Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Although the capture of Smolensk was indeed a cause for celebration, trouble also followed. The further they advanced, the German supply lines became longer and longer, and the Soviet supply lines became shorter and shorter.

The first trouble is that the German army has to face increasingly worse road conditions. The first is the old problem that the Soviet railway standards are different from the international standard gauge.

The international standard gauge is 1435mm, while the Soviet gauge is 1520mm wide gauge.

As for why the Soviets wanted to use broad-gauge railways uniquely, this starts from the Tsarist Russia period. Russia used, or more accurately said, borrowed from the British track standards. In fact, the British track standards at that time were basically the world standards. There are two British track standards, one is the 1524mm wide track and the other is the 1435mm standard track. Since Russia was in a slump, the Russians were afraid that other European countries would use railways to drive in, so they modified the British 1524mm wide gauge and built a 1520mm track. Russia's broad-gauge tradition was passed down in this way. The Soviet Union inherited the Russian railway system. If a new railway was rebuilt, it would cost a very high price. This made the Soviets have no choice but to continue from the perspective of safety or saving money. Broad gauge construction continued.

Now that the German army wants its trains to go directly to the front line to transport supplies, it can only rebuild these railways. This track gauge is not something that can be achieved by simply adjusting one side of the track inward. On the one hand, the different track gauges are to adapt to the geographical environment, and on the other hand, they are to create obstacles for the enemy. If it were that simple and easy, it wouldn't be an obstacle. A series of equipment such as sleepers, gauge rods, switches (sets), switch pull rods, electrical equipment, etc. all need to be modified. It is like a single move that affects the whole body!

Moreover, the railways in most parts of the Soviet Union are still at the same level as they were decades ago. Most of the railways (except Kharkiv to Moscow) are built on soft sand foundations, and the sleepers are also softer pine wood, rather than stronger and stronger. Timber suitable for railroad laying. The German standard railway carrying capacity standard is 49 kilograms per meter, and the Soviet Union's is 38 kilograms per meter. The German railways lay 1,600 sleepers per kilometer, and the Soviet Union has 1,440 sleepers. The Germans use screws and washers to fix the rails, and the Soviets use them directly. A long nail that is driven in once.

For this reason, Yannick simply decided to tear down all the Soviet railways and rebuild them to German standards. Although this is a big project, it is worthwhile to take advantage of the opportunity to use the prisoners of war at will to complete these big projects as much as possible.

The second trouble was that in addition to building railways, they also had to eliminate guerrillas, resisters, and pro-Soviet civilians in the rear. These people will try their best to sabotage the German transportation system, attack transportation teams, blow up bridges, and destroy railways. During the Leningrad Defense War in the original time and space, a guerrilla group from the Orsha Locomotive Depot destroyed 93 military trains, 118 locomotives and a large number of freight cars. Pavlov, a college student at the Moscow Railway Academy, led a guerrilla force that overturned 128 German military trains from 1941 to 1943.

As a result, the activities of these guerrillas overwhelmed the German army's logistical supplies. On the Soviet-German battlefield in the original time and space, the German Army Group Center needed at least 75 trains of supplies every day, but in fact there were only 40 trains at most, and only 25 trains at the minimum. Army Group North needed 30 trains every day, but in fact there were only 10 trains. As the war dragged on, material supplies on the German front became increasingly tight.

Fortunately, Yannick used various experiences of later generations to eliminate these saboteurs, and it can be said that he achieved remarkable results; the railway reconstruction project ahead was also proceeding in an orderly manner.

At a railway construction site near Smolensk, a shrill whistle sounded. German engineer Barak jumped out of the cab and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "The weather is getting hotter and hotter." He was driving a crane and was responsible for placing the rails one by one near the construction railway section. Because of the heat transfer from the engine and the sun's rays, the cab was as stuffy as a suffocating cage. This is an era where home air conditioning is not even popular, so it is naturally impossible to have air conditioning facilities in his cab. There is only a small fan with low power, and the wind blown by that thing is still hot.

However, Barak is very satisfied with his current job. Compared with the soldiers who shed blood and died on the front line, as a railway engineer, he is already quite happy. There is almost no life-threatening danger, and since they are technical troops, their pay is also good.

After leisurely lighting up a cigarette, Barak chatted with his colleagues. They are indeed colleagues. The relationship between them as engineers is more like colleagues than soldiers who fight side by side on the front line and share life and death. After all, they work together every day, rather than risk fighting together. "Looks like we have to wait a while." The construction stopped. The railway ahead must have been damaged by the Soviets. They were already used to this. When the Soviets retreated, they would blow up a section of the railway every certain distance. The big hole created by the explosion must be filled in before we can continue to move forward.

"Barak, what time is it? It's time for them to arrive, right?" His colleagues frequently looked at the sky in the distance. Not only him, but most of the people around him were looking at the same place. Barak took out his pocket watch, took a look at it, and replied. "It's almost time."

"Coming, coming!" At this time, I don't know who shouted first, and warm cheers suddenly broke out from the surroundings.

Only a dozen black spots appeared in the distant sky. Their figures gradually enlarged, and the roar of the engines became louder. That was a dozen Stuka dive bombers.

The German soldiers on guard took out a smoke bomb, pulled the safety catch, and threw it into the open space in the distance. Someone in the distance also threw smoke bombs one after another. As smoke billowed from the smoke grenades, the Stukas spread out and began to swoop down. Although the buzzer was removed, the high-speed diving bomber still made a buzzing sound of friction with the air.

When it was more than 600 meters above the ground, Stuka dropped the "bomb" mounted on its abdomen and began to climb slowly. The rapidly falling "bomb" ejected a parachute when it was more than 100 meters above the ground. It suddenly stopped in the air, but still hit heavily near the smoke bomb.

Barak, who had already taken out his lunch box and was waiting, rushed forward with everyone, ran over and poured out the liquid in the lunch box, and drank most of it in one gulp. This is a barrel of dark beer. High-altitude flight makes the temperature of these dark beers drop to below ten degrees. The cold liquid slid down the throat and into the stomach, causing the pores all over the body to relax, and the heat in the body suddenly disappeared.

"Happy!" Barak shivered violently. This was the most pleasant and refreshing moment every day.