The rest of the journey to Manchuria was rather smooth. Albeit a boring one. Still, by the time Bruno stepped foot at the naval base which the Japanese were using as a foothold in the region, Captain Hermann von Humboldt had grown quite fond of Bruno.
His initial goal of establishing relations with a promising naval officer had succeeded. And Bruno promised to keep in touch with Erich’s older brother as he and his attaché stepped foot off the SMS Hansa, and entered the Japanese naval base.
There were both members of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Army stationed within it. Seeing as how they were dressed in foreign uniforms, they were quickly approached after stepping foot onto the docks by representatives of the Japanese General Chief of Staff.
Naturally such an important figure would not be present in the theater of war himself, but would rather be back in Tokyo commanding the war effort from The Japanese homeland. Instead, Bruno found himself in coordination with a bunch of lower ranked generals, some of which were of a similar status to himself.
The Japanese Generals were professional, as they greeted Bruno with the utmost courtesy. Making use of a German translator to properly communicate with Bruno and the men who had joined him as part of his attaché.
“It is a great honor to personally receive the Generalmajor himself. I have heard many stories about the Wolf of Prussia and his time spent in China during the Boxer Rebellion.”
Bruno surprised the Japanese Generals by speaking in perfectly fluent Japanese. While he did possess an accent at the moment. Within two weeks, he would be speaking as if he were a Tokyo native.
“The honor is mine. The Kaiser has entrusted me with aiding our allies in Japan with a swift victory over the Russians. And it is my hope that with my expertise I can assist you in reducing your casualties. Now, if you don’t mind, I would very much like to see the current condition of the front lines.”
The Japanese generals were quick to get Bruno up to speed on the situation at hand. Port Arthur was currently under siege, and had been so since the beginning of August 1904, which it was currently nearing the end of. Despite this, all frontal assaults to attack the Port had resulted in thousands of casualties for the Japanese.
Bruno, having fully studied this war in the past, was aware of what needed to be done to secure a major tactical victory. Without his intervention, it would not be until December where the Japanese forces eventually broke through and seized a strategic hilltop, where they could line up their land artillery and bombard the Russian Fleet. In doing so, sinking all of its major capital ships.
This would be an enormous victory for the Japanese and would lead to their dominance in the Seas surrounding the area. Since this had yet to happen, Bruno planned to speed up the efforts by several months. Taking this point in the summer, rather than in the winter.
When he announced the plan to seize this hilltop for the use of stationing artillery over the Port. The Japanese thought Bruno saw this as an exercise of futility, and were quick to voice their opinions in this regard.
“With all due respect, Generlamajor, while I understand the reasoning behind your logic. I fear such an assault will incur massive casualties and will only result in failure. It is unwise to make such an attempt at this time.”
Knowing full well that this was the immediate path to victory, Bruno’s words were quite stern with the Japanese generals, causing him to make a declaration that he would soon come to regret in an attempt to spur the Japanese generals into action.
“This is the quickest route to victory. With the Russian fleet destroyed, their general will have no reason to try to continue defending the city! They will be forced to retreat to Mukden. Where we shall pursue them, encircle them, and eliminate the Russians to the last man! Once their army is defeated in such devastating numbers, the Tsar will be forced to pursue peace!
If you are now willing to order the assault on 203 meter hill, then I will lead the charge myself! Gather your men. The time for victory is now!”
Though Bruno had promised Heidi he would remain safely in the rear in an advisory capacity. In a heated moment, he had challenged the Japanese Generals and their sense of courage.
This, however, would ultimately backfire on Bruno, as the Japanese Generals saw this as an opportunity to pin their repeated failures on Bruno, rather than rise to the occasion to succeed themselves. As a result, they were quick to accept his challenge for this purpose.
“Very well, if you are confident of succeeding at the helm of the charge. Then we will order our men to follow you into battle. The command of the Third Army is yours. Do with them as you please. But just know that we expect nothing less than total victory! Should you fail to achieve your claims, we will naturally hold you responsible for the losses sustained during this campaign….”
Bruno suddenly realized that he had put his foot in his mouth. He only understood now that the Japanese Generals had suffered losses that were considered intolerable by the Emperor. Soon enough, the General Chief of Staff would demand drastic action from these Generals lest they be removed of their command.
Because of this, Bruno suddenly realized that he had just volunteered to take the blame for these men and their failures. But that would only be the case if he did not achieve victory in this battle.
Knowing that victory was certain if he made the proper preparations, Bruno ultimately steeled his resolve and accepted the offer to lead the Army into battle if the Japanese Generals were unwilling to do so. He had no reason to suddenly back out now that such an opportunity to make a name for himself had been granted to him.
As a result, Bruno scoffed, and made a brief comment, before marching off to begin making his preparations for the assault on the 203 Meter hill.
“When I have won this war for you all, I expect to be rewarded appropriately for my efforts!”
Though the Japanese Generals thought that Bruno was being arrogant. They had yet to see what he was capable of. And because of this, Bruno quickly went to work, first organizing the army and taking note of its current inventory.
Then by preparing sappers to lay explosives at the base of the Russian fortifications. And finally, on the 1st of September 1904, a whole four months before Japan was supposed to emerge victorious in this battle. Bruno ordered the attack to begin.
—
The Russians stationed in the defenses of 203 Meter hill were not the least bit expecting an assault by the Imperial Japanese Army when they were woken from their sleep early in the morning on September first. Previous engagements had taken place at a different battlefield known as 174 Meter Hill. Which had resulted in abject failure for the Japanese attackers.
But when the satchel charges that had been covertly laid at the base of the Russian fortifications were detonated, and a large chunk of their stronghold destroyed with it. The Russians were quickly awakened. Only to find themselves being pounded by the 11 pound Armstrong guns of the Imperial Japanese Army.
With each boom, dozens of Russians were caught in the blast. Quickly reducing their numbers as the minutes went by. The barrage continued for well over an hour before the whistle was blown. Shockingly, it was not a Japanese officer giving the order to assault the battered hillside.
Rather, a man wearing a German uniform stood at the head of the charge, rushing forward with a type 30 Bolt-action rifle in his hand, and its bayonet attached. As if he had been waiting two whole lifetimes for this moment. Bruno shouted the words he had said repeatedly in video games from his past life.
“Tenno heika banzai!”
All while leading thousands of Japanese soldiers through machine gun and rifle fire alike! The Russians had no idea what was happening. They were not even aware of the preparations the Japanese were making to assault this hill.
As the common belief among the Russian leadership was that the Japanese would once more try to take 174 Meter Hill instead. As for Bruno, he suppressed whatever fear he felt as bullets whipped past his face and body, narrowly missing him and instead dropping the bodies of the Japanese soldiers beneath his command.
Given the opportunity, Bruno took aim with his rifle and fired a shot down range. Which penetrated through the skull of a Russian officer, who himself was raising his Nagant revolver over the edge of the trench line. After doing this, Bruno racked the bolt on his rifle, ejecting the spent case while sending a fresh round into the chamber.
Once he had done this, Bruno continued forward along with the rest of the Japanese soldiers who were temporarily under his command. The scene of a German General brazenly leading Japanese soldiers into battle, would be immortalized by a Japanese painter who was currently serving in the Imperial Japanese Army at the Battle of 203 Meter Hill.
One which would depict Bruno being the first to enter the Russian Trench Line with an army of Japanese soldiers at his back.
