Chapter 863 Mediterranean Strategic Plan

Although the British Army has not taken any major action for the time being, this does not mean that the British will really remain indifferent in the early stages of the war.

George VI quickly took major action. The first step was to re-hire Churchill as the Minister of the Navy and make Churchill fully responsible for the naval offensive.

This is a position that Churchill is very familiar with, and it is also the first step for him to return to the British cabinet government.

On the second day of serving as the Minister of the Navy, Churchill proposed the Navy's action plan "Mediterranean Strategic Plan" to George VI and Prime Minister Baldwin.

The whole plan is actually very simple, that is, to achieve a comprehensive blockade of the Mediterranean through the British and French joint fleet.

There are two benefits to blocking the Mediterranean. First, Britain and France's enemy Italy is a Mediterranean country. Italy lacks minerals and needs to obtain a large amount of mineral resources from abroad through sea transportation.

These tanks and aircraft were produced by Germany in a rush during the war preparation stage, and some of them were weapons and equipment seized from Poland.

In addition, there are a large number of weapons from Britain and France in the Polish warehouse. These weapons can not only allow the Germans to study the weapons data of Britain and France in large quantities, but also increase Germany's weapons design experience.

But now, after more than ten days of fighting, this border has already turned into a red-black battlefield.

The Austrian army has exceeded one million people at this time.

However, Spain has not yet declared war on Britain and France, which also means that things have not reached the worst point.

It is very important for Britain to blockade the Mediterranean, Gibraltar in the west and the Suez Canal in the east.

The reason why the Third Army was surrounded was that the Second Army did not resist the firepower of the German army on the front.

In fact, this army was unlucky. It first experienced intensive bombing by the German Air Force, and then was surrounded by the German Army. Almost all the elite died in the breakout.

But being able to achieve such a loss ratio can also prove the actual gap between the German army and the Austrian army.

Under such circumstances, the various ethnic groups in the Austrian Empire had no way to unite to resist the German invasion.

In the end, the Third Army, which had less than half of its soldiers left, finally retreated to the rear of Austria to rest with the rescue of the Fourth Army.

The second army still set out from Bavaria, but its purpose was not to go south, but to go west and cut off the Czech region. The role of this army is similar to that of the First Army that attacked Poland before, and the purpose is to quickly cut the enemy's defense.

Gibraltar is the land that the British snatched from Spain. It is no secret that the Spanish have always had the idea of ​​regaining Gibraltar.

The fundamental reason for the existence of such a gap is the result of the mixed Austrian army.

In fact, according to reason, the Germans are Germans, and the Austrians are also Germans. The actual combat effectiveness of the two armies should not be much different.

Although Mussolini's ambitions are great, he still has a clear understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

After defeating the Austrian Empire, Germany can not only obtain a large number of German population and developed industry, but also open up the route to the Balkan region.

At present, in order to achieve a comprehensive blockade of the Mediterranean, in addition to the help of the French Navy, it is also necessary to pay close attention to and maintain good relations with Spain.

Although the Balkan region is a famous powder keg in Europe, it is also rich in resources. In particular, Romania's oil is a necessary energy source for the German Empire and the Kingdom of Italy at this time, and it is also the material relied on by the army to attack.

Italy can also recruit 3 to 5 million troops, which the Austrian Empire can never compare with. Because of its population of only more than 20 million, the Austrian Empire can only recruit 2 to 3 million troops under extreme circumstances.

Needless to say, Germany. After the demise of the United States, Germany's native population has been firmly ranked among the top three powers.

Of course, this is not because the Austrian army is so brave and good at fighting. It can fight back and forth with the enemy with less than half of its establishment.

Shortage of manpower should be the most serious problem facing the Austrian Empire at present. With the support of Britain and France, the Austrian Empire is not short of weapons and equipment for the time being.

After all, Spain is not a pure Mediterranean country. The west coast of Spain is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, which also means that Spain can obtain supplies from the colonies at any time through the transport fleet. Although they have almost no colonies, this is also a way for Germany and Italy to obtain supplies.

The three governments all want each other to pay more. For the entire national level, this instability will make it difficult for the country to show a more unified coordination.

This is not only the industrial center of the Austrian Empire, but also has a large number of coal and iron mines, as well as the South Germans who share the same roots with the German nation.

From the map, it can be seen that the current territory of Austria is somewhat similar to the Chinese character "入". The upper part of "入" is actually the Czech region that the Germans have always been thinking about.

From the offensive of the German army, we can also see Germany's attitude towards attacking Austria, that is, first the Czech Republic, then Austria, and finally Slovakia.

This led to a relatively slow conscription in the Austrian Empire. In addition to the Austrian government's resolute implementation of the conscription order, the Czech and Slovak regions were not so willing to conscription.

Even a Czech infantry division in the Second Army retreated too early, threatening the flank of the Third Army and facing the end of being outflanked.

April 22, 1936, border of the Austrian Empire.

Half a month ago, this place was still a green forest. Occasionally, wild animals rushed out of the woods, drank the fresh water from the lake next to them, and then jumped into the dense jungle.

But the price was that the Austrian Empire had to survive the previous month alone, which was a severe test for the Austrian Empire with insufficient troops.

The Austrian Empire, which lacked the Czech region, basically no longer had the strength of the great powers. More importantly, without the Czech Republic, the land of the Austrian Empire was similar to a long strip of "one", and this shape of land was the most deadly.

In the past half month, the Austrian Third Army was almost defeated, and the huge army of more than 250,000 was less than half full.

If Germany used Gibraltar to attract the Spanish to join the war, it would become much more difficult for Britain to blockade the Mediterranean.

Not to mention, Poland's aircraft manufacturing technology is pretty good, and the relevant drawings and design data have also benefited the Germans a lot.

Secondly, the Mediterranean is also very important to the German-Italian alliance. Once the Mediterranean is blocked, the German-Italian alliance can only obtain supplies from outside Europe through the North Sea to the Atlantic route.

This has led to a more fatal phenomenon, that is, the governments of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are not satisfied with the conscription plans issued by other governments.

Once the army suffers a large number of casualties, it will be a major blow to the Austrian Empire, as if the younger generation is directly broken.

Thanks to such a large population, Germany can easily recruit millions of troops, and even in extreme cases, the army can be as high as 10 million to 20 million.

After annexing most of Poland, Germany's total population has approached 94 million, and is constantly moving towards the 100 million mark.

As long as Germany annexed the Czech region, there is basically no big problem with the population exceeding 100 million. This is a stable data second only to Russia among the local populations of all the powerful countries.

The war broke out on April 8, and only half a month has passed. But in the past half month, the casualties of the armies of both sides have already exceeded six figures, and the hospitals in the rear of Austria are filled with wounded.

The entire battlefield was filled with smoke, and even the small lake seemed to be covered with a layer of plain clothes.

Because the previous attack on Poland was relatively smooth, the Germans continued to use the method of attacking Poland and upgraded the two-line attack to a three-line attack.

The roar of the engines of a large number of aircraft, accompanied by the explosion of shells from both sides and the screams and wails of soldiers, played the charge song of soldiers on both sides.

But it is obvious that the comprehensive strength of the Austrian Empire at this time is not a little bit worse than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I.

For Germany, by annexing Czechoslovakia, they can easily take over Czechoslovakia's industry and population, which is an expansion plan that is more effective than Poland.

From the encounter between the German and Austrian armies, it can be seen that the combat effectiveness of the armies of both sides is not at the same level.

And for this attack, Italy's army of nearly 700,000 is completely sufficient. After all, the main force of the attack was the Germans, and the biggest role of Italy was to contain the same number of Austrian troops.

Although such a loss ratio is not very accurate, after all, the defeat of the Third Army was relatively sudden and did not occur frequently on the battlefield.

In terms of population, the population of the Austrian Empire barely exceeded 22 million, which was only about half of the population of Italy, and was obviously lower than the normal level of the great powers.

With the weakening of Austria, Austria did not have an absolute advantage in the rule of the empire, and the governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia also had a high voice.

When the British plan to blockade the entire Mediterranean was launched, the German army also launched a fierce attack on the Austrian Empire in Austria.

But the reality is that the loss ratio of the German army and the Austrian army reached a terrifying 1 to 3. This also means that for every 3 Austrian soldiers killed, 1 German soldier can be killed.

At this time, there were more than 3 million huge troops gathered around the Austrian Empire.

The German army was divided into three routes. The first route started from Bavaria and attacked Austria head-on to the south, tying down the main force of the Austrian Empire on the Western Front.

Both the German and Austrian armies had long been numb to such tragic situations.

The reason why the Czech infantry division retreated prematurely was that the Czech division commander believed that the Second Army's deployment was using the Czechs as cannon fodder.

The German government's goal was to completely annex the Czech industry and population, so in this attack, it did not adopt the strategy of bombing Czech transportation hubs and industrial bases in large numbers.

The battlefield seemed messy. In the sky, fighters and bombers from both sides were attacking each other continuously.

In the face of the north-south attack from Germany and Italy, as long as the connection point between Austria and Slovakia was cut off, Austria alone, or even the Italians, could cope with it.

The blockade of Italy was a major blow to Italy's industry and production, and it was also likely to dampen Italy's morale.

Italy had invested a total of nearly 700,000 troops. Because of France's participation in the war, Italy had to take out more than half of its troops to guard against France's attack.

What's worse is that although the country's name is the Austrian Empire, it is a federal country composed of Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Italy's population has reached more than 42.44 million, which is the standard population data of the great powers.

Whenever such a charge is played, a large number of soldiers from both Germany and Austria will fall. Some soldiers are lucky and are only hit by stray bullets in their limbs, which can only be regarded as minor injuries on the battlefield.

In addition, the support of the Austrian people for the government is not too high. Since World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not only degenerated into the Austrian Empire, but also lost Hungary, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia in succession.

There are also some voices of Germans in the Czech Republic. These Germans obviously want to join the arms of Germany. They take an opposing attitude towards the Austrian government and passively resist the conscription regulations issued by the imperial government.

In Churchill's plan, Spain has been regarded as a potential enemy of Britain. There is no way. They have to pay attention to the treaty they signed with Germany, and they have to guard against the radical attitude shown by Franco.

If the Italian army is added, the Austrian Empire is facing attacks from all sides. How long it can hold out depends entirely on the frequency of attacks from Germany and Italy.

The Austrian army is composed of Austrians, Czechs and Slovaks, but most of the officers who command the army are Austrians.

Some guys are much more unlucky. The shells falling from the sky hit the bull's eye without bias. With an explosion, even the people and clothes disappeared.

The Czech Republic not only has a large amount of minerals and advanced industry, but is also the prominent part of the Austrian Empire. Naturally, it has become the first target of Germany's attack.

As long as the British Empire uses its army to block this route again, Germany and Italy will be like the first World War, relying on local materials to support them, and they have already fallen behind in the war.

The Third Army set out from Poland and threatened the Czechoslovakia region to the southwest. If all goes well, the Second Army and the Third Army will successfully divide the Czech region and then achieve the goal of quickly annexing the Czech Republic.

If Austria relies solely on its efforts, it will only be a matter of time before it is quickly annexed by Germany. After all, the population of the Austrian Empire was smaller than that of Poland, which only lasted for a month.

In addition to tanks and aircraft that took time to manufacture, Britain and France transported a large amount of weapons and equipment to the Austrian Empire, including artillery.

Among them, the German army was the largest, with a total of more than 1.5 million troops, including 12 tank divisions, 17 artillery divisions and 2,200 aircraft.

Such unfair treatment led many Czech and Slovak soldiers to be dissatisfied with Austrian officers, and even to disobey the orders issued by Austrian officers.

Once one of the three governments could not bear the excessive casualties, the collapse of the Austrian Empire was a foreseeable problem.

Today, I will update it once for the time being.