Chapter 1269: Flank Security
"We have handed over most of the Type 29 tank destroyers in our inventory to your army, and we have also drawn most of the Russian troops as your reserves, and we do not expect you to repel the Germans, as long as you can maintain a balance of power and prevent the other side from entering the province of Kurdistan." Zhou Xuan said a little impatiently, if you put aside the equipment, the British are higher than the American army in terms of combat effectiveness alone, but the British refuse to fight in western Iran, and they deploy their troops in the central and eastern parts of Iran in order to ensure the safety of their bases in southeastern Iran. Zhou Xuan, who had participated in the Italian Civil War, began to think in his heart that even if the U.S. army was worse than the British army, it would not be much worse, but after some contact, Zhou Xuan believed that the current U.S. military was not only inferior to the professional army of the British mainland, but also inferior to the Australians and New Zealanders.
"Actually, judging from the current situation, I think it is the most practical and correct choice for us to deal with the German army on the southern front first. We were able to fend off the attack, but the Germans could be replenished by sea and land, and their supply routes were much smoother than ours. Although you have made adequate preparations for the attack on the two river valleys, it will take at least 3 weeks or so to take Kirkuk, even if you follow your plan. If you count the time for defense and recuperation, one month is not enough at all. So why do we have to go far and near? Isn't it okay to concentrate on solving the flank threat and then move west? We have at least two armored divisions in front of us. According to our intelligence, the other side will have 3 more armored battalions to join the attack sequence in the next three days, and we only have about 300 tanks on the front line. We're under a lot of pressure. Bradley blushed slightly and explained.
Actually, judging by the preparation. The Germans in front had only a full-fledged panzer division, but other than that. The Germans also deployed a number of armoured battalions and other independent units. Taken together, it is not an exaggeration to say that these forces were able to make up two armored divisions. The Germans broke up many of their troops for two reasons. One point is that the front of the attack is relatively wide, and the oversized establishment is not suitable, and the other reason is that the Germans believe that the combat effectiveness of the US Army is not high, and an armored assault on the scale of a battalion can solve the problem, and there is no need to get to the regimental or even division scale. The commander of the German army on the left flank, Guderian, demanded that the armored forces be as far as possible to open multiple gaps and outflank the rear, so that a large number of American troops could be divided and surrounded in a short period of time, so when facing the American troops whose combat effectiveness was not high, at the same time there was a large number of air force cover. It would be better for German armored forces to be deployed in a decentralized manner.
"It is precisely because the other side can receive a steady stream of reinforcements that the balance of forces will develop in a direction that is not favorable to our army. So we have to attack the opponent's soft underbelly while we still have the strength to attack. We must use practical actions to make the other party retreat. Instead of going around defending and running for your life. Pure defense has no future, we can block it once or twice, can we still block it three or four times? Zhou Xuan said dissatisfiedly.
"I propose a recess, which involves a major revision of the established strategy, and we have to liaise with the top." Just when the meeting reached an impasse, Peng Yi decisively terminated the talks. The value of arguing like this is almost zero, the most important thing now is to solve the problem, Bradley is not wrong, judging by the current situation. The U.S. Army really did not have the ability to provide enough time for the Chinese assault on Kirkuk. Whether Huaxia wants to or not, Huaxia must first deal with the threat from the flanks, or at least make the other side lose the ability to advance.
"What if we concentrate one Chinese armored division and one Iranian armored division to move south, and the armored division to which I belong will defend the front?" Just when people were leaving. The commander of the 5th Armored Division, Xu Huaide, proposed a proposal. Xu Huaide proposed this original plan, which was originally used as a backup plan, but now it seems that this plan is really used. At the heart of this battle plan, known as the Scimitos, was for part of the main force to move south to attack the German left flank. Try to inflict heavy damage on your opponents. It is better to be able to encircle the opponent in a structured way, so that the German, Austrian, and Turkish armies located on the Western Front will inevitably come out to relieve the siege. The rest of the main force is resilient defense. Gradually wear down your opponents. It is certainly easier to destroy an opponent in sports combat than to attack a fortified position. This would not only solve the danger on the southern front, but also reduce the resistance to the westward attack.
In this bold plan. Xu Huaide even planned to make a tentative attack to make the other side think that he was going to continue the offensive according to the established plan, and when the other side reduced its forces to defend, one of the Chinese troops retreated to the preset defensive position and turned into defense, and then the withdrawn troops went south to attack the German army's flank. This plan also takes into account both aspects, but the only question is whether the Huaxia troops can block the opponent's attack? After all, in terms of numbers, the Chinese and Iranian troops were far inferior to the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian troops. Its advantage lies in mechanization and better equipment, and the offensive can give full play to the advantages of the Chinese troops, while the defense requires a large number of infantry to consolidate the defensive line, which is the weakness of the Chinese troops.
"If the Russian troops are brought over, it is okay, although their equipment is far inferior to ours and the Germans, but it is also possible to fight a defensive war against Turkey and Austria-Hungary, at least in World War 1 the former is much stronger than the latter. The Austro-Hungarian forces, which were slightly superior in numbers, could not defeat the Russians. "At this time, when the flanks are threatened, Xu Huaide's construction is very tempting, although it also delays the attack, but it paves the way for future attacks, and at the same time allows the air force to be more fully prepared. Coupled with the advantage of internal operations, the success rate of this plan is also very high.
Although in principle, Peng Yi had already approved Xu Huaide's plan, but he could not just agree to the Americans, and he had to let the Americans pay some blood and pay more to compensate for the losses caused by the change in the plan of the Chinese Army. With the exception of some officers and men of the U.S. armored forces who are being trained in China, it is not realistic to temporarily send the army to reinforce India, but it is possible to let the U.S. Air Force in India fight in Iran.
As a result, the end result was that Huaxia agreed to support the U.S. Army if necessary, but before that the U.S. Army had to hold out for more than 2 weeks. The reason is that Huaxia's current deployment needs to change. At the same time, in order to defend against the offensive of the Allied forces to the west, the army and air forces also needed to be redeployed. And because this is to rescue the U.S. military in crisis, the U.S. Air Force, which was initially included in Huaxia's hands, needs to temporarily hold a part. Of course. As compensation, Huaxia will provide supplies and supplies to the troops in the U.S. military that use Huaxia equipment.
Just when the Chinese Army was mending the mess on the southern front for the Americans. The preparations of the Germans were also nearing completion. The main force of the German 4th Panzer Division has been deployed, and the remaining several heavy armored battalions have also been put in place, and a major battle is about to break out. Before the engagement, Guderian also used this time to make final coordination with the air force. The person in charge of liaison with him is the famous Goering, but in this plane, he is currently only a major general of the air force, responsible for the air-ground coordination of the campaign.
"This time, the Air Force will concentrate 2 air wings dedicated to supporting you and your troops. Among them, there are 10 squadrons of single-engine attack aircraft, about 140 units. Twin-engine bombers were 104 units in 8 squadrons. IN ADDITION TO THIS, THERE ARE FOUR SQUADRONS OF SPECIAL ATTACK AIRCRAFT, WHICH ARE EQUIPPED WITH 50MM CANNONS AND ARE SPECIALLY USED AGAINST THE OPPOSING TANKS, AND THE SIZE OF THIS FORCE IS ABOUT 42 UNITS. Half of these planes are ready to call you at any time. The remaining half of the force is used to strike at the opponent in depth. Goering's straightforward introduction pleased Guderian. The power of nearly 300 aircraft of all kinds is really impressive. Although only half of them can actually fall into the army's control, it is basically enough. He is no more than the strength of two armored divisions. It is definitely enough to get such reinforcements.
"And what about our security in the air? I don't want what happened in Abad, West Islamabad, to happen again in this fight. "Satisfaction is satisfaction, but Guderian is still angry about the fact that Hube's armored group fell short under the attack of American aircraft. There are some things that need to be clarified.
"No problem, we have at least 12 fighter squadrons and almost 200 fighters of all kinds deployed in various forward airfields. And as the campaign unfolds, there is a possibility of increase. I vouch with my dignity as a soldier that the Americans will not cause any trouble to Your Excellency in this air campaign! Goering said confidently.
After receiving assurances from the Air Force, Guderian was also confident about the upcoming operation, which was the closest cooperation between the two sides since the establishment of the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe arranged special guides for Guderian's armored forces, as well as radio stations and various equipment. Together with Guderian's armored forces, they were to fight at the forefront. In addition to the Air Force, Guderian also trusted his own armored forces very much, although Huber failed to finally encircle and annihilate the opponent, but Guderian still recognized the strong infighting of the American armored forces. He even thought that the anti-aircraft artillery of the Americans was more lethal than the tanks.
Guderian, full of good cards, once again optimized his armored assault group. After the suppression of the aviation forces. He could finally do away with the long-range but heamerally heavy towed cannons. Before that, Guderian had a love and hate for this kind of heavy artillery, which could only be towed and could not be used on its own. The so-called love is naturally because of its ultra-long range. AT PRESENT, THE GERMAN ARMY IS ARMED WITH THE MAXIMUM FIRING RANGE OF THE K18 150MM CANNON UP TO 24.5 KM. More than 10 kilometers farther than howitzers! Basically the best suppressed artillery in the German Army. Although the performance of this gun is good, the weight is a little excessive. The heavy artillery with a towing weight of 18.7 tons and a combat weight of 12.4 tons simply could not stand on its own until the more powerful turf was put into service. This greatly affected the speed of the troops' march. But now it is different, with air superiority, the importance of these heavy guns has decreased. If it is only to provide fire support and not suppress the opponent's artillery, the SFH18 howitzer can also do a good job!
Guderian began to regroup his armored spearhead. His combat philosophy was that the armored forces were responsible for the attack, and the infantry and anti-aircraft artillery that followed were used to defend against the opponent's counterattack, and the armored forces were not responsible for completely destroying the opponent's defense line after cutting it, but handed it over to the infantry behind. Plunging directly into the opponent's depth at top speed gives the opponent no chance to regroup the defense.
As for what to do in case of a counterattack by American armored forces? Guderian was not worried, he had always believed that the soul of the armored forces was high mobility, and even after the German Army had decided to do something as tough but clumsy as the Tiger heavy tank, Guderian still stuck to his opinion. The opposing tank rushed over? WELL, LEAVE IT TO THE CHEAP ANTI-TANK GUNS, ANYWAY, THE 88MM CLASS ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS CAN DESTROY ALL KNOWN TANKS SO FAR. Even if the opponent once cut into their own defense line, as long as they can cut off the opponent's supply line faster, the opponent's armored forces will eventually hate the battlefield. In Guderian's hands, this force was more like a rapier, looking for flaws in the opponent than in order to go head-to-head with the opponent.
ALTHOUGH MOBILITY AND SKILL ARE EMPHASIZED, THE COMBINATION OF EACH ARMOURED COMMANDO IS LUXURIOUS, WITH A BATTALION OF TANKS AND INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLES PLUS SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-TANK GUNS ON A HALF-TRACK TURF, A LARGE NUMBER OF MORTARS AND A SMALL NUMBER OF 150MM SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZERS. Such a combination was enough for these armored clusters to cope with every possible adversary, and in the face of such soft persimmons as the Americans, Guderian believed that his troops could completely cut through. In the first wave of the upcoming strike, Guderian concentrated almost 300 tanks in 6 armored battalions. After counting the front-line forces such as infantry and artillery, Guderian's troops this time were about the size of four divisions, with a total strength of about 60,000 troops. Coupled with the Air Force, he thought that it would not be difficult for him to tear through the opponent's defense line, of course, provided that the Huaxia Army did not go south to support.
For the tiger behind the Americans, Guderian himself was frightened, it is not difficult to kill the Americans, but after killing the US Army, if you fight with Huaxia, the victory or defeat is really unpredictable, you know, with the Chinese ironclad torrent is not only tanks, but also a large number of aircraft, when the time comes, whether the Air Force can fulfill its commitments is a problem! However, to Guderian's surprise, the Chinese army still carried out its own operations according to the original plan, and from the aerial reconnaissance, it can be found that the opponent's armored forces have entered the starting position, and the troops are directly pointing at Kirkul, and even the avant-garde troops of the two sides have exchanged fire. The Huaxia Air Force's control over the front line is also increasing. It seems that all the evidence is proving that Huaxia is going to do it!
Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and hukakaka for their tips~~~, as well as the book friends Kongchen and anhei016's monthly pass support ~~~~~. (To be continued......)