Read Storm Front (Twilight of the Gods Book 1) for Free Online Page B

If the Reich ran into problems elsewhere, who knew which way the French would jump?  And, to be fair, Spain and Italy didn't like the Germans much either.
     
    He cleared his throat.  “The facts and figures make it clear, gentlemen, that we need to make some adjustments in our budget,” he warned.  “We are spending more than we earn.”
     
    “Then print more money,” Holliston said.  “That’s your job, isn’t it?”
     
    “That’s what Weimer tried,” Hans reminded him.  “And what happened to Weimer?”
     
    Silence fell.  Very few of the men in the room had been old enough to understand what was going on, back when they’d been children, but they remembered how the Weimer Republic had collapsed into chaos.  And yet, Hans knew that most of them didn't understand just how desperately Hitler had needed to keep adding new conquests to the Reich .  It had taken years, after the end of the war, to put the Reich on a sound economic footing.  Now, all that hard work was being wasted. 
     
    “The war in South Africa, alone, is costing us billions of Reichmarks ,” Hans said.  “Both directly, in weapons and equipment lost during the fighting, and indirectly, in taking care of the wounded.  The economic lifeline we’ve tossed to Pretoria is worse, in a way; we’re simply not getting enough back from the mines in South Africa to pay for the war.  But that isn't the worst of it.  Our total military budget is sucking up far too much money...”
     
    “We have to prepare to fight the Americans,” Voss said.  He tossed a sharp look at Grossadmiral Cajus Bekker.  “Don’t we need to build more ships?”
     
    “We can't afford many more ships,” Hans said.  “A single nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Field Marshal, costs over ten billion Reichmarks .  Building enough to fight the Americans on even terms, which leaves the British out of the equation, will cost two hundred billion Reichmarks !”
     
    “The Americans seem to be able to afford it,” Holliston said.  “Are you sure you’re not mismanaging our money?”
     
    “The Americans have several advantages,” Hans growled.  “First, they have a larger GNP than ourselves.  They can afford to build more carriers, missiles and spaceships without straining their economy.  Second, they have a smaller budget for their other governmental functions.  Third, their weapons production is standardised, not just between the different services, but also between their allies.  A British soldier can fire American bullets from his gun and vice versa.  Fourth, and perhaps the most important at the moment, the Americans offer much less social benefits than ourselves.”
     
    “A mother’s benefit packet is less than a hundred Reichmarks per week,” Holliston said, tightly.  The SS had been a big supporter of the scheme, although Holliston had been a lowly trooper at the time.  “It is hardly a problem.”
     
    “It mounts up,” Hans said.  “There are roughly 1.5 million mothers in Berlin today.  If each of them has two children, they can claim 160 Reichmarks each week from the government - and, I assure you, almost every mother in Berlin does .  That means, each week, we spend somewhere around 240 million Reichmarks in Berlin alone.”
     
    He looked around the table, willing them to understand.  “That’s a very rough figure,” he said.  “Right now, the average family size is four children; six in Germany East, despite the endless insurgency.  Every single one of those mothers can claim eighty Reichmarks per child, per week .  The cost is staggeringly high and we can't afford it !”
     
    “We need it,” Holliston said, into the silence.  “The Volk must not be allowed to vanish from the earth!”
     
    “The Volk are in no danger of fading away,” Hans said.  “Indeed, our population is expanding rapidly.  But every year we delay in dealing with this crisis, the worse it will be when it finally explodes.  I can