Chapter 179: Echoes of the Forthcoming War Part I
Whether it was the war in Libya or the upcoming American election, Bruno had kept a close watch on world affairs. War was coming, and much quicker than he had previously thought it would. And it was perhaps because of this that he was now in close communication with allied generals who he could trust had a level of competency.
Russia was not particularly well known for its brilliant military commanders. Even Marshal Zhukov, who was praised for the victory over the Wehrmacht in the Second World War of Bruno's past life, had about as much subtlety and nuance as a blacksmith's hammer.
But in the Great War, there was one General who stood above the rest among the Stavka, which was the name for the Russian Empire's military high command. General Mikhail Alekseyev was also a man Bruno had some friendly ties to.
Having served beneath his command during the Russian Civil War, which in this life had occurred much earlier than in the previous timeline, Bruno often found himself one-upping the man in a game of chess when they were not on the battlefield.
Mikhail also had a great degree of respect for Bruno, so much so that he had described Bruno as being "A rare quality among military officers, insofar as he was one of the few generals in human history who preferred standing on the front lines of war with the soldiers beneath his authority rather than safely commanding his troops from afar."
Because of this, he was one of Bruno's confidants, especially after the formal alliance known in this timeline as the Union of Imperial Powers was forged through Bruno's hard-fought and painstakingly manipulated efforts on the global stage.
Currently, Mikhail was sitting in Bruno's home, along with another familiar face, a man who Bruno considered to be the only intelligent and competent general that Austro-Hungary could muster in its defense.
Svetozar Boroevi? was a Croatian general in the Austro-Hungarian armed forces and was one of the finest defensive military leaders of the war. He was also invited to Bruno's home, and the two men had kept in touch ever since Bruno's first foray into the lands of the Habsburg Dynasty.
While Bruno had foresight given to him by experience from a life set one hundred years from now, he did not make the mistake of believing his knowledge was both infallible and without peer. Instead, he very much liked to hear the opinions of history's greatest tactical minds, of which he did not consider himself among the prestigious ranks.
Instead, Bruno sat with a cigarette in one hand and a stein of beer in the other as he and the two Generals spoke together at his personal table. They had come a long way at his request, and if Bruno were to personally extend an invitation to anybody, it meant something big was happening.