Re: Blood and Iron

Shells were loaded into the back of a 15cm gun, as the crew fired the weapon, before ejecting the spent cartridge only to begin the process again. The heavy artillery was dug in behind concrete reinforced trenches at the rear echelons of the battlefield.

All the while the Austro-Hungarian army tried its darndest to push through the Italian defenses. Throwing bodies at the problem until it solved itself. If there was one upside to the fact that the Austro-Hungarians had aligned themselves with the Germans and Russians, it was the fact that they had all decided to standardize weapons and munitions midway through the war.

Because of this, every Austro-Hungarian rifleman was equipped with a selective fire battle rifle, which was largely based upon the Fedorov Avtomat of Bruno's paste life. The differences being it was chambered in the German 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge and utilized MG-13 style magazines.

In addition to this, the stubby grip was removed from the for the end of the rifle, but more or less everything else was the same. Meanwhile, Austro-Hungarian and Russian soldiers also adopted the G-43 semiautomatic rifle as a sniper and were primarily issued to those who had perfected their marksmanship scores.

And while the Germans themselves had largely replaced the MG-08 machine gun with the Mg-34, the variation of the maxim gun Bruno had improved upon in this life was still standard issue to Austro-Hungary and Russia. Other sharing of military technology included the issuing of the Mp-34 submachine gun to NCOs and officer.

When it came to small arms, more or fewer munitions, magazines, and belts were completely interchangeable between the three factions. This had many, many practical benefits for the war effort.

Whether it was the scale of manufacturing, logistic simplicity, or sharing of resources in the field. The Central Powers had an advantage in all of these things.

If for example, one of the Central Powers nations had manufactured more rifles than the quota demanded, they could give the spares to an ally, and those soldiers would not only have the right ammunition for it, but they would also have the training necessary to operate the weapon efficiently in the field.

This also applied to the sharing of ammunition on the battlefield. If a soldier ran dry on ammunition in his magazines, he could ask an ally from any of the nations fighting beside him for extra, and he could quickly insert it into his rifle, and it would fire without issue.

The Allies did not have this benefit. In fact, the only technology they really shared was the use of the Mk II Tank, which was a joint project between Great Britain and France. But when it comes to the use of weapons, loading mechanisms, and ammunition, there was not a single unified standard among the Allied Powers.

This created many difficulties that their enemies did not have to face. And because the Germans had motorized logistics, they could effectively bring their spare resources to their allies at any battle that was being waged nearby.
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Which is exactly what was happening now to the Austro-Hungarians. Bruno's trucks came to their aid as they began to run low on artillery shells time and again. Meanwhile, the Italian crewman was forced to yell at their French and British allies whose weapons used entirely different shells.

"I'm out of ammo!"

It was not like the French and British Soldiers spoke Italian, and because of this their crews began to bicker in three different languages, as their position began to become shelled by the Austro-Hungarian artillery which lay on the other side of the battlefield.

It was a shitshow of the highest magnitude, and it did not take long before the French Generals realized what was happening, as their scouts had spotted trucks painted in camouflage and bearing German markings making their way to the rear echelon, where they distributed much needed supplies to their allies.

Worst of all, it was not like they could ambush these supply trucks, because they were guarded by Armored Cars and Half Tracks which were a nightmare for the Allied Infantry to deal with.

Because of this, the French General was quick to inform the Italian General in charge of this sector of defense that the battle was lost and that they should withdraw when they had the means to do so.

"I hate to say it, but we have been completely outmatched here. The Austro-Hungarians not only are overwhelming our men by sheer volume of fire with their automatic rifles, but they appear to have an endless supply of ammunition as well.

Though it pains me, I have to admit this battle is lost. We should retreat while we still have the means to do so. We have held off long enough. A fresh supply of reinforcements should be arriving in Venice. They will come to our aid soon enough!"

The British General leading his attaché to this sector of the border also appeared to be in agreement as he was quick to add some valuable information as well.

"There's no point resisting any longer. The Germans have already broken through the strongest point in our defense. If they really wanted to, they could circle around us from behind and cut off our escape at any time. If we don't leave now, this land will become a graveyard…"

Knowing all of this, the Italian General could only sigh and shake his head, before commenting on the foolishness of his king for choosing the wrong side in this war, albeit in a way that did not outright provoke his allies.

"God save us all, for I fear my king underestimated the strength of our opponent when he chose to get involved with this nonsense!"

It was a sentiment that they all shared. Nobody expected the Central Powers to have so many forward thinking ideas, and to have spent the last decade implementing them to the best of their ability. But logistics won wars, and the Germans had perfected this art thanks to Bruno's interference in the timeline.

And thus the order to retreat was swiftly given. Causing the defenders to abandon their positions and equipment as they fled from the battlefield. Allowing in a decisive Austro-Hungarian victory. One which they hoped would proceed many to come.