Chapter 222: The Angel of Berlin
In addition to making sure those children affected by the war within the Imperial Powers were properly taken care of should they lose their parents, or that the widows and their children were also given aid to support them without their husbands around to look after them.
Heidi's charities also expended significant amounts of resources and personnel looking after those physically wounded in battle. German soldiers naturally received priority, but if there were enough room in the field clinics and hospitals, then Austro-Hungarian and Russian soldiers were also treated.
The invention and mass production of life-saving antibiotics such as penicillin had done wonders to fight infections, severely decreasing the number of amputations that would have been medically necessary to stop the spread of otherwise lethal diseases.
In addition to this, the adoption of suitable footwear for the conditions of the trenches prevented the outbreak of fungal infections and other nasty conditions such as gangrene and trench foot that if not treated properly could lead to the loss of the affected limb, or worse death.
While Bruno had been almost entirely focused on producing the tools needed to kill as many of his enemies as possible and win the war, Heidi was the one who reminded him that Germans would suffer as well, and would need ample preparations to mitigate casualties.
All things considered, Germany was currently sustaining the least amount of deaths, as those who could be saved generally were because of what Heidi had done to prepare for the war. As a result, both Bruno and Heidi had gained reputations as angels, and were depicted as such in wartime propaganda.
There were just two distinctive roles which they served, and they were opposite to that. If Bruno was the living incarnation of Azrael, the Angel of Death who led millions of souls into the afterlife, then Heidi was the personification of Raphael, the one who healed those who had come to harm, and in doing so preventing her dark counterpart from reaping their souls.
Heidi was not just the one coordinating the efforts to save as many lives as possible, when she could manage the time, she would visit the soldiers who had been brought back to the fatherland for one reason or another, and give them a friendly smile, and her personal thanks. Letting them know that the world had not come to an end, and that the people they were protecting were extremely thankful for the sacrifices they had made.
One of the men who she was speaking to knew exactly who she was. He had after all served beneath her husband at Belgrade, and was injured during its defense after the Germans had gassed the residents into extinction, and occupied the ruins left behind.
The man had been injured enough that he was extracted from the battlefield and sent back to Berlin after his treatment was over. To be properly cared for and rehabilitated. Frankly speaking, he had an enormous amount of respect for Bruno, but he was suffering heavily from what he and the army did at Belgrade.
His wounds weren't just physical, his mind was scarred in ways that were difficult if not impossible to treat. And because of this, he couldn't help but feel like venting his frustrations with himself, to the woman of the man who had ordered the army to massacre an entire city.
"You're Heidi... Right? Heidi von Zehntner... The wife of the Generalfeldmarschall?"