Chapter 316: Advancing Into Italy Part I
Bruno had taken an armored train to the alps, more specifically the Tyrolean Alps, along with the men beneath his command. And while this was happening, his wife was at the family estate, gazing out the window of the villa’s library, with a book in her hands, and a deeply complex expression on her angelic face.
The book was nothing of note, nor was she really paying attention to the details contained within. Rather, she was gazing out at the spring rain as it fell upon the palace gardens, bringing life to all that lived within it.
Whether that be the myriad of flowers and trees which soaked up the mist which caressed their leaves, roots, and petals, or the insects within the yard that used this beautiful time of year to propagate.
The seasonal storms did not cast a gloomy shadow on the Berlin landscape, as one might expect it too. Nor did Heidi perceive it in this way. This was not a storm that foreshadowed a coming darkness. Rather, the rays of light protruding through the end of the storm which could be witnessed in the distance acted as a hope for a much greater tomorrow.
It was perhaps because of this peculiar sight which Heidi could not shift her eyes away from, that the woman felt a sense of ease and comfort. But as the heaviest part of the storm and its blackened clouds rapidly approached her, she suddenly felt a deep sense of despair.
She could not understand the feeling of dread she was overcome by in that moment, but she knew, before the light of the morrow arrived, things would only get worse for everyone. And because of this, she grieved the loss of all those deaths and injuries that were to come in the following days.
Heidi made a silent prayer in her heart for those who would fall before the bright future which awaited them all finally revealed itself before ultimately shutting the windows and closing the shades. Where she decided to get back to her book and escape to a land of fantasy far away from the troubles that were quickly encroaching upon her.
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Bruno sat in a compartment of the armored train which was taking him to the alps. Sitting beside him were several of the lower ranked generals beneath his command who were current leaders of the Corps, divisions, and brigades within the roughly 80,000 men or so that now formed the German 8th Army.
His army had been more or less restructured into combined arms battalions similar to the way a Russian Battalion Tactical Group operated in the 21st century. These Battalion tactical groups composed of 136 Armored Vehicles and 800 men each.