Rumors of what happened at Belgrade spread like wildfire across the Western world. Belgrade was gassed into extinction by an exceptionally large use of chemical weapons, fired via artillery shells onto the city by the besieging German Army.
Was surrender not requested? If so, was this a war crime? Why would a man take such overwhelming action against a city that, while having a large military presence, held a far greater number of civilians?
What could possibly compel a man to act in such a way? It was shortly after this that German intelligence began leaking information to the public about the Black Hand, their ties to the Serbian Government, and the list of crimes they were responsible for, either directly or indirectly.
Whether it was the murder of the previous and rightful ruling dynasty of Serbia, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, or the repeated attempts made to murder Bruno because he suggested he was aware of their existence.
Everything came to light in the days following the massacre of Belgrade. And because Bruno was the only one who really witnessed what actually happened, he utilized his control over various media outlets across both the German Reich and the USA to depict the Serbian Royal Family as holding the city hostage and refusing to surrender under any conditions.
In addition to this, the Black Hand’s arming and training of violent extremist groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which led to a variety of heinous crimes—including the murder of the Bosnian Serbian family who once served Bruno hot meals at their place of business—led many to conclude that Bruno had decided to make an example of the Usurper King and his city.
The common headlines in the weeks that followed lambasted the Serbian Government for their role in causing the outbreak of this war, blaming the destruction of their capital entirely on them and the conspirators they protected and sheltered from justice.
And while this caused the Allies of Serbia to gaze upon the leaderless yet defiant nation with a bit of disdain, choosing to drag them into a war rather than face the consequences of their own actions by themselves, it did not stop the war.
Too many factions wanted this conflict to happen, and just because the fault of the Serbian Royal Family and their ties to the Black Hand were revealed to the public did not mean that hostilities would suddenly cease.
No, the war needed to happen, and the death of the Austrian Archduke was simply the excuse needed to finally wage it. Bruno, however, came to severely regret his actions at Belgrade—not because they were ineffective in achieving his initial goals.
In fact, the example he made of the Serbian capital proved exceptional in this regard, with those who lurked in the shadows and schemed against him suddenly becoming utterly terrified at the prospect of attacking him or people close to him directly.
Rather, Bruno regretted his actions because of the unintended consequences they created. Serbia was ready and willing to surrender at Belgrade, potentially ending the war in the Balkans just weeks after it began.
Now, however, they refused to admit fault, even with the headlines blaming them for everything that was happening. With the annihilation of their capital and all of the people in it, what remained of the Serbian Army and the nation’s leadership rallied together far behind the front lines and professed the will to fight until the very end.
Not only had the Serbian Army begun conscripting every single man capable of fighting against the invasion of their homeland, and equipping them with any firearms they could get their hands on, but they had also openly called upon those either too old or too young to join the army to resist in any way they could.
With its illegitimate monarchy gassed into extinction in Bruno’s siege of Belgrade, the governance of what remained of Serbia fell to the highest-ranking general, who immediately seized control over the Kingdom and declared himself the temporary leader of the nation, with unlimited power for the duration of the war.
In his public speech, he condemned Bruno as the most heinous of war criminals and a man who Serbia would repel from their borders, even if it took a thousand years and the blood of future generations to complete.
The sudden urge to resist any form of encroachment on their borders by foreign powers rallied those within Serbia—even without any nationalist sentiment—to take up arms. The only problem was, Serbia was not necessarily capable of producing the arms necessary to supply them, and many were given very old and obsolete weapons from national stockpiles to fight with.
Even so, Bruno had unintentionally caused the Serbian Army to grow from a mere 450,000 strong to well over a million, which was roughly one-fourth of its total population and about half of the male population.
And while defeating such a large-scale army with the roughly two million men he had at his disposal for the theater was easily accomplished, the losses sustained would take generations to overcome. But ultimately, that was not Bruno’s concern.
Not only that, but another problem now faced Bruno. The other nations of the Balkans were outraged by the massacre at Belgrade, and it was entirely possible that several of the smaller, currently neutral powers would join together with the Serbians to add to their forces.
Especially since King Carol I of Romania was about to die, and his successor had already established ties to the Allied Powers. Romania’s entry into the war alone could boost the numbers of opposition forces in the Balkans to 1.5 million or more.
If either Bulgaria or Greece joined the other Balkan states as members of the Allied Powers, this would easily put their numbers on par with the combined forces of the Imperial Powers within the region. Not to mention, it would open lines that would need to be defended by the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Armies.
Frankly speaking, Bruno wanted the Bulgarians on his side—not only because they were a valuable and loyal ally, having sided with the Germans in both world wars, even after their defeat in 1918.
But also because, out of all of Germany’s allies in both world wars, the Bulgarian Army, while a minor power, was the most competent. If Bulgaria were a great power with an army to match its size, then without a doubt Germany would have won either conflict in Bruno’s past life.
Because of this, Bruno hoped they would join the Imperial Powers in this life rather than the Allies, especially because they had just fought and lost a war with the other Balkan states a year prior over disputed territories.
With all this in mind, Bruno simply had one option to prevent such an outcome: advance beyond the rate of his allies and supply lines and crush the Serbian Army and the current provisional government before they could fully muster their strength.
This, of course, was a fool’s errand that he knew had the potential to destroy his army and cost him the lives of all his men and himself in the process. One must never advance beyond their logistical network in pursuit of a quick victory.
Every time this had occurred throughout history, the opposite occurred, usually resulting in the loss of not only the army itself but the war altogether. Because of this, Bruno could only task his army with clearing out the gas that festered in the ruins of Belgrade and fortifying their trenches as they awaited their Russian and Austro-Hungarian allies to catch up.
It was better to hold the Serbian capital and wait for the remainder of their allies and logistical networks to reach them before advancing than to embark on a fool’s quest. Thus, after annihilating all life in the Serbian capital, the forces of the German Army that had wrought such devastation were tasked with cleaning up their mess.
