Chapter 339: A Risky Gamble
Radio communications were still a new technology, one that was relatively untested on the battlefield. And they were also a form of communication that was notorious for having spotty connectivity when within mountainous regions.
Hence why most military units also typically carried a satellite phone, and at least one other form of communication during Bruno’s past life. Thus, it was understandable as they were rolling through the mountains that communications that were designed to be relayed between the front lines of the alpine theater and Berlin would suddenly go dark at a critical moment of peace negotiations.
Or, at the very least, it was plausible enough that Bruno had an excuse for outright disobedience and insubordination, two things that in this day and age would get you the firing squad if severe enough. Why had Bruno feigned these communication issues, and disobeyed his direct orders, which came from the top of the German Military and the Kaiser himself?
Because as it stood, Italy was negotiating from a rather strong position. Sure the borders had returned to their pre-war state, and they had lost hundreds of thousands of men in the conflict so far. But... They could pull the card that with this becoming the primary theater help was on the way from their allies in Britain and France.
They had not lost enough that the Central Powers were in an overwhelmingly dominant position to press their own desires from. However, if the war came to a stop after Bruno had seized Milan, Turin, Venice, and Genoa, four major cities and their surrounding regions in Northern Italy, as well as two of Italy’s most prominent ports.
Well, now Austro-Hungary and the German Reich would be in a position to make damn near any demands they desired. As such, the Germans rapidly advanced to Milan, which was the closest of their objectives, while the Russian and Austro-Hungarians within the theater deployed to the areas in which Bruno had ordered them to go.
To say that the German Army was swift was an understatement. With the power train on board their tanks, and their relative light weight. They were more than capable of maintaining speeds that were beyond that of more modern and larger armored vehicles.
Meanwhile, the distance between the borders of Trient and Milan was not all that far. As a result, it was only a few hours before the German 8th Army arrived in the vicinity of the Italian city, which had existed since it was once called Medhelanon by the celts who founded it in the 6th century BC.
By now, the people were aware of who was marching into their city the moment the army of tanks and mechanized infantry rolled up on their doorstep. But whether or not they would mount a resistance, or surrender without a fight had yet to be determined.
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As the monarch of the German Empire, power to initiate and engage in diplomacy fell within the Kaiser’s power according to the constitution. As a result, he found himself in Geneva to discuss the potential surrender of the Italian Army.