I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 889 Deserve it
George made up his mind to rely on his strong industrial strength to continuously consume Germany. When Germany's attack could no longer be sustained, Russia would start counterattack.

Andre's plan could have ended the war earlier.

However, it is also possible that the Russian army will suffer heavy losses due to underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly. At that time, there will be gaps in the Russian defense line. Once the German army breaks through, the Russian army will also pay a heavy price.

At this time, what is being compared is not who has a better ability to seize opportunities, but who makes fewer mistakes.

Just as George expected, as time went by, the hidden dangers of the German army were gradually exposed.

The German model requires continuous expansion and continuous victory in order to maintain its strong offensive power.

Once the German attack is thwarted, the contradictions that were hidden in the early stage due to the victory will gradually erupt.

Up to now, most of the attacking forces dispatched by the German army came from the puppet army, and the little mustache did not send the elite German troops into the battlefield.

This certainly reduced German casualties, but it also led to growing dissatisfaction among the vassal armies, led by Poland, with the German army.

After the end of the Battle of Poland, about 30 Polish troops surrendered and became vassal troops of the German army.

After the end of the Battle of France, after several mobilizations, the number of Poles joining the German vassal army had exceeded 60, making it the largest vassal army of the German army.

The Poles' loyalty did not win them the appreciation of the German army, and their status within the German army was even lower than that of the notorious Italians.

"Our losses have exceeded 20. If this continues, our troops will be completely wiped out in less than a month."

Szymanski, who once served in the Polish army and surrendered after the fall of Poland and is now the Chief of Staff of the Polish Army, was frowning.

"What else can we do? Now we can only hope that Germany can defeat Russia."

Even Commander-in-Chief Bartosz himself did not believe what he said.

The blitzkrieg tactics allowed Bartosz to see the strength of the German army, and Bartosz was convinced.

Russia showed Bartosz a completely new form of warfare.

The blitzkrieg was a tactical victory that caught the Polish army off guard. Before Poland could react, it was quickly destroyed by the pincer attack of the German and Russian armies.

Although the German army was powerful, it was not invincible.

Bartosz believed that the Polish army could perform better if the battle happened again.

Compared with the German army, the Russian army is strong in its industrial strength and unfathomable war potential, which is terrifying.

Bartosz had a feeling that even if the German army could gain a certain advantage in the early stages, as time went on, it would still be the Russian army that would ultimately win.

Russia has too large a population and too great a strategic depth. Even if Europe were to unite its forces, it would be impossible to occupy all of Russia.

The Russian army has not yet counterattacked and the battlefield is in a stalemate.

Once the Russian army began to counterattack, even if the German army was well-rested, it would be difficult for the German army to withstand the Russian offensive.

"The possibility is extremely remote."

Szymanski is equally pessimistic.

"What should we do?"

Bartosz hoped that Szymanski could find an effective solution.

"We must preserve our strength as much as possible and cannot continue to consume it without limit."

Szymanski was worried that once his troops were exhausted, the Germans would abandon him.

Like Bartosz, von Bock also felt bleak about the future of the German army.

For many consecutive days, the attacking vassal troops suffered heavy casualties, but still failed to find the weakness of the Russian army.

George's judgment was correct. The gap in the German front was indeed a trap set for the Russian army by Bock and Gerd von Rundstedt, commander-in-chief of the German Southern Army Group.

The current situation is very bad for the German army.

The number of German fighter planes was decreasing every day. In order to make up for the shortage of fighter planes, German pilots had to increase the frequency of sorties. Some pilots had to participate in five battles a day.

Frequent participation in battles made the German pilots exhausted. In the fierce air battles, if they made mistakes due to lack of concentration, the consequences were usually the destruction of the aircraft and the death of people.

While the Russian army was competing with the German army in attrition, it frequently dispatched groups of bombers to bomb strategic targets in Germany, weakening Germany's industrial strength.

War has now evolved from being mainly based on tactics to a competition of comprehensive national strength.

Bock had to admit that although the chances of defeating Russia were slim, this might be Germany's last chance.

Everyone knows that Germany's industrial strength is far inferior to that of Russia.

If a stalemate occurs, the situation of the last world war may be repeated.

"Our reserve fuel can only last us two months at most."

Bock was horrified by what Lieutenant General Franz Halder reported.

"It doesn't matter. Before that, we have already lost all our fighter planes. Even if we have enough fuel, we can't produce enough fighter planes."

Bock was exhausted. Faced with the Russian army that refused to retreat, Bock had a million-strong army but didn't know where to start.

"We should change the direction of our attack and focus on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia."

Lieutenant General Franz Halder actively sought countermeasures.

Boris is George's son. If the German army invades the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, then no matter how cautious George is, he must send troops to aid the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

As long as the Russian army leaves the defense line, it can at least give the German army a chance to fight fairly, instead of lining up to die like now.

"Okay, who do you think we should send to attack the Kingdom of Yugoslavia?"

Bock did not dare to divide his troops. Even though the Russian army was holding its ground, it would not come out.

Once the German army was divided, it would not be able to withstand the Russian attack.

"None of us can go. Italy should start a new round of mobilization."

Franz Halder's attitude towards Italy was no different from that towards Poland.

They are just vassal armies. Italy is no nobler than Poland.

In terms of combat effectiveness and fighting will, the Polish army is even better than the Italian army.

This is also normal.

There is no real hatred between Italy and Russia.

Poland has a deep hatred for Russia, so there is no need for mobilization to fight Russia.

In order to conquer the Abyssinian Empire, Mussolini mobilized 50 troops, which led to widespread doubts among German generals about the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

Not only did the German generals have doubts, but Georgi also believed that the Italian army was vulnerable.

The Kingdom of Italy's attack on Yugoslavia was easily repelled by the Yugoslav army.

Georg thought that Polis would invade Italy.

However, Polis did not organize a counterattack against Italy, which made Georgi very dissatisfied.

"The Italian army always performs poorly in an offensive, but if the battle takes place in Italy, the Italians will burst out with great fighting power in order to defend Italy."

Polis has conducted a detailed study of the 12 Battles of the Isonzo River fought between Italy and Austria-Hungary during World War I.

Italy and Austria-Hungary were both weaklings, and both were better at defense than offense.

This is easy to explain, because the defenders can use the solid defense line to continuously inflict casualties on the attacking forces.

The attacking force lacked siege weapons such as armored vehicles, so the Battle of the Isonzo River was fought 12 times.

"Do we have enough armored vehicles, and the will of the Italians, to counter our armored vehicles?"

Georgi was unhappy with Polis's conservatism.

"You can send your troops to attack if you wish."

Boris doesn't get entangled. People can't teach others, but things can teach people.

Polis was equally unhappy with Georgi.

After several mobilizations, Yugoslavia can basically be said to have mobilized its entire population into a soldier. Even women have to work in factories to ensure supplies to the front line.

The Kingdom of Greece is located in the rear area and has not mobilized fully. So far, it has only mobilized 20 people, which is even less than the Kingdom of Montenegro.

Although the Kingdom of Montenegro only mobilized 5 people.

Considering the total population of the Kingdom of Montenegro, 5 people is already the limit.

"I'm just suggesting it. If you don't want to, forget it—"

Georgy would never send the Greek army to attack.

Not only was Greece poorly mobilized, but it was also poorly equipped, with only one armored division in the entire country.

Georgi was reluctant to send this armored division to the front line, but instead placed it in Athens to protect the capital, and all those sent to the front line were light infantry.

When all countries are already equipped with large numbers of armored vehicles and machine guns, sending out light infantry attacks is tantamount to murder.

What Georgi didn't expect was that for some crazy people, their way of thinking is incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Greece has Yugoslavia in the front and the Russian Mediterranean Fleet protecting its coastline. Theoretically, it is foolproof. It is almost impossible for the Italian army to launch a direct attack on the Greek mainland.

In order to prevent Italy from supplying North Africa, the Russian Mediterranean Fleet cooperated with the British Mediterranean Fleet to blockade the Italian army's transportation lines, and the main force was not on Kefalonia.

Even George did not expect that Mussolini would have the crazy idea of ​​using paratroopers to directly land on the Kingdom of Greece.

Nor is it Mussolini.

But a mustache.

The troops dispatched by the mustache were the paratroopers originally planned to be used in the "Sea Lion Operation" to carry out airborne operations on the British mainland.

After the outbreak of the Russo-German War, the "Sea Lion Project" was postponed indefinitely, and it was basically impossible to restart it before Russia was defeated.

It is also unlikely that the "Sea Lion Project" will be restarted after defeating Russia.

Don't listen to Churchill's constant calls to persevere.

If Russia is defeated, Britain will surrender as quickly as possible.

Although Germany only dispatched two parachute divisions, it still successfully gained a foothold in Greece.

The Greco-Turkish War that broke out after the end of the last World War fully exposed the combat effectiveness of the Greek army.

The Greek mainland was completely defenseless, and the German army advanced with great force. Even the Mediterranean Fleet's base on the island of Kefalonia was threatened by the German army.

Georgy was shocked and angry, and sent four telegrams to George in one day, hoping that George would send reinforcements to Greece.

George was forced to send a force from the Grand Duchy of Yuriev that had just arrived in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Greece.

At the same time, he ordered the Mediterranean Fleet to return to defend, cut off Italy's logistical supplies to the German army, and destroy the German army in mainland Greece.

(End of this chapter)