Did the Germans say how many troops to intercept to settle the Netherlands first? "Huh

"No, according to the estimates of the Operations Department, a minimum of twelve divisions is required, and considering that the British may move in advance, the final interception should be between eighteen and twenty-four divisions."

"Didn't say how long it would take to solve it?" Liu Bailiang asked.

"Yes, no, the Intelligence Department estimates that depending on the timing of the Allied operations, the number of troops invested, and the response of the Dutch army, the battle should last between three weeks and three months."

"Is it possible for the German Western Front to collapse?"

"Based on the available intelligence, the odds are slim, unless the enemy is hiding a powerful reserve somewhere that we don't know about......"

When Liu Bailiang heard this, he turned to Lieutenant General Su Sanling, the chief of the combat department: "Has the combat department assessed it?" To what extent would this affect the German-Austrian Russian front? ”

"Not much impact for the time being."

"For the time being?"

Su Sanling said confidently: "Recently, the Russian army in the Eastern European battlefield took the initiative to carry out a series of beautiful stride retreats, eliminating the salient that was easily flanked, and retreating to a more defensible front. The German-Austrian army, which relied entirely on the railway-mule and horse transportation system, was unable to launch a new offensive for a while until the transportation facilities were repaired and sufficient supplies, including food for mules and horses, were stored. On the whole, even without the interference of the Dutch question, the next general attack of the German-Austrian army against Russia would not be possible until after 8. ”

Liu Bailiang nodded thoughtfully, and then turned to Su Mengxin: "The chariot we sent over and the supporting motor vehicle drawings, did the Germans make good use of it?" ”

"Mass production of the Flying Wolf light tank and the Jetfox machine gun tank has begun, and it is said that the production of the camel half-track is also on the agenda, and the chief of staff of Falkingham is very interested in the Empire's armored composite corps. I hope that we will send someone to teach and guide, and if possible, we will also send observers and international students to ......."

"Tell Fakingham, we send instructors over, and their people come to observe and learn, no problem, the key is how to go, how to come, ship or air, direct or transfer to neutral countries. Discuss and make sure that this matter should be taken to heart, and report to me at any time if there is progress. ”

"Yes—"

"The Dutch problem will have to be resolved sooner or later, but this is all a matter for the Germans, and we can't help us for a while." Hook followed.

Liu Bailiang pinched his temples and sighed slightly: "Continuing our current battle is tantamount to helping the Germans - Director Su, is there anything else below?" ”

Su Mengxin held the folder and nodded: "Yes, according to the urgent report of the Eastern European Bureau." The Russian army is drawing mobile forces from the Eastern European front and mobilizing a large number of rear material reserves. It is likely that the flow of these troops and supplies will be on the Siberian side - in addition, a new post-Ural Front has recently appeared in the Russian combat sequence, and the commander has been identified as General Brusilov, who rose to prominence in the Galician campaign last year......"

"Brusilov?"

Hearing this name, Liu Bailiang, Yang Zhengjin, and Hu Ke glanced at each other a few times, and they were familiar with the history of World War I in another time and space, of course, they knew where this Brusilov was.

According to another historical record of time and space, A-Brusilov was the commander of the 8th Regiment of the Russian Southwestern Front at the beginning of the war, and was known for his proactive combat initiative, and his unit performed prominently in the Galician Campaign in 1914, and in the 1915 battle when the Russian army was completely defeated. Brusilov led his troops to launch bold and powerful counter-assaults on several occasions, successfully covering the retreat of friendly troops and repeatedly inflicting heavy losses on the Austrian troops in front of him.

In 1916, Brusilov, who rose to prominence, rose to the rank of commander of the Southwestern Front. It was when the main forces of the German army moved westward. The Battle of Verdun was launched in an attempt to "drain France with the last drop of blood", in order to contain the German army and improve the situation of the French army in the Verdun area. Russia launched the Battle of Lake Naroch with the Northern Front and the Western Front in March of that year, pinning down part of the German reserves. By May of that year, as the Italian army was heavily damaged by the Austro-Hungarian army in the Trantino area, in order to improve the Italian situation, at the direct request of the Italian high command, the Russian base camp ordered Brusilov's Southwestern Front to launch an attack on the Austro-Hungarian army in front of it. After careful preparation, the offensive began with a great victory, and in the first three days the front opened a gap of 70 to 80 kilometers wide and 25 to 35 kilometers deep from the main assault direction, and with the continuous input of follow-up troops, the Austrian front completely collapsed, and by the end of the battle in late July, the Austrian army had suffered 1.5 million casualties and prisoners, lost a large number of weapons and materials, and the rich province of Galicia was regained, and the Russian army lost no more than 500,000 men. In order to block the offensive of the Russian army, the German and Austrian troops were also forced to transfer more than 30 divisions from the French and Italian fronts, thus improving the situation of the French and Italian armies. This is the famous "Brusilov Offensive" in the history of World War I - from this war, Austria-Hungary collapsed, until the defeat and surrender, never able to breathe, in addition, affected by this, Romania sandwiched between Austria-Hungary and Russia in August of that year to the Entente camp, for a time, the Allies faced an unprecedented crisis on the Eastern Front.

Brusilov wrote in his post-war memoirs: "...... The offensive of the Southwestern Front had exceeded the task set on it in the spring of 1916: to save Italy from annihilation and to free it from war, and, in addition, to improve the situation of the British and French forces on the Anglo-French front, to put Romania on our side, and to disrupt all the plans and intentions of Austria and Germany for the year......"

Although the above comments are inevitably a little boastful, the "Brusilov Offensive" was indeed an outstanding achievement in military scholarship, and although it was limited to the backwardness of material equipment (for example, relying mainly on cavalry rather than mechanized composite corps to carry out in-depth assaults), it was one of the most successful combat styles of the time (of course, it cannot fail to take into account the decay and weakness of the Austro-Hungarian army in front of it). Later generations of Soviet military experts also made extensive use of the experience of this campaign when formulating the theory of breaking through the fortified area, and it was concretely embodied and further developed during the Second World War.

That's right, it should be this Brusilov!

What is the connection between the Dutch question, the eastward transfer of Russian troops, the post-Baikal Front, Brusilov, and so on......

"Looks like Maozi is going to surprise us."

Liu Bailiang thought to himself, looked around at everyone, and asked lightly, "What do you think?" ”