Since 1882, the German General Staff has been conducting annual exercises on the Eastern Front, but since 1888 the exercises on the Eastern Front have been renamed the annual exercises of the Army due to the warming of German-Russian relations.

At the end of the 19th century, although European countries advocated attack, they had not yet reached the point of being as crazy as in the early 20th century, and the brainless pigs of the French offensive school had no market in Europe today. Could it be that the French learned from Nogi Noshinori, the Japanese "military (nao) god (can)" during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904?

In short, the tactics of brainless attacks are not in vogue in Germany today, especially as the Maxim is becoming more and more aware of the weapon of mass destruction.

Two years ago, after the British left the corpses of 3,000 Zulu warriors on the battlefield with only 4 Makqin machine guns produced by the Hong Kong authorized Vickers company in the Rhodesia region of South Central Africa, the killing ability of machine guns has been paid more and more attention by various countries.

The Germans were far ahead of other countries in their understanding of this, so the Germans became more and more skilled in building fortifications.

In order to break through such increasingly well-established fortifications, the German Army also had an increasing volume of artillery equipment. As a result, the fortifications were built more complex and strong. Such a spiraling cycle made Jochen sigh and didn't know whether it was malignant or benign.

The German General Staff quickly came to a conclusion: the future war would be a trench war, and under the blockade of trenches, machine guns, and artillery, it would be a heavy price to break through the trench defenses. As a result, the shovel would become the most important weapon of the army, along with the machine gun, which led to more orders from Jochen's HK company.

And this time. Jochen visited the exercise and saw that it was such an offensive tactic that was full of the flavor of the early days of World War I.

The subject of the exercise is very simple and uninspiring, that is, how to break through the well-established and powerful defensive front of the army.

The fortifications of the defending side consisted of two parts: the forward position and the rear cover, and the forward position consisted of two trenches 100 meters apart, and three barbed wire fences were laid in front of the trenches. As well as a minefield. The trenches contained artillery holes, shelters, machine-gun fire points, and mortar positions, and there were dense communication trenches between the bunkers.

Circular defenses were formed in individual sections, and a second position was constructed in key areas of the enemy's offensive direction, with diagonal positions.

In the deep rear, a fortified barracks, two resistance hubs, and a rear defense line consisting of artificial obstacles and bunkers were constructed.

The entire defensive front was much the same as the defensive system of the First World War.

Although this defensive method of deploying as many troops as possible on the front line has long since become outdated, it is still difficult to break through. And the reason, as Jochen saw before his eyes.

Exactly the same long artillery preparation as during the First World War. After the artillery fire was prepared, the attackers began to attack, and then they were swept down by rows in front of machine-gun fire, and then the survivors who were crawling on the ground were suppressed and could not raise their heads, let alone attack. The "no man's land" 400 meters in front of the line of defense during World War I was not just talk. There is not "no one", but "no living people", only corpses, can stay on that land.

In the end, the attacker invested more than three times the defender's forces and captured the first line of trenches. Shotguns have shown unrivaled melee capabilities, but attackers have lost the ability to continue attacking the second line of defense.

Of course. This qiē is all a drill, and everyone is shooting empty cartridges. However, the battle loss ratio calculated by the exercise director according to the actual situation was as high as 1:1.7.

"If this is a real battle, the attacker will probably have to pay a heavier price, and it will not even be able to capture the first line of defense." Jochen stood on a high ground on one side with a telescope and watched the whole exercise.

"The barbed wire fence had a certain effect on hindering the attack, but the mines were all cleared during the shelling if the attacking side continued the shelling. Even the barbed wire should be swept away. Schlieffen, who was standing next to Jochen and also holding a telescope, said.

"It is possible to increase the consumption of ammunition, but if it is a large-scale war, this is the logistical pressure. Moreover, the casualties caused by the shelling to the defenders hiding in the fortifications were extremely low, which was the result of the director's estimate as large as possible. And if the fortifications are stronger, for example, if reinforced concrete is used to build artillery holes and fire points. The attacker's artillery preparation can play a very limited role. Jochen said.

The situation described by Jochen became the norm in World War I after 1915, often with a large amount of ammunition and a lack of corresponding results.

A typical example is the Battle of Verdun, where the Germans shelled the French positions in the village of Douomundo with heavy artillery for two whole days, resulting in the elimination of only one machine gun fire point of the French army. Moreover, this machine-gun fire point was not destroyed by German shelling, but by German shells that hit the church of Douomundo, and the spire of the church's bell tower fell and was destroyed.

"Yes, Your Highness, so the Army needs more and more powerful artillery to crack those turtle shells, otherwise these lines will become a bottomless pit that will devour the lives of soldiers." Schlieffen sighed.

Hearing this, Yoheng wanted to hold his forehead and sigh, of course artillery doctrine is good, and it can be supported by Germany's industrial production capacity, but Germany's logistics are really going to cry.

"But this will increase the demand for ammunition on the front line, and the pressure on production and delivery will be very high, and even then, if the attacker has to pay a much higher price than the defender, and pay a heavy battle loss ratio, it will be extremely disadvantageous for the attacker to pay a war of attrition on an unusually large scale and for a long time."

Johenton paused, and in order to strengthen the severity of his statement, he repeated the following passage: "If war breaks out, no one can foresee how long it will last, and no one can know how it will end." Gentlemen, it will be a 7-year war, it will be a 30-year war, and the next war in Europe will most likely last 30 years, like the Peloponnesian War. ”

"His Excellency Moltke's last conference speech, delivered in 1892, is still impressive. Yes, a long war of attrition is disadvantageous, so it is important to bypass the enemy's lines, strike at the enemy's flank and rear, and achieve a quick and decisive victory. Schlieffen sighed.

The essence of Schlieffen's plan was to quickly detour to the left flank of the French army, penetrate directly into Paris, the heart of France, and then annihilate the main force of the French army in the battle of the General Assembly, so as to restore the glory of Sedan. Therefore, it is also his main idea not to force the French defense line head-on.

Most of the German strategists at the time recognized that a protracted war would plunge the Reich into political and economic chaos in a few years, but instead of thinking about how to formulate an overall strategy for a long-term war of attrition, they hoped to end the war as quickly as possible to avoid chaos.

Although the same problem existed throughout Europe at that time, for Germany the problem was fatal. So Jochen decided to pour cold water on him, although it can't be directly asserted that a quick victory is impossible, but it is still possible to let Schlieffen know that his rapid offensive plan has too many concrete difficulties to implement.

"Bypassing enemy lines is naturally the best way to attack, but it is too difficult to implement, and it may be tried elsewhere, but in Europe, a well-developed rail and road network allows both sides to quickly draw forces to form a new line of defense or attack assembly points.

The result would be a constant detour between the two sides, eventually pushing the entire front from east to west, and finally to the sea. Eventually, we may well have formed an extra-long trench hundreds of kilometers long to the sea. That would be a nightmare. ”

"As long as we move fast enough and succeed in a detour before the enemy reacts, we can achieve our goal." Schlieffen is confident in his plans.

"Of course, if we can do it before the enemy reacts, then we can expect victory." Jochen nodded in agreement.

Schlieffen understood what Jochen meant, and asked, "Your Highness doesn't seem to approve of this approach?" ”

"No, of course, it's a brilliant plan, but a plan is just a plan. No matter how perfect a plan is, there will be some unforeseen problems in the implementation process.

For example, if the communications of the troops in the high-speed advance cannot be synchronized with the communications of the rear combat units, resulting in a time lag in judging the situation on the front line, a lack of timeliness in the orders issued, and confusion in the command and coordination of the troops, then we will run into trouble, a great trouble.

There is also the problem of logistical supply of troops advancing at high speed, and the combat units are advancing at full speed and the logistics are disjointed, so they have to stop, and then the enemy has enough time to mobilize and build a defensive line. The only means of transport we can rely on are mules and horses, and these mules and horses themselves add to the logistical pressure, because they need feed and drinking water, and we also need breeders and veterinarians.

These animals are also very susceptible to death, with shells, shocks, and even gunsmoke that can cause death from respiratory diseases. As a result, this will become a major bottleneck in our logistical capacity.

So we can't put our hopes entirely in our ability to make a quick detour back to the enemy's rear, we can't expect our opponents to make mistakes, all we can do is make us make fewer mistakes than our opponents, and have more backup plans. Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, a frontal offensive is still necessary, and we need a frontal offensive to break through the enemy's defenses. (To be continued......)