Re: Blood and Iron

The war in Italy continued to progress at a rate that Bruno found to be not at all surprising, and yet still somewhat alarming. By the year's end, the Ottomans were sure to capitulate. Though General Caneva was praised within international. newspaper outlets for his "bold, decisive, and aggressive strategy which crushed the Ottoman defense while outnumbered and outgunned,"

Bruno knew that this likely was not the case. He had done some of his own investigating into what happened outside Shar al-Shatt, and sure enough, the change in the timeline had not resulted from any major shift in the infamous General's personality. Rather, it was an act of insubordination from a figure who was unknown to Bruno in his previous life.

This man was the officer in charge of the Italian Brigade holding the line while under orders to wait for reinforcements. He was, in all honesty, a figure unknown to Bruno from his past life, and because of this, Bruno thought perhaps he was a threat that needed to be removed.

The reality of the situation was far from Bruno's worst fears. Colonel Giovanni Columbo was not a reincarnated individual like Bruno's paranoia had compelled him to investigate. Rather, he was a nameless officer in the ranks of the Italian Army who history likely forgot the name of, as in Bruno's past life, he had not made any significant contributions to the war effort.

In fact, according to Bruno's investigation, he received a battlefield promotion after the initial landing to the rank of colonel, likely as a result of the butterfly effect. Whoever was supposed to be in his position had died in the earliest days of the war, being replaced by this nameless figure.

And it was because of this that his impatient and daring character led to a major shift. in the war's timeline. While Bruno would continue to monitor this newly emerged face, he was instead more focused on General Caneva's newfound prestige.

Obviously, the direct insubordination by the Colonel beneath his command had been covered up; the man responsible for this victory was likely given leniency in exchange for the credit being stripped from him.

This changed things, as General Caneva's poor performance in the war basically stripped him of any battlefield command by the end of the war and brought back to the Italian homeland to basically serve a desk job for the rest of his career. He had been given a promotion, but it was in name only.

But now... now he was likely to be considered a far more capable general than he actually was, and if that happened, Italy would be even worse off when the time for a war with the German Reich became a reality.

This had, in some ways, benefited Bruno and his ambitions, but only mildly so. With the preparations he had made, he believed defeating the Italian Army in the Alps would take a single decisive battle. And from there, it was a short march into Rome.