I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 888: Lack of Explosive Power

With the fall of Fort Nikolai, all of Russia's enclaves on the Jutland Peninsula were occupied by the German army.

In order to capture the Nikolai Fortress, the German army mobilized two divisions, suffered more than 4000 casualties, and 18 armored vehicles were destroyed.

After occupying the Nikolai Fortress, the German army learned that the Russian army had completely evacuated before the outbreak of the war, and the fortress was guarded by a temporary force formed by police and farmers.

The German army was surprised by the fighting power of the Russian farmers and even more shocked by the fighting will of the Russians.

All the more than 600 people guarding the fortress were killed in the battle, and no one surrendered.

Ter Schegent escaped in time before the ammunition depot exploded and was not killed in the Nikolai Fortress.

It was also because of Ter Schgent's escape that the actions of Alexander and those warriors became known to the outside world.

Although Ter Schegent did not die, he suffered a severe mental blow. After examination, the doctor believed that Ter Schegent's mental state was no longer suitable for continued service.

"We can't win, you know? We are doomed to lose this war!"

Ter Schgent was very sad and his spirit was completely broken.

"Napoleon failed to conquer Russia, and neither can we. I hate war, and I hate myself. This should not have happened—"

Ter Schgent burst into tears, and he would struggle in pain for the rest of his life.

"this is not your fault."

Raum's consolation was feeble and powerless.

"No, it's my fault. I could have said no, but I didn't. I used what I learned from Russia to kill Russians. I'm a treacherous bastard!"

Terschgent was hysterical.

Raum was extremely sad. He had also studied in Russia.

That night, Ter Schgent committed suicide at home.

Ter Schegent is not the only one who questions the war.

The lightning tactics that had been invincible before finally showed their true colors when facing Russia.

The reason why blitzkrieg tactics were always successful was not because they were so magical, nor because the German army was so capable of fighting, but because the opponents were too weak and had to rely on their peers to provide a support.

In fact, as early as during the Battle of Britain, the weaknesses of the blitzkrieg tactics had already been clearly exposed.

Once the German Air Force fails to gain air superiority in the first place, the blitzkrieg tactics will be unsustainable.

Although before this, the Russian Air Force lacked opportunities to perform because it had not participated in the war, anyone who knows something about Russia knows that Russia has the largest number of pilots in the world.

At the beginning of the war, the Germans did have an advantage because of the lack of experience of Russian pilots.

However, the advantage gained by the German army was not enough to turn into victory.

As time went on, the balance of air power began to tilt towards Russia.

Less than a month after the outbreak of the war, more than one-third of Germany's accumulated ace pilots had been consumed.

At the same time, due to insufficient aircraft production in Germany, the losses on the front lines could not be made up, and the number of aircraft available for dispatch by the German army was decreasing.

On July 7, Russia officially put the jet fighter into combat.

The first unit to be equipped with jet fighters was the 15th Amur Aviation Regiment.

While the battle between Russia and Germany was raging, wars were also going on between Hungary and the Kingdom of Romania, and between Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Like the Germans, Hungary and Italy made no progress.

Hungary encountered real difficulties only after crossing the Transylvanian plains.

Although Romania's military morale was unstable, it still managed to withstand the attack of the Hungarian army by relying on its solid defensive positions.

During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungarians were not known for their military prowess.

There are a large number of Cossacks in the Romanian army. Although their will is not strong enough, their fighting ability is still trustworthy.

George doesn't have high expectations for Romania, as long as they can hold their defense and prevent it from collapsing.

Compared with Romania, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which had made sufficient preparations before the war, was more worthy of George's expectations.

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was fully mobilized. In addition to nearly 50 people, Polis also accumulated nearly 1200 fighter jets and more than 10 armored vehicles, enough to form armored divisions.

After several mobilizations, the total strength of the Kingdom of Italy was about 200 million.

Mussolini sent about 50 men to follow the German army to attack Russia.

Excluding the 30 Italian troops in North Africa, Mussolini had about 100 million troops in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Compared with the German army, which was high-spirited and had won victory after victory, the Italian army had a huge gap in both strength and fighting will.

Before the outbreak of the World War, the Kingdom of Italy mobilized 50 people to conquer the weak Abyssinian Empire.

Almost at the same time as the Battle of Britain, Italian forces launched an attack on France's colonies in North Africa.

At this time in North Africa, the only troops there were those recruited locally after Charles de Gaulle established Free France.

These North Africans did not receive rigorous training, and their weapons and equipment were seriously lacking, and even the number of rifles was seriously insufficient.

Even in this situation, the Italian army still failed to defeat the Free French Army, which was surprising.

Like Russia, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia established a professional military system early on, focusing on the training of technical soldiers, especially fighter pilots. The Kingdom of Italy had less than 500 fighters and was completely unable to stop the Yugoslav Air Force. Soon after the war broke out, the Italian Air Force had lost more than half of its fighters.

Mussolini had to ask Berlin for help.

The mustache boy once again felt the pain of his stupid teammates.

At this point in the war, Germany didn’t even have enough planes to take care of Italy.

What made the mustache man unhappy was that even Germany had begun to implement a material rationing system, but the Kingdom of Italy had not made any moves yet. The mustache man had no idea what was going on in Mussolini's pig head.

Mussolini also called the mustachioed guy a pig-brained man.

Fight, fight, fight, it never ends. Now I finally meet a tough guy. What should I do?
Why couldn't the Kingdom of Italy defeat Free France and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia?
If the Kingdom of Italy had not sent 50 elite troops to fight Russia, it would have already crushed Free France and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Mussolini was very angry and threatened the little mustache that if he did not send reinforcements to Italy, Italy would withdraw the 50 troops sent to Germany.

The mustache man had no choice but to let Rommel lead a newly formed armored division and an infantry division to Italy.

Mussolini did not let Rommel go to Yugoslavia, but asked Rommel to go to North Africa.

North Africans have a tradition of joining the army, and the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion is in North Africa.

The Battle of Britain proved that without France's help, Britain could only passively take the beating.

After the German army turned to Russia, the possibility of implementing Operation Sea Lion and landing on the British mainland no longer existed.

In order to allow de Gaulle to hold on, Churchill returned part of the French troops that retreated to the British mainland with the British army in Dunkirk to de Gaulle.

This group of French troops was mobilized by France before the outbreak of the war. They received complete military training and were more powerful than the Free French Army.

With the addition of this group of French troops, the Free French Army showed signs of counterattack.

In order to stabilize the situation in North Africa, Mussolini had to send Rommel to North Africa.

Rommel was smart and arrived in North Africa in a low-key manner without making any fanfare.

Until the moment before the German army entered the battle, the French army did not know that their opponents had changed.

So when the German flag appeared on the battlefield, the Free French Army collapsed across the board.

Although Rommel had only two German divisions under his command, de Gaulle didn't know that.

The French army had already suffered psychological trauma from the German army, and this scene can only be described as fleeing in fear.

Rommel won a great victory and defeated three French divisions in his first battle in North Africa.

The French suffered less than 2000 casualties, but a full 1.5 were captured by the Germans.

This ratio fully demonstrates how great the psychological trauma of the French army is.

The good news was that Rommel was short of fuel and was unable to pursue the French army and continue to expand his victory.

This is thanks to the help of the Russian Mediterranean Fleet and the British Mediterranean Fleet.

Before the outbreak of the Russo-German War, the British Mediterranean Fleet was suppressed in its home port of Alexandria and was completely on the defensive.

After the outbreak of the Russo-German War, the Russian Mediterranean Fleet frequently launched attacks on Italian ports, and the British army was finally able to catch its breath.

Mussolini was really wrong. He should not have provoked Charles de Gaulle. Instead, he should have concentrated his forces to attack Egypt and connect Italian North Africa with Abyssinia.

When Charles de Gaulle went to North Africa, he tried to take away the French troops that were retreating to the British mainland with the British army, but was rejected by Churchill.

In desperation, de Gaulle had to start from scratch.

Since Churchill had been so cruel before, de Gaulle would most likely not lend a helping hand if Mussolini attacked Egypt.

Once Italy occupies Egypt, Italy's colonies in North Africa will be connected in a line, allowing it to attack or defend with ease.

Italy is now in pieces. If de Gaulle is given time to catch his breath, the Italian army will be in danger.

After the Russian Mediterranean Fleet entered the war, communication between the Kingdom of Italy and North Africa became increasingly difficult, and Italy's supplies to North Africa could only be carried out at night.

This is why Rommel lacked explosive power.

George had no time to think about North Africa at the moment.

Due to the unfavorable progress of the German army, a gap of about 50 kilometers appeared between the German Central Army Group and the Southern Army Group.

Andrei suggested that the Russian army take the initiative to attack, disrupt the German army's plans and seize the initiative on the battlefield.

"If this is a German trap, do you have a plan to deal with it?"

George did not agree to attack. With tens of millions of troops on both sides, there would be no room for any gaps.

The Russian army is gradually gaining air superiority. Once the Russian army gains air superiority, it can naturally gain the initiative on the battlefield through air superiority.

"Even if this is a trap set by the German army, we can use it to eliminate more German troops and let them understand what a real blitzkrieg is."

Andre was filled with anger and wanted to teach Germany, the traitor, a lesson.

"The Germans had a hard time because we had a strong defensive line. Once we left the line, our casualties would skyrocket."

George doesn't treat Russians as gray cattle.

(End of this chapter)