After being recalled from Belgorod, Erich returned to Berlin to his post in the area. Like many of the men who had taken part in the Russian Civil War, he was changed by the conflict. Mukden was the start of the man's declining mental state, but Saint Petersburg and Tsaritsyn had fully cemented his state as a cold, sadistic psychopath.
The only thing stopping the man from acting out of turn was his fear of Bruno and what the man would do to him if he did something to smear his name, and reputation, or God forbid, ruin his future plans.
Bruno, unlike Erich, was a deeply cunning and scheming figure. Erich had known this for a very long time, but Bruno seemed to have a very good understanding of future events and was preparing for them even as they changed in real time.