The Rise of the Third Reich

"Lieutenant General, do you understand what mechanized warfare is?"

"Mr. Prime Minister, I know that this is the theory put forward by John Frederick Fuller. He believes that after the emergence of tanks, the mechanization of the army will be an inevitable development trend, and war will be a purely mechanized activity. The outcome of the war will be hundreds of thousands of times. Ninety-nine points are complete. The side with more tanks on the battlefield also has a greater chance of victory. He also believes that cavalry will be withdrawn from the battlefield, infantry will be reduced to auxiliary arms, and artillery will need to improve its mobility. In addition, Fuller also advocated: During the battle, tanks are first used to surprise the enemy and penetrate deep into the enemy, destroying their leader's opportunity. At the same time, aircraft are used to bomb their transportation hubs and supply systems. Then, motorized infantry and artillery are used to expand the results and chase down the fleeing enemy. In one battle, the enemy is defeated. To win the war..."

The person who was explaining mechanized warfare to Adolf Hitler and Wilhelm II in Riga Castle was not Guderian, the commander-in-chief of the "Blue Army", but Lieutenant General Falkenhausen, the commander-in-chief of the "Red Army".

He came to report on the "Red Army's" defense plan. Before the formal report, Hitler suddenly asked about mechanized warfare.

Hitler looked at his military adjutant general, Major General William Keitel. Keitel nodded slightly and agreed with Falkenhausen's explanation. Books on mechanized warfare by Fuller, De Gaulle and Emmansberger (Austrian military theorists) were not easy to sell in Britain and France, but most German officers had read their masterpieces, but reading did not mean they agreed with them.

Wilhelm II, who was wearing an old-fashioned German military uniform, then asked: "Lieutenant General, you are talking about other people's theories. What do you think about this issue?"

"Your Majesty, I only partially agree with Fuller's view," Falkenhausen said. "The primary factor that determines the outcome of a war is people, followed by weapons, terrain, logistics, etc. If Germany asks me, who once served as a military adviser, The Chinese army provides all the weapons and equipment of several armored divisions, and it is impossible for them to use tanks to defeat the potential enemy Japanese army.”

"Oh, are the Chinese so unwilling to fight?" Emperor William asked.

"No, they don't have enough technical personnel to run an armored force!" Falkenhausen adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said in a scholar's tone, "Your Majesty, although I have only been responsible for the past five years. Training an Eastern army whose equipment level is not up to the level of the Turkish Army in World War I, but mechanized warfare has always been an important topic of my research, because the main imaginary enemy faced by the Chinese army (the Southern National Revolutionary Army) is now. The mechanized Japanese Army.”

Is it the mechanization of burning horse dung? Hirschman, who was listening to the report on the sidelines, said that compared with the current Chinese army, the Japanese Army can be considered "mechanized". At least the "Adzuki Bean Tank" is about to be equipped with troops.

"So you found a way to deal with mechanized troops?" Hitler asked with interest.

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister," Falkenhausen replied, "increase the depth of the defense line, assign a reserve force that can be quickly mobilized, at the same time strengthen the anti-tank training of the infantry, and build targeted fortifications."

Hitler thought for a while and asked again: "So in the exercise that will start tomorrow, are you confident that you can defeat your opponent's attack?"

"Yes!" Falkenhausen narrowed his eyes and glanced at Infantry General Hessmann sitting next to Hitler.

He knew that this large-scale exercise was initiated by Hersman. The ostensible reason was to "test the tactical level of mechanized troops."

But with Falkenhausen's understanding of the strategic thinking of the German Wehrmacht, he could easily guess that this exercise was actually a rehearsal for an aggressive war against Poland or Czechoslovakia!

From Falkenhausen's point of view, the attack on Poland and Czechoslovakia was undoubtedly a greater adventure than the previous world war. It was simply a desperate move, regardless of the consequences.

Because today's Germany is surrounded by enemies such as France, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Not to mention the British Empire, these four rivals alone have a population of nearly 110 million, far exceeding the 70 million of Germany and the Baltics. Moreover, their combined industrial strength is not far behind that of Germany. They will also possess the weapons that Germany can possess. Even if they are slightly inferior in quality and quantity, they can still withstand Germany's offensive.

Just like the previous war, it is impossible to win a quick victory in this evenly matched war. Germany is likely to face a long war that will last for several years - Falkenhausen knows some preparations for the war, and the General Staff has begun preparations as early as the early 1920s. As if it has learned the lesson of insufficient preparation for the last war, the General Staff predicts that the next world war will last at least 5 years.

The General Staff Department is in charge of the Strategic Material Reserve Bureau (formerly part of the Industrial Promotion Council), and is now working hard to reserve enough oil, grain and various non-ferrous metals to meet five-year wartime needs.

However, there are still many senior officers in the army who have doubts about future wars, and Alexander von Falkenhausen is one of them.

The existence of these "anti-war people" was one of the reasons why Hersman and Schleicher decided to conduct this large-scale military exercise. As Germany rises step by step, military pressure from countries such as Britain and France will only increase.

If Germany does not give up its policy of seeking to break the balance of power in Europe - seeking the reunification of the German nation is an act of breaking the balance of power - then a new European war may be difficult to avoid.

Therefore, Germany's actions to annex the Baltic Republics, the Republic of Austria, the Czechoslovak Republic, and to retake the lost territories in the East were a kind of "war brinkmanship" that would most likely trigger a war.

In this case, it is very important to unify the high-level thinking of the German army and establish a winning concept.

Falkenhausen gave a military salute to Hitler, the German Emperor and Hersmann: "I will do my best to stop the Blue Army, just like the most tenacious opponent the German Army will encounter in future wars, the enemy. Always tougher than we think!”

Hersman nodded slightly, smiled and said to Falkenhausen: "Lieutenant General, do your best, this is a very valuable exercise.

This exercise will prove the fact that unless the equipment is comprehensively upgraded and the infantry is motorized, it is impossible with the current level of infantry equipment to withstand the German armored forces on relatively flat terrain with no fortifications to rely on. A powerful offensive. "

…

"Your Majesty, Mr. Prime Minister, I have no doubt about the outcome of this exercise: the armored forces will be able to successfully complete the mission, and it will not take 10 days. The exercise will end with an overwhelming victory for the armored assault group tomorrow afternoon."

Shortly after Lieutenant General Falkenhausen left Riga Castle, Armored General Heinz Guderi also began to report.

Guderian's battle plan sounds much simpler than Falkenhausen's plan, which is to concentrate forces and attack a little. In order to achieve surprise, the artillery preparation time before the attack will be reduced to 45 minutes.

And after the armored forces successfully achieve the first breakthrough, Guderian will immediately launch the second and third armored assaults until they penetrate the depth of the enemy's defense and divide the opponent who is twice as many as himself into two parts. Thus achieving the final victory of the exercise.

The only condition for victory in the exercise is to break through and advance more than 20 kilometers - in the last world war, achieving such a breakthrough often took several weeks and unimaginable casualties.

But Guderian, who had been exploring mechanized warfare since the mid-1920s, knew very well that a mere 20-kilometer breakthrough would only take a few hours for mechanized troops.

"The exercise will end tomorrow afternoon?" Adolf Hitler looked at Guderian in disbelief.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been busy working on this exercise for two months - the long-distance transportation and deployment of mechanized troops is actually an exercise - and it can be completed in half a day? is it possible?

"Tomorrow afternoon!" The expression on Guderian's face looked extremely serious. "Mr. Prime Minister, the combat effectiveness of mechanized troops has improved exponentially compared with the old army. So whoever can master this war mode first will be able to completely The power to change the situation in Europe.”

Guderian was one of the few in the German army who, like Hersmann, believed that technological progress had completely changed the balance of power in Europe. In the era of mechanized warfare, the German nation will have several times the advantage over the era of static warfare!

Because mechanized warfare is almost a victory model tailor-made for Germany, the "industrial nation". The army used to carry out mechanized warfare, in the eyes of Hersmann and Guderian, was a huge modern factory.

The various armored vehicles, wheeled or tracked, half-tracked vehicles, and various modern weapons owned by an armored force are like very complex machines and equipment. It must be operated by highly skilled technical workers and engineers. Countries with relatively backward industries simply cannot find the "skilled workers" and "engineers" that an armored force has, let alone design and manufacture these advanced weapons.

Therefore, in today's Europe, except for Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union, the four industrial countries that truly have the advantage of scale, other countries simply cannot afford mechanized warfare.

Moreover, organizing and implementing mechanized warfare is a very complex and precise task. It is difficult for a nation that does things carelessly to master this war mode in a short period of time. The Germans, who have always been famous for their seriousness, rigor, discipline and rules, are obviously a nation naturally suited to mechanized warfare. They will definitely learn this mode of warfare in an era when others have not mastered mechanization.