriers and most of the heavy ships got away intact, mostly due to radar warnings and radar-guided anti-air.
A dozen American jet fighters defending Hawaii became Aces in their first day of combat.
That same day, General Antonescu took Baku for ourselves, and turned the tank destroyers and the medium tanks North, while the light tanks and the motorized infantry continued their march through Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Still the same day, snow began falling on Moscow, as the German troops began to surround the city.
Advanced recon units and Romanian jet bombers moved first, striking at the Siberian Railway in a dozen key places, like rail junctions and bridges, cutting off Soviet supplies towards Moscow.
On the 1st of November, most of the Romanian Expeditionary Force halted for winter, while the last troops from Crimea evacuated from the empty peninsula, leaving a single guard battalion to man the Crimean Wall.
In the North, Finnish troops began their skies maneuver, capturing half a million Soviets during the winter and reaching Arkhangelsk on the White Sea.
About 4000 Romanian snipers descended on Leningrad, and began sniping at the Soviets from the other side, while cutting off the meager supplies that still arrived on sledge over Lake Ladoga. Most of the snipers reached 100 kills over the winter, while the Soviets trapped in the city ate their leather shoes, and a few of their less liked comrades.
Moscow was somewhat better supplied, and the German perimeter wasn't that tight, but feeding millions of people with a few sledges or transport planes wasn't possible.
The American ambassador visited me in the Peles castle, and reminded me of the promise to join the Allies once America joined the war.
I smiled at him with a childish grin. "Words and words. America has not declared war on Germany. Plus, how many American divisions are present in Europe?" I asked while filling a pair of champagne glasses.
The ambassador took the glass and sipped it with a frown. "Our policy is Japan first at the moment. They dared to strike at American soil. Conquered Guam too."
"Of course. I would feel the same about Crimea. Not actually a state in the Empire, but useful as a base and such, just like Hawaii. But you're not here for that." I concluded with a sigh.
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"Your ships will not be delivered, except that 1 cruiser and 5 destroyers that have already left. But to not be fair-weather friends, the Romanian Empire is also invited to our Manhattan Project beside the United Kingdom. I think you will find the work..." the man proposed with a sneaky smile.
I took out a file and handed it over. "The reports of the Soviet spies inside the Manhattan Project are quite interesting, I admit. At least 5, possibly 7 or 8 separate sources in different departments. If Stalin wasn't surrounded in Moscow right now, he might already been building an atomic weapon. And imagine what the Germans will do, once they read the Soviet archives..." I said with a kind voice.
The man paled as he read the file, including schematics for an atomic weapon made in crayon by myself. I might have gotten a dozen details wrong, but then I wasn't Einstein, was I?
"This is bad...so, so bad." the ambassador muttered as he sat down uninvited.
"Indeed. Germany first might be a more urgent matter. One of our new steam submarines will arrive next month in Miami with a kilogram of enriched uranium. And we don't use coal to make steam." I added with a grin, and sipped more champagne.
"I think I will need to be on that submarine myself. I cannot transmit anything about this file via radio." the ambassador whispered in a scared voice.
"Very wise. Unlike the Germans and their Enigma. Any code can be broken with proper science, after all. Even the Navajo language." I added for no reason.
The man slumped, and left with his shoulders hanging low, although his briefcase wasn't that heavy.
Over the winter, the German front advanced 31.4 meters in Stalingrad, while the new T-34s made right there in Stalingrad had to be fueled with priceless vodka instead of gas.
Baku was in my hands now, after all.
The first American jet fighters arrived in Britain via Land-lease for save London from constant air bombing, and were soon countered by German jet fighters.
Adolf was feeling a bit cheerful on Christmas Day, so he declared war on America by himself, making me and the entire world facepalm. Including his own Generals and Field Marshalls. Way to steal defeat from the jaws of victory, Adolf! With such a large German and Italian community in America, any war declaration would have been blocked in Congress for years.
But now, the Arsenal of Democracy was free to impose freedom in the proper American Way. With planes, guns and bombs I mean.
As 1942 came about, Japan reached the shores of Singapore, and found its carrier planes countered by hundreds of American, French and British planes, including a dozen jet fighters. Despite fierce naval bombardments and several naval landings, Singapore held, if barely.
I'm not sure how that happened, except the lack of merchant ships sending lots of stuff to the Soviet Union, and instead to Britain. Probably that. So my fault, in a way.
Then the Africa fall began, as the Vichy holdings in Northen Africa folded under American, British and Free French assault, while the push from Egypt crushed the Africa Korps and the Italian peasants.
I kept gathering troops and tanks for the next phase, reaching 4000 Grey Wolves and 1000 Wolves, plus 2000 planes held in reserve. 400 of these planes were Eagle 1 and 2s jet fighters, compared to 45 HE 280s for Germany and 87 Eagles 1s for America. My lead in jet fighters wouldn't last very long, as both industrial giants could outproduce my Empire by next year, but there wouldn't be a war next year.
Using my enriched uranium, the Americans completed the Trinity test already, proving to their government the power of an atomic bomb.
We already had 3 working bombs and a trio of Primordial Archangels training to die in atomic fire along with their targets. I just waited for the right time.
As the American landings in Sicily began, I was obliged to keep my word. Sorry Adolf, but you fail to deliver victory by Christmas.
Three atomic bombers flew towards their targets, their pilots convinced they will meet Archangel Michael on flaming wings. Maybe they did, who knows?
Anyways, Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad got the honor to become the only cities to receive the Word of God in person. As did the German armies entering the cities at the same time. Something about one stone and three rabbits.
I know. It took me 12 years to get the bomb, but because I started much sooner than the rest, and some idea about what to do or not to do, the costs were smaller, only 1 billion dollars instead of 2 billions for the Manhattan Project. And no, I didn't have hundreds more nukes ready to launch, but I could lie really well.