Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 203: Terms for Surrender



Smoke rose in the air, and the bullets ceased to fire a few hours after they had begun. Bruno gazed upon his pocket watch, which carried his family's coat of arms. Or should I say the coat of arms, he was granted permission to fly within the Russian Empire.

This coat of arms did not belong to the Prussian Junker House of Zehntner, but rather the Russian Princely House of Zehntner. And because of this, Bruno chose his own coat of arms to represent his personal line of succession.

The coat of arms was a Russian Imperial Eagle, with a Totenkopf emblazoned across its chest. This was not the infamous Totenkopf of the SS, which resounded throughout the history of his past life as a controversial symbol.

Rather, the earlier variant used by the Freikorps, which just so happened to be the version he utilized during the Russian civil war for his so called "Iron Division."

The distinction between the two symbols was noticeable by the golden double-headed and crowned eagle, which had the silver skull and crossbones in the center. It was a symbol that reminded him, and all of his future descendants, of how their noble house was founded.

At the same time, it made for an intrinsic heirloom when embossed onto the center of a master crafted pocket watch, one which Bruno used to keep time as the battle came to a sudden stop.

The white flag was raised in the distance by what remained of Serbia's forces, and when it was reached into Bruno's line of sight, he closed his pocket watch and called for a cease to all ongoing hostilities.

"Hold your fire! The enemy has surrendered!"

The order rang throughout the lines of communication. Every radio operator heard Bruno's words relayed to them, as they themselves gave the order to their troops to cease firing their weapons. As the bullets ceased flying, eventually a man wearing an officer's uniform within the Serbian Royal Army stepped forward.

His exact rank, Bruno, was unsure of as the distinctive markings that would otherwise let him know were covered with blood, no doubt belonging to someone who had died very close and very violently while next to the officer in question.

Nevertheless, this officer bore the white flag of peace and stepped forward to speak with Bruno. In a time of war, even in the rear echelon, Bruno carried at least two weapons on him at all times. Currently, he had Mauser C96 "Red 9" holstered on his belt.

At the same time, he had an MP-34 or MP-05, as it was known in this timeline, slung around his shoulder. Both had a round chambered and were ready to be fired at a moment's notice if need be.

Nevertheless, Bruno approached the Serbian officer with his own personal case of cigarettes in hand. The tobacco inside was grown in colonies abroad and personally processed into the white stick within Bruno's hands by his own employees.

The case itself was gold, and marked with the same symbol as his pocket watch. Needless to say, it was strange for a German General to have a personal item bearing the Russian Imperial Eagle upon it. Or so it would have been if this coat of arms had not already become infamous across Europe by now.

When the Serbian officer noticed the case which contained the cigarette Bruno offered to him, he immediately understood who he was dealing with, and was surprised that he and his man had been afforded mercy.

"Generaloberst Bruno von Zehntner.... I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet a man of such high renown, but considering the circumstances, I don't think that would be quite right..."

Despite the cautious glance he gave towards Bruno, the man still accepting the peace offering, immediately placing the cigarette in his mouth and allowing Bruno to light it for him, where the infamous German General partook of the same gesture immediately thereafter.

Once they had both inhaled the nicotine deep within their lungs before letting it out in a large plume of smoke, Bruno asked a question of the officer he was dealing with.

"I take it you're the highest-ranking officer who survived this little skirmish? And have therefore come to surrender seeking proper terms?"

Skirmish? Did Bruno seriously just use the term Skirmish? The battle began at approximately nine in the morning, and had concluded just before lunchtime. He had lost 100,000 men in that brief window of time.

Even in Bruno's past life at the Somme, such substantial losses had not been had under such limited circumstances. To call this a skirmish was an insult to the men who lie dead, and their families who would ultimately bury what remained of them.

This was a complete and total massacre. The Serbians were slaughtered like pigs and given just as much as a fight in return to their gruesome fate. The man was about to respond with hostility when he caught a glimpsed of the Totenkopf on Bruno's cigarette case, which he stashed away in one of his coat pockets.

In doing so, he was instantly reminded of the ruthless reputation which preceded the man who he had the misfortune of going up against. Instead, he responded to Bruno's question with a silent nod of his head, as well as an exhausted tone in his voice.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question before we get on with the formalities?"

Bruno continued to smoke his cigarette as both sides cautiously eyed one another. The Germans still surrounded the Serbians on all sides and were capable of firing upon one another if the circumstances demanded it.

These two officers stood alone between their forces, on the ground marred with blood, bone, and ash. All while smoking together and communicating in ways that only they knew. Bruno nodded his head as he responded to the Serbian Officer's question with a tone that conveyed his impatience as he did so.

"You have that right, but make it quick. I want to make it to Belgrade before the weekends, and Lord knows that taking care of you lot will be a three-day affair at the latest..."

This, of course, was related to the question the Serbian Officer wanted to ask, and thus he was quick to do so, sounding almost completely befuddled by the question which when Bruno heard it thought was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why are we still alive? You have a reputation of being ruthless with your prisoners, so the moment I raised the white flag and signaled the intent to surrender, why didn't you just massacre us? Why are you even entertaining my questions now?"

Though Bruno was partially insulted by the man's words, he realized he didn't necessarily have that right half way through the thought. He had acted viciously and inhumanely towards an enemy he thought of as subhuman. And he still had no regrets about that.

By now all kinds of rumors had spread about his time in Russia, which was his last foray into the battlefield, and thus it was understanding that those ignorant of the reason why he had behaved so monstrously to the Red Army in Russia were not to blame for theirn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

misunderstanding.

Instead, Bruno made his reasons for sparing them abundantly clear, as he pointed towards the tattered banners in the distance which bore the pride and prestige of the Serbian Royal Family, and in doing so answered the question that the Officer sought an answer to. "Why? You're the King's men, are you not? As far as I'm aware you and I, nor any of the men beneath your command share any past enmity between us. And since you fight for the honor and glory of your king, why should I treat you like a rabid dog in need of being put down? I mean, you're not a Marxist, are you?"

What Bruno had said was enough to convince the Serbian Officer that he had been wrong about Bruno, and thus he was quick to surrender, knowing that to continue to fight even against such overwhelming odds would only lead to certain death for him and his men.

"You offer your terms, I have none..."

Bruno was quick to offer his terms, which were far greater than the Serbian Officer was

expecting.

"I will guarantee you and your man's safe passage to Sarajevo, where you will be fed and housed in accordance with the rules of war. And when this dreadful conflict finally comes to an end, you will be released without any form of retribution acted upon you.

From there you are free to do as you wish as you will no longer be our prisoners of war... Are these terms acceptable in condition for your surrender and disarmament?"

To say that the Serbian Officer was not expecting such graceful terms was an understatement. Especially when the man thought he was dealing with the devil himself. He was quick to agree to Bruno's terms as he returned to his men and ordered their immediate disarmament and

surrender.

By the time the prisoners were all loaded up on the trucks and transported back to Sarajevo, Bruno would reunite with his commanding officer Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen, who would report the overwhelming victory back to the Kaiser.

Though Bruno did not realize it yet, he was about to receive two very prestigious awards for

his victory had in the opening hours of the Great War. Ones that he felt were long overdue considering his long list of accomplishments up until this point.