Graphic Thread

[Višeslav]

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An alternate uniform for a Serbian royal guardsman (just a normal enlisted man, not an officer), for a TL where the first Serbian revolt succeeded. This uniform is essentially a modernization of the revolutionary-era Vožd's Guard that served Karađorđe IOTL (shown below).

The design is meant to fit in around the 1890s-1900 era and is inspired primarily by Austrian uniforms of the time, as I imagine the Serbs would be importing a fair amount of their gear from there or at least that a lot of the industrial mass production of uniforms would be led by Serbs from the Habsburg empire if not even actually done in the empire. These dudes would basically guard royal/princely residences (not 100% decided on whether Serbia would be declared a kingdom by that point ITTL), coronation ceremonies, royal weddings, and the like and generally parade around Belgrade on occasion. They'd probably have a height requirement as well, which shouldn't be terribly difficult for a country with a relatively tall population to supply men for.

To be clear the light color is meant to be white on the actual uniform but is made rendered in a more brownish beige tone to mimic the color palette of illustrations from the time.

Of course I don't imagine Serbia, even with the relatively better position it would be in without the post-1st-revolt Turkish reprisals and with an army stemming from the Austrian-trained Freikorps of Koča's Revolt rather than from peasant militias raised for the second revolt, would be able to make most enlisted mens' uniforms this fancy (granted this itself is far from the fanciest uniform as far as that time period goes). I picture the regular army giving professional soldiers something akin to the simplest US civil war uniform but with a šajkača hat, with a good chunk of conscripts in wartime still serving in peasant clothes and an army jacket. Common soldiers in opanci rather than leather boots would probably be unheard of in the standing army but common in wartime.

And a bit of mood music to go with this image: an old Serbian marching song

Crossposting from another thread, might fit in here as well, check the quote for context.

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[simplysupported47]

The Infantry Division was the most widely-used tactical formation in the National Revolutionary Army throughout the war. With around 12-13,000 personnel allocated, the division was capable of holding its own against equivalently sized IJA and CNA formations, while still nimble enough to maneuver around the battlefield.

Prior to the Second Sino-Japanese War, NRA divisions were variable in size, structure, and capability. Some divisions had merely a few hundred soldiers, while others were the size of regiments. No divisions were at full strength, Most lacked artillery and armor, and many were tied to regional warlords. Attempts at reform were undertaken during and immediately after the war, but those were piecemeal and the New Divisions were lacking in combined arms capability. It was only in the 1960s and 70s did the NRA undergo a dramatic, widespread, and thorough reform as the Chongqing government got back on its feet. Buoyed by combat experience gained from the 1960 Chinese Crisis, the NRA underwent a sweeping reform. All divisions were to restructured following a standard, triangular structure, with three maneuver regiments supported by an artillery regiment and smaller supporting assets like armor and engineers. Personnel were assigned from across the country to break regionalist and personal loyalties, but retained their names in an effort to appeal to unit histories.

While the military reform was far more dramatic and effective compared to prior reforms, there still existed differences in equipment between divisions. For example, when the 49th Infantry Division was redirected from the 12th Military Region to participate in the Southern Guangdong Offensive, it had just 28 of the 40 tanks authorized in its tank battalion. Additionally, the division had to use World War 2 era 76mm field guns to bring its artillery complement to full strength.

The introduction of armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and more capable main battle tanks led to some infantry divisions being converted in Mechanized Infantry Divisions. But that's a story for a different day...



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