The Rise of Australia - Chapter 988

c969 Bombing the Ruhr area

“Mr. Chief of Staff, how is the training of our soldiers going?”

In the German government meeting room, the German Prime Minister asked with a tired face.

“The new army has completed basic training. Are they going to be sent to the Russian battlefield?” Kurt Zeitzler, the German Chief of Staff, answered respectfully.

Kurt Zeitzler is not a famous general in the German military.

Even before being promoted to Chief of Staff, Kurt Zeitzler was only the Chief of Staff of the First Panzer Group, with the rank of Major General.

Because of the previous failure of the German army in the Battle of Moscow, the German Prime Minister had the opportunity to promote his confidant, the little-known Kurt Zeitzler, to become the new German Chief of Staff.

Although Kurt Zeitzler is not famous, in terms of loyalty to the German Prime Minister, Kurt Zeitzler can definitely be ranked among the top five military leaders.

More importantly, promoting a person who has no foundation in the military to become the Chief of the General Staff can make the Junker nobles disgusted and hostile to the new Chief of Staff.

In this way, the Chief of Staff promoted by the German Prime Minister has only one way to go, that is, to constantly win the trust of the Prime Minister in order to stabilize his position as the Chief of the General Staff.

Hearing the inquiry of Chief of Staff Kurt Zeitzler, the German Prime Minister rubbed his brows and asked with a tired face: “What is the situation on the Russian battlefield now?”

“Our Central and Southern Army Groups have formed defensive positions on the line from Bryansk to Kharkov, and have gathered the defeated troops retreating from Sudalingrad.

Currently, the number of troops deployed on the defense line is about 850,000, and the Russian soldiers attacking our defense line are at least more than 2 million.”

“Damn, that bunch of losers in the Southern Army Group, how did they manage to retreat less than half of the more than 3 million troops?” Mentioning the Southern Army Group that had just been defeated in Sudalingrad, the German Prime Minister couldn’t help but be angry.

The Southern Army Group brought together two of Germany’s elite armored groups and a large number of artillery units, with a total number of infantry exceeding 3.5 million at its peak.

However, there are only more than 800,000 soldiers in the Southern Army Group that have retreated to Kharkov to form a defense line. Even if the German troops in Rostov and Froshilovgrad are included, the number of remaining soldiers in the Southern Army Group still does not exceed 1.5 million.

This is quite exaggerated, and it also means that most of the remaining nearly 2 million German soldiers will be captured or eliminated by Russia.

The loss of more than 2 million elite soldiers is a heavy blow to Germany’s operations on the Eastern Front, and it is also a heavy blow to the morale and public sentiment of the entire Germany.

Apart from anything else, the German government at this time can no longer gather another 2 million soldiers to the battlefield in a short period of time.

The formation of the army requires a long training time, and millions of soldiers also need a large amount of uniforms and weapons and equipment, which cannot be produced in a short period of time.

What’s more, Germany’s manpower is also a bit insufficient at this time. Although there are still tens of millions of people from other countries in the German occupied areas, these people can be used as labor, but the German government dare not even think about forming an army.

Because the German government cannot guarantee the loyalty of the people in these occupied areas. If they are given weapons and sent to the battlefield, it is hard to say who they will point their guns at.

This also means that the population that Germany can really mobilize to form an army is only the original native population, and at most the Germans who support Germany in the Austrian Empire.

These people add up to only a little over 80 million, which also means that the scale of the army that Germany can arm is limited, and it is impossible to reach the level of 20 to 30 million.

But unfortunately, among Germany’s many enemies, there is such a country with a population that can already arm an army of 20 to 30 million.

Although the specific population figures of Russia before the war are not clear, the population of Russia is at least more than 140 million, and it is very likely that it has exceeded 150 million.

In this way, Russia’s population is equivalent to twice that of Germany. If Germany can arm tens of millions of troops, it means that Russia can arm 20 million troops.

The fact is also very obvious. So far, Germany has mobilized a total of more than 8 million troops. The mobilization agencies in various places are still in uninterrupted operation, and it is expected that at least 1.5 million soldiers will be provided this year.

This has almost reached the limit of Germany. After the consumption of many wars, the 8 million troops that have been mobilized have less than 5 million German soldiers left.

This also means that the total death toll of German soldiers in this war has exceeded 3 million so far. If the civilians who died are counted, the death toll in Germany in the war has accounted for about one twentieth of the total population, and the death toll is still quite exaggerated.

This is also the reason why it is difficult for Germany to mobilize new troops. Because the population has been continuously decreasing, it is impossible to send all men, women, and children to the battlefield.

“How many people are there in our third reserve army group?” The German Prime Minister asked.

The reserve army group is a reserve force established by Germany, that is, ordinary people who have just been mobilized to join the army.

The third reserve army group is actually the reserve force armed by Germany’s third large-scale mobilization.

“The current number has reached 450,000, and it is expected to exceed 500,000 next month.” Kurt Zeitzler, Chief of the German General Staff, reported.

Speaking of the reserve forces currently being trained, Kurt Zeitzler’s expression was obviously a little relaxed.

Thanks to the high support of the German Prime Minister among the people and the fact that the German people do not want to experience the shadow of the war failure again, Germany’s new mobilization policy has been well received.

At present, there are a steady stream of new people changing their identities every day and becoming a member of the glorious German reserve army.

These increasing numbers of reserve soldiers are also one of the reasons why Germany is confident in launching the Battle of Sudalingrad.

After the failure of the Battle of Sudalingrad, these: the increasing number of reserve troops can also be sent to stabilize the defense of the east and west lines, and strive for the last line of opportunity for Germany now.

Hearing the report of Chief of the General Staff Kurt Zeitzler, the German Prime Minister was silent for a moment, and then suddenly stood up, staring at the map of the Russian battlefield on the Eastern Front.

“Here, it’s here!” The German Prime Minister suddenly spoke, with a hint of joy and excitement in his tone.

Kurt Zeitzler hurried forward and observed the place where the Prime Minister had just pointed.

Kiev, the most important city in Ukraine, is also the last line of defense for Germany in the Russian-occupied area.

If Kiev is lost, the Russian army will be able to almost completely recover its own territory, which means that Romania and Germany will be attacked.

Watching the Prime Minister pointing at Kiev, countless plans flashed through Kurt Zeitzler’s mind, but he still asked first: “Kiev?”

“Yes, that’s right, great.” The German Prime Minister ignored Kurt Zeitzler’s inquiry, but nodded excitedly, and said to himself impatiently: “If an ambush is deployed here, what is the chance that those damn Russians can escape?”

Kurt Zeitzler nodded secretly in his heart. The Prime Minister’s idea is quite similar to one of his guesses.

Although there is a vast East European plain near Kiev, it does not mean that an ambush cannot be set up in Kiev.

As luck would have it, there is a raised area divided by a river near Kiev, just on the other side of the river from Kiev.

This is also the offensive route that the Russians want to take back Kiev. If Russia wants to attack Kiev, they will most likely attack Kiev from the other side of the river.

The total length of this raised area is as high as hundreds of kilometers, and both ends are divided by rivers. If an ambush is set here and a certain number of troops are deployed on both sides to cut off the Russians’ retreat, it can indeed have an unexpected effect.

Even if the Russians launch an attack on Kiev without any preparation, the ambush here will give the Russians a fatal blow and form a huge encirclement that completely surrounds the Russian army.

However, although he saw the prime minister’s intention, Kurt Zeitzler would not take the initiative to tell the plan.

Since it is a plan that the prime minister came up with himself, it must be proposed by the prime minister himself. Kurt Zeitzler still has the skill of flattering, otherwise he would not have been able to achieve such a high military position as the chief of the general staff among many outstanding German generals.

“The terrain here” Kurt Zeitzler frowned slightly, as if he had some idea about to come out.

“Yes, Kurt.” The German Prime Minister nodded with a smile on his face. He didn’t care that the Chief of Staff didn’t see his plan. He smiled and explained: “The river cuts the other side of Kiev into a narrow and long protruding area, which also allows our army to set up a huge encirclement here.

Mr. Chief of the General Staff, what do you think of this plan?”

Faced with such a fatal question, Kurt Zeitzler did not hesitate at all and immediately answered decisively: “It is definitely a wonderful plan. Dear Prime Minister, if we set up a huge encirclement here, those Russian troops who are gradually going crazy because of the recovery of lost territory will never think of it.

And this will be the turning point for us to change the war.”

Hearing that the Chief of the General Staff he promoted praised his ideas so much, the German Prime Minister nodded again with satisfaction, and the smile on the corner of his mouth could no longer be suppressed: “Great, Mr. Chief of the General Staff.

I hope our army can act as soon as possible and deploy all the facilities before the enemy reaches this area.”

Kurt Zeitzler nodded respectfully and ended the conversation.

Although there is some suspicion of flattery in praising this plan, in Kurt Zeitzler’s heart, he also recognizes that the plan proposed by the German Prime Minister is the only choice for Germany at present.

If the German army does not actively seek more counterattack opportunities, it will gradually lose itself in the long defense, and the defense line will be broken by the Russian army one day.

Although Germany is still mobilizing troops continuously, the total size of the army is limited, and the German population is simply impossible to break through such a limit.

A population of 80 million will never be able to arm an army of 40 million. After all, the country still needs a large number of factories to produce military products and other materials with huge gaps.

The country also needs to operate, otherwise the 40 million army may consume all the domestic materials in one day.

While the German Prime Minister and the Chief of the General Staff were planning to deploy the encirclement, Britain, France and Australia also had new plans on the Western European battlefield.

Of course, Britain, France and Australia were also unable to launch a new offensive while maintaining the Northern European offensive, the Tours Line counterattack and the Normandy landing.

The new plan was to send the air force to bomb Germany’s homeland to disrupt the material production and social order in Germany as much as possible.

On the targets of the air raids and bombings, Britain and Australasia had a unified opinion, that is, to abandon the attack on important cities such as Berlin and instead set their targets on cities such as Essen and Dortmund in the west of Germany.

These cities may not be as famous as Berlin, but this area has another name, that is, the famous German industrial heart, the Ruhr area.

Yes, the next target of the British, French and Australian air force bombing is the Ruhr area, the core area of ​​Germany.

Only by destroying Germany’s domestic industrial production can Germany’s mobilization progress be disrupted, making Germany even more unable to continue this war.

In order to launch a more effective attack on the Ruhr area, Britain, France and Australia have also gone all out.

Led by Britain and Australasia, Britain dispatched 1,200 fighters and 500 bombers, Australasia dispatched 1,400 fighters and 450 bombers, and France dispatched 820 fighters and 330 bombers, a total of 4,700 aircraft, to fly to the Ruhr area.

The bombing of the Ruhr area was the largest air raid by the Allies since the outbreak of the war.

This actually also means that the military production of Britain, France and Australia has ushered in many expansions over a long period of time, and the production speed has been several times higher than before.

At the beginning of the war, the number of aircraft owned by each country was calculated in hundreds.

But so far, the number of aircraft owned by all the participating powers has exceeded a thousand, and countries with relatively strong military capabilities such as Britain and Australasia have maintained a huge scale of thousands of aircraft.

You know, the consumption of aircraft on the battlefield is very huge. The number of aircraft consumed every day in a large-scale battle may be as high as dozens or even hundreds.

In the event of a large-scale air battle, the number of aircraft consumed in one air battle may be as high as hundreds or even thousands.

The fact that thousands of aircraft can be maintained in such a huge consumption actually represents the strong military production capacity of various countries.