The Rise of Australia - Chapter 974

c955 The counterattack after Christmas

Christmas of 1937 is coming soon.

On December 25, the day of Christmas, Britain, France and Australia gathered a large number of troops in France, North Africa and the Balkans, preparing for a counterattack.

Under the coordination of the governments of Britain, France and Australia, these soldiers will have a very happy Christmas.

The beef and mutton provided by Australasia, the special canned rabbit meat and dairy products, the potatoes in Ireland, the spirits in Britain, the red wine and bread of France with foie gras sauce, constitute a very rich dinner for the soldiers of the three countries.

In fact, the cost of this dinner alone is not low. After all, it is a meal for millions of people, and the beef and mutton consumed require two large transport ships to transport.

The reason why the three governments agreed to the heavy bleeding is also very simple, because after Christmas, the counterattack against Germany will begin.

On December 26, 1937, more than 2 million British, French and Australian troops marched out of the Tours Line of Defense and launched a fierce attack on the German troops outside the line of defense.

In order to return to Paris as quickly as possible, Britain, France and Australia gathered more than 600 tanks and formed a very large armored group.

In order to cooperate with this armored army, the three countries also gathered more than 3,500 aircraft and launched a fierce bombing on the German army in front at the beginning of the war.

This is also the bully of the Germans to transfer some aircraft to the Eastern European battlefield, resulting in the number of German aircraft in the French battlefield being at a disadvantage.

Although all countries have been desperately manufacturing weapons and equipment and tanks and aircraft since the war, the production speeds of various countries are completely different.

Germany’s industrial strength is indeed strong, but it is completely incomparable to the sum of Britain, France and Australia.

In terms of the current production speed of aircraft in various countries, Britain’s production speed is undoubtedly the fastest, with an annual output of at least 8,000 aircraft.

Germany is closely behind. Considering that Germany has successively absorbed the industrial scale of Poland and Czechoslovakia, coupled with the former great power Austria, Germany’s current industrial scale has exceeded the homeland of Britain, France and Australia.

According to the estimates of Britain, France and Australia, the annual production of German aircraft is at least 7,000, and it is very likely to exceed 8,000.

After that, Australasia’s actual aircraft production ranks third in the world, with an average of more than 5,500 aircraft built each year.

France ranks fourth in the world, with an aircraft construction rate of about 4,000 per year.

In fact, France can still build aircraft faster. If Paris is successfully recovered and the industrial areas near Paris are reorganized, France’s aircraft production rate should be able to catch up with Australasia.

However, considering that all Australasia’s aircraft are metal frame aircraft, and the performance and construction costs of the aircraft are completely different, the ranking of aircraft production speed cannot fully reflect the country’s comprehensive strength.

But it has to be admitted that the production speed of aircraft still has a great impact on the current war.

Although aircraft are consumables in war, because the role of aircraft is too powerful, countries are still constantly building aircraft.

And whoever can take out more aircraft in the battle will have the air superiority.

Although the Germans’ aircraft production speed ranks second in the world, they have to deploy air forces to three battlefields because of the two-front war.

This also leads to the fact that the scale of the German air force in a single battlefield is not as large as imagined, which is also the reason why the German army has fallen into a completely defensive state on the Western Front and has no offensive at all.

Britain, France and Australia have taken out 3,500 aircraft. If the Germans want to maintain their air superiority in the French battlefield, they must also take out more than 3,000 aircraft to deal with it.

But the current situation is that the number of aircraft that Germany can take out is less than 2,000, some of which are still training trainers or backward products seized from other countries.

Where did the German planes go? Some of them were deployed in the Eastern European battlefield, bombing Russian facilities and troops day and night.

Another part was deployed in Germany to defend Germany’s more important cities.

There is nothing to do about it. Since the Battle of Britain, mutual air strikes between Britain and Germany have become the norm.

Although Germany has successfully attacked British cities many times, the British Air Force is not a pushover. It has bombed many industrial cities in Germany continuously, and the Germans have also suffered heavy losses.

This air force stationed in Germany is one of the trump cards to guard the airspace of Germany.

Of course, the German government is also planning other famous air defense means, such as the famous Berlin air defense tower.

Although the British Empire only launched an air raid on Berlin once, it happened without any preparation by the Germans.

But in any case, the air raid on the capital Berlin is a shame for Germany and an event that must never be repeated.

In order to prevent Berlin from repeating the same mistake, under the order of the German Prime Minister, the Berlin City Government began to build multiple air defense turrets in the city and named them the Berlin Air Defense Tower.

At present, the first air defense tower of the Berlin Air Defense Tower has been completed, which can ensure the safety of the imperial government and the Berlin City Government.

Because the air defense tower is close to the Berlin Zoo, the air defense tower is called the Zoo Air Defense Tower by the Germans.

Although the air defense tower is being slowly built, for the German government, the Berlin air defense tower is not used most of the time.

Because once the Berlin air defense tower starts to start, it means that Berlin is facing a very serious crisis. Even the capital is facing such an important crisis, doesn’t it mean that Germany at that time is on the verge of extinction?

At least for the current German Empire, such a situation will not appear for the time being. Since a large number of aircraft have been deployed in Germany as a defensive force, it is difficult for the British Air Force to enter the periphery of Berlin, and even difficult to break into the German mainland.

After all, there is no so-called stealth technology now, and aircraft are almost completely transparent under radar detection.

It is no less difficult to let bombers enter Berlin’s airspace for air strikes than to let an army go deep into the hinterland of Germany to capture Berlin.

On December 26, the British, French and Australian troops officially launched the attack.

The perspective comes to Tunisia in Africa, which is one of the main battle zones in the North African battlefield.

At present, there are at least 100,000 German troops and 150,000 Italian troops in Tunisia, and airports and ports have been built. It is one of the most difficult places to attack in the entire North African region.

In order to recapture Tunisia, the French raised 200,000 troops, plus 100,000 troops from Britain and Australia, forming a huge lineup of more than 400,000 troops.

In terms of the size of the army, the number of troops in Britain, France and Australia is close to twice the number of troops in Germany and Italy.

However, the British, French and Australian armies in Africa are mainly colonial armies, and the number of main forces is even less than half, which also means that the actual gap between the two armies is minimal.

To conquer a large North African city like Tunisia, it is necessary to rely more on the power of the navy and the air force.

The good news is that the Mediterranean, as the main blockade of the British Royal Navy, has the largest number of Allied fleets.

In order to assist the army in breaking through Tunisia, the British Royal Navy will use a large number of warships to dock outside the coast of Tunisia as a supplement to the army’s firepower.

If the offensive firepower against Tunisia is somewhat weak, then these naval warships will show their powerful firepower to the cities of Tunisia, thereby quickly defeating the German and Italian defenders in Tunisia.

At eight o’clock in the morning, two divisions of soldiers had already advanced from the Libyan region to Sfax, Tunisia.

This is a coastal town in southern Tunisia, and it is also the first line of defense for the German and Italian defenders against the British, French and Australian troops.

As soon as the two armies met, they each poured out their greatest firepower and launched a free bombing of the enemy.

Here we have to praise the excellent military production capacity of Britain and Australasia. Since nearly one-third of the land in France was occupied, the military production of France has been greatly affected.

However, the French are not panicked at all, because the military industry of Britain and Australasia has provided France with a large number of weapons and equipment, and even the Lee Enfield rifle has become the main rifle of the French army, and the proportion of equipment even exceeds the standard rifle produced independently by France.

Although this should not happen to the great powers, it was indeed a helpless choice for France at this time.

You know, France had only a few hundred thousand troops before the war, but it quickly expanded to millions or even tens of millions after the war.

France was not well prepared for the war, resulting in the storage of domestic weapons and equipment to maintain daily consumption, and the additional consumption on the battlefield was simply unable to be taken care of.

This also allowed weapons from Britain and Australasia to quickly flood the French military market, and to a certain extent affected the development of the French military industry.

In addition, because the African colonies were occupied and destroyed by Germany and Italy, the cost of France’s obtaining materials and mineral resources from the colonies was even greater.

In this way, it is almost difficult for the French military industry to compete with the British and Australian military industries. Although France’s demand for weapons and ammunition is increasing, France’s own military industry has not developed much.

According to the situation of the French military industry, since the outbreak of the war, France’s total military industry has only expanded by less than 21%.

Because a large area of ​​the north was occupied, the total scale of the military industry controlled by the French government is only 84% of the previous scale. The slow growth of the military industry is obvious.

On the contrary, the military industry in Britain and Australasia is growing at a rocket-like speed.

According to Australasia’s regulatory data on domestic military enterprises, the total scale of Australasia’s military industry has expanded by 147% compared with the pre-war period, and the production speed of weapons and equipment changes significantly almost every day.

Although it is less than 1.5 times the pre-war period, a large part of the reason is that Arthur began to expand the military industry before the war.

At present, Australasia’s military industry is already at the forefront of the world, and only Britain, Germany and Russia can compete with Australasia in the military industry.

Britain and Germany are because of their strong military strength, and the production speed of weapons and equipment is the top level among the powers.

The Russians are simply because of their huge size. Russia has a population of more than 100 million, which also means that they can maintain a larger military scale with a smaller population ratio.

In particular, Russia still attaches great importance to its own military development. Although Russia also needs weapons and equipment support from Britain and Australia, most of the weapons and equipment used by its soldiers are still produced by itself.

The Russians even dismantled several tanks sold by Australasia for military research. Although they also know that the tanks they obtained are not the most advanced products in Australasia, such tank technology still has a lot of room for improvement for Russia’s own backward tank development.

From this aspect, we can also see the fundamental gap between France and Russia. Although they have also occupied a large area of ​​territory, the Russians still insist on independent military production and research, and still maintain the ambition to become a world power or even a world hegemon.

Although the French also have the ambition to become a world power, both the French government and the French people seem to have no hope of becoming a world hegemon again, and even keep silent about it.

Of course, this is a good thing for Britain and Australasia.

After all, there is only one seat for the world hegemon, and even the interests of the whole world are not enough for a few powers to divide.

The more countries participate in the competition, the more intense the competition will be, and the fewer allies they can make.

If France had not been so aggressive, it might be a more qualified ally for Britain and Australasia.

What are the characteristics of a qualified ally?

First, either the strength is good or the geographical location is important, which is worth winning over.

Second, there is no too strong army and military industry. It would be perfect if the weapons and equipment are more dependent on themselves.

Third, it can clearly position itself and stand firmly behind itself in the international diplomatic team.

Countries that can meet these three points are undoubtedly the objects that every country that wants to become a world hegemon will compete to win over.

It is precisely because Britain, Australia and Russia do not meet these characteristics that it is destined that even if the three countries have concluded various alliances, they will not be able to become the kind of more firm allies.

There will even be relatively large differences between the three countries in the choice of certain interests. Especially in the competition for world hegemony, differences will evolve into greater contradictions, and even become direct competition and confrontation.