Chương 11: A New Assignment
A year came and went, from the time Bruno had his wedding night, until the day he graduated from the Academy and officially entered service within the Imperial German Army as a commissioned officer.
As the most exceptional cadet to graduate in his class, Bruno was immediately awarded the rank of First Lieutenant. Whereas the rest of his class graduated as Second Lieutenants.
Bruno was immediately granted the position he requested, which was being assigned to the East Asian Expeditionary Corps. And was given two weeks of leave before shipping off to his new unit.
After all, by now China was thoroughly embroiled in the early stages of the Boxer Rebellion, and it would be a matter of months before the Eight Nation Alliance was officially formed in response.
When Bruno returned to his home, he was not surprised to find to find that Heidi was waiting for him. She appeared to have been notified in advance of his temporary leave and was quick to greet her husband at the door of the quiet and quaint manor.
They had only seen each other over the holidays during the past year, despite being newlyweds. And as much as Bruno wanted to take her out to some place extravagant for a proper honeymoon. He was not able to do so because of his military obligations.
Still, to see the young woman's loving smile as she welcomed him home was a sight for sore eyes indeed. Of course, her smile immediately vanished, and turned into concern when she saw Bruno's face, quickly approaching the man and grabbing hold of his chin. Carefully examining his cheekbones on the right side of his face.
"My god, what has happened to your face? Are you alright? Who did this to you?"
Bruno grabbed hold of Heidi's hands with his own and lifted them off his face. He had a confident smile as he explained the blemish that was cut horizontally on his cheekbones.
"Relax Heidi, it's a simple fencing scar. I received it during a contest with a student from the Bavarian Military Academy. After my duel with Julius all those years ago, I was practically forced to join the Mensur team at the Academy. And by the way, I won the match, so don't go pitying me as if I'm some kind of loser."
The scar was neither hideous nor large. It was left by a glancing blow, and was quite small, no matter how noticeable it may be. Hedi, of course pouted as she heard Bruno had gotten hurt taking up the sword again. And she lectured him on his reckless actions as a result.
"You shouldn't be risking your health simply because they asked you to take up fencing on behalf of the academy! I'll go get some alcohol and I'll try to clean it up!"
Bruno wanted to tell the girl there was no point, as the wound was old, having suffered the blow several months ago. By now it was thoroughly scarred and there was nothing she could do about it. But she nevertheless ran off to fetch the first aid kit.
In reality, the moment she turned the corner, she rested her back on the wall. Her face was thoroughly flush as she tried to calm her beating heart. Although she scolded her husband, Heidi thought that the scar he had received was rather dignified and actually enhanced his already handsome appearance.
Before long, she returned to Bruno and carried on with her pointless attempt to "disinfect" the scar.
---
After spending a lovely night together, eating a home cooked meal prepared by Heidi, and then absconding off to the bedroom. Bruno pulled out a pack of cigarettes as he stepped out naked onto his bedroom's private balcony. He lit up a smoke and stared at the crescent moon above.
There were a lot of thoughts on his mind. Particularly because he had not actually told Heidi yet that he had volunteered to lead a platoon of soldiers in the most chaotic part of the world as of this moment. One that Germany, and the other Great Powers would no doubt be sending troops to in two months during the botched Seymour Expedition.
Today was June 20th, 1900, and while Bruno lie with his wife in the safety and comfort of Berlin. The Siege of the Legations had already begun. At this very moment, the Boxer Movement and the Qing Dynasty were laying siege to the embassies of several foreign nations located in Peking, or what would later be known as Beijing.
This, of course, included the German Embassy. It was only a matter of time before the Eight-Nation Alliance was formed. In the coming days, the Great Powers would march into Peking with the intent of relieving their besieged embassies, and restoring order to the region through military force.
Unfortunately, unless history changed, there was no way for Bruno to participate in these battles, seeing as the Germans who fought in them were Marines from the Seebataillon. Whereas he was a newly commissioned officer in the German Army.
Despite this, there would still be plenty of opportunities to participate in the war effort. While his duties would primarily consist of acting as an occupying force. There were still remnants of the Boxer Movement, which needed to be put down.
It was with these thoughts in mind that Bruno finished his cigarette. All the while he felt the gentle hand of his wife touch his back, as she hugged him from behind, before asking him a question in a somber tone.
"Is everything alright? You have been out here smoking for the past hour…"
Bruno could no longer hide the truth from his wife. Until now, he had been neglecting to tell the woman about his plans for the immediate future. Partially because they had not been set in stone until his deployment orders were in hand.
But also because he didn't want to her to worry excessively. Now, however, the time had come to tell the truth. He turned around with a heavy sigh, after putting out his cigarette and leaving what remained of it in the ashtray.
"I have been assigned to the East Asian Expeditionary Corps. In two weeks I'll be shipping off to China. I'm afraid we only have a few weeks together before I have to leave again…"
Heidi was mortified at hearing Bruno's words. And not for the reason that Bruno initially thought she would be. The young woman stumbled backwards, almost as if she had lost her footing. Naturally, Bruno quickly ran to the woman's side and carrier her back to the bed where he sat her down, while checking on her condition.
"Heidi! Are you alright? What's wrong?"
It took Heidi a few seconds to process what Bruno had said, but when she did, she looked at him with eyes that were almost praying that she hadn't heard correctly, and asked him a question which he found to be strange.
"You're being shipped off to China? But… Aren't tensions rising in that part of the world right now? You're not going to be in danger are you!?!
The reason this question was shocking to Bruno was because international disputes occurring on the other side of the world weren't exactly information that was easily accessible to the public. This wasn't the 21st century where anything that was happening around the globe could be instantly looked up by billions of people the moment it occurred.
Hell, it would easily be another hundred years before the internet was invented. Even telephones were a rarity nowadays, most commonly found in wealthy households, and were only capable of local connections at that. Other than perhaps in the hands of government personnel.
How Heidi possessed such information caused Bruno to pause and interrogate her about it.
"Heidi? How do you know what is going on in China right now?"
Heidi immediately panicked. She hadn't thought through the logical conclusion of her question. And immediately tried to come up with some proper response to satisfy her husband's inquiry.
"I… That is to say… I was in the market the other day and I heard some woman say that she was worried about her son who is stationed in Tsingtao! She said there was some kind of rebellion happening across the country!"
While this was feasible, especially if the woman was a family member of a soldier. It was still highly suspicious because of the way that Heidi was acting. But Bruno ultimately put it to the back of his mind. And decided to shift the conversation back to his initial intent.
"So you are aware, then? Yes, it is increasingly starting to appear that was between the Qing Dynasty and the Great Powers is an inevitability at this point. And if I'm being honest with you, Heidi, I requested this assignment."
The young blonde beauty appeared as if she had just been dealt a mortal blow. She was not expecting Bruno to say that this was all his idea. In fact, she was going to ask if there was any way he could be reassigned until she heard that. Heidi couldn't help the tears that were forming in her eyes, as she asked why, why he felt the need to put himself in so much danger.
"I just don't understand. Why would you do such a thing? Why would you knowingly request a position that is guaranteed to send you into combat? Aren't you afraid?"
Bruno shook his head and sighed as he hugged the young woman and patted her head as he commonly did when they were children. It definitely helped her overcome the dread she was currently suffering from.
There was a supremely confident tone in his voice, as he swore he would come back to her in one piece.
"You wouldn't understand why I feel compelled to do this, even if I tried to explain my reasoning to you. Just know it is something I have made up my mind about. This is something that I need to do...."
Heidi would not try to persuade Bruno to abandon this desire of his. Though she couldn't understand what was worth risking his life and well-being over. She would support him in any way she could. Even if that meant simply waiting for him to return to her.
"Alright, if you really must do this, then I will not stand in your way. But Bruno, you have to promise me. Promise me you will come back to me alive and well..... I can't stand to think about living all alone in this world for the rest of my life without you...."
Bruno chuckled when he heard this, and patted the young woman's hair once more, before pinning her on the bed and kissing her neck. In between his actions, he made a solemn vow that no matter what happened he would always return to her side.
"No matter what may come my way, I will always find my way back to you Heidi, this I swear to you..."
Chương 12: The Horrors of War Part I
Two weeks came and went in the blink of an eye, and before Bruno knew it he was out the door and being shipped off to China. As he had already suspected, the war, for the most part was already over by the time he actually arrived.
When he landed ashore in Northern China, the Qing Dynasty had already been forced to submit to the Eight-Nation Alliance. Despite this, 15,000 German soldiers from the East Asian Expeditionary Corps were still deployed to China to help stabilize the war-torn region, and in doing so, put down the remnants of the Boxer Rebellion.
Counter-Insurgency was the one thing that Bruno had actual combat experience with. Having been deployed to Afghanistan in his previous life for this very purpose. And he was confident in his ability to perform the role as needed.
Bruno had been assigned to the East Asian Expeditionary Corps as an Infantry Officer. And naturally, his uniform reflected this. Current issued uniforms were still of the Prussian Blue Variety, as the Field Grey variants had yet to come into existence, and would not become a standard issue until years later.
Normally, an infantry officer of this era would be equipped with a sword and a pistol as his standard issue weapons. But considering Bruno's father had achieved his goal of getting on the Bundesrat Land Army and Fortifications committee. Bruno had used his family connections to get himself a rifle.
The Gewehr 98 was the standard issue rifle to the Imperial German Army at this time. And it was an excellent firearm at that. Fed via stripper clips into an internal five round magazine. The Gewehr 98 could deal death to an opponent at 1,000m via its potent 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge.
Of course, one would have to have impeccable eyesight and expert marksmanship to pull off such a feat. Which Bruno just so happened to have both of. In addition to his Gewehr 98, Bruno had also gotten his hands on a Modell 1900 Parabellum pistol. More commonly known as the 9mm Luger.
Because of this, he was unusually well equipped for an infantry officer as he marched through the Chinese countryside at the head of his platoon. It had been two weeks since he had stepped foot in Northern China, and until now, all he had been able to do was to perform the duties of a glorified sentry.
Without expressed permission, he was not allowed to step foot outside of the base. And after two weeks of this, he had grown rather bored with his lot in life. Luckily for him, the Company commander announced the night before that their unit would be going on a Punitive Expedition early in the morning into a region that was well known for Boxer activity.
Aside from Bruno, the other platoon commander in his company was his old friend Heinrich from the Academy. The two of them marched side by side, while smoking, as they chatted about their takes on the ongoing conflict, and the wasteland of a countryside they marched through.
"There's no doubt about it… This place has been thoroughly ransacked by the Eight-Nation Alliance and its forces."
Heinrich nodded his head in agreement with Bruno's assessment of the situation. Whether it was another German unit before them, or one of the other Great Powers, the village in the distance that they were walking towards had clear signs of smoke in the air. The man took a puff from his cigarette before expressing his thoughts on the matter.
"How much you want to bet it was the Russians? I've heard rumors from Erich. He has been sent out on patrol twice now, and both times he came across a town looted by the Russians. We're talking dead bodies in the streets, homes plundered for their wealth. And well, the women… It makes my heart bleed hearing what happens to them…"
Bruno took a long drag on his cigarette before exhaling a plume of smoke. It had only been a year since the first of the Hague Conventions were signed. It was an era where War Crimes were a recent concept.
However, while all the Great Powers had signed and ratified this convention and the stipulations within it that would protect prisoners of war and civilians. Along with various other regulations on how to conduct warfare. China had not done so.
And as far as the Great Powers were concerned, those who did not sign or ratify the Hague Conventions were not protected by its rules. It was because of this that Bruno had a more callous attitude when discussing the alleged atrocities of the Russian Army.
"Unfortunate as it is. The Chinese really only have themselves to blame. Had they ratified the Hague Conventions like the rest of us, such actions would be considered War Crimes and the men responsible would be held accountable for their actions.
As much as I hate to say it, the most we can do is abide by the Rules of War ourselves, even if our allies choose not to. We're neither generals nor heads of state. Like it or not, we simply don't have the power or authority to hold our allies to the same standards that we ourselves adhere to. "
Though Heinrich could understand the man's sentiment, he was a lot more empathetic towards the victims of the war than Bruno was. Bruno however was not the type to care about civilian casualties on a battlefield.
In his past life, he had seen the effects that occurred when high command prioritized the mitigation of collateral damage at the expense of total victory. And the results were not great. If it meant ending the Boxer rebellion once and for all, then by all means he would give the command to shell an entire village if the insurgents were using it as their base of operations.
From Bruno's perspective, such determination was needed to win a war. Anything else was just asking for operational failure. This was a perspective on warfare that Heinrich clearly did not understand, seeing as how he knew the man had no practical combat experience to speak of, despite being a commissioned officer. At least not at this time.
While Bruno and Heinrich were casually chatting, an echo of gunfire rang throughout the distance. Causing them and all their men to immediately become alert. Not a second after the shots had fired, the company commander issued the command for Bruno and his men to scout the area, and see what exactly what was happening in the village.
"Lieutenant, take your platoon and establish a vantage point. I want to know what is happening in the village before we march into it! Report back to me after you have confirmed the situation!"
Bruno nodded his head, and threw up a salute to the Captain, responding in the affirmative before taking the forty or so men under his command to do as they were told.
"Yes, sir!"
After saying this, Bruno ran off, with his rifle in hand towards the hill above the town. Where he and his men took defensive positions under his orders. Even though the boxers were primarily equipped with swords and spears, a few of them had firearms, and one could never be too careful when fighting a war.
But when Bruno gazed upon the plundered village and the ongoing atrocities within it. Even he had second thoughts about his more callous outlook towards warfare and the civilians affected by it.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
Zentmeister
Zentmeister
The chapters are shorter today than normal because it's the weekend. And because I for some reason spent three hours writing these two chapters, going through repeated edits, and in between said edits doing research on the Boxer Rebellion and the German Units send to it. By now it's 7:30 at night, and I still have to write a chapter for one of my other novels. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and have a great weekend!
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