Chapter 204: Human Nature and its Endless Cruelty
August von Mackensen met up with Bruno not long after the man had emerged victorious against two of Serbia's four Field Armies. Granted, their overall size was smaller in comparison to a single German Field Army, each of which were maxed out at 300,000 men at the start of the war, and given the most advanced equipment to fight with.
But defeating them both, and forcing them to surrender within a handful of hours, was no doubt a phenomenal move. Because of this, August von Mackensen gazed at Bruno as if he were the living incarnation of some ancient Pagan God of War, before abruptly speaking his thoughts aloud.
"I'll have my men relay your victory and its details back to the Kaiser... I think it's about time you were granted a proper rank for a man of your caliber. And if I dare say so, you might be the first one to be awarded an Iron Cross in this war..."
Bruno also handed a list of names to his current superior officer, of which he guessed would no longer be in charge of him after this swift and brutal victory. The list contained men who he felt had earned some kind of recognition for their performance during the battle.
He then walked away as if the prospect of being rewarded for his service didn't interest him in the slightest, but not before leaving behind a few demands as he did so.
"Tell the Kaiser unless these men are also properly awarded for their valor, there is no need to waste his time coming to Sarajevo to present me alone with an Iron Cross..."
The list was rather extensive, but Bruno had written everything these men had done in battle, he had after all been observing the conflict as short as it was, and had interviewed the Officers and NCOs beneath his command for any names of the men beneath their command which they felt had performed admirably during the heat of combat.
August von Mackenson took a look at the extensive list and the reasons given for their recommendation, and the award Bruno felt was appropriate for their degree of valor and sacrifice in the face of the enemy. Before looking back to where Bruno had walked off to.
"He prepared all of this, while also ensuring that the hundred thousand plus prisoners of war are all being carted off to captivity? What kind of masterful control of his time and resources does this man have?"
Bruno was recalled to Sarajevo, which was easy enough as he had men in the logistics departments transporting way too many prisoners of war to properly count. He could easily hitch a ride on these trucks before getting on the railway and make it back to the Bosnian Capital within a couple of hours.