Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 275: Advancing to Sofia



The rocket's red glare lit up the sky as munitions were fired at a rapid rate by the armored transport trucks, which had 15cm Nebelwerfers loaded in the back. In perfect coordination, the searing sound of their launch was accompanied by the thunder of artillery pieces laid about in the field.

Protected by intricate trench systems as the explosions rocked the front lines of the Bulgarian Army with such intensity that it would appear as if God himself came down from the heaven just to bitch slap the Balkan men who tried desperately to hold the line while waiting for Ottoman Reinforcements to arrive.

Bruno, perhaps enthralled by the vision of explosions in the distance, and the symphony of war waging in the background, began humming a tune from his past life. It was a war song released during the early 2000s and was of Russian origin.

His dual master of the Russian and German languages, along with his genius level intellect, allowed Bruno to translate the song perfectly into his native tongue while simultaneously changing any words that needed to be swapped out to match the tone of the melody.

If there was one thing the Russians were good for, it was the painful soul of their nation which gave birth to a certain form of art that was not for the faint of heart. But as a soldier in the trenches, Bruno understood this sentiment all too well and found the depressing lyrics to be soothing.

One of the soldiers looked over at Bruno with a curious expression as the words also spoke to his own wounded heart and mind, especially the chorus which could be translated as follows. "I'm a soldier

An immature boy of war

I'm a soldier

Mom, tend to my wounds

I'm a soldier

A soldier of a godforsaken country

I'm a hero

Tell me of which novel!"

The muttering of the words in a grim and sober tone while accompanied by the sounds of machine gun fire ripping through flesh, and the pounding of rockets and artillery shells on the enemy position was truly a harrowing sigh to witness.

Nevertheless, it captured the attention of the soldiers, who stood in the mud, while the rain trickled off their helmets. All the while, Bruno raised his hand and gazed at his watch. That is, until the clock hands finally ticked into the much-awaited place.

After which Bruno became as silent as the dead, and as the perfect time, because the thunder of guns echoing in the distant ceased in that moment as well. All that could be heard were the whimpers of the enemy wounded.

Covering up his watch which his sleeve, Bruno then gazed upon the men who stared at him with determined and haunted expressions. The use of nebelwerfers and the overwhelming volume of firepower they were capable of launching at the enemy was truly a terrifying thing to witness.

Even so, Bruno was emotionless, or at least his face, while his voice was filled with passion as he gave the order to begin the advance into the enemy fortifications which were now rendered to ruin.

"By now, our assault has lasted for six hours straight. The amount of explosives, gas, and fire we have launched onto our enemies' heads is enough to exterminate an entire corps.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Go forth and conquer sons of Germania! We are soldiers, and our job as soldiers is to kill the enemy! Death be upon those who stand in the way of the Reich and its Kaiser!"

With these words spoken, the whistles rang, and the charge began. Tanks and armored cars crossed the distance of no man's land, providing cover to the Infantry behind them. While the German soldiers themselves aimed down the sights of their rifles towards the Bulgarian trenches.

But when they finally crossed the daunting distance of no-man's-land, they were relieved to find that their barrage had been horrendously effective. Any life that remained within the hostile fortifications was either so grievously wounded they could not raise their rifles in defense of what remained of their lives.

Or was so thoroughly stricken with terror that they surrendered their weapons and waved the white flag on the spot. The Bulgarian First Army simply could not resist against the overwhelming might of combined arms warfare. A school of thought that Bruno had wrenched from the future and brought back in time to obliterate his enemies.

And while Bruno had begun the advance into Bulgaria alongside the Hellenic Army, the Austro-Hungarians and Russians were advanced as quickly as they could via the railways to Odessa where they would hop on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to hopefully invade Eastern Thrace entirely uncontested.

In doing so, they would be able to split the forces of the Allies that remained in the Balkans. And hopefully end this war before the year's end, not that it was even halfway through at this

point.

But just because Bruno's advanced forces were effortlessly striking fear into the hearts of their adversaries did not mean that all Central Powers' lines were holding as well as they had at the start of the war.

Isonzo was once more on the brink of collapse, with the Italians, British, and French Armies pushing hard in the one area of the world where they had gained some degree of success. It was up to Generalfeldmarschall, August von Mackensen, and Svetozar Boroević to hold the line until the Balkans could be entirely subdued.

And while these were two of the greatest generals other than Bruno himself, which the Central Powers had to offer, especially in terms of defensive warfare. The British Army was about to introduce their own hastily crafted "armor" into the theater. One that either had the potential to break the German and Austro-Hungarian lines of defense.

Or be forever regarded in history as the most laughable attempt at building a tank the world had ever known. Either way, the war was far from over. And Bruno was in a race against time. Because if Isonzo fell, that would mean far more work for him when the time came to fight in the Alps himself.