Schutzmannschaft

The **Schutzmannschaft** or **Auxiliary Police** (literally: "protective, or guard units, plural Schutzmannschaften") is the collaborationist auxiliary police of native policemen serving in those areas of the Arthurian Empire occupied by the German Empire during German-Arthurian War. Erwin Rommel, head of the Reichskommissariat Arthursland, established the Schutzmannschaft on 1st October 1940, and subordinated it to the Order Police (German: Ordnungspolizei). By the start of 1941, an estimated 15,000 men served in Schutzmannschaft units, about half of them in the battalions. During the engagement of Operation Victory, Schutzmannschaften expanded to an estimated 100,000 men. After the victory, it was reduced to 20,000 on request from OKW. Everywhere, local police far outnumbered the equivalent German personnel; in most places, the ratio of Germans to natives was about 1-to-10.

The auxiliary police battalions (*Schutzmannschaft-Bataillonen*) were created to provide security in the occupied territories, in particular by combating the pro-Mordred resistance and ensuring loyalty of their occupation. The Order Police organized the Schutzmannschaften by species; the Arthurian Auxillary Police, which was the largest of all divisions made entirely of humans; Non-Human Auxillary Police, complied of humanoid species such as elves, medusas and orcs; Beastmen Auxillary Police, who were complied of large beasts like trolls, ogres and minotaurs.

When compared to Werner's Freikorps, the Schutzmannschaft was mostly made up of conscripted peasants or, during Operation Sieg, prisoners-of-war who were recruited after being captured during the starting stages of Operation Victory rather than volunteers and was meant to act as auxillaries rather than be a standing army.

## History

During the months of planning Operation Victory in the late 1940s, Erwin Rommel realised his territory needed an auxillary force in order to maintain order within the territory where German troops couldn't maintain over a vast conquered land when his troops are going to be commited to Operation Victory, thus, he got permission from OKW to form his own auxillary unit of loyal soldiers to maintain order. After finish his training of Guinevere's troops, Claus von Stauffenberg was selected to be the commander the newly established unit.

The first recruits of the reserves were volunteers from prisoner-of-war or penal labour camps, which were known to be overpopulated with humans, ogres and trolls captured at the borders. Later, peasants were conscripted from villages and towns in the surrounding area to make up positions that weren't filled. A number locals joined because they wanted a job which paid steady wages (since the wage of the average Freikorps was only one gold mark/coin a week, which is considered a fortune in the Continent's currency) and provided food rations. Joining the German war apparatus also provided certain privileges and protections for the men and their families. Non-humans, such as elves and orcs, were known to join as a way to avoid the frontline work of the Freikorps but still alligning themselves to the Germans as policemen while beasts, such as ogres and minotaurs, joined just to wreck havoc.

During Operation Sieg, prisoners-of-war were offered to join the unit in exchange for their lives, leading to the recruitment of mercenaries, beastmen (minotaurs, ogres, trolls, etc) and even some former slaves, leading to the number or Order Police to swell to close to 100,000 members operating all across conquered territory. This number was later restricted to just 20,000 members after complaints of corruptions and abuses began to surface.

## Formation

The Germans did not want to use local collaborators on a large scale as they were deemed to be unreliable and were prone to misuse their power, which would stain the German honour. However, the expected rapid German advance would mean that not even 100,000 troops would be able to control such a vast territory without resistance. Therefore, the Schutzmannschaft was created. The Schutzmannschaften was an integral part of German police structure and dealt with variety of issues, including everyday crimes (except when concerning German citizens). Initially, only a small fraction of local auxiliaries were armed. Due to limited supervision, particularly in rural areas, members of Schutzmannschaften had considerable power and there were frequent complaints of corruption and abuse.

Schutzmannschaften were dressed in a field-grey Wehrmacht uniform with the Schutzmannschaft patch on it and a black side cap. Their weapons only consisted a metallic baton and a unmodified Luger pistol, the latter is strictly prohibited unless it is absolutely necessary. For special operations, they were given an unmodified Kar98 rifle. To increase their reliability, Rommel ordered the organization of NCO training, which would include political education, that lasted up to eight weeks, which was inspired by Werner's abilities to make the Freikorps believe they were fighting for the right side.