I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

"I modified it from a machine gun." Dominic handed Shire a document and explained, "A new piece of equipment appeared in Italy, the Perosa machine gun. I found it very suitable for use as a submachine gun, so I took it apart and made some slight modifications."

(The picture above shows a double-barreled Perosa light machine gun, produced in 1915. The OVP1918 submachine gun was almost made by taking it apart into a single barrel and adding a stock. Many consider it to be the world's first submachine gun because it uses pistol ammunition. However, from its design, it was intended for use as a light machine gun, not having the portability and on-the-move firing capabilities of a submachine gun.)

Looking at the document, Shire finally understood why Dominic's submachine gun came out so quickly. It was indeed modified from a machine gun, and it was a machine gun that fired pistol ammunition. It hardly needed any changes and could be directly copied.

"There are no industrial property issues?" Shire turned his head towards Dominic.

"Italy is very likely to be our enemy, General." Dominic responded with a smile.

If Italy were the enemy, then there would certainly be no need to consider property rights issues.

But Shire knew the truth was not so simple.

Italy was indeed part of the Central Powers and should stand with Germany, but ever since the war started, it kept watching the situation. Finally, seeing that the Allies were more likely to win, it decisively switched to the Allies.

Dominic didn't know these things, so he just used the design as he got it, only changing the caliber: Italian pistol ammunition was 9MM, while France's MAS revolver had a caliber of 11MM.

Shire raised the document towards Dominic: "Tell me the reasons you liked it, aside from it being perfectly usable as is."

Dominic felt somewhat nervous. He knew Shire would ask this, probably because he was not satisfied with this submachine gun.

But Dominic still answered, "Firstly, its weight is light, only 3.6 kg."

Shire nodded slightly; this was not a problem, as a submachine gun indeed had requirements for weight.

"Secondly, its ammunition capacity is 25 rounds," Dominic continued.

A capacity of 25 rounds was not small for this era, so it was also acceptable.

"Lastly, it has a high rate of fire," Dominic leaned closer, pointing at the data in the document, saying, "900 rounds per minute."

This seemed fine on the surface, as submachine guns are meant to shower bullets onto the enemy in a short time.

However, Shire shook his head.

"What are you thinking?" Shire asked.

"Is there a problem?" Dominic looked confused, believing this submachine gun perfectly met the requirements Shire had mentioned before.

Shire slowed his speech and said, "With a 25-round capacity and a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute, what does that mean in actual combat?"

Dominic was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly asked, "Do you mean that, relative to the ammo capacity, this rate of fire is too high?"

"Yes," Shire replied, "at 900 rounds per minute, that's 15 rounds per second. The 25 rounds are exhausted in less than two seconds, just the time it takes to pull the trigger momentarily, or inadvertently clenching your finger while jumping into a trench... all bullets will be spent."

Dominic suddenly realized: "So, we should moderately lower its rate of fire."

Then Dominic hesitated: "Then, what rate of fire would be appropriate?"

This needed to be decided before mass production, as it was an important indicator determining the practicality of the submachine gun on the battlefield.

Shire did not rush to answer, but calmly said, "Before that, we should think about the tactics of the submachine gun."

Although this sounded normal, Dominic was shocked, looking at Shire in surprise. The gun was still in the design verification stage, and Shire could already consider its tactics?

"Can we?" Dominic asked with difficulty, "Isn't that something to consider after production?"

"Of course we can," Shire said confidently, "we can infer based on the current situation."

Shire analyzed steadily, "Think about it, Dominic. It uses pistol ammunition. What advantages and disadvantages do pistol rounds inherently have?"

Dominic blurted out, "The advantages are less recoil and higher firing rate, the disadvantage is poor penetration."

"Correct, poor penetration," Shire seized upon this point, gesturing as he spoke, "If the enemy is lined up in a '1' shape facing us, our bullets can only kill the foremost enemy."

Dominic agreed, as this was common in trench warfare. When soldiers jump into an enemy trench, they often face enemies lined up front and back within the trench, and pistol bullets cannot penetrate through bodies to harm those behind.

Dominic suddenly thought of something. He picked up the submachine gun from the case, contemplating: "I understand; its rate of fire is too high. A squeeze of the trigger and 25 bullets all hit the first person, leaving the gunner vulnerable."

Shire pointed in the air as if to say, "Exactly, you got it."

"There is another situation," Shire added, "the enemy could be lined up in a '1' shape as we face them. What impact does that have on us?"

This often happens during frontal assaults between two armies, or when standing at the edge of a trench, facing the enemy below.

Dominic thought for a while, holding the submachine gun and swaying it left and right, then exclaimed: "We should fire in a fan shape, right, General? This way, we can kill several enemies in front. But if the rate of fire is too high, the bullets would be used up before we can complete the fan motion, concentrating on just one or two enemies!"

Shire nodded, summarizing: "Therefore, our rate of fire should be designed based on these two tactical actions. A single trigger pull burst should fire 6 to 7 bullets, sufficient to kill one target; that's for the first situation."

Dominic excitably continued: "Holding the trigger down for a sweeping fan motion, the ammo capacity and rate of fire should at least complete one sweep motion, that's for the second situation."

Shire acknowledged with a "hmm" and then pointed to the magazine mounted vertically on the side of the submachine gun:

"It obstructs the shooter's line of sight, making it difficult to aim and shoot in special situations. It's better if we move it to the side."

"As for ammo capacity, 25 rounds are somewhat insufficient. We could try using a drum magazine."

Ammunition capacity is crucial for submachine guns. Often, just a few extra bullets can determine whether the enemy is annihilated in one go.

If not, the gunner who runs out of bullets would be left to wait for death, as the enemy wouldn't give them a chance to reload.

Dominic was dumbfounded. He thought his submachine gun was close to perfect, but Shire effortlessly pointed out many flaws, including significant ones that impacted combat performance.

Making the changes suggested by Shire, it could now be considered a near-perfect submachine gun!

But how did Shire manage to do it?

Is this the gap between oneself and a genius?

(The picture above shows the MP18 submachine gun, with a rate of fire of 400 rounds per minute, about 6 rounds per second. This rate of fire fits well with actual combat, thus it is called the world's first true submachine gun.)