Re: Blood and Iron

The Allied forces were preparing for a major offensive in response to their failure in the Balkans. And while chaos erupted across their colonial possessions, no doubt instigated by the German Reich, and their allies within the Central Powers. Their eyes were once more cast upon Luxembourg.

Having tested the combined defenses of the Royal Belgian Army and the Imperial German Army at Belgium’s borders with France, and were once more repelled by their adversaries.

The Allied powers came to the conclusion that if they were to funnel their combined might into Luxembourg, they would be able to push back the Germans and gain a much needed foothold on the western front.

They came to this conclusion specifically because Luxembourg was the weakest of the German defenses in the west. Only a single division stood at its border with France. From the German perspective, creating a failure point in their defense was necessary.

Because they could predict with perfect certainty where the enemy would be coming from when they finally made their move, as it was the most likely point to fail. And could thus throw men into the fire to reinforce the position once the bullets began to fly.

Whereas if they did not have such a point, the enemy could attack from anywhere at any given time, and in doing so could catch them stretched thin. Luxembourg exists as the weakest line of defense because it was the smallest border the Germans shared with the Allies, and it could be used as a trap to entice the enemy into foolishly seeking their own doom.

It was perhaps because of this that the Allies began mustering their armored and aerial forces towards the border of Luxembourg, while at the same time the Germans began mobilizing their newly reforged 8th Army which to the Alps where they hoped to smash the Italians in the face with a war hammer so powerful and swift that it knocked them clear out of contention for the winning from the start.

Either way, the amassing of forces for coordinated offensives was none of Bruno’s concern at the moment. He had done all that he could in preparation for the spring offensive, which was coming later than he had initially expected it to due to the time necessary to reform the 8th Army into a modern combined arms force of considerably smaller scale than it had previously been.

Instead, he continued to use his authority as the Grand Prince of Transylvania to introduce a series of reforms that would set the foundation for the region’s future as a largely self sufficient region. Frankly speaking, Bruno did not know how long his family would hold on to Transylvania as when Austro-Hungary collapsed its future would be uncertain.

Both as a sovereign Grand Principality, and as a province of the Hungarian Crown lands. It was entirely possible that as in his past life the region would be annexed by Romania. Or, perhaps he could use his influence over European politics to maintain the sovereignty of the cadet branch of his house, which was officially established in Transylvania.

But the fate of Austro-Hungary, and his position as a monarch over one of its current possessions was definitely a matter that would put his loyalties to the German Reich to the test. As the Grand Prince of Transylvania Bruno now had a responsibility to its people.