Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 267: The Hubris of Man



The Central Powers had been given a string of victories, and only a single defeat nearly a year into the war. Had they simply pushed into Paris, Belgrade, and Constantinople from the start of the war, it would have been over by now.

But that would have resulted in the Allied Powers simply gearing up for round two. And if that could at all be avoided, Bruno wanted to do so.

The plan was to fight defensively, and use their overwhelming preparations to absolutely bleed the Allied Powers dry of their men and resources so that they simply could not wage war for decades.

And in doing so, buying Bruno and his enterprises enough time to ensure that Germany once more had an overwhelming technological advantage should that dreadful day finally come to pass.

However, it was almost certain that repeated victories had gone straight to the heads of those in charge of the Central Powers, or at least had inflated the egos and confidence of certain powerful and shortsighted men who had the power to bring everything to ruin with their misplaced arrogance.

And this had manifested it in the Bundesrat's Committee for Naval Affairs, who accepted Bruno's suggestion of adopting the Landing Craft fleet he had personally paid for, only to stab him in the back and commandeer it for their own foolish purposes.

What were these purposes, a potential invasion of the British Isles. Honestly, Bruno did not care all that much about the theft of his personal property. At least in this current instance. These ships were designed for the purpose of being fielded by the Kaiserliche Marine, and he would have voluntarily given them up in that regard even without being commanded to do

So.

No, the problem he had was with the reasoning he was given. Opening a new front of the war when it was not needed was beyond foolish. German Naval dominance of the North Sea and the Atlantic more or less guaranteed that the British Isles could be fully blockaded if the need truly arose.

To send hundreds of thousands of men, and their supplies onto the shores of England, was both unnecessary and a disaster waiting to happen. For example, the Western Front was already stretched thin, as Germany had its forces spread across three other fronts. That being the Italian Theater, the Balkans, and in the Caucasus.

Even with the ongoing conscription of men into service, it took time to properly equip these soldiers and ensure that they were trained well enough to get the job done. And where would the NCOs come from?

Non-commissioned officers were critical to the function of a military. They were the

backbone of an armed force, who ensured that the enlisted men followed orders and corrected the junior officers for their usual arrogance and stupidity when such a thing were to inevitably

occur.

Without a solid NCO corps in place, the effects were terrible. One could not simply conscript a million men and send them to war without officers and NCOs to lead them. And it took time to gain the experience necessary to become such a thing.

Years of study from an academy made an officer, and in this era one could theoretically graduate as a commissioned officer from a life of attending military boarding schools, a path Bruno had not taken in this life, but non-commissioned officers were different, these were enlisted men, who had been through the thick of things for years and demonstrated through merit and merit alone the ability to lead other men into battle.

Without them, one usually ended up with a botched invasion. Hence Bruno was forced to write a strongly worded letter, or dare I say encrypted telegram back to the Office of the General Staff, the Office of the Admiralty, and the Committee for Naval Affairs stating how utterly foolish they were for commandeering his vessels for the purpose of a theoretical invasion of the British Isles.

The letter was almost accusatory in tone, as he ended it with the words that those who read it would never forget.

"Take my ships, if you will. They were always intended to be a gift to the Kaiser and his German Reich. But, in exchange for stealing my opportunity to personally gift these vessels to his majesty's Navy, I ask but one condition...

Heed my warning, for I appear to be the only one among you who is remotely capable of being untainted by the utter foolishness that is the hubris of man. Under no circumstances should you damned fools open a new theater of war which the German Army cannot afford to maintain and endure.

Remember this, if you half-wits who have somehow managed to find your way into positions of authority dare to invade the British Isles, one way or another, it will be the end of the German Nation as we know it!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Among the list of people this open letter of condemnation was sent to was Kaiser Wilhelm II and his current Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, who were rather surprised by the message sent to them personally at the end of the variation they alone received. "For the love of God and all that is good and holy in this world we share, if you are the wise leader, I believe you to be. Do not let these damned imbeciles ruin all that we have worked so hard to achieve, and all for the sake of a vain pursuit of fleeting glory!"

Responses to Bruno's letter were varied, but the main accusation that could be levied against him was instantly negated by Bruno's initial statement of having always intended to voluntarily give up the ships to begin with.

Some saw Bruno's words as disrespectful and outlandish. Others thought the man knew little of Naval Affairs and had no right to interfere in the decisions of the Admiralty. Most, however, realized that the man was right.

Even with such landing craft, invading the British Isles was no easy feat, and would open up an entirely new front, one that they could ill afford at this time. Obviously, those inflammatory words were only a small excerpt of the overall text which outlined every single reason that Germany should not invade Britain.

But nevertheless, the motion to do so was instantly struck down. Even so, the Landing Craft was not initially given back to Bruno's army in the Balkans. Rather, the Kaiserliche Marine saw this fleet of ships that could be used to transport troops to the shores of any nation around the world as a good opportunity to expand upon Germany's rather lacking naval

infantry.

Germany, of course, operated at most a battalion of naval infantry who had almost always been deployed to colonial theaters of war. But should they win this current global conflict, the colonial gains would be massive.

Mittelafrika would no longer just be theoretical, and these places would require men specializing in naval landings and expeditionary warfare. Bruno had given them the first step to achieve this. And though it was not his intended purpose, forming a dedicated Marine Corps under the command of the Department of the Navy was entirely feasible now. Because of this, Bruno had completely by accident, and most unexpectedly, become the father of the future German Marine Corps. One that would gain every bit as fierce as a reputation as the United States Marine Corps had in his past life.

Although he would only be remembered as such in a more satirical fashion, even so, it was a title his future descendants would often make in jest, and as a comical topic of conversation. Something Bruno would most certainly not appreciate, as he was indeed the kind of man to remain entirely salty about things like what had happened to his personal fleet of landing craft.

More importantly, this meant that Bruno was still back right where he was. Either moving into Odessa to attempt an uncontested naval landing in eastern Thrace. Or requesting permission from the Kingdom of Bulgaria to march through the gap of land between them and the current territory of the Kingdom of Greece.

That would be a diplomatic endeavor which Bruno did not personally have the power to pursue, and because of this, he had no choice but to write another letter after not so openly condemning the leadership of the German Navy, and their political partners in the Bundesrat.

This time personally writing to the Kaiser to open diplomatic channels with Bulgaria in an attempt to gain temporary military access through their borders. It was a long shot, but it was always best to keep your options open.

Who knew, maybe a miracle would happen and the King of Bulgaria could be convinced to allow the Central Powers, including their rivals in Greece, to march their troops through their territory. If not, it was either a long and brutal sludge to Constantinople, or a military invasion of the Kingdom of Bulgaria to gain access to the Ottoman Empire from the west.

Neither of which were the most ideal situations, but were still the second and best options Bruno had left to him after the Naval commandeered his personal fleet to build their Marine

Corps.