Chapter 70: God Favors the Best Artillery

Chapter 70: God Favors the Best Artillery



Sleep? That was for the weak, a concept that the population of Tsaritsyn became well accustomed to as the shells fell on top of their homes throughout the night. The Spring Offensive had begun, and the Red Army was caught with their pants down.

They, after all not expected the Iron Brigade to receive so many volunteers in such a short amount of time. To the extent that it was now known as the Iron Division. And to be fair neither had Bruno. Regardless, barrages battered the city and its defenders throughout the night.

Every thunder which echoed in the distance was a shot fired towards military targets, and not necessarily areas which civilians inhabited. Or such was Bruno's objective. Though he did not care if civilians were caught up in an attack targeting hostiles, the reality was deliberately targeting civilians was something Bruno was not fond of.

It served no tactical or practical purpose. And any idiot who said that it would break the people's morale was an idiot. More often than not, such deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against unarmed civilians served the opposite purpose.

Because of this, Bruno made sure the calculations used by the artillery batteries were precise as they rained shells down upon the Bolsheviks who were in the trenches, and fortifications they had built to defend the city.

The Red Army was forced to endure the artillery fired throughout the night, with the battery only ceasing once the sun had risen with the dawn. It was then that the Red Army could gain some rest, retaliating as they fired off their own artillery back at those who would try to seize the city from them.

Of course, this wasn't exactly as easy as Yakov Sverdlov thought it would be. After all, Bruno's artillery strikes didn't just serve the purpose of battering the enemy fortifications. Rather, they also acted as a method to conceal their real targets. Which were the munitions and supply depots as well as and artillery pieces used by the Red Army within the city.

For example, the Russian Forces infiltrated the city in civilian garb throughout the night, under Bruno's orders. Where they detonated explosives within the munition stockpiles and used thermite to disable the enemy guns.

Or at least a large portion of them. Because of this, the artillery fire which targeted the Iron Division and the Russian Division supporting their efforts were fewer than 20. Bruno had planned such sabotage operations months in advance.

Thus, the men of the Iron Division had spent the last few weeks establishing an elaborate trench system around the city of Tsaritsyn. Thus, when the Red Army did finally manage to retaliate with barrages of their own.

The Iron Division and their Tsarist allies simply hid in more fortified positions of the trenches, allowing them to simply wait out the storm with limited casualties. This was a tactic Bruno learned from the Great War during his past life. Though trenches had been used in warfare throughout the centuries. They evolved into highly elaborate systems during the Great War.

Because of this, we may outnumber the guns that the enemy had at the start of this siege, but they had much more powerful artillery. I merely evened the odds. Or should I say stacked them heavily in our favor?

After all, I doubt that an inexperienced propagandist and philosopher like that little rat would even think that we would attempt to sabotage their munitions and artillery in the middle of the night on the first day of our siege.

Inexperienced commanders will be the death of the Red Army. This is what happens when you send farmers and machinists to fulfill the job of a soldier. All we have to do is sit here and wait. Sooner or later the enemy will fly the white flag, and if they don't all that will remain of their pathetic little army would be corpses.

Either way, we don't have to take unnecessary risks in pursuit of a quick victory, such as storming their trenches. The fact of the matter is, this siege was won the moment I made my preparations. Now all we have to do is wait patiently until the time comes to claim victory.

You should enjoy yourself, Ludwig. This is, after all your first and last campaign. You have the privilege of sitting back and enjoying the conflict as my personal adjutant. So enjoy it while it lasts, because you will never have such an experience again."

After saying this, Bruno walked off. He appeared to be taking a stroll while artillery began to strike the Iron Division's trenches. Almost as if it were nothing more than the spring rain. All the while the more unexperienced soldiers serving beneath his command ran to more fortified sections of the trenches, seemingly unaware of the fact that they were out or range of the

enemy's guns.

Ludwig, who wasn't exactly all that well read in the life and times of Napoleon had no idea who Bruno was quoting as a great man, but nevertheless the quote would stick with the man

for the rest of his life.

Even in the 21st century, when the United States had prioritized airstrikes over artillery, the war in Ukraine had proven that Artillery still had a prominent place on the battlefield.

With many American veterans from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan who foolishly volunteered to fight on behalf of the Ukrainians learning this lesson the hard way. Unfortunately, it was often a lesson that cost a man his life.

Nevertheless, no matter how modern the battlefield became, artillery, even in primitive forms such as those employed in the Cold War, seemed to be an incredibly effective means of dispatching the enemy to their maker. And that was exactly what Bruno would prove here in Tsaritsyn, not that it really needed to be proved by this point in time.