After the inspection ceremony, the Teaching Assault Battalion resumed its usual intense and productive routine training.
Morin, likewise, returned to his life of rushing between the War College and the camp.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal.
But everyone knew that certain things had subtly changed.
The most direct change was the status of the Teaching Assault Battalion within the Army system.
Following His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince’s personal inspection and the subsequent widespread discussion it triggered among the Army High Command, the Teaching Assault Battalion was no longer the experimental unit previously called ‘the Crown Prince’s toy’ internally.
It had become the focal point of attention for the entire Saxon Army, and indeed the highest echelons of the Empire.
Resources began to pour continuously into the camp on the outskirts of Dresden.
The Army Weapons and Equipment Department even dispatched a technical team to be permanently stationed at the Teaching Assault Battalion.
Their specialized task was to record and resolve the various equipment problems the unit encountered during training and to collect officers’ and soldiers’ suggestions for improving weaponry.
This level of treatment was unprecedented in the history of the entire Saxon Army.
On the other side, the first light machine gun launched by the ‘Schmeisser Arms Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,’ which Morin held controlling interest in.
It passed all the inspection and testing of the Army Weapons and Equipment Department without any issues and was officially designated the MG14.
The War Office immediately issued a formal order, approving the mass production of this excellent light machine gun and prioritizing its issuance to the troops.
Naturally, the first unit to be equipped was Morin’s Teaching Assault Battalion.
Time quickly moved to early May 1914.
After nearly a month of intense preparation, the production line for the MG14 light machine gun was formally established at the initially expanded old Schmeisser family factory in Thuringia.
Although the company’s planned new factory in the Ruhr industrial area was still under construction and the old factory’s capacity was limited, with only two production lines currently operational.
Regardless, the MG14 officially began its mass production work.
The first batch of MG14s that rolled off the production line, after undergoing strict factory inspection, were immediately loaded onto trains and transported to Dresden.
When the soldiers of the Teaching Assault Battalion first touched these brand-new, deadly tools—exuding a cold metallic luster and the scent of gun oil—on the training ground, their faces were alight with excited smiles.
Clearly, there was no man who didn’t love a big machine gun.
During this period, Helga, who had completed the production preparation for the MG14, also brought Morin good news.
She informed Morin that she had successfully developed the initial design for the ‘submachine gun’ Morin wanted, based on the valuable blueprints left by her brother, Hugo.
When Morin saw the design blueprints spread out on the table in the Falkenstein Manor studio, his breath hitched for a moment.
With just one look, he recognized the weapon’s ‘true identity.’
The long barrel shroud, the wooden stock, and the highly recognizable horizontal drum magazine inserted from the left side of the receiver…
This was essentially the original design version of the famous MP18 submachine gun from the other timeline!
Helga told Morin that her primary consideration when designing the gun was the convenience for soldiers firing in the prone or kneeling position.
Therefore, she designed it with this side-insertion feeding mechanism to prevent a long, vertical magazine from hitting the ground during prone firing, which would affect the firing posture.
Morin naturally understood this design choice.
But he also voiced his concerns.
“Helga, your design is fundamentally sound.”
Morin pointed to the side-insertion magazine interface on the blueprint, voicing his concern.
“But I worry that this design might cause the weapon’s overall center of gravity to deviate from the central axis.”
“Especially when using this high-capacity magazine, as the number of rounds decreases, the weight of the magazine changes, creating a dynamic shift in the center of gravity.”
“This shift might not be noticeable in a single-shot weapon, but during sustained full-automatic fire with this gun, it could potentially exacerbate muzzle climb and shooting inaccuracy.”
Hearing Morin’s analysis, Helga fell into deep thought.
She had to admit that the issue Morin raised was a blind spot she had not fully considered in her initial design.
The two engaged in a lively discussion around this problem.
Ultimately, Helga decided to create a conventional design version as well, with the magazine inserted vertically from the bottom of the receiver.
She would then have the veteran artisans at the family workshop manufacture prototypes for both feeding mechanisms.
The superior design would then be easily determined through actual live-fire testing.
Morin naturally fully supported Helga’s rigorous and pragmatic research attitude.
He was even looking forward to seeing the final design of the ‘modified MP18’ that would utilize a bottom-insertion magazine.
This day, Morin arrived early at the War College’s large lecture hall as usual, preparing for the day’s ‘Operational Art’ course.
As soon as he entered the door, he noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat unusual.
The students in the classroom were not reviewing their lessons or quietly conversing in small groups as they usually did.
Almost all of them were gathered at the front of the classroom, huddled together, passionately discussing something.
Morin approached curiously, wanting to see what was happening.
Seeing Morin approach, a classmate he had a good relationship with enthusiastically grabbed his arm and pulled him into the crowd.
“Morin, come and look! Something major has happened!”
It was then that Morin clearly saw that they were passing around an internal military newspaper.
On one page of the newspaper, a bold-printed headline instantly caught his attention.
‘Austro-Hungarian Intelligence Service Successfully Dismantles Chapter of Extremist Nationalist Organization Named ‘Ujedinjenje ili Smrt’ in Bosnia Region, Capturing Large Number of Participants in Terrorist Activities!’
Morin initially couldn’t figure out what the organization with the long, unwieldy name, ‘Unification or Death,’ was.
However, the system’s 【Information】 tab in his mind quickly updated the relevant entry.
The moment he saw the organization’s more commonly known alias—‘The Black Hand’—Morin immediately understood.
This was the nationalist organization he knew from the history of the other timeline, the one that masterminded the assassination in Sarajevo and ultimately ignited the First World War!
Simultaneously, the system’s 【Intelligence】 tab flashed with three new and utterly shocking pieces of information, scrolling like a waterfall.
【The Greater Serbian Nationalist Organization named ‘Unification or Death’ has had its Bosnia chapter annihilated by Austro-Hungarian security forces.】
【Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian student, was captured in this operation.】
【Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, Serbian Kingdom General Staff Intelligence Officer and Supreme Leader of ‘The Black Hand,’ committed suicide by firearm in his Belgrade office.
(End of this Chapter)