Chapter 862 Eastern Front Feast (Part 2)

The 1944 type organization is consistent with the 1943 type organization in terms of logic system, and both emphasize the construction of armored divisions (armored grenadier divisions) according to the core principle of "4 regiments, 6 battalions, and 8 companies". In theory, this master system organization is too large in terms of manpower and technical equipment, and ordinary countries cannot handle it at all, and it requires extremely high command ability. However, it is in line with the situation that the German army does not have a corps-level command organization, and it is also consistent with the actual combat requirement of "elite soldiers" in the future. Although a lot of equipment is required, it is nothing more than a number for Germany, which has almost the entire Europe and has reached its peak level of total mobilization. As for command ability, Germany now has the best army commander in the world, and it is not a problem to be competent.

After seeing the luxurious organization of the US armored division (taking the US Second Armored Division as an example, when fully staffed, it had 228 medium tanks, 114 light tanks, 53 tank destroyers, a total of 395 tanks and tank destroyers, and 156 armored vehicles, more than 100 various artillery pieces with a caliber of 75mm or more, and more than 2,000 military vehicles of various types), the German army was also shocked. Although everyone did not think that the US armored division was very strong in combat, it was obviously not weak in equipment. The German General Staff, unwilling to fall behind, was determined to defend the honor of the world's first army - the German main armored division should beat all countries in the world, and a tie would be a shame!

So on the basis of the 1943 type, the unprecedented 1944 armored division was launched, which constituted the combat core of the armored division. There were a total of 4 regiments, including 1 armored regiment, 2 armored grenadiers and 1 armored artillery regiment. Each regiment had 4 battalions, and the overall scale reached 4 battalions and 16 companies. The divisional direct forces also include 6 independent battalions and 8 independent companies. The 6 battalions are: armored reconnaissance battalion, armored engineering battalion, armored communications battalion, field maintenance battalion, armored air defense battalion and medical battalion. The 8 companies are command company, teaching company, guard company, military police company, quartermaster company (responsible for food, clothing, housing and transportation), military band, supply company (responsible for ammunition) and transportation company.

Compared with the 1943 type organization, the 1944 type reduced the motorized baggage battalion and directly incorporated it into the direct sequence of each front-line combat unit, and upgraded the maintenance company to a field maintenance battalion to strengthen the battlefield support function. As for the teaching company, it mainly focuses on training a new batch of backbone officers, especially the level of lieutenants promoted to captains and captains promoted to majors.

The four battalions of the armored regiment include one heavy armored battalion (Tiger, 54 tanks), three medium armored battalions (Panther, 76 tanks per battalion), and a total of 290 tanks (4 armored battalions totaling 282 tanks, 8 tanks for the regiment headquarters); the armored grenadiers are a 3+1 structure from top to bottom, that is, each regiment has three infantry battalions with one firepower battalion, each battalion has three infantry companies with one firepower company, and all infantry members are equipped with armored vehicles (one squad is equipped with two Sdkfz.251 half-track armored vehicles), and the firepower battalion includes two companies of Wasp self-propelled artillery, one company of Himmler Organ and one company of Cyclone self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (mainly for personnel killing, auxiliary air defense).

Speaking of Wasp self-propelled artillery, there is an interesting thing. In history, Hitler did not like the word Wasp, and finally changed it to Sdkfz.124 self-propelled howitzer, but Hoffman obviously did not mind it. However, under his order, the No. 2 chassis had been discontinued long ago, so the German Wasp self-propelled artillery was a 105mm self-propelled howitzer based on the 38T chassis. The Cricket self-propelled artillery (150mm) was developed on the basis of the 38T. Although the Cricket had stronger firepower than the Wasp, its mobility was not very good after being overweight, and the failure rate was also high, so in the end, all were changed to Wasps.

In order to highlight firepower and take into account flexibility and mobility, the armored artillery regiment has greatly reduced towed artillery compared to ordinary artillery regiments. The main firepower includes 2 heavy artillery battalions (150mm Grizzly self-propelled artillery). The Grizzly was produced on the No. 4 chassis. Hoffman was not optimistic about the No. 4 tank destroyer, so the No. 4 tank destroyer was never equipped. Only the Grizzly (self-propelled howitzer), the Whirlwind (4 20mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns) and the Ball Lightning (2 30mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns) were modified using the No. 4 chassis.

Originally, there was a 37mm Dongfeng self-propelled anti-aircraft gun based on the No. 4 chassis, but after testing, it was found that the effect was far inferior to the ball lightning, so Dongfeng was also cut off by Speer without hesitation. There are fewer weapons based on the chassis of the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 tanks. Historically, self-propelled artillery based on the No. 3/4 mixed chassis, such as the Rhino, was simply not manufactured and only remained on the drawings. As for the Hummel originally based on the T-34 chassis (the Hummel in history was based on the No. 3/4 mixed chassis), it was later removed. Although there is less fun, the complexity of the equipment is greatly reduced.

The other two battalions of the armored artillery regiment are one 88mm anti-aircraft artillery battalion (the 88 gun shoots down planes and tanks, and has made many merits. Even if it cannot be self-propelled, it can only be endured); 1 battalion of assaulters (88mm tank destroyers based on the T-34 chassis, 72 vehicles).

After the reorganization, the 1944 Armored Division had a total of about 22,500 people, 378 tanks and tank destroyers (in addition to the 362 tanks and tank destroyers of the armored regiment and artillery regiment, the division's direct troops also had 16 tanks), more than 200 artillery pieces, and nearly 800 half-track armored vehicles of various types. In order to ensure the operation of such a large number of mechanized equipment, the entire division was equipped with more than 3,000 European standard trucks.

Lieutenant General Schment, director of munitions (he was promoted to lieutenant general in early 1944 due to his effective guarantee of material supply and dispatch on the Eastern Front) calculated the price and cost of this armored division in detail: the entire establishment of a Type 1944 armored division alone costs just as much as equipment. It is equivalent to 4 Tirpitz. In terms of daily fuel consumption, it is about 16 Tirpitz - the latter consumes at least 300 tons of fuel a day, and such an armored division cannot be operated without 5,000 tons of fuel. (Based on the advancement limit of 150 kilometers per day), if it is combat, it will be at least doubled or even more.

He came to the conclusion that arming such a force was definitely not cost-effective from an economic point of view. Relying on being a close confidant of the Führer and a former chief adjutant, he secretly informed Hoffman of this conclusion. He believed that instead of piling up all the highest-grade and best equipment to create a super force, it would be better to issue more common equipment to ordinary troops, such as producing fewer Tigers. It would be more advantageous to equip ordinary infantry with a batch of No. 3 assault guns.

"I am aware of your conclusion. If it is the early stage of the war or even a stalemate, I will definitely adopt this suggestion. But you must know that when the war is about to come to an end or a regional battlefield is about to end, I will take out these weapons and equipment "There are other purposes for building such an elite force," Hoffman explained, "I not only want to focus on solving the Bolshevik problem, but also use this force to intimidate the Americans and let them know that they will never be able to defeat us." of."

"This... is hard to understand." Schmont scratched his scalp, "The United States has more money than we do, so they can afford it."

"But they can't afford to risk their lives." Hoffman smiled slightly, "I put out 10 Type 1944 armored divisions on the Western Front. If the Americans used ordinary equipment, how many people would die for this? 200,000? 300,000? 500,000? The U.S. military’s death toll may be less than 500,000. What do you think if they let another 500,000 die?”

Schmenter was silent. He could not guarantee that the United States would withdraw from the war if 500,000 people died, but he could at least guarantee that the U.S. government would become even more powerful.

"In order to overwhelm our 10 Type 1944 armored divisions without killing many people, the Americans must prepare better, more advanced, more resource- and money-consuming troops. At least one more armored division like theirs, right?" Hoffman smiled and said, "You must be very aware of the war economy in the Middle Ages. It costs more to raise a 1,000-man heavy cavalry than 100,000 ordinary infantry. But as long as monarchs have the strength, they will definitely choose heavy cavalry. Why? This is Deterrence, tell the surrounding Xiaoxiao that there will be a huge price to pay for opposing us!”

"The same number of U.S. armored divisions cannot defeat us..." Schment shook his head, "And there are not many of them. The U.S. SS Division said there are only 5-6 at present, but their ordinary divisions are better equipped than ours. good."

"When the final battle against the Soviet Union is over, how much courage do you think the Americans will have to land and attack us? He will have to show stronger strength and better equipment, right? This will buy time, win the unification of Europe, and Time to improve our strength." Hoffman smiled, "There is no need to retain such a large army after the war on the Eastern Front. If we want to deter the forces in Europe that are ready to move, do you think it is better to retain 10 Type 1944 armored divisions or 20? Is it good to be an ordinary teacher?”

Schment nodded, accepting this point of view.

Hoffman only made a simple analogy. He actually did not tell the other party the development direction of the future military revolution: equipment must develop in the direction of becoming more and more sophisticated and expensive, and the quantity must also decline sharply, similar to the situation in World War II. There are no more scenes of thousands of heavy equipment moving around. On the premise of possessing nuclear weapons, a hundred fourth-generation or fifth-generation aircraft and thousands of main battle tanks are enough for a country to dominate the world. I have never seen the Royal Navy, which once dominated the world and had to fight battleships, come to Is it almost impossible to get even a dozen warships together at the beginning of the 21st century?

Now there are no problems with other equipment and personnel, only the production of Panther tanks is holding back - even if all the newly produced Panthers are packed here, it will not be enough to replace them, but Speer has vowed to ensure that by mid-May We must be able to produce enough Panther tanks for the troops. Having received such a positive answer, Hoffmann and Guderian were not in a hurry. There was still a spring muddy period in the Caucasus Plain in April, and the Red Army's energy had not yet been completely exhausted. The Caspian Army Group needed to continue to grind. By June, Quake will tell the Russians how to write the word "despair."