"Escape?" Hitler exclaimed, "Ludwig, how can you promote such a coward to be a general?" ”

This is Adolf. Hitler's reaction when he heard that Manstein, commander of the Wehrmacht's 18th Division, had left two infantry regiments and most of his baggage and artillery and fled northwest along Route 6 with two other regiments.

"Coward?" Hersmann was also a little surprised, considering that the man who "escaped" was named Manstein, I am afraid that Guderian would not have won the exercise this afternoon.

"Mr. Prime Minister, it's a drill!" The commander of the 1st Armored Division, Lieutenant General Weix, reminded him that he was born in cavalry, and because the 3rd Cavalry Division under his command was reorganized into the 1st Armored Division, he became an "armored general".

However, Guderian, the commander of the armored forces, always thought that he did not understand the essence of armored warfare, so the two positions were swapped during this exercise. Guderian effectively became the commander of the 1st Panzer Division, while Lieutenant General Weikers commanded the entire Blue Army in Guderian's place.

When Hersmann and Hitler arrived at his headquarters together, he reported to them the breakthrough of the Panzer Cluster and the escape of Manstein's men.

"You have to run away from the exercise, can you still count on it in a real battle?" Hitler continued to shout, "This man immediately asked him to retire, the Wehrmacht did not need him!" ”

This is Hitler venting his dissatisfaction with Hersmann and the Junkers officer corps! Hersmann only smiled lightly, "Mr. Chancellor, let's see how this General Manstein will stop the advance of the armored cluster." ”

"He's already abandoned his position, and he's still blocking the armored cluster like this?"

Hersmann shrugged, "Relying on traditional line defense, unless a large number of permanent fortifications are built like the Maginot Line of the French, it will not be able to resist an armored assault at all." ”

He paused slightly. "However, this does not mean that an infantry-based army has no way to take armored troops. Since there is an armored assault, there must be a method of anti-armored assault, and both topics are being studied. Perhaps General Manstein has a comparative study of anti-armor assault operations. ”

He was not fooling Hitler, but the "armored assault" and "anti-armored assault" were carried out on the map and the sand table deduction, and I don't know how many times they were carried out in the General Staff.

And Hersmann himself put forward the "theory of elastic defense in great depth", and by looking at the name, you can know that it is plagiarized from Tukhachevsky and Manstein, who are famous historical generals.

According to this theory. Traditional defensive systems centered on trenches and artillery could not reach an armored group assault. In order to construct a traditional defense system, placing a large number of troops on a long defensive line will encounter catastrophic consequences when facing an armored assault group that can break through quickly.

The correct way to deal with an armored surprise attack is to arrange a defense with great depth but not tight - it is impossible to have both depth and tightness, because it would require too many troops - to use space and second- and third-line troops (commonly known as cannon fodder) to deplete and delay the enemy's armored clusters, while retaining a strong counterattack. After the attack power of the enemy armored cluster was severely weakened. Then fight back to knock it back.

However, this theory is now kept secret and is known only to a small number of senior and elite staff officers of the General Staff and the Armored Forces Command (under the management of the Armored Forces Chief). Manstein, who was the commander of the infantry division, did not know about Hersmann's "high theory," and the countermeasures he was taking now should have been studied by himself.

Hitler glanced at Hersmann, rather helpless. He, the prime minister, has no commanding power! According to the Constitution, the command is vested in President Ludendorff. And in order to change the constitution, the Nazi Party did not have enough people in parliament. And Ludendorff himself was actually the leader of the Nazi Party, and there was no Ludendorff back then. The Nazi Party was a small party that no one knew about. Therefore, many congressmen who were military officers sold Ludendorff's face and wanted to change the constitution to take Ludendorff's power. If it is not done, it will cause a split in the Nazi Party. Not to mention what the ubiquitous Stacy would do with it.

What made Hitler even more depressed was that Ludendorff's presidency had not yet been completed, and Hersmann had brought out the long-abdicated emperor "Doron Woodcutter" (this is the nickname given by the Dutch to Wilhelm the Elder). Once the Hohenzollern dynasty is restored, this command will most likely belong to His Majesty the Emperor......

Facing Hitler's cold gaze, Hersmann smiled faintly, "Mr. Chancellor." Admiral Guderian's armored cluster will soon begin to break through in depth, should we feel the speed of the breakthrough of the armored forces? This is Manstein vs. Guderian! ”

……

"Woo Woo ......"

The characteristic sound of the 37-mm rapid-fire gun firing was heard by the commander of the 1st Panzer Regiment, von Brown. Colonel Torma's ears rang.

"Enemy attack! There is an ambush in the woods ahead! ”

Immediately inside the headset came the commander of the 1st Armored Battalion, Herman. Lieutenant Colonel Balk shouted with some annoyance: "There are at least 5 37 guns, which killed my 2 tanks and blocked the road." ”

"Killed" means, of course, to be destroyed by the referee of the exercise who followed the advance of the troops.

"Stop moving forward and suppress them with fire. I'll get the snipers up right away. "Feng. Thoma hurriedly gave orders to Lieutenant Colonel Balke.

"Phew! Bang! "No sooner had Thoma given the order than the sound of 37mm guns firing again.

"What an oversight!" Thoma hurriedly pushed open the hatch of the tank, half of his body got out, then picked up the telescope hanging on his chest, took a closer look at the woods in front of him, and found that it was less than 500 meters from the road, and the road passed through the middle of the woods, which was indeed a good place to set up an ambush. It seems that his own armored regiment is advancing too fast and does not pay attention to the possible ambushes along the way.

At this time, motorized snipers who were already following the advance of the armored regiment got out of the wheeled armored vehicles and passed by Toma's command tank with heavy MG34 machine guns and mortars.

Feng. Thoma stopped one of the captains, "Captain Mantofil, how much time does it take?" ”

"Colonel, it depends on how many people are in the woods and how well equipped?" His name is Hassan. Feng. Mantofil, a young captain with the title of baron, replied. "If they don't have more than 500 men and no infantry guns, we can win in an hour, and if they have 1,000 men and a few 75mm or 150mm cannons, then some will fight."

"How so? We're an armored cluster! ”

Feng. Toma not only had an armored regiment under his command, but also reinforced a motorized sniper battalion. How could such a luxurious lineup be stopped by a group of stragglers who came out of nowhere?

"Colonel, they have quite a few 37 guns, our tanks and armored vehicles cannot get close, and the firepower of the 20-mm guns is insufficient, and the artillery group in the rear must be called for support. So it's more time-consuming...... The rules of the exercise are like this. ”

"I know how infantry fights!" Feng. With an impatient wave of his hand, Toma sent the captain of the motorized infantry away. In my heart, I thought that the firepower of the armored cluster was still too weak.

It seems necessary to develop a self-propelled infantry gun of 150mm caliber on the basis of the chassis of tank No. 1 or No. 2. If you can equip motorized snipers with this weapon, it will be much easier to advance the armored cluster.

……

"For the record, infantry units should be equipped with anti-tank weapons with greater firepower and mobility, and stronger individual anti-tank weapons should be developed. In addition, anti-tank guns that lack the protection of solid bunkers can easily be destroyed by enemy infantry and tank fire, and are of limited effectiveness in actual combat unless they have greater range and power. It is better to have an anti-tank weapon with a perfect combination of firepower, mobility, and defensive capabilities...... Well, it seems to be a tank or a self-propelled gun based on a tank chassis or something. ”

Quietly waiting for the "defeat" - the referee decided that one of Manstein's regiments could stop von Stein. When Thoma's armored cluster was 2 hours old, Manstein was not idle. He first sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Falkenhausen, the commander-in-chief of the "Red Army", suggesting that he immediately shrink his forces and retreat to a decisive battle. Then he summed up the "experience of the exercise" with his staff officers.

The General Headquarters of the "Red Army", which received Manstein's telegram, was already in a rather panicked state at this time. Falkenhausen originally thought that he had a lot of experience with "anti-mechanized warfare". However, he did not expect that the "Blue Army Armored Cluster" would be so large that it would be mad. I didn't expect their breakthrough and advancement to be so rapid.

From the beginning of the shelling of the Blue Army to the present, the exercises have been carried out for less than 8 hours, and the Red Army defense line has not only been broken through, but the Blue armored group has advanced more than 8 kilometers!

"Lieutenant General, Major General Manstein, reports that his troops will arrive only 2-3 hours."

Major General Witzleben, who served as chief of staff of the "Red Army", reported to Falkenhausen on the latest "state of affairs". According to the referee of the 2-3 hour exercise, if Manstein is defeated in 2 hours, he can keep half of his troops, and if he is defeated in 3 hours, he will be completely annihilated.

"It's not enough!" Falkenhausen looked at the map, "Can the two regiments of Fort Wilhelm be on top to stabilize the defensive line?" ”

He was still trying to get his troops back in order to form a new defensive front, so he wanted to use the reserves, which Falkenhausen did not agree to when Manstein wanted them, and the two regiments have not been used until now.

"At most, it will be supported until early tomorrow morning." Major General Witzleben said.

"The enemy has at least one armored division plus a motorized sniper brigade, which is not something that 3 infantry regiments without fortifications to rely on can withstand."

"It's okay to resist until tomorrow morning...... Time is of the essence to us! Falkenhausen nodded, and just as he wanted to give the order to put in the reserves, a staff officer shouted a report.

"Lieutenant General, the 1st Infantry Division of the Polo reports that their rear assembly area has been hit by the Blue Army's armored clusters!" (To be continued.) )