Re: Blood and Iron

Once the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was gone, and Bruno was alone with the Kaiser, the man was quick to bring up the offensive that would lead to a swift and brutal end to the war.

"I didn't want to discuss this in front of a maiden, so it's good that she has finally departed, but her territory will become the front from which the 8th Army makes its initial advance. Other forces in Ypres, and Elsass-Lothringen will push at the same time.

While the Italians have agreed to grant military access so that we can invade France from the South as well. To put it simply, there will be no escape for the French Army once the onslaught has begun, and I need you to be okay with that…"

The Kaiser's expression went from playful to somber as he was quick to ask the question Bruno was expecting him to.

"You have promised the war ended by the time the new year comes and have even promised to act with decreased caution and increased aggression to achieve this. May I ask how many of our men must die for this to be accomplished?"

Bruno did not hesitate to respond as he followed up with his reasoning immediately after.

"500,000 at the most will be killed or wounded in action. This, of course, includes the figures of our allies. The French have resolved themselves to fight until the bitter end, and theoretically the moment they realize they are encircled and there is no escape, the idea of surrender will no longer become an option.

Should we have found ourselves in a normal war of identical scale, but where all forces are relatively equal in size, our losses would be considerably higher in order to obtain our objectives. But not only is the 8th Army fully mechanized, we also have another Army that should be setup to mirror its capabilities.

In addition to this our allies have begun to produce their own tanks en masse, and while they are lagging behind in the department of other armored vehicles, we should expect hundreds if not thousands of their own tanks by the time the offensive begins in September.

The number of armored vehicles which are not only vastly superior to what our enemies are fielding but in many ways allow the deployment of troops with protection from hostile fire will severely mitigate casualties.

Even so, most of our army is still under-prepared, and our industry is not yet at the scale where we can completely modernize all of our troops before this war comes to an end. So judging by the maximum level of resistance France is capable of providing, I'd say that those figures sound about right.

Or France could give up without a fight and wave the white flag the moment they come across our troops. It's hard to say, really…"

The Kaiser was not at all surprised by the figure espoused, but he was hopeful that things would not end so poorly, considering it was the final push of the war. All he said to Bruno was something that Bruno was not expecting him to say at all.

"Do whatever needs to be done to win the war as swiftly as possible…."

When Bruno heard this, his head turned over to look at the Kaiser with a serious gaze. Alerting to the man of the potential folly he may have just made with his very poor choice of words.

"My, Kaiser, you need to understand that those words could act as a just cause for me to… Go off the reservation so to speak with the methods I choose to use in order to end the war as soon as possible.

There are means at my disposal I have been reluctant to use due to the, shall we say, immoral nature of their use on a battlefield. But most certainly I could do so…. And they would certainly expedite the process of victory while minimizing our casualties. But I fear the cost of life for the enemy would be overwhelming."

The Kaiser looked at Bruno as if he was about to pose something so sinister that even the devil would blush at the suggestions made. And because of that, there was a hint of horror in his tone as he realized what he had almost unleashed on the French Republic.

"Do I even want to know what an ungodly abomination you have devised behind my back? Oh, who am I kidding? I'm sure I will come to regret this if I do not ask in advance. What precisely are you referring to, Bruno?" ᚱÃΝȰᛒÈS̩

Bruno felt like he was being unnecessarily judged, and because of this he was quick to assure the Kaiser that this was all in theory and nothing was solidified until he clarified his stance on the matter…

"Theoretically, if I were to have secretly prepared a stockpile of munitions, designed for the purpose of a worst-case scenario, to completely obliterate the enemy army without a chance to surrender, shells that could hypothetically be loaded into our 10cm, 15cm, 17cm, and 21cm field guns without any need for modification.

And these shells, if they were to exist, would detonate and launch a bunch of small spherical incendiary bombs in all directions at an optimal altitude for maximum coverage. Think of it like a shell filled with a cluster of smaller explosives, if you will. These shells would, if they existed, be filled with the same devious invention I put in our flame throwers… You know… Napalm?

Meaning that any attempt for the men to try to pat out the flames would result in its spreading. Again, this is all entirely theoretical. But should they exist, and in significant capacity… I mean the war would be over in weeks, because there would not be left in terms of French soldiers or fortifications to stand in our way should they be deployed."

The Kaiser looked absolutely mortified at what Bruno had said, as he was all too aware of the effects napalm had on a battlefield, and was quick to ask the question that immediately became most pertinent to him after hearing the potential existence of such a thing.

"And just how many of these shells would you currently have stockpiled, hypothetically speaking?"

Bruno could tell how the Kaiser was feeling right now, and deliberately underestimated how many he had in an attempt not to make himself look like a monster.

"I mean… If such a stockpile did exist, and I'm not saying it does. I would have to take a look at the numbers, but I would say probably enough for a single month's use… So… Eight million? Give or take…."

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The moment the Kaiser heard this overwhelming number, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack, and after quickly regaining some clarity of mind he swiftly chastised Bruno for his recklessness.

"Good, God, man! Will you not be satisfied unless you turn the entirety of the Earth into a hellish reality? No… No… I will not permit the use of such weapons against our enemies, especially because they may try to copy them and use them against us in the future!

If such a thing does exist, it should only be used in defense of the Fatherland, and the hypothetical situation where we are overrun and have no other means of defending ourselves against the invaders… So… You understand what I am saying, right?"

Bruno understood loud and clear. The use of cluster munitions, especially those of a napalm variety, was not being permitted. And that he was only allowed to use them if the entire war turned a 180, and Germany was somehow facing a situation like they were in 1945.

"Very well, sir, I will proceed as previously discussed. Noting that the use of such theoretical weapons is prohibited under the current circumstances."

With this, the Kaiser might have very well prevented Bruno from using the Entirety of the French army as a test subject for his cluster munitions.

If only the Kaiser realized Bruno would soon be approving the testing of a far more terrifying explosive weapon, one that, if turned into cluster munitions would strike fear into the hearts of any enemy the Reich may ever face on the field of battle.

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