945. Chapter 910: Offensive and defensive debate

Chapter 910 Offensive and defensive debate

The scene that the Germans least wanted to see happened. After losing the Battle of Britain, the German Air Force was no longer able to organize a large-scale attack on Britain.

This also means that the first link of the Sea Lion plan has failed. Under the premise that the military airports and radars in southern Britain cannot be effectively destroyed, it is very difficult to conceal the British Navy and successfully land.

What's more, the British have also strengthened patrols on the English Channel since the outbreak of the Battle of Britain. Under such circumstances, a large-scale landing on the British mainland will undoubtedly make the German army take the initiative to die.

Helplessly, the German Prime Minister was forced to announce an indefinite suspension of the Sea Lion plan and temporarily put the German army's target back to the European continent.

Regarding the war on the European continent, there was also a very fierce debate within the German General Staff.

The three Nordic countries have been basically eliminated. Although the remaining areas near the Arctic Circle have not been occupied by the German army, they have posed no threat to Germany.

This also means that Germany currently has only two main battlefields left, namely the French battlefield and the Balkan battlefield.

In both battlefields, Germany has considerable advantages. The French were beaten by Germany and could only flee in panic. Although they established a defensive position in Tours, it is an indisputable fact that they lost their capital, Paris.

Looking at the Balkan battlefield, the German army even sent only one army group and had already gained the advantage in the Balkan battlefield.

It is not difficult for Romania, Bulgaria and Italy to gain an advantage against Yugoslavia, Greece and Albania.

After all, the population of these three countries combined is not as large as that of a large country, and the population of two of them, Albania and Greece, is not large, so they are not two powerful enemies.

What is a headache is that although certain advantages have been achieved in these two battlefields, it seems difficult to completely win the war in a short period of time.

With the help of the British, France still pursues a resolute resistance strategy, and the defense line is temporarily very strong. The German army can only helplessly start a war of attrition with the French army.

On the Balkan battlefield, although the population of the hostile countries is small, the combat effectiveness of the army of these Balkan countries is still quite good.

Especially Yugoslavia, led by Serbia, has a military combat effectiveness comparable to that of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, and is much stronger than that of the Italian army.

This also led to the fact that although Italy has invested more than 500,000 troops in the Balkan battlefield, the current results have been minimal, and even a bit of a mess.

Romania and Bulgaria, the two Balkan countries, did not perform so well in this war.

With the help of the British, Yugoslavia can still hold on for a long time. Either Germany will invest more troops in the Balkan battlefield, or it can only wait for Romania and Bulgaria to contribute to the war.

But at present, it seems that the time required to resolve these two wars will be at least half a year, and even if it enters a stalemate, it will not be a problem to drag it out for one or two years.

The Germans have suffered from the stalemate in World War I. At the German top level, some officers believe that the current German army should look for solutions from other directions.

March 11, 1937, German General Staff.

A top-secret military meeting is going on here. In addition to many senior military officials from the General Staff, the meeting also includes the supreme commanders of the two battlefields, the German Prime Minister, the commanders-in-chief of each army group, etc.

To exaggerate, if you are not a lieutenant general, you are not qualified to attend this meeting. If you are not a general, you are not qualified to speak in this meeting.

Even several field marshals quarreled in this military meeting, and it almost turned into a melee between senior generals.

If it weren't for the high prestige of the German Prime Minister, I'm afraid this top-secret military meeting would have turned into an arena between senior generals, and even turned into a group fight between multiple marshals.

Sitting in the main seat with a gloomy face, the German Prime Minister glanced at all the senior generals calmly, then looked at the Field Marshal Brauchitsch who had the most intense attitude just now, and asked: "Marshal Brauchitsch, tell me your opinion."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Prime Minister." Brauchitsch nodded respectfully, then stood up and expressed his opinion to all the senior officers present: "

I think we should postpone the offensive in the Balkans and focus on our huge country in the East.

Russia has mineral and oil resources that we need very much, which can greatly alleviate our demand for resources. At the same time, Russia's huge population can also become our labor force. If Russia is divided into 2 or 3 countries, we can have tens of millions of vassal troops, and then we will not be afraid of any war of attrition. "

"That's easy to say." The commander-in-chief of the German Army Group A stood up with a sneer, not giving Brauchitsch any face, and directly retorted: "Where do we have so many troops to attack Russia?

You are right, Russia has a huge land area and a population of hundreds of millions. But this also means that we have to fight a country that can mobilize tens of millions of troops at any time.

Under the premise that we have already mobilized millions of troops to open up the battlefields in Western Europe and the Balkans, I think it is very unwise to open up a new battlefield in Eastern Europe.

Furthermore, even if we can defeat the Russian army in Eastern Europe, what about Siberia? What about the Far East?

If Russia cannot be eliminated, Russia is destined to come back. I believe you all understand the horror of Russia's ideas. Under the premise that we are already fighting on two fronts, if we offend such a terrible country again, will this be a hope or a disaster for Germany? "

Hearing the rebuttal of the Commander-in-Chief of Army Group A, Brauchitsch did not rush to explain, but also sneered and said disdainfully: "Is Marshal Grian worried about the pressure of our three-line operations, or is he worried about opening up a new battlefield? Will troops be drawn away from the Western Front?

At present, it is obvious that the battlefield in Western Europe cannot achieve results in a short period of time. Do we still want to waste millions of military forces and give up Russia, a resource that is almost at our fingertips? "

"You! Damn it, are you questioning my loyalty to the empire?" Marshal Grian, the commander-in-chief of Army Group A, was stunned for a moment, as if his purpose had been revealed, and he said angrily.

"Loyal?" Marshal Brauchitsch continued to question as if he heard something funny: "If you are really loyal to the Empire and the Prime Minister, then you should consider the feasibility of the Eastern European battlefield at this time, not Without any thought, he worried about whether his soldiers would be transferred.

If I don't even have this awareness, then I may understand why Army Group A was unable to take Tours, France, during such a long offensive. "

"Okay, Brauchitsch, continue to talk about your considerations on the Eastern European battlefield." The German Prime Minister ended the topic, waved his hand and said to Brauchitsch.

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Marshal Brauchitsch nodded. He also understood that it was impossible for the Prime Minister to replace such an important position as the commander-in-chief of Army Group A because of these things.

How big is an army group? A normal army group has about 100,000 to 200,000 troops, while an army group has a strength of as high as 800,000 to 1.5 million.

As the earliest army group established in Germany, Army Group A made a lot of contributions in the war, including blitzing Poland, quickly annihilating Belgium and the Netherlands, etc. Army Group A was all present.

Even in the blitz against France and the capture of Paris, Army Group A was indispensable. Without enough evidence, it is impossible for the Prime Minister to replace the commander-in-chief of Army Group A, even if his performance is poor.

"As for the consideration of the new Eastern European battlefield, I have the following three opinions.

First, suspend the offensive on the Balkan battlefield.

For us, the most important thing in the Balkans is actually Romania’s oil resources. We only need to protect Romania's homeland security and successfully obtain Romania's oil, and then we can achieve our goal for the Balkans.

Doing this can save us about 300,000 troops. Coupled with the troops saved by switching from offensive to defensive, the Balkan battlefield alone can save us at least 600,000 troops for fighting Russia.

Secondly, the battlefield in Western Europe shifted from offensive to defensive.

Since we cannot quickly capture France in a short period of time, it is better to rely on our existing border lines, switch from offense to defense, and launch a comprehensive defense in France.

In this way, we only need to leave a small number of troops to ensure that the current border lines will not change. After we complete the offensive on the Eastern European battlefield, countless soldiers will be available for use on the Western European battlefield, and we can restart the offensive on the Western European battlefield.

In my prediction, we can definitely blitz Russia just like we blitzed Poland. Although Russia's territory is more vast, the combat effectiveness of their army and the advanced level of weapons and equipment may not be as good as Poland's.

Ideally, we would need at most six months to complete the offensive. In a conservative state, we can occupy the entire Eastern Europe before winter comes and completely eliminate Russia when the new spring comes.

Third, although we do not have many allies to help us on the battlefield in Eastern Europe, our island allies can help us in the Far East.

Although the Pacific coast of the island country is blocked by Australasia, the Sea of ​​Japan coast is still safe. This also means that millions of troops in the island country can be mobilized to the Far East and launch attacks on Russian territory in the Far East.

As a result, Russia will also fall into the disadvantage of fighting on two fronts. They need to fight across the entire Russia. As long as we can quickly break through Moscow, the Russians will only surrender. "Marshal Brauchitsch slowly said his plan.

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