Chapter 1909 Strategy Meeting 1
After some pacification from Grand Duke Albrecht, the top German troops who stayed on the Western Front were indeed much more stable. When Prince Ruprecht came to Brussels, he was unanimously welcomed by the top German troops. After some politeness, the first meeting was held as scheduled after the prince moved to the Western Front. The participants included Prince Ruprecht, Moltke, Crook, Albrecht, Hausen, and General Pinov went back early because of some things on the front.
"In the past few months, some chaos has occurred within the empire, which has had a great impact on the empire's war plan. However, now, all this has become a thing of the past. With the re-stabilization of the empire and the large support of the Austro-Hungarian Legion and the Bavarian Legion, this war that lasted for more than two years will finally come to an end! I hope that we will not leave any regrets in this war." Ruprecht said. "So good, General Crucker, now please introduce the current situation on the Western Front."
"Okay Your Highness." Crook nodded and said. "Because of the attack of the British and French troops some time ago and the poor logistics supply of our side, the Western Front Corps of our army was in a relatively poor state. At present, there are 7 front-line army units that we can invest in combat, with a total force of about 2.5 million, with an average of more than 400,000 per army. It has 7,200 medium-caliber rapid-fire guns. There are about 4,800 howitzers and heavy artillery of 105MM and above, and the number of tanks is around 1,800, of which 400 and 300 are cricket tanks and hornet assault guns, respectively. However, due to accessories and combat damage, there are not many movable vehicles among these tanks, only about half.
"The Air Force has made great improvements after receiving support from the Bavarian Air Force. Currently, there are more than 3,200 fighter jets and about 2,800 bombers. In addition to ensuring the air safety of our important transportation and logistics bases, we can also carry out limited attacks on the depth targets of the Allied Legion."
"In addition to the seven first-line army, we also have a reserve corps, with about 300,000 troops in terms of force. Unfortunately, these troops have very few equipment, and they are all used to supplement the lack of the front-line army. In addition to providing some personnel, the help this reserve corps can provide is very limited."
Crook roughly introduced the situation of the German army on the front line. Then he began to introduce the situation of the British and French coalition: "In general, the British and French coalitions had a total of 70 infantry divisions and 6 armored divisions, with a total force of about 1.5 million. The French had a total of 106 division-level units and a total force of about 2.5 million. Overall, the Allies had 4 million troops on the Western Front. As for the Japanese, there seemed to be about 150,000 troops and a large number of laborers on the Western Front."
"The Allied countries have no advantage as much as the personnel they have. The Allied countries have a medium-caliber artillery of about 8,900. The number of heavy artillery of about 5,400. The number of tanks is more than us, about 2,800, but the performance is relatively backward, and there are cases of rechargeable numbers with a large number of Renault light tanks. The FT10 and MK tanks that were common before are relatively rare now. I feel that we still have the advantage of armor strength."
"As for the Air Force? Our current estimate of the French is about 1,200 fighter jets and bombers. Because we rarely see French planes in the air, it is difficult to see French planes at the brigade level gathering together when conducting deep air reconnaissance. So I think the French Air Force has actually been removed from the air battlefield on the Western Front."
"The real thing worthy of being vigilant is the British Air Force. The number of fighter jets they own is estimated to be about 2,800, which is roughly the same as ours, and the technical performance is similar. The number of bombers is about 2,100, but it has many 4 large bombers. According to intelligence analysis, it should be transferred from the Navy. At present, we may have a slight advantage in the air force. If we wait until the Bavarian Air Force continues to enter the Western Front and then the support of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force is included, we should be able to overwhelm our opponents."
"Well, it's very good, much better than in history." After listening to Crook's introduction, Ruprecht breathed a sigh of relief. Although in the eyes of ordinary people, the Allies still have an advantage in military power and equipment, in the eyes of Ruprecht, as a time traveler, compared with history, the Allies' military power advantage has been very small.
Although it is the end of the war, it is incorrect to compare the current military power directly with the 1918 history. The reason why Germany was able to launch an emperor's offensive in 1918 was because the Eastern Front War had ended and a large number of Eastern Front Legions entered the Western Front. And now? The main force of the Bavarian Legion has not yet fully entered the Western Front, and the Markensen Legion could not count on it. In fact, what Crook said was that the original power comparison between the German army and the opponent on the Western Front was the more appropriate to compare the military power in early 1917 in history, and in terms of time, 1917 was closer.
What was the level of military force in the Western Front in 1917? Overall, 151 infantry divisions on the Western Front had a total of 2.7 million troops against 179 infantry divisions of the Allies, a total of 4.5 million troops! (The British had 62 infantry divisions and 5 cavalry divisions, the French had 109 infantry divisions, and the others were Portuguese and Belgians.)
What about military equipment? The Germans have 6,185 light guns and rapid-fire guns and 4,820 heavy guns. What about the Germans' enemies? The French alone have 6,623 light guns and rapid-fire guns, 4,151 heavy guns and 330 super heavy guns. In fact, in terms of artillery, the French family is almost the same. The British also have 3,150 light guns and 2,500 heavy guns. If the overall firepower is counted, it is a huge advantage. The reason why the Germans can ensure a rough draw in artillery is to rely on better organization and tactics.
As for tanks and aircraft? Germany in history is even more miserable. Take the Battle of Cambray in 1917. The British army concentrated 378 tanks and more than 1,000 aircraft, and the number of tanks of the Germans at that time? You can understand it as 0. The Air Force also reached a 4-digit number later.
And now? The number of troops of the Allied Powers has dropped by 500,000. Although artillery has a slight advantage, its advantages are no longer large. The armored units and air force have gradually gained the advantage. Moreover, this is when the Eastern Front Legion did not advance eastward on a large scale and the chaos in Germany has not been completely eliminated. If the Eastern Front Legion advances eastward on a large scale and integrates within Germany, it is really not difficult for the German Legion to completely overwhelm the opponent!
Chapter completed!