Chapter 231: Run Through the Jungle
The War in Europe was progressing more or less than Bruno had initially expected it to. The frontlines had been stalled in the west, as Germany defended its own territory, and that of Luxembourg from repeated French invasion.
Meanwhile, France was slowly grinding their way through Belgium, a nation which had yet to ask for aid from the German Reich. At the same time, the British finally managed to land forces in France, albeit in the South, who were now marching northwest towards Elsass- Lothringen to aid the French Army who were still trying to break through them.
In Isonzo, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians continued to hold the line against the Italians. And in the Balkans, all-out war had broken out with the Serbian Provisional Army being attacked on both sides.
But if there was one mostly forgotten front of this war, that had been entirely opened up as a result in the shifts in Alliances. It would be the fact that the Imperial Japanese Army had begun attacking allied colonial territories in the east.
For example, French Indochina, where the Japanese were getting a taste of modern-20th century combat for the first time since Mukden. The introduction of beltfed general purpose machine guns had been a game changer in the East.
By the outbreak of the war, not only had the Japanese finished the development of the prototype which they showed Bruno years prior, but had also begun to put it into mass production. As a result, the Japanese soldiers currently slogging through the Jungles of French Indochina were equipped with far more firepower than the French were prepared to deal with.
Echoes of machine guns and bolt action rifles rattled throughout the heavily wooded areas. French soldiers shouted in their native language. The words were jumbled together in an incoherent mix of various thoughts and commands.
But most noticeable were the repeated cursing of the French Machine Gun crews who were desperately trying to get their puteaux machine guns to properly function. The weapon systems ate maybe five to seven rounds maximum before requiring an extensive clearing procedure.
Worst yet, some critical components of the firearm were prone to breakage, and when that happened, the weapon was dead in the water, so to speak. Because of this, one particular French machine gun crew kicked their weapon into the mud, as they retreated immediately after their weapon broke down on them.
Meanwhile, a Japanese machine gunner, spotting the French flee like roaches exposed to the light, picked up his relatively lightweight weapon and aimed down its sights while shouldering the bracing the stock against his shoulder.