Chapter 609 Revenge
George did not take the German fighter jets to heart. Germany's biggest problem was insufficient industrial capacity.
This may sound impossible. Germany is the country with the highest industrial output value in Europe. How can it have insufficient industrial production capacity?
The industrial production capacity here refers to peacetime.
After the war broke out, all countries had entered a state of war, and everything was in the service of the war. Germany immediately revealed its true colors.
In 1914, the population of the Russian Empire was 165 million, while the population of Germany was only 67 million.
After the war broke out, the Russian Empire and Germany were similar, both mobilizing about 3 million people.
For the Russian Empire, 3 million people was only a primary mobilization and could not be called a general mobilization for war.
For Germany, although 3 million is not the limit, it already accounts for 54% of Germany’s working-age population.
In other words, Germany can continue to mobilize.
But Germany's mobilization has reached the point of affecting domestic industrial production.
The reason why the Germans did not continue to use poison gas bombs on a large scale on the battlefield was also due to insufficient production.
George's confidence is that with the loss of 6 bombers on the front line, Amur can produce 60 bombers within a month.
Bombers are capable of self-defense. They have machine gunners on their backs and bottoms, both forward and backward. Most of the nine people in a crew are machine gunners, and their firepower far exceeds that of fighter jets.
While the Germans shot down 6 bombers, the bombers also shot down more than 20 fighter planes.
This was the first time that German fighter jets appeared on the battlefield.
The next time Russian bombers are dispatched, they will be escorted by fighter jets.
After the wedding in Polis, Karl did not return to Germany immediately, but went to Petrograd with Nikolai.
George sent a telegram to Karl, telling him that the Russian army would launch a large-scale bombing of Berlin on January 1, 1915.
Karl took the train that night and returned to Constantinople from Petrograd.
"George, you can't do this!"
Karl was furious, his family were all in Berlin.
“When you used poison gas bombs on the front line, you didn’t ask me for my opinion.”
George wanted to make William II feel afraid so that the German army could restrain itself.
“It was you who used the gas bombs first, not us!”
Carl was very angry. "Small-minded George" really lived up to his reputation.
It’s really not the Germans’ fault.
A month ago, the French army fired a batch of tear gas shells at the German positions.
It may be that the French's technology was not up to par. These tear gases did not have the desired effect. The German army did not even realize that the French army had used chemical weapons, and they only learned about it afterwards.
At the same time that the German army used chemical weapons to attack, the French army used chlorine gas in Ypres.
This time it finally worked, but the effect was not good, because after the French army used chlorine gas, the wind direction suddenly changed -
"Then you are going to retaliate against the French? Why are you using poison gas on my troops?" ?”
George reminded Carl that there is always a wrongdoer and a debtor.
Karl looked troubled and speechless.
The Germans did not need to use poison gas against the French.
On the contrary, on the Tisza River line, the strength gap between the German-Austrian Allied Forces and the Russian Allied Forces is too big. Once Vasily and Andrei are ready, Mackensen, no matter how "tactical genius" he is, will have a hard time withstanding the Russian Allied Forces. attack.
The "genius" thing is falling too fast.
Ruzyski, who performed well in the Battle of Galicia and was known as the "Conqueror of Galicia", performed mediocre in the Battle of Lodz.
Hindenburg, who annihilated two Russian armies at the Battle of Tannenberg, was disgraced under the walls of Warsaw.
After the Serbian War, Alexander, who was praised by Peter, was in Sofia planning to compete with Sternovic for control of the remaining Serbian army.
In the battle where Mackensen used poison gas, 7,000 German troops did not defeat 100 Russian troops. The Germans had not even started to praise Mackensen, and the halo was completely shattered.
In this case, Mackensen could only rely on some auxiliary means to delay the Russian attack.
“George, Anne’s relatives are also in Berlin——”
Karl tactfully reminded George that as part of the European ruling class, not to kill each other.
This is the nature of world war.
It is not justice or the market. The reasons stated by newspapers in various countries are just excuses. What is written between the lines is ambition and power.
Karl probably believes that war is a game between royal families of various countries, and the traditions between nobles should be followed, and officials should not be punished.
George had something to say that he couldn’t explain directly.
The Russian Empire was not the only one to fall in World War I.
The Russian Empire, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire were all destroyed in World War I.
Therefore, William II should not think that hiding in Berlin is safe. It is useless to hide in Antarctica.
"Nicholas, the youngest son of Amusa, died in battle on the Tisza River on the 25th——"
George sighed, this was the reason why he had to take revenge.
Amusa is Alexei Alexandrovich, George’s cousin. Although he is not a direct relative, he still belongs to the Romanov family.
The reason why George informed Karl was that there were still some technical problems with the bombing of Berlin.
The closest field airfield in the Russian Empire is over 600 kilometers from Berlin.
When fully loaded with fuel, the ultimate range of a Russian bomber is 800 kilometers.
This is a one-way ticket. Demeter's suggestion to George was to send fighter jets carrying aerial bombs to take off from the aircraft carrier of the Baltic Fleet to bomb Berlin. The distance could be shortened to 200 kilometers.
This is indeed the best solution. It can at least ensure that the fighter jet has enough fuel to return after throwing away the bomb.
But this completely fails to reflect the significance of strategic bombing.
Only now did George realize the role of strategic bombers.
It’s not too late to realize it now.
Compared with Germany, the biggest advantage of Russia is that it has sufficient human resources.
Germany’s domestic industrial production is very tight. Even if the role of aircraft and poison gas is recognized and the corresponding technology is available, large-scale industrial production cannot be organized due to limited human resources and raw materials.
The Russian Empire wanted to create.
George has sent a telegram to Mario, requesting Amur Airlines to develop a strategic bomber with a range of more than 1,500 kilometers.
This requirement is not high.
Strictly speaking, it is not research and development, but production.
Because Amur Airlines’ technology pool originally had a design that met George’s requirements, but there was no demand for it before, so there was no actual production.
Like George, Vasily is not a character who does not fight back when he is in trouble.
Since December 20, Vasily and Andrei concentrated all the heavy artillery of the 12th Army and the 13th Army to conduct intensive bombardment of the German defense lines.
Mackenson’s pressure doubled.
Large-scale shelling is a precursor to a campaign-level attack, and the Russian army may launch an attack at any time.
Although the Russian army does not have 305mm field artillery, the 150mm heavy artillery is very powerful and numerous. The 12th Army and the 13th Army add up to 192 guns.
Only the more professional artillery divisions will be equipped with the 150mm level. The artillery regiments of ordinary infantry divisions are only equipped with 120mm howitzers.
For other countries participating in the war, the 120mm is already a heavy artillery.
305 That is perverted.
Germany also has a more perverted 420, but like the 305 of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, due to its scarcity, it does not have the ability to change the battlefield and can only be used to conquer fortresses such as the "Fortress of the Scorching Sun".
Under the intensive attack of the Russian heavy artillery, the German and Austrian forces suffered heavy losses.
On the 29th, the Austrian Fifth Army finally couldn't stand it anymore and was forced to retreat.
George was stunned by the news.
The Russian army has not yet committed ground troops to attack, but it only relies on artillery strikes to drive away the Austrians?
This is too rough.
Conrad was helpless.
From the 20th to the 29th, the Russian army's large-scale shelling continued for nine days.
Before the German army launched the Battle of Ypres on the Western Front, they bombarded the British positions for three days.
This is already the limit of the German army. In these three days, the German army fired all the artillery shells stored in the previous month.
Conrad did not know how many artillery shells the Russian army had stockpiled before the war.
Looking at the posture of the Russian army, 9 days is obviously not the limit.
When the Russian bombardment first began, Conrad, like Mackensen, ordered the troops to hold their positions.
Before the war broke out, the military exercises commanded by Conrad mainly practiced offense and never defense.
So under the intensive attacks of the Russian army, the Austrian army suffered more serious losses than the German army, with more than 1,500 soldiers being killed or injured every day.
Continuous shelling was still effective. The Austrian defense line was seriously damaged and could not be repaired under the continuous shelling by the Russian army.
On a single day on the 28th, the Austrian army suffered 4,000 casualties.
Conrad finally couldn't stand it anymore.
The nine days of shelling by the Russian army ordered Andrei to receive a medal of St. George.
Artillery command has always been an art.
Artillery strikes are not blind attacks. Artillery shells have a cost, and artillery also has a lifespan, which cannot be wasted.
Austria is fighting against the five scum and ignores him.
The German defense line was very organized. During the Russian artillery bombardment, the German troops hid in the artillery holes, leaving only a few observers on the position. After the bombardment, the soldiers in the artillery holes quickly returned to their positions to guard against the attack of ground troops.
If we do not invest ground troops at this time, but carry out a second round of shelling, the losses of the defenders can be imagined.
In this case, is it okay to not see the rabbit but not the hawk?
No.
Soldiers quickly returned to their positions after the shelling stopped, not only to prevent ground troops from attacking, but also to repair the fortifications damaged in the shelling.
Otherwise, under the continuous intensive artillery strikes, if the damaged fortifications are not restored in time, once the ground troops are put into attack, the defenders will have no advantage at all.
Under Andre's command, the Russian artillery performed brilliantly. Not only did the heavy artillery perform well, but they also made full use of the mobility of the rocket launchers to hit and run, leaving Mackensen helpless.
The quality of the German artillery is no less than that of the Russian artillery.
One of the most important tasks of artillery is fire countermeasures. Once an enemy artillery position is discovered, it must conduct a fire strike on the enemy artillery position to destroy the enemy artillery.
The emergence of rocket launchers completely changed this tactic.
It takes time for heavy artillery to deploy. Once deployed, it will not move easily. This is the prerequisite for fire countermeasures.
The rocket launcher is hit and run. By the time the German artillery technicians calculated the location of the rocket launcher position, the rocket launcher had long since disappeared.
(End of this chapter)