Chapter 663 - Adapt to local conditions

"I am here to learn from you about the development of tanks and their tactics." Brusilov said directly and sincerely.

Most officers who have experienced the battlefield have such characteristics.

The reason is that they have experienced life and death, and know that in the face of victory or defeat on the battlefield, the "face" that ordinary people care about is not worth mentioning.

"You know." Brusilov sighed softly: "Our army performed very poorly on the Eastern Front. No matter how great our geographical and military advantages are, the loss ratio with the enemy is about 5:1, and sometimes even worse, even when fighting against the Austro-Hungarian army."

The combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian army is much worse than that of the German army, but the army of Tsarist Russia is still in a state of disarray in the face of their attack.

Brusilov looked up and looked into Charles' eyes: "But you. To be exact, you, Lieutenant General Charles, you were able to defeat the German army with much fewer troops. You captured more than 100,000 Germans in one go by infiltrating Antwerp, and captured more than 200,000 Germans by infiltrating Hasselt. Sometimes I wonder if our army can do similar infiltration..."

"Of course." Charles answered with certainty: "You just need to find the enemy's weakness."

"I know." Brusilov's eyes were helpless: "I have studied your tactics, Lieutenant General Charles, for a long time, since you successfully blocked the German attack in Ypres."

That was at least a year ago, and Charles had almost forgotten it.

"We even developed our own tanks." As he said that, Brusilov turned sideways and looked at the translator.

The translator understood and immediately took out a drawing and instruction document from his briefcase and handed it to Charles respectfully.

Charles took it and saw that it was a tank he had never seen before.

Perhaps because it could not be called a tank.

(The above picture shows the "Tsar Tank" developed by Tsarist Russia. The big wheels are in the front and 9 meters high. The Russians tried to use this big wheel to cross trenches and obstacles, but when the prototype was produced in August 1915, they found that the big wheels could indeed cross, but the small wheels at the back would be stuck and unable to move, and were eventually abandoned.)

Charle only took a look and pointed out the weakness of this tank: "Aren't you worried that the huge wheels in front of the car will become the target of the enemy's infantry artillery?"

The bigger the wheel, the bigger the target, and the easier it is for the enemy to hit.

And it is also a wheel, which is the support of the tank and the wheel that it relies on to move forward. Such a big weakness is placed in front of the enemy, and a random shot can cripple it or even overturn it.

I really don't know how this design passed!

Brusilov nodded and sighed: "It turns out that your 'Charle A1' is the best design, even now it is not outdated. But... our transportation channels with Europe have been basically blocked, and it is difficult for us to import this tank from your country."

This is the fault of the Minister of Munitions.

He was so arrogant that he provoked the Ottoman Empire as soon as the war started. As a result, he lost a lot of troops and also cut off the most important route from Europe to Russia.

Another route is from the North Sea to the Arctic Ocean and then to Russia.

But on the one hand, the North Sea is blocked by German submarines, and on the other hand, more importantly, the Arctic Ocean is frozen for about six months a year (November to April of the following year). Even if it thaws, it is full of icebergs and very dangerous, and the transportation volume is not large.

As a result, Tsarist Russia is basically isolated and helpless.

Brusilov took a sip of the coffee in front of him and said worriedly: "The situation on the Eastern Front is not optimistic, Lieutenant General, we may collapse at any time. I wonder if you can design a tank for us, a tank that can be mass-produced in a short time without spending too much money, which may be of great help to us."

Only with such a tank can he form an armored force like Charles, copy Charles' tactics and apply them to the battlefield.

Finally, Brusilov added: "This is good for the Western Front, and it is also in the interests of France and even you. I believe you will be willing to help, right?"

This is indeed in the interests of France.

Germany's current policy is "first the West and then the East". Falkenhayn intends to defeat France first and then turn back to deal with Tsarist Russia with all his strength.

(The reason is that Tsarist Russia is large in size and has many troops. Even with a loss ratio of 5:1, it is difficult to eat it in a short time. No one would have thought that Tsarist Russia would collapse from the inside in the end)

For France, helping Russia win on the Eastern Front, or at least holding on longer, can indeed reduce the pressure on the defense line.

However, Charles pondered for a moment and shook his head: "It's not that I don't want to help you, General, but I don't think you need tanks. In addition, even if you have tanks, it is difficult to penetrate like my army."

"Why?" Brusilov looked puzzled.

"Terrain, climate, and transportation, General." Charles replied: "I wonder if you have considered that the weather in Russia is much colder than ours, and the snow in winter is very thick, which is not suitable for tanks to quickly penetrate."

Charles turned his eyes to Brusilov.

Brusilov was stunned and nodded in agreement with Charles's statement.

It is common for the snow in Russia to be half a meter thick in winter. In extreme cases, some areas can even reach more than ten meters. It is difficult for tanks to quickly penetrate in this situation.

Charles continued: "After the spring, the snow will melt and there will be large areas of water accumulation. Many areas will become swamps and the roads will be muddy. In addition, your train lines are much less than France and cannot guarantee logistics..."

There is no mistake, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one 619, one book, one, one, one, one, one, one, a book!

In this case, even if the tank is successfully interspersed to the specified position, it may be surrounded by the enemy because the logistics cannot keep up.

The reason why Germany's interspersed surrounding was successful during World War II was the use of the empty window period before the winter.

Since then, the winter has not achieved the final victory, and the balance has begun to tilt to the enemy.

At this time, Tsar Russia, its organizational ability, logistics and reconnaissance capabilities could not be surrounded by Germans. In the end, they could only draw tigers.

Brucelov's complexion gradually dignified:

"You are right, Lieutenant General, you know well in Russia's terrain and situation."

"But, there is no other way?"

Sherm's calm answer:

"Of course, there is a way, general, there is a way at any time."

"I think you should not always think of tanks, but you should play your own advantages."

Brucelov was confused: "Our advantage?"

He could only think of the disadvantages. At this time, the Russian army was in a state of collapse in faith and morale.

But Charles answered very certainly: "Yes, advantages: there are many soldiers, and they are familiar with the terrain."