Chapter 181 The Future Commander VI

On the morning of May 1, 1939, just after 5 o'clock, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler sat in a half-track vehicle (a copycat vehicle, copied by BMW from the French Citroen P21 half-track vehicle), feeling the bumps of the vehicle body. He should have listened to the report in the general command of the exercise and judged the progress of the exercise by the changes on the sand table and map.

But Hitler asked to witness the breakthrough of the First Armored Division yesterday afternoon - perhaps because he was worried that Hessmann would cheat - beside him, Hessmann Infantry General, who accompanied him to the front line of the exercise, was looking down at a report on the progress of the exercise that he had just received.

On one side of the road, wheeled armored vehicles and trucks lined up one after another in a row that could not be seen at a glance. Every vehicle was filled with fully armed soldiers. From time to time, people found that their beloved prime minister was passing by in a car, and they saluted Hitler with a salute. Hitler raised his hand in return with great excitement, as if he was reviewing his army.

"General of Infantry, why aren't they moving forward?" Hitler suddenly became interested in the long line of cars here, "All the people are sitting in the cars, what's going on?"

"Chancellor, they are waiting for a breakthrough in front." Hersman closed the report in his hand, "According to the plan submitted by the Blue Team, they will advance along Baltic Highway 6, which is an important highway that runs through the Courland Peninsula. It is very suitable for the rapid advancement of armored forces, so it is also the focus of the Red Team's defense."

He looked at his watch, "In a few minutes, the bombardment will begin. It won't last for days and nights. After 45 minutes of artillery preparation, the tank cluster will attack! It is estimated that the Red Team's defense system will collapse within two hours. . At that time, the convoy here will be led by tanks and advance at a speed of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour... For the army after 1914, this is as fast as lightning! "

Hitler turned his head and looked at the German convoy that seemed to have no direction. He estimated that there were at least 1,500 vehicles of various types in line, and the entire motorized infantry division was on wheels. Now Germany's tractor industry is similar to that in history, but the automobile industry is much stronger, so there are enough vehicles to improve the motorized troops. If they can really advance at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour on the battlefield, no, even 5 kilometers per hour, it will catch the enemy off guard.

Because since heavy artillery became a powerful weapon in the army, the army's movement speed has become very slow. Especially when leaving the railway, relying on animal power and walking to advance under the heavy enemy resistance is almost like a turtle. If you can advance 5 kilometers a day, the headquarters in the rear will open champagne to celebrate.

Therefore, in the last world war, the enemy whose defense line was breached always had enough time to mobilize troops relying on the railways and roads controlled by the enemy and rebuild a new defense line behind the breached defense line.

If the attacking party can increase the speed of advancement to 5 kilometers per hour, that is 120 kilometers a day, which is impossible to defend!

"Then how does the Red Army plan to defend?" Hitler asked with a frown.

"In the Usma Lake section, about 8 kilometers in front, the Red Army deployed an infantry division and built a defense line with an anti-tank trench, three defensive trenches and four artillery positions as the main body. It also laid out fake minefields and a large number of barbed wires, and there was a reserve defense line behind the main defense line. In addition, in Fort Wilhelm, 12 kilometers northwest of Usma Lake, the Red Army also deployed two regiments plus two anti-tank artillery companies."

The Red Army's deployment that Hersmann told Hitler was naturally confidential to the Blue Army Command. Similarly, the Red Army was completely unaware of the Blue Army's offensive plan.

However, even if Falkenhausen guessed Guderian's main attack direction, the exercise command would not allow him to concentrate all his forces around Lake Usma. Because what needs to be verified through this exercise is the ability of the armored forces to break through the traditional defense line.

"There is a division on the 8-kilometer defense line, and there are two regiments 12 kilometers away..." Hitler thought for a while and asked again: "What about the artillery? How is the artillery deployed?"

"There is a divisional artillery regiment, six infantry regiments (including the two regiments in Wilhelmburg) each have an infantry artillery company, and there are 5 anti-tank artillery companies (including 2 in Wilhelmburg)." Hessmann replied, "Currently deployed on the main front position of Lake Usma are two infantry artillery companies and two anti-tank artillery companies, and there are two infantry artillery companies and two anti-tank artillery companies on the reserve position. There are eight artillery companies on the artillery position. In addition, there are three anti-aircraft artillery companies deployed in a dispersed manner."

"How many cannons are there on the front line of Lake Usma?" Hitler did not understand the current artillery organization of the German Army and the Baltic Army, so he simply asked about the specific number.

"There are 16 150mm cannons, 8 of which are K16 and 8 are IG33 infantry guns; there are 3FH18 howitzers for 105mm cannons; there are 16 75mm cannons, all of which are IG18 infantry guns; there are 84 37mm Pak35 anti-tank guns; and there are 36 20mm Flak28 anti-aircraft guns."

"The number of cannons is not that large." Hitler frowned slightly. For him who had fought in World War I, it sounded a bit "shameful" to have only these few cannons on such a critical line of defense. Even the German army in 1917 and 1918 would not have been like this.

What he reported was roughly the artillery allocation of the Wehrmacht's 1932 infantry division, which was slightly different from the 1935 division in history. However, as in history, the current German artillery firepower is not strong, ranking behind France and the Soviet Union in Europe, and the performance of most artillery is not excellent.

The problem is of course the Treaty of Versailles. The "no order" era that lasted for more than ten years successfully hit Germany's artillery research and production - military technology progress, like other technological progress, is inseparable from order support. Without large orders from the military, Krupp and Rheinmetall would not have spent a lot of money to develop new artillery.

However, Hessmann did not care about the lack of German artillery strength, because he knew that artillery lacking mobility was not very useful in the era of mechanized warfare - especially now that the German Air Force has benefited from the leading air-cooled engine technology and has greater advantages than in history, the enemy's towed artillery is just a live target for the Air Force.

"The firepower of the Czechoslovak army is just so-so. The Polish infantry division cannot reach this level." Hersmann narrowed his eyes and said to Hitler, "Moreover, deploying a division on the 8-kilometer front line, and there are two regiments nearby that can be reinforced at any time, such a defensive deployment is impossible in most cases."

Hitler nodded silently, and then a thunderous roar came from the distance.

"Has the bombardment started?" Hitler asked.

"Yes, it has started," Hersmann said, "In 45 minutes, the tank assault will also begin. Prime Minister, the general command of the exercise has prepared a forward observation post for us. Let's see the breakthrough in the era of mechanized warfare there!"

...

Major General Erich von Manstein is now the commander of the 18th Army Division of the Wehrmacht. His division participated in the "Iron Fist-1935" exercise and was guarding the defense line east of the Usma River.

In the early morning of May 1, when the "Blue Army" bombardment began, he had just got up and was in his command post, eating breakfast with a coffee cup and bread.

"No one is staying in the position, right?" Manstein asked worriedly, listening to the sound of the artillery bombardment.

This is a live-fire exercise, not a real fight. So a quarter of an hour before the "Blue Army" shelling began, the exercise command called to notify. After receiving the notification, the "Red Army" will leave the position with their equipment, leaving the "dummy" and "dummy equipment" to be bombarded - the reason for doing this is to test how many 37mm anti-tank guns deployed on the front-line positions can be destroyed in 45 minutes of shelling.

The 37mm anti-tank gun is currently the most powerful anti-tank weapon in the hands of the German infantry. In theory, an infantry division should have 84 to 90 such cannons. But most infantry divisions do not even have one-third of the number. Manstein's 18th Division was temporarily strengthened because it had to participate in the exercise, so the anti-tank guns were fully staffed.

When conducting a defensive battle, most of these anti-tank guns will be assigned to the regiment. Usually, each infantry regiment will get 18 to 20 (and some left for scouts) 37mm anti-tank guns.

Two regiments were deployed on the main position on the front line of Usma Lake, with a total of 40 37mm anti-tank guns - 40 anti-tank guns guarding the 8-kilometer-wide front, an average of 5 anti-tank guns per kilometer. If these 5 guns are destroyed, the infantry can only rely on anti-tank guns to resist tanks...

"General, all personnel and equipment have been withdrawn." A staff officer immediately answered. "We can wait patiently for the bombardment to end."

No one in the 18th Division headquarters knew how long the bombardment would last, but everyone believed that the bombardment would not be too short. Because the position they built was quite solid for the infantry, if only dozens of cannons participated in the bombardment, it would be impossible to cause enough damage without repeated bombardment for more than 24 hours.

"Patience?" Manstein shook his head and walked to the map table, "Our opponents are the 1st Armored Division and the 3rd Motorized Infantry Division. They have 400 tanks and self-propelled artillery..." He squinted. After listening carefully for a while, "There are at least 80 artillery pieces firing, and two artillery regiments are concentrated opposite us."

"Are we the main attack direction here?" a staff officer asked, "Should we report to the headquarters?"

"Report," Manstein paused, "and request reinforcements at the same time!"

"Request for help? Now?" the staff officer said, "They haven't started the attack yet? What if it's a trap?"

Manstein raised his coffee cup, took a sip, and then said with certainty: "The decisive battle is east of Lake Usma, so request reinforcements now!"