While the ****** was still discussing the aftermath, the Red Army on the front line was not idle at all, using heavy artillery and explosives to open the way, almost crushing all the way to Poland. One by one, the impregnable "fortresses" on which Hitler had high hopes were crushed by the Red Army, and a large number of German living forces were either destroyed or captured.

But to tell the truth, Hitler didn't have much to do back then, and the precious armored forces had been depleted in the previous offensive, and with the defection of Romania, the important oil source of the German army was also cut off, and the armored force that had created the miracle of the blitzkrieg was really turned into a sick cat.

In order to buy time, and to stabilize the front, there was only one way for Hitler, and that was to rely on the strong "fortresses" as nodes to stumble the hands and feet of the Red Army, and buy time for the full-scale launch of the German war machine.

"We want to produce 10,000 tanks this year, not even one!"

These are the Führer's exact words, but Speer can only smile bitterly at the Führer's order, not to mention 10,000 tanks, and the Third Reich today struggles to produce 5,000 tanks a year. The reason comes from two aspects: the first is that the Führer demanded both quantity and quality, and the cheap and easy-to-produce (relatively speaking) No. 4 tank has never been in the Führer's eyes, and in the opinion of the Führer, who is somewhat overjoyed, the production of the Panther is still barely possible, and as for the No. 4 tank, what is the point of producing this "inferior" weapon, which is already far behind the enemy? To the Bolsheviks hunted?

Hitler always demanded an increase in the production of the Panther, and in due course went all out to mass-produce the Panther 2 medium tank. He believes that the Black Panther 2 will be able to meet the needs of Germany. However, in Speer's view, the Black Panther is now a pile of problems. Not to mention the Black Panther 2, which has just stepped onto the drawing board. God willing, all the best. It will be interesting to see if the Panther 2 can be put into production in the second half of 1944, and it will not be possible to count on it for a while.

Hitler not only stubbornly demanded more Black Panthers, but what was even more terrifying was that the Führer was also full of interest in the Tiger King on the drawing board. This heavy tank of more than 60 tons equipped with an extra-long barrel 88 gun firmly attracted the attention of the Führer, and he couldn't wait to see this steel monster off the production line.

And the ability of a giant beast like the Tiger to consume resources is ten times that of the No. 4 tank, and once the King Tiger is put into production, it will be a disaster for the German tank industry.

These are the first reasons, and what is worse is that at this time the German sources of raw materials for the war were limited. Not only is there a serious shortage of oil, but also iron ore is becoming more and more scarce. The reason was that the USSR and Great Britain intensified their blows to southern Norway and especially to Narvik. As a result, Swedish iron ore could not be shipped to Germany at all. And how important steel is to war, there is no need to bother with words, right?

Steel production will not go up, and the impact on armored forces will be fatal. A tank can be 30 tons or 60 tons, and on average, 40 tons, 10,000 tanks cost 400,000 tons of steel. This may not seem like a large amount, but note that armor steel is not comparable to ordinary crude steel in any era, and the resource consumption of 400,000 tons of armor steel (and this does not include the wasted part of production) is very frightening, at least in Germany back then.

And the bad news that Speer received was not only a problem of quantity, but more importantly, a problem of quality was beginning to appear. When the molybdenum mines in Norway were completely destroyed. When the lack of molybdenum in German armor steel, the finely crafted German goods began to move closer to the tofu slag project.

Because of the lack of molybdenum element. At this time, the ductility of German armor steel began to decline sharply, which meant that the armor became more brittle and more prone to cracking, and the parts that could not have been penetrated were also caused by the deterioration of the armor quality, causing debris to fly sideways.

In terms of Speer's observations, the armor of the Tiger tank is getting worse day by day, and the tigers produced before March 1943 are fierce tigers, while those produced after this are all sick tigers. Not to mention that the D-10 series of 100 mm caliber can wear in seconds, even the use of newer armor-piercing shells in the D-85 series can cause the Tiger's armor backplate to shatter, and even the phenomenon of large-scale fragmentation of frontal armor, especially after multiple shots, this trend is more obvious.

All in all, it's pretty damn. If the tanks produced are all defective, then how much combat power can they have?

In fact, there is another reason why Germany's tank production cannot go up, and that is Germany's tank guns. In World War II, to be sure, the quality of German tank guns was quite good, compared to the "shoddy" Soviet counterparts, it was simply a work of conscience.

However, World War II was an unprecedented war of attrition, and the more well-made weapons were, the more they faced an embarrassing reality - the cost-effectiveness ratio was not high.

This was especially true of German tank guns, and Hitler's growing desire to increase their might tied the Germans to death. In fact, the 88L56 was enough, but the Führer still had to go to the 88L71, and even made a 128mm freak at the last moment.

The longer the barrel and the greater the chamber pressure, the higher the technical requirements, the better the materials, the better the lathes, and the better the technicians. And in wartime, these are limited. Let's put it this way, even if the Germans could produce enough chassis, turrets, they would not be able to produce enough artillery. A tank without a main gun is not a toothless tiger.

What's more, the caliber of the Germans' tank guns in World War II was still very troublesome, 75 mm had four short, medium, long and super long models, and there were also two 88 mm ones, most of which ammunition could not be used universally, which undoubtedly increased the logistical burden.

All in all, Speer had a headache, and the Führer's "unreasonable" demands made him more stressed, and after some communication with Guderian, Speer proposed a compromise: "Produce more assault guns to replace tanks, at least temporarily." ”

If, according to Hitler's temper, this suggestion would not work in any case, and in his opinion, the demands put forward by Lao Tzu must be carried out unconditionally, how can it be discounted? However, Speer and Guderian's joint proposal made him change his mind.

"The production of assault guns is much simpler, and the defense is not bad. suitable for the current defensive posture of our army...... Of course. We can't produce assault guns forever or not tanks at all. Temporarily. At this passive moment, assault guns were produced contingency to meet the growing anti-tank needs at the front...... After our army returns to the offensive, it is natural to switch to tank production again......"

This is a very pragmatic approach, don't look at the Soviet and German assault guns compared with tanks that there is no turret, it seems that there are not many parts missing, but after the cancellation of the turret, the first can reduce the height of the line of fire, and the low-profile assault gun is very suitable for people in defensive warfare. Second, it can reduce the production time, the ball bearings and hydraulic system of the turret are quite troublesome, and thirdly, after the turret is removed, the assault gun can be removed by the weight of the turret to strengthen the frontal armor, which makes its defense higher.

And in Speer's view, there is another advantage of mass production of assault guns, that is, the production line of the No. 4 tank can be justified, after all, it is impossible to use the expensive Panther and Tiger chassis to make assault guns, and the cost-effectiveness ratio is too low.

And by keeping the production line of the No. 4 tank, it is justifiable to continue the production of the No. 4 tank. Rather than the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger, Speer still prefers the engineering logic of the No. 4 tank.

The Germans were trying to increase the production of armored vehicles. And on their other side, the USSR was working in the same direction. Before June 1943, the Red Army was to produce several major tanks, such as the T-34-76, T-34-85, T-35A, T-35B, T-54A, T-55 and ВИ-2. But from July 1943, the situation changed significantly, the T-34 was concentrated on the production of the T-34-85, the T-35 also mainly produced the later models, as for the T-54/55, it continued to walk on two legs, and the more tragic thing was the ВИ-2, this backward heavy tank was canceled, and Leningrad began to switch to the production of the T-54A.

In contrast to the German army's frenzied start to produce assault guns, the Red Army's focus at this time was on tanks, and assault guns mainly produced SU-85M, SU-100 and SU-152, of which SU-152 was mainly used for fortifications. As for the SU-122, although it remained in small production, the 122-mm howitzer was mainly converted to the newer 2S1 122-mm howitzer.

This so-called 2S1 howitzer is actually the product of the latest version of the D-30 by removing the gun carriage and installing the second-generation general-purpose chassis that has just been put into production.

Needless to say, the D-30 was just put into production in August 1943, mainly used to replace the M-30 (1938) howitzer, in fact, it was an early version of the D-30 in history, except for a slightly heavier weight (3.5 tons), the rest of the performance was no different from the D-30.

It is worth mentioning the so-called second-generation universal chassis. This second-generation general-purpose chassis adopts the structure of the engine and gearbox front-mounted, torsion bar suspension and six pairs of load-bearing wheels, which can be easily transformed into various other vehicles - including infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery vehicles, armored repair vehicles, communication command vehicles, medical ambulances, and armored reconnaissance vehicles. All in all, this will be the foot of the infantry of the mechanized units of the Red Army in the future.

As a second-generation universal chassis, the car could carry 122-mm and 152-mm guns, making it a self-propelled howitzer. For example, the 2S1 is the version of the 122 grenade, and the model with the 152 grenade is still being designed.

Of course, the most important use of this chassis is the first generation infantry fighting vehicle of the USSR, the so-called BMP-1. Note that this is not the same BMP-1 in history, there is a big difference between the two. The BMP-1 was slightly taller, and instead of the less successful 73mm low-bore pressure smoothbore gun of the BMP-1, it was armed with a 2A30 30mm automatic gun. Although the caliber is much smaller than the historical 2A28, the accuracy is too strong, and the 2A28 gun can really only be said to be a bazooka, and the accuracy is unbearable.

Of course, these second-generation universal chassis have just been put into production, and for the time being, they can only supply a small part of the Guards troops for key construction. For example, Rokossovsky's 4th Guards Mechanized Army had a small amount of equipment. It also played a role in the Battle of Pluto, but it was not particularly prominent due to the limited number.

Back to the point, when the German "fortresses" on the first line were crushed, the Red Army's armored superiority was fully brought into play, for example, the 4th Guards Mechanized Army ran 120 kilometers in one day and one night, successfully carrying out the large-depth operation envisioned by Tukhachevsky, forcing the German army in southern Belarus to retreat in great strides again. And their goal was the real fortress - Brest.

And to the north of Minsk. Triandafilov didn't seek a breakthrough. Instead, a limited but precise surgical interspersed strike was organized, in which a small number of elite Red Army armored units cut a few small holes in the German line, then made a limited breakthrough in depth, and then turned around and cooperated with the infantry brothers to encircle the Germans on the spot.

It is difficult to say which of these two tactics is more clever. Rokossovsky's wide open and closing moves were faster and more numerous, but because the large-scale encirclement required too high the mobility of the armored forces, it would always cause a lot of fish to slip through the net. Many clever Germans ran away as soon as they saw that the situation was not good, and there were many chances to escape.

On Triandafilov's side, although there is not much territory in the raids, they use their forces reasonably to fight a war of annihilation within a limited range, and the German army that is basically surrounded has only a dead end.

However, back then****** still preferred Rokossovsky's style of play, because the reconquest of lost territory was faster, and the bigwigs really couldn't wait to recover their homeland as soon as possible. So there is some lovelessness for Triandafilov's meticulous tactics.

Not only Belarus is going well, but also in Ukraine. Zhukov was even more vigorous than Rokossovsky's tactics, and under the cover of Tolbukhin, he was almost unreasonable and recklessly crushed. Its advance speed was even faster than that of Rokossovsky, and it had already arrived at the city of Kiveli.

Vasilevsky did not progress as fast as Zhukov because he had to cooperate with Konev and he had more mountainous terrain, but he also fought well, liberating Bessarabia and northern Romania, and running in the direction of Hungary.

On the contrary, Konev had some trouble, because the territory of Romania was mountainous and there were many rivers in the south, which was not suitable for the operation of armored forces. And most of Konev's troops were newly formed, and they lacked a little combat experience. In Romania, he fought with the elite German mountain infantry and the SS, and the situation was at a stalemate.

However, Li Xiaofeng was not too worried, he knew what level Konev was, the difficulties for him were only temporary, and with the passage of time, when the German army in Ukraine collapsed, it was impossible for the Germans in Romania to continue fighting.

What really worries Li Xiaofeng is the Bulgarian side, the strength of the front army is still too poor for Ryuzov, and after barely getting rid of the Nazi followers in Bulgaria, it seems a little weak, and even suffered a small loss under the German attack in Greece and Albania.

Truth be told, the situation is more difficult for Bryuzov. One of his army groups was set in the Turkish direction, and on the instructions of the military commissar he had to put pressure on the Turks in the Istanbul direction. The only remaining army group had to control the whole of Bulgaria, help the Orthodox Patriotic Party to eliminate the opposition in the country, and guard against a German counterattack, which was indeed a little more difficult.

As a last resort, Li Xiaofeng can only go to Sofia in person, who has made him have already made a military order in the Military Commission, if he can't get Greece, he will suffer a lot!

"The Bulgarian fascists did not cause us much trouble, and the main pressure came from the German devils and the Bulgarian Workers' Party." Biluzov babbled to a certain immortal.

Li Xiaofeng couldn't help but laugh at the time when the fraternal parties of the Comintern became as troublesome as the Nazis. Of course, he also knew that it was impossible for Bilyuzov to lie, and according to the KGB's tip, after Dimitrov returned to Bulgaria, he began to "seize power".

Aware of the dangers, the Bulgarian communist leader wanted to expand his party and influence in the local area as much as possible. Everywhere the Red Army went, these people rushed to accept local power, and this was undoubtedly a turf grab, and it was no wonder that the two sides did not clash.

"Didn't I tell you that the local government in Bulgaria is in our hands for the time being, and that we should not rush to hand it back to the Bulgarians. Why don't you listen? ”

Faced with the questioning of a certain immortal, Bilyuzov smiled bitterly, as a general, he was better at fighting wars than at political nonsense. And this bit of in Bulgaria also made him confused, the Bulgarian Workers' Party is a fraternal party, didn't the regime give it to them for reason?

However, Biryuzov also knew that he was not qualified to speak on this issue, and could only carry out the instructions of the Military Commission, and since a certain immortal had ordered so, it would be carried out.

Fortunately, Li Xiaofeng saw that Biryuzov lacked the ability in this regard, and hurriedly said: "Forget it, I will solve this problem." In the future, all issues of taking over power will be subject to the opinion of the KGB, and if the Bulgarian Workers' Party has an opinion, you can let them come to me! ”

Bidyuzov was really relieved, and nodded busily, which made Li Xiaofeng angry and funny, just looking at this, it was too tender than Ryuzov.

"Your next task is to concentrate your forces as soon as possible, to hand over the suppression of bandits to the Orthodox Patriotic Party and the special forces of the KGB, and your task is to deal with the Albanian Nazi threat first, and if necessary, to consider liberating Albanian ......" (to be continued. )

PS: Bow and thank you to 89 Thirty, Flying Egret, The Long Journey into the Night, agz00025, The Cat in Trouble, Huang L Lanhua, Datang Relic S Li S, Hua Xia Yi Xiaomin and Comrade Juventus!