Chapter 73: The Daily Life of Siege Warfare
"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.