Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno did not have much time to rest after coming home from Russia, instead he found himself back in Berlin after the weekend was over. Why was this the case? Because there were many recent developments over the course of the last two to three years that had been occurring subtly in the background from his weapons engineers, and he needed to witness their more finalized designs first hand.

Insights brought from joint-research projects with the Russian Empire and its best minds had helped bring perspectives that Germany had not thought of by themselves, and incorporate such designs into their overall national arms development directive.

And currently Bruno was standing in the hallowed halls of his family’s arms corporation, who he himself had some shares in, they were used as the in house producer of Germany’s small arms, and artillery, and the next generation was no exceptions.

Bruno had introduced things like semi-automatic rifles, submachine guns, and general purpose machine guns decades before they would become the norm otherwise. And these weapons had helped Germany win the Great War.

But even now, two to three years into a peaceful era, where Germany was at the center of the world’s attention and envy, preparations for future conflicts were being made. And the small arms development was no exception.

By now, the finalized designs of the world’s first true assault rifle had come to life. Initially based upon the Sturmgewehr 44, as was introduced in Bruno’s past life during the end of the second world war, these weapons had undergone further refinement in this life, and were given many needed improvements.

In addition to this, the rifle was made in several variations, including a “k” model which utilized an under folding Mp-40 style stock, and a short barrel with an integrated gas block/iron sight combination, which was intended for vehicle crews and airborne forces.

There was also a squad automatic variant inspired by the RPK from Bruno’s past life. As well as the basic infantry rifle, which was improved in other small ways.

As a result, Bruno inspected these rifles, which had already seen extensive testing in the bush of Africa, and across other austere battlefields by Werwolf units, who provided their feedback to the development team. Ensuring that the most reliable, functional, and optimized variation of the rifle came into existence in this timeline.

As for Sub-machine guns, they had already become obsolete due to the extremely compact variants of the sturmgewehr, and thus would soon be decommissioned from service altogether.

Instead, the other major innovation standing on the table was a new general purpose machine gun, which Bruno instantly recognized as this world’s variation of the Mg-42, the weapon itself was damn near perfect during his previous life, except for some minor mechanical issues regarding the overall design of the bolt which were included in the later Mg-3 variation that continued to dominate battlefields even in the 21st century.

These were naturally included on the weapons platform in this life. But after introducing the Mg-34, over a decade ago, Bruno knew sooner or later someone would refine the weapon into what he was seeing now, and thus he was not surprised by its existence, instead, the two weapons that truly astounded him were designs he had no actual involvement with, but were manufactured nonetheless in what were clearly functional prototypes nearing the end of their development.

The first of these two weapons was a new heavy machine gun, the German counter to the M2 Browning, something that was sorely overlooked by the Wehrmacht in Bruno’s past life, had now been corrected and it did so in a platform that was eerily similar to the Madsen-Saetter heavy machine gun, caliber 12.7mm (.50 BMG).

There were some visual distinctions, though. Firstly, the weapon was clearly chambered in 13.2x92SR ammunition, and far more rugged and slab sided, almost as if the best components of the MG-42 had been seamlessly integrated into its overall design, both internally and externally.

Unlike the American M2 Browning, which still bore the hallmarks of First World War era engineering—long, intricate machining processes, heavy reciprocating internals, and a clumsy barrel change mechanism—Germany’s answer had been purpose-built from the start for ease of mass production and sustained battlefield abuse.

The receiver was composed of thickly stamped and reinforced steel plates, eliminating the need for extensive precision milling. The barrel itself, heavy and fluted for air cooling, was fitted with a massive conical brake to tame recoil.

A cleverly positioned quick-change latch, inspired by the MG-42’s battlefield refinements, allowed a trained gunner to swap overheated barrels entirely from behind the weapon, without needing to dismount it from its tripod or pintle mount—a simple, brutal innovation that cut downtime to mere seconds even under fire.

Internally, the gun preserved the short-recoil, roller-locking system pioneered by Germany’s earlier machine guns, but scaled appropriately to handle the monstrous pressures of the 13.2mm cartridge. No delicate roller-delayed blowback mechanism here; this was a true mechanical lock-up, optimized for longevity, battlefield grime, and raw stopping power.

Feeding was accomplished through robust, disintegrating metal link belts in 50 or 100 round configurations depending on mounting. The weapon could be deployed either from a heavy tripod for static defense, or pintle mounts adapted for tanks, half-tracks, and naval vessels—just as Bruno had long suspected a modern military would require, had the proper foresight been shown.

In short, the German engineers had not simply copied the M2. They had out-evolved it. Despite never having laid eyes on it before today, Bruno handled the mechanism with the reverent familiarity of a man who had shared a long and forbidden affair with it.

A sinister smirk flirted across his usually stoic face as he made a comment on the smoothness of the action, and the crisp trigger pull that follows.

“She’s beautiful…. Truly, a finely tuned and perfect weapon that will continue to see service for the next hundred years or more if properly maintained… You guys have truly outdone yourselves this time!”

Bruno almost did not want to let go of the new heavy machine gun that had yet to be given an official designation, and he was just about to refuse any further demonstration, until something caught his gaze from a nearby range test.

He damn near received whiplash from how quickly he turned his head after hearing a simple phrase and a loud explosion.

“Backblast clear! Fire in the hole!”

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