Chapter 163: Rewarding Thyself
Bruno was at home following his day's work. He had been extremely busy following the establishment of the Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte. Though Bruno was not the one to become the acting general in charge of the unit, he was the one trusted with organizing it.
After all, the planes that were to be used were more or less his brainchild. And if he had such advanced knowledge of aerospace engineering, then surely, he would have some idea of how to use them on the battlefield, right?
Well, that was actually a correct assumption, even if it wasn't the most logically sound in terms of reasoning. Bruno did indeed have some understanding of aerial warfare.
Not because he served in the air force in his past life, but he was what one might call a "military history buff" and knew all about the tactics used by various militaries and their branches throughout history, especially modern history.
Frankly speaking, it would be many years before the Luftstreitkr?fte grew to such an extent that it could be considered its own branch. Even so, Bruno made full preparations for this. Technically speaking, the WW2-era German Luftwaffe, which was the successor of the Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte, was its own branch and, as a result, had three of its own sub- branches.
Those were the Flying Troops, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery, and the Air Signal Troops. These were, of course, even more subdivided into smaller roles. But this was how Bruno decided to set up the responsibilities of the Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte in this life.
First and foremost were the Flying Troops, who would be made up of the existing cavalry ranks, or more specifically those Cavalry Officers who could pass basic flight school. Which, in and of itself, was something Bruno also began establishing dedicated military flight schools. Then there were the Anti-Aircraft Artillery units, which were much like their land-based counterparts, just under the authority of the Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte. Their role was fairly self-explanatory: use the anti-aircraft weaponry Bruno had designed to blow enemy aircraft out of the skies.
Finally, there were the Air Signal troops, who were critical as they were the ones in charge of air traffic communication and coordination of information between pilots, the anti-aircraft artillery, the ground forces, and pretty much anyone else remotely within the operational structure.
Naturally, there were, of course, other critical areas, such as maintenance crews, divisional headquarters, logistical supply networks, etc. That he all had to come up with in preparation for the war. None of which currently existed.
All things considered, Bruno was amazed that the Great Powers had all organized this kind of thing on the fly during the Great War, as the idea of a military air force only came into existence midway through the conflict.