Without Southern Africa, Germany would be the biggest bug in the world.
This is a very magical country, especially in the past ten years. Since Mustache came to power, Germany has risen at an incredible speed, rapidly expanding from the 100,000-strong National Defense Forces stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles to the size of millions of troops. Key weapons and equipment
Its performance is still so advanced that it is hard to imagine that this is a country that could not even manufacture heavy machine guns ten years ago.
The fact that it cannot be manufactured does not mean that it cannot be manufactured, but that it cannot be manufactured due to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans still have the technology.
During the Battle of Moscow, Russian rocket launchers caused huge damage to the Germans. Soon the Germans found a way to deal with rocket launchers and were able to produce them themselves. This learning speed was also amazing.
After destroying the armored turret of "Gorky 1", there were still about 1,000 Russian soldiers holding on to the second floor of fortifications under the armored shells.
The German army mobilized a large number of 88mm anti-aircraft guns to approach the fortifications, firing armor-piercing shells and shrapnel shells alternately from close range, and the two-story fortifications were razed to the ground.
The Russians refused to surrender and entered the third underground layer of fortification defense.
The German artillery was unable to attack underground targets, so combat engineers were sent to separate areas to use plastic explosives to blow up the entrances. However, there were many hidden firepower points inside the fortifications, and the explosives could not play a decisive role.
In the end, the German army had to use the most primitive method to break into the fortifications, using pistols, bayonets and engineer shovels to engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Russians. Finally, the entire position was captured at a heavy cost. Less than 40 of the 1,000 Russian soldiers were captured.
Many of them were passive prisoners and did not surrender on their own initiative.
After all the outer positions were lost, only Sevastopol remained in the Russian-controlled area on the Crimean Peninsula.
Sevastopol is a mirror city with a huge underground living area that is about the same size as the city's surface area.
The German army used all artillery to carry out a carpet bombardment of Sevastopol, firing 64,000 tons of artillery shells on the first day.
The intensity of the Luftwaffe's bombing also escalated again, dispatching 1,500 bomber sorties every day and dropping more than 120,000 incendiary bombs on Sevastopol.
Incendiary bombs were originally a unique skill in southern Africa, but now they have been learned by the Germans and used against the Russians, with very good results.
On the third day of the fighting, the ground buildings in Sevastopol had been completely destroyed, and hospitals, parks, libraries, schools, etc. were all gone.
The Russians did not give up. They hid underground and persisted in fighting. Production was still carried out in an orderly manner. The defenders even organized entertainment activities to boost morale. They showed a fearless fighting spirit under extremely difficult circumstances.
The fighting lasted until the end of April. The Germans occupied half of the city. Resistance had lost its meaning. Lieutenant General Ivan Yefimovich Petrov, commander of the Sevastopol garrison, agreed to surrender. About 90,000 Russian soldiers became
Captured, Petrov was evacuated at the last minute on a ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
After the war, Manstein was promoted to field marshal for meritorious service and awarded the Crimean Shield. Lieutenant General Dimitri Koslov, the commander of the Russian army, was demoted to major general.
The consequences of the fall of the Crimean Peninsula were extremely serious. The German army thus opened a channel to the Baku oil fields and cut off the connection between the Allied forces and Russia in the direction of the Black Sea.
Throughout the campaign, the Russian side lost approximately 310,000 troops, of which 240,000 were captured.
Manstein led only seven divisions, plus two Romanian mountain divisions. The Russians' strength was more than three times that of Manstein.
Even with such a huge disparity, such a result was achieved. The Russians still fought defensively and took advantage of the right time, place and people. This is indeed very disappointing.
It's just disappointing, not unacceptable.
Although Manstein's force was small, it had 1,300 artillery pieces and was assisted by more than 600 aircraft, half of which were bombers.
Russia was poorly prepared. More than 300,000 people were only equipped with 40 tanks. The Black Sea Fleet also arrived late. It did not arrive at the Crimean Peninsula until the battle was about to end, and it did not play any role.
Oh, no, the Black Sea Fleet warship at least picked up Petrov and prevented the vice-admiral from being captured.
While the Battle of Crimea was ongoing, fierce fighting also broke out in Zhelev, about 200 kilometers away from Moscow.
After the Battle of Moscow, the Russians organized multiple counterattacks, and the German troops were pushed back about 200 kilometers. A huge protrusion with Zhelov as the center, about 150 kilometers north and south, and about 100 kilometers east and west, became the focus of competition between the two sides.
Since last winter, fighting around Zhelew has broken out sporadically. At that time, the German army had just experienced a cruel winter, its strength was greatly reduced, and it was unable to launch a new attack on the Russians.
The losses of the Russians were even more severe. The pre-war standing army had been completely wiped out within half a year of the outbreak of the war. The young people who had just been recruited into the army had no enthusiasm and a serious lack of combat experience.
The officers also lack experience. The victory in the Battle of Moscow is not enough to make them qualified officers. They still have a long way to go.
Under this circumstance, Bearded Man organized 1.06 million people and launched an attack on the Relev salient, and the first Battle of Relev broke out immediately.
The German Ninth Army was stationed in Zhelew, commanded by Walter Model, who had just taken over as commander-in-chief of the army.
Model is a legendary figure. During the French campaign, Model was just a staff officer and engaged in some writing work.
When the Russo-German War broke out, Model was appointed commander of the 3rd Armored Division and fought under the command of Guderian.
During the Battle of Kiev, the 3rd Armored Division commanded by Model became the arrowhead of the German offensive. Model penetrated 275 kilometers deep into the Russian position with only 41 tanks. His commanding art and courage were impressive.
After the Battle of Kiev, Model was promoted to commander of the 41st Armored Corps.
After the Battle of Moscow, Model was appointed commander of the 9th Army.
Because the 9th Army suffered heavy losses in the previous phase of the battle, Model was already in danger when he took office. The entire Army had less than 60,000 troops and only had 165 tanks and armored vehicles combined. The area of the defense area was very large, with a defense line as long as
280 kilometers.
Mustache believed that the Rzhev salient could directly threaten Moscow and was of great political significance. If it could not hold it, it would affect the allies' confidence in Germany, so he allocated three armored divisions, three infantry divisions, and the party's
The "Imperial" division of the Guards brought the number of troops under Model to 150,000.
Model immediately organized a counterattack after taking office. At this time, the situation was very favorable to the Russians. Many German defense lines were broken through and full of loopholes. Some of the troops were surrounded by Russian troops and faced annihilation. More German troops lost their will to fight. One army
The Russian army advanced rapidly and was only a few kilometers away from Model's headquarters.
Model split the reinforcements into pieces and filled them into the defense line. He invented a "elastic defense" tactic that allowed the troops to retreat to a certain extent and established defensive positions in layers. The first line of defense was infantry, and the second line of defense was infantry.
The second line of defense is armored forces and artillery. If the first line of defense is breached, the armored forces and artillery can retake the position, or they can retreat directly and then reorganize defensive positions.
"Elastic defense" is very cruel to the infantry on the first line of defense, and may be abandoned if not done well.
However, "elastic defense" can effectively protect the German army's valuable armored forces and artillery, and retain vitality for the German army's counterattack, which is more beneficial to the entire campaign.
After fully understanding the situation, Model judged that the Russians were at the end of their game and were incapable of continuing to launch an attack.
This judgment is accurate. The Russians still lack experience in organizing large-scale battles at this time. The attack speed of the frontline troops is too fast, and the logistics supply is intermittent. Although the Russians have many artillery, the supply of artillery shells is seriously insufficient, and the officers and soldiers carry
There were not many supplies left, and some soldiers only had three bullets left in their guns. The Russians who had invaded the German defense lines had begun to kill horses to satisfy their hunger.
Model immediately organized a counterattack, and the Russians collapsed immediately. Within 48 hours, 26,000 Russian troops were killed and 5,000 were captured.
At this time, the battle was intensifying. The 60,000 soldiers of the Russian 39th Army had penetrated deep into the German positions and occupied an oval area 80 kilometers long and 50 kilometers wide. Most of this area was forest swamp, which was not conducive to the actions of the German armored forces.
Model fell out of his recruitment, gathered the reconnaissance troops of eight infantry divisions under his command, and formed a special force named "Model Cavalry Brigade".
The Model Cavalry Brigade has a total strength of about 2,000 people, with 3 regiments, each consisting of 2 cavalry companies, 3 bicycle companies and 1 artillery company. It has an engineer company, a sanitation company, a motorized transport company directly under the brigade headquarters, and one manpower of officers and soldiers.
MP40 submachine guns, each company is equipped with 24 MG34 machine guns and two horse-drawn carriages, which are used to carry ammunition and supplies.
In order to enhance its assault capability, the cavalry brigade was equipped with 6 additional artillery companies and 1 tank company. After six weeks of multi-arms joint combat training, the Model cavalry brigade passed through 15 kilometers of virgin forest and interspersed with the Russian 39th Army.
Behind the army group's defense line.
At noon the next day, the Model Cavalry Brigade launched an attack from the 39th Army to the rear.
The front of the 39th Army is the German 1st Armored Division.
The 39th Army was attacked from both sides, and its defense line quickly collapsed, triggering an avalanche effect that resulted in the Soviet 39th Army, as well as part of the 41st and 22nd Army being surrounded.
After 11 days of fierce fighting, 270,000 Russians were killed and about 500,000 were injured or captured.
After this battle, the Germans once again regained the initiative on the Russian battlefield.
When the news reached Pretoria, Roque was speechless.
The Russian people are probably very nervous. Tens of thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands were captured at every turn. In other countries, the country would have been destroyed several times.
However, it seems that nothing has happened to the Russians. New recruits continue to go to the battlefield. At first they are young people, then old people, women, and even children——
Those young people who went to the battlefield without complete training must have known what they were about to face, but no one flinched, just like the most popular saying of Russian soldiers at the most critical time of the Moscow Battle: Russia
Although it is big, we have no way to retreat, and behind us is Moscow.
"How many troops has Russia lost from last year to now? Five million? Or six million?" Martin was still frightened, so he replaced Russia with southern Africa. Martin didn't know whether southern Africa could hold on.
"Where are you? There are 200 million people in Russia." Henry sneered. The most worthless thing in Russia is life.
Before the outbreak of the World War, there were many rumors about Russia in European countries. The most widely circulated population data was that the Russian population had almost no growth in the past twenty years.
This is incredible.
In the past twenty years, no large-scale war has broken out in the world. Except for France, the population of each country has increased to varying degrees, basically around 20%.
The Russian population base is very large, about 140 million people at the end of World War I, and about 190 million people before the outbreak of the Russo-German War. This additional 50 million people were eaten alive by European countries.
Of course, European countries are not all slanderers. Many unspeakable things have indeed happened in Russia in the past two decades, but the total number of people who died due to various accidents is definitely not as many as 50 million.
If there are really 50 million people, which means that one out of every four Russians will die, something big will happen. No matter how powerful the bearded man is, he will not be able to suppress it.
"I think Russia is a bottomless pit, and we should reconsider our aid plan." Stoudemire doesn't care about the extent of Russia's losses, he only cares about whether the aid to Russia can be recovered.
Southern Africa's aid to Russia is divided into two parts, one is free aid and the other is loans.
These loans are for purchasing materials in southern Africa and sending them to Russia in the form of materials, not direct money.
Since it is a loan, it must be repaid sooner or later.
Stoudemire now doubts the Russians' ability and willingness to repay.
Don’t worry if you don’t have money, Russia has plenty of resources.
What I'm afraid of is that Russia won't give back. Britain was deceived by the Russians in the last world war, and Stoudemire has lingering fears about this.
"Cecil, what we are engaged in is a war that determines the future destiny of all mankind. Even if we suffer some economic losses, we must avoid the emergence of a unified Europe." Roque planned ahead. Germany and Russia can only lose both sides.
Unifying Europe with one country would be a disaster for southern Africa.
Coincidentally, Americans think the same way, so when the United States assists Russia, it also spares no effort.
The tragedy of PQ-17 did not make the Americans back down. Like those American torpedo pilots who bravely rushed to the Japanese fleet's air defense net, after the tragedy of PQ-17, the United States organized PQ-18 and PQ-19.
Send more supplies to Russia.
The Americans fully learned the lessons of the British and sent three aircraft carriers to the escort formation.
As time goes by, the powerful industrial capabilities of the United States have gradually emerged. In the winter just past, the United States built a total of 14 aircraft carriers. Although these aircraft carriers are simple escort aircraft carriers, their ability to attack troops is terrifying enough.