Four Hundred and Forty Four Gaps
In fact, the level of combat between the German army and the British army is not as great as shown in the battle results. In fact, the combat effectiveness of the British combat troops is very good. very substantial.
In terms of purely infantry comparison, the combat effectiveness of the two sides is absolutely in the middle. The German army has advantages in individual firepower and tactical innovation, while the British army wins in artillery firepower and weapon range. The things that really affect the combat effectiveness of both sides, in fact It is the quality and use of armored forces, as well as the support of the air force.
The invincible attack of the Germans was actually after the air force destroyed the enemy's concentration area in advance and destroyed the opponent's defense line, and then the armored forces with absolute superiority in quantity and quality tore apart the opponent's position, and then the already shattered and dizzy The remaining enemy troops were handed over to their own infantry to clean up.
This combat mode relies on the close cooperation of multiple arms of the German Army and Air Force, as well as the experience of each unit in local areas. To put it bluntly, it is actually an asymmetric firepower suppression tactic. Using the strikes of the air force and the rapid assault of tanks to make up for the disadvantage of insufficient artillery firepower, this is also the correct way to try to hide the shortcomings of the number of large-caliber artillery under the constraints of Germany's production capacity.
However, in the early stage of the British landing, the German combat thinking was to transport more and more troops to the British mainland faster. This led to more accurate calculation and analysis of the composition of the transport force. The result of the analysis was that the armored force, as a fast assault force, must be rushed to the UK as soon as possible. In order to protect the beachhead, the number of infantry must also reach the level of the group army—so some Secondary equipment is compressed to a rather pitiful amount.
For example, cars, except for some armored units that needed to transport fuel and prepared some cars, most of the German infantry did not have a vehicle, not even horses, and General Rundstedt’s army headquarters only had more than 20 troops. A car, which is even smaller than the second-type infantry army deployed in France.
Because of the lack of motorized infantry that allowed Germany to gallop across the French battlefield, the movement speed of the German army became a serious problem restricting the German army's operations. In the face of Norwich's counterattack in Montgomery, England, the main reason for the slow response of Army Group A under Rundstedt was that, except for the armored forces, the mobilization speed of other troops was indeed not as fast as that of the British army fighting locally.
Similarly, as a large-caliber artillery unit that has not been paid much attention to, because of weight and volume issues, and the astonishing consumption of shells, it was placed in a relatively rear position. After all, there are naval artillery support on the landing beach, and there are aircraft inland to make up for it, so the importance of artillery can only be ignored.
Therefore, on February 20, only two German regiments with 150mm artillery were deployed in the UK as support units. Moreover, these two regiments lacked towing vehicles and artillery shells, and their combat capabilities were very limited. The number of Friedrich rockets is quite a lot, but because the ammunition pouring speed is too fast, and the vehicle and gun are integrated and have high mobility, they have become the treasure of the town house that they are reluctant to use.
Can only be used at critical times and at critical locations.
Therefore, I believe everyone knows the reason why the British were able to launch a counterattack at night, and even achieve certain results as if they had opened a cheat. As a supplement to the German artillery, the German Air Force's ground attack aircraft unit could not be put into the battlefield, so the short board of artillery fire that had been covered up was highlighted at night, relying on the firepower composed of 120mm caliber mortars and 105mm caliber artillery, Fighting against a large number of British 140mm caliber howitzers, the outcome can be imagined.
The British artillery, which was overwhelmed by the Luftwaffe during the day, could attack the German positions unscrupulously at night, and the German infantry could only compete with the British in the most vulnerable "direct confrontation" method at night-take If one's own weaknesses are exploited by the other party's strengths, it will be twice the result with half the effort.
Another reason for Germany's high combat losses in the British mainland was the decline in the quality of German offensive troops. In 1919, the German Wehrmacht was reduced to 100,000 people, and then Akado continued to expand secretly. Until the final blowout, the total number of German Wehrmacht was less than one million. In February 1938, the total number of the German Wehrmacht (including the SS) exceeded 5 million—although one-third did not have the ability to go to the front line, it is an indisputable fact that the 1 million elite has actually tripled.
For example, everyone knows that the 1st Division of the National Defense Forces was trained as an armored force. Administered the 1st Armored Division, part of which became the 1st Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, and the last batch became the 1st Paratrooper Division in the hands of Student. Later, the 1st Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht was divided into the 1st Infantry Division of Group A, which is currently fighting in the UK, and the 1st Mechanized Infantry Division, which is still in France.
In this way, in fact, everyone knows the actual capabilities of the German army hidden under the beautiful halo of invincibility, right? Germany's so-called 5 million army is actually full of moisture. The combat capability of the troops in the concentration camps in the rear is not much higher than that of the current British Boy Scouts. Most of the soldiers in the rear are not even equipped with steel helmets, and gas masks are even more luxurious equipment.
Therefore, the German Army Group A under the command of General Rundstedt, who landed in the UK, is no longer the Army Group A when he fought against France. In the hands of French Rundstedt, he holds the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th armored armies. , almost a third of the Panzergrenadiers were real ace Panzergrenadiers with armored vehicles. Now he only has two armored armies, the 2nd Armored Army and the 5th Light Armored Army, and the only infantry division that can be regarded as the main force is the 1st Infantry Division.
It is not difficult to understand why the Germans are not as good as the British at night, and it is not difficult to understand why the Germans are not as powerful as they were in France. The towns and cities in the UK are too dense, the assault of the armored forces is hindered, the infantry is too slow to approach, the lack of heavy weapons can only attack during the day, the combat level of the soldiers has declined, and the overall combat performance is actually not as good as the French campaign. Incomparably important reasons.
It's not just Akado, in fact, the German generals are also gambling. They are unwilling to push the real main force to the British Isles for consumption. So after recruiting a large number of recruits, they would rather look at the high loss figures than grit their teeth and prepare to use British recruits to train their own recruits. They firmly believed that after the fierce urban battle, the British battlefield would provide Germany with more than 200,000 elite infantry who were familiar with urban combat, which would be of great benefit to the German infantry who lacked experience in tough battles.
As for the delay in combat time, it is actually not a problem for a long time. If Germany does not land in the UK for a long time, then time is in the UK's favor. Now that the UK has become a battlefield, time is no longer a problem.
Why do you say that? Because the German Supreme Command has speculated that the fastest time for the Americans to enter a state of war is mid-May, which is 3 months later. And Acador's generals all predicted that the Battle of the British Isles would end in mid-April. Even if the United States seized the time to enter the war ahead of time, the Battle of Britain would have been almost over by then. There is no point in making a fuss.
So in terms of time, Germany is now a little ahead, so the German generals are willing to spend 15 days in the UK to fight their combat troops, because there are not many troops in Germany that have fought hard battles. About 1.9 million, less than 800,000 troops have fought fierce battles, which is not as scary as the 5.5 million regular army on paper.
On the day of March 3, the German army repelled the British symbolic counterattack again in the early hours of the morning. They have now occupied Haverhill, Royce Shield, and Braintree. Captured Colchester on March 1 and gained the important port city of Harwich. Clacton-on-Sea and Malden also planted the German swastika.
The key is that on this day the German army crossed the Great Ouse River, captured March, Huntingdon and Westbach, the white flag was erected on the head of Peterborough, the remnants of the British 7th Army surrendered to the German army, and the central part of the United Kingdom appeared A huge gap in the defense line was opened.
Of course Germany would not let go of this opportunity. Kobe, Stanford, and Leicester changed hands one after another. In the west, the German army stormed Coventry, and the British reserve 12th Army rushed to fight, and finally retreated to Birmingham. On March 4, Coventry became the possession of the German army. Then Northampton was captured by the German army, the road connection between London and Liverpool was crumbling, and the resistance situation in the whole of Britain took a turn for the worse, which caught everyone by surprise.
When Germany was ready to fight an uphill battle, the British surrendered-what about every inch of land? How about treating death like home? Didn't you send grenades to the civilians, are you ready to burn everything? In the end, I took off my pants, so you just show me this?
The surrender of the British defenders in the central region did bring disastrous consequences to the British defense plan. The stockpiled fuel, complete airports, and hundreds of fighter jets were handed over to the German enemy. 100 m3 tanks of the 7th Army. Of course, what made the Germans happiest was a total of 90 140mm howitzers.