The demonstration of the 501st Heavy Tank Battalion was of course very successful, after all, the VK4001 and VK5001 projects have been carried out for 6 years, and there has been no interruption or slowdown in between, and they have always been the highest priority research and development projects. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info so by May 1942, the Tiger tank and the Panther tank that Hersman saw were already mature products. Both the power system, armored defense and fire system have reached a satisfactory level, fully meeting the conditions for large-scale equipment.

After completing all the demonstration projects, the 501st Battalion, led by the battalion commander, Major Rudel, boarded the train to Brest. According to the plan, they will arrive at the front of the Eastern Front on May 15, be incorporated into the General Reserve of the Eastern Front, and wait for the actual combat test in the war against the invasion of the Soviet Red Army, and by the way, summarize the experience of battlefield use.

After the inspection, Hersmann did not return to Berlin to talk to Molotov, but went directly to Poland and began to inspect the Barbarossa Line on behalf of the German Emperor Wilhelm III, and the main purpose of his trip was to cheer up the Polish defense forces stationed on the Eastern Front.

Because in this time and space, Germany did not ostensibly destroy Poland, but made the German emperor also the king of Poland. Although the Monarchical Union was often the first step in the merger of two states in the long history of Europe (which was a relatively acceptable one), after all, the merger was not yet complete, and Poland and Germany were still theoretically two states. So the "independent" Kingdom of Poland also had its own army, the Guard of the Kingdom of Poland under the command of King Wilhelm III (that is, the German Emperor Wilhelm III).

In the upcoming war against the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht of the King of Poland will be cannon fodder at the forefront!

"How's the morale?" On his way from Shedrce (an important city east of Warsaw) to the Trespol Ring on the banks of the Bug River, Hersman asked Marshal Guderian, who was in the same car.

"It's a little worrying!" Guderian smiled slightly wryly, "Poles are Poles after all, and although most of the officers have common interests with us, the morale of ordinary soldiers is generally not high......"

Guderian was now commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, and his headquarters were in the city of Danzig, which belonged to the German Empire. Most of the time, however, he was not at the Danzig headquarters, but was around the Barbarossa Line. Among them, Poland was the most important part of the inspection, not only because the relationship between Poland and Germany was always a little peculiar - of all the German republicist states, Poland had the strongest desire for independence, but also because it had a vigorous fight with Germany. In addition, Poland must have been the focus of the offensive of the Soviet Red Army!

Although now the border between the Soviet Union and Europe (European Community) is very long, more than 3000 km. But not all locations are suitable for breakthroughs, for example, the northernmost Soviet-Finnish border cannot be the main battlefield - even if Stalin had captured all of Finland, he would not have dealt a very big blow to Germany.

The Grand Duchy of Baltic and Lithuania, across the sea from Finland, is also not a good fit to be the main breakthrough point. Because the area was full of forests, it was not conducive to the entry and exit of large troops, and the geographical location close to the Baltic Sea was conducive to the mobilization of troops by Germany, which had the right to control the sea. In addition, Germany has been operating in Poland for many years, and its roots are deep and difficult to shake.

Western Ukraine on the southern front is also not very suitable for a breakthrough, because the Ukrainians and the Soviet Union have a deep blood feud and are very pro-German, completely on the side of Nazi Germany. So the Germans organized hundreds of thousands of defense troops in western Ukraine, and also built Lviv, the capital of western Ukraine, into a fortress city that could be held for a long time. Western Ukraine is a big piece of Ukrainian hard bones that are difficult to gnaw.

Romania on the southern front was "soft" enough, and when the plan for a heavy thunderstorm was drawn up at the beginning, the General Staff of the Red Army wanted to use Romania as the main direction of attack, cutting off Germany's oil supply and paralyzing the German war machine by occupying the Ploiesti oil fields.

However, Germany took over the Middle East in 1941, and after one year of efforts, oil production in the Middle East was fully restored. Now the Middle East produces several times more oil than Romania, and taking Romania is no longer enough to cut off German oil supplies.

The Soviet Red Army, which had broken through into Romania, would most likely be blocked in the mountains of Transylvania and would not be able to quickly sweep through Central Europe, and their rear route would be cut off by German armored clusters attacking from Poland and Western Ukraine.

Therefore, Romania cannot be used as the main direction of attack. The remaining one that can be used as the main direction of attack is the Great Plain of Poland, which is only 660 kilometers from the banks of the Bug River to Berlin, the capital of the German Empire, and all of them are large plains that can be defended without danger, which is the most suitable battlefield for armored forces.

In addition, there was always a ******** between the Poles and the Germans. Although Germany has now organized more than 500,000 Polish defense forces in Poland, everyone knows that these Poles will not fight to the death against the Soviet Union like the Ukrainians.

……

"Marshal, what you see now is the Ring Fortress of Trespol."

On the banks of the River Bug, across the river from the Brest Fortress, Hersmann's car was moving slowly on a circular road. Guderian pointed to the empty and desolate place on the inner side of the road, where countless "mounds" of various sizes were scattered, and said to Hersmann.

"On the outermost side are minefields and barbed wire, around which tens of thousands of anti-infantry and anti-tank mines have been planted. Minefields cover defensive positions arranged in depth and echelons, the main body of which is a system of five trenches 250-300 meters apart from each other. And between these trenches there are also a large number of anti-tank support points, which are independent company-level ring defense positions. It has an excellent shooting field and is able to form a dense network of fire with other support points. ”

After a pause, Goodry added: "Each support point is about 1,000 meters in front and 700 meters in depth, and usually 3-5 artillery pieces are deployed, generally 2 Type 38 50mm anti-tank guns and 2-3 75mm infantry guns. In addition, it is armed with 2-5 mortars, a large number of Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launchers and MG42 machine guns. At some key anti-tank support points, anti-tank guns of Type 40 caliber 75mm caliber were also arranged. Most of the artillery and machine guns were housed in reinforced concrete fortifications to withstand the bombardment of 152mm grenades, and there were numerous anti-tank trenches and anti-tank minefields around these support points.

And 3-4 such support points, which are connected to each other by communication trenches, will be enough to form a battalion-level defensive position that can be supported independently. There are 4 battalion-level defensive positions around the Trespol Ring Fortress, and under these 4 battalion-level defensive positions is a huge core ring position, which is the main position of the Trespol Ring Fortress. The brigade headquarters, artillery bunkers, storage warehouses for supplies and ammunition of the Trespol Fortress Brigade, as well as the airstrip responsible for maintaining external traffic in the event of a siege in the event of a siege, are all within the core ring position......"

What Guderian took Hersman to visit today was the so-called "Ring Defense Fortress", which was actually a brigade-level defensive position that could be held independently in the event of an encirclement and could effectively resist the attack of armored forces.

The reason for this was that the Polish Defence Forces, which were responsible for acting as cannon fodder on the front line, were weak and incapable of deploying a long, deep defensive system on a frontal length of more than 400 kilometers.

Guderian's solution, on the other hand, was to deploy dozens of independently maintained ring fortifications behind the first line of border defense (which was only used to prevent smuggling), each with a brigade of troops. Equipped with sufficient anti-tank weapons, ammunition and supplies, these "cannon fodder brigades" could hold out for days or weeks under siege by the Soviet Red Army - if the defending Polish cannon fodder were willing to fight to the death, with the strong fortifications and armament of these ring fortresses, it would not be a problem to hold on for a few weeks.

At the same time, these ring fortresses were all located near the main communication routes, which could play a role in delaying the advance of Soviet mechanized troops. Moreover, these dozens of circular defensive fortresses are not lined up, but are arranged in depth and echelons. To the east of Warsaw, a fortified area with a width of about 150 km was formed.

"The fortifications are very strong, but are the guards reliable?" When Hersmann asked, he had already gotten out of the car, and in Guderian and the brigade commander of the Polish Wehrmacht, Carol Brown. Feng. Accompanied by Major General Baron Rommel, he visited various parts of the fortress and saw with his own eyes the ring fortress, which was later called the "Polish Reactionary Fortress" by the General Staff of the Soviet Red Army.

"Of course it's reliable!" Carol. Feng. Major General Baron Rommel is fluent in German, he is of German Polish origin, and Rommel's surname is passed down from his ancestors. If you look at the family tree, you can still climb relatives with the current commander-in-chief of the Middle East Front, General Rommel.

"The officers of the Trespol Brigade, every one of them were nobles of the Kingdom of Poland, some were still imperial nobles, and most of them were landlords who owned estates." Baron Rommel said, "And more than 80 per cent of the officers and non-commissioned officers are members of Solidarity. ”

It was Hersmann's idea to establish a Polish aristocratic officer corps following the model of the Prussian Junker knights, and all the officers of the Polish Wehrmacht were reactionary aristocratic landlords! The Solidarity Party was founded by Natalie and a few traitors from the Polish Bolshevik Party who came out of prison, and now Count Valecki, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Poland, is the chairman of the Solidarity Party - the Third International has characterized him as a traitor, a traitor, a thief, in short, a reactionary figure, who can be shot without reforming!

And the officers and non-commissioned officers of the Trespol brigade (most of the platoon commanders were non-commissioned officers) were naturally all kinds of counter-revolutionaries and reactionaries, and if the heroic Red Army soldiers were to be caught, a 25-year Siberian labor reform was necessary...... (To be continued.) )