The Rise of the Empire

"We don't know what kind of lineup Bavaria will put in, but their armored forces will definitely be on the field, and whether it is the Hu Feng assault gun or the Cricket fast tank, they are a big threat to us, at least I don’t think our armored vehicles can defeat them. Even if the 50MM guns and 37MM guns use armor-piercing projectiles, it may be very difficult, and the passability of armored vehicles is not good. If we have to be on the original training ground, then the attack path will be very limited." Mackenson said.

In the historical World War I, both sides had used armored vehicles as reconnaissance forces since the beginning of the war. Now, the Prussians went a step further and began to try to gather a large number of armored vehicles as a breakthrough force. But the idea is beautiful, and the reality is very skinny. In the wild, the problems of wheeled armored vehicles soon became apparent. The Prussians were speechless due to a series of problems such as poor road passing ability, inability to walk when they encountered a pit, insufficient defensive equipment and insufficient firepower. So until now, the idea of ​​concentrating armored vehicles to form a breakthrough corps has not been fully transformed into reality.

And this time, the reason why Xiao Maoqi wanted to use this imperfect strategy was not to show off. It's because they found that relying solely on infantry and artillery was basically impossible to destroy the opponent's defense line. So we can only treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

To be honest, historically, when the Germans defeated the French in terms of tactics at the beginning of World War I, they largely used equipment and tactical advantages. A large number of 105MM light howitzers and 150MM heavy artillery against 75MM rapid-fire cannons, and a large number of machine guns against the French. Charge, these are all advantages. Even before the French added a large number of heavy artillery, the Germans had a huge advantage in equipment.

But the problem is that now the opponent is also the German Army. The machine guns and artillery of the Bavarian Army are more ferocious than the Prussian side in terms of quantity and quality. When thinking of this, Xiao Maoqi somewhat understands Ruprecht's attitude towards Krupp. They are hostile. It is also a German company. How come Krupp’s products are not as good as Bavaria’s? If this is a stand-up confrontation. With the same division, Xiao Maoqi felt a little guilty. If he attacked, he would feel even more guilty. There was nothing he could do about it. Half of Xiao Maoqi's ideas about defense now came from his communication with the prince!

To put it bluntly, the opponent knows all of Xiao Maoqi's tricks now, and the opponent also has equipment advantages. How do you think this battle will be fought? The defender has an advantage, but if Bavaria is allowed to attack and the Prussian Army is responsible for the defense, this in itself is in an asymmetrical state. Even if they win, there is nothing to celebrate. After all, the range of the training ground is limited, and the attacker's mobility and battlefield selection advantages cannot be used. The defensive side has an advantage. This is the experience gained from many years of exercises. Therefore, generally speaking, the attacking side will have more troops and the defensive side will have fewer troops. In other words, they will attack and defend each other.

It's not like Maoqi never thought of setting up a pilot unit like Bavaria. But at best, he drank too much and thought about it. He carefully studied the organization of the Bavarian troops. The concentrated use of armored troops and a large number of towed artillery and trucks ensured the mobility of artillery and infantry. This kind of troops did have too many breakthroughs and maneuvers. It’s a huge advantage, but it’s not suitable for use on the Western Front. Let’s not talk about funding issues. On the Eastern Front, the cross-border border is the Russian mainland, and the terrain is a plain, the Pod Plain. How suitable for a large army’s mobile operations? But what about on the Western Front? If you want to hit the French, you must first consider how to send these vehicles through Belgium and Luxembourg...

"If we look at the data, if we want to deal with the Hu Feng-type assault gun, we need to use a 75MM rapid-fire gun equipped with armor-piercing projectiles. In dynamic combat, it is difficult for me to imagine how these towed artillery can maneuver.

Hindenburg still had one sentence left to say, that is, if you meet in the wilderness, before the artillery positions are deployed, the other party will already have the muzzle of the gun pressed against your head!

"I also think that if we attack, we will suffer. If we attack defensively, we still have a chance." Mackensen, who has always advocated mobile outflanking operations, chose to compromise when faced with an almost unsolvable problem.

"There are also problems with defensive counterattacks. The only ones that can kill Hu Feng-type assault guns are 75MM rapid-fire guns, and they also use armor-piercing projectiles. Our division only has a total of 54 rapid-fire guns. A considerable part of these guns are used to undertake fire support tasks. If we want to carry out For anti-tank missions, this firepower density is too small," Hindenburg said.

54 artillery pieces sounds like a lot, but in fact these artillery pieces are distributed on a front of nearly 8 kilometers, and some of them are destined to be used as support artillery pieces. It should be arranged at the rear. In this case, the density of artillery in the front is simply terrifyingly low, and the opponent can be washed away in one wave if they gather together. Unless you know the opponent's attack position in advance.

"And our depth is actually very limited. The depth of division-level units is affected by divisional artillery. The range of our 150MM heavy howitzer is less than 10 kilometers. In other words, even if the artillery positions are intentionally deployed in the rear, then The position of our heavy howitzers is only about 7 kilometers behind the first line of defense. This distance is too shallow for mechanized troops, and they can be crossed as soon as they charge!" Mackensen added.

"Actually, I think it is unfair for our equal units to compete. The Bavarian Army is a highly integrated army. They are equipped with an additional armored battalion, and even some division-level units are equipped with long-range cannons with a range of more than 15 kilometers. This firepower is something we only have at the corps level, and they are delegating these weapons to the division level, and we are actually facing corps-level firepower.”

"In terms of numbers, one division of the Bavarian Army has about 2,000 more troops than us, but the actual available troops are far more than ours. They use vehicles to transport supplies, and their logistics personnel have been greatly reduced. More troops have been assigned to the front line. Because the artillery is self-propelled, one artillery vehicle forms a complete firepower unit, and the number of people required has also been reduced. I have seen their front-line combat force establishment, which is about 40% higher than ours. In addition, the equipment advantage , there is no way we can win," Ludendorff said.

"Then what? We told Bavaria, how about this, two of our divisions will fight one of your divisions?" There was a trace of helplessness in Xiao Maoqi's words. Ludendorff could see this, and so could Maoqi naturally. He knew that such a war was actually unfair, but there was no other way. Bavaria was rich and used money to improve its combat effectiveness. If you have the ability, you can do it too. ah.

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