Australian Storm 1876 - Chapter 1101

Chapter 1101 Countermeasures

Berlin

German High Command

After receiving the emergency call for help on the Eastern Front, Marshal Hindenburg, the German chief of staff, had a headache. After a short good time, the overall situation of the German army is very bad.

The Entente group of troops is pressing on the border, and an “L”-shaped encirclement has been formed around the German-French border and the Derby border. The total number of troops of the three countries of Britain, France and the Ocean is as high as 7.3 million. Occupying absolute air superiority, it put enormous pressure on the German troops on the Hindenburg line of defense.

The Allied offensive plan was called “Operation Showdown”, while the Germans responded with the “Hindenburg Line of Defense”, building strong fortresses along the favorable terrain along the border, trying to drag the war down and the French, the main force on the Western Front, to collapse.

The    plan is good, but in the high position of the German army chief of staff, Marshal Hindenburg knows that the German army has reached the end of the force, and the war potential of Germany has been exhausted to the point where it is unsustainable.

According to outside conservative statistics

The German army lost 4.9 million troops on the main battlefield on the western front, and the losses on the western front were more than 6.5 million (total casualties), which was almost 1/10 of the German population of more than 68.9 million.

In the brutal war, the experienced officers and soldiers suffered huge casualties in the early days, and a large number of young German laborers took to the battlefield.

After 17 years, the evil dragon of the Ocean Empire was brought into the European battlefield, which made Germany’s difficult situation even worse.

“Your Excellency Marshal, are you worried about the war on the Eastern Front?” The one who asked the question was General Erice Ludendorff, Minister of War, a senior German general who was not a Junkers but a nobleman. Known for his keen military vision.

at the Battle of Tannenberg on the Eastern Front

Erici Ludendorff, as the deputy of General Hindenburg, personally participated in and commanded the German 12th Army to cooperate with the main force, and achieved a brilliant victory, so he was reused.

Marshal Hindenburg glanced at Admiral Ludendorff with interest, stood up, and walked to the large sand table that marked the situation of the enemy and the enemy, staring at him.

“Mr. Commander, we have overlooked an issue that could become our Achilles heel in losing the entire war, and that is air power building.

Originally, I always thought that airplanes are just something that adventurous young people like, and at best they can be used for military reconnaissance.

It was not until the beginning of 2017 that Ocean Kingdom participated in the European battlefield and brought a new concept of air-land battle. We didn’t know that it was wrong, it was very wrong, and it was irreversible.

Now, Admiral Manstein, the commander of the Eastern Front, has once again encountered an air problem, and I have no good advice to offer him. ”

Speaking of this

The outstanding German Marshal Hindenburg sighed deeply and said with a lonely expression; “The 630,000-strong army group on the Eastern Front now has only 380,000 remnants of defeated soldiers, and it faces a great risk of being surrounded and annihilated. The risk of failure is too high a price.”

Marshal   ’s words were low, but they struck Ludendorff in his heart like a heavy hammer.

the reason is simple

The military adventure on the eastern front was supported by Army Chief Erich Ludendorff, who has always been a military hardliner, in favor of taking the initiative to attack, and despising passive beatings and purely defensive views.

Admiral Ludendorff stood by the sand table with his hands in his arms, his face twitched inexplicably, and said in a deep voice;

“The combat effectiveness of the Eastern Front Corps has declined too fast, and it is indeed facing a more dangerous situation. Now it is surrounded by heavy troops and has lost the opportunity to break through.

In my opinion

On the one hand, it can organize the Austro-Hungarian army to participate in the front-line defense of the enemy and reduce the pressure on our army.

On the other hand, quickly organized the evacuation of the wounded and sick, occupied favorable terrain in the Caucasus Mountains, and organized an orderly retreat.

Preliminary estimates

If you want to withdraw most of the 5th and 9th armies, it will take at least a month, which needs to be well coordinated and make full use of the Austro-Hungarian allied forces…”

Speaking of the Austro-Hungarian army, Marshal Hindenburg shook his head silently. He was not at all interested in this all-round military ally.

Although they are in the same German-speaking area, the fighting strength of the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not ordinary.

The   West Ukraine Campaign has been going on for three and a half weeks now. The Austro-Hungarian Army Corps, totaling more than 1.1 million people, has launched several large-scale attacks, with only more than 60,000 casualties.

Among them, less than 10,000 people were killed, more than 50,000 were injured, and thousands of people deserted and fled.

Such an attack, even if it was extended for half a year, would not be able to break through the western front defended by 600,000 Russian troops.

If you say something bad, you are fishing.

This situation is actually not uncommon. There are similar situations in all countries in the world. Guangxi has always been known for its strong combat effectiveness. Fujian next door is not good. Small business is their specialty.

in European allies

The Germans would rather be friends with Bulgaria than be surrounded by Austro-Hungarian soldiers in the trenches.

On the Eastern Front battlefield, the Russian army always broke through the defense line of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Germans always wiped their buttocks, which is too unreliable.

Fortunately, the Allied Group also has a big drag on Italy. The bragging is loud, and the appetite for the colonies is so good .

In the opinion of Marshal Hindenburg, he was betrayed by the Austro-Hungarian army when he counted on it. These people are so unreliable!

The virtues of the Austro-Hungarian army, doesn’t Admiral Ludendorff know about it?

He pointed to the defense line on the sand table and said;

“Your Excellency the Marshal;

I plan to arrange for the German troops on the east front to continue to move westward, take cover one by one, retreat in an orderly manner, and establish a new line of defense extending northwestward on the still intact Austro-Hungarian empire’s west front positions.

on the basis of

The Austro-Hungarian army was successively selected to fill the defense line, no more than two divisions at a time, and night operations were the mainstay.

Thus

The German army on the eastern front will assume the role of the supervising team, reducing the pressure on the defense against the enemy.

on the basis of

The high command will try to deploy some fighter jets to support the Eastern Front. The scale is tentatively set at 300. They will attack the enemy’s single bombers or ground troops by means of 3 to 5 squad actions, and try to avoid large-scale air battles, thereby containing the enemy’s air power. .

A multi-pronged approach will help the Germans on the Eastern Front stabilize the situation, arrange for an orderly retreat of the troops, and after entering the Caucasus Mountains, with the favorable terrain, Admiral Manstein can make many choices. ”

“Mr. Chief, do we have so many planes to take out?”

“It should be possible. More than 200 fighter jets can be dispatched from the East Germany region. The Fokker Aircraft Factory has recently expanded its production capacity to the level of 380 per month, and 100 can be taken out to support the Eastern Front.”

“Fokker Aircraft produced **** that cost the lives of too many young Germanic lads who were the sinners of this war.”

“Your Excellency, it is not true that the development level of the European aviation industry has been lower than that of Australia for a long time. At present, Fokker has developed the Fokker E400 aircraft. After the enhancement of engine power and weight reduction, the flexibility and speed have been further increased, although It is temporarily unable to compete with the front-line fighters of the Ocean Empire, but the low-altitude hovering performance is better than the opponent, and it is no longer defenseless.”

“I hope so, I hope it’s not too late.” Marshal Hindenburg sighed heavily and ended the topic.

At present, the war is coming, and it is impossible for the German army on the east front to get strong support from the high command. The main force retreats into the Caucasus in an orderly manner, and it is the only feasible way to take advantage of geographical advantages to deal with the enemy.

The heavy machine gun positions erected on the hilltops are not small in deterrence, coupled with small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, will be able to greatly curb the raging air power of the Ocean Empire.

Today’s German army has launched its industrial force to fully produce 20mm and 35mm anti-aircraft guns, giving priority to equipping the German troops on the western front, with a monthly output of more than 230 guns.

Almost 70% of the planes destroyed by the German army were shot down by ground anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns. Therefore, anti-aircraft artillery became the main force of the German air defense force.

The Luftwaffe fighters often used low-altitude anti-aircraft artillery fire to escape their lives in pursuit, which gradually evolved into a low-altitude lure tactic.

The more advanced 76mm single-barreled anti-aircraft gun is also under intensive development by Krupp, and several prototype guns will be produced this month to test its power.

If it can be put into production on a large scale

With the powerful range and great power of the 76mm single-barrel anti-aircraft gun, the mid-to-high airspace will become a restricted area, and the aircraft that have signed the agreement will not dare to act recklessly.

Around the air superiority of the Allied Group, the Germans tried their best, but because of the late start, they have not yet seen significant results.

The production of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns is difficult and expensive. The key point is that the output will not increase for a while, and there are twenty or thirty guns a month.

This little output is just a drop in the bucket.

According to the information held by the German army;

The Ocean Empire alone sends more than 1,100 fighters and bombers to the European frontline battlefields every month, more than 170 tanks and armored vehicles, and more than 3,600 armored vehicles, effectively supporting the East-West Frontier battlefield.

Competing with such a powerful industrial country, the German high command suffered from the pain of invincible killing.

If 500 planes were shot down on the battlefield, he would produce 1,000 planes, and if 1,000 planes were shot down, he would produce 3,000 planes, and the more he shot down, the more.

Aircraft is like this, so why not tanks and armored vehicles?

The most uncomfortable thing is;

The Ocean Empire went to Europe to beat the Germans with weapons and money, but Germany couldn’t hurt a single hair of the other side’s territory.

The German Admiralty once proposed the concept of an ocean-going attack submarine, which is to build a type of ocean-going attack submarine with a displacement of 6,800 tons, and enter the Pacific Ocean to attack Australia.

the reason is simple

Germany and its allies have no reliable bases in the Pacific region, and ocean-going attack submarines run all the way to the Pacific waters.

Even if there is no oil, water and ammunition supplies, is the expensive ocean-going attack submarine a one-time weapon?

is simply ridiculous!

(end of this chapter)