Chapter 94: A Wholesome Reunion
After being awarded the Order of Saint George 1st Class in another extravagant awards ceremony that Bruno would rather not have attended. Bruno officially disbanded the Iron Division and returned to the German Reich.
Upon arriving at the train station, Bruno was shocked to find that his family was standing there waiting for him. But it was not just Heidi and the kids who were eager to greet the man, but also his older brother Ludwig and his family.
Bruno wanted more than anything to go home with his family, and celebrate his safe return to them all. But this was unfortunately not on the cards. The Kaiser wanted him to report directly to his home to meet with him and the German Field Marshals to brief them on the war and the lessons he had learned in it.
No doubt the Russian Tsar was taking this opportunity to strengthen his position and modernize his army the best he could. At the same time, a new line of communications had been opened up between the Russian Empire and the German Reich.
Once more trade had begun flowing extensively between the two imperial powers, and it had done so shortly after the German intervention in the war began. In addition to this, diplomacy between the German Reich and the Russian Empire was at its greatest extent since the League of the Three Emperors was created in 1873.
Quite frankly, Bruno was the cause of all of this, and the Kaiser wanted to personally extend his gratitude. And because of this, Bruno was forced to only entertain his family for a mere thirty minutes before ultimately parting ways with them in order to meet with the Kaiser.
Standing in the Kaiser's palace, in his German military uniform with all of his awards pinned to his chest, Burno now looked the part of a proper general, even if these awards were mostly foreign.
He had chosen to wear the crimson sash of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, if not simply because it went better with the Feldgrau German Uniform with the red trim than the black and orange sash of the Order of Saint George did.
Nevertheless, the Breast Star of the Order of Saint George 1st class was pinned vertically above that of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, showing it off as the more prestigious of the two awards.
The Kaiser himself couldn't help but remark on how remarkably stylish Bruno appeared in a sentiment that he himself felt every time he looked in the mirror.
"I have to say, you are finally looking the part of the Rank you hold. Having a mere two medals pinned to your chest was rather unbecoming of a general in my army! Still, I do have a reward for you myself.
Quite frankly, I had wanted to promote you to Generalfeldmarschall to match your status as a Field Marshall in the Russian Army. But there were some who disagreed with me, believing it was too swift of a promotion, and because of this I have instead decided to confer upon you're the rank of General der Infanterie.