Austro-Hungarian armament reform was in full swing. The Czechs did not disgrace the title of their industrial zone, and devised many excellent and exotic weapons.

Machine guns impressed the Austrians in the Civil War. Previously, the Austro-Hungarian army was armed with a Schwarzlozer M1912 machine gun, which can be considered a relative of Maxim, but it also has its own peculiarities. It was the only machine gun that successfully adopted the semi-free bolt-action principle, a difference in technology that Rudolph did not understand. In his opinion, this is the Maxim machine gun, a miniature version of the Maxim.

This kind of machine gun has a very characteristic appearance, a short barrel, in order to prevent the flame from being too large, and equipped with a large horn muzzle, which looks a little out of place. It is no wonder that Rudolph admires foreign flattery, his own machine gun is really not as powerful and domineering as the German MG08. However, the performance of the two is almost the same, and in terms of weight, the M1912 is even better. The gun body is 20kg, the gun carriage is 20kg, and the MG08, which is over 100 pounds, has a gun body of 25kg and a gun carriage of 30kg. Exquisite German craftsmanship, quality is first-class, and weight is also the best.

A civil war, and the servicemen of Austria-Hungary could no longer despise machine guns. First the rebel machine guns, which drained the blood of tens of thousands of people, and then Rudolph's machine guns, which slaughtered a cavalry division.

Heavy machine guns were naturally popularized, and their use was widely taught.

How to restrain machine guns was also put on the agenda.

When Rudolph first saw the 37-mm infantry gun, his first thought was that the designers of this country should be cute.

A soldier holds a cannon barrel, and a sled dog drags the gun carriage and attachments. Rudolph always felt like it was a toy.

Just looking at it was not enough, Rudolph also fired a few shells himself. Small shells fell precisely to two kilometers.

This ultralight gun has excellent performance and affordable price, and has been well received by the inspectors. The military did not hesitate to place an order with it.

Probably most people don't have much resistance to being small and cute, and Rudolph is also confused. Rudolph pondered why such a particular weapon was not known in history.

It is more powerful than a grenade launcher, but inferior to a mortar. Well? Mortars seem to be the best option for war.

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, the first mortar in the modern sense appeared. But it didn't get the world's attention. It wasn't until the fierce trench battles came that there was a strong demand for such a projectile.

The French came up with the Cricket A ballista, a weapon of the classical style.

The British were more retro, they made large slingshots. Later, a trench mortar was created, and the iron balls it fired were perhaps more threatening to the gunners.

The Germans were still in the forefront, and they built two types of "trench mortars" in front of the station, 170mm and 250mm. "They had a good record and were firmly holding down the Entente forces.

The mortars of the Germans were all heavy and could not be disassembled, and this product still looked somewhat backward.

As for Austria-Hungary, it can be called a wonder. Their design is particularly avant-garde, and they have ingeniously designed the "air mortar cannon." "Unlike traditional mortars, it uses compressed air instead of propellants. This kind of product of the times, in addition to being full of strong steampunk style, only has the advantage of green environmental protection.

It was not until 1915 that the Stokes mortar was designed in Britain. The progenitor of today's mortars.

Rudolph questioned the sniper, "In our experience, a three-meter-deep Z-shaped trench can withstand artillery. If the shells are not fired into the trenches, the power of the artillery will be greatly reduced. ”

Immediately someone retorted: "We have mortars." ”

Someone else asked: "Can those mortars be used to fight trenches?" ”

Rudolph put forward his opinion, "We should think about designing a light mortar. ”

Rudolph described it as best he could: "More like a mine thrower, to be exact." ”

The artillery engineer asked puzzledly: "What is the purpose of this gun, and are there any requirements?" ”

Artillery officer Torres replied: "The angle of fire is large, the arc is high, it is similar to a mortar cannon, and the power is greater, but this light mortar cannon, 60 or 80mm is enough." ”

Rudolph adds, "The cost of this light weapon can't be too high, this light weapon needs to be equipped in large quantities, and the accuracy is not too high, we just need to throw the bomb into the trench." ”

The development of mortars was launched, and snipers were still ordered in large quantities. After all, in a war of movement, such a small cannon can easily destroy a machine gun. Less than 200 pounds of artillery is a good supplement to the firepower of the company level.

Only Rudolph felt that its firepower was really a little weak compared to mortars. Rudolph's understanding is still stuck in the future world, and he is not at all aware of the limitations of the current mortar. At least in terms of range, it falls short of the basic requirements. As a 37mm gun that accompanied Austria-Hungary through World War I, it naturally has the value of its existence.

Fast forward to 1914, and Rudolph spent the first New Year of his new life. The only difference here is that the New Year's concert was held at the National Opera House, not the Musikverein, as it became famous.

Rudolph received a New Year's gift, a mortar that he had in mind. The process of creating a mortar can be described as a twist and turn.

The brain-opening designer really came up with such a magical thing as an air cannon, as well as a mortar with rifling.

Rudolph constantly explained, describing to the designer with all his might. A lightweight, detachable, modern mortar was finally designed.

But after a thousand calculations, there was another problem with the shells. This kind of columnar shell has extremely poor stability and is easy to explode, and after being shot, the firing range is only 600 meters, and it flies everywhere.

After some epochal exchanges, shells with tail fins were also developed.

At the beginning of 1914, the Austro-Hungarian mortar was officially finalized. This light mortar is available in three calibers, 60, 80, and 120. But after experiments, the military ordered only 80 and 120 mortars in large quantities.

The 80mm mortar weighs about 60kg and has a firing range of up to 2500m. Due to technical reasons, the power of artillery shells cannot be compared with World War II. Other performance has basically met expectations, at least comparable to the Republic of China Type 20 82 mortar.

The 120mm mortar weighs 240kg and has a firing range of up to 4000m. The medium-caliber gun was an unplanned product, but it overjoyed the military. There is no doubt that the reason is that it is cheap.

This cannon completely crushed the 8cm bronze cannon in all respects. Compared with the 75 and 77 mountain guns just now in Skoda and Bailu, they have the advantages of being powerful and easy to carry. Most importantly, it costs only one-eighth of the mountain artillery.