Chapter 26: Impressing a Veteran of the Old Guard
Bruno remained silent for some time. He was asked about the primary enemy of the Reich. It was no secret that bad blood existed between the French and the Germans. It was a rivalry that was as old as time itself.
But Bruno was silently debating with himself whether he should answer his honest opinion, or blow smoke up the instructor's ass. No doubt by the look of his cavalry uniform, and the fancy medals pinned to his chest the old timer was a war hero. But Cavalrymen utterly refused to admit that their style of warfare had long since been obsolete.
Cavalry regiments still existed even now among all major European Powers, and that was despite them having been proved utterly ineffective in the Crimean War nearly fifty years prior. With the prominence of machine guns that would occur in the coming days, at best cavalry could be used as scouts, that is until mechanization entirely replaced them.
Ultimately, Bruno decided to voice his honest opinions. He wasn't going to get anywhere by being a brown nose. And because of this, he was quick to speak his mind.
"With all due respect, the French have an antiquated idea of warfare. They have two machine guns per every infantry battalion. This is woefully inadequate for the wars that are to come. But if we're being fair, then the Reich suffers from a similar deficiency.
The technology of arms is rapidly advancing beyond our means of transportation. And it is because of that we will soon find ourselves engaging in warfare, not via the means of encirclement tactics or mass maneuverability.
But rather static warfare based in trenches, fought in overwhelming waves of men to overcome the rate of fire which entrenched machine gun positions possess. The best solution to this problem would be to focus on a war of defense against France.
Preparing stout fortifications on the Franco-German border in the years leading up to the conflict. Where we can bleed the enemy dry while sustaining minimal casualties of our own, as we will not need to waste valuable lives in pursuit of ineffective counter charges.
We are not looking at a rapid conquest as was obtained in 1871. Rather, a long and brutal war of attrition, where every life sustained, is a victory in and of itself. Let the enemy come to us, and bleed against our defenses while we bombard their futile charges with artillery and machine gun fire alike.
Cavalry will fall by the wayside, as it is the stubborn refusal of the old guard to let it die that has maintained its position in warfare, albeit on life support. At most, they will fulfil the role of scouts on the edge of the battlefield.