Without the approval of the use of his cluster munitions, as Bruno had expected the Kaiser to do, this meant that the final push into France would consist of more conventional weapons. Something Bruno found to be distasteful.
But to be fair, the current cluster munition stockpile would only last about a month at the current rate of Germany’s shell usage. Which by now had reached its zenith, being comparable to what Germany was using in the final year of the war during his past life.
They were better off suited as a weapon to be deployed in the off-chance Germany screwed up so badly that they found themselves in a scenario where their borders were being overrun by the enemy.
A secret weapon if you will, or a reverse uno card, as Bruno liked to call it. As a result, after discussing the matter with the Kaiser at length, Bruno and his family would retire to their estate for the day. Where the man began drafting plans for next generation aircraft, which he hoped would begin seeing service in the German Armed forces at the start of the coming decade.
Bruno was already making preparations for the start of the second world war. As though he hoped the victory obtained soon would prevent its outcome, he suspected it would happen, regardless. But if these weapons were discovered before the war began it would inspire his rivals on the global stage to try to catch up as quickly as they feasibly could.
As a result, Bruno had several of what he referred to as decoy projects. This was a generation of equipment in between what he intended Germany to field when the second world war finally reared its ugly head.
Weapons that could prove reasonably useful during the Interwar period leading up to it as both a decoy if built in sufficient numbers, to distract rival intelligence agencies, as well as in foreign aid to potential allies.
Because of this, as Bruno looked at the development of the aircraft, he decided to use aircraft that were also initially developed during the interwar period of his past life as inspiration. Whether it was BF-109 fighters, which depending on the model could perform a variety of roles, or the Dornier Do 17 light bomber.
Which, while vastly superior to the He-51 bombing variants which Germany currently used to limited effect, were still lacking in range, and power. In fact, as Bruno thought about it, his use of the He-51 primarily as a fighter, reconnaissance, and close air support plane had actually changed the outcome of arms development.
He did not have a functional heavy bomber, or even a medium bomber for more serious bombing raids, instead choosing to use artillery over air power in that regard during the war. And, because the war was ending so soon, nobody had really developed a heavy bomber as they were too busy trying to shoot German planes out of the sky, and failing in that regard.
The war would be ending halfway through, and those who wanted to know how best to prepare for the next war, would naturally look towards what had proven effective in this war, as was common thought for nation states and how they tried to prepare for future conflicts.
Few leaders actually had the forethought and vision on how a future war would be wage. Thus, the Allies would look at submarines, fighter aircraft that could also operate as close air support, and armored vehicles when developing weapons for the future.
Bruno had fully neglected bombers as a primary part of his air power, and because of this, he was really the only one who understood how capable they would be in the future wars to come. Thus, if Germany developed multi-role fighters and light bombers during the interwar period, few would be enough of a visionary to think of developing larger scale bombers.
Hence why Bruno went with the DO 17. At the same time, there was really one additional form of aircraft Bruno needed to develop, and that was the transport aircraft. Whether for transporting supplies or men, aircraft would play a leading role in future logistic networks.
With or without Bruno’s interference, this would be discovered in the coming decades. So he might as well begin the process of developing a proper interwar era to transport aircraft for military applications.
As a result, Bruno chose the Junkers Ju 52 as his interwar era transport plane. With these three planes, Germany could manufacture a sufficient amount to not only act as a cover for what they were really planning for the near future.
But also they were capable enough to provide support to more front line forces, or even act as a strategic reserve should such a thing become completely necessary. But when it came to what Bruno actually had planned for the future to accompany his e-10 and e-25 series equipped with combined arms battalions?
Well, these would be a matter of further development as the time eventually came for Bruno to put down the pen and rest for the night. After all, his blueprints were more proofs of concept, along with a list of requirements he wanted from the men he employed as full-time engineers.
The actual development and function of the weapons would come down to the same men who made them a possibility in his past life, or at the very least their forbearers from the generation prior. Either way, he did not intend to spend his entire leave developing weapons that were not needed until 20 years after his victory was gained.
Instead Bruno turned off the light in his office with the current designs securely stashed away in his safe, before returning to his bedroom, where he climbed into bed next to his wife, who reacted warmly to his entry by turning around and hugging him, seemingly peacefully at sleep as she did so.
After kissing the woman on the forehead, and wishing her good night, Bruno closed his eyes, and dreamed of the life he hoped to create for the future of his children and their children.