Chapter 232 Pride is the Root of All Evil
Erich found himself in his new unit and was quite comfortable with the arrangement. In the Great War of Bruno’s past life, “Stormtroopers” were a development much later in the conflict. They were especially small units who specialized in trench raiding. With the ultimate objective of infiltrating the enemy fortifications and forcing an entry for the regular infantry to break through.
Development of such tactics led to significant gains by the German Army in the months that followed. Or at least relatively so, when 300,000 men died for six miles of land, and a million more were wounded in some capacity, then even a few yards of ground gained was “significant” in such a brutal war of attrition.
The Somme was among the bloodiest battles in Bruno’s past life, one that answered the question once and for all. “What is the price of a mile?” Well, according to figures reported from the end of the battle, 50,000 lives is what a mile of ground was worth in the eyes of the commanders in charge on both sides.
Bruno believed that lives of his men were worth far more than a mere mile or two. 50,000 lives for a mile? Only a monster could justify such a price for so little gain. It was the reason he only engaged in battles he knew he could win and without such wasteful expenditure of humanity.
If the cost of victory was so great that it would ultimately lead to ruin, then retreat was the most advisable course of action. Pyrrhic victories were not something Bruno ever sought to be known for. Luckily, Bruno had the numerical and technological advantage in the Balkans.
And because of this, the majority of his men marched into Montenegro to take the small Balkan kingdom out of commission once and for all, while his own troops supported the Russian and Austro-Hungarian advance into southern Serbia which was currently the last bastion of the Serbian Provisional Army.
Bruno had to admit, the King of Greece, or at least those advising him, knew the opportune moment to enter the war on behalf of the Imperial Powers. While the combined might of German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian forces converged on what remained of Serbia from the North, the Hellenic Army advanced from the South. In doing so, the Serbian Provisional Army had no path of retreat. They could not even march west into Montenegro, or Albania, seeking to stall the war with a guerrilla campaign like they had more or less done in Bruno’s past life, as half a million or more German soldiers were rapidly seizing the two Balkan nations, and taking them out of the war early.
Serbia’s time has come. They had started this war and dragged the world into their demise. Those responsible may be dead, but yet Serbia did not recognize it’s wrong dealing and kneel before their victims asking for penance.
They sought to resist until the end, and if that was the case, then Bruno was happy to oblige them. One way or another, their choice to continue fighting a war of futility would be the end of their nation and culture, unless someone stepped forward and flew the white flag of peace.
Hence why there was a discussion taking place within the city of Niš, which had become the capital of the Serbian Provisional government. Who was currently leading the Serbians in this war and refusing to surrender?
Well, the answer to that question was a bit complicated. With the eradication of the usurper, King Peter I of Serbia, and his family during the Massacre of Belgrade, rule over Serbia more or less fell to a military Junta of the nation’s remaining top army officials.
These men were currently arguing among themselves over how to proceed with the war effort. The Greek entry into the war was unexpected, and even worse, their advance was far swifter and fiercer than imagined.
Apparently, the Hellenic Army began mobilizing its forces well before any declaration of war. Serbia, focused on the enemy advancing from the north, and with experienced soldiers available within the field of intelligence and reconnaissance, had failed to detect the Kingdom of Greece amassing its forces on their southern border.
These forces, ironically enough, were fitted with weapons given to them and Ultra-Orthodox Paramilitary Organizations who had fought against the Ottomans within the Balkan Wars. It was a superior degree of firepower, by a small but highly experienced army which had just emerged victorious from two wars in the last two years.
Needless to say, the poorly trained, and even worse equipped, conscripts of the Serbian Provisional Army began to buckle under the threat of their now two war fronts. Luckily for them, French, British, Ottoman, and Italian Forces had arrived in the region, and in doing so evening out the numbers for the allied powers.
Either way, the Balkan Campaign was about to be decided over the course of the Winter of 1914, and hence why these military autocrats were now arguing among themselves over how to proceed.
“The answer is simple: surrender willingly to the Imperial Powers. Continuing this fight will be the death of Serbia, and I don’t just mean as an independent and sovereign nation, but as a people altogether!
We have already lost hundreds of thousands of our men. Nearly 1/10th of our population! Are we really going to send every man and boy capable of bearing arms to their deaths? Is subjection to Habsburg rule really so horrific that we must sacrifice our people and our thousand plus year history in the name of sovereignty!?!” These were the words spoken by one military officer among many who disagreed. And by no means were these words hyperbolic or irrational. In fact, it was the most logical opinion on how to proceed expressed thus far.
But if human beings were logical, and rational beings, then wars like this would not need to be fought in the first place. Serbia had chosen to drag the rest of the world into its defeat, both in this life and its previous timeline.
If admitting defeat was so easy, would they not have done so before the war began? Of the Seven Deadly sins, pride was perhaps the single most destructive. Pride was the root of all evil, even the six other Cardinal Sins more often than not stemmed from
pride.
And it was this that had caused the Great War to begin, and it was ultimately why the other Serbian Military Officials gazed upon their compatriot with such contempt. Because of this, they indignantly refused to surrender. And hence why the ultimate response to the one wise man among a group of fools was to shame him.
“Surrender? Now that our allies have finally come to our aid? What madness do you speak of? Do you have any shame in suggesting such a thing when we finally have a chance to avenge our defeats?”
The Military officer who had suggested surrender in order to save themselves, and their people, could only sigh and shake his head in defeat. He was not the one who felt shame. No… He was very humble with the reality he had been forced into.
Whether it was the destruction of half of their professional army at the outbreak of their war, the massacre of their capital and everyone in it, or the death of their veterans who had sacrificed themselves by assaulting the German fortifications around Belgrade to buy them time.
There was nothing to feel but humility at these repeated losses against a supreme foe. Rather, it was the men who wished to sacrifice everything for their foolish pride that felt shame in their defeat. After all, pride was the origin of shame, and since these men could not humble themselves, they would rather lead their people to ruin over their own personal confliction.
As a result, the officer who had suggested stepped forward, willing to martyr himself in the eyes of his people, in order to save them. Suggesting an action that he would come to be despised for.
“If you truly think that my suggestion is so shameful, then allow me to volunteer to prove otherwise. I will lead the Provisional Army against the Germans in the North. Let me defend what remains of our lands from the invaders and show you all how defiant I truly am in the face of overwhelming odds!”
The other members of the Serbian Military Junta looked at one another, silently communicating with each other via nothing more than their gazes for but a moment before finally relenting.
“Very well, you shall take charge of the Army sent to intercept the German advance. While we combine forces with our allies to pressure the Greeks in the south. We
expect you and your men to fight until the end. To buy us enough time to capture Athens! Do not bring shame to our people!”
The military officer who had initially suggested surrender remained utterly silent as he performed a salute, signifying that he understood his orders. What became of him and his men was ultimately up to him, and potentially all of Serbia with them.