Chapter 1,452 Wolf Crisis 1
Chapter 1452 Wolf Crisis 1
Just as Lord Hamilton was thinking about how to fight in the Balkan theater, senior Allied powers also learned about the situation on the battlefield through various channels. The Bavarian Army once again appeared in front of Britain and France. Just like last time, the Bavarian Army's powerful combat effectiveness, superb The strategies, tactics, and top-notch technical equipment once again left an indelible impact on the Allied leaders. Leaving aside the strategic level competition, this time the Bavarian Army once again gave its opponents a huge shock on the technical level! Damn it, this is simply no way for anyone to survive! Not only were the Allied leaders cursing like this, but engineers from Britain and France were also racking their brains to break through each other's newly constructed technical barriers.
The prince's prediction was correct. The introduction of new tanks did pose a great challenge to the armament systems of Britain and France. The largest stock of artillery on the Western Front proved useless, and the French's tens of thousands of 75MM rapid-fire guns devalued significantly. , it is difficult for front-line troops to find a cannon that can destroy this tank, and the same is true for the British. You must know that tens of thousands of 18-pound guns were produced in history (including those produced after World War I). This type of artillery is the most widely equipped by the British. Although it is more powerful than the 75MM cannon, it is also very ineffective!
Well, the question now is what will Britain and France do if the number of German tanks increases! If this problem cannot be solved, it is very likely that the future front will collapse because of this! After all, strategy and tactics are on one level, but ultimately they have to be implemented in terms of equipment and personnel quality. If the equipment is too poor, then there is really no need to fight.
(Someone may ask, didn’t all the various tanks in World War II have their own advantages? There was no shock on the front due to the service of a certain tank. When the T34 first entered service, the German army had various NB and Tigers in service. When the T34-76 was in service, the German army still had a large number of weapons that could destroy the T34. For example, when the T34 was in service , the German 88MM anti-aircraft gun and PAK38. Even though the latter is a 50MM gun, it is enough to deal with the 34mm gun with a front window. When the Tiger was in service, it was indeed popular for a while, but look at the output of the Tiger... .... Moreover, Maozi also has 85MM anti-aircraft guns and A19 plus howitzers that can pose a serious threat to the tiger. After all, the 102MM vertical section on the front of the tiger cannot be washed... and the 85MM anti-aircraft gun The output is also in the tens of thousands.)
But what about the French and British troops now? Take the French as an example. There are only two types of artillery equipped in France that are under 155MM. One is the M1897 75MM rapid-fire gun, and the other is the M1913 105MM artillery... What is the historical output of the latter? A total of 1,600 artillery pieces were produced with their mounts, plus 400 barrels... Although the French military industry has also improved in this dimension, after a year of fighting, along with huge consumption, the number of M1913 105MM artillery pieces that France has on the front line is even less than 4,000! On average, per division, there are less than 40!
As a country far inferior to Germany, France
There is an upper limit to its industrial production capacity. For example, historically, the French put a lot of energy into the M1916 155MM howitzer, producing 3,000 guns in 2 years! The French can naturally focus their resources on cannons, but infantry suppression firepower is a problem...
Compared with the British, the French still have a very serious problem, that is, there are not enough and suitable naval guns to make up for the gap of the army guns. In fact, how did the British maintain the combat effectiveness of their artillery in World War I? of? It doesn't matter if there are not enough land guns. Can't we just dismantle some of the navy's guns and replace them with army gun mounts? Anyway, the British Empire has dozens of pre-dreadnoughts and a large number of cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers. Both front-line and inventory vehicles can meet the needs of artillery. For example, the 6-pound gun of the MK series tanks, the 4.7-inch gun and the 6-inch gun that serve as land guns.
But it is a pity that the French do not have such artillery. Yes, the French can indeed bring out the GPF 194MM self-propelled long-range artillery, and there are also 240MM train guns. However, what you need to know is that the number of these long-range artillery is not high. Many, and the number of anti-tank artillery is very large! According to the current estimates of the French technical department, if you want to ensure the frontal destruction of the Wolf tank, then at least a 100MM-level artillery is needed, and the only 100MM-level artillery of the French is still an 1891 naval gun...
As for the power of this artillery, it is definitely sufficient. However, as an early naval gun, this gun has a somewhat heavy weight, with a bare barrel weight of 1700KG... The French 75MM rapid-fire gun weighs only about 1500KG. If you add a gun mount... The weight is unimaginable! Of course, if you just get a convertible, you can make do. However, this artillery also has a problem, that is, the number of usable artillery is not very large.
One thing that can be said is that the sheer number of these artillery pieces is still okay. After all, this 100MM artillery can be seen on everything from destroyers to pre-dreadnoughts. But the question arises again. If these artillery pieces are dismantled, who will be entrusted with the anti-lightning strike task? The British could dilute this number with their large naval base, but the French navy? Just save it! The Germans can dismantle a large number of 88MM guns or 105MM guns to enrich the army. The British can even more, but the French Navy absolutely cannot! The tonnage gap between the First Navy and the Second Navy is huge, and the gap between the German Navy and the French Navy, compared with the former, can only be described as even greater!
"It's not that we don't have suitable artillery. The M1913 105MM cannon can completely solve the problems we are currently facing, but this will inevitably affect the current military production and the intensity of suppressive firepower on the front line. We need to reduce a large amount of 75MM artillery production capacity to convert production. 105MM artillery, and this will lead to a large reduction in the number of artillery on our front lines, and if the production of 155MM heavy howitzers is reduced, it will be even more of a tragedy, because this is our most important suppressive artillery at the corps and division level!" Minister of Munitions wrote this in a report to senior management.
The problems for the top brass of the French army don't stop there, because front-line generals also have requirements for the performance of this artillery. That is, unless this artillery can be equipped with a self-propelled chassis, the weight must not exceed 2 tons! Because this is almost the upper limit of easy movement. Think about the muddy ground on the Eastern Front, and then think about placing artillery weighing more than 2 tons. How many people will be needed to help move the position!
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