Convincing the King of Thailand to join the war effort was an easy task from the perspective of the German Reich. Whether it was past investments into the region, or the fact that its government employed several German citizens in advisory capacities.
The ties between Germany and the lands of Siam were far greater than those the nation had with the allies. In addition to the reasons already discussed, there was also the fact that there were no armed disputes between the German Reich and the Kingdom of Thailand to speak of.
This could not be said for the British and French who gobbled up territory on both sides of the independent nation’s borders in the decades preceding the Great War. In Bruno’s past life, Thailand entered the war in the final year, sending some support to the allies in the hopes that these lands would be restored to them.
Things didn’t necessarily work out as planned, but in this life the tables had turned. The war was progressing rapidly in the Central Powers’ favor. And Japan had joined their side, bringing the fight to the Eastern colonies of the British Empire and the French Republic.
This meant that Thailand not only had an ally in the region to work together with but also had the opportunity to forcefully drive the European powers out of the lands which were seized from them in years past.
Not to mention, Franz had long since been visiting the south-east Asian nation while brokering trade deals between them and his family. The Royal Thai Army was remarkably well equipped for a minor power. Water-cooled machine guns, bolt action rifles, modern recoil operated artillery? All of these things were in their hands.
They more or less were equipped with the same standard of weaponry as the British and French Colonial forces, if not slightly better. At least on land, that is. Sure, their numbers were smaller, but with enough assistant, and the right advisors, taking the fight to the Allies was not an impossibility.
Especially when they caught the French forces in Indochina within a two war front as the Imperial Japanese Army was advancing even from the east. Because of this, Franz was more than willing to entertain the Thai King, regaling him with stories of his youngest brother’s upbringing and rise to prominence.
Whether it was his early displays of exceptional intelligence and wisdom, to his deployment to the far east during the early days of his military career. Or his blood stained past in Russia, spilling the blood of the Red Army and hunting down the Russian Marxists to extinction. The Thai King found great joy in hearing these stories, some of which were exaggerated for the sake of appeasing his curiosity.
Franz was a naturally gifted storyteller and as a result he knew how to spin an already incredible tale into one which rivaled myth and legend. Bruno’s charge at Port Arthur, in particular was heavily embellished by the man’s older brother, as if he had single-handedly taken the Trench while the Japanese soldiers beneath his command hid in fear.
Tearing through the Russian lines of defenses and raising the banner of the rising sun above the mountain top for the world to gaze upon its glory. Or so Franz made it seem.
And by the time the Thai King had finished listening to these heavily altered retelling of events he was more than convinced that siding with the Central Powers who were being led by such a godlike figure was the best idea considering the position Thailand was currently in.
With that said, the King of Thailand signed an agreement with the German Ambassador officially announcing his Army’s entry into the war, who were to begin the mobilization effort immediately thereafter.
With this a photo was taken, where Franz was among the party standing next to the Thai King as the man shook hands with the German Ambassador within his palace’s great hall. Thus, the last of the Central Powers gains from winning the Balkan Theater had been concluded.
But as the Central Powers consolidated their position, and prepared for a major push into the Alps, to reclaim lost ground during the Fourteen Day Winter Offensive the Allies had made, and hopefully march on Rome by the Autumn of 1916, the Allies themselves had begun a scheme of their own. One which they hoped would allow them to finally make a breakthrough on the Western Front.
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Engines roared in the city of Paris, as the Allied Tank Corps rolled through its streets proudly displaying their attempts to replicate the German Panzer I. While the Tank was far more advanced than what the British and French had fielded during the Great War of Bruno’s past life, it was a pale imitation of what the German Army was currently transporting from the Balkans into the Alps.
Even so, there were thousands of these tanks, and a tank was still a tank. It was honestly hard to describe this Frankenstein of a vehicle when using terms one might be familiar with if they understood the development of tanks and their history.
The French people cheered and waved their banners as they saw the Allied armored columns moving through their streets. They truly believed that these tanks would challenge the overwhelming might of the German Army and break through the defenses which had held firm for over a year straight now, despite repeated attempts to break them.
And the common people of Britain and France were not the only ones who deluded themselves into believing this. As the Allied leadership also believed that because the German Armored units were currently being redirected from the Balkans to the Alps that they would easily be able to smash whatever fortifications lie in their way with their new tanks.
A bold assumption, but one that could theoretically prove correct. That is assuming the Germans simply didn’t do what they did to halt the Allied Winter Offensive in the Alps, which was pointing their anti-aircraft guns at the Allied armor.
Naturally allies believed they had come up with a countermeasure to such a tactic, and thus they were quite confident in their chances as they began to make a move towards the border with Belgium hoping to gain ground in the west for the first time since the war began.