Re: Blood and Iron

The proving grounds outside Kassel were alive with the thump of engines and the distant crack of small-arms fire.

On the snow-dusted hilltop, Bruno stood beside a group of senior officers, hands clasped behind his back, eyes fixed on the low, predatory shape of the new E-25 variant rolling into position.

Unlike its tank destroyer predecessor, this machine bristled with an entirely different kind of menace.

The main armament, an 82mm automatic mortar, rose from a fully stabilized turret, its bore gleaming under the winter sun.

The engineers had nicknamed it Donnerregen... Thunder Rain.

Its armor was no crude slab-work. Layers of composite plating sat beneath patterned arrays of early explosive reactive armor, the panels angled with purpose.

The glacis and turret cheeks bore flush-mounted optic housings, feeding real-time targeting data into a fire-control system years ahead of its time.

Investments in computational technology and advanced fire-control systems had been a focus of Bruno's efforts since the early 1900s.

It was why his ships in the Great War relied on Rangekeepers, while the rest of the world had little more than a spyglass.

Now, whether on land, at sea, or in the air, his weapons made use of thermal imagers derived from refined Vampir infrared systems, paired with daylight optics that allowed crews to pick out heat signatures in total darkness.

A gyrostabilized gun mount, linked to a mechanical-analog ballistic computer, compensated for vehicle movement, range, wind, and ammunition type.

Giving gunners the uncanny ability to land first-round hits while on the move.

This was something other nations wouldn't master for decades, and it had become a standard across the Reich.

A signal flare arced skyward.

The E-25's turret traversed smoothly, the optics locking onto a mock enemy encampment of steel frames and sandbag walls.

The first burst came like a roll of summer thunder, four rounds in quick succession, each 82mm shell arcing high before slamming down in perfect rhythm. The effect was surgical devastation; target zones disintegrated under a rain of steel and fire.

Observers murmured as the vehicle shifted targets without halting, its stabilized platform keeping every shot on point even over broken ground.

This was no lumbering siege gun; it was a scalpel that happened to work in barrages.

A second E-25 crested the hill from the opposite flank, this one deploying from a low-slung transport with airborne markings.

The implication was clear: Thunder Rain could fight alongside the Reich's heaviest armor… or drop from the sky with its most mobile units.

Bruno allowed himself the smallest of smiles. France could have its steel leviathans and its cathedral-sized guns. He would take speed, precision, and the ability to put hell on a postage stamp.

The great steel form of the E-25 mortar carrier rumbled to a halt on the proving ground, its composite-clad silhouette catching the winter sun in dull green gleams.

A final ripple of automatic mortar fire echoed across the hills before the vehicle's commander popped the hatch in salute.

On the reviewing stand, Kaiser Wilhelm II leaned forward on his cane, his sharp eyes following the sleek chassis and the steady, unshaken barrel.

Beside him stood Crown Prince Wilhelm, hands clasped behind his back, and the young Prince Wilhelm, the future of the House of Hohenzollern, watching with wide-eyed fascination.

The Kaiser broke the silence first, his voice carrying equal parts disbelief and admiration.

"You never cease to amaze me, Bruno. When you introduced the first Panzers, I thought you were an unrivaled genius. But now…"

He let the words hang, glancing back at the E-25 as it rolled off the range. "Now, I see you are perhaps the most visionary warlord the world has ever seen."

Crown Prince Wilhelm gave a quiet nod. "It is more than a weapon, Father, it's an entire doctrine made steel. A gun that never hesitates, never tires, always strikes first. The world has nothing like it."

The younger prince looked from the vehicle to Bruno, his expression caught between admiration and disbelief.

"And they will try to copy it… but they will be years too late."

Bruno merely smiled faintly, hands clasped behind his back.

"That is the point, Your Majesties. The enemy should always be preparing for the last war while we have already begun the next."

Later, as the reviewing stand emptied and the Kaiser's entourage departed for the evening banquet, Bruno lingered at the edge of the proving ground.

The E-25 mortar carrier was being towed back into its hangar, the warm scent of burnt propellant still clinging to the air.

He watched the crew dismount with casual precision, already running through after-action checks, and let the corner of his mouth twitch into a satisfied smile.

An 82-millimeter automatic mortar...

He thought, almost chuckling at the simplicity of it.

Not a new concept, not really… In my past life the Russians made such a device but never had the sense to put it on the right platform.

Everyone's too busy chasing 'big gun' prestige, always thinking in terms of tank destroyers, howitzers, or more armor...

Never stopping to consider what actually wins a modern battle: sustained, mobile, precision fire support.

In his mind, he saw the possibilities, dropping with airborne units into contested zones, riding in with mechanized spearheads, punching out rapid salvos and vanishing before the enemy could even range them.

With its stabilization, optics, and composite protection, it could fight anywhere, anytime, against anyone.

Let the others waste fortunes on overgrown, immobile trophies. I'll build the weapons that win wars… and the fools will never see it coming.

The Thunder Rain was among many of Bruno's finalized concepts for the upcoming war that would be rolling off the production lines in the next few days.

All of which would integrate seamlessly into the current combined arms doctrine that was already decades ahead of the rest of the world.

When the war finally came to the shores of the German Reich, they would be prepared to fight against a world of enemies once more.

Only this time, their allies weren't deadweight.