Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 163: Rewarding Thyself



Bruno was at home following his day's work. He had been extremely busy following the establishment of the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte. Though Bruno was not the one to become the acting general in charge of the unit, he was the one trusted with organizing it.

After all, the planes that were to be used were more or less his brainchild. And if he had such advanced knowledge of aerospace engineering, then surely, he would have some idea of how to use them on the battlefield, right?

Well, that was actually a correct assumption, even if it wasn't the most logically sound in terms of reasoning. Bruno did indeed have some understanding of aerial warfare.

Not because he served in the air force in his past life, but he was what one might call a "military history buff" and knew all about the tactics used by various militaries and their branches throughout history, especially modern history.

Frankly speaking, it would be many years before the Luftstreitkräfte grew to such an extent that it could be considered its own branch. Even so, Bruno made full preparations for this. Technically speaking, the WW2-era German Luftwaffe, which was the successor of the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, was its own branch and, as a result, had three of its own sub- branches.

Those were the Flying Troops, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery, and the Air Signal Troops. These were, of course, even more subdivided into smaller roles. But this was how Bruno decided to set up the responsibilities of the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte in this life.

First and foremost were the Flying Troops, who would be made up of the existing cavalry ranks, or more specifically those Cavalry Officers who could pass basic flight school. Which, in and of itself, was something Bruno also began establishing dedicated military flight schools. Then there were the Anti-Aircraft Artillery units, which were much like their land-based counterparts, just under the authority of the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte. Their role was fairly self-explanatory: use the anti-aircraft weaponry Bruno had designed to blow enemy aircraft out of the skies.

Finally, there were the Air Signal troops, who were critical as they were the ones in charge of air traffic communication and coordination of information between pilots, the anti-aircraft artillery, the ground forces, and pretty much anyone else remotely within the operational structure.

Naturally, there were, of course, other critical areas, such as maintenance crews, divisional headquarters, logistical supply networks, etc. That he all had to come up with in preparation for the war. None of which currently existed.

All things considered, Bruno was amazed that the Great Powers had all organized this kind of thing on the fly during the Great War, as the idea of a military air force only came into existence midway through the conflict.

Bruno felt that after spending twelve hours a day, five days a week, for months on end, he was perhaps lucky for the stress he was undergoing at the moment. The reason being that he actually had six years to prepare all of this for the start of the war.

Whereas the enemy would most likely be scrambling during the initial days to get all of this setup from scratch. Because the overwhelming advantage of Air Supremacy would become apparent to the enemy, the moment the war broke out.

Thus, after months of hard work, Bruno had finally concluded all of his efforts today and decided to celebrate his freedom by having an extra stiff drink, breaking out the hard liquor as he sat at his dining table with his beloved family and rejoiced with them.

"I will tell you; you have no idea the amount of paperwork I have had to do these past few months. I was quite honestly a few days away from going mad. But with the system I set up, I'm sure the General Staff can find a suitable man to take over from here on out!

So, now that I finally have the time, how about you tell me all how you have been?" Heidi did not immediately speak; she decided to let her children speak of what they had been up to as of late. With the youngest of them being old enough to begin entering school, and her husband at work most of the day, she had actually been rather lonely as of late.

A problem that would resolve itself when the child she was currently carrying in her womb came to term, as she would then have another child to baby. Meanwhile, Eva, the youngest of the three rugrats, was quick to speak about her day at school and all that she had learned about.

The girl was more or less a social butterfly, gaining many friends. She, of course, went to an aristocratic all-girls school, and perhaps because of this, she was popular. The von Zehntner name held quite a bit of influence these days.

Both because of Bruno's father's accomplishments in politics, his eldest brother's success in business, and also because of his own personal feats on the battlefield. And when the girls learned that Eva was a literal Russian Princess, her popularity increased even more among her classmates.

The girl was a bit of a blabbermouth, speaking long enough that Bruno finally had to tell her to give it a rest so that her siblings could speak. Erwin, being the second youngest of Bruno's three current children who had been born, spoke of his time at the boy's academy.

Like the ones his sisters went to, it was a school for the noble elite of Prussia. Bruno had wanted to send the boy to a military school, but Heidi threw a fit when he tried to do so. He could tell that was an argument he was going to lose when she said:

"There is no way on God's green Earth you are sending my only baby boy to a boarding school! I will take you to hell with me before I ever give you a chance to do so!"

Considering the woman's temper was frightening when provoked, especially when it revolved around her family, Bruno had decided to drop the matter and send the boy to a non-boarding school while still being an elite private establishment.

Either way, Erwin's education would be the best he could possibly receive, yet he would not get to properly understand the military culture as Bruno had desired his son to do so.

Then again, upon seeing the boy smiling while talking about the friends he had made at school, all while Heidi lovingly doted on the boy by adding more food onto his plate, Bruno thought that perhaps this was ultimately for the best.

Eventually, Elsa spoke about her experience with schooling. As she was in the youngest year, she was less excited about the whole educational experience and more aggrieved that she had to go in the first place. Of course, Bruno tried to console the girl, as he was often one to dote on his beloved daughters.

"Elsa, I won't sugarcoat things for you; school is incredibly dull, but it is a rewarding experience. And they will teach you things that you have to know in this life. You have made some friends, haven't you?"

Elsa nodded her head meekly. She was rather ashamed that she had spoken so poorly about school when her father spoke in such endearing terms about it. One of the things she loved about her father was that he would not just outright lie to her. School was boring; he knew that she knew that, and he wasn't going to try to say it wasn't.

But he also made sure she understood the value of school and that it was ultimately worthwhile to go to.

Heidi, of course, damn near snorted at Bruno's remarks. She was all too aware that the boy genius never had to go to school, as his parents flew in the Reich's greatest minds to personally tutor him on anything he had not studied in his own time and still desired to learn.

The two of them had grown up together, and she would be lying if she said she did not envy the overwhelming expense that Bruno's parents had paid to ensure that the boy's educational needs were met, considering the uniqueness of his brilliance.

The fact that he had never experienced school life, like she had and like their children were currently undergoing, yet had the gall to say it was a rewarding and worthwhile experience was a level of shamelessness that made it difficult not for Heidi to break out into laughter.

It took all of her strength not to do so, as she knew it would complicate the lesson the man was trying to teach their youngest daughter, who was throwing a hissy fit about going to

school.

Bruno could tell by the look on his wife's face that she was silently mocking him and had no doubt he would hear all about her thoughts regarding his statement later that night when

they were alone together.

But what Heidi didn't know was that Bruno had actually experienced school life, just in his past life, and not the current one. He was wholly familiar with what went on in those hallowed halls of education, even if what he had experienced was separated by decades from the current year and, by extension, an entirely unfamiliar culture.

Ultimately, Bruno would continue to spend the evening with his family, much in the way he always did, even now in their luxurious estate. Before ultimately retiring for the night with his beloved wife. Tomorrow he would wake up to find a rather interesting letter in the mail, one which would summon him far away from home once more.

But in the meantime, he could enjoy his current blissful life. One which helped heal his

wounded mind.