Conquering the world from the Kaiser's driver

A few minutes later, the door of the reception room was pushed open, and Albert strode in. As soon as he entered the room, he said to Lin Shangzhou, "Mr. Prime Minister, I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar."

As he spoke, he came to Lin Shangzhou, who also stood up and stretched out his hand to shake Albert's right hand.

After holding Albert's right hand, the first thing Lin Shangzhou felt was the hard callus on the palm of his hand. From the hardness of the callus, it can be seen that Mr. Albert was indeed a fighting maniac in the past.

Ten seconds later, Albert let go of his hand first. He sat on another single sofa and said to Lin Shangzhou, "Mr. Prime Minister, you didn't inform me in advance when you came here, otherwise you wouldn't have to wait so long."

There was a hint of complaint in these words, but Lin Shangzhou didn't care. This was indeed his problem. He didn't like to notify people to go there directly. No one could be prepared for this situation.

"My personal habits are probably hard to change."

"But this is also good. The unexpected is very effective in many cases."

After saying that, Albert looked at Bode. He looked at this former subordinate Bode, whom he was not familiar with at all, with a scrutinizing eye. Since he handed over the affairs of the team to his subordinates, he seldom went to the commando team and only showed up occasionally. Except for some old people in the team, he was not familiar with the new faces, and Bode was one of them.

"I remember you...you're Bode, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Albert, I'm Bode."

Facing the question from his former leader, Bode stood still and answered seriously. Although Albert was only a former leader, his identity as a war hero made Bode respect him involuntarily.

"Alright, alright, there's no need to be so serious. I retired a long time ago. You need to be a good guard for Mr. Prime Minister and don't bring shame to the Storm Commandos."

Hearing Albert's words, Bode's spirits were lifted. He took a deep breath and said in a loud voice: "Yes, I will definitely not let you down!"

“Not bad, not bad, very good, very good…”

Albert smiled with satisfaction. Seeing that the two had almost finished their conversation, Lin Shangzhou winked at Bode. Bode immediately understood, turned around and walked aside to stand next to Lin Shangzhou.

Seeing Bode walk aside, Albert knew that he was going to get down to business. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a slightly serious look. He asked Lin Shangzhou, "I wonder what you want to see me about, Mr. Prime Minister?"

Lin Shangzhou hadn't visited him for such a long time, but he suddenly came today. Albert didn't believe that Lin Shangzhou just wanted to come and chat with him. He must have something he wanted his help with.

"Ah... Well, I want to ask you something about the construction of the German Army's mobile forces."

"Army Mobile Force Construction?"

After hearing this, Albert understood what Lin Shangzhou wanted to do.

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Chapter 262: The Development of the German Mobile Forces (Part )

Albert looked at Lin Shangzhou thoughtfully. Lin Shangzhou's questioning about the development of the mobile forces meant that the current prime minister wanted to get in touch with the army. This was a very normal thing, and he was not too surprised by it. It was something that was expected.

When he was chancellor, it was very easy for him to contact the military. Albert, who was a soldier and a war hero, could easily contact senior German generals and he could influence the development of the army when he just started to rule. German chancellors were almost all aristocrats. Although he himself was not aristocrat, his status was almost the same as that of aristocrats.

The Social Democratic Chancellor in front of him was a complete commoner. Although he knew General Vorbeck and had a good relationship with Cecilia, he relied too much on the latter two. He had no way of establishing prestige among the generals, and naturally he could not have a good relationship with the military.

Albert was well aware of the consequences of having a bad relationship with the military. It was not a big deal in peacetime, but if a war broke out during the term of the Social Democratic Chancellor, there would be trouble.

So for the sake of Germany, former Chancellor Albert was happy to help his younger generations.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I personally think that mobile forces can be divided into three types: motorized forces, tanks, and the most ancient traditional cavalry."

Albert stretched out three fingers, then pointed his left index finger at his right fingers and asked, "Mr. Prime Minister, which one do you want to know first? Of course, you can also ask me to explain everything to you at once, but things have to be prioritized. I may not be able to explain everything at once."

After the words fell, Albert waited for Lin Shangzhou's answer, but after a few seconds he thought of what he had missed and added:

"Oh...right."

"I'm not very clear about the development of Germany's mobile forces in the past two years, so I'm afraid I can only tell you how it was a few years ago."

Lin Shangzhou knew the reason why Albert was not clear about the development situation. It was because his relationship with the military was not good, so he did not continue to pay attention to it. This was not a problem. It would be fine to know the development situation in the past few years.

"That's all right. Just tell me what you want to say."

After saying that, Lin Shangzhou thought for a few seconds. After thinking about it, he said to Albert: "What is the development status of the Imperial Army's tanks?"

"Tank..."

There was a hint of surprise in Albert's eyes. He didn't expect Lin Shangzhou to choose the tank first. This choice also made him interested in Lin Shangzhou.

"Before I tell you about the development of the Imperial Army's tanks, I would like to ask you a question, Mr. Prime Minister."

"Well, okay, go ahead and ask."

Lin Shangzhou was somewhat confused, but he nodded and waited for Albert to ask questions. All doubts would disappear with his questions.

Albert coughed lightly and asked loudly: "Mr. Prime Minister, what kind of combat tool do you think a tank is? What should its specific purpose be?"

"I personally think that in order to maximize the capabilities of tanks, we need to concentrate tanks and magic forces to perform breakthrough missions. Only in this way can we maximize the advantages of tanks as armored combat vehicles. At the same time, the support of subsequent infantry must also keep up during the breakthrough process. If the motorization level of the infantry is not high, then the tank troops cannot advance too fast, otherwise there will be large gaps in the advancing front. At this time, if the enemy reacts and attacks, the tank troops will be surrounded."

"And the surrounded tank troops are likely to be exhausted and lack supplies. At this time, it will be difficult for the tank troops to organize effective defense or breakout attacks. If the follow-up support cannot break the encirclement and provide effective support, the final outcome of the surrounded troops will be annihilation, capture, or surrender."

Albert was unusually excited. He did not expect Lin Shangzhou to come up with such a complete combat theory. The magic troops provided air support, the armored troops on the ground broke through quickly, and the subsequent infantry troops had to follow up. He also pointed out the shortcomings of this tactic, which was that the tank's advance speed was restricted by the marching speed of the subsequent infantry troops and could not be too fast. But if it could not be too fast, then in the end it would only face the fate of being surrounded. But if it was too slow, then the tank's mobility advantage could not be brought into play.

clap clap-

Albert stretched out his hand and clapped, with a satisfied smile on his face. He said to Lin Shangzhou with satisfaction: "Very good, very good, Mr. Prime Minister, I want to know how you came up with such a theory?"

After saying that, Albert picked up the teapot and teacup on the table between the two of them and poured a cup of tea for himself and Lin Shangzhou respectively. After pouring the tea, he pushed the teacup towards Lin Shangzhou and said with a smile on his face: "Drink some water. You must be thirsty after talking so much just now."

Albert's action confused Lin Shangzhou and Bode. What was going on?

Lin Shangzhou didn't understand what was going on. Why did Albert's attitude suddenly change so much? This was totally unlike what he thought a prime minister would do...even though he didn't know Albert very well.

He was just explaining the tactical theory of blitzkrieg, and what he said was not completely correct. Why did Albert suddenly become so nice to him after listening to him?

"Oh...thank you."

He couldn't refuse Albert's kindness, so he picked up the teacup and took a sip of water.

After putting down the teacup, Lin Shangzhou said to Albert: "I summarized the experience of the past wars and the sand table simulations I often did at home at night, and finally came up with this set of theories."

The theory of blitzkrieg is a combat theory known to everyone who has paid attention to World War II in the 21st century of OTL, not to mention that Lin Shangzhou is a war criminal of Paradox. If he can't even explain the content of blitzkrieg, he can be sent to trial.

In fact, Lin Shangzhou wanted to add domestic and foreign works, but he was not sure whether there were any works about armored combat in this kx world, and he had not read those armored works. The blitzkrieg theory he knew was just summarized by others.

Albert's change in attitude towards himself showed that he was very interested in tanks and must have studied works on armored combat. Therefore, Lin Shangzhou could only be regarded as a genius boy in this regard.

"Oh, that's how it is…"

Albert nodded doubtfully. He did not believe that Lin Shangzhou could come up with such a combat theory just by summarizing experience and conducting sand table simulations. He also realized that Lin Shangzhou was hiding something from him, but so what?

Albert didn't care about this. Everyone has secrets, and it is not a good thing to pursue them too much. He now cares very, very much about Lin Shangzhou, and he wants to see what kind of surprises this young man can bring him.

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Chapter 263 Notice: Updates will be suspended starting from November

Albert picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea. Then he put it down and said to Lin Shangzhou, "You answered my question, so it's time for me to answer yours. But I have to say first that the development of the mobile force that I know about is somewhat out of touch with the current development of the mobile force, so what I say may not be correct. You need to go and see the real situation yourself."

"Okay, I understand. Go ahead."

Albert cleared his throat with a cough, then said loudly: "I personally attach great importance to the development of tanks. During the breakthrough battles in the early stages of the war, I found that ordinary infantry could not keep up with our breakthrough speed, which to some extent hindered us."

"Later, I conceived an armored vehicle during a sand table simulation, but at the time I was just an ordinary member of the magic force. The so-called sand table simulation was just me and my comrades using stones to replace the sand, so I couldn't pass my opinions to the top leaders. Later, after the British put tanks into actual combat, the top leaders noticed this kind of combat vehicle, and then our tanks were also developed and put into combat."

"I had already become a member of the Storm Commando when our tanks were put into actual combat, so I was very dissatisfied with that huge and bulky thing. I hoped to see a faster vehicle, so after the victory of the war, I attached great importance to the development of tanks."

"but…"

Albert showed a bit of disappointment on his face, and sighed, "The military leaders and I have a big disagreement on the specific use of tanks."

Lin Shangzhou was a little surprised to hear Albert say this. He asked, "Do the military leaders think that tanks should be used to assist infantry combat and for defense?"

Albert nodded and said, “Well, that’s what they think, and my personal opinion is the same as what you just said.”

When he said the second half of the sentence, the disappointment in his eyes disappeared, and was replaced by a look of relief and joy. Although there were people in the army who disagreed with him, fortunately he now met someone who shared the same ideas as him, and this person might also change the way the German army used armored vehicles.

Lin Shangzhou felt incredible after hearing Albert say that the German army believed that the role of tanks was to assist infantry combat. You know, the German army started to emphasize mobile warfare during the time of Frederick the Great, and a general should understand the principle of speed in war. But how come after winning the First World War, the German high-level officials regressed?

Lin Shangzhou asked in confusion: "Mr. Albert, this is not right, right? Doesn't our German army have a tradition of emphasizing mobile warfare? And from a practical point of view, a mobile combat unit is also necessary."

He believed that Germany should pay more attention to the development of mobile forces not because Germany attached importance to mobile warfare in OTL history, but this was the result he came to based on Germany's actual situation. Germany is located in the center of Europe, with Tsarist Russia to the east and France to the west. Once the war breaks out, Germany will have to face fighting on two fronts.

Germany is a country with no natural defenses. There is no natural defense line at the Franco-German border, not to mention the east. The east of Germany is even more suitable for racing than the north of France. Therefore, in this case, Germany needs to quickly deal with the enemy on one side and then focus on dealing with the enemy on the other side...

(Ah... the debuff of the victor of the war, right...)

Suddenly, Lin Shangzhou realized that he had overlooked a problem. It was not that those generals did not attach importance to tanks or mobile forces, but because in their opinion Germany did not need to pay attention to the development in this area.

The German Empire won the First World War, and the new order in Europe was led by the Imperial Pact established by Germany. France became the French Commune. In the eyes of German generals, this communal government was not a threat at all. Even now they would think that if the German Empire was able to defeat France more than a decade ago, then it could also defeat the Commune in another war.

As for Russia in the east, there is even less to worry about. The four Eastern European countries, as the eastern wall of the Imperial Pact, helped Germany block Russia and became a buffer zone between the two countries. Russia is now also controlled by Germany in every way.

Therefore, Germany, the world hegemon, has nothing to fear.

And there is another type of troops that has a certain overlap with tanks in breakthrough missions - magic troops.

The magic troops will certainly not sit idle and hinder the development of ground troops, but as long as they have the ability to break through the enemy's defenses, they will inadvertently restrict the development of breakthrough tanks.

With these two major reasons combined, it is not surprising that German generals believed that tanks, as armored vehicles, should be used to assist infantry combat, so it is not surprising that they were used for defense.

"Is this because of the existence of the magic troop and the storm troopers?"

Lin Shangzhou asked Albert that it was not appropriate to say to Albert that the German generals were arrogant and conceited. After all, he was once a German soldier. If someone said this about the German military, he would definitely be unhappy.

“It’s more than that.”

Albert's face became serious, and he continued, "The German military is a little arrogant now. I can understand why they are arrogant. I also thought so at the end of the war. I believed that the German army was the best in the world. Neither the French Commune nor Russia could defeat us. Instead, they would be defeated by us."

Hearing Albert say this, Bode's eyes widened in surprise. He never expected Albert to comment on the German military in this way.

"I woke up early, but when I wanted to wake up the German military, I found that I couldn't wake them up, because their arrogance was based on the current reality. No country could defeat the German Empire. The old enemies were no longer a threat, and the new enemies were not something they could take seriously."

"After that, I stopped caring about military affairs. They didn't welcome me, so I simply didn't go to them. Anyway, nothing would go wrong in the future."

(Your sobriety is also false sobriety...)

Lin Shangzhou looked at Albert and complained in his heart. He said that he was awake and then thought that nothing would happen. However, there was nothing to blame him for. If he was a German soldier at this time, he would have the same idea.

Some economists may believe that Germany will experience an economic crisis sooner or later, but no one would believe an economic crisis like "Black Monday" that would bring the economy to its knees.

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Chapter 264

Economic crisis is a law in capitalist society. No German economist would believe that Germany would not experience an economic crisis. On the contrary, they are extremely confident that an economic crisis will happen sooner or later. What they would not believe is that a devastating economic crisis would occur suddenly.

Before the economic crisis occurred, no one could have imagined that it would be so serious. This was the case before the OTL economic crisis, and it is also the case in this world. Only when a disaster occurs will people realize its seriousness.

Thinking about the economic crisis six years later and the loosening of German hegemony after the crisis, Lin Shangzhou really wanted to know how Albert would react if he knew about this.

While imagining the reaction of the former chancellor, he also felt an invisible pressure in his heart. The economic crisis of 1936 happened to be his last year as chancellor. If the economic crisis was not properly handled, the Social Democratic Party would not have to consider the general election in 1937.

(Do your best...)

With a sigh in his heart, Lin Shangzhou stopped thinking about this thing that would happen six years later... at least not now.

Albert keenly noticed the change in the eyes of the young prime minister in front of him. He was curious about what had caused his eyes to reveal a feeling of pressure. Thinking about what he had talked about with him, Albert thought of something.

So he asked Lin Shangzhou: "Mr. Prime Minister, I think you came to ask me about this matter because you want to change the views of the generals and marshals of the army to a certain extent, right?"

"Ah."

Lin Shangzhou nodded, looked into Albert's eyes and said, "Mr. Albert, you are right. I do have such an idea. And you can call me Fritz in private."

When he said the last sentence, his attitude became a little more respectful than before.

Although Albert's words and his actions showed that he had been away from the army for many years and had limited influence on the army, even such limited influence was what Lin Shangzhou needed to strive for.

Just like the teacher said, make more friends and fewer enemies.

Albert is one of the friends he can win over now. Since he can win over someone, why not make friends with him?

"Oh…"

After hearing Lin Shangzhou's last words, a hint of surprise flashed in Albert's eyes, but the next second he nodded happily with satisfaction. Regardless of whether the young man in front of him still hated him, his current show of goodwill showed that he was not a person who would be controlled by personal emotions.

Albert smiled and asked Lin Shangzhou with interest, "So, Fritz, how do you want to change the military's view on the use of tanks?"

"Uh--"

This question stumped Lin Shangzhou. He had indeed never thought about this question before. Now that Albert raised the question, he didn't know how to answer it for a moment.

It is not an easy task to change the views of the German military. He has more or less known the development history of Guderian in OTL. He does not remember the details, but he can conclude one thing from the development history of Gu Bu Shuai - it is very difficult to change the views of the military.

His relationship with the army can only be described as average, and the Social Democratic German Chancellor's influence on the army is very limited. Although he can ask Cecilia for help, Cecilia has been busy with the commando affairs in recent times. She may not have time to help, and even if she helps, it may not play a role in changing his views.