Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 297: Victory in the Balkans

Chapter 297: Victory in the Balkans

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Bruno would enjoy a nice evening with the Habsburgs, and the festivities they threw to celebrate their victory over the Allies in the Balkans before eventually returning to Berlin where he would spend the rest of his free time with his family. And in doing so, sire another child with Heidi.

But eventually the time came for the official convention for peace in the Balkans to begin. Separate treaties had already been signed and ratified by the Serbians, Albanians, and Bulgarians. Leaving only the Ottoman Empire left to yield.

And yield they would, more specifically the territory which the Greeks were requesting of them. But not before some fierce negotiations could take place.

What was left of the Ottoman Army was concentrated in the lands once known as Phrygia and Lydia, as Anatolia, the Levant, Eastern Thrace, Ionia, Cyprus and the Dodecanese islands were all currently occupied by the Central Powers.

Because of this, as the autumn turned to winter, the various heads of state met within the city of Constantinople, along with their top generals.

Or at least those who had fought in the theater. Bruno sat there and minded his own business, wearing his German dress uniform in its full glory, with all of his most recent medals granted to him by the German Kaiser.

More than a few heads turned to notice these decorations as they were indeed new additions to the man's uniform, ones that represented his conquests in this very theater of war they were negotiating and end of hostilities to.

It was a subtle reminder to the Ottoman Sultan, and his Army representative who had ceded the city of Constantinople to Bruno that they had lost, and there was no chance to resist whatever demands were forced upon them.

And because of these things proceeded without difficulty, as there was truly nothing the Turks could do but accept the demands of their conquerors.

In the end, the treaty was about to be signed, and in doing so cede over all the claims which Greek desired, when Bruno put his hand in the way, staring at the Sultan, aka current Caliph of the Islamic world, as the Ottoman Field Marshal next to his side.

This act had startled the Greek King, who was about to get everything he wanted, and was about to enrage him to the point of demanding an answer to Bruno's questionable actions, that is until he finally spoke, glaring at the opposing leadership as he did so.

"Not quite yet... There is one amendment that still needs to be made before I can authorize the withdrawal of the German Armed Forces from the region...."

Seeing how he was about to gain more than he wanted, Constantine quickly shut his mouth, and any objection he may have had prior to Bruno's words. And watched with satisfaction as the Ottoman Sultan, and his greatest general damn near turned red with wrath as they shouted at Bruno at the top of their lungs, demanding he explain himself.

"You have already got what you wanted! Are these terms not satisfactory? It is a good deal!

Bruno however wore a devilish smirk, as he shook his head and clicked his tongue, denying the Sultan's words as he did so.

"Not quite... You still need to sweeten the pot... In order for the German Armed forces to withdraw from the region and formally accept your surrender it needs to be written that the lands ceded by the Ottoman Empire needs to be done so in perpetuity to the Greek People and Christendom as a whole.

The line between the Christian World and the Islamic world will forever be drawn at Ionia. As an extension of this, all of your holy places currently west of these borders are to be dismantled, and your people withdrawn east of Ionia at your own expense."

After hearing this, Franz Joseph looked over at Bruno as if the man were a genius. He single- handedly decided the question regarding three of the most turbulent regions in the Balkans.

Currently, as it stood, with this treaty being signed, the Ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph, meaning he had as much secular authority over the Ottoman Empire as he did religious authority over the Islamic world.

If he made such a decree, then the Muslims in Albania, Bosnia, and Kosovo would have to forcefully relocate, at least from the perspective of the Islamic fundamentalists among them. At the same time, the clause was the ceding of these lands in perpetuity.

It was a remarkably brilliant move, as Islamic extremists often used the idea that lands once held by Islam were forever rightfully under the control of Islam in order to continue justifying violence in those regions sometimes centuries after they had lost control over it.

Bruno with one swipe of the pen, had ensured that the Muslim world would remain the Muslim world, and the lands west of Ionia would be Christian, thus solving whatever religious disputes had existed in the Balkans for centuries.

Or at least regarding the violence between Christians and Muslims. Unfortunately, the fight between Catholics and Orthodox in the region would continue, as that was ultimately just how the Balkans were.

Hell, even if they unified under one of the two apostolic branches of Christianity, Bruno was certain the people who inhabited the region would find some other reason to kill each other. It was simply in their nature.

When the Caliph was about to voice his discontent with these terms, the representative of the Arab revolt stepped forward and voiced his support.

"I can assure the Christian Kings and emperors present that those within my camp have no intention of contesting this clause. After all, it was what we ultimately agreed upon with your agents before we ever took up the sword against the Turks.

If the Sultan and his general cannot find it within themselves to admit defeat and surrender to these terms, despite already being so thoroughly trounced, then let the consequences of their actions be on their heads, and theirs alone as we have nothing to do with their stubbornness."

Upon seeing that even the other Islamic leaders in the room were in agreement to surrender under these terms, both the Sultan and his military advisor had no choice but to begrudgingly sign the dotted line.

After which they began to leave the room with haste. But not before Bruno could block Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's path. There was a grim expression on Bruno's face, and a fierceness in his eyes as he posed two questions to the infamous Turkish General.

"Is this the end? Or do I need to march my army into what little lands you still hold and finish you and what remains of your men off once and for all?"

Bruno was reminding the man of what he said previously, that the fall of Constantinople would not be the end of the Ottoman Empire, nor the Turkish claim to the city.

Here and now, Bruno stood tall above the man, making it abundantly clear that he would be willing to kill him, and every man beneath his command, if he was still intent on fighting this war to the bitter end.

Upon hearing the willingness, and almost eagerness to march east and annihilate his army to the last man, the Turkish General quickly folded as he accepted his defeat once and for all.

"It is done..."

A brief smirk flashed on Bruno's face as he turned around and walked away, but not before having the last laugh.

"Good... Then go back to whatever lands of yours still remain and live a long and humble life, because if I hear that you were dare to try to challenge your fate, I will be there to end it permanently... Even if I were to have to go beyond my authority to do so, like say for example executing your point blank, publicly in the midst of a coffee shop..."

Atatürk's eyes grew wide with fright as he watched Bruno turn his back on him. He knew instantly what Bruno was subtly admitting to. After all, the man who assassinated Vladimir Lenin in Geneva had never been identified by the authorities nor revealed to the public.

But if what Bruno had said was true, he was the killer... And he had engaged in an extra- judicial killing of a defeated and exiled man, simply because he was not the type to leave potential threats lying dormant until they revealed themselves again in the future. After hearing this, Atatürk vowed to do as Bruno had said, and return to the lands that would

now compose of Turky, east of Ionia, and west of Armenia, where he would live a quiet, and humble life. His name forever being a mere footnote, a brief mention as a stepping stone in Bruno's rise to glory.