During the First World War, the German Army was definitely the first in the world. The combination of an efficient General Staff, excellent commanding generals, grass-roots officers who are well versed in battle formations, brave soldiers who have been trained for a long time, and advanced weapons and equipment have made the German Army famous on the battlefield.

Because the multi-ethnic and bloated army of Austria-Hungary was no match for the fierce Cossacks, and could only cope with a small number of Maozi troops or bully the Italians on the southwestern front, the land theater during the war was almost entirely supported by the German army alone. The result was quite shocking, the German army was equal to the British and French forces on the Western Front, and the Eastern Front directly defeated Maozi with only one fist, completely stabilizing the situation on the Eastern Front. If it weren't for the fact that the United States, the most open country, stood on the side of the Entente, Germany would have been completely invincible under the encirclement of Britain, France, and Russia.

However, from the perspective of future generations, the German Army in World War I was far from perfect, but there were still many areas that needed to be strengthened and improved. In view of this, Qingying has also made a lot of efforts. Under his direct or indirect influence, the German Army's interest in howitzers and machine guns increased greatly compared to the same period in history; Schlieffen himself was a figure who attached great importance to the modernization of the armed forces, and it is conceivable that the firepower possessed by the German army at its last level must have far exceeded that of the same period in history. The introduction of mortars will greatly improve the suppression ability of the German infantry, so that they have an absolute advantage in firepower in the face of the Allied forces. In addition to its short firing range, the characteristics of the mortar are almost all advantages: its simple construction makes it very inexpensive to build, making it completely suitable for mass production; And the light weight allows it to be lowered to the base layer. And in the way of carrying horses and horses, it can achieve rapid maneuvering on the battlefield that is impossible for ordinary artillery. Add to that its extremely high rate of fire, stable and durable, good adaptability and fool-like steps of use. As a result, this weapon was soon included in the German Army's procurement list.

However, in addition to the strengthening of these external weapons. The German Army also has a lot of problems in its establishment, which needs to be solved urgently by Qingying, who is a traverser.

At present, the establishment of the German army includes two infantry divisions, one heavy artillery regiment, one chasseur battalion, one engineering battalion, and one technical brigade, all of which can play a very good role on the battlefield of World War I. However, what makes people feel speechless is that one German army has as many as 2 brigades of cavalry units! Although the cavalry brigade is not as large as the infantry brigade, with only 2 regiments and 10 companies, the number of cavalry at the corps level is undoubtedly more than 2,500. Such a huge cavalry team really made Qing Ying not know what to say. During World War I, it faced a defensive fire net composed of machine guns, trenches, barbed wire, and rapid-fire guns. The tall German soldiers all dreamed of having the same height and body shape as the Japanese; When maneuvering on the battlefield, the infantry also bowed their waists and limbs into shrimps, in order to reduce the area of the two bloody killers of machine guns and rapid-fire guns as much as possible, so as to save their lives. But the cavalry is good, the horse is a cut above the upright human body, and the man has to sit on the horse's back again; Such a large target appears in front of the opponent's machine-gun fire, what is this not a high-profile death?

Although the German Army was keenly aware of the role machine guns could play in the war from the Russo-Japanese War in the Far East, and this impression was further reinforced by the defensive maneuvers that Qing Ying instigated; However, because the impression of traditional warfare skills has become so ingrained in their minds that they are always unable to completely remove the remnants of the previous war when they make corresponding improvements to the army. Two cavalry brigades remained in the German army rank. It is due to the legacy of the previous war that was not eliminated. Obviously, these high-ranking German generals did not know enough about machine guns. It is difficult to imagine what effect will be achieved after the large-scale concentrated use of automatic fire; In the early 19th century, a large number of cavalry units were still added to the army equipped with modern weapons such as machine guns, rapid-fire guns, and heavy artillery. By the time war broke out and the trenches and barbed wire systems replaced the bloody battles of the warriors of half a century ago, the cavalry lost most of their usefulness and could only exert their sporadic residual heat in reconnaissance and skirmishes.

From a military point of view, the cavalry units, which were already of little use in the next war, had to be dismantled, and they were not suitable for the front-line combat troops, given that the combat horses were almost ten times the horrific consumption of ordinary soldiers. However, the removal of cavalry was extremely difficult. At present, cavalry is still the main branch of the German Army, and it is quite large, and there are countless Junkers officers serving in it; In addition, the cavalry, as a traditional branch of the military with a glorious history, was a symbol of glory for Prussia and Germany as a whole, and for this reason, the officers who served in it were almost always Junker nobles with the word "von" before their surname. If Qing Ying vigorously reduced the size of the cavalry, he would offend a large group of aristocratic officers who were originally loyal to the royal family, which was undoubtedly an unwise move to cut off his own arms!

In this case, Qingying had no choice but to find another way out, and after some consideration, he decided to implement a mechanized reform of the cavalry. If tanks, armored vehicles, and motorized units can be used to replace the horses in the cavalry units, then not only can the current strength of the cavalry be retained, but their combat effectiveness can be greatly enhanced, so that this unit can truly become the elite of the army carrying the Prussian armed forces and glory. In this way, it will be possible to increase the combat effectiveness without destroying the existing system, and those noble officers who are loyal to the royal family will also be more loyal to Hohenzollern because of their well-deserved honor.

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During the tour on the Zeppelin, Qingying noticed that the work in the fields of German farms was still entirely dependent on manual and animal power, and there was hardly any power machinery to be seen. As a country that invented the internal combustion engine and led the second wave of the industrial revolution through electric communications, such shabby agricultural work is unreasonable. In Qingying's memory, the first tractor in the true modern sense appeared in the United States one year ago, which provided great convenience for agricultural farming, and the tank was improved and developed on the basis of the tractor!

In peacetime, factories producing tractors could build such tools for the development of folk agriculture and reserve the corresponding skills for tanks in the field of mechanical power, after all, the two have similarities in many places. And in the event of war, the factory line for the production of tractors will be able to mass-produce tanks with minor changes. After years of accumulation of tractor technology, the tank developed by the military department will definitely be better than the Mark I that Britain hastily put into production during World War I. Due to the weak armor defense, the primitive tank could only resist bullets, and it was difficult to make any breakthrough on the Western Front, where various types of artillery were densely populated, but in the vast Eastern Front, there was enough space for it to play a role in the battle against the Russians.

When Qingying proposed to William to develop a tractor, William was a little surprised by his strange behavior, but he still readily agreed to Qingying's request. Due to the introduction of tractors, the efficiency of work in the field has been greatly improved, so that the labor required to engage in agriculture has been greatly reduced; The influx of surplus labor, which has been replaced by machinery, into the cities coincides with Germany's current national policy of promoting industrialization and urbanization, which requires a large number of rural populations. In today's rapid development of the whole country, the influx of labor between cities will not only not become a burden to the local society, but will provide opportunities for capitalists who are in dire need of wage workers to create wealth. The colonial annexation of most of the Philippines and the opening of the mite clearing market gave Germany a dumping base for surplus goods with sufficient appetite; When the enthusiasm of the capitalists is mobilized for tangible gains, it is only natural that mass production is carried out by employing workers on a large scale.

In addition to the introduction of tractors from the United States as a whole and the construction of factories in Japan, the German government has also issued a decree to encourage the sale and lease of farmland in order to consolidate land into a larger scale to facilitate the operation of machinery. It is conceivable that in the next few years, the spewing smoke and rumbling ironclad machinery will largely replace the original manpower and move forward on the vast fertile fields. Large-scale centralized production will also increase crop yields, and to some extent alleviate the problem of Germany's domestic food inadequacy after the outbreak of the war.

The only downside of this strategy is that Germany will be far more dependent on oil than it has historically been. Because whether it is a tractor ploughing in the field or a tank advancing and breaking through on the battlefield, they can only be powered by petroleum products without exception; And almost all of Germany produces no oil, so it has to rely on imports from abroad. However, in this area, the source of oil in Germany is already guaranteed to a certain extent. At present, the Ottoman Empire, which Germany is vigorously courting, can be regarded as an oil exporter, which can make up for Germany's lack of fuel to a large extent, and the large amount of oil hoarded by the Qing British before the war is enough to keep the country out for a long time. As long as Germany and Austria exert their efforts on the eastern front during this period and occupy Romania as soon as possible, then the oil problem can be perfectly solved. (To be continued......)