Chapter 1936 Rolling Iron Flow One
"Damn, I found out for the first time that our railway system is actually not enough! These big guys from Bavaria are too crowded!" At the Essen station, a Prussian colonel was just told that his regiment Will take the train after 2 hours to the front line. This is the fourth time it has been postponed. The most important reason for this is the northward movement of the Bavarian Army.
With the northward movement of the Bavarian Legion, several aviation regiments, and at least three heavy artillery armies of the Austro-Hungarian Legion, the railway lines in western Germany faced the biggest challenge since the war began. The volume is even greater! Few people can imagine that the number of wagons that a division now needs is about twice that of the original division! A large number of 75MM rapid-fire guns were replaced by 105MM howitzers and 150MM heavy howitzers. Some elite infantry divisions may also have an additional armored battalion. And the capacity demand of this armored battalion is almost 30% more than that of an infantry regiment!
"Honestly, I feel very complicated now. From the perspective of a pure soldier, our compatriots in the south have a much better life than us. They have the best equipment and the best treatment. It is also better to take the train. Our priority is higher." The colonel said looking at his colleagues in the distance who were driving wolf tanks onto the flatbed trailer with the help of the guide.
In fact, about 180 trains are needed to transport an armored division now. Each train tows 50 carriages. What kind of concept is this probably? Historically, when Germany went to war in 1914, it only needed 120 trains to transport an army. And you must know that an armored division is probably between 17,000 and 20,000 in terms of number of people. And a German army has about 42,000 people. An armored division needs about 4 to 5 times the volume of an infantry division with the same number of people! As for the heavy artillery divisions supported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this number may be even more terrifying, because these heavy artillery require too much ammunition!
And what is the level of the French counterparts of the Germans in the same period? According to historical records, at the beginning of World War I, the French used 361 trains to transport 115,000 British troops and their 46,000 horses from the landing site to the front line.
Therefore, for the current German frontline, they are both painful and happy. The commanders suddenly discovered that for the first time, they would overwhelm their opponents in terms of military strength and equipment. However, the German commanders who had just been ecstatic suddenly discovered that one question. These troops and equipment are hundreds of kilometers or even hundreds of kilometers away. It is really difficult to transport these people and weapons.
Under the huge transportation pressure, the German railway system once again exerted its strong transportation capacity. At Essen Station, on average, a train carrying a large amount of equipment and supplies passed the station every 7 to 9 minutes. This record even exceeds the historical Cologne, whose transportation limit is about one train passing by every 10 minutes.
"God! This is definitely the largest human migration I have ever seen. Compared with the 500,000 troops who conquered Russia in the era of Emperor Napoleon, it is just a trick." At this time, there were 20,000 people outside the Essen train station. Meters above the sky, a French long-range reconnaissance plane is overlooking the entire station. Trains run every few minutes from the huge station. Essen Station is like a huge heart pumping continuously to transport hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of tons of materials along the railway line to the front line.
At this time, central stations such as Cologne and Alsace were also operating with extremely high efficiency. Looking from the sky, the trains painted with huge German gray formed long steel dragons and galloped along the railway line. If the railway line is likened to the arteries of the human body. Then the intricate highway traffic network is just like human capillaries.
The transport efficiency of these blood vessels is much worse than that of the aorta. But it far exceeds the historical level!
Because of Crown Prince Ruprecht, the car ownership of the entire German army on the Western Front is more than 40 times higher than that of the German army in 1914 in history? (Historically, in 1914, the number of cars owned by the German Western Front Army was only 4,000. Of course, the reason for this is not only the great efforts of the German industry, but also the Americans! They provided 100,000 trucks of all kinds And various spare parts greatly enhanced the strategic mobility of the German army.
What? Some people don't believe it? Well, it can only be said that these people underestimated the mighty America. In history, starting from April 1917, the US military at that time had only 3038 trucks, 437 other motor vehicles, 670 motorcycles and 12 tractors . And what about July 1, 1919? (This time node is taken because the Treaty of Versailles was finally signed on June 28, 1919) American industry has provided 185,000 cars, 30,000 ambulances, 40,000 passenger cars, 70,000 motorcycles, and 33 motor vehicles. About 10,000 vehicles! Total value over $700 million. …
As for France, another big car-using country in history, with its industrial size, the number of cars it owned during the war is also excellent. At the time of the armistice, the French Motor Transport Department had 59,069 cars, of which 23,571 were trucks. In addition, there were 24,069 artillery tractors, and 13,946 other motor vehicles. A total of 97,000 vehicles of all kinds. And these cars did play an important role. When the Germans launched their last offensive in the Battle of the Somme, a car passed by a certain location about every 4 seconds! (As for the Germans in history, let’s forget it, it’s a shame to say it)
At present, counting the vehicles of the Bavarian Army, at least 100,000 trucks are transporting supplies for the most powerful army in history, including 60,000 Class A trucks and 30,000 Class B trucks. The remaining more than 10,000 trucks are super-heavy flatbed trucks or used to tow heavy artillery. (The classification standard of World War 1 in the United States is applied here. The truck load of Class A is 1.5 to 2 tons, while the truck load of Class B is 3 to 5 tons.)
And now at least 30% of the personnel in Ruprecht's general headquarters are arranging transportation and deployment of troops. And the remaining more than 20% of the personnel are arranging for the planes transferred from the Eastern Front and Bavaria to enter the scheduled airport or a temporary field airport to land. These air-flying guys are quite fast. According to some people's complaints: "At breakfast they are still eating bread 200 kilometers away, and before our lunch is served, we have to give them first." Make arrangements for lunch!"
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