Chapter 205: The Iron Cross 2nd Class
While Heidi made use of her contacts to search for those responsible for the murder of the Bosnian Serbian family, which had rather graciously served German and Austro-Hungarian troops who occupied the city of Sarajevo a year prior.
Bruno himself stood in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a royal procession was made for the troops in the region. Not only did the Kaiser come with his personal guard, but he also brought reinforcements to the front lines.
Less than a week had passed since the war began, and yet things were going better than anyone had thought possible. British expeditionary forces had yet to make their way to the European mainland, with every attempt being sunk in the seas before they ever reached the shores of Normandy.
Meanwhile, the French Army's repeated attempts to assault the German border fortifications, prepared long in advance at Elsass-Lothringen, had met with repeated and gruesome failures. At the start of the war, Bruno had crushed one half of the Royal Serbian Army.
Though the Serbians immediately began conscripting and arming every man and boy who could bear arms in preparation for the upcoming siege of Belgrade, Kaiser Wilhelm II had recalled Bruno back into Austro-Hungarian territory to reward him for his crushing victory over the enemy in the opening stages of the war.
To put it simply, Bruno was being awarded for his efforts in two distinctive ways. While the German Army secured the area where the Kaiser would publicly promote Bruno to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall-the highest rank in the German Army-the Kaiser also intended to pin a distinctive honor on the man's chest.
Bruno once more found himself face to face with the German Emperor as the man stripped the shoulder boards from his uniform, replacing them with the distinctive crossed batons that a Generalfeldmarschall would proudly sport.
In addition, Wilhelm handed Bruno an Iron Cross 2nd class and pinned it in front of his other medals. For this ceremony, Bruno only wore those medals authorized by the German Army, such as his China Medal and his Cross of the Iron Division.
Everyone else who would be rewarded for their efforts at the Serbian border would receive their honors from their direct commanding officer. Only Bruno, who now answered solely to the Kaiser, would have the medal personally pinned on his chest by Wilhelm.
After doing so, the German Emperor patted Bruno on the back before saying something to him in an informal and friendly tone.