The Red Army’s loss at Tsaritsyn spread quickly throughout the world. After all, it was the second siege in which their forced had been decimated. 180,000 Marxists lie dead, while the losses sustained by the Tsarist Loyalists and accompanying Iron Division were in the tens of thousands. It was a significant gap in terms of casualties.
But Bruno was all too aware that just because you win every battle, did not mean that you will necessarily win the war in the end. This was a war fought for the future of the Russian Motherland, and if the Tsar failed to win the hearts and minds of the people, then he would inevitably lose the war even if he won every conflict fought between him and the revolutionaries.
Because of this, Bruno immediately went to work concocting a new string of propaganda. Depicting him with the banner of Russia raised proudly behind him while dressed in a Russian military uniform as he raised a revolver to the heads of the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution.
Two lie dead in the snow, and that was Leon Trotsky, and Yakov Sverdlov. As for the rest, bound and gagged by their side, kneeling in their own filth. They consisted of the likes of Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Maxim Litvinov et cetera. And Bruno’s m1895 Nagant revolver, as he was depicted holding in the propaganda, was pointed to Lenin’s head.
The words: “Beware the Red Scourge” were written in the color of blood, and in the style commonly found in slasher horror fonts of the future. It was a truly menacing depiction if one were aligned with the Marxists.
But the depiction of the light of god shining down on Bruno as he prepared the pull the trigger on Lenin, along with the pearly gates up in the sky above the Russian banner was a sight that encouraged the people of Russia to turn back to the light of God’s mercy, and away from the evils of Marxism.
Tsaritsyn was secured, and the factories were back in the hands of the lawful government of Russia. Producing weapons for Tsar and motherland as they should be. It was an enormous blow to the Red Army who, until now, had to rely on stealing weapons and munitions shipments from the Tsarist forces.
There was no access for international aid after Saint Petersburg successfully defended itself. And now that the one major industrial center that was in their hands was recaptured by the enemy, the Red Army would be running out of munitions and weaponry soon enough.
Because of this, the remaining leaders of the Bolshevik revolution gathered once more than they hid in Moscow within a dimly lit house at night. Discussing the dire situation they had now found themselves in.
Lenin was absolutely furious. He was quick to anger, after all. The man had lost both the founder of the Red Army and his best propagandists. After the capture of Tsaritsyn, the Black Hundreds had stormed into the homes of the Sverdlov family and apprehended all of its members.
There was more than enough evidence found within their homes to convict them of treason, allowing the loyalist Militias to execute them on the spot. Their deaths were as cruel as one could imagine, but well deserved.
They had, after all, started a revolution that had caused the deaths and suffering of hundreds of thousands of people thus far. And in Bruno’s past life, the Russian Civil war had claimed millions of victims, not to mention the tens of millions who would die in the following years as a result of the Soviet Union’s reign of terror.
But Lenin, of course, didn’t see it this way. He was yelling at the other leaders of his revolution, which, with each passing day, was starting to look like a doomed prospect.
“The Red Scourge!?! The Red fucking Scourge!?! This is the name you fools have come up with for our enemy!?! That only works in his favor, you morons! When people see these leaflets, do you know what they think?
The last thing I will ever do is align with the communists if the Red Scourge is after them! It’s a terrifying title, and the propagandists within the Empire have made full effect after learning of the nickname you have given this German bastard!”
Nobody really had anything to say on this matter. It’s not like they personally came up with the name for Bruno. In fact, nobody really knew where it came from. Only that it originated among the ranks of the Red Army, who, after hearing what had happened to their comrades at Saint Petersburg and Tsaritsyn, began depicting Bruno as if he was an agent of death sent to carry their souls to the afterlife.
Yet Lenin was treating them as if they were responsible for the creation of the nickname. To put it simply, there were those among the Red Army who were in Manchuria, and knew of the German General by the name of “Mamushi” after the decisive and swift victories he gained at Port Arthur and Mukden.
And there were others among their ranks who knew Bruno by the name “The Wolf of Prussia” for how quickly he was able to sniff out and hound the Boxer Remnants in China until they were fully eradicated.
Only now were they understanding why the man kept earning terrifying nicknames with each campaign he fought. The man was ruthless in the pursuit of victory. And was very good at entrapping his enemies. Leading them by the nose as he obliterated them down to the last man.
Now the Marxists had begun to name Bruno the Red Scourge, and the nickname was fully adopted in Imperial Russian Propaganda. When compared to the Bolsheviks’ own propaganda of uniting against the Tsar for the sake of worker’s rights, it was a far more compelling reason not to do such a thing.
After all, if throwing your lot with the Bolsheviks meant being chased after a man who had the deaths of over half a million people on his hands. Then who the hell would want to provoke such a man? Worker’s rights? Fuck your worker’s rights! The life of a serf was still a life worth living! Especially if the alternative was certain death!
Needless to say, replacing the losses sustained at Tsaritsyn was no easy task. And because of this, Joseph Stalin made a proposal towards this regard. Quickly shifting Lenin’s anger towards a more practical solution to the current problem.
“100,000 men… 100,000 men lie dead in Tsaritsyn. Meanwhile, we have begun to suffer rates of desertion that are much higher than they have been in the past. It is clear that the men are terrified of this so called “Red Scourge.”
And why would they be? He doesn’t even treat us as if we are human? Hell, he treats the hounds used by the loyalist militias with better care than he does us. Have you seen the latest photographs taken by our spies in Saint Petersburg? The man was seen petting the mongrels with a satisfied smile on his face after they had ripped Trotsky’s corpse to pieces.
The message is clear: there is no surrender to this enemy. Do you understand me? He will order our deaths the moment we wave the white flag! So how do we deal with our forces who hold such dread for this monster and flee upon making contact with his forces? Well, we just have to remind them that we are far more terrifying than this so-called Red Scourge…”
Lenin narrowed his eyes towards Joseph Stalin’s remarks, quickly interrogating his men on what exactly he had in mind to handle their deserters.
“And how exactly do you propose such a thing? It’s not easy to make ourselves seem more intimidating to our men than a monster who has killed 180,000 of their comrades… Such numbers are overwhelming.”
Stalin simply scoffed; his expression equally callous as it was malicious. His words oozing with malicious intent.
“Isn’t it obvious? We shoot them in the back if they dare take a step in retreat! Not one step back!”
It was a desperate measure to handle deserters, to be sure. But they had lost 100,000 men after Tsaritsyn’s fall to Bruno, men who were too cowardly to stand and fight against the Red Scourge. And with their current recruitment crisis, the Red Army needed to resort to such drastic acts.
Thus, the order was given to all commissars within the Ranks of the Red Army. If a single soldier dares to take a step in retreat, you are to gun him down on the spot in front of his comrades. And if your entire unit breaks ranks and routes, you are to treat them the same.
Not one step back! Such were the words of Joseph Stalin’s order 227 in Bruno’s past life. And so too had they come into existence in this timeline. Only four decades earlier than they should have.
