Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 23: A Visit to the Bundesrat



Bruno's father was shocked when his son came to personally visit him. As a member of the Bundesrat, and the current head of the Land Army and Fortresses Committee, he had long since handed off control of the family's company to his eldest son, Franz. Franz was much older than Bruno. By the time Bruno was five, he was already nearing the age of university.

He had proven himself a capable businessman after retiring from the military. Where he served as an officer during a time of peace, only ever making the rank of captain before ending his military career in the shortest period possible.

It was because of this significant age gap between the two brothers who sat at the opposite ends of the age spectrum. That Bruno had very little contact with Franz, only ever seeing him at family gatherings for the majority of his life.

But Bruno had a good relationship with his father, and because of this he made an appointment to see the man in his office in the Bundesrat as he wanted to personally get the man's permission to begin the experimentation, and prototyping of the various designs he had come up with over the last week.

There was still a week to go before Bruno had to return from his leave to service. And because of this, he decided this was an excellent opportunity to take Heidi out on a date in the city.

As their house was more on the outskirts, closer to the nearest military base. He made sure they had everything they needed for the venture before piling Heidi into his personal automobile.

Automobiles were still a recent creation, which only the filthy rich could afford. Luckily, Bruno came from such a family. And his automobile in particular had a covered awning over it, which protected the driver and passenger from the sun.

Heidi appeared to be in an unusually good mood as she leaned against Bruno while he drove the vehicle to the interior of the city. It was rare for them to go out of the house together, especially since Bruno was an active duty officer in the military and had been deployed for the last eight months or so to China.

Because of this, she had a warm and loving smile on her face as she enjoyed the mild drive to the city. As for Bruno, he made it abundantly clear for the third time since asking Heidi out that he had business to attend to with his father before they could truly enjoy themselves.

"I just wanted to say one more time, I'm going to speak with my father about something. Which should not take more than half an hour. After that, we can go get something to eat and maybe go shopping a little."

Heidi giggled when she heard Bruno repeat this for the third time since this morning when he first announced his plans. She was quick to make fun of him for continuing to repeat the same thing.

"Dear, it's fine. It's been a while since you have seen your father. You're more than welcome to spend an hour or two with the man if need be. I'm sure what you have been up to these past few days is far more important than entertaining me.

I'm a patient woman. I waited eight months for you to return to me safe and sound. I can wait another few hours for you to get your work done. As long as you don't forget about me

entirely, I honestly don't care how long you two take."

Bruno had to admit, his wife hardly resembled the timid little girl he had once grown up alongside. Perhaps she had matured even more than him these last few years. And that was saying a lot since he had the memories of a fifty plus year old man inside his head.

Still, it made his heart skip a beat to know that his wife was so understanding, and because of that, Bruno was quick to wrap an arm around her, and drive with one hand. Making sure she was close to him, as it was something he would not experience often the next time he was sent off to war.

Eventually, the two of them arrived at their destination. Where Bruno gave a helping hand to his pregnant wife so that she could step out of the automobile. Where the two of them entered the Bundesrat with little issue.

Once Bruno found his father's office. He was quick to bid his wife a temporary farewell before entering to speak with his father about important matters of national security.

"I'll be back as soon as I can...."

The moment after, Bruno closed the door to his father's office behind him. Heidi sighed and shook her head while expressing her own thoughts aloud.

"Honestly, who would have thought that you would propose to visit the Bundesrat to me on the same day I am meeting with someone here myself? What are the odds?"

After saying this, Heidi walked off to another office, where one of her distant family members was waiting for her arrival.

The moment Bruno stepped into his father's office, the man welcomed his son with open arms. It had been too long since they had seen each other. In fact, Bruno had not seen the man since the day he graduated from the Military Academy.

His father was now a middle-aged man, his golden locks long since greyed. And while he was clean shaven in the past, he now sported a stylish beard, even if such things have long since fallen out of fashion.

There was a genuine look of joy on the man's face as he hugged his youngest son before welcoming him to his office.

"And what can I do for the young wolf of Prussia? That's what they're calling you, you know? A rather fitting nickname after what I have heard about your exploits in China. I must say, you impressed more than just your old man with your ability to hunt down the rebels and eliminate them to the last man.

It might not be my place to say this, but I hear that even those old veterans in the Central Division were rather impressed by your performance. But where are my manners? Can I get you something to drink, son? You must be parched from the journey here from your humble home."

Bruno wore a kind smile as he accepted his father's offer with the utmost courtesy. After all, his father was still a lord. And a high-ranking member in the Bundesrat. Even when the two of them were alone, Bruno would always treat his father with the respect he deserved.

"I can't think of a more fitting way to start this conversation. Thank you Father. I would gladly drink anything you offer."

The middle-aged man broke out into a smile as he pulled out a bottle of scotch that had been aged for 25 years. No doubt a pricey bottle, one that would normally be reserved for a great celebration. But to a wealthy war industrialist like Bruno's father was his every day drinking material.

The man poured two glasses, one for himself, and one for his son. Where he made a toast that they both drank to.

"To victory!"

Bruno responded in kind, before taking a sip of the Scotch. While he may not drink in the field, or on duty. He was right now acting as an ordinary civilian, and did not mind having a slight taste of whiskey before going out for a proper meal with his wife.

Because of this, Bruno commented on the quality of the whiskey. Something he was quite knowledgeable about.

"Smooth, very smooth. And quite favorable to that. Do I detect a hint of sherry? A rather unique flavor, but I know of a few distilleries in Scotland who will change to a sherry cask in the last five years of the aging process."

Bruno's father chuckled when he heard this and shook his head. Making a comment on his son's brilliance as he did so.

"You always were a little genius. That's why your mother loves you so much. She has been

dying to come visit you and your wife ever since you first returned. But I've kept her at bay for the time being. Still, the both of you should come visit the estate before you no longer have

the opportunity to do so.

Anyway, I believe that's enough catching up, son. You came here with a purpose, right? What can I help you with?"

Now that the small talk had been out of the way, Bruno set his glass aside before pulling out the documents he had within his brief case. Which were the various initial drafts of the blueprints he had made for the next generation of weaponry. He had a rather smug look on his face, and a confident tone in his voice as he explained what gift he had prepared for his father. "Oh Father, you misunderstand. It's not about what you can do for me, but rather what I can do for the Reich. I had some time to myself this last week, and I prepared a few shall we say conceptual designs for what I believe would be an enormous improvement to the German

Army and its arsenal.

They're far from perfect, but if given to the engineers at the family's factories, they could easily be made into something quite functional. I know you yourself have extensive knowledge, so why don't you give them a look, and you tell me if my efforts were worth the time I spent drawing these up?"

Bruno's father's eyes widened when he heard this. His son was a peerless genius among his own age group and had a very functional knowledge of mechanical engineering. He was, after all the one who came up with the design for the lightweight mortars which the family company was currently experimenting with.

There was no doubt that these mortars would revolutionize warfare as the world knew it. So if

his son came up with even further designs, there would be no hesitation on his part to give them a thorough inspection.

He quickly put down his glass of whiskey as well and looked over Bruno's designs. That was, needless to say world changing. Bruno's father looked over each and every blueprint repeatedly, as he tried to look for various improvements that could be made.

And he indeed spotted a few, but at the same time, the concept drafts of these weapons were more thorough than most would be. The middle-aged man looked at his own son as if he was far more intelligent than he had initially thought, and was quick to ask a certain question that

came to his mind.

"Tell me the truth Bruno, you have been holding back since you entered adolescence haven't you? To come up with these in a mere week. It's unheard of. These weapons, to even conceptualize them would take a mind far greater than my own to come up with.

I mean, hand held machine guns, self-loading rifles. These concepts have been theorized, but

nothing has proven to be practical so far. I mean, this rifle alone is years ahead of the current prototypes, which keep proving to unreliable in field testing. And yet you came up with all of

these in a week?"

Bruno's father wasn't wrong. Though early semi-automatic rifles existed as far back as the mid-1880s, they were incredibly unreliable, complex, and lacking in long-term durability. They were more of a novelty, or proof of concept than they were an actual functional firearm

capable of military usage.

Now that Bruno had decided to reveal the full extent of his intelligence, which he had been hiding for over a decade. He felt the need to fully show off. And he did so with a confident tone

in his voice.

"You're not wrong in your assumptions, father. I do apologize for concealing the extent of my intelligence. But when I was ten years old, I was alerted to the fact that Heidi's father had deemed me a future threat to his family and their political faction.

He was even sending spies to watch me and my exploits carefully. Because of this, I put on a

façade that I was far less intelligent than I actually am. But none of this really matters at the moment. What matters is whether or not our engineers have the ability to perfect these designs, and our factories have the means to produce them.

Can you use the family's abilities and your personal authority in the Bundesrat to get these weapons adopted within the next decade?"

It took several moments of silent thought, but after realizing just how genius these weapons were, and having a thorough understanding of the Reich's current manufacturing abilities. Bruno's father nodded his head before making a solid promise to his youngest son.

"I'll send these over to Franz. Considering just how advanced these are, I'm going to make sure the existence of these blueprints is considered our family's greatest secret.

In the meantime, I'll begin making the necessary preparations to have these weapons of yours properly adopted into service by the time we have perfected the designs and have met the manufacturing requirements to mass produce them.

I promise you, son, within ten years at the latest, these weapons of yours will begin being

issued to the German Army."

Bruno was satisfied with this conclusion. Now all that was left was to go meet with his wife

and have a lovely meal together. With this in mind, he bade his father farewell and promised

to stop by the family estate with Heidi for dinner sometime within the next week. Before meeting up with his wife outside.