Chapter 183 The Future Commander 8

"Run away?" Hitler shouted, "Ludwig, how can you promote such a coward to become a general?"

This was Adolf Hitler's reaction when he heard that the commander of the 18th Wehrmacht Division, Manstein, had abandoned two infantry regiments and most of the baggage and artillery, and fled northwest along Route 6 with the other two regiments.

"Coward?" Hersman was also a little surprised. Considering that the man who "escaped" was named Manstein, I am afraid that Guderian would not be able to win the exercise this afternoon.

"Mr. Prime Minister, now is the exercise!" Cavalry Lieutenant General Weikes, commander of the 1st Armored Division, reminded him. He was a cavalryman. Because the 3rd Cavalry Division he commanded was reorganized into the 1st Armored Division, he became a cavalry division. "Armored General".

However, Armored Forces Director Guderian always believed that he did not understand the essence of armored warfare, so he exchanged their positions during this exercise. Guderian actually became the division commander of the 1st Armored Division, and Lieutenant General Weikes took Guderian's place in command of the entire Blue Army.

When Hersmann and Hitler arrived at his headquarters together, he reported to them the news of the Panzer Group's breakthrough and the escape of Manstein's troops.

"You have to run away during exercises, how can you expect to be able to fight in a real battle?" Hitler continued to shout, "Retire this man immediately, the Wehrmacht does not need him!"

This is Hitler venting his dissatisfaction with Hessmann and the Junkers officer corps! Hersman just smiled lightly, "Mr. Prime Minister, let's see how General Manstein will block the advance of the armored cluster."

"He has already given up his position, and he is still blocking the armored group like this?"

Hersman shrugged, "Relying on traditional line defense, unless a large number of permanent fortifications are built like the French Maginot Line, it will not be able to withstand an armored assault."

He paused for a moment, "But this does not mean that an army dominated by infantry has no way to deal with armored forces. Since there is an armored assault, there must be an anti-armored assault method. There are people studying both topics. Maybe Manstein The general has a lot of research on anti-armor assault operations."

He was not fooling Hitler. "Armored assault" and "anti-armor assault" map operations and sand table simulations had been conducted countless times within the General Staff Headquarters.

And Hessmann himself even proposed the "large-depth elastic defense theory." Looking at the name, you can tell that it was copied from famous historical generals such as Tukhachevsky and Manstein.

According to this theory, the traditional defense system centered on trenches and artillery is impossible to achieve an armored group assault. In order to build a traditional defense system, the practice of placing a large number of troops on a long defense line will encounter catastrophic consequences when faced with an armored assault group that can quickly break through.

The correct way to deal with an armored assault is to deploy a defense with great depth but not tightness - it is impossible to have both depth and tightness, because that would require too many troops - using space and Second- and third-line troops (commonly known as cannon fodder) consume and delay enemy armor groups while retaining powerful counterattack power. After the enemy armored group's attack power is severely weakened, it is then driven back with a counterattack.

However, this theory is still confidential and is known only to a few senior and elite staff officers in the General Staff and the Armored Forces Command (managed by the Director of the Armored Forces). Manstein, who served as the division commander of the infantry division, did not know Hersman's "high theory". The corresponding measures he took now should have been researched by himself.

Hitler glanced at Hersmann, feeling helpless. As the prime minister, he has no commanding authority! According to the constitution, the power of command belongs to President Ludendorff. And if they want to amend the constitution, the Nazi party does not have enough heads in the parliament. Moreover, Ludendorff himself was actually the leader of the Nazi Party. Without Ludendorff, the Nazi Party would have been a small party that no one knew about. Therefore, many congressmen with military background were trying to save Ludendorff's reputation by trying to change the constitution to take away Ludendorff's power, which might lead to a split in the Nazi Party. Not to mention the ubiquitous Stasi will take advantage of the opportunity to play tricks.

What made Hitler even more depressed was that before Ludendorff's term as president was completed, Hessmann gave the long-retired emperor William the "Doron Woodcutter" (this was the nickname given to old William by the Dutch) to him. Lifted out. Once the Hohenzollern dynasty is restored, this commanding power will most likely belong to His Majesty the Emperor...

Facing Hitler's cold gaze, Hessmann smiled faintly, "Mr. Prime Minister, General Guderian's armored cluster will soon begin to break through in depth. Shall we feel the breakthrough speed of the armored forces? This is Manstein versus Guderian!”

…

"Bah, bah, bah..."

The unique sound of the 37mm rapid-fire gun firing sounded in the ears of Colonel von Thoma, commander of the 1st Armored Regiment.

"Enemy attack! There is an ambush in the woods ahead!"

The headset immediately heard the somewhat annoyed shout of Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Balck, commander of the 1st Armored Battalion: "There are at least five 37-guns, which killed two of my tanks and blocked the road."

"Killed" means of course that it was judged destroyed by the exercise referee who followed the troops as they advanced.

"Stop advancing and suppress them with firepower. I'll send snipers up immediately." Von Thoma quickly gave an order to Lieutenant Colonel Balck.

"Bang! Bah!" As soon as Toma's order was given, the sound of the 37mm gun firing sounded again.

"What an oversight!" Thomas quickly pushed open the hatch of the tank and got half of his body out. Then he picked up the telescope hanging on his chest and took a careful look at the woods in front of him. He found that it was less than 500 meters away from the road. , the road passes through the middle of the woods, which is indeed a good place for setting up an ambush. It seems that his armored regiment advanced too fast and did not pay attention to sweeping possible ambush locations along the way.

At this time, motorized snipers following the advance of the armored regiment had already dismounted from the wheeled armored vehicles and passed by Toma's command tank carrying heavy MG34 machine guns and mortars.

Von Thoma stopped one of the captains, "Captain Manteuffel, how long does it take?"

"Colonel, it depends on how many people are in the forest and how equipped they are?" replied a young captain named Hassan von Manteuffel, who also had the title of baron. "If they have no more than 500 men and no infantry artillery, our victory can be determined within an hour. If they have 1,000 men and a few 75mm or 150mm cannons, then they can fight."

"How could this happen? We are an armored group!"

Von Thoma not only had an armored regiment under his command, but also reinforced it with a motorized sniper battalion. How could such a luxurious lineup be blocked by a group of stragglers who appeared from nowhere?

"Colonel, they have a lot of 37 guns. Our tanks and armored vehicles cannot get close, and the firepower of the 20mm machine guns is insufficient. We must call the rear artillery group for support. So it is more time-consuming...the rules of the exercise are like this."

"I know how infantry fight!" Von Thoma waved his hand impatiently and dismissed the captain of the motorized infantry. In my heart, I thought that the firepower of the armored cluster was still too weak.

It seems necessary to develop a 150mm caliber self-propelled infantry gun based on the chassis of the No. 1 or No. 2 tank. If motorized snipers could be equipped with such weapons, the advancement of armored groups would be much easier.

…

"For the record, infantry units should be equipped with anti-tank weapons with greater firepower and mobility, and stronger individual anti-tank weapons should be developed. In addition, anti-tank guns that lack the protection of solid bunkers are easily vulnerable to enemy infantry and tank firepower To destroy, unless it has greater range and power, its actual combat effect will be limited. It is best to have an anti-tank weapon that perfectly combines firepower, mobility, and defense capabilities... Well, that one seems to be a tank or based on a tank chassis. Self-propelled artillery or something.”

While quietly waiting for "defeat" - when the referee determined that one of Manstein's regiments could hold off the Von Thoma armored group for 2 hours - Manstein was not idle either. He first sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Falkenhausen, the commander-in-chief of the "Red Army", suggesting that he immediately shrink his troops and conduct a decisive retreat. Then I summarized the "exercise experience" with my staff.

The "Red Army" general headquarters, which received Manstein's telegram, was already in considerable panic at this time. Falkenhausen originally thought that he had considerable experience in "anti-mechanized warfare." But he didn't expect that the "Blue Army Armored Cluster" would be so huge that it would be crazy. I never expected that their breakthrough and advancement would be so rapid.

From the start of the shelling by the Blue Army to now, the exercise has only been carried out for less than 8 hours. Not only has the Red Army's defense line been broken through, but the Blue Army armored group has advanced more than 8 kilometers!

"Lieutenant General, Major General Manstein reported that his troops will only have 2 to 3 hours to arrive."

Major General Witzleben, chief of staff of the "Red Army", reported the latest "war situation" to Falkenhausen. According to the referee of the 2 to 3 hour exercise, if Manstein is defeated in 2 hours, he can retain half of the troops on hand. If he is defeated in 3 hours, the entire army will be annihilated.

"It's not enough at all!" Falkenhausen looked at the map. "Can the defense line be stabilized by putting two regiments from Fort William on top?"

He was still trying to get the troops to fall back in order to form a new defensible front, so he wanted to use reserves - when Manstein wanted them, Falkenhausen did not agree, and the two regiments remained until It is not used now.

"The support will be until tomorrow morning at most." Major General Wetzleben said.

"The enemy has at least one armored division and one motorized sniper brigade. This cannot be resisted by three infantry regiments without fortifications to rely on."

"It's okay to resist until early tomorrow morning... Time is very important to us!" Falkenhausen nodded. Just when he was about to order the reserve team to be put in, a staff member shouted a report.

"Lieutenant General, the Baltic 1st Infantry Division reported that their rear assembly area was attacked by a Blue Army armored group!"