If the Germans were given a chance, they would still choose to attack the Soviet Union with another blitzkrieg without hesitation. However, given the new opportunity, they would desperately improve their logistical shortcomings and meet Guderian's needs for tank troops.
However, the German army's defeat at the gates of Moscow was irreversible. After a year of bloody fighting in the northern battlefield, the German army not only lost the ability to continue to break through, but the Soviet army also completed the Rzhev counterattack in the war of attrition.
From a purely military perspective, the German army really only had one chance of victory, and that was to perfect the initial blitzkrieg.
They failed and were successfully dragged into the quagmire of a war of attrition by the Soviet army.
Before the war began, the population of Germans loyal to Germany in Europe exceeded 70 million. Adding in all the directly controlled ethnic groups, Germany's population had reached 80 million. On the other hand, the Soviet Union annexed the three Baltic countries and regained half of the territory ceded during World War I.
The population of Belarus and the Soviet Union has reached 190 million.
In the current world's total war situation, population is the driving force of the state machine.
Even if the war ends like this, the actual population controlled by the Soviet Union is still 10 million higher than that of Germany. Moreover, the Soviet Union has carried out war mobilization and the universal rationing system has been implemented for more than a year. On the other hand, Germany still has not carried out war mobilization. Although the workers
They started to work more overtime hours, and they still had a lot of vacation time after all.
A soldier like Guderian was willing to pay attention to the so-called "war economics" proposed by that man.
After the victory in the war against France, the German army began to plan a war against the Soviet Union.
At that time, Guderian required that Germany's monthly production of "Plank 3" tanks should reach 800 at best, and 600 at worst. What's the reality!?
The actual production is only an average of 230 vehicles, including many No. 2 tanks and 38t produced in the Czech Republic.
Unless Germany starts a nationwide mobilization, its military industrial production capacity can reach its peak. In a dimension that Yang Mingzhi did not interfere with, Germany reached its peak production capacity in 1944, which was also the same year that Germany launched general mobilization. However, from a purely military perspective, this
It is too late to mobilize.
But from the perspective of the German army at that time, the millions of troops had unprecedented self-confidence, and public opinion in Germany was extremely excited. Since the Soviet Union could be defeated in one fell swoop with the current military power, why bother to mobilize the whole people?
Although the German army in a superior position achieved the suddenness of the war, the Soviet Union was by no means a soft persimmon like France that easily surrendered. It lost one million on the front line and could recruit another million in the rear. The Soviet Union was frantically tapping its war potential.
The most remote villages began to recruit soldiers, and the most remote small mines also accelerated excavation.
The upper reaches of the Kama River in Perm, a complex mountainous area created by geological activities, has always been an important source of copper ore and iron ore in the Ural region.
Oil is the blood of war, and iron ore is the bone of war.
After the copper mine was discovered in Perm during the reign of Catherine II, Tsarist Russia immediately began to develop the metallurgical industry in this area. Undoubtedly, Tsarist Russia discovered too many treasures in the once remote Ural region.
Geological explorers discovered the classic bottom layer of the Permian in Perm, and named the era 250 million years ago after the place name "Perm".
But the explorer's exploits were even crazier.
Iron ore was discovered in the upper reaches of the Kama River. It is not an ordinary iron ore, but chromite.
Chromium is a necessary ore for the war industries of various countries and a necessary element for enhancing the strength of gun barrels and tank armor metals.
The production of chromium ore in the German-controlled areas could not meet the consumption of Germany's war industry. As a result, Germany had to secretly purchase chrome ore imported from Turkey. This route was full of dangers. The Soviet Union, which was already in full-scale war, no longer cared about the so-called neutral Turkey. Since it was secretly sold
Give the German ore, that's why you can sink the freighter.
Almost all of the Soviet Union's large surface warships in the Black Sea Fleet were sunk, leaving only nearly a hundred mini-submarines with only two torpedo tubes cruising in the Black Sea.
The main targets of submarine attacks were Turkish transport ships. Although Turkey remained neutral and secretly transported chromium ore to the Romanian port of Vinnitsa at night, the Soviet Union had long been aware of this.
In just a corner of Perm, there are chromite ores, tungsten ores, and even bauxite that the Soviet Union desperately needs. Similarly, a number of oil fields and coal mines have been discovered here, although their output is not large.
Even a small amount of oil and coal production has major benefits. There are various metals, as well as oil and coal for smelting metals. These strategic materials can be shipped along the Kama River and can be transported nearby to the Soviet-style "big cities" with a population of one million in the region.
city” for further processing.
Perm, she took in ores and coal with her left hand, and took out tanks, cannons, and a larger number of small arms with her right hand.
It can be said that just a corner of Perm can supply all the weapons and equipment needs of an army that is not particularly large. It is precisely for this reason that the Principality of Perm can stand for hundreds of years in history, until it is strong and determined.
The annexation of Muscovy, which unified the Slavic world.
Andreev, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car, was a native of Perm, so he was happy to tell the general from the East about the glorious history of Perm.
Of course Yang Mingzhi was very excited when he heard this. The reason was too simple. When Germany was racking its brains to collect all the materials needed for German war factories, the seemingly desolate and cold Perm had everything Germany longed for buried under the soil!
Yang Mingzhi instantly thought of those extremely long barrel anti-aircraft guns he had just seen. With the production efficiency of the Soviet Union, I am afraid that half a month ago, they were still stones that had been lying quietly in the mountains for more than 200 million years.
On the other hand, Balzen, Lavrenti and Yevgeny were fully aware of the news that Yang Mingzhi was about to arrive, and they also knew very well what time the general would arrive.
The recruitment campaign of the three of them has basically ended, and each of them has basically obtained the talents they want.
But when the three of them sat together, the three battle-hardened old guys couldn't help but gather together to smoke, then drank a glass of vodka to cheer them up, and then started talking freely about the past few days.
There will be a meal destined to be full of friendship at noon today. The hotel kitchen has been notified and they will prepare excellent dishes to welcome General Berekov who has come from afar.
Although the conditions are relatively difficult, the Perm authorities will not send anyone to participate in this meal, but they have sent a message to the hotel, saying that they will use the sumptuous Russian meal as possible to entertain the young general who has been particularly favored by the leader recently.
Good dishes require more time to prepare, and the "private rooms" prepared in hotel restaurants are temporarily inaccessible.
The three old guys were sitting in the big restaurant, enjoying the warmth indoors, smoking cigarettes and sipping wine, looking at the snow-covered road outside.
Their conversation soon turned to the matter of conscription.
After drinking some wine, it was Balzen who took the lead in talking about the matter. His brief words were filled with his satisfaction with the conscription.
"Oh, I really found some gold nuggets. The students are all eighteen years old, and they are all talents. One of them is the most outstanding talent. When I got up in the morning, my division political commissar sent me a telegram, telling me about that child
As soon as we arrived at the military camp, we started learning to recite our communication password. This guy is really a talent."
Lavrenti joked: "Yes, you were in charge of the reconnaissance camp when you were in the swamp. You always marched in front of the large troops. You were the first to exchange fire, and you were the one who made the first contribution. You are still the same now.
, the best talents have been taken away by you."
"Huh? Aren't the remaining kids talented?" Balzen retorted.
"Of course they are talents." Yevgeny shrugged pretending to be displeased: "You, your style has not changed since you became the division commander. Didn't we all get orders at the same time, and you are the fastest. You are like the fastest
Those who ran into the apple orchard first took away the best ones, leaving us with mostly second-rate ones.”
"Hey, you can't blame me for this." Balzen chuckled and took a puff of cigarette, "Who told you to run slowly? Besides, this is what our reconnaissance camp should be like. The general has always warned us that we must have the strongest
Things like mobility and fighter planes are really fleeting. Those talents are like opportunities. If I don’t seize them, I’ll let you choose first?”
Lavrenti shrugged, "Yes, I was a step behind you, but fortunately they are all talented people. I have nine thousand people under my command, and most of them are collective farm members who have only attended school for a few years.
This is the first time a person has touched a gun. It took me a lot of effort to train these people into excellent fighters, but in the end I am quite satisfied."
"Oh? What method did you use?" Balzen asked curiously.
"What else can we do?!" Lavrenti laughed and said, "How we train soldiers in the swamp, I am following the same method now. I order them to run wildly, and whoever falls behind will be punished by carrying excrement water to clean public toilets.
I trained them to do target shooting and make a lot of noise at the same time. I also organized the grassroots troops to form combat groups! My friend, forget the outdated regulations in the infantry training manual, our 284th Division can always win with less, relying on Beleko
General Husband’s tricks. I have worked under him for two years, so I know it all too well.”
Lavrenti's words were full of admiration for Yang Mingzhi. He turned to the equally cheerful Yevgeny and asked: "Brother, do you follow the same training routine as me?"
"Of course!" Yevgeny said, "You just said that those guys who can't stand physical training, you let them clean the toilet?"
"Yes, this is a good method."
"It's just a bit humiliating." Yevgeny shook his head regretfully.
"Is this a humiliation? I would be very satisfied if the recruits were not frightened out of their wits when they arrived on the battlefield. They need to encounter setbacks in advance so that they will not go crazy on the battlefield."
"Oh? It seems that I am a little merciful." Yevgeny smiled, "I also ordered them to run long distances and train combat teams. For those cowards, I punished them to cut down trees and serve as target pickers at the shooting range. This
It punishes them and also trains their physical strength. By the way, Balzen, what are you doing?"
"Me?" Balzen pressed the clean cigarette butt in the ashtray, "I threw all the cowards into my artillery regiment."
Undoubtedly, Balzen's words surprised the other two.
"Why? Shouldn't such cowards be punished?" Yevgeny felt very strange. "Artillery rarely fights head-on, so how can we let those cowards enjoy peace and quiet?!"
There are old jokes about the arms in the Soviet army. The so-called navy is well-fed and is called "nobles". The artillery of the army is always far away from the front line and is called smart people. The infantry who fight on the front line are called smart people.
, they are always the ones with the greatest casualties, and there are endless pessimistic and self-deprecating nouns.
As for the artillery, any commander with a normal IQ will quickly relocate to another place and reposition the position when he realizes that the artillery is facing a major threat from a large-scale enemy attack. It is said that all the artillery in the army are killed, and the army lacks the ability to attack powerfully. The traditional tactics of infantry and artillery coordination
It can't be achieved either.
Balzen quickly explained: "That's to punish them. Do they think they can go back to the artillery regiment and enjoy the blessings? Bah! They are the carriers of the artillery shells. I train them hard to carry the artillery shells. This is the most direct corporal punishment. But I do need a group of them.
As a person with the muscle texture of a bodybuilder, I don’t want my artillery reloading speed to be slowed down due to the weakness of the soldiers after I get to the battlefield.”
Balzen's words reminded the two of them that quite a few soldiers in the army were not in good physical condition. After all, even before the war broke out, the Soviet Union had only achieved a stable supply of food in big cities.
The Soviet Union needed a longer period of economic development, and the first priority was to produce more food. Since the Great Depression, the Soviet Union had adopted the method of selling food to earn foreign exchange, then purchasing technology from Western countries, and hiring Western talents to develop its own heavy industry, which resulted in the development of its own agriculture.
slow.
In collective farms in remote areas, members only make ends meet. Although this living situation has generally improved compared to the Tsarist Russia, they are still envious when they learn that urban residents live a good life eating bread every day.
Therefore, the current recruits are not fat at all, and their average height is only 175 centimeters, and their average weight is only 47 kilograms. They are so weak, and the reason is that only one of them is hungry.
The three division commanders reported on the physical fitness of their soldiers, and the data were very similar.
Very young recruits are generally very depressed when they join the army. As a result, they undergo high-intensity training in the military camp and eat a lot of potatoes. In one month, their average weight increases by ten kilograms. Only a small part of this increase is
Most of fat is muscle. Indeed, only more muscles can meet the basic load-bearing requirements of these three division commanders who pursue strength and mobility.
During the chat, the three of them immediately reached a consensus.
It is completely unrealistic to expect them to be like the veterans in the swamp, carrying a 30 kilogram load and marching for more than 30 kilometers a day! In everyone's opinion, letting the recruits bear this load too early will only last a few days.
Training can send a potential recruit to the hospital.
Of course, the Soviet Union currently does not have too stringent requirements for "mobilized soldiers" who can go to the battlefield after one month of training. It can even be understood as being able to obey orders, charge and shoot at the same time. It is through this operation that the Soviet Union can
In just six months, more than two million people were lost, and another five million people were recruited.