"But the scythe we slashed at the Western Front had the same distance from the target with the handle and the head, and in order to encircle the French army, we had to be fast. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"If we want the speed of the outer legions, then we have to give up something. I think the speed of exchanging equipment for corps is feasible to a certain extent, and I also give them a certain degree of reinforcement, and the outermost First Army can have some independent armored units. ”

In fact, in the history of the border battles, the German army has already shown some problems, and the 1st and 2nd armies located in the outermost part are actually not fully manned. Theoretically, the strength of the two sides is about the same, but many German follow-up troops will take a long time to arrive, and the French have the advantage of several armies, but because of equipment and tactical problems, they still can't beat the German army, and of course, the German army can't encircle and annihilate the French army on a large scale.

Subsequently, the French, under the command of Chauffeur, began to retreat and then regroup their forces in preparation for a counterattack, much to the dismay, to the distraction of the Germans, who were in fact no longer able to carry out the original encirclement plan before the Battle of the Marne.

Consider that the length of the entire front at that time was as high as 230 kilometers, and the First and Second Armies had to cross a depth of about 220 kilometers to reach the Marne, and they had to be constantly blocked by the British and French forces, and the First and Second Armies on the right flank attacked no more than 13 kilometers a day. How can you encircle your opponent at this speed? The French could easily regroup their forces and then concentrate on giving their opponents a counterattack.

Therefore, the prince's plan was to at least let the 1st and 2nd armies on the far side still have strong mobility and surprise attack in the border battle. Eat a portion of the Anglo-French legions in a border battle. In this way, it was possible to fundamentally change the situation in which Germany was repulsed at the Battle of the Marne.

If you can't encircle and annihilate part of the opponent's forces in the border battle, the Battle of the Marne is actually unsolvable, which is the conclusion that the prince came to after recalling the historical data, at the beginning of the Battle of the Marne, the 1st and 2nd armies on the far side of the German right flank had a total of 18 infantry divisions and 5 cavalry divisions, while the opposite side concentrated the French 5th, 6th, and 9th armies and the British Corps, a total of 35 semi-infantry divisions and 8 semi-cavalry divisions, in this case, how do you let the Germans fight? Although the Germans had an advantage in other directions, the German Third, Fourth and Fifth armies concentrated 26 infantry divisions, but opposite there were also 19 semi-infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division. In general, the other front was underoffensive, but given the state of the German division, neither side could overwhelm the opponent.

As long as there is no generation gap, the German First and Second Armies will not be able to defeat the four British and French armies on the opposite side! In fact, Kruger's First Army really couldn't stop the opponent, and was forced to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall, which caused a gap between the first group and the second army, and the right flank of Pilov's second group was threatened, and the gap was too big to be filled, so it could only retreat in order to prevent being surrounded and annihilated, you know, when Germany started the war at that time, the first and second armies had a total of 12 infantry corps, 1 cavalry corps and 5 reserve brigades, according to the establishment of one army and two divisions, this is at least 26 infantry divisions, in fact? There are only 18 in place.

Therefore, Ruprecht's approach emphasized the essence of German tactics, maneuvering quickly, fighting a war of encirclement and annihilation, rather than a rout, destroying the opponent's living forces in large numbers and not giving the opponent a chance to breathe.

Ruprecht divided the whole plan into three stages, the first stage was to enter the French border area through Belgium, this stage actually didn't care much, the Germans did a very good job in history, and the second stage was the border campaign, the prince's requirement was that the German right-wing army group had the ability to encircle one or two British and French armies. And for this to happen, the First and Second Armies need to remain highly mobile and field-capable. The third stage is that when the five German armies enter the line of the Marne, they can stabilize their positions and repel the counterattack of the British and French forces, but how much further they can go depends on their ability.

"I'll tell you, listen, I don't expect to change your mind, and I understand as much as I want. I've already told you about the strategy, and then I'll talk about my advice at the tactical level. ”

"The First Army and the Second Army can organize independent armored battalions and tank units, and the number of heavy artillery should be reduced as much as possible, if not reduced, and replaced with car towed or truck artillery as much as possible. They need to be equipped with more additional transport units. ”

"The third, fourth, and fifth armies do not require too high a speed of attack, so they can be equipped with a large number of heavy artillery units, the first and second armies are used to divide the opponent's knife, and the three armies that rely on internal testing are the hammers that crush the opponent."

"You don't expect too much from heavy mortars, although this thing has a simple structure, but it has a short range, low accuracy, the consumption of ammunition in the offensive is very large, and the defense is not bad, but when it comes to attacking, sometimes it is really not as good as direct-aim artillery. Moreover, after crossing the border, although there are some hills and forests, they are still very wide on the whole, and it is difficult to give full play to the advantage of the ballistic curve of the mortar, and the disadvantage of the firing range will be constantly widened. ”

"We have to keep an eye on the movements of the British and French troops, because the British and French have been watching us, and after we are equipped with tanks, assault guns and mobile heavy artillery, the other side may have similar ideas. On the one hand, we need to keep it secret, and on the other hand, we need to deal with it, in fact, your Weasel armored destroyer has a good idea, but it needs to optimize the design and increase the defense. ”

For the last point, the prince can be regarded as a rainy day, and remind them that both sides learn from each other in war. If you are fighting with an opponent of the same level, you have it, and the opponent will soon have it. Germany is a war that blocks the fortunes of the country, and it is impossible to be too careful.

"I've written down everything you said, but I can't guarantee how much I can implement, after all, our resistance is coming from all sides, but I'm going to do my best to achieve what I think is right. Thank you once again, your honorable prince. Little Moltke got up and said.

For the influence of Germany's strategy on the Western Front, Ruprecht is also to this extent. As for the military-technical exchanges between Prussia and Bavaria, that is a matter for those below. If nothing else, the focus for some time to come will be on the construction of the Bavarian-Bohemian Corps, and perhaps occasionally on the navy.

The second is more ~~~! Ask for subscription, ask for tips~~~! (To be continued.) )