Rise of Australia

Chapter 955: The Great Counterattack after Christmas

Christmas of 1937 arrived quickly.

On December 12, Christmas Day, Britain, France and Australia gathered a large number of troops in France, North Africa and the Balkans, preparing for a counterattack.

With the coordination of the governments of Britain, France and Australia, these soldiers will have a very happy Christmas.

Beef, mutton, canned rabbit meat and dairy products from Australasia, potatoes from Ireland, spirits from Britain, and French red wine and bread with foie gras made up a very sumptuous dinner for the soldiers of the Three Kingdoms.

In fact, the cost of this dinner alone was not low. After all, it was a meal for millions of people, and the beef and mutton consumed required two large transport ships to transport.

The reason why the three governments agreed to the heavy bleeding was very simple, because after Christmas, the counterattack against Germany would begin.

On December 1937, 12, more than 26 million British, French and Australian troops marched out of the Tours Line and launched a fierce attack on the German troops outside the line.

In order to return to Paris as quickly as possible, Britain, France and Australia gathered more than 600 tanks to form a very large armored group.

In order to cooperate with this armored army, the three countries also gathered more than 3500 aircraft and launched a fierce bombing on the German troops at the front at the beginning of the war.

This is also the reason why the Germans were bullied and transferred some of their aircraft to the Eastern European battlefield, resulting in the number of German aircraft on the French battlefield being at a disadvantage.

Although all countries have been desperately manufacturing weapons, equipment, tanks and aircraft since the war broke out, the production speeds among countries are completely different.

Germany's industrial strength is indeed strong, but it is far from the sum of the three countries of Britain, France and Australia.

Judging from the current aircraft production speeds of various countries, the UK is undoubtedly the fastest, with an annual output of at least 8000 aircraft.

Germany is not far behind. Considering that Germany has absorbed the industrial scale of Poland and Czechoslovakia, and the former great power Austria, Germany's current industrial scale has exceeded that of the three countries of Britain, France and Australia.

According to the estimates of Britain, France and Australia, Germany's annual aircraft production is at least over 7000, and it is very likely to exceed 8000.

After that, Australasia's actual aircraft production ranks third in the world, with an average of more than 5500 aircraft built each year.

France ranks fourth in the world, with an aircraft construction rate of about 4000 aircraft per year.

In fact, France can still build aircraft faster. If it successfully recaptures Paris and reorganizes the industrial areas around Paris, France's aircraft production speed should be able to catch up with Australasia.

However, considering that all Australasia's aircraft are metal frame aircraft and the performance and construction costs of the aircraft are completely different, the ranking of aircraft production speed cannot fully reflect the country's comprehensive strength.

But it must be admitted that the production speed of aircraft still has a great impact on the current war.

Although airplanes are consumables in war, countries are still continuously building airplanes because their role is so powerful.

Whoever can deploy more aircraft in the battle will have the advantage in the air.

Although the Germans ranked second in the world in aircraft production speed, they had to deploy their air force to three battlefields because they were fighting on two fronts.

This also led to the fact that the scale of Germany's air force in a single battlefield was not as large as imagined. This was also the reason why the German army on the Western Front had fallen into a completely defensive state without any offensive.

Britain, France and Australia deployed 3500 aircraft. If the Germans wanted to maintain their air superiority on the French battlefield, they had to deploy more than 3000 aircraft to respond.

But the current situation is that the number of aircraft that Germany can provide is less than 2000, some of which are training aircraft or outdated products seized from other countries.

Where did the German planes go? Some of them were deployed to the Eastern European battlefield, bombing Russian facilities and troops day and night.

Another part is deployed in Germany to defend more important German cities.

There was nothing that could be done about it. Ever since the Battle of Britain, mutual air raids between Britain and Germany had become the norm.

Although Germany successfully launched sneak attacks on British cities many times, the British Air Force was no pushover and had bombed many German industrial cities in succession, and the German losses were also not low.

This air force stationed in Germany is one of the trump cards for guarding Germany's airspace.

Of course, the German government is also planning other air defense measures, such as the famous Berlin air defense tower.

Although the British Empire only carried out one air raid on Berlin, it happened without the Germans being prepared.

But no matter what, the air raid on the capital Berlin is a shame for Germany and an event that must never be repeated.

In order to prevent Berlin from repeating the same mistake, under the order of the German Chancellor, the Berlin City Government began to build a number of anti-aircraft batteries in the city and named them the Berlin Air Defense Tower.

At present, the first air defense tower of the Berlin Air Defense Tower has been completed, which can ensure the safety of the Imperial Government and the Berlin City Government.

Because the air-raid tower is close to the Berlin Zoo, it is called the Zoo Air-raid Tower by the Germans.

Although the air defense tower was slowly being built, for the German government, the Berlin air defense tower was not used most of the time.

Because once the Berlin air defense tower began to be activated, it meant that Berlin was facing a very serious crisis. Even the capital was facing such a serious crisis, which meant that Germany was on the verge of extinction.
At least for the current German Empire, such a situation will not occur for the time being. Since a large number of aircraft have been deployed in Germany as a defensive force, it is difficult for the British Air Force to enter the vicinity of Berlin, and even difficult to break into the German mainland.

After all, there is no so-called stealth technology now, and aircraft are almost completely transparent to radar detection.

To get bombers into Berlin's airspace to carry out an air raid was as difficult as sending an army deep into the heart of Germany to capture Berlin.

On December 12, the British, French and Australian troops officially launched the attack.

The perspective comes to Tunisia in Africa, which is one of the main battle zones in the North African battlefield.

At present, there are at least 10 German troops and 15 Italian troops in Tunisia, and there are also airports and ports. It is one of the most difficult places to attack in the entire North African region. In order to recapture Tunisia, the French raised 20 troops, plus 10 troops from Britain and Australia, forming a huge lineup of more than 40 troops.

In terms of military size, the number of troops of Britain, France and Australia is nearly twice that of Germany and Italy.

However, the British, French and Australian armies in Africa are mainly colonial troops, and the number of main forces is less than half of them, which also means that the actual gap between the two armies is minimal.

If you want to capture a large North African city like Tunisia, you must rely more on the power of the navy and air force.

The good news is that the Mediterranean, as the main blockade area of ​​the British Royal Navy, also has the largest number of Allied fleets.

In order to assist the army in conquering Tunisia, the British Royal Navy will deploy a large number of warships to dock outside the Tunisian coast as a supplement to the army's firepower.

If the offensive firepower against Tunisia is somewhat weak, then these naval warships will demonstrate their powerful firepower to Tunisian cities, thereby quickly defeating Tunisia's German and Italian defenders.

At eight o'clock in the morning, two divisions of soldiers had advanced from Libya to Sfax, Tunisia.

This is a coastal town in southern Tunisia and the first line of defense for the German and Italian defenders against the British, French and Australian troops.

As soon as the two armies met, they each unleashed their greatest firepower and launched a massive bombardment on the enemy.

Here we have to praise the excellent military production capacity of Britain and Australasia. Since nearly one-third of the land in mainland France was occupied, the military production of France has been greatly affected.

However, the French were not at all panicked, because the military industries of Britain and Australasia provided France with a large number of weapons and equipment. Even the Lee-Enfield rifle had become the main rifle equipped by the French army, and the proportion of equipment even exceeded that of the standard rifles produced independently by France.

Although this phenomenon should not occur for the powerful countries, it was indeed a helpless choice for France at that time.

You know, France's army had only a few hundred thousand before the war, but after the war it quickly expanded to millions or even tens of millions.

However, France was so unprepared for the war that its domestic weapons and equipment storage could only sustain daily consumption, and it was completely unable to take care of the additional consumption on the battlefield.

This also caused weapons from Britain and Australasia to quickly flood the French military market and to some extent affected the development of the French military industry.

In addition, because the African colonies were occupied and destroyed by Germany and Italy, the cost for France to obtain materials and mineral resources from the colonies was even greater.

As a result, it is almost impossible for the French military industry to compete with the British and Australian military industries. Although France's demand for weapons, equipment and ammunition is increasing, France's own military industry has not developed much.

According to the situation of France's military industry, France's total military industry has only expanded by less than 21% since the outbreak of the war.

Because large areas of the north have been occupied, the total scale of the military industry controlled by the French government is currently only 84% of what it was before. The slow growth of the military industry is evident.

On the contrary, the military industry in the UK and Australasia has grown at a rocket-like speed.

According to Australasia's regulatory data on domestic military industrial enterprises, the total scale of Australasia's military industry has expanded by 147% compared to before the war, and the production speed of weapons and equipment changes significantly almost every day.

Although it is less than 1.5 times the pre-war level, a large part of the reason is that Arthur began expanding the military industry before the war.

At present, Australasia's military industry ranks among the best in the world, and only the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia can compete with Australasia in the military industry.

Britain and Germany have relatively strong military capabilities, and the production speed of their weapons and equipment is among the best among the great powers.

The Russians are simply because of their huge size. Russia has a population of more than 100 million, which means they can maintain a larger military industry with a smaller population ratio.

In particular, Russia still attaches great importance to the development of its own military industry. Although Russia also needs weapons and equipment support from Britain and Australia, most of the weapons and equipment used by their domestic soldiers are still produced by themselves.

The Russians even dismantled several tanks sold by Australasia for military research. Although they knew that the tanks they obtained were not the most advanced products of Australasia, there was still a lot of room for improvement in such tank technology for Russia's own backward tank development.

This also shows the fundamental gap between France and Russia. Although they have also been occupied by a large area of ​​territory, the Russians still insist on independent military production and research, and still maintain their ambition to become a world power or even a world hegemon.

Although the French also have ambitions to become a world power, both the French government and the French people seem to have given up hope of becoming the world hegemon again, and they even refuse to mention it.

Of course, this is actually a good thing for the UK and Australasia.

After all, there is only one seat for the world hegemon, and even the interests of the entire world are not enough for a few powerful countries to share.

The more countries involved in the competition, not only will the competition be more intense, but it will also mean that there will be fewer allies that one can make.

If France had remained so unambitious, it might have been a more qualified ally for Britain and Australasia.

What are the characteristics of a qualified ally?

First, they must either be fairly strong or have an important geographical location, making them worth winning over.

Second, without a very powerful army and military industry, it would be perfect if we could rely more on our own weapons and equipment.

Third, be able to clearly position yourself and stand firmly behind the international diplomatic team.

A country that can meet these three points is undoubtedly the object of competition for every country that wants to become a world hegemon.

It is precisely because Britain, Australia and Russia do not meet these characteristics that it is destined that even if the three countries conclude various alliances, they cannot become firm allies.

There will even be big differences among the three countries in the choice of certain interests. Especially in the competition for world hegemony, the differences will evolve into greater contradictions and even become direct competition and confrontation.

(End of this chapter)