Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 133: There are always new toys in the training camp.
A few days later, the news of the 'Black Hand Society' being destroyed was like a pebble thrown into a lake.

The ripples quickly subsided.

The headlines in the newspapers were once again dominated by news such as "His Majesty the Emperor attends the launching ceremony of a new naval warship" and "Large-scale workers' strike breaks out in the Gallic Republic".

It was as if that little disturbance in the Balkans had never happened.

But Maureen knew that the undercurrents beneath the surface would only become more turbulent as a result.

He took advantage of a weekend afternoon to return to Falkenstein Estate.

Cecilia was working on a large number of documents in her study.

Seeing Maureen enter, she put down her pen, her face showing initial surprise, before she couldn't help but tease her:

"Isn't this our 'busy man' Captain Morin? What brings you back today? I thought you were so engrossed in the knowledge at the War Academy that you'd forgotten all about your older sister!"

"The ocean of knowledge is indeed vast, but there's always a time when you need to go ashore for air."

Maureen chuckled and sat down on the sofa opposite her, then her smile faded and she got straight to the point:

"Sister Cecilia, I need your help."

Seeing the unusually serious expression on Morin's face, Cecilia also put away her joking thoughts and sat up straight.

"You said."

"If I remember correctly, Falkenstan-Eisenstein United Industries also has quite a few offices in the Balkans?"

"If possible, I would like my sister to help me collect information on unusual military movements, supply shipments, personnel movements, or local price fluctuations in the Balkans."

Cecilia frowned slightly, keenly sensing the unusual nature of Morin's words.

“Fritz, what do you need this intelligence for?” she asked with some concern. “Have you... noticed something?”

"It's just a soldier's intuition."

Molin didn't know how to answer either, "I have a feeling that something big is going to happen over there sooner or later, so it's never a bad thing to make some preparations in advance."

Cecilia had doubts about Morin's explanation, but she did not press him for details.

"If it's just routine information, no problem."

Cecilia readily agreed.

“I will have my subordinates handle it. United Industries has many business partners and agents in the Balkans, so collecting this information will not be difficult.”

"Thank you, Sister Cecilia."

"Do we need to say these things between us?"

Cecilia rolled her eyes at him, then put on a concerned expression.

"But you, with both teaching classes and leading troops, don't exhaust yourself."

"Don't worry, I'm in great health, as strong as an ox!"

Morin smiled, stood up, and walked out of the room.

"I've finished talking, I have to go back to the camp. I have training this afternoon."

"Hey, in such a hurry? Won't you stay for dinner before you leave?"

"There's no way around it, the whole battalion is watching me, I can't slack off as the battalion commander."

After saying goodbye to Cecilia, Morin rushed back to the training assault battalion.

Inside the camp, the scene was still bustling with activity.

During this period, MG14 light machine guns and related tools were continuously being delivered to the camp in batches.

As the soldiers surrounded these brand-new, gleaming light machine guns, which reeked of gun oil, their eyes lit up, as if they were seeing an unparalleled beauty.

The arrival of the new weapons greatly stimulated the soldiers' enthusiasm for training.

Battalion adjutant Kleist and operations staff officer Manstein immediately organized the companies to carry out new training courses based on the training syllabus previously formulated by Morin.

Squad-level fire coordination, fire support while on the move, and rapid relocation of machine gun positions.
These tactics, unheard of by traditional Saxon infantry, are now commonplace on the training grounds of the assault battalions.

Molin stood at the edge of the training field, watching the soldiers gradually integrate new tactical ideas into their instincts during training, and felt a sense of satisfaction.

However, he soon discovered a new problem.

In many squad-level attack drills, he saw soldiers hurriedly straighten the leather ammunition pouches at their waists after quickly shifting positions, and then take out spare clips from them.

The whole process seemed very clumsy.
“This gear is too cumbersome,” Morin frowned.

The current M1909 leather ammunition boxes, although made of solid materials and with excellent workmanship, are outdated in terms of design philosophy and can no longer keep up with the current training methods in the training camps.

Individual small ammunition boxes hanging on the waist are not only inconvenient to access, but also interfere with body movements during strenuous exercise.

For assault team members who need to move frequently and react quickly, this equipment is simply torture.

They need a more compact and convenient set of carrying gear!
A classic design immediately came to mind for Maureen.

Type 56 chest garter.

That simple, inexpensive, yet incredibly practical canvas chest rig was perfect for the assault battalion.

Just do it.

That evening, Morin spread out the blueprints in his office and began to draw the design of the Type 56 breastplate from memory.

The world's industrial capacity makes manufacturing such canvas products no problem at all.

The canvas backpacks carried by the soldiers in the camp already proved that the relevant materials and sewing techniques were mature. The structure of the Type 56 chest suspender was not particularly complex either.

Its core value lies not in the advanced technology it uses, but in its disruptive design philosophy.

It completely breaks away from the traditional model of carrying ammunition, grenades, and other items in separate small bags on the body.

Instead, all combat supplies that needed to be accessed quickly were integrated into a single 'vest' worn on the chest.

This design is not only convenient to use, but also provides a stable center of gravity.

Even when running or crawling, it will not have a significant impact on the soldiers' tactical movements.

This is a systemic innovation that originated from countless real-world combat needs and has been tested by blood and fire.

Since the original design was already perfect, Morin didn't need to make many adjustments.

The grenade pouches and secondary pouches on both sides do not need to be modified.

He simply changed the three iconic large magazine pouches on his chest to three small bullet pouches for holding Gew.98 rifle stripper clips, based on the actual situation of his troops.

Each ammunition pouch can hold six stripper clips, for a total of 120 rounds.

In addition, there is a multi-purpose bag that can store extra ammunition, gun cleaning tools, and other miscellaneous items.

This "three up, one down" combination not only meets the rifleman's ammunition needs but also takes into account other functions.

As for the color, it is naturally field gray, which is similar to the active duty military uniform.

Morin had even planned that once the submachine guns were deployed to the troops, all he would need to do was replace the three small ammunition pouches with ones that could hold submachine gun magazines, and the transition would be seamless.

Anyway, the cost of this thing is negligible compared to that ridiculously expensive leather outfit.

After finishing the blueprints, Morin felt a sense of relief.

The next day, he took the blueprints and submitted an application to the Army Department to replace the training assault battalion with new carrying equipment.

In his application report, he simply explained the significant advantages of the new carrying equipment in terms of cost and combat effectiveness.

In order not to waste time, he decided not to wait for the Ministry of the Army's funding, but to use his own money to find a reliable textile factory to produce a batch of samples.

Anyway, the first patent compensation payment for the 'shaped charge armor-piercing projectile' has arrived, so he can now be considered a 'damn rich man'.

Problems that money can solve are not problems for him.

Picking up the phone on her desk, Maureen dialed the number for Falkenstein Estate.

Finding factories and negotiating business is most efficiently handled by Cecilia.

Cecilia's somewhat languid voice soon came from the other end of the phone.

"Hey? My busy man, what can I, your 'subordinate,' do to bother you this time?"

Hearing her teasing tone, Morin couldn't help but laugh.

"Sister Cecilia, please help me find a good canvas processing factory not far from Dresden. I have something new that I want them to make."

Time flew by and it was now June 1914.

For Morin, the best news this month was that he finally finished his 'crash course' at the Saxon War Academy.

Although he was just an auditor, the college still issued him a graduation certificate in a proper manner.

This means that he can finally be freed from the daily back-and-forth between the academy and the camp, and devote all his energy to the training of the training commando battalion.

The day after he received his graduation certificate, Helga brought him even more exciting news.

"Boss, I've got both types of the automatic weapon you wanted!"

On the other end of the phone, Helga's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Morin immediately understood what Helga was talking about.

Submachine gun!
He immediately went to the temporary workshop that Cecilia had set up for Helga.

As soon as Maureen entered the familiar studio, she saw Helga standing in front of a huge workbench.

Two brand-new weapons lay on the velvet cloth of the workbench.

Helga's face lit up with a bright smile when she saw Morin enter.

She strode forward, like a child eager to show off their prized work to their parents, and pulled Maureen to the workbench.

Two brand-new weapons, almost identical in appearance but with completely different feeding methods, appeared before Morin's eyes.

Morin's gaze was instantly drawn to one of the guns.

The long barrel slide is covered with ventilation holes, the stock is made of thick wood, and the magazine is the most distinctive feature, inserted horizontally from the left side of the gun.
Without a doubt, this is the MP18 submachine gun. It's just that it's 1914 now, so if it were actually in service, it should be called the MP14.

"Boss, look, this is the prototype gun that was perfected based on the blueprints left by my brother."

Helga pointed to the submachine gun with a drum magazine inserted on its side and introduced it with some pride.

"When my brother was designing it, he mainly considered the convenience of soldiers shooting in a prone or crouching position, so he designed the ammunition feeder on the side so that the shooting posture would not be affected by the magazine being too long."

Morin nodded; he understood the design concept.

Then, he turned his attention to another prototype gun.

The overall structure of this gun is very similar to that of the MP18, but the biggest difference is that its feed port has been moved to the bottom of the gun and it uses a traditional vertical magazine feed.

(End of this chapter)