The Rise of Australia

Chapter 913 Barbarossa Plan

The climax of the war that Arthur wanted is finally coming.

On March 21, 1937, Germany transferred all its troops in the Balkan battlefield to southeastern Poland and northern Romania. The importance of Romanian oil fields is self-evident.

At the same time, a large number of troops on the Western Front were also mobilized to the Polish region. Knowing that such a mobilization could not be concealed from the Russians, the German ambassador to Russia notified the Russian General Staff Headquarters that Germany's mobilization was only to send younger soldiers to replace the older soldiers who were about to retire and participate in industrial production.

In the mobilization of the army, the Chief of Staff of the German Wehrmacht General Staff, Jodl, also issued instructions to all German troops, describing in detail the methods of camouflage and concealment when the army was advancing, and stated that the Russians must not be allowed to form the impression that Germany planned to attack Russia.

Of course, at this stage, for Germany, it is only to mobilize the army and let the General Staff conduct certain war drills.

At present, the various armies are not yet ready, and it is absolutely impossible for Germany to launch an attack on Russia at this moment.

Although the German army is confident that the Russian army will be vulnerable, this does not mean that the German army will attack the Russian army without any preparation.

From the decision to open up the Eastern European battlefield to the present, the German General Staff has been carrying out a task, that is, to conduct a series of military exercises and list as many problems as possible that the army will encounter during the attack.

Among all the serious problems, the German army is most worried about the problems of space and manpower. Simply put, the German army has not suffered too much space problems whether in the French battlefield or in the Balkan battlefield.

After all, whether it is France or the Balkan countries, their territorial area is less than one million square kilometers, and the front line is only a few hundred kilometers away at most.

But Russia is different. Russia is the largest country in Europe, and even looking at the world, no country can compare with Russia in terms of land area.

How exaggerated is Russia's land area? Even now, Russia's Eastern European territory exceeds the sum of Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the entire Balkan Peninsula.

The Germany here refers to the current Germany, that is, the German Empire that has successively annexed Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the area of ​​Europe on both sides is not much different if the current border between Germany and Russia divides the whole of Europe.

There are four major powers, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, to the west of the dividing line, while there is only one country, Russia, to the east of the dividing line, which is enough to prove the exaggeration of Russia's territory.

Although Germany expects to invest more than 2 million troops in Russia, if the 2 million troops are dispersed throughout the East European Plain, this number does not seem so exaggerated.

The most difficult thing for Germany is that because of the demise of the three Nordic countries and the three Baltic countries, the only countries adjacent to Russia in the whole of Europe are Germany and Romania.

Because of the importance of Romania's oil fields, the Romania-Russia border also needs to be protected. This also means that the line of fire between the German and Russian armies almost extends from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, running through the whole of Europe.

The total length of this crossfire line is more than 2,000 kilometers. If more than 2 million troops are evenly distributed on each kilometer of the border, only 1,000 soldiers can be deployed on each kilometer of the border, which is equivalent to one soldier per meter of the border.

Considering the importance of certain areas, this also means that in the long border between Germany and Russia, some areas are destined not to get too many troops, which is likely to affect Germany's attack.

What's more, because of the joint division of Poland and Lithuania, the border between Germany and Russia is relatively complicated, forming a prominent area in Poland.

The complex terrain will make it more difficult for the German army to attack and defend, and the detailed deployment of the army and the choice of attack also need more detailed discussion and thinking.

Although the staff of the General Staff seemed very enthusiastic when they decided to attack Russia, they began to be rational when they actually formulated the combat plan.

They can't help but be irrational. This is a real battlefield, not a simulated war game.

Their slight negligence in the choice of attack may lead to the failure of a battle. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were mobilized in a battle, which also meant that they were not holding offensive plans one after another, but the lives of hundreds of thousands or even millions of German soldiers.

Even if it was a seemingly safe offensive plan, the General Staff had to discuss it internally many times before it could be determined.

Not to mention some plans that seemed ambiguous. If they could be avoided, the best way was to avoid them.

In addition to the difficulties brought about by Russia's vast territory, there was another point that people had to pay attention to, that is, the poor road conditions in Russia.

Although Russia at this time had improved significantly compared to the period when the Tsarist Russian government was in power, it was absolutely impossible for Russia to fully repair the railways and roads in Eastern Europe.

It took more than ten or twenty years for Australasia to fully improve its domestic railways and roads. A large part of the reason for this was the great desert in western Australia, coupled with the small population, which reduced the scale of railway and road construction.

But the East European Plain in Russia is different. Although the temperature is relatively cold, most areas are still relatively suitable for living. As long as it is not close to the Arctic Circle, the vast East European Plain is almost a habitable area.

In addition, due to the large rural population in Russia, many rural areas have a large population, which also increases the mileage of railway and highway construction.

The Russian government has not been able to fully repair the railways and roads in Eastern Europe until now, which also proves the difficulty of building a large number of railways and roads for countries with more land and more population.

Of course, inconvenient transportation is a major disadvantage for Russia in peacetime, but for Russia in wartime, it has become the best way to delay the enemy's attack.

It is the poor transportation environment in Russia that gives the Germans a headache. One of the reasons why the German blitzkrieg can be implemented smoothly is that Western Europe and Central Europe have relatively developed railway and highway systems.

Germany's armored forces can gallop on the road at will, which naturally guarantees the speed of the army's advance.

But there are no perfect roads in Eastern Europe, and Russia itself has a large land area. It may take longer to complete the planned attack.

In the intense war preparations, the German Prime Minister was also very concerned about the army's preparations.

At a new military meeting, the Prime Minister personally asked about the mobilization of the army and asked about Germany's current strategic material reserves and the production of weapons and equipment.

"If we launch an offensive against Russia now, can our air force withstand the pressure from Britain, France and Russia?" The German Prime Minister looked at the Air Force Commander Goering. "Mr. Prime Minister, if our war against Russia lasts for half a year, the Air Force will be able to fight on two fronts at the same time.

Of course, if we get the assistance of our ally Italy, I believe such a guarantee will be more stable." German Air Force Commander Goering said confidently.

Although the Battle of Britain was just lost, there were many reasons for the failure of this air battle, including the Prime Minister's eagerness for the air battle and Goering's desire to flatter.

If the air battle was fought well, even if the German Air Force could not win, it would never create a battle with such a huge disparity in the loss ratio.

After hearing what Goering said, the German Chancellor nodded with satisfaction and instructed everyone present: "

In the war against Russia, we must protect the territory of the empire from attack and protect the safety of Berlin and the eastern industrial zone. This also means that we need sufficient strategic depth to ensure that enemy aircraft will not threaten our homeland.

In addition, if we can crush Russia and smash Russia into some unarmed autonomous provinces, from the Polish border to the Volga, all of which will be inhabited and ruled by Germans.

As for the pristine land east of the Volga River, the frozen Siberian region and the empty forests outside the Urals, we will occupy them when we have time.

Of course, if our allied island countries are interested, it is not impossible to cede some areas to them.

Remember, the premise of everything we do in this battle is to ensure that Russian aircraft will not threaten our homeland.

After the war begins, Russia is expected to defend the Baltic Sea and Ukraine, because Because there are their only two outlets to the sea in Europe.

If they focus on defending the Baltic Sea and Ukraine, the large central region east of Poland will be at a loss, and the Russian government is likely to give in.

Compared with the rapid capture of Moscow, I prefer to see our armored army group occupy the Baltic Sea and Ukraine to the north and south respectively after solving the Polish problem, depriving them of their outlets to the sea, and thus destroying their economy.

Russia's economy has always been very fragile. If their outlets to the sea are occupied, they may not be able to sustain it for long in the war.

At that time, we will focus on conquering Moscow and eliminate the enemies who come to support Moscow, so as to achieve our ultimate plan, which is to effectively kill Russia's living forces and disintegrate and rule this huge country.

Do you have anything to add to my opinion? "

Hearing the Prime Minister's question, the staff and generals present shook their heads.

Let's not talk about whether the Prime Minister's proposal is reasonable or not. Just look at the Prime Minister's confident smile. If they raise objections now, won't it be unpleasant for themselves?

Seeing many marshals and generals, including Army Commander-in-Chief Brauchitsch, shaking their heads, the German Chancellor nodded with satisfaction and continued to give instructions: "

According to what I said, the General Staff should formulate a new operational plan as soon as possible. I personally named this operational plan Plan Barbarossa, and I hope that one day our Plan Barbarossa will shock the whole world."

This meeting directly determined the strategic policy for attacking Russia. Based on this strategic policy, a new operational plan against Germany, code-named Operation Plan No. 13 by the German General Staff and officially called Plan Barbarossa, was freshly released.

Because it was based on the strategic policy proposed by the Prime Minister himself, this latest plan immediately received the nod of praise from the German Prime Minister himself, and after the General Staff voted and passed it, it became a formal operational plan.

According to this operational plan, the German General Staff and the High Command issued orders to various army groups and specific military branches.

Although the core policy was formulated according to the order of the Prime Minister, the General Staff also had its own ideas on some small-scale content.

Marshal Brauchitsch, the commander-in-chief of the Army, who had a certain say in the General Staff, formulated a policy to strengthen the strength of the Northern Army Group.

In the view of Marshal Brauchitsch, compared with Ukraine in the south, the Baltic region in the north is the area where Germany should focus on attacking.

Because Germany has already controlled the three Baltic countries, attacking from the north can quickly approach St. Petersburg, Russia, and conquer the second largest and second most important city in Russia.

After occupying St. Petersburg, the Northern Army Group can go south and harvest a large area of ​​Eastern European land west of Moscow.

In this way, it can also echo the Southern Army Group. Because according to the combat plan of the Southern Army Group, they will first attack Kiev, then move east to Kharkov, and then go north to Moscow.

The northern and southern army groups will cut off the vast Russian land and the Russian mainland, while the main purpose of the army group in the middle is to quickly occupy Poland, then besiege Minsk, and finally meet in Moscow.

If the offensive of the three armies is relatively smooth, the Russian army will soon be defeated, and a large area of ​​territory west of Moscow will soon fall into the hands of the Germans.

As long as this strategic plan is completed, Russia, which has lost a large area of ​​important territory, will greatly reduce its comprehensive strength and basically pose no threat to Germany.

On March 24, 1937, the German Chancellor approved the specific combat plan reported by Marshal Brauchitsch, and clearly stipulated that it was necessary to give priority to clearing the enemy in the Baltic Sea and capturing St. Petersburg and Kronstadt.

In order to achieve such a strategic goal, the German Chancellor specifically approved and required the central army group to transfer a large number of armored forces to the northern army group to take the lead in occupying the entire Baltic coast.

Only after completing the task of the Northern Army Group, the Central Army Group can safely occupy large areas of Polish and Russian territory, and plan the grand meeting of the three army groups in Moscow.

Since then, the plan for fighting against Russia has been thoroughly formulated. According to this battle plan, the German army also began to take action, and the Northern, Southern and Central Army Groups are also being formed and prepared.

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