Free Chosen of the Valkyries (Twilight Of The Gods Book 2) by Christopher Nuttall

whoever we like, on even terms.  You will no longer be allowed to dominate us.”
     
    Gudrun nodded.  Volker Schulze and Hans Krueger had expected as much, when they’d discussed the different possibilities with her.  The French economy was in a mess, at least in part, because they were forced to sell their wares to Germany at ruinously cheap prices.  They wouldn't want to remain under the Reich’s economic thumb.  She was just surprised they hadn't demanded military independence too.
     
    But that would worry us , she thought.  She’d taken the time to study the true history of German-French relations and they hadn’t proved encouraging.  France and Germany had been at loggerheads from the very first day of the Second Reich .  A France armed with modern weapons - and perhaps even nukes - would be a lethal threat .
     
    “Those terms are acceptable, with one caveat,” Gudrun said.  “You may not join any outside military alliance or allow outside forces to station troops, aircraft, ships or anything else within your territory.”
     
    The two Frenchmen exchanged glances, but neither of them looked particularly surprised by her response.  Only the Americans or the British could have moved forces into France - and they had to realise that the Reich would not tolerate such a move.  France would become the first battleground of the final war.
     
    “Understood,” Ouvrard said.  “Second, we demand the return of our stolen territories.”
     
    Gudrun reminded herself, savagely, to keep her face impassive.  Alsace-Lorraine was historically German , she’d been taught in school, even though it had changed hands several times in the last century.  Every German schoolchild was told about French atrocities against the Germanic population ... atrocities that were far outmatched by the horrors the SS had committed against almost everyone, even the Germans themselves.  She could not simply abandon German territory to the French ...
     
    ... And if she did, she knew Volker Schulze would renounce it as soon as she returned home.
     
    Because the SS will turn it into a propaganda ploy , she thought, numbly.  They’ll tell the Volk that the government is planning to surrender German territory ... and they will be right .
     
    It wasn't just Alsace-Lorraine either, she knew.  There was a swath of French territory - the entire western coastline - that had been annexed by the Reich .  It was now dominated by hundreds of military bases and fortifications, preparations to meet an Anglo-American invasion that had never come.  Much of the native population had been moved out too, when they hadn’t been quietly ‘encouraged’ to leave, and replaced by Germans.  The French settlers in French North Africa had been uprooted from their homes and bitterly resented it, but they couldn't return.  There was no way she could make any territorial concessions.
     
    “Let me be blunt,” she said.  “Occupied France - and Alsace-Lorraine - have been thoroughly Germanized.  The people living there are Germans .  Forcing them to move will only spark off another major confrontation at the worst possible time.”
     
    She scowled, inwardly.  The vast majority of the troops in Occupied France, certainly the reservists, had homes and families there.  They would not be keen to force their own people to leave, nor would they sit there quietly while outsiders did the dirty work.  And the SS would be delighted to offer support to any insurrection.  A major crisis in the rear would be at least as bad - perhaps worse - as going to war with France. 
     
    And the loyalty of our own military could not be taken for granted , she thought, grimly.  Our entire government could disintegrate, allowing the SS to come back and take over .
     
    “Those territories are ours ,” Ouvrard insisted.  “They cannot be surrendered!”
     
    “You did surrender them,” Horst said, amused.
     
    Gudrun gave him a sharp look as Ouvrard