Currently, the British Royal Armouries were testing a variety of weapon designs to deal with German Panzers. Whether it was large and powerful mines that could be embedded in the ground and triggered by a weight far greater in forced than a human being could muster.
Or by creating a much larger caliber rifle. This, of course, being significantly harder to manufacture and test than some of their ideas because of the overwhelming pressure of such rounds, and the need for the chamber to contain it.
However, there was one mad lad among British Engineers who decided that maybe, just maybe, they should try to modify a normal spigot mortar to be fired in an arc directly at the oncoming German Armor.
In Bruno’s past life, during the second world war, this was among Britain’s first attempts to replace obsolete “Anti-Tank Rifles” that were normally chambered in something akin to 20mm. And the nickname for the device was the Blacker Bombard.
It never actually saw service, and only was issued to the British Home Guard out of the overall lack of dedicated anti-tank weapons, and even then, military leadership suspected whether or not it would have a significant impact on damaging a German Panzer.
The first modern lightweight mortars were invented during the Great War of Bruno’s past life, with the 3-inch Stokes being the first example of such weapons. Bruno had, of course, stolen this feat as far back as 1900, with his first prototypes being used against Boxer Militants in the far east.
But after seeing the effectiveness of German man portable mortars being used within their defenses on the Western Front, the British Army quickly prioritized their own variation of such a device.
Resulting in the Stokes Mortar being adopted into service by January of 1915, a few months prior to what it otherwise would have been. And by now, as spring was beginning to approach, the British found themselves with another quandary.
The simplest solution to the introduction of the Panzer I by the Germans would be to modify the stokes mortar, and make it fire a shot directly at an oncoming tank. Would it work as planned? Probably not. The overall shape of the Panzer I design that Bruno had brought to life in this new timeline had slanted armor which protected the tank from HE explosives that lacked overall penetration.
But it was not like the British Army had an example within their hands to test their new weapons on, and they were desperate for a solution to this potential problem which could be used against them in the field.
Hence the rapid development and production of experimental weapons whose practical basis on the battlefield was not confirmed. Currently, British Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Matheson of the Trench Warfare Supply Department was inspecting the operation of the first functional prototype of their new anti-tank weapon.
British soldiers clambered onto the ground in the prone position, as the Blacker Bombard sat very low on the ground, the crew of operators hiding behind its small shield which was designed to protect them as they loaded the weapon, and prepared to fire it in the distance. The target? A Lancia 12 which was an Italian Armored car, provided to the British by their Allies in the Kingdom of Italy and was left over from the Italo-Turkish war of 1911. This was supposed to be the proof the British Army needed about whether or not they could damage a German Panzer Spähpanzer.
It was, shall we say, shortsighted thinking. After all, there were many discrepancies between the Lancia 12, and the current Production Panzer I model, and their Spähpanzer Ausf. B counterparts. For example, the Lancia 1Z had 9mm worth of riveted steel armor.
While the thinnest areas of the Panzer I and Spähpanzer Ausf. B armored vehicles had 20mm of slanted rolled homogenous steel armor. These 20mm of armor were in the hardest sports to hit, mainly underneath the tracks.
A direct shot from a 29mm mortar onto a Lancia 1Z was not at all an equivalent test against an E-10 Standardpanzer chassis. Even then, the weakest points of the E-10 Chassis were rightfully covered by Armored Skirts that Bruno had designed them with in this life. Making them even more difficult to harm from an enemy’s perspective.
Frnakly speaking, British Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Matheson was not stupid enough to think that this was any equivalency test to the armory they would be facing. But he had orders, and he had a very limited timeframe to complete them in.
The British Army required a weapon to deal with the newest threats the Germans had posed to them. And asking for multiple years to develop proper countermeasures was simply not an option. Nor did he have a proper test subject to utilize in this development process.
Because of this, he sighed heavily and shook his head when he saw what the men were taking aim at, before giving them the command to fire at the target.
“Well, what are you waiting for!?! Get on with it!”
Having been given the order, the team fired the experimental prototype weapon towards the Italian Armored Car. And as everyone pretty much expected, the moment the mortar round impacted on the hunk of riveted sheet metal, it was destroyed on the spot.
The damage was substantial. And while the more foolish within the test center celebrated the successful “kill” of the Italian Armored car, those who knew well enough that this test confirmed nothing about the effectiveness of their new weapon against their enemy’s capabilities could simply sigh and shake their heads like their General had done.
Knowing that this ruse of a test was designed for a single purpose. To appease those at the top of the British Government who wanted an answer to the German deployment of panzers and armored cars immediately. And were not willing to give the time and resources necessary to come up with a proper countermeasure.
At the end of the day, it was an act of desperation, and a need for a major propaganda win to boost the morale of the British Public. Isonzo had not been enough to do this.
But with the successful completion of the first trial of the Blacker Bombard, it could now be “leaked” to the public that the British had begun the first step into mass producing a weapon capable of rending the German armor into scrap metal.