Chapter 918: Encirclement (10)
After Hoffman defeated Goering and served as the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, the basic organizational structure of the German Air Force was adjusted drastically. The Air Force Command, like the Navy and Army Commands, was absorbed by the Supreme Command. The Air Force General Staff merged with the original Aviation Department to assume specific military orders and military and political affairs, but the production and research and development functions were handed over to the Armament Department. In general, a large number of institutions and personnel were streamlined, especially the administrative staff was greatly reduced.
At the same time, Hoffman also cut off Goering's style of reaching out everywhere when he was in office. The Air Force Armored Brigade and the Air Force Field Division were all delegated to the Army after the transition period, and the supporting guard forces were also greatly reduced. These few moves alone cleared more than 500,000 redundant personnel for the Air Force. When Hoffman took over, the total number of the Air Force was nearly 2 million, but there were only more than 8,000 combat aircraft, and an average of 250 people were required to man each aircraft; in less than two years, the number of front-line combat aircraft had exceeded 20,000, but the total number of people dropped to more than 1.2 million, with about 60 people per aircraft. If we add the more than 3,000 active aircraft and nearly 100,000 people diverted to the Navy, this number is almost 55 people per aircraft.
Although Hoffman believes that this number is relatively high, historically, at the end of World War II, the US Army Aviation had about 40 people per aircraft, and the US Army also had a large number of heavy bombers that required many officers and soldiers. If calculated based on this establishment, it would be more reasonable for Germany to adjust the Air Force establishment to 30,000 aircraft/1.4 million people at the end of 1944.
However, he also took into account that the US military did not have a strong demand for ground air defense, and that the US Army Aviation Force stationed in Europe received help from the British side, so he appropriately relaxed the requirements and gave Jeshonnek a target of 30,000 aircraft/1.5 million people (excluding the diverted naval aviation part). Of course, given that the current war situation is developing smoothly, he believes that it may not be necessary to deploy so many troops, but the Air Force is still steadily advancing according to this requirement.
The Air Force and its affiliated Air Military Region are the basic combat units of the Air Force. Generally, the Air Force Commander is a general or a lieutenant general, and the rank is equivalent to the Army Group level. The commander in charge of several Air Forces is usually a general or a marshal, and the status is equivalent to the Army Group Commander level. In line with the rhythm of the Army's withdrawal and expansion of the division, the Air Force also abolished the Air Force organization and changed it to a number of Air Force wings directly under the Air Force. As a result, the Air Force wing has changed from a regiment-level organization to a division-level combat force.
In addition to the Air Force Wing, the Air Military Region under the jurisdiction of the Aviation also includes airport combat forces (communications and anti-aircraft artillery), airport support forces (supply, logistics, maintenance), etc. An air wing has several air wings under it according to its importance and deployment area, including bomber wings (KG), fighter wings (JG), night fighter wings (NJG), transport wings (CG), and originally further subdivided into fighter wings (ZG), training wings (LG), etc. However, with the increase in the size of air wing establishment, these functions have been gradually absorbed together. Take the training wings as an example. Except for the training air wing under the charge of Yeshunnek, which is composed of training wings, the rest of the air wing is no longer listed separately, but a training brigade is set up in each combat wing.
After such adjustments, the air force wing basically realized the "54 unit system": that is, each air force wing has 4 combat battalions and 1 teaching battalion, each battalion has 4 squadrons, each squadron has 4 teams, and each team consists of 3-4 aircraft - fighters are 4, divided into 2 double-machine structures; heavy bombers are also 4, but in a group of 4; dive bombers and other attack aircraft are 3, in a group of 3.
Usually, combat missions require at least the scale of squadrons (12-16 aircraft). Usually, a wing has about 270-400 aircraft when fully staffed (in addition to each squadron, the battalion headquarters and the wing headquarters each have some aircraft), so the wing commander is required to serve with the rank of major general or even lieutenant general. Of course, theory is theory, and reality is reality. Basically, no wing can be fully staffed. It is considered fully staffed if it can reach 90%, and it can undertake combat missions if it is more than 70%. Only when it is less than 50% will it be considered to be supplemented.
Especially the training brigade of the Western Front Air Force, which was always alone with only half or even one-third of its personnel - because once the combat troops suffered losses, the brigade commander would want to transfer personnel from the training corps to fill the vacancies. However, Germany's unique three-level training mechanism (after graduating from the aviation school, first enter the training aviation team, then the Eastern Front Training Brigade, and finally the Western Front Training Brigade) ensured that the supplemented personnel were not novices, but were relatively mature in experience, and could be put into front-line combat as long as they adapted a little.
The German Air Force had the advantage in this regard. The initial training time for U.S. Army Aviation pilots was relatively long, as long as 350-400 hours, which was much longer than the 200-250 hours of training for their German counterparts. However, the new German pilots had the novice village of the Eastern Front to practice. These novices with about 200 hours of training often fought against Red Army pilots with only 20-30 hours of training under the guidance of veterans. If these German novices were lucky enough not to die after performing 150-200 hours of combat missions, they would also have about 400 hours of flight time. Their combat experience and tactical skills would have been tested in actual combat, completely overwhelming their American counterparts with the same 400 hours of flight time.
As the losses of the US military aviation continued to expand, the training time of the US military began to be reduced to about 300 hours, while the actual combat time of the German army on the front line reached 300-400 hours, which is equal to the 300 hours of novice pilots of the US military on the Western Front, all of which were 500-600 hours. And for opponents with actual combat experience, it is easier to judge the battle situation when there is not much difference in aircraft performance and quantity. The greater misfortune of the U.S. Army Air Force was that it ran into the German HNA. Air force personnel were completely selected from the elite troops on the Eastern Front. Even the young pilots trained from scratch by the German HNA must first go to the Eastern Front to accept the test of blood and fire. test.
Richthofen concluded: “One hour of actual combat on the Eastern Front is equivalent to 10 hours of domestic training, and it is equivalent to 5 hours of in-team drills and simulated air combat. Those with poor psychological quality, negligence, reckless impulsiveness, and wrong technical and tactical actions can never be corrected. The pilots have been eliminated early by the Russians. This process is cruel, but those who pass are the proud ones who can truly fight in the sky! In a sense, we have to thank the Russians. They are dedicated, unreserved, and unreserved! The iron-faced examiner of private thoughts!”
It was precisely by virtue of this strategic adjustment, the explosion of military industry, and the sufficient supply of oil that the German Air Force gradually reversed the decline in the stalemate stage and regained the shining glory when the Blitzkrieg was launched. The size of the air force has also been expanded to 14. As the air force in South America continues to increase, the Air Force is also preparing to establish a 15th air force (South America) in the near future.
Hoffman looked out the window quietly, waiting for good news from the front. He believed that the Air Force, which was now different from its past, could win the Second Air Battle of Britain.
But the earliest good news came from Ribbentrop, who said in an excited and even excited voice on the phone: "Führer, Stalin can't hold it anymore! Early this morning, our special liaison officer in Bulgaria We received the message personally conveyed by Boris III that the Russians requested to negotiate an armistice with us as soon as possible... We are very urgent.”
"Who did they send?"
"Old friend Molotov, if you agree, he can come to Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria) to interview us this evening. Of course, we have to promise to ensure the safety of his flight."
"First of all, show off Stalin and say that you are negotiating with the British and cannot get away for the time being. Mr. Molotov can go to Sofia first. We will guarantee his safety and freedom of movement."
"Okay, I understand, how many days do you plan to delay?"
"Today is the 28th." Hoffman thought for a while, "It is estimated that the war in Iceland will have a major result in a few days, and we will be able to eat more Red Army troops on the Eastern Front. Just say that we will meet him on the night of June 1st. Meet in Bulgaria…”
"Does the core condition of the negotiation need to be changed?"
"The core conditions remain unchanged. The Bolsheviks must retreat to the east of the Ural Mountains, the army must be reduced to less than 2 million, and the Central Asian national governments need to be independent." Hoffman said with a smile, "Of course, you can decide other strategies. This kind of negotiation is temporary. It won't be over for a while, so we can see how sincere Stalin is."
"What about the British here?"
"The Battle of Iceland will determine their final attitude. Don't worry. The second line here in Hess must be arranged so that they can compete with each other... You have been in the champagne business after all. Are you more knowledgeable about this than me?"
If anyone dared to mention the words "champagne dealer" in front of Ribbentrop, he was sure to fall out, but the head of state was obviously not one of them - he repeatedly used the term "business skills" to describe the shrewdness of a big shot, such as the Japanese Navy. Marshal Horikichi was very good at "doing business", and Ribbentrop regarded "being good at doing business" as the best praise for a head of state.
May 28 was destined to be the day when the German army attacked across the entire front. During the offensive on the eastern front, Guderian Cluster, Kleist Cluster, Hauser Cluster, Hoth Cluster and the Transcaucasus Cluster that landed on the southern front launched a fierce counterattack. The total number of troops invested in the offensive was as high as more than 1.5 million, and 140,000 Red Army troops were killed in one day. This not only forced Chernyakhovsky's troops deployed in the Transcaucasus to accelerate their contraction, but also successfully killed the 3rd, 24th, and 3rd troops in the encirclement. Most of the effective forces of the 1st Guards Army, the Red Army changed from a full-line offensive posture to a full-line retreat.
At the same time, on the British battlefield, more than 4,000 German aircraft carried out more than 8,000 air raid missions, destroying 37 military airports and ancillary facilities in northern Britain and Northern Ireland at the cost of 421 aircraft, and also shot down and destroyed British military aircraft. In addition to the loss of more than 600 military aircraft (some destroyed on the ground), and the failure of the British aircraft to carry out the bombing mission of the Icelandic fleet, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy lost nearly a thousand aircraft in one day. What's even more troublesome is that after losing so many aircraft and facilities, they were unable to organize a 2,000-scale offensive force on the 29th...