Bruno’s journey home from Manchuria was as long as his visit to it. But it allowed him to further pursue the friendship he had established with a captain in the German Navy. As a result, he spent the next two months in these efforts.
But two months was a long time, especially in terms of geopolitics. Many things could happen within such a duration, and many things did. Not only had the Russo-Japanese war officially come to an end, with the Empire of Japan gaining significantly more out of it than they had in Bruno’s past life. There were also significant events with two other major powers in the current world.
First and foremost, Bruno’s actions had moved up the Russian Revolution of 1905. A month after the Russo-Japanese war came to an end in September 1904, while Bruno was still in transit to the fatherland. Lenin returned from his exile in Europe and succeeded in mending the rift between the two major Marxist forces in Russia.
The Bolsheviks and Mensheviks united in a common cause to overthrow the Tsar. And violent revolution had begun in the streets of Saint Petersburg, as well as Moscow and several other major Russian cities.
Numbers swelled from an initial estimate of a few thousand to tens of thousands within the span of weeks. The revolutionary’s first major acts of violence, outside of a few riots, were to storm military depots where they seized both the arms and munitions within them for their cause.
This was no longer a mere ragtag group of rioters, but well-armed revolutionaries. Whose red banners and armbands gathered the attention of those in the streets most of whom simply hoped for the tide of revolution to end as quickly as possible and with limited bloodshed.
Meanwhile, France endured another colonial upset. The local tribes of Madagascar had taken up arms against their masters. And as a result, a young French Colonel was deployed to quell it by any means necessary.
Leon Sinclair had in the years since the Boxer Rebellion attended the prestigious École supérieure de guerre which was the French Army’s take on the Prussian War College. However, unlike Bruno, who graduated after three years with the rank of Generalmajor. Leon graduated after two years at the rank of colonel.
This was his first deployment since the Boxer Rebellion. A conflict where his own personal glory was stolen by a German bastard, incited to act on behalf of the Republic by a traitorous general! Or such was the Revanchist Marxist’s own take on what had occurred there.
In fact, he was quite happy about what was happening in Russia. Though he had no means of financially or militarily supporting the Russian communist revolutionaries. Leon supported them morally all the same.
But now was not the time for such concerns. At his own request, the Republic had sent him to Madagascar to put down some pesky natives who had taken up arms in revolt against the French Colonial Empire. And in doing so, murdered a French Sergeant at night while he was sleeping at base. It was a troublesome matter, one which Leon thought little of.
After all, the revolt started because of a variety of factors. Over taxation, execution of locals without a proper trial, repression of religious minorities such as protestants and Muslims, and all the other shit that was common whenever colonialism occurred in a region.
It was because such cruelty was so common that Leon thought nothing of it as he got off the ship to Madagascar with his brigade in tow. I mean, why would he consider this conflict anything more than a minor scuffle?
The local militias which were fighting against him and his troops were poorly equipped. Something that was not at all surprising when you considered Madagascar, like most of sub-saharan Africa had never developed any sense of industry.
What few rifles were among their ranks were primarily old flintlock designs, traded to native Africans centuries in the past by European and Arab merchants, usually in exchange for things like slaves, diamonds, gold, et cetera.
They were obsolete weaponry when the Africans initially purchased them, usually at an unfair price which advantaged the merchants. Let alone now in the 20th century. Aside from these old muskets, the majority of the rebels were armed with spears.
This made it incredibly easy for the French Army, which was by all means considered a modern army here and now at the turn of the century, to just mow down the rebels en masse with limited or no casualties altogether.
Which could easily be achieved with the Lebel Model 1886 rifle that had long since become standard issue for French Forces around the globe. As for the use of machine guns. The French had yet to adopt such a device for service. In fact, they would not begin such efforts until a year later with the unreliable and failed Puteaux Model 1905 machine gun.
Meanwhile, the Germans had begun to manufacture as many MG 01 maxim water-cooled machine guns as their industry could support. This action was taken by the Upper Echelons of German High Command after hearing Bruno’s theories on the future of warfare and the need for mass employment of machine guns on the modern battlefield.
His theories were proven correct during the Second Boer War and the Russo-Japanese war. Sparking the desire by the German Army for as many machine guns as they could reasonably field. Currently, the only machine gun employed by the Germans was the MG-01, which itself was the predecessor of the MG-08 Machine Gun.
Which was the primary machine gun of the German Army during the Great War of Bruno’s past life. Unfortunately, such a weapon would never be developed in this timeline, as it was currently being replaced by the MG-34 Prototypes that were still under development, testing, and soon to be military trials.
But France, like Britain, Russia, and other major powers of the World had yet to fully realize the effectiveness of machine guns. Particularly due to the pride of the older generations who were currently in charge of the military.
They would follow the same script as their past life, and in 1914, suddenly realize that the old era had ended decades prior, and that their efforts had been in waste. But that was a concern for a much later time.
For now, Leon was forced to put down these rebellions with bolt action rifles and some outdated artillery. After all, the Colonial Army was not exactly the priority when it came to the most recent developments in military weaponry.
It was because of this that his troops advanced through the Madagascar countryside, utilizing primarily bolt action rifles as their weaponry. The village they were currently in was known as Ranomafana. It was located in the southern portion of the island colony.
In Bruno’s past life, the French had suffered a humiliating defeat here at the hands of the Rebels. However, the butterfly effect was a powerful thing. And Bruno’s interference in this timeline had longer reaching effects than he previously estimated.
Spurred on by the humiliation he suffered in the Boxer Rebellion, one that he had imposed upon himself because of his own hatred. Leon Sinclair, a figure unknown to Bruno’s understanding of history, had decided to make his entire professional career one spent in the military.
In doing so, his life became about pursuing greater power and glory on the battlefield. This was the first opportunity to advance his career after graduating from the École supérieure de guerre. He immediately requested deployment to Madagascar the moment the revolt became apparent.
In doing so, he brought an entire brigade worth of men to annihilate the revolt, rather than a mere company of local soldiers who were used to do so in Bruno’s past life. They had just engaged a group of rebels not far from this village. And it was with this in mind that Leon pursued them here, believing they were hiding within it.
Immediately upon entering the village, armed and prepared for conflict. The local leaders approached Leon, who, by the means of poorly pronounced French, spoke niceties to the French Colonel.
“It is our greatest honor to welcome the French commander to our humble village. But we must ask, why are you here? Ranomafana has done no wrong to its Colonial Masters. Surely there is some kind of mistake?”
Leon coldly gazed at the villagers who appeared unusually anxious. He silently motioned towards one of his officers to lead a search for the missing rebels, while he himself tried to pacify the tribal leaders.
“My men were recently ambushed by a group of rebels just south of here. In the ensuing combat, the cowards who survived fled the scene of their crimes, leaving a trail of blood that led to this village.
We will now be conducting a search of every mud hut you call a home in search of the rebels. And if we find that you are hiding them, there will be severe consequences for you and everyone in this pitiful hamlet!”
The tribal leaders looked at one another with a further sense of dread. That alone confirmed Leon’s suspicions that they were hiding rebels. Surely enough, it did not take long for the French soldiers to rip the village apart.
Their findings were conclusive enough for Leon to take action. Not only did they find the wounded rebels being treated in the village. But they found supplies, weapons caches, and even messages exchanged by the local villagers, alerting the rebels to the location and timing of French Patrols.
Because of this, Leon was quick to order the apprehension of the Rebels.
“Men, arrest these traitors to the Republic!”
The French soldiers were quick to act on their orders, where they were not the least bit surprised by the local villagers and their attempts to shield the rebels from apprehension and execution. As a result, things quickly turned violent, with local villagers unleashing knives on the French soldiers.
After one of his men was ruthlessly stabbed in the neck by a Madagascaran woman, Leon immediately ordered the unthinkable.
“Fuck it, kill these savages! Kill them all!”
Because of this, the French soldiers lowered their rifles and began firing on the villagers, whether they were partaking in the violence, or simply women and children cowering the background. All began to fall to the gunfire of the French Army.
Those who fled into the countryside were not spared, either. As French soldiers aimed their sights upon their backs and gunned them down without hesitation. In the end, a massacre unfolded, as the village of Ranomafana was laid to waste. Bodies were scattered across the vicinity with not a single native still breathing in sight.
And it was as Leon gazed upon the death and despair that he had wrought, that he smirked viciously before giving one final command to his men.
“Burn it! Let these savages know what happens when they dare to take up arms against the might of France!”
The bodies of the lifeless villagers were stacked upon a bonfire and lit aflame, turning their corpses to ash. While the thatched huts were individually lit aflame. In the end, there would be nothing that remained of the village of Ranomafana or those who once lived within it.
Ranomafana would be one of many villages massacred by the last man, woman, and child as Leon began his march of fury against the native population who had so brazenly revolted against colonial rule.
Despite the atrocities committed by Leon here in Madagascar, he would not be condemned as a war criminal, for such things were reserved for wars fought between “civilized” nations. Instead, he would be rewarded with a legion of merit for his actions. Which was, of course the highest honor France could bestow upon one of its soldiers.
