Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno took a flight back to Berlin the night after meeting with Henri d’Orléans, and he was not alone on it.

His daughter Eva and the woman’s family were also sitting aboard the luxury transport.

Wilhelm, who had yet to fly aboard his grandfather’s newest plane, found the aircraft to be remarkable.

As he stared at its ultra-luxurious interior and the large wingspan outside its windows, he looked like a child on Christmas morning.

He could not help but give voice to his boyish wonder while Bruno and Eva spoke about more important issues in the background.

“My God, this is truly exceptional. It’s easily twice the size of my father’s personal plane. Does my grandfather really have one identical to this?”

Bruno chuckled when he saw that, despite the prince being over thirty already and a father in this life, he still had a boyish sense of wonder to him.

“That’s right; this was the second off the assembly line. Naturally, your grandfather got the first. Soon, the Reich will have these stationed across all of its borders, territories, and of course, air bases. Both as civilian airliners and as military craft.”

Having gauged the size of the interior, which included a private quarters with a full-sized bed and a shower, Eva couldn’t help but notice the utility of such a craft.

“You could easily carry more than one Panzer II in here… As for bombs… I shudder at the thought. You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Father.”

Bruno smiled proudly at his daughter, who was already thinking about the military applications of the aircraft.

While her husband, born and raised for an era of peace, was still caught up in its opulence and grandeur as a VIP transport.

“Indeed. In five years, I hope to have ten thousand of them flying in the skies within the Luftstreitkräfte. Some for strategic airlift, others for bombing, and a few for refueling.”

Eva nearly choked on her drink when she heard her father’s last words, her eyes widening in shock.

“Refueling? As in midair?”

Wilhelm only noticed the discussion going on in the background when his wife began to cough. He interrupted with his own curiosity.

“Refueling? Is that something unusual?”

Bruno cast his daughter a questioning gaze, silently asking if she wanted to explain. As always, Eva deferred to his expertise with a gesture, and so Bruno responded kindly to the prince.

“Allow me to put it this way: on a single tank of fuel, this aircraft could reach the United States from Berlin and make a round trip back, assuming it had the drop tanks to match. So, if one of these were outfitted for refueling, our planes could travel anywhere in the world without ever touching the ground.”

Wilhelm was stunned. Air power that could strike anywhere in the world? That was revolutionary.

As far as he knew, Germany was one of the few nations operating an empire-wide network of commercial flights. Russia was the other.

But these planes were limited by range and fuel capacity, making multiple stops per flight path common, especially on longer routes.

Wilhelm had completely overlooked the strategic potential of the aircraft. But Eva had not. She thoroughly understood what her father had done and was quick to compliment him again.

“I said it before, and I’ll say it again, Father. You really outdid yourself this time.”

Bruno, however, was quick to wave off his daughter’s flattery.

“Nonsense. I merely provided my engineers with a direction. They’re the ones who made it possible. I did little more than fund the right men and give them a gentle push.”

Eva rolled her eyes. Her father’s humility was admirable at times, but here and now, when she was offering genuine admiration, the least he could do was accept it in earnest.

She was just about to say something when Wilhelm interrupted again.

“So, this thing must be pretty fast, then, if it’s designed to go around the world, right?”

Bruno nodded as he drank from the scotch glass the stewardess had handed him.

“That is correct. Aside from a few other planes using the same engine blueprint, this is the fastest plane currently in our fleet. In fact, I’d say we have about twenty more minutes before we land.”

Eva wasn’t surprised in the slightest that the aircraft’s speed was top-notch. But Wilhelm was stunned.

He looked at his watch and realized they’d been in the air for just over thirty minutes. And yet, they had less than that left?

Bruno, however, shifted the subject from the marvel of engineering and broached a more important one with his son-in-law.

“So, Wilhelm… Your grandfather is getting older. Soon, your father may have to take up his rightful crown. And that will make you the Crown Prince. Are you ready for that responsibility?”

The question came with foreknowledge of the world’s coming events. Kaiser Wilhelm II would die in 1941 at the age of 82 from a pulmonary embolism. There was little medicine

could do to stop it.

Even with Bruno’s efforts to research anticoagulants ongoing, there was little more than a decade before this occurred.

And while he was doing everything in his power to make sure the medicine was in place to potentially save the Kaiser, he was also focused on securing the Reich’s future; with or without him.

Wilhelm went silent. His pause was long. But he ultimately answered with the fortitude of a man raised in a far fiercer era, especially as his wife grasped his hand for comfort.

“With all due respect, sir, I’m not a fool. I can hear what my wife and you speak about behind my back. I also understand that I’m not quite ready for the duties demanded of me yet.”

A short pause, and a deep breath.

“But… I’m willing to learn. And luckily for me, I just so happen to have a great teacher by my side. So, while I pray for the continued health of my grandfather, if the need is suddenly thrust upon me… I know I’ll be capable of performing the job that fate demands of me.”

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