While Bruno was visiting his father in an attempt to convince the man to help him perfect his blueprints and introduce them into service over the following years. Heidi had a meeting of her own within the building which housed the members of the Bundesrat and their offices.

The family she was born into as the illegitimate daughter of a mediatized Prince was complicated to say the least. But such was the nature of nobility. The von Bentheim family was split into two separate divisions.

Heidi was born the bastard daughter of Prince Gustav von Bentheim-Tecklenburg, and due to the nature of her birth her relationship with that side of the family was strained to say the least. However, her relationship with the von Bentheim-Steinfurt half of the family was actually quite good.

Upon returning home from his first day at the Prussian War College, Bruno wanted nothing more than to collapse into his bed and get a good night's sleep. But would Heidi allow the man to get some rest without properly filling his stomach?

Not at all. Like a proper wife, she ensured her husband's health was maintained. And because of this, she greeted Bruno at the door with a liter of beer in one hand and a plate of food in the other.

Even Bruno had to admit, as exhausted as he may be, the platter of schnitzel, fried potatoes, and spaetzle was more than enough to convince him to eat a meal with his woman. Though the two of them were Prussian, Heidi was well versed in any number of regional German cuisines and how to properly prepare them.

As Bruno predicted, relations began to sour between the Russian Empire and the German Reich following the end of the Boxer Rebellion. No doubt due to the actions Bruno had taken, standing up in the face of war crimes committed before his very eyes.

And because of this, the Kaiser and the Tsar were currently meeting in neutral ground within Vienna to discuss their disputes. The Russians felt humiliated following the deaths of their soldiers at the hands of the Germans.

Despite thorough investigations into their War Crimes, they refused to admit any wrong doings, specifically because China had not signed nor ratified the Hague convention in 1899, and because of this was not protected by its regulations.

With this mentality, they pursued justice in the face of their losses at the hands of the German Army. The Kaiser, of course, had no intentions of condemning Bruno for doing the right thing. Nor did he plan to keel over to Russian demands.

While relations worsened between the German Reich and the Russian Empire. The German Military had taken advantage of a great opportunity. One which few of the Great Powers fully realized at this moment.

Spurred on by the recommendations of an instructor at the Prussian War College, having himself received inspiration from one of his students. The German Army's high command approved the deployment of Military Observers to the ongoing war in South Africa between the local Boers and the British Colonial Army.

It was perhaps the first real example of modern warfare in the world. With extensive trench systems, widespread use of machine guns, and the mass deployment of more modern artillery systems.

Because of this, the German Military sent several officers to observe the conflict, record what they witnessed, and to make their own observations about whether or not such warfare would in the future be present on the European continent.

It had been years since the Boxer Rebellion came to an end, three to be exact. And during this time, Bruno had gone his separate ways from the friends he made at the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute. Though he had kept in contact with the men the best he could, via letters which were still the primary form of communication in the world.

Bruno had quickly risen through the ranks of the Imperial German Army, becoming the youngest Generalmajor in history. Meanwhile, Heinrich and Erich had been promoted to the rank which Bruno previously held. Captain, also known as Hauptmann, in the German language.

Surprisingly, when Bruno arrived at the Prussian naval base in Danzig, he found the two young captains standing there, boasting their newly obtained collar and shoulder insignia while smoking a couple of cigarettes and catching up on what had happened over the past few years.

The trip to Manchuria would easily take a month and a half, perhaps even longer. Because of this, Bruno spent his days getting accustomed to the crew of the SMS, Hansa, and the officers on board it.

When he wasn't smoking on the deck, chatting with the sailors, and gazing off at the many seas and oceans of the world, then he was within the interior, either playing poker with Heinrich and Erich. Or chatting with the Captain and his subordinates.

Life in the Navy was different than that of the army. And when having dinner with the Captain of the vessel one night. Bruno made a humorous remark about this.

"Quite frankly, I'm not the kind of man to spend my life at sea. I'd rather not drown in the ocean should the ship go down. Give me a bullet to the dome, or a quick death by artillery any day of the week. The sailor's life is not for me!"

The rest of the journey to Manchuria was rather smooth. Albeit a boring one. Still, by the time Bruno stepped foot at the naval base which the Japanese were using as a foothold in the region, Captain Hermann von Humboldt had grown quite fond of Bruno.

His initial goal of establishing relations with a promising naval officer had succeeded. And Bruno promised to keep in touch with Erich's older brother as he and his attaché stepped foot off the SMS Hansa, and entered the Japanese naval base.

There were both members of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Army stationed within it. Seeing as how they were dressed in foreign uniforms, they were quickly approached after stepping foot onto the docks by representatives of the Japanese General Chief of Staff.

How exactly did Bruno find himself in this situation, despite holding the rank of Generalmajor? Well, if he had to reflect on his actions that led to this point. He would say that he made an error when calculating human nature versus the societal conditioning.

For years in his past life, he had learned that the Empire of Japan and its soldiers were fanatically loyal to their Emperor, so much so that they were willing to charge through machine gun fire with swords in hands in order to achieve victory.

And while that may be true for the individual soldiers that are composed of the Army. The same level of zeal and bravery evidently could not be found in the Japanese leadership who were not compelled by Bruno's challenge and instead used him as a scapegoat to mask their repeated failures.

Though Bruno was not consciously aware of it as his thoughts were currently towards more pressing matters. The investments he had made upon receiving compensation from his family for his designs that thoroughly paid off, and it had only been a handful of years since then.

Taking advantage of his knowledge from his past life, Bruno reached out to several key historical figures who would be making a major name for themselves in the coming years. For example, the Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford and twelve other investors who created the company with a mere 28,000 US dollars.

Granted at the time that was a lot of money. But to Bruno who gained millions from his designs. He was able to reach out to Henry Ford and fulfill the role of those 12 investors in exchange for 50% of the company.