Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno's attention was immediately caught by the ongoing testing of a weapon that had completely stolen his focus away from everything else that was being displayed to him by both his engineers, and those that had come to Berlin from Russia to give their insights.

Because what he saw was a weapon that should not exist, not now as 1919 reared its ugly head, and sure as hell not in 1945… No, this was something that could easily have existed in the early interwar period with the technology that existed, especially in this new world where Bruno had advanced Germany's capabilities by decades by providing a few investments, and pointers in the right direction.

But even then, in another life, such a weapon would not have existed until the dawn of the Cold War. What was being demonstrated was a simple tubular weapon, but Bruno recognized it instantly. It had the sleek, lightweight and thin profile of the RPG-2 anti-tank launcher, along with a pistol grip and trigger mechanism similar in simplicity and design.

But it had the robust manufacture of the late war Panzerfaust 250 prototype anti-tank launcher, as well as the conical rear end to help disperse the backblast of the weapon when fired.

In addition to this, the weapon had an integrated optics mount that allowed for the use of a ZF-4, 4x fixed magnification with a BDC reticle etched for the exact flight trajectory and calculations needed for the 44mm heat shaped charge fin stabilized warhead to precisely hit targets out to 250 meters.

And when the warhead hit its target, and old Austro-Hungarian 16m TAS Light Tank, on its thickest and most sloped plate, the armored vehicle exploded into a fiery heap of scrap metal.

Bruno was stunned, that tank was Austro-Hungary's attempts to replicate his Panzer I, which was based upon the e-10 series chassis, and was by all means likely the second best tank in the world, or had been when it was introduced during the final days of the Great War during this new life.

By now, most of these tanks were in Germany's possession, or what remained of them after the annexation of Austria. They were either serving among reserve units, decommissioned and entered into museums dedicated to the "Weltkrieg" or were being used as testing platforms for new weapon systems which were being designed and optimized for defeating armor.

As was clearly being displayed here and now in the hallowed halls of Waffenwerke von Zehntner…. And after taking a moment to truly understand what he had just seen, Bruno could not help but break out into applause as he congratulated the men, who had not only performed the functional test but also those who had designed the weapon system.

"My god… simply marvelous! The shot was impeccable! Truly! Do you mind if I take a look at that beautiful thing?"

The soldiers did not hesitate to hand the weapon over to the man who was the current Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces, and when Bruno inspected the anti-tank launcher, he couldn't help but be thoroughly impressed by its performance.

Unlike what Germans had a tendency to do when it came to creating, well, anything… This weapon wasn't over-engineered and complicated, rather it was stripped to pure necessity and refined to absolute perfection in that manner.

No doubt, influenced by the Russian engineers who were joint-developing this project with Germany, as the Tsar's men had a very different outlook on how weapons should function, one that helped temper the German resolve to turn everything on the planet into a work of mechanical art.

And after confirming what he was handling was indeed such a fusion of German and Russian insights in regards to weapons development, Bruno handed the weapon back to the operators before congratulating the team on making something truly perfect for the modern battlefield.

"Lightweight, steel alloy construction, internal heat shielding, simplified but rugged firing control system that any standard grunt can pick up and know how to operate with pure instinct. Integrated scalable iron sights, which the optional optic can co-witness perfectly without obstruction,

What does this thing weigh? Five kilos? Six? Mount some sling points onto this thing, and this becomes a weapon that can easily be integrated into the squad level of all infantry units.

Gentlemen, you have truly created something brilliant here. If integrated into our combined arms doctrine, the enemy will have to fear both armor and infantry, even while hiding within their own tanks….

Every bush, every pile or rubble becomes something for enemy armor to worry about should they be foolish enough to find themselves at war with the Reich a second time this century….

This is truly an exceptional piece of equipment, and I can't wait to see the final result!"

Frankly speaking, Bruno giving such overwhelming compliments towards this project in particular filled the Russian Engineers with a sense of accomplishment, and almost relief.

As they had been butting heads with their German counterparts on the research and development team for years about how simple the weapon should truly be in comparison to the over complicated rear breach loading designs, they had constantly proposed as a counter to the current one.

Bruno would not realize until much later that his words, spoken almost offhand, had become the vindication of the Russian engineers had long yearned for. It allowed them to feel like they weren't simply weighing down their German counterparts, but were actively contributing to the projects they were all working on, and the alliance that had been forged between the Kaiser, the Tsar, and Bruno himself.

And this one simple compliment would go a very long way towards improving relations, morale, and efficiency within these joint-research teams, whether in the fields of military industry or civilian projects.

As for the German engineers, they were not haughty or spiteful towards Bruno's remarks. He was, after all the father of modern warfare, and if he said the Russians were right, then they had no right to complain.

Instead, they utilized this moment as a learning experience, that not everything in terms of development needed to be as complicated as a Swiss wristwatch. And more often than not, in military matters, that was for the best.