Chapter 69: The Spring Offensive Begins
Rather surprisingly, after the attempt on Bruno's life, and the propaganda used to depict it as an attack by the Red Army. It was not just the Russian Army's forces who were bolstered by mass recruitment.
When the news reached the shores of the German Reich, tens of thousands of men were up in arms. Declaring their intention to join the Iron Brigade and put an end to the Bolsheviks once and for all.
There were chants for war in the streets of Berlin, as veterans and civilians alike demanded the blood of the Marxists who had dared to do something as cowardly as attack their General in the streets of Saint Petersburg.
Naturally, the outcry for war, and the tens of thousands of men who rallied in support of it had the French sweating bullets, as they realized they were incredibly lucky that their attack was mistaken for one conducted by the Red Army.
This, however, was far from the truth. The German government knew all too well the French were behind the assassination attempt. And were preparing for a swift and brutal retaliation against French Military Leadership themselves.
But for the time being, they allowed the people of the world to believe the masterminds behind this attack were the Bolsheviks, as it furthered the current goals of the German Reich, which was to bring an end to the ongoing Russian Civil War.
As a result, the Iron Brigade began accepting more and more members. Causing the German Arms industry to begin the manufacture of more weapons to support the number of foreign volunteers participating in the Russian Civil War.
Machine Guns, artillery, rifles, and grenades were manufactured to meet the demand. While the Iron Brigade established proper training centers where one could learn to march, shoot, as well as perform basic infantry tactics.
Whether this meant urban warfare training, trench warfare training, basic combat medical training, or the use and operation of heavy weaponry such as machine guns and artillery. Over the course of the months following Bruno's injury, an additional 19,000 men were armed, trained, and sent to Saint Petersburg to fight as a part of the Iron Brigade.
Of these 25,000 men, 15,000 operated as infantry, and 4,000 were trained for use in artillery regiments.