As early as thousands of years ago, the ancient Chinese said that "before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first".

This means that in war, logistics are more critical than engagement.

This is a contest of comprehensive national strength, and it is usually clear whether you will win or lose before the battle begins.

This was all the more pronounced in World War II, which was fought for territory and capital.

In this regard, the United States is the best to mix, and it has North America, far away from the war, as its own logistics base, and it has no worries about food and clothing.

In comparison, Germany does not have such good logistical supplies. After all, Germany's land area is not large, resources are also very scarce, and the consumption of the war is huge, which makes the German army's military supplies even more insecure.

Japan is the worst mixed up, this island country is poor in land resources, and its human resources are not as good as those of Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China.

If it weren't for the fact that the Japanese Army had a higher level of training than neighboring countries, I am afraid that the army of this island nation would not have been able to cross the Sea of Japan at all.

But even so, the Japanese army's increasingly poor logistics and food have begun to expose the weakness of their weak follow-up.

As for the Germans, on the surface it didn't seem like there were any logistical problems, and the soldiers who fought bloody battles on the front lines were even able to eat canned luncheon meat and the occasional steak refresher.

However, in fact, there were already serious problems in the logistics system of the German army, and if they were not dealt with, they would be out of control.

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Berlin, Germany, logistics department.

A young officer from the Logistics Office walked into the Logistics Office with a worried look on his face.

He said to his director: "Director, General Rommel has informed us of the logistics office to prepare for him as soon as possible the military supplies and equipment that will be used in the African theater. ”

The logistics chief sighed and said, "The equipment is good, and it has long been prepared for his Afrika Korps." However, it is difficult to handle the materials, and our logistics department is now very cautious in the distribution of materials, and the production of many military food products has completely failed to keep up with the amount used. ”

The director sighed again and continued to ask, "How much military supplies does General Rommel need?" ”

The young officer replied: "General Rommel's troops need 40,000 desert combat uniforms and 500,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as the usual parts and components for guns and tanks. In addition, they needed half a month's ration for 40,000 troops and an additional twenty tons of canned food and steaks. ”

"What? How much canned food and steak do you want? Twenty extra tons! The director was shocked, and he said that he could not meet Rommel's request: "General Rommel is really a lion's mouth. Ask me for twenty tons of meat products in one go. Many of our second-line troops could not even see the shadow of canned steak in normal times, and could only occasionally receive canned luncheon meat. He's good, and he'll take another 20 tons when he opens his mouth. ”

"General Colomel was a close confidant of the Führer and the first famous general of our army to become famous in the Spanish Civil War. If we do not meet his demands, General Rommel tells the Führer, what should we do if the higher authorities blame us? The young officer asked the director with a worried expression.

"Well, I didn't know that." The director was very helpless, so he had to ask the young officer to go and plead with Rommel to discuss: "But the logistics department really can't meet General Rommel's request, why don't you go and discuss it and ask him to lower his requirements, so that we can talk on both sides." ”

"Director, I don't think General Rommel will budge." The young officer also said with a sad face: "This report was handed over to me by General Rommel himself. When he handed it to me, he said that he would let me do my best for him, and he said that he would not be able to do anything less. ”

This is Rommel, who never gave in to his goals. Whether on the battlefield or in the communication of domestic officials, he stubbornly insisted on his set of demands.

The director hammered the table and said angrily: "We don't just supply supplies to his army, he doesn't think about our logistics!" ”

"How?" The young officer asked suspiciously, "Director, can't we even get this can?" ”

In his eyes, these cans were nothing at all to the mighty Third Reich. Although the amount is a bit huge, it is not to the point where it is impossible to get it.

"This? Do you think these cans are a small amount for the logistics department today? Yes, you haven't been in the logistics for long, and you don't know the story. The director said slowly.

"There were no problems in the earliest Polish campaigns, and the later Danish campaigns and the Norwegian campaigns were also not problematic because of their small scale." The director said leisurely.

"But after the fight with the French, our logistics began to tighten. In the later stages of the campaign, in order to satisfy the aggressiveness of the front-line soldiers, we only provided canned meat to the front-line soldiers for a period of time, and the supply of many second-line troops was generally reduced. ”

Speaking of this, the logistics director smiled a little helplessly: "A large part of the reason for this situation is that the Führer ordered to allocate five percent of the canned food production and send it to the Ukrainian region to support the German personnel sent there to maintain the operation." ”

"Because the Führer delivered too much grain to the Ukrainian regions, the canned food produced by a large number of factories in the country has also greatly decreased in order to ensure the quantity and quality, and it is no longer possible to produce high-quality canned food as before. The soldiers all felt that the canned food they ate was not the same as before, but they could not say that anything had changed. ”

The director lit a cigarette, took two deep breaths, and continued: "The steak that the soldiers eat now, do you think it is still the same as before, is it a real steak?" ”

"How?" The young officer took two steps forward and said suspiciously: "Although I heard that a lot of flour is added to the canned luncheon meat, the canned steak can't be faked." ”

The director spat out a puff of smoke rings, shook his head and said: "I think too much, they are all compound meat, and the main ingredient is duck chops, but after the various flavors added by the Quartermaster Production Department, the soldiers eat exactly the same as real steaks." Of course, there are also some crushed beef offal, which are added to the canned steak after special treatment, so as to meet the needs of the front-line soldiers for canned beef. ”

"Although this may be a little unimaginable, but young man, this is the current situation of our logistics department, you and I have to learn to accept it."

The director patted the young officer on the shoulder and said earnestly: "That's why I'm so annoyed by General Rommel's request, if we really follow his request, I'm afraid we will have to cut the food quota of other troops." ”