I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 781 Number One in the World
During the era of the British Empire, Britain often wielded the stick of sanctions and interference and brutally interfered in the internal affairs of other countries. Russia was one of the main victims.

Now the situation has changed. As the saying goes, revenge is taken when there is hatred, and justice is redressed when there is injustice.

In the Rovno exercise in September, Russia deployed 9 troops, 6 artillery pieces, nearly 320 vehicles of various types, and 1000 military transport aircraft.

The 60 transport planes departed from Vladivostok and airlifted 1500 soldiers to Rivne, demonstrating Russia's military delivery capabilities to observers from various countries invited to participate in the exercise.

The heavy equipment transported by rail arrived almost at the same time as the soldiers.

This reminds me of the time during the Russo-Japanese War, when the Russian army on the front line needed artillery shells, what was sent over was statues of gods. In just 20 years, Russia's military progress surprised everyone.

Adrian, who was invited to participate in the exercise as a military observer, was not surprised. When he was in Vladivostok, he was already accustomed to these routine operations of Russia.

This was the first time Charles de Gaulle received an invitation from Russia.

During the World War, de Gaulle was wounded and captured, spending most of his time in a prisoner-of-war camp.

In March of this year, Charles de Gaulle, who had been holding the rank of captain for 3 years, was transferred by Pétain to the Supreme Military Council as a staff officer.

Among all the foreign military observers invited by Russia, Charles de Gaulle had the lowest rank.

The relationship between de Gaulle and Pétain dates back to 1912, when de Gaulle had just graduated from the French Saint-Cyr Military Academy and was assigned to the 33rd Infantry Regiment stationed in Arras with the rank of second lieutenant, of which Pétain was the commander.

The first task that Pétain gave to de Gaulle was to prove the rationality of the "Maginot Line", which was contrary to de Gaulle's ideas.

As soon as the World War ended, France began research on national defense security.

The French themselves were also well aware that the Treaty of Versailles could not bring peace to France, so right after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Marshal Foch said that the Treaty of Versailles was just a "20-year armistice agreement."

The world war not only exposed Britain's external strength but also France's weakness.

Without Russia's restraint, even with the help of the British army, could the French army withstand the German attack?

This is a problem that all French people must face.

Against this background, Pétain proposed building an impregnable line of defense on the Franco-German border, which was the Maginot Line.

Charles de Gaulle spent 32 months in a German POW camp, which gave him plenty of time to think about the war.

Charles de Gaulle hoped to build a strong modern French army based on new equipment, to replace defense with offense and safeguard France's security.

This was the purpose of de Gaulle's coming to Rivne.

For Charles de Gaulle, Russia's equipment level, training, and logistical support capabilities are all very worthy of learning from the French army.

After the end of World War II, all countries were carrying out large-scale disarmament, and Russia was no exception.

Unlike the French army, Russia upgraded its weapons and equipment while disarming. Not only did it upgrade its bolt-action rifles to semi-automatic rifles, but it also began to classify its armored vehicles.

During the world wars, the levels of armored vehicles in various countries were actually similar, and the competition was based on production and scale.

Russia will have two types of armored vehicles participating in the exercise: one is a heavy vehicle that undertakes the main combat mission, and the other is a light vehicle used for reconnaissance and surveillance.

The difference between these two types of tanks is that the heavy tank has thicker armor and more powerful firepower.

Compared with light tanks, the only disadvantage of heavy tanks is that they are too expensive and not suitable for large-scale equipment.

This is relative to France.

For Russia, cost is not a disadvantage but an advantage.

The day before the exercise began, as per custom, the Russian military held a dinner to welcome observers from various countries participating in the exercise.

Guderian "accidentally" met Rommel, who was participating in an exercise with the Fu Division, at the dinner.

Unlike Guderian and his class, Rommel and his class had an exchange period of 4 years.

As an old senior, Guderian shared with Rommel the interesting things that happened during his study in Vladivostok, and de Gaulle was also deeply attracted.

"Most of those guys from Africa have IQ problems. Many of them still can't tell the difference between left and right after half a year of school. Granat's temper is getting worse and worse. He often punishes those guys by making them clean the toilets. Not only do they not take it seriously, but they are also complacent because they don't have to train."

Rommel mentioned some new changes in the Vladivostok Army Academy with a look of disdain.

“It always takes some time for savages to adapt to civilized society.”

Guderian's words resonated strongly with de Gaulle.

The world war caused France to lose a generation, and it had to increase its reliance on the Foreign Legion, with an increasing number of African soldiers serving in France.

Although this solved the problem of shortage of manpower in France to a certain extent, it also caused more and more social problems.

Most of the Foreign Legion soldiers serving in France are white people from North Africa, and their skin color is not much different from that of the French.

The biggest problem is the difference in beliefs.

“Are there many African cadets at the Vladivostok Army Academy?”

Charles de Gaulle did not know much about the situation in Vladivostok.

Guderian and Rommel shut up at the same time and looked at de Gaulle with vigilance.

De Gaulle found himself in a difficult situation and had to go to his newly-acquainted friend, Colonel Emile Meyer.

Emil Meyer is nearly 80 years old and is the oldest of all the military observers.

Emile Mayer's military ideas were similar to those of Charles de Gaulle. Although the two had just met, they hit it off and became close friends regardless of age difference.

Some people think that the Maginot Line was proposed by Emil Meyer. In fact, it was not.

As early as before World War I, the French built a defense line on the Franco-German border, which is why the "Schlieffen Plan" had to bypass Belgium.

The Maginot Line was built by further improving the existing defense line, not from scratch.

Unfortunately, in order not to cause protests from Belgium, the Maginot Line, like before, did not cover the Franco-Belgian border. Therefore, political correctness is not a rare thing and has long existed widely.

Emile Mayer was fond of de Gaulle's mobile warfare based on armored vehicles.

"When I return to Paris, I will suggest to the Marshal that we form an armored force similar to the Russian one."

Charles de Gaulle was worried.

"You'd better not do this. The Marshal also has his own reasons."

Emile Mayer disagreed, saying that Pétain was not stubborn, but that France had its own national conditions.

Unlike France and Russia, Pétain did not have the power to make the final decision.

The Russian army wants to develop new equipment, and it’s all a matter of an order from George. The State Duma has no say in military matters.

If the French army wanted to obtain new equipment, it had to obtain funding from parliament, and Pétain's influence was minimal.

French parliamentarians have too many things to worry about, and their main focus is on governing. The military takes precedence over the economy, health care, education, and even women's rights.

why?
Because women's rights bring votes.

"If we use the money we spend on building the defense line to build armored forces, at least when war comes, we will have more options."

Charles de Gaulle did not want to give up. It was obvious that armored forces were the best solution. Charles de Gaulle did not understand why the parliamentarians disagreed.

There are many things that are not understood in France.

After the Washington Naval Conference, France decided to spend 10 billion francs to build a fleet that would be competitive in the Mediterranean.

Not to mention that it can defeat the Russian and British Mediterranean fleets.

At least not worse than Italy's.

Giving 10 billion francs to the army can not only transform all French troops into armored forces, but at least build four Russian armored divisions.

The budget for the Maginot Line was at least 30 billion francs.

Based on the actual situation in France, the final cost should be around twice the budget.

If we use all of them to build an armored force——

Don't even think about it.

"When you become the marshal, you will understand the marshal's decision."

Emil Mayer did not want to explain too much.

There is no way to explain this.

The reason why many Russians were disappointed with the Tsar during the Imperial era was that the Tsar seemed to only focus on national affairs and ignore people's livelihood.

Here comes the problem.

If the Tsar keeps an eye on the trivial matters around ordinary Russians every day, then what are the officials at all levels for?
When Russia wanted to hold an exercise, George only gave a rough framework. How the specific exercise would be conducted and when the equipment of the exercise troops would be loaded were the work of the General Staff.

What Emil Mayer could not explain seemed easier in Germany.

Germany's situation was worse than France's. The French army was unable to form armored forces due to economic reasons, while the German army was restricted by the Treaty of Versailles and could not even equip artillery.

The reason why the German army was not completely disbanded was to suppress domestic rebellion.

Machine guns are enough to deal with the rebels, using artillery is a waste.

At times, the Germans were very flexible.

So after Germany obtained the loan from the Siberian Bank, the first company it established was tractors.

And it is a crawler tractor.

The chassis of a crawler tractor is similar to that of an armored vehicle, and the engine is directly universal.

Krupp's armored steel was the most advanced in the world long before the World War.

Although Krupp's artillery's firing rate was not as good as that of the French artillery, its range and power were far superior. Compared with the firing rate, these two were more important.

After solving the problems of chassis, engine, armor, artillery, and related technologies of armored vehicles, the only problem left for Germany is integration.

Once you have an armored vehicle, you have to know how to use it.

This is why Germany would rather risk losing talent and send Guderian and Rommel to Russia for exchanges.

Charles de Gaulle also hoped that the French army would send officers to Russia for "exchanges."

"How is it possible for the world's best army to admit that it is inferior to Russia?"

Emil Mayer smiled bitterly, it is not easy to be the world's number one.

(End of this chapter)