Chapter 501: The Journey to Zurich
In the years following the great war, Bruno realized how much of a target he had painted on his back ,and that of his family. While his enemies in more prestigious positions of power were largely deterred from making an attempt on their lives as a result of what the man had done to Belgrade in 1914.
Insurgents, political radicals, and just lone wolf threats had far less to lose. And Bruno needed to make sure that he and his family were well protected during transit. He had long since fortified his home to a high level.
But transportation was another matter, and had invested heavily into armored vehicles, such as limousines and trains, that provided his family military grade protection, while looking like civilian assets.
His private train, for example, looked like one of the modern diesel powered high-speed trains that were coming online across the German Reich, and the Russian Empire. as the 1920s roared like a tidal wave.
But its cars were rated at the equivalent of the STANAG 4+ Rating, and perhaps even STANAG 5 in critical compartments like the sleeping quarters and command center. In the years since Bruno came to power as the Grand Prince of Tyrol, Germany and Russia had been working on joint infrastructure projects to begin developing their nations and cities for a new world.
And the railways were one of these projects. Luckily for Bruno, Tyrol had been chosen as the testing area for many of these ideas, and this allowed his train to be fast, sleek, and capable of defending itself from potentially hostile attacks.
Currently, Bruno sat within a rail car that was primarily designed as a family space, but was currently operating as his coffee lounge. As he sipped from a cup and read the latest paper from England.
King George had managed to put out the majority of the fires that burned around what remained of his empire. The cost was great, and Bruno suspected the Empire would collapse to a similar extent as it had post 1945 in his previous life within the next decade, perhaps two.
But there was no doubt about it, there would be no British Empire at this rate by 1939. Merely the United Kingdom, and even then, it was a matter of time before the Irish rose in rebellion again.
As Bruno placed the paper down and looked over at the window to the right of where he sat in his extravagant booth, he heard a voice call out to him.