Emperor Meiji thought for some time on what Bruno had said. It would be reckless to declare his support for one faction or the other here and now. But what the German General had said made perfect sense.
It was only a matter of time before some incident set off a global war. And when that happened the war which he was currently fighting would seem like child’s play. Still, Bruno had at least been honest with him and said that siding with the British would result in an easy victory against the Germans in the Pacific.
And it would allow him to seize some ground in China and Malaysia that would be a foothold in the region that he currently didn’t have. But at the same time, Bruno had also said that siding with the German Reich would allow for even greater gains, especially if he properly prepared his army for the coming war, which many nations were still unaware of being a certainty.
Greater gains of course came with greater risks. But from the sound of it, Bruno planned to tie up the British, French, and Russians in Europe. Not to mention the conflicts that would be occurring in Africa as well ,something with the Empire of Japan had no stake in.
Meaning the risk would be a lot less than it would otherwise be if the entirety of the British Colonial Army were sent to the Pacific to deal with the Japanese incursion. It was with these thoughts in mind that Emperor Meiji finally gave voice to his musings, albeit not necessarily deciding on a course of action at the moment, but rather further questioning Bruno about what he perceived to be the future of warfare.
“So, say I decide to side with the German Reich, and commit myself to combating the British colonial forces in Asia. What exactly would be your recommendation to achieve a certain victory?”
Bruno looked at the Japanese Emperor with a smug smirk. It was clear the man had bought into the interest of seizing significant portions of Britain’s Asian colonies; he was just hesitant to do so out of fear of fighting the British Army.
But did he really need to fear such things when Bruno was a man well versed in the future of warfare? Because of this British pointed to the map, back to Manchuria where battle lines were currently being drawn between the Russian and Japanese forces.
“The answer lies in Manchuria! Or more specifically, the war you are currently waging. Surely by now you have seen the usefulness of machine guns, correct? There’s just one problem: the guns of this era are too cumbersome, and are wielded with a lack of proper strategic thinking by the generals in charge of their deployment.
Both you and the Russians employ such weapons as if they were artillery, despite lacking the proper range, and the explosive power to operate as such. It’s a common misconception that all nations are currently struggling with.
But Machine guns are not some artillery piece to be wielded in the rear of formations. Rather, they are best suited to the front lines. With the current weight of such firearms, they are best suited as static pieces to defend trench lines and other fortifications from an enemy’s charge.
However, such a strategy itself is limited in thinking. Who says the machine guns of tomorrow must be heavy, and cumbersome devices that can only operate and moved by a team of men? Pardon my language, but for fuck’s sake, most armies still have such weaponry on wheeled carriages to be dragged by horses.
Limit the weight of the designs, get rid of the water cooled features, which only exasperates the issue. Replace such antiquated designs with air cooled barrels that can rapidly be changed in the field by the men operating the machine gun. And have one man fire the weapon while the other changes the ammunition and spare barrels.
With the weight savings, such a weapon can be used both defensively, and offensively. Supporting the charges of your riflemen as they assault an enemy position, rather than waiting for the counter charge as a static weapon of defense.
The reality is that France has perhaps a hundred machine guns in their current inventory, maybe less. In a decade they will have what? Four hundred? When you think about the effectiveness of such weapons, it is almost a criminal degree of incompetency not to invest in their manufacture and development, no?
By equipping your army with mobile machine guns, and plenty of them. You will be leagues beyond your British rivals. Not only that, but you will be able to out maneuver their forces, and out-gun them to a significant degree in every engagement should you play your cards right.
Assuming you form an Alliance with the German Reich, our combined Naval Prowess in the region will be more than enough to tie up whatever Fleets Britain dares to send to the Pacific. After all, the main fleet will be busy engaging our own in the Atlantic.
I assure you, although it may not seem like it at the moment. By the time the war breaks out, the Kasierliche Marine will be more than prepared to deal with the British Navy. Or at the very least keep their efforts concentrate in the Atlantic so that they can’t send reinforcements to deal with the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Now that I have given you a hint on how to properly prepare for the coming decade. How will you proceed? Will you be so shameless as to use my own advice against me and my nation? Or will you pursue a proper military alliance with the Kaiser after this war is won?”
Meiji had taken all the information that Bruno said to heart. And he was indeed aware that machine guns had proven to be an exceptional counter to Russian forces during this war. But his plans for the further development of such weapons were from the limited perspective Bruno had outlined.
Now that the man had given his two cents on the future of machine guns and their development, Meiji was almost excited about contacting the Empire of Japan’s military arsenals to begin experimenting with such a design as soon as possible.
However, as for Bruno’s proposal of a formal military alliance between the German Reich and the Empire of Japan, it would take some time for him to come to a proper conclusion of this matter which was critical to the future of his nation, and because of this Emperor Meiji responded as such.
“I thank you for your wisdom on these matters, but I am sure you know how important of a decision this is, not only for me, but the entirety of Japan and its people. Because of this, I will not make a proper declaration on who I will support until after I have thought through the matter in greater detail.
However, I wish to thank you once more for your insights, as well as your achievements on the battlefield. Get some proper rest tonight, because tomorrow morning I will be shipping you back to Manchuria so that you can properly see through what you have started. Good luck Generalmajor, and I wish you great success in your future endeavors…”
Bruno saluted the Japanese Emperor and responded with an equal matter of respect before departing for the evening. He would be granted a temporary stay in one of the guest villas of the Emperor’s large estate. Whereupon the next morning he would, as the Emperor had stated find himself boarding a ship heading back to Manchuria.
Upon landing in Port Arthur, Bruno took the first convoy back to the front lines where he regrouped with his friends and comrades. All of which were surprised to see the shiny new medal pinned to Bruno’s chest. And Erich was quick to express his envy through witty banter.
“Well, look at you Generalmajor! You finally are starting to look the part. All you need now is a medal to hang from your neck, and a few more pinned to your chest, and you will be just like those old men at the Central Division. They’re going to have to respect you now!”
Bruno simply chuckled when he heard this. He indeed was quite proud of receiving Imperial Japan’s highest honor. Well, technically, it was the second highest, but the only award higher than this was reserved for the Royal Family of Japan, as well as in some rare circumstances foreign heads of state.
Because of this, it was the highest honor, one who was neither of those two things could realistically receive. As for Heinrich, he was quick to comment something inappropriate, which was his natural state of being.
“So tell me, I’m dying to know. Were there any pretty Japanese ladies for you to take advantage of at the party?”
After hearing this statement, Bruno frowned at his friend, and shook his head, before condemning his words in a not so obvious way.
“Heinrich, if I wanted to cheat on my wife, I would have done so with the dozen or so Chinese broads who were practically throwing themselves at me when we were departing from Tsingtao…”
When Heinrich heard this, his face turned sour. He held quite a bit of pride for the appeal he had to the opposite sex. And though he scored plenty in China, there was one instance which he would never forget. Or forgive entirely.
When he and the others were leaving China after months of occupation, it was not Heinrich who was the focus of the local Chinese women within the German colony of Tsingtao as they said their farewells to the German soldiers. Rather, it was Bruno, who had ignored the women and their last-minute advances entirely. Something which Heinrich found to be a deep wound to his pride as a man.
For Bruno to shove this back in his face, it was the man’s way of silently saying “Don’t lump me in with a degenerate playboy like you..” Because of this he could only force a laugh and scratch the back of his head, while admitting his words were indeed inappropriate.
“Sorry about that, boss. I know how seriously you take your marriage. I won’t make a remark like that again…”
Bruno was smiling, but his eyes were a bit more fierce as he made sure Heinrich knew that he was holding him to such a promise.
“Be sure that you don’t…”
After which Heinrich and Erich quickly brought Bruno up to speed on the current state of the Japanese Third Army, and the enemy Russians who were hunkering down in Mukden. The final battle of the Russo-Japanese war was about to begin, and months before it was supposed to had Bruno not intervened in this world’s timeline.
