The 1944 and 1943 formations are in the same logical system, emphasizing the construction of armored divisions (Panzergrenadier Divisions) in accordance with the core principle of "4 regiments, 6 battalions, and 8 companies". Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Theoretically, this kind of master-based (integrated division) organization has a large number of troops and technical equipment, which is not easy for ordinary countries, and the requirements for command ability are extremely high. However, it is in line with the fact that the German army does not have a command structure at the army level, and it is also consistent with the actual operational requirements in the future. Although there is a little more equipment, it is nothing more than a number for Germany, which has almost the whole of Europe and has reached a relatively high level of general mobilization system, and as for the command ability, Germany now has the best land commander in the world, which is not a problem at all.

After seeing the luxurious establishment of the US Imperial Panzer Division (taking the US Second Armored Division as an example, when it was fully established, it had 228 medium tanks, 114 light tanks, 53 tank destroyers, a total of 395 tanks and tanks, and another 156 armored vehicles, more than 100 artillery pieces of various types of 75mm caliber and more than 2,000 military vehicles of various types), the German army was also taken aback, although everyone did not think that the combat effectiveness of the US Imperial Panzer Division was, However, the General Staff of the German Army, which is not far behind in terms of equipment, will certainly defend the honor of the world's first army -- the main German armored division should beat all countries in the world, and it would be a shame to draw a tie!

Therefore, on the basis of the 1943 type, the unprecedented 1944 type armored division was launched, which constituted the combat core of the armored division with a total of 4 regiments, including 1 armored regiment, 2 armored grenadier divisions and 1 armored artillery regiment, each regiment consisted of 4 battalions, and the overall scale reached 4 battalions and 16 companies. In addition, the units directly under the division headquarters also include 6 independent battalions and 8 independent companies, the 6 battalions are: armored reconnaissance battalion, armored engineer battalion, armored communications battalion, field maintenance battalion, armored air defense battalion, and medical battalion, and 8 companies include: command company, teaching company, guard company, military police company, quartermaster company (responsible for clothing, food, housing, and transportation), military band, supply company (responsible for ammunition), and transportation company.

Compared with the 1943 type, the 1944 type reduced the motorized baggage battalion, directly incorporated it into the direct sequence of each front-line combat unit, and upgraded the maintenance company to a field maintenance battalion, which strengthened the field support function.

The 4 battalions of the armored regiment include 1 heavy armored battalion (Tiger, 54 vehicles) and 3 medium armored battalions (Panther, 76 vehicles per battalion), with a total of 290 tanks (282 vehicles in 4 armored battalions and 8 regimental headquarters); The Panzergrenadier Battalion is a 3+1 structure from top to bottom, that is, 3 infantry battalions per regiment with a fire battalion, 3 infantry companies per battalion with a fire company, all infantry are equipped with armored vehicles (1 squad takes 2 S to dkfz.251 half-track armored vehicles), and the fire battalion includes 2 companies of Wasp self-propelled guns, 1 company of Himmler organ and 1 company of Tornado self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (mainly personnel and auxiliary air defense).

Speaking of wasp self-propelled guns, there is another interesting fact, historically Hitler did not like the word wasp, In the end, it was changed to Sdkfz.124 self-propelled howitzer, but Hoffman obviously didn't mind this, but under his order, chassis No. 2 had long been discontinued, so the German Wasp self-propelled artillery was a 105mm self-propelled howitzer with 38T as the chassis, and the cricket self-propelled gun was developed on the basis of the 38T site, although the firepower of the cricket was fiercer than that of the Wasp, but the mobility of the overweight cricket was not very good, and the failure rate was also high, so in the end it was all changed to a Wasp.

In order to highlight the firepower and take into account the flexibility and mobility, the armored artillery regiment has greatly reduced the towed artillery compared with the ordinary artillery regiment, the main firepower includes 2 heavy artillery battalions (150mm Grizzly self-propelled artillery), the Grizzly Bear is produced with the No. 4 chassis, Hoffman is not optimistic about the No. 4 tank destroyer, so the No. 4 Tan Destroyer has never been installed, and only the Grizzly (self-propelled howitzer), Whirlwind (4 20mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns) and Ball Lightning (2 30mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns) are modified with the No. 4 chassis.

Originally, there was also a 37mm Dongfeng self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on chassis No. 4, but after testing, it was found that it was far inferior to the ball lightning, so the Dongfeng was also cut by Speer without hesitation. In addition to the fact that there were many fewer weapons based on chassis No. 2, 3 and 4, self-propelled guns such as rhinoceros based on the 3/4 mixed chassis were not manufactured at all, and only stayed on the drawings, and the Wild Bee, which was originally based on the T-34 chassis, was later removed. It's a lot less fun, but it's a huge benefit in reducing the complexity of your gear.

The other two battalions of the armored artillery regiment are 88mm anti-aircraft artillery battalions (88 guns fight planes and tanks underneath, even if they can't be self-propelled, they can only endure it); 1 battalion assault (34mm tank destroyers on the T-88 chassis, 72 units).

After this calculation, the total number of the reorganized Type 1944 armored division is about 22,500, with 378 tanks and tanks (in addition to the 362 tanks and tanks of the armored regiment and artillery regiment, there are 16 tanks in the units directly under the division), more than 200 self-propelled guns, and nearly 800 half-track armored vehicles of various types. In order to ensure the operation of such a large amount of mechanized equipment, the entire division is equipped with more than 2,800 European standard trucks.

Lieutenant General Schmont, the Quartermaster General (who was promoted to lieutenant general in early 1944 because of his strong support for the supply and dispatch of supplies on the Eastern Front), calculated the price and cost of such an armored division in detail: the entire armament cost of a Type 1944 armored division is equivalent to 4 Tirpitts, and if you think about the daily fuel consumption, it is about 16 Tirpitts - the latter consumes at least 300 tons of fuel a day. And if such an armored division wants to start without 5,000 tons of fuel, don't even think about it (at the propulsion limit of 150 kilometers per day), if it is a battle, it will at least double or even more.

He came to the conclusion that arming such troops was not cost-effective from an economic point of view alone. Relying on being a close confidant and chief adjutant of the Führer, he secretly told Hoffman about this conclusion, thinking that instead of piling up all the most advanced and excellent equipment to build a super unit, it would be better to issue a little more equipment to the general troops, such as producing a little less Tiger and equipping the ordinary infantry with an extra batch of No. 3 assault guns.

"I am well aware of your conclusion, and if it were the beginning of the war or even the stalemate of the war, I would certainly take your advice. But you must be clear that when the war is about to come to an end or a regional battlefield is about to end, I have other intentions in taking out these weapons and equipment to build such an elite army. "Not only did I have an eye to solve the Bolshevik question, but I also wanted to use this force to intimidate the Yankees and let them know that they would never be able to fight us." ”

"This ...... It's hard to understand. Schmund scratched his head, "The United States has more money than us, and they can afford to fight it." ”

"But they can't afford to fight for their lives." Hoffman smiled slightly, "I took out 10 Type 1944 armored divisions on the Western Front, how many people would the Americans die for this if they used general equipment?" 200,000? 300,000? 500,000? Now the US military may have less than 500,000 casualties, what do you think if they let them die another 500,000? ”

Schmund was silent, he didn't dare to guarantee that the United States would not withdraw from the war if another 500,000 people died, but at least he could guarantee that the American government would be even more prestigious.

"In order to overwhelm our 10 Type 1944 armored divisions and not want to kill a lot of people, the Americans must prepare better, more advanced, more resource-intensive and money-consuming troops, at least they have to do another dozen, right?" Hoffman smiled, "You must know very well the war economy in the Middle Ages, raising a 1,000-strong heavy cavalry costs more than 100,000 ordinary infantry, but as long as the monarchs have the strength, they must choose heavy cavalry, why?" That's the deterrent, tell them to know that going against me is going to cost a lot! ”

"Their panzer divisions can't beat our ......," Schmund shook his head, "and there aren't many of them, I heard from the SS American divisions that there are only 5-6 at the moment, but their ordinary divisions are better equipped than us." ”

"When the last battle against the Soviet Union is over, how much courage do you think the Americans will have to land and fight us? He's going to come up with more strength and better equipment, right? In this way, we have bought time, bought time to unite Europe and increase our strength. Hoffman smiled, "In the future, when the war on the Eastern Front ends, we don't have to keep such a huge army, if we want to deter those forces in Europe that are about to move, do you think it is better to keep 10 Type 1944 armored divisions or 20 ordinary divisions?" ”

Schmont nodded his head in agreement.

Hoffman only made a simple analogy, he actually did not tell the other party the direction of the future development of the military revolution, the equipment must be more and more sophisticated, more and more expensive in the direction of development, the number must also decline sharply, similar to World War II This kind of heavy equipment at every turn is no longer thousands, under the premise of having nuclear weapons, there are more than 100 fourth-generation aircraft, fifth-generation aircraft, thousands of main battle tanks are enough for a country to dominate the world, I have not seen the four seas, Battleships have to be counted in hits, and by the early 20th century, the Royal Navy was running out of even a dozen warships?

At present, there are no problems with other equipment and personnel, but the production of Leopard tanks has lagged behind - even if all the newly produced Leopards are not enough to be refitted here, but Speer has promised that by mid-May there will be enough Leopard tanks for the troops. With such a definite answer, Hoffman and Guderian were not in a hurry about it, there was still a spring muddy period in the Caucasus Plain in April, and the Red Army was not completely exhausted, so it was necessary to continue grinding the Caspian Army Group, and in June, Thor's hammer would tell the Russians what to write the word "despair".