Chapter 267: The Hubris of Man
The Central Powers had been given a string of victories, and only a single defeat nearly a year into the war. Had they simply pushed into Paris, Belgrade, and Constantinople from the start of the war, it would have been over by now.
But that would have resulted in the Allied Powers simply gearing up for round two. And if that could at all be avoided, Bruno wanted to do so.
The plan was to fight defensively, and use their overwhelming preparations to absolutely bleed the Allied Powers dry of their men and resources so that they simply could not wage war for decades.
And in doing so, buying Bruno and his enterprises enough time to ensure that Germany once more had an overwhelming technological advantage should that dreadful day finally come to pass.
However, it was almost certain that repeated victories had gone straight to the heads of those in charge of the Central Powers, or at least had inflated the egos and confidence of certain powerful and shortsighted men who had the power to bring everything to ruin with their misplaced arrogance.
And this had manifested it in the Bundesrat's Committee for Naval Affairs, who accepted Bruno's suggestion of adopting the Landing Craft fleet he had personally paid for, only to stab him in the back and commandeer it for their own foolish purposes.
What were these purposes, a potential invasion of the British Isles. Honestly, Bruno did not care all that much about the theft of his personal property. At least in this current instance. These ships were designed for the purpose of being fielded by the Kaiserliche Marine, and he would have voluntarily given them up in that regard even without being commanded to do
So.
No, the problem he had was with the reasoning he was given. Opening a new front of the war when it was not needed was beyond foolish. German Naval dominance of the North Sea and the Atlantic more or less guaranteed that the British Isles could be fully blockaded if the need truly arose.
To send hundreds of thousands of men, and their supplies onto the shores of England, was both unnecessary and a disaster waiting to happen. For example, the Western Front was already stretched thin, as Germany had its forces spread across three other fronts. That being the Italian Theater, the Balkans, and in the Caucasus.