War was hell, figuratively speaking, of course. Though if hell really existed and was a plane that one entered for living a sinful a wicked life. One which wholly rejected Christianity and its virtues. Then Bruno liked to believe that it would look very much like a battlefield, especially those of the Great War which he had often studied in his past life.
Any man who experienced the horrors of war would often change on a deeply personal level. Bruno himself had undergone subtle changes in his personality and was suffering from the early signs of posttraumatic stress disorder. While his brother Ludwig had been shell- shocked entirely by the conflict and had dedicated his life to preventing wars as much as possible.
For Erich, it had turned him cold and indifferent to human life itself, let alone the suffering that was so rampant across the world. In fact, he got a slight bit of sadistic joy from inflicting that very suffering on his enemies.
Heinrich, however, was always a romantic at heart, a man deeply sympathetic to the human existence, and what we all endured throughout our lives. The cruelty of war had only wounded his heart and mind.
When he wasn’t on the battlefield or at his post, he could commonly be found in bars and taverns. Drinking away his sorrows with excessive quantities of alcohol, or even a few other illicit substances.
As a man who was most popular among the single ladies of this world, Henrich often eased his suffering in the company of the opposite sex. Not because it particularly made him feel good about himself, but temporarily numbed the pain that stung him so deeply.
Tonight was no different. While Bruno had retired early for the evening after overseeing the efforts of the Iron Division during the final months of their deployment to Russia. Heinrich had concluded the night by changing out of his military uniform and instead going to a local tavern.
Vodka was cheap and plentiful in Russia and had historically been used as a way to sedate the masses and any dreams they may have about revolting against their masters. Sure, it was an era where taverns, bars, and pubs were almost exclusively frequented by men.
But if one knew where to look for the sleezy women of the world, they could easily find them. Even in a place as orthodox as Russia. Had Heinrich visited such a place after getting well and drunk while wearing a military uniform, it would have shamed his unit and commander. As well as presenting various dangers.
After all, the Red Army was hiding in the streets of Russian cities, and their ranks were not exclusively composed of men. It was not an impossibility that female assassins would target the man if he so boldly displayed his allegiance while engaging in debauchery.
There were plenty of women in Tsaritsyn’s streets who had grown desperate by the war. Willing to give their bodies to a man if it meant food and shelter for the evening. And it was these women that roamed the streets looking to entice such a thing, as Heinrich slowly and drunkenly stumbled by them.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just women who were among these “street walkers.” If one were desperate enough, they might even be so bold as to sell their daughter. And it was one of these underage girls who approached Heinrich, begging him for food in exchange for something she was better off not giving away.
“Mister… I’ll let you spend the night with me if you give me a loaf of bread!”
The young girl was tugging on Heinrich’s coat. She was small enough that he had not even noticed passing her by. When Heinrich finally realized who was calling out to him, he sobered up instantly. With a stern gaze on his face, he looked down upon the girl who was no older than 12 and told her off.
“Girl, how old are you? A kid like you shouldn’t be here on these streets!”
The girl simply pouted, looking to the side. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but she had not eaten in a week, and she was all alone in this world. With her parents being killed during the Siege of Tsaritsyn. Because of this, she tried to convince Heinrich she was a proper age, despite this being a blatantly obvious lie.
“I’m old enough… Why does it matter?”
Heinrich responded to this by flicking the girl on the head and saying something to her, which she found to be shocking.
“You little brat! You have no idea what kind of mistake you’re about to make, do you? If you need food, then go to the Church! I’m sure they would be happy to look after an orphan like yourself!”
Unfortunately, there were so many orphans caused by the war that even the church was having a hard time taking care of them. Anyone who was old enough to work for themselves was kicked out of the orphanage. And Russia had yet to outlaw child labor.
Of course, it was not exactly easy for a 12-year-old orphan girl to get steady work, and because of this she was quick to admit why she had suddenly on this night decided to resort to such a despicable and immoral means of providing for herself.
“I can’t go back to the Orphanage, there are too many mouths to feed. They have begun expelling anyone old enough to work. But there are no jobs available for someone like myself. Please, mister, I haven’t eaten in a week!”
While Bruno and his Iron Division had fought in three major battles: the Siege of Saint Petersburg, the Siege of Tsaritsyn, and the Volga Campaign. The Russian Army had been waging war against the Red Army in other parts of the country without the support of their German Volunteers.
In total, the death toll of the war was around 500,000 combatants, with an additional two million plus civilians who had died. Most of which had met their end by either starving or freezing to death. If this wasn’t bad enough, there were millions more who had been displaced by the war effort and were currently adding to those civilian casualty figures.
It was honestly impossible to know how many people had died so far or would die by the time the war came to an end. But it was most certainly a humanitarian crisis, one which the world at large was ignoring. With the Orthodox Church of the Russian Empire primarily doing what little they could to aid the Russian people who suffered in the background.
Heinrich had not fully realized just how many civilians were suffering, and because of this, he instantly became outraged at what he was currently witnessing. He grabbed hold of the girl’s hand then and there and began to drag her off.
“Come with me, you little brat!”
The girl’s heart began to pound excessively, not out of any sense of romantic intent, but rather fear, anxiety, and dread overwhelmed her mind. Was she really doing this? Could she back out now? Would it hurt?
However, luckily for her, she had stumbled across Heinrich, and not some immoral piece of shit. Because, contrary to what she was expecting, Heinrich did not take her to an inn or a residence. Rather, he took her to the headquarters of the Iron Division located within the City of Tsaritsyn, which housed his battalion.
Nobody batted an eye at the Major as he brought the girl over to the mess hall and told her with a bitter smile on his face to eat her fill.
“Kid, if you are ever hungry, you can always come here to eat your fill for the day. So long as I am in command of this battalion you will be fed, in fact go ahead and tell all the other Orphans you know that they are welcome to get a nice warm meal here any time they want if they can’t find one elsewhere. It’s better to come to us for help than to resort to such immoral and despicable behavior.”
The young girl broke out into tears as she clung to Heinrich, thanking him for the kindness he had shown her. She would then continue to cry throughout the remainder of the evening as she ate her fill of the Iron Division’s rations, before sleeping on a bench inside the headquarters for the night. As it was much warmer inside than it was out in the cold night air. As for Heinrich, he would immediately send a request to Bruno to petition the Kaiser for humanitarian aid after witnessing how much suffering was being caused in Russia as a result of the war. An action which Bruno fully sponsored. Sending a telegram to Heinrich telling the man if he was a woman he would kiss him the next time they met.
After all, aiding the ongoing humanitarian crisis was something that had slipped Bruno’s mind entirely. Not necessarily because he gave a damn about what was happening behind the scenes in the Russian Empire. But because it was incredible PR for the Iron Division and their efforts to condemn the Red Army within their propaganda.
From then on, the Iron Division began bringing in nurses, doctors, and humanitarian volunteers from the German Reich to help the Russian people in the name of their Tsar. An expense the Kaiser was more than willing to front so long as it helped restore relations with the Russian Empire and ensured the Tsar remained in power.