|
The following Great White South article is obsolete.
This article is no longer part of the Great White South timeline. This page has not been deleted from this website for sentimental and reference purposes. You are welcome to comment on the talk page. |
|
Walther Kunz | |
|
13th Reichsführer-SS of the New Swabian SS | |
| Predecessor | Heinrich Banders |
| Successor | Abolished |
| SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer | Erica Stammerling |
| Born | 13 April 1940 Waldemarburg, New Swabia
|
| Spouse | Rose Anna Kunz |
| Political Party | None (current), National Socialist German Workers' Party of New Swabia (former) |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Profession | Soldier |
Walther Kunz is a former general officer of the New Swabian SS and the last Reichsführer-SS of the organization from 1981 to 1982 before it was disbanded following the end of the New Swabian War.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Walther Wolfgang Rainier Kunz was born in Waldermarburg, New Swabia on April 13, 1940 to Baron Otto Helmut Kunz and Baroness Ella Marie. He has two elder sisters, Eva Paula (b. 1930) and Magdalena (b. 1932). He attended the Kaiser Wilhelm I University and thereafter joined the Hitler Youth of New Swabia. During his time in school, his teachers observed that he had very little skill in politics and that he would end up going nowhere if he pursued such a course. However, they also noted that his discipline rivaled those of the hardest of military men, and that he would best serve the state if he entered the armed forces.
Upon turning eighteen, Kunz enlisted and was accepted into the SS-NS, upon the recommendation of his peers. He slowly but steadily rose through the ranks until he finally became a Brigadeführer and commanded the 39th SS Armored Cavalry (Light) Division.
New Swabian War[]
Kunz had just taken command of the 39th SS ACD (L) when he received orders from New Swabian Reichsführer-SS Carl Hans-Otto Rund to head for the city of Toll and relieve Wilhelm Kunz, who was beginning to lose the city to Maudlandic forces.
Brigadeführer Kunz arrived on December 11, 1979, just in time to watch General Kunz withdraw from his defensive positions on Toll. Due to a communications foul-up, Walther was not aware that Wilhelm had decided to leave the city to the Maudlandics until seven in the evening, when he had already lost between one hundred and two hundred men, as well as two light tanks and three armored personnel carriers. He ordered a general retreat to Neumayer, where they would augment Generalleutnant Heinrich Trelk's defensive forces.
Kunz ordered the 376th SS Infantry Regiment, which had been merged with the 39th ACD (L), to bed down in the suburbs of Neumayer and ambush any Maudlandic units trying to pass through the area. Hopelessly outnumbered and without much in the way of support, the 376th was practically wiped out, with only a single squad of ten men from different platoons managing to return to friendly lines. Kunz ordered them transferred to the main body of the division.
Kunz's light tanks supported Trelk's Panzer Vs as they broke through Maudlandic lines, but he lost an entire troop to Maudlandic air support. Later, he was ordered to station his Panzer VIs around strategic positions around Neumayer's government sector, as well as numerous tank hunter-killer teams. The 39th Light Armored Cav took out as much as twenty Maudlandic Aerosleds at a loss of fifteen of their own to both anti-tank fire and air support.
With the arrival of the Argentines, Trelk ordered Kunz to spearhead the assault on the Maudlandic forces, and with the former's tanks right behind his force, Kunz and Trelk succeeded in forcing the Maudlandics out of Neumayer.
Promoted to Gruppenführer by the new Reichsführer-SS Elsa von Kesselring, Kunz's forces were ordered to proceed to Ny Kristiansand at best speed in order to support an evacuation of the New Swabian forces under Generalmajor Wilhelm Kunz holed up in the city and nearby Carl Gustav fortress. The task force, codenamed Zwei Kunzen, which meant "two Kunzes" in reference to the commanders of both forces, succeeded in their goal, but only after fighting a bloody war of attrition which left the division undermanned so much, it had to be relabeled the 39th SS Light Armored Regiment. Kunz and Kunz managed to withdraw from the fortress just before it fell to Maudlandic forces.
Promotion to Reichsführer-SS and surrender[]
Reichsführer-SS Kunz at the surrender ceremony in the Neumayer Chancellery
Kunz became the SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer of newly promoted Heinrich Banders, a New Swabian of Latvian descent and close friend of Bernhard Knapstein. Because of this, he was forced to relinquish his command and work at Neumayer. However, a few months later, High Chancellor David Rikkerman had Banders removed from his post and immediately promoted Kunz to Reichsführer-SS. The New Swabian SS had become severely depleted at this point that he had to draw "volunteers" from the New Swabian Army to fill up the ranks of the 39th SS Light Armored Regiment, and in a desperate propaganda move, renamed it as Army Group SS.
As the Battle of Neumayer raged, Kunz received and took command of the two Philippine Navy ships meant for the newly created New Swabian Navy and manned them with SS troopers who knew next to nothing about sailing. These two ships, the Bauerhaus and the Zwanziger, never fought any action against the enemy.
Kunz surrendered alongside General Heinrich Heidrich on June 14, 1982, to his former commander Heinrich Trelk. He signed the Treaty of Neumoyer on behalf of the New Swabian SS, resigned his commission as Reichsführer-SS, and retired back to his hometown of Waldemarburg with his wife and children, where he would remain living a peaceful life for fifteen years.
Return of the Fascists[]
Kunz had heard rumors that former Nazi soldiers that were not pleased with their defeat to the NSLP were organizing against the government, but he paid no heed to these as long as they didn't attack his domain of Waldemarburg. That would end on the night of November 19, 1995, when a Nazi assassin infiltrated Kunz's home and attacked him while he was drinking tea. Although taken by surprise, Kunz managed to fight back and disarm the attacker, whom he recognized as former SS-Leutnant Carl Render, one of the men under his old command. He told Render that he wouldn't report the intrusion to the authorities if he just walked away, but Render pulled out a revolver from behind his back and tried to shoot Kunz, but the general was too fast for him and shot him in the head first.
Because of this, Kunz became determined to fight the Nazi insurgents, which he called "threats to the greater peace of New Swabia." On a visit to Neumoyer, he approached Heinrich Trelk and asked him to give him an army unit to command. Trelk agreed to give him the 2nd Division of 1st Army Corps. At first, Kunz thought that he would get to fight the tanker battles of old, but when he realized that Trelk was merely keeping him as a reserve force should the Nazi insurgency take a turn for the worse, he demanded that he be reassigned to Trelk's division. Trelk refused. Kunz threatened to leave the Army if Trelk didn't allow him to join the 1st Division, but then he received news that Neumayer had been captured by Wilhelm Kunz, Walther's erstwhile namesake. Trelk ordered all forces, including Kunz's, to not interfere with the Nazis' return to Neumayer. While he questioned the wisdom behind the order, Walther still followed it, as a good soldier was supposed to do.
Walther was present when Trelk executed Wilhelm Kunz. He once again retired from the Army after that, and now maintains his baronial estate in Waldemarburg.
Personal life[]
Kunz's hobbies include target shooting, growing herbs in his Waldemarburg estate, and attending historical and cultural symposiums. He also considers himself "a bit of an historian," as he has amassed a good number of books about German and Antarctic history in his library.
Kunz is married to Rose Anna Kunz (nee von Schelthen) and has two sons and a daughter with her: Ernst-Johann (b. 1960), Kurt Friedrich (b. 1964), and Thelma Roberta (b. 1967). Ernst-Johann Kunz is currently an Oberst in the New Swabian Army, Kurt Kunz is a prominent film writer and producer, and Thelma Kunz is currently serving as the representative for Waldemarburg in the New Swabian Congress.
Legacy[]
Although he is unlikely to be mentioned in New Swabian history books, Kunz's reputation as a brilliant military tactician has made sure that he would be remembered by the New Swabian Army. Also, a military tactic, the Walther's Feint, has been named after him, after he masterfully used it during the war with Maudland.
Quotes[]
On Otto Dietrich[]
"My government calls him a traitor. My fellow New Swabians call him a savior. Frankly, I don't know what to call him."
- — Walther Kunz
On Heinrich Trelk[]
"A good man, and a good soldier. A good commander, too."
- — Walther Kunz
"When he surrendered to the NSLP, I thought that he had sold out New Swabia. But when I learned the reason why he surrendered, I knew that I had another true New Swabian in front of me."
- — Walther Kunz on Trelk's surrender
"Either you let me fight by your side, or you'll have to fight this madman on your own."
- — Walther Kunz telling Trelk the consequences if Trelk would not allow him to see combat again
On Wilhelm Kunz[]
"It pains me that I share my name with that man."
- — Walther Kunz
"He was a good commander. If he only allied himself with the proper people... he could have been a valuable ally."
- — Walther Kunz after watching Trelk execute the other Kunz
General[]
"I will let you go. I will not report this if you just walk away."
- — Walther Kunz to his would-be assassin Carl Render
"I told you to just walk away. But why didn't you?"
- — Walther Kunz after killing Render
"New Swabia, the land that is a unique blend of both German and Antarctic cultures. She has a lot of potential, of which a lot has been wasted in the last seven decades. But the new millennium brings hope of a brighter future. I am proud to be part of that future. I am proud to be a New Swabian."
- — Walther Kunz on his homeland