German Red Prince

Page 153

"Lieutenant Colonel Guderian... no, I know I was wrong."

Blitzkrieg apologized with a stiff face, not expecting this time to be for real. He had been rehearsing his apology to Guderian for a long time, but who knew he would encounter such a scene?

“Blitzkrieg, these two are guests from China. Why don’t you take them on a ride around the tank?”

"Really?"

Upon hearing Guderian's words, Blitzkrieg almost jumped up. He hadn't been on a tank in a long time, and his hands were itching to do maintenance every time. This time, Guderian actually allowed him to drive one more time.

"Come on, gentlemen, let me show you what a land cruiser is like."

Blitzkrieg excitedly jumped onto the Panzer II tank, started the engine, and the roar of the engine filled the air. The Panzer II tank was ready to go.

"You two, why don't you go up and experience it?"

Thorne invited the two of them to sit in the tank. Neither Zhang Zhizhong nor Xu Tingyao had any idea what was going on. Such an advanced tank, and they were actually allowed to sit in it?

308. National Defense Students

Tanks are still a rarity in Asia, but in Europe, most countries with a bit of power can produce them independently.

Take Poland, for example. Although Poland has disappeared from the map, the Warsaw Tank Factory in Poland is a major tank manufacturer in Eastern Europe.

Poland was then under the jurisdiction of the German governor. Although the Warsaw Tank Factory was renamed the Wilhelm Tank Factory, its tanks were still in short supply.

Wilhelm's tank factory supplied tank equipment to almost all of Germany's satellite states, which allowed them to accumulate a great deal of tank technology.

Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao also visited Poland at that time. Although the Nationalist government was a country that Germany did not welcome, Poland, as a governor-general's territory, was slightly more lenient.

They had also heard of this tank manufacturing plant. Although China's national strength was indeed not good at the moment, Xu Tingyao had always had a dream: to build a tank force of its own.

Although Europe doesn't place much emphasis on tank development right now, they are still ahead of China by more than just a year or two. Even if they stagnate their research, China will definitely not catch up in less than ten years.

Xu Tingyao also had his own understanding of tanks. He had already learned about and recognized these iron lumps in China. He remembered that the army had bought one from Europe, but it was already outdated. The war had ended long ago, and that kind of tank could no longer show any advantage.

However, Xu Tingyao still believes that this kind of chariot has enormous potential. When it was first invented, this heavy iron thing broke through the defense line that had not made any progress for months or years. If it continues to be studied, it will definitely have a huge impact on the changes in the form of warfare.

Currently, China is fragmented and in conflict among warlords, and the country has not yet achieved complete unification. If they had a well-equipped tank force, they could quickly resolve domestic issues, rapidly achieve national unification, and then be wary of ambitious Japan.

Xu Tingyao has already developed a sense of crisis. Not only him, but many Chinese people, including Chairman Mao, have this concern. Germany has influence in East Asia. Japan does not dare to reveal its true colors so quickly, but Germany is gradually weakening its control over East Asia and shrinking its sphere of influence.

If one day Germany's power in East Asia weakens sufficiently, Japan will certainly jump out and take a bite.

Japan is a country that loves gambling, and every time it gambles with its national destiny. It's crazy, but the returns are astonishing. It's impossible for the Japanese not to have some ulterior motives regarding China, such a big cake. On the surface, they call themselves "brother countries in East Asia," but with such a big piece of meat right in front of them, how could they possibly let it go?

China's current defense capabilities are still far behind those of Japan, so improving the army's capabilities is the top priority for the Nationalist government. German instructors are helping to train the troops, and Chairman Mao is also very concerned about this, asking about it every day. However, having only infantry is certainly not enough; a single branch of the military can hardly inflict effective damage on the enemy.

The hardware also needs to keep up. Xu Tingyao dreamed of cultivating a tank force belonging to China, which is why he went to various places to investigate. However, these European countries were very wary of them and kept everything hidden. Even when they went to visit the Wilhelm tank factory, they were not allowed to handle the tanks or go inside. They could only watch from a distance across the warning line.

At that moment, Xu Tingyao felt a strong sense of powerlessness. There was nothing she could do; after all, they were a weak country. What they did was to take advantage of her. These Europeans would never believe that they could build tanks. Even if she figured it out, did she have the capability to build them? They would humiliate her like this, and she couldn't do anything about it; she even had to thank them.

In short, Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao's European inspection tour was full of humiliation. In every country they went to, they were ridiculed by the local officers. In the First Sino-Japanese War, how could the navy, which was the strongest in Asia and the ninth strongest in the world, be unable to defeat Japan? What were they doing?

Therefore, many of them believed that these Chinese soldiers were inherently weaker than others. Otherwise, how could such a powerful navy have lost to Japan? Ultimately, it must be because these people were incompetent. No matter how advanced the weapons were, they were useless. Although this is ancient history, decades have passed. These Europeans do not even know what China is like now, yet they make comments with stereotypes. Is this what you call "civilized people" and "advanced people"?

However, their visit to the Rhine Kingdom was different this time. They were actually invited to ride in a tank? And the most advanced tank in the Rhine Kingdom at that. This left the two somewhat bewildered. Were they being played?

Regardless of what Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao were thinking at that moment, Blitzt couldn't hold back any longer. Upon hearing Guderian's order, he jumped onto the tank. He had been craving this precious machine. His platoon used to have one, and he used to clean it every day, practically sleeping with it. After receiving a disciplinary warning, although he still cleaned it every day, it couldn't start. Every time he heard the engine, he felt an itch to get started. Now that he had finally received Guderian's approval, how could he not be excited?

"Hey, you two, get in the car!"

Blitzt started the engine, which roared loudly, and thick smoke billowed from the rear of the vehicle; the tank was ready to go.

"What are you two waiting for? Come on up and experience it!"

Thorne also invited the two men to join him. Hearing this, they finally believed that he wasn't playing a trick on them and quickly jumped into the car. These Europeans treat tanks like precious treasures, unwilling to let others touch them. Now that they finally had a chance to get on, they had to make the most of it and experience it.

Blitz's superb driving skills also made Xu Tingyao feel what it meant to ride a tank. This speed, combined with this kind of artillery, is simply invincible on the land battlefield. Who can outrun it on land?

After circling around several times, Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao had had their fill of the experience. They had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and truly felt the power of the tank.

"Good driving. Go back to your unit. If you break the rules again, you'll be stuck in logistics repairing tanks for life."

Following this lead, Guderian also transferred Blitzkrieg back, since it wasn't good for things to remain in this stalemate. When Blitzkrieg heard Guderian say this, he hurriedly saluted and then ran back, jumping and howling. Although their Panzer II tank had been taken away, given their platoon's professional skills, they should be able to get it back soon.

"So, what do you two think of the tanks from the Kingdom of Rhine?"

"Excellent! Better than any tank I saw during my previous inspections. Its performance is outstanding," Xu Tingyao praised Thorne.

"Haha, but tanks alone are not enough. To fully demonstrate the performance of tanks, we also need a group of excellent tank crew members."

Thorne told the two that he would begin to help China train and develop a group of professional armored officers and crew members, because Thorne felt that a crisis was imminent. China had to seize the time to complete unification and then prepare for war with Japan. If Japan was not defeated, it would always have ambitions towards China.

"You have been in Europe for some time now, studying and observing. The cooperation between the Kingdom of the Rhine and the Nationalist Government is gradually deepening. We have a lot of cooperation in the economic field, and the same is true in the military field. Japan is Germany's rival, and I think their ambitions should be in the whole of Asia. I believe your Chairman Mao thinks so too."

"China must possess a certain level of military strength in order to help Germany contain Japan. Generals Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao, would you be interested in training a new batch of national defense students to study tank-related knowledge at the Charlemagne Military Academy? And Lieutenant Colonel Guderian will be personally teaching them, you know."

Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao could hardly believe their ears. Such a great deal, why not take advantage of it? Of course they agreed.

Soon, the two sides reached an agreement. After signing the agreement, Zhang Zhizhong and Xu Tingyao rushed back to China. They had to quickly select suitable candidates, who might be able to support China's future.

309. First Air Transport

Thorne was very confident about the future of China in this timeline. There was no April 12 Incident in this timeline, no counter-revolutionary incidents by the right wing of the Kuomintang, and the right-wing-planned riot in Guangzhou was quelled very quickly. The situation in China was much better than in the original history.

Chairman Mao started leading the revolutionary government twenty years ahead of schedule. The current Nationalist government is much more efficient and idealistic than that of later generations. The Nationalist government is now moving towards industrialization in all aspects and striving to unify all of China within five years.

The current international environment is also relatively favorable for China. Previously, there was only one socialist country in the world, the Soviet Union, but now there are three major socialist countries in Europe. The old capitalist countries such as Britain and France have all turned to the left, making the situation more selective than before. The only obstacle is Germany. Now Thorne is acting as an "insider" in Germany. In Thorne's view, the collapse of German hegemony is only a matter of time.

The complex contradictions at home and abroad have caused this nascent empire to age rapidly. Perhaps it only needs one more step before it collapses. Therefore, Thorne is now doing his best to help China unify China as soon as possible, so that China can gain more advantages in the war against Japan. In addition, it can also leave a good impression on China, making it easier to establish diplomatic relations later.

After signing the agreement, Xu Tingyao and Zhang Zhizhong rushed back to China. They needed to quickly select suitable candidates to train a group of high-level national defense students for China. This was the best that Thorne could do, hoping to help his former homeland.

After finishing all that, Thorne still had to worry about various domestic matters. He wondered how the first batch of paratroopers trained by Kesselring were doing. No country in this timeline had trained paratroopers yet, so they couldn't learn from their experience and had to figure everything out from scratch.

As an elite military branch, the requirements for paratroopers are actually very strict. However, since the Storm Commando Team is an elite military branch of the Kingdom of Rhine that participates in combat, there is no need to be picky. The height and physical fitness standards already meet the requirements. As for training, the Storm Commando Team's training is also very arduous. Paratroopers just have some additional professional skills.

Because the size of the paratroopers needs to be gradually expanded, the biggest role of the first batch of paratroopers being trained now is to train new recruits. Therefore, Kesselring's requirements are extremely strict. On land, they are like black lightning bolts, and in the sky, they should become even more like streaks of lightning.

Because he was born into an artillery unit, the airborne troops were assigned to the air force. Kesser Kelling didn't know much about the air force, and he understood that if he was completely ignorant in this area, he would not be able to lead a good team. So recently he has been working hard to brush up on his professional knowledge.

While the paratroopers were training outside, he was frantically learning about the Air Force, even how to fly a plane. Kesselring was very tall and quite strong, so it was indeed a bit difficult for him to squeeze his whole body into the narrow cockpit.

However, Kesselring's learning ability was indeed very strong, and he really learned quite a bit. The pilot who taught Kesselring jokingly said that if all the pilots in the Kingdom of Rhine had Kesselring's learning ability, they would probably all be ace pilots in the air force in no time.

Because of previous mistakes, the Storm Commando unit, which was originally going to be canceled, was retained, which made the Storm Commando very grateful. From one lightning bolt to two lightning bolts, the Storm Commando knew that the responsibility on their shoulders had become even greater.

Airborne troops, tank units, and armored grenadier units are all the same; they are all the newest branches of the Kingdom's military. The Kingdom has invested heavily in them. Other military units are extremely envious of these branches. They can get money just by asking, while other military units have to ask for a long time and may only receive half the funding in the end.

At the same time, any general named by Thorne has a bright future. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they are guaranteed to become generals. However, these people are indeed capable, which makes many people curious. Prince Thorne used to be completely indifferent to military and political affairs, so why is he so accurate in choosing people now?

How long had Kesselring been fishing in Wiesbaden? If he hadn't been chosen, he probably would have spent his whole life in Wiesbaden inspecting ships.

And then there's Rommel. Before he rose to prominence, he was just a lowly officer in Darmstadt, a company commander with only a little over a hundred men under his command. And now? He's directly in charge of the entire Kingdom's Panzergrenadier Regiment.

These are all recently introduced military branches. Becoming the direct leader of these armies could very well lead to becoming a marshal. The key point is that the people Thorne chose are not people with connections.

Rommel, Guderian, Kesselring, and Paulus were all commoners; none of them came from noble families. This gave many commoner officers confidence. Since His Highness Thorne liked to promote commoner officers, maybe one day they would be selected.

Of course, Thorne had his reasons for choosing these people. When he revolted, the majority of the officers would be commoners. Thorne didn't dare to trust the noble officers too much. Who knew if they were sincere? Not everyone was conscious of their mission, and Thorne didn't dare to take that risk.

Upon arriving at the airborne troops' training base, in addition to their daily physical training, the most important thing for these soldiers is to train in the professional knowledge of paratroopers, to become familiar with various types of aircraft and parachutes, to check the parachute canopy, to thread the parachute lines, to put on the canopy cover, to put it on, take it off and put it on again, and to do so quickly. Besides these, their academic studies cannot be neglected, and they must also learn their professional knowledge well.

Another crucial point is that paratroopers cannot be afraid of heights. If someone is afraid of heights and can still become a paratrooper, wouldn't that be a joke? Therefore, paratroopers have many courage-building exercises, such as jumping from heights. Thorne walked around the military camp and saw at least five people who were too afraid to jump, and they were kicked off the mountain.

Thorne wouldn't blame them, after all, Thorne himself was afraid of heights, and everyone has a first time. After a few training sessions, he would get much better. He also saw many people jump without hesitation.

Just then, Kesselring came to inspect the paratroopers' training results, and Thorne also wanted to see how the paratroopers, who had been training for a while, were doing and whether they could engage in actual combat.

"Your Highness Thorne, the First Airborne Unit is the elite of our airborne forces. They have reached a level where they can fight in real combat and are growing very rapidly. Would Your Highness Thorne like to test them?"

"First air transport?"

Hearing this name, Thorne could feel a sense of oppression. Yi Kongshu was a very famous name in later generations.

“Sure, this is a good opportunity to test the paratroopers’ skills.”

After Thorne nodded, Kesselring immediately issued the order to begin the exercise.

"One air unit, move out!"

310. Airborne

The 1st Airborne Unit is the elite of the elite in the entire airborne force, and its members are carefully selected from various camps.

The Storm Commando is an elite force, and these individuals are selected from among these elites, so their combat skills are extremely high. They are the first unit to be deployed for actual combat.

Looking at these well-equipped soldiers, Thorne suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction. These troops were all proposed and formed by him, and they would definitely play a huge role in future battles.

"Your Highness, the first air transport unit has assembled. Please give instructions."

Kesselring saluted Thorne and said that these elite troops were also Kesselring's prized possessions, and had been given special training. As the commander of the airborne troops, he had no free time at all.

"Paratroopers are born to be surrounded. In future battles, you will often be the first to be deployed to the battlefield. Every jump may involve huge risks, but you must understand that honor and danger go hand in hand. You are all veterans from the Storm Commando Team. As for the sense of honor, I don't think I need to say more. Always be at the forefront. This is your duty and the meaning of the entire airborne force."

"The Storm Assault Team was once the kingdom's elite force, and every charge was in the most dangerous battles. It is the same now. I admire your spirit and know your beliefs. Everyone, who else but us!"

"Who else would it be than me!"

The paratroopers below also answered in unison. The fact that they were able to become members of the Storm Commando before meant that they were not afraid of death. Now that the Storm Commando has been reorganized into the paratroopers, they are even less afraid of death. The sense of honor flowing in their blood makes it impossible for them to retreat easily. Thorne's words were very true. They are determined to charge into the most dangerous battlefields. Who else but them!

"Get ready, let's show His Highness what you're capable of!"

Kesselring shouted in his loud voice, and the paratroopers lined up in columns and boarded the bombers one by one—yes, bombers.

Rather than boarding the bomber, it was more like they were all clinging to the two wings of the bomber. When the first Soviet paratroopers performed, they also jumped off the wings of the bomber. At first, Thorne didn't quite understand why they would jump off from there, as it was too dangerous.

However, he had nothing to say at the moment, because in this era, there was no such thing as a transport plane. Airplanes had only been around for a short time, and there were very few types. The only aircraft that could carry a group of people was a large one like a bomber.

Once everyone was in position, the bomber slowly started up and began to fly into the sky. The paratroopers were secured to the wings to prevent them from falling off halfway. This modified bomber was quite safe, but Thorne was sure that staying in it would be uncomfortable. The temperature in the air was definitely much lower than on the ground, and the strong winds would probably blow him silly.

In future operations, bombers certainly cannot continue to be used, as this will greatly affect the combat effectiveness of paratroopers. Moreover, it is difficult to receive orders from the wings of the aircraft, and errors are prone to occur when parachuting. Being blown around by strong winds can cause disorientation, and it takes a long time to recover after landing. This will greatly affect the overall combat effectiveness of paratroopers and must be properly resolved.

After reaching the designated altitude, the paratroopers on the wings began to glide down the wings and opened their parachutes in mid-air. Thorne saw the parachute packs opening in mid-air and, for some reason, suddenly remembered a song he had heard a long time ago.

"Edelweiss, edelweiss, greets me in the morning with your blooming, small and white, pure and bright, swaying happily towards me. May you, snow-like flower, be fragrant, and bloom and grow forever. Edelweiss, edelweiss, may you forever bless my hometown."

Thorne didn't know why he suddenly remembered this song. It was probably because he had watched The Man in the High Castle before, and the theme song left a deep impression on him. It was a timeline of Nazi victory, and Thorne wondered what would happen if there was a time traveler in that timeline. He was quite curious about that.

Although all the paratroopers landed safely, the results were not ideal; only a small number landed in their designated positions. Thorne, of course, wouldn't blame these men, after all, the paratrooper force was still in its early stages and the equipment wasn't even fully in place yet. He couldn't be too harsh on these soldiers.

The lack of suitable aircraft to support the paratroopers is a very thorny problem. After all, they can't always fly bombers on missions, can they? Bombers also have their own missions to perform and don't have that much time to help the paratroopers. Thorne will continue to worry about these things in the Air Force.

In the original timeline, World War II was the early days of airborne operations, so there were many methods of airborne deployment, which are depicted in many movies and TV shows. A large fighter jet tows a small aircraft to carry out various missions, which is actually an example of airborne operations.

The large aircraft flying in front is a transport plane, while the smaller one trailing behind is a glider. The glider has no engine or propeller; it flies by being towed by the transport plane. Upon reaching the designated landing area, the transport plane disconnects the tow rope, and the glider, released from its hull, glides using its large wings and, under the pilot's control, lands precisely at the target location.

Parachute operations were already a common tactic of warfare during World War II. However, in practice, it was discovered that they had many shortcomings.

First, the wind has a significant impact. Paratroopers can easily be scattered by strong winds, landing over a large area, making it difficult to quickly assemble into a powerful fighting force.

Secondly, in addition to regular military training, paratroopers require extra parachute training, demanding a significant investment of time, energy, and resources, and also placing a substantial demand on the number of transport aircraft. Thirdly, assault troops need to be equipped with heavy equipment such as artillery and armored vehicles, but at the time, parachute technology had not yet solved the problem of airdropping heavy equipment.

However, all these problems are no problem at all when faced with military gliders. Combat squads can travel to the battlefield as a unit on the same glider and quickly engage in combat after landing, without having to spend a lot of time packing up parachutes and regrouping.

Moreover, these soldiers do not need to undergo specialized parachute training, saving time and money. Heavy equipment such as artillery and vehicles can also be loaded into gliders and deployed to the battlefield along with the soldiers.

In addition, gliders have no engines or armor, only simple control facilities and a wooden frame. They are not only inexpensive and easy to operate, but can also be used once a mission is completed. There is no need to consider the problem of recovery. Military gliders have a very short landing distance and can land on any slightly larger flat ground.

Thorne felt that he could put more effort into this aspect. After all, he was the first in the world to study this, and he needed to accumulate a lot of experience. Glider warfare could save a lot of training time in the early stages, allowing him to assemble a powerful force in a short period of time.

311. Advantages and disadvantages

During World War II, many countries used gliders in combat. The United States, Britain, and Germany all invented their own gliders, which indeed brought great convenience to the then-nascent airborne troops.

There have been many classic battles using military gliders, but the most successful example is the German glider warfare in World War II, which included the raid on the Eben-Emmel fortress. This operation can be considered a textbook example of glider warfare.

In order to bypass the Maginot Line built by France, the German army adopted a similar strategy to that in World War I, using Belgium as a route to launch a blitzkrieg against France. During World War I, Belgium relied on the Liège fortress to fight the German army to the death and inflicted heavy losses on Germany. After learning from this experience, the German army adopted a completely different strategy in World War II.

To launch a blitzkrieg against France from Belgium, capturing the Eben-Emmel fortress was crucial. This fortress was the biggest obstacle to the German advance, and most people are familiar with what fortresses in Europe look like.

Emer Fortress was equipped with numerous heavy weapons such as cannons and machine guns, making it extremely difficult to launch a direct assault. In addition, the fortress's terrain was very treacherous. One side was adjacent to a canal, providing natural defense, while the other three sides were surrounded by minefields, deep trenches, and high walls, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

A fortress of this size and firepower would suffer enormous casualties if attacked head-on. Even with the support of fighter jets and air cover, it would be impossible to break through without several divisions attacking it for several months.

At that time, Germany's airborne troops had already reached a considerable size and were ready for combat. Since ground assaults were not feasible, the most suitable option was to launch an attack from the air.

However, various professional military staff have conducted detailed analysis and research on airborne operations. Although airdropping paratroopers for a surprise attack may be easier than general ground operations, it is still impossible to take the fortress very smoothly, and heavy casualties are still incurred.

If a transport plane were used for airdrop, the loud noise of the engine would alert the defenders before the plane even reached the airspace above the fortress. By then, the enemy would have completely exposed the plane and the paratroopers to the enemy's dense anti-aircraft fire, and the paratroopers might not even have landed before they were already dead.