Chapter 416 Caucasus (4)
The number of tanks in the Type 1943 reorganized armored division has exceeded the strength of the two Soviet tank corps. Considering that the Soviet tank corps was also equipped with some light tanks at this time, coupled with the German army's advantages in tank performance and personnel quality, an integrated armored division The combat effectiveness is enough to equal that of a Soviet tank army (usually consisting of 3-4 tank corps and 1 mechanized corps, with 550-650 tanks). However, there are currently only two such integrated armored divisions in Germany. And they were all in Army Group South - the first one was the 16th Panzer Division, and the other was the SS-Legend Guard Division.
In addition, Manstein assigned 3 Tiger heavy armor battalions and 12 independent rocket launcher companies to the front-line troops. More than 1,000 No. 4 or Tiger tanks were concentrated in the main assault direction of the Don River Basin. Coupled with the overwhelming air power, the overall attack capability was very powerful, and the Don Front Army of General Rokossovsky was retreating steadily - he only had one tank 4th Army under his command, so Manstein had " Pushing too fast” quip.
Regarding the new reorganization of divisions, only Guderian among the major generals unswervingly agreed with the idea at the beginning. He believed that the armored division should have 350-400 armored vehicles. He even hoped to replace the assault gun battalion with a tank battalion. , because practice has proven that the assault gun is a good hand in defense, but its effectiveness in offense is still not comparable to that of tanks. Front-line commanders including Manstein were initially skeptical about this, believing that the scale of the new organization was too large. The command was not satisfactory. Instead of concentrating 750 tanks (or assault guns) in 2 divisions, it would be better to split it into three general armored divisions with about 250 tanks. But after the actual arrangement of the two model divisions was completed, the advantages of the overall division division were revealed:
On the one hand, it is the command advantage. A complete integrated division with a 4-unit system is indeed more complicated to command than an ordinary division with a 3-unit system. However, after the elimination of the corps-level organization, the group army can directly command the division, and the group army headquarters - integrated division - regiment This kind of command transmission system is less complex than the transmission system of group army-corps-ordinary division-regiment, and the first batch of 4-unit armored division commanders to complete the reorganization of the division-both Hube and Dietrich are both He is a well-known general and his skills are well-known. Hoffman's idea is simple. Instead of letting mediocre commanders lead ordinary troops, it is better to let excellent generals lead more troops.
On the other hand, there is the advantage of force allocation. A 4-unit integrated division with the same number of people has more combat strength than a 3-unit ordinary division. This sounds contradictory. Although the troops have the same strength, how can an integrated division be better than an ordinary division? Something weird like having more combat troops? The reason is that the composition is different. The former has more close combat (field combat) troops. No matter how many men and horses a division has, only the close combat troops can actually be put into combat. When the close combat strength is lost, the division basically loses its combat effectiveness. With the same 40,000 troops and 750 tanks (assault guns), an integrated division only needs 2 division commanders, 2 armored regiment commanders and 8 tank battalion commanders, while an ordinary division requires 3 division commanders, 3 regiment commanders and 9 battalions. The latter has more division, regiment, and battalion-level headquarters and corresponding guard and support forces than the former. It is clear at a glance which force can be put into front-line operations.
Optimizing the composition of the force and strengthening the front-line combat capability is an idea that Hoffman has repeatedly insisted on. He is aware of the problems in the formation of the National Defense Forces in history: First, the combat force and support and support forces are not systematic, and the total force is empty but the actual combat force is lacking; The most prominent example is the air force. Therefore, although the total strength of the Third Reich was as high as 12 million at its peak (total number of the three armed forces + reserve army + SS + auxiliary military personnel), it always feels stretched when used; another is that it is used to forming new numbers. Instead of giving priority to replenishing the old divisions, they even repeatedly added water to the establishment in order to form more new units. Key equipment became less and less. On the surface, the number of troops seemed to be large. In fact, two new divisions were not as good as one old division. Division, when a unit with a name like the "National Grenadier Division" appears, it can basically declare surrender.
Hoffman carried out general mobilization economically, but did not further mobilize troops. On the contrary, he also reduced the 9.5 million troops based on the summer of 1942. By the end of February 1943, when the Supreme Command re-calculated, the total number of German armed forces was approximately 9 million, including: 4.4 million field army, 1.3 million army reserve, 1.4 million air force, 600,000 navy, 250,000 armed SS and military Auxiliary personnel: 1.05 million.
Among them, the biggest change was in the Army Reserve Army. Based on the 1.8 million troops in the summer of 1942, there was a net decrease of 500,000, of which 700,000 were added to the Army (300,000 new soldiers were added during the same period, a net decrease of 400,000), and 10 Ten thousand reserve troops were dismissed because they were too old and their physical condition did not meet the requirements. On the basis of doubling the total number of front-line aircraft, the Air Force directly reduced its strength by 300,000, and a large number of redundant personnel were removed to the Army and other auxiliary departments. The total number of the Navy remained basically unchanged. However, due to the increase in the tonnage of combat ships and aircraft and the increase in the number of land forces, With the establishment of the team, the proportion of its front-line troops has increased a lot. Through such adjustments, Hoffmann increased the proportion of actual front-line combat forces of the German armed forces to more than 50% for the first time, and the 500,000 retired laborers could be put into various production positions to exert greater value.
Due to the lack of losses in the Battle of Stalingrad and El Alamein, and the calmness of the Northern and Central Army Groups, the number of elite German front-line army troops increased by nearly 600,000 compared with the same period in history. This is what Hoffman relied on. Half of the elite troops won the war in North Africa and the Middle East.
Hoffman has read the archives and raw data: Germany's birth rate between 1925 and 1927 was basically maintained at around 2% (the population in this age group will gradually reach 18 years old and become eligible for military service). In 1927, it was only 1.84%. Considering At that time, the total population of Germany was only 45 million, which means that with full calculations, the annual increase in the service population was only more than 400,000 (men). Even if the German national working-age population in Austria and other regions is included, the total annual increase in the service-age population would be only 45 million. The population will not exceed 550,000. After obtaining this number, he finally understood from a population perspective why Germany ultimately collapsed after the complete defeat in Stalingrad and North Africa in early 1943 - these two wars resulted in a total loss of more than 600,000 troops (including deaths and inability to fight). The total number of wounded and captured people who returned to the battlefield), this number has exceeded the new service-age population throughout the year!
Based on such population figures, he gave Keitel an order that seemed very strange to the latter: the average monthly permanent losses of the German armed forces should not exceed 50,000. Considering that the battlefield area faced by the Third Reich exceeded 10 million square kilometers, this number is laughably low. But after taking inventory for several months, Keitel was shocked to find that because the Eastern Front strictly abided by the regulations that it would rather not fight without a high exchange ratio, this number had never been exceeded, and the largest loss in a month was just over 50,000. From October last year to March this year, the total permanent loss of troops in half a year was less than 200,000 - it is simply a miracle! The gap was easily filled by drawing forces from the reserve army. Not only was it completely filled, the frontline troops also began to increase significantly, and an additional Eastern Army Group was even organized to serve as a strategic reserve.
Another benefit brought by the reduced pressure on troop replenishment is that the reserve army can carry out training step by step. When the Red Army directly pushes various men and even women into the army and pulls them to the front line for combat, the commander-in-chief of the reserve army, Marshal Blomberg, is still letting him know. German recruits receive 12 weeks of intensive training. For technical arms such as armor, artillery, and engineers, the training period can be as high as 20 weeks. After completing intensive training, recruits are not sent directly from the new training camp to the field force, but first report to the field force's transition training brigade. The overall recruitment process operates in accordance with the unique two-stage recruit recruitment system of the National Defense Forces.
In addition to receiving recruits from the new training camp, the transitional training brigade (battalion-level unit) also receives wounded soldiers discharged from field hospitals and soldiers who have taken leave. The recruits and veterans are then mixed into groups for 3-4 weeks. Synthetic tactics training, usually each division has three such training groups independently. This process allows recruits to adapt to the actual conditions of the field troops. Having veterans who know each other in actual units is of great help to the recruits' psychology, and it also helps the recruits' psychology. It can exercise the command and coordination abilities of veterans and further enhance the centripetal force of the troops.
This kind of training and supplementary mechanism is very important in Hoffman's view. The Third Reich was able to win the war even though it had no advantage in equipment or numbers, relying entirely on this system. As the director of the Military Training Department and the Army Field Marshal Blomberg, the director of the Administration and the Minister of Defense, obviously understood the importance of this system more deeply than any of his predecessors. In addition, he was determined to consolidate and enhance his position in the eyes of the head of state, and he did a better job.
"I feel relieved to see the success of the new establishment." Hoffman said with a smile, "General Keitel has been suffering from this matter so much that he can't sleep well. At least I can rest assured when I go back this time. I believe he will be able to do it this year." Completed the reorganization task of 12 armored divisions."
Keitel smiled bitterly and shook his head, looking only at Speer. The meaning was obvious: Only by producing enough equipment can I complete this task.
A group of people were observing the map and sand table in the headquarters to judge the progress of each unit. As they were talking, the phone suddenly rang. Lieutenant General Weiler, the chief of staff of Army Group South, answered the phone and asked, "Führer, this is General Hubei made a wireless call using a large walkie-talkie. Do you want to hear the sounds of the battlefield? "