Re: Blood and Iron

Bruno had more luxuries than the men beneath his command. He was the highest rank a man could achieve in the German Army. Travelling from the front lines back to Berlin was not only a matter of personal luxury, but often times necessity.

As Montenegro, and Serbia both capitulated, and the troops which Bruno was in charge of largely began Gendarme operations while also simultaneously preparing for a war in a new theater. Bruno found himself with little to actually do. In fact, his expertise was actually needed back in the fatherland, checking to see if the preparations he had made in years past had finally been concluded.

For the most part, Bruno's involvement in creating military designs, taken, modified, and improved from his past life had been focused on the Army, as that was more or less the single most important part of the Great War, and was also his primary means of production.

But there were a few naval vessels Bruno had introduced to the world. Two were well known by now and had played a major role in the German Kaiserliche Marines' dominance over the seas. And that was both the Type XXI U-Boats, or at least the improved variant which Bruno introduced in this life.

And the WW2 Era destroyers, which escorted German commercial vessels, troop transports, and even accompanied larger fleets into battle. These two types of naval ships had proven, time and again, their worth.

But there was a third "invention" Bruno had developed in secrecy, as gaining approval for use by the Navy had proven to be difficult. In times past, Naval Infantry or Marines had more or less been limited.

The reality was that contested battles on the shores were rare in history, and because of this, the idea of spending the taxpayer's money to fund a fleet of landing craft designed for this very purpose was something that Bruno simply could not get approved no matter how hard he tried.

But... there was not exactly a law preventing private ownership of such vessels, perhaps even a fleet of them... After all, without weapons on board, landing craft were more or less no different from civilian ships.

With that said, weapons that could be mounted would be small scale, and easily retrofitted onto the ships, if need be, at most 37mm auto cannons. Because of this, Bruno decided to return to the German Reich to ensure that his fleet of "automobile transport vessels" was fully constructed and ready to set sail.

Yes... Bruno had shamelessly concealed the construction, commission, and ownership of naval landing craft as mere cargo ships designed to carry exclusively automobiles in large numbers. The reality was these ships could carry both men and armored vehicles on board. But nobody had ever really heard of such a thing, let alone expected these ships for such a unique purpose.

After all, until now, naval infantry had more often than not deployed via small wooden rowboats, which were easily mowed down by modern defenses. And even then, they usually did so without having an actual fight in mind when they reached the shores.