“This shall hence become my music.” – King Charles XII of Sweden
Such were the first words that resounded in Bruno’s mind upon awaking to the echo of guns in the dawn. In a similar vein, the legendary Swedish King had spoken this exact quote upon hearing the thunder of his artillery crack the sky when fired upon his enemies for the first time.
Bruno awoke after a long night of artillery, which ceased sometime around 2 AM, only to be resumed with the break of dawn. For him, it was the sign that he needed to awaken and start the day. Truth be told, sieges were often long and dull affairs.
What was Bruno’s first action upon getting out of bed? The same as it would be if he were home, rather than in the trenches outside Tsaritsyn. First, he would get dressed, bathe, brush his teeth, before having breakfast. All the while artillery crackled in the background.
He was, of course, not the only one undertaking such mundane actions of daily life. Nor was it just the privileged officer corps in the rear of the Trenches. Rather, all soldiers began these activities who had awakened with the dawn preparing for their shift for whatever role that had been given during this deployment.
Machine gunners switched roles, as a new team began to man the guns, while others went to get some rest. And the same could be said for those whose function was to operate the artillery. Even the rifle men sat beneath the fortified trenches, which had been covered with sandbags.
For the sake of not revealing future tactics, Bruno had not laid barbed wire across no-man’s-land. Nor had he yet to invent landmines to be lain within the desolate region between his trenches and the city of Tsaritsyn.
Would such things prove to be effective and decimate the enemy waves prior to their charge against his fortifications? Oh, most certainly. But it was also a trump card, which he prepared for his grand defensive strategy when the time came for the Great War to begin.
After all, Bruno had little hope in Kaiser Wilhelm II being able to convince Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Franz Joseph I to be able to settle their differences in the Balkans and instead fight together against the British and the French.
It was simply inevitable that Germany should enter a Two front war. And while he had the opportunity to ensure the Italians fulfilled their obligations of the Triple Alliance, or the Central Powers as it was now known. Bruno did not trust the Italians.
Whether it came to their competency in the field, or their loyalty to the alliance. History had proven the Italian Army was incapable of performing satisfactorily in both regards. They were more of a liability than they were a gain as far as Bruno was concerned.
And because of this, he was already devising a strategy on how to eliminate the entire Italian Army at Isonzo, and then march on Rome, forcing them to surrender at the start of their entry into the war.
In fact, that was much of what Bruno did in his spare time, when he wasn’t observing the ongoing shelling of Tsaritsyn. Planning for the future, as well as writing his affections to his family. Assuring them that he was safe, and that he would be home as soon as possible.
Bruno wrote back home as frequently as he could. And because of this, his family felt a sense of closeness to him even if he was far, far away from home. With one letter in particular from his wife being kept on his person at all times.
“My Dearest Love,
I miss you more than words can say. The days drag on without you, and I’m counting the seconds until you’re back where you belong—by my side. The children and I are holding things together, but it’s not the same without you here.
The thought of you out there, away from me, drives me mad. I need you home, safe, where I can keep you close, where you’re mine and mine alone.
Come back to me soon, my love. I’ll be waiting.
Forever yours, Heidi”
This letter was especially heartwarming to Bruno in these troubled times because his children had all drawn rather crude smiley faces along with their own messages. Which consisted of all the poor grammar he expected from children their age. All of which expressed the love they held for their father, and their desire for him to come home soon.
In addition to this, Bruno would keep correspondence with the Kaiser and the German High Command, informing them of the ongoing efforts of the siege. And the Russian Army, which was active in different parts of the country.
While Tsaritsyn was a location of strategic significance and was made a priority as a result. It wasn’t the only battlefield at the moment. But frankly speaking, Bruno didn’t care how many soldiers of the Russian Army and the Red Army died elsewhere. So long as the war continued to progress in the Tsar’s favor.
Instead, he was more concerned about the objective in front of him. With each day, tens of thousands of shells were dropped on Tsaritsyn. And thousands were fired back in response. But as two weeks passed it became abundantly clear to both sides that one side had significantly more firepower.
Which was naturally a result of the sabotage operations Bruno had ordered to conduct on the first night. This sabotage only continued with each passing night since. By now, not only had the Red Army’s field guns been reduced to a dozen in total.
But their factories were undergoing repair and were incapable of producing more shells to field. Whatever stockpiles remained would be depleted in three days at the latest if the factories could not find themselves up and running in the meantime.
Though the Red Army tried to hide its munitions, food, water, medical supplies, et cetera in different locations every night, the saboteurs quickly spotted them and destroyed the stockpiles every time. And while Yakov had begun to suspect that someone in his ranks had turned traitor.
The reality of the situation was that the people of Tsaritsyn, or at least a small portion of them were loyalists, who fed information to the Tsarist soldiers outside the city’s gates, who would, in turn report them to Bruno.
After confirming the information was accurate every time, Bruno would send his saboteurs to eliminate the stockpiles. Not entirely. After all, it would be no fun if the enemy ran out of supplies in the first two weeks of the siege.
In fact, the more the stockpiles slowly dwindled, the more the situation became hopeless to the soldiers of the Red Army. After all, they knew by now that they had been betrayed, and that the enemy was simply screwing with them.
Of course, the only other option was to surrender and be shot in the streets like Trotsky had been. Because of this, they fought on no matter how dire the situation became. This was despite the fact that the enemy could, at any point infiltrate the city and destroy their supplies entirely.
Hell, the loyalists could probably cut the throats of the Red Army’s leadership while they slept. But they didn’t, not out of some sense of benevolence, but because the enemy found their misery entertaining.
And finally, after two weeks of this game of cat and mouse, Yakov Sverdlov finally had enough. Ordering his soldiers whose morale was thoroughly shattered to storm the enemy’s fortifications.
For two weeks they had been humiliated, while suffering mass casualties under the near constant barrage of the German guns, which rotated to ensure that near all hours of the day shells were falling on the Red Army.
They started off with 100,000 men defending the city. By now, roughly half had their lives taken from the shells which fell on their position. Most of which were due to traumatic brain injuries caused by shrapnel.
After all, unlike the soldiers of the Iron Division, the Red Army did not have steel helmets to protect their skulls from the German Artillery. Nor were their trenches designed with such complex fortifications such as areas to protect them from artillery.
Because of this, they were simply forced to sit and hope that the enemy artillery did not take their life. This was Bruno’s overall goal, as he stood at the front lines of the trenches. Gazing through the fog while smoking a cigarette.
He could tell by the unusual density of the fog that today, after two weeks of constant shelling, sabotage and harassment the enemy would soon make their move. It was only a matter of time before the counterattack would begin.
And because of this, Bruno watched and waited. While silently making preparations in the background for what would occur only moments from now. After all, the thick fog which permeated the landscape gave an excellent opportunity to the Red Army. One which Bruno knew their inexperienced commander would take.
