Lei Zhen probably thinks that to improve the carrying capacity of the pontoon bridge, just lay an extra layer of steel plates on the bridge deck.
This may seem like there is nothing wrong with it, but it is actually two different things. If building a bridge was so easy, Pan Sen would not be able to become a captain as soon as he entered the army.
"40 tons is the limit. Safety cannot be guaranteed if the weight exceeds this." Pan Sen's expression was slightly awkward. Lei Zhen's words seemed to be questioning Pan Sen's professionalism.
"It's okay Captain, you did a good job, this is not your problem." Tony Anderson glared at Lei Zhen, then turned back to comfort Panson.
Lei Zhen laughed, turned around and looked at the sand table again.
The sand table was made by Qi Ning and his comrades in three days.
"Go to work and make sure the pontoon is smooth." Tony Anderson sent Pan Sen away. Before he could speak, Lei Zhen waved him over.
"There are enough troops in Remagen Town. We need a troop to cross the river from further upstream, go around behind the Germans, and eat up all the German troops around Remagen Town." Lei Zhen had a big appetite and had already crossed the river.
The Southern African Expeditionary Force only had 40,000 troops, but the total strength of the German army was nearly 100,000. It was almost impossible to fight a war of annihilation.
Sun Tzu's Art of War said, "If you have ten times the enemy's strength, you can surround it, and if you have five times the strength, you can attack it." This means that if your strength is more than ten times the enemy's, you can surround the enemy, and if you have five times the strength, you can only attack.
This is only based on the situation where there is not much difference in the equipment level between the two sides, or it is the era of cold weapons.
After entering the era of hot weapons, the situation has changed a lot. In the Battle of Kiev, the German army only had 500,000 troops and the Russian army had 850,000. However, the Russian army was almost completely wiped out and 650,000 were captured.
Since the beginning of the North African Campaign, the Southern African Expeditionary Force has repeatedly fought classic battles in which smaller numbers defeated larger numbers. Confidence has been accumulated bit by bit in this way. Even though the Southern African Expeditionary Force is currently at a disadvantage, Lei Zhen is still not conservative. Total annihilation is
The only goal.
"Lei, our mission is to seize Berlin. We can't struggle with the Germans here for too long." Tony Anderson reminded Lei Zhen not to lose the big for the small.
At the same time that the Allied forces on the Western Front launched their spring offensive, the Russian army on the Northern Front was also stepping up its attack on Berlin. Therefore, the biggest opponent of the Allied forces on the Western Front now was not the Germans, but the Russians.
"This is simply unrealistic. We are 450 kilometers away from Berlin, and the Russians only have the last 30 kilometers away from Berlin. By the time we get to Berlin, the day lilies will be cold -" Lei Zhen has almost no hope for Berlin.
Traditionally, taking over the opponent's capital means the end of the war, so both the Allied forces on the Western Front and the Russian Army on the Northern Front will take the occupation of Berlin as their ultimate goal.
The crux of the problem is that the Allied forces on the Western Front stood still last winter and missed too many good opportunities. As a result, they fell far behind in this competition from the beginning and were unable to catch up.
What's more, although the Southern African Expeditionary Force made a breakthrough, the British and American coalition forces suffered setbacks. Under such circumstances, even if the Southern African Expeditionary Force wiped out all 12 of Kesselring's divisions in Remagen, they would not dare to go deep alone, otherwise there would be dangers.
Risk of being surrounded by German troops.
"This is not something we should worry about. What we have to do is go all out to complete the tasks assigned by the command." Tony Anderson does not want those who have nothing to do. Soldiers have to obey orders as their bounden duty.
As for the distance, it is actually not irreparable.
"The resistance faced by the Russians was much greater than ours. Our military reporters took some photos, but unfortunately they could not be sent back. They were all destroyed by the Russians." After Yang Smuts returned to Pretoria with Roque.
, and flew non-stop to St. Roch to bring Barton Roque's latest order.
The defeat of the British and American forces did not stop Eisenhower and Montgomery's ambitions.
Just two days ago, Eisenhower and Montgomery proposed another combat plan, hoping that the Allied fleet could land in the northern German city of Hamburg, which would greatly shorten the distance to Berlin.
Considering that the Russian army was very close to Berlin, Eisenhower and Montgomery hoped that the Allied fleet would set off within a week, so that they might be able to capture Berlin before Russia did.
"Are Eisenhower and Montgomery crazy? How long did it take us to organize the Normandy landing? Normandy is still French territory. If we want to land in Hamburg, we have to face the North Atlantic barrier that the Germans have worked hard to build for three years.
, I don’t want to accompany Eisenhower and Montgomery to go crazy.” Patton didn’t want to get involved. It didn’t matter to Patton who would occupy Berlin.
Regarding the photos taken by military reporters——
Although the photo was not sent back, Patton could imagine that the content of the photo was nothing more than an act of revenge against the Germans by Russian soldiers after entering Germany.
The Russians cannot be blamed for this.
After four years of fierce fighting, Russia lost more than 25 million soldiers, including 17 million civilians, and suffered economic losses of 2.6 trillion rubles.
The casualties here are estimates and are not supported by data. According to Russian official data, Russia has only lost 10 million soldiers so far, but more than 25 million German soldiers have been killed by Russia.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces on the Western Front, Patton had a better understanding of the situation on the Russian battlefield. According to Patton's personal speculation, even the figure of 25 million was too conservative, and the total number of casualties in Russia may have reached more than 50 million.
Not to mention how much money was lost, even according to the 10 million casualties announced by the Russians, it was enough to arouse the Russians' overwhelming anger against the Germans.
Therefore, after the Russian army invaded Germany, it was understandable to retaliate against the Germans. No one was qualified to make irresponsible remarks on this issue. Only the Russians were qualified to forgive the Germans.
As for Eisenhower and Montgomery—
Patton didn't want to comment on these two people. One of them was determined to develop into politics, and the other was recognized by the British government and the public as the number one general in World War II. Patton really had nothing to say.
It’s understandable that you want to pursue a career in politics.
Montgomery's performance in World War II, not to mention mediocre, was also unparalleled by everyone. How could he be the number one general in World War II?
Big Barton wouldn't even say it, even Little Barton wouldn't agree.
"President Roosevelt's condition is very serious, and there may be major changes in the United States. My Lord reminds you to take care of the British and Americans, and try not to cause conflicts with the Russians." Yang Smuts was afraid that Patton would be taken for granted.
Gunslinger, there are already signs of this coming.
In the spring offensive, according to the plan, the total number of troops dispatched by the British and American coalition forces should be about 1.2 million.
At present, the British and American coalition forces have only dispatched a few airborne divisions. The advancement speed of the ground troops is slower than a snail. The average advance distance is less than two kilometers per day. This is why Kesselring dares to send all the mobile troops in his hands to the town of Remagen.
main reason.
Are the British and American forces really incapable of breaking through the so-called German defense line?
not necessarily.
Even if the air and ground could not break through, Eisenhower and Montgomery could completely use the Royal Navy's absolute superiority to appear behind the German defense line, so that the German defense line would collapse without an attack.
Even though the Royal Navy was far behind the Southern African Navy and the U.S. Navy, compared with the German Navy, the Royal Navy's advantage was still unshakable. That's why Eisenhower and Montgomery proposed landing in Hamburg.
We can even land in Hamburg. The entire North Sea is the Royal Navy’s back garden.
Therefore, it is obvious that the British and American coalition forces are holding back and hoping that the Southern African Expeditionary Force will fight the German army. It is best to wait until both sides have suffered losses before the British and American coalition forces come forward to clean up the mess.
Compared with the British and American coalition forces, Rock was more worried about the intensification of conflicts between the Southern African Expeditionary Force and the Russian army.
The Southern African Expeditionary Force is invincible, Russia has turned defeat into victory, and both are at an unprecedented peak.
Two armies with the same confidence on the battlefield will definitely be in conflict with each other when they meet, and no one will be convinced by the other.
At this time, if someone else stirs up trouble, the conflict may intensify at any time.
As for who will fan the flames.
There is no need to analyze this.
Based on Roque's understanding of the Angsa people, it's possible that the Angsa people would take the initiative to create a focal point in order to trigger a conflict between the Southern African Expeditionary Force and the Russian army.
It's not that it can't be done, but it's certain.
"Please rest assured, Lord, even if the British and Americans, as well as the Germans and Russians join forces now, I can at least guarantee that the expeditionary force will be brought back to southern Africa." Patton had already been prepared, otherwise the people who appeared in the Vaal River would not have been able to do so.
They will be paratroopers of the British and American Allied Forces, but paratroopers of the Expeditionary Force.
Patton also chose his position very carefully. If the war situation went unfavorably, the expeditionary force could return to France at any time without passing through the areas occupied by the British and American coalition forces.
"That's good, my lord also hopes that you will focus on the Ruhr area." Yang Smuts has also coveted the Ruhr Industrial Area in Germany for a long time.
The importance of the Ruhr Industrial Area has been mentioned before. It can be said that the best parts of Germany are here.
Through several meetings, Roark, Roosevelt, and Winston, although they did not divide spheres of influence based on the interests of their respective countries, Roark had implicitly expressed his attitude.
Southern Africa has no ambitions for Europe, and its core interests are in East Asia, so Roark really doesn't care about Berlin's ownership and how it handles Germany after the war.
So what if the Allies carve up Germany?
We cannot imitate the mustache and burn all the Germans. Germans are still living on German soil, and foreigners will always have to leave.
The land cannot be moved, but the factories above the ground, resources underground, and Germany's scientific and technological talents can be moved away. These are all priceless treasures.
The key to Germany being able to fight Europe on its own does not lie in the mustache or the German army. It is because of Germany's scientific and technological talents that Germany has the ability to fight Europe.
Rock wants to compete for people now, not only with Russia, but also with the United States. This is related to the comparison of strength in the next few decades. Without the blessing of German talents, Rock wants to see if the United States can still become a super
Big country.
"Does Germany have anything that we urgently need?" Patton didn't quite understand. What Germany has, Southern Africa has, and what Germany doesn't have, Southern Africa also has.
In other words, from Patton's perspective, Germany had nothing worth worrying about.
"I know what you mean. Germany's resources are just the icing on the cake for us, but it is different for other countries." Yang Smuts did not dislike it. When von Braun arrived in southern Africa, even if he did not study it,
Saturn Rockets can also join Robert Goddard's team and learn from each other's strengths.
"Okay, I'll let the people below pay attention." Patton is no stranger to this matter. In the last world war, Patton witnessed with his own eyes how Rock evacuated Germany. Now he just needs to do it again.
Of course, before going to von Braun and the others, Kesselring's troops must be dealt with first.
"The Air Force called and asked if it needed help from bombers." Tony Anderson was very depressed. In order to get Kesselin to take the bait, Lei Zhen had not called for bomber support for three consecutive days.
Of course, fighter jets are still needed. Lei Zhen needs fighter jets to protect the pontoon bridge. Now the pontoon bridge is not only the lifeline of the troops crossing the river, but also the only retreat.
Thinking about defeat before winning, no matter how confident he is, Lei Zhen still has to leave a way out.
Besides, wounded soldiers also need pontoons so that they can be transferred to the rear for treatment more quickly. Wherever there is a pontoon, everyone will feel more at ease.
If necessary, the Air Force can dispatch a fleet of more than 500 bombers at any time to carry out carpet bombing of German troops around the town of Remagen.
The Germans have indeed reached the end of their strength. The four tank divisions among the 12 divisions, and the division with the largest number of tanks, do not have more than 40 tanks, and they have different models, from the latest No. 5 to the ancient No. 3.
.
ancient--
In fact, if you do some math, No. 3 has only been in service for 8 years.
After the birth of the T34, Germany announced the suspension of production of the Panzer III tank and concentrated all production capabilities on the Panzer IV tank.
At the beginning of this year, Mustache decided to retire all Panzer III tanks.
Only a month after this order was issued, the Germans dragged No. 3 out of the dismantling workshop, re-equipped the troops, and committed suicide.
Not only tanks, but also the German troops are now seriously short of anti-aircraft weapons. According to regulations, German armored divisions should be equipped with 56 anti-aircraft guns. In fact, some divisions are equipped with only 11, less than one-fifth.
With this little air defense capability, once it is carpet-bombed by a group of bombers, the consequences can be imagined.
Lei Zhen was worried that sending out bombers would also scare Kesselring away, so bombers were strictly prohibited from flying across the Rhine.
"No, wait a minute -" Lei Zhen is a good hunter and has enough patience.
Tony Anderson doesn't speak. Now even if he has two wings, he can't fly to Berlin. He can only kill Kesselring first.
By the standards of the Southern African Expeditionary Force, the Germans were too slow. There were only highways in Germany.
This is really not Kesselin wasting his time.
The German army today is no longer the German army it was in 1939.
Counting on these troops composed of the old, weak, sick and disabled, it is impossible to get up quickly even if they want to. There are not many trucks left in Germany that can drive now. The precious fuel is all used to meet the needs of the armored forces and air force. Even the High Seas Fleet is suffering from lack of fuel.
fuel, and completely stopped combat operations at sea.
