Chapter 207: Unexpected Consequences of Excessive Retaliation
Rumors of what happened at Belgrade spread like wildfire across the Western world. Belgrade was gassed into extinction by an exceptionally large use of chemical weapons, fired via artillery shells onto the city by the besieging German Army.
Was surrender not requested? If so, was this a war crime? Why would a man take such overwhelming action against a city that, while having a large military presence, held a far greater number of civilians?
What could possibly compel a man to act in such a way? It was shortly after this that German intelligence began leaking information to the public about the Black Hand, their ties to the Serbian Government, and the list of crimes they were responsible for, either directly or indirectly.
Whether it was the murder of the previous and rightful ruling dynasty of Serbia, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, or the repeated attempts made to murder Bruno because he suggested he was aware of their existence.
Everything came to light in the days following the massacre of Belgrade. And because Bruno was the only one who really witnessed what actually happened, he utilized his control over various media outlets across both the German Reich and the USA to depict the Serbian Royal Family as holding the city hostage and refusing to surrender under any conditions.
In addition to this, the Black Hand's arming and training of violent extremist groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which led to a variety of heinous crimes-including the murder of the Bosnian Serbian family who once served Bruno hot meals at their place of business-led many to conclude that Bruno had decided to make an example of the Usurper King and his -city.
The common headlines in the weeks that followed lambasted the Serbian Government for their role in causing the outbreak of this war, blaming the destruction of their capital entirely on them and the conspirators they protected and sheltered from justice.
And while this caused the Allies of Serbia to gaze upon the leaderless yet defiant nation with a bit of disdain, choosing to drag them into a war rather than face the consequences of their own actions by themselves, it did not stop the war.
Too many factions wanted this conflict to happen, and just because the fault of the Serbian Royal Family and their ties to the Black Hand were revealed to the public did not mean that hostilities would suddenly cease.
No, the war needed to happen, and the death of the Austrian Archduke was simply the excuse needed to finally wage it. Bruno, however, came to severely regret his actions at Belgrade- not because they were ineffective in achieving his initial goals.