"Escape?" Hitler shouted, "Ludwig, how can you promote such a coward to be a general?"

This is the reaction of Adolf Hitler when he heard that Manstein, the commander of the 18th Division of the National Defense Forces, left behind two infantry regiments and most of the baggage and artillery, and led the other two regiments to escape northwest along Highway 6.↑,

"Coward?" Hessman was also a little surprised. Considering the person who "escaped" named Manstein, he was afraid that Guderian would not have won the exercise this afternoon.

"Mr. Prime Minister, it's now an exercise!" Lieutenant General Weix, the commander of the First Armored Division, reminded him that he was from a cavalry and because the commanding Third Cavalry Division was adapted into the First Armored Division, he became an "armored general".

However, the armored corps director Guderian always thought that he did not understand the essence of armored combat, so he exchanged positions in this exercise. Guderian actually became the commander of the First Armored Division, while Lieutenant General Weix commanded the entire Blue Army instead of Guderian.

When Hessmann and Hitler arrived at his headquarters together, he reported to the two that the armored cluster had made a breakthrough and that Manstein led his troops to escape.

"Everything is going to escape, can you still be expected in real battle?" Hitler continued to shout, "This man immediately retires him, the National Defense Forces don't need him!"

This is Hitler venting his dissatisfaction with Hessman and Juncker Officer Corps! Hessman just smiled lightly, "Mr. Prime Minister, let's see how General Manstein will block the advancement of the armored cluster."

"He has given up his position and is still blocking the armored cluster like this?"

Hessman shrugged, "By traditional line defense, unless a large number of permanent fortifications are built like the French Maginot Line, it will not resist armored assaults at all."

He paused for a moment, "But this does not mean that an army dominated by infantry can't use armored troops. Since there is armored assault, there must be anti-armored assault methods. People are studying both topics. Perhaps General Manstein has more research on anti-armor assault operations."

He was not fooling Hitler, "armor assault" and "anti-armor assault" and sand table deduction. He was no longer aware of how many times he had been conducted in the General Staff.

Hessman himself even proposed the "Large Depth Flexible Defense Theory". You can tell that it was a copy of historical generals such as Tukhachevsky and Manstein.

According to this theory, a traditional defense system centered on trenches and cannons cannot reach armored cluster assaults. In order to build a traditional defense system, the practice of placing a large number of troops on a long line of defense will encounter catastrophic consequences when facing armored attack clusters that can quickly break through.

The correct way to deal with armored raids is to arrange a defense that has a large depth but is not strict. It is impossible to have both depth and strictness. Because it requires too many troops to consume space and second- and third-line troops (commonly known as cannon fodder), delay the enemy armor cluster, and retain strong counterattack power. After the attack power of the enemy armor cluster is severely weakened, it will be repelled with counterattack.

However, this theory is still confidential now, only a few senior and elite staff members of the General Staff and the Armored Soldier Command (managed by the Armored Soldiers Director) knew about it. Manstein, who served as the division commander of the infantry division, did not know about Hessman's "high theory". The corresponding measures he took now should have been studied by himself.

Hitler glanced at Hessman, feeling helpless. He, as the prime minister, has no power to command! According to the Constitution, the power to command belongs to President Rudendolf. If he wants to amend the Constitution, the Nazi Party has not had enough people in the parliament. Moreover, Rudendolf himself is actually a leader of the Nazi Party, and there was no Rudendolf back then. The Nazi Party was a small party that no one knew about. Therefore, many members of the MPs who came from military officers sold Rudendolf to face and wanted to revise the Constitution to seize Rudendolf's power, which might lead to a split in the Nazi Party. Not to mention that the ubiquitous Stasi would take the opportunity to play tricks.

What made Hitler even more depressed was that before Rudendolf's president had finished, Hessman brought out William, the emperor who had already retired (this was the nickname given to old William by the Dutch). Once the Hohenzollern dynasty was restored, this commandership would probably belong to His Majesty the Emperor...

Facing Hitler's cold gaze, Hessman smiled faintly, "Mr. Prime Minister, General Guderian's armored cluster will soon begin to break through deep. Should we feel the breakthrough speed of the armored forces? This is Manstein's battle with Guderian!"

...

“Mush…”

The unique sound of the 37mm rapid-fire gun fired in the ears of Colonel Feng Toma, the commander of the First Armored Regiment.

"Enemy attack! There is an ambush in the woods ahead!"

The headphones immediately came from the battalion commander of the First Armored Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Barke, shouting in some annoyance: "There are at least 5 37 guns. Kill two of my tanks and block the road."

"Kill" means of course it is determined to be destroyed by the exercise referee who follows the troops.

"Stop moving forward, suppress them with firepower, and I will let the snipers come up immediately." Feng Thomas quickly ordered Lieutenant Colonel Barke.

"Bang! Bang!" Thomas' order was just issued. The sound of the 37mm cannon firing sounded again.

"It's really negligent!" Thoma quickly pushed open the tank's hatch, half of his body went out, then picked up the telescope hanging on his chest, looked at the woods in front of him carefully, and found that it was less than 500 meters away from the highway, and the road passed through the middle of the woods. This is indeed a good place for setting up ambush. It seems that his armored regiment is advancing too fast and did not pay attention to sweeping the possible ambush sites along the way.

At this time, motorized sniper soldiers following the armored regiment were already coming off the wheeled armored vehicle, carrying heavy mg34 machine guns and mortars passed by Thomas' command tank.

Von Thomas called one of the captains, "Captain Mantofil, how long does it take?"

"Col. It depends on how many people are in the woods and how well equipped?" replied the young captain named Hassan von Mantofil, who also has a baron title. "If their men do not exceed 500, and there are no infantry cannons, we can be judged to win in an hour. If they have 1,000 people and a few 75mm or 150mm cannons, some will be shot."

"How could this happen? We are an armored cluster!"

Feng Toma not only has an armored regiment, but also strengthened a motorized sniper barracks. How could such a luxurious lineup be blocked by a group of scattered soldiers who emerged from somewhere?

"Col. They have a lot of 37 guns. Our tanks and armored vehicles cannot get close to each other. The firepower of the 20mm machine gun is insufficient, so they must call for the gun group behind to support it. So it takes more time... The exercise rules are like this."

"I know how infantry fight!" Feng Thoma waved his hand impatiently and sent the captain and company commander of the motorized infantry away. However, he thought in his mind that the firepower of the armored cluster was still too weak.

It seems that it is necessary to develop 150mm caliber self-propelled infantry cannons based on the chassis of the No. 1 or No. 2 tank. If motorized snipers can be equipped with this weapon, the advancement of the armored cluster will be much easier.

...

"After recording, infantry troops should be equipped with more firepower and mobility anti-tank weapons, and stronger individual anti-tank weapons should be developed. In addition, anti-tank guns that lack strong bunker protection are easily destroyed by enemy infantry and tank firepower. Unless they have a greater range and power, their actual combat effect is limited. It is best to have an anti-tank weapon that perfectly combines firepower, mobility, and defense capabilities... Well, that seems to be a tank or self-propelled artillery made based on tank chassis or something."

While quietly waiting for the "defeated" referee to determine that a regiment of Manstein could stop the von Thomas armored cluster for 2 hours, Manstein was not idle either. He first sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Falkenhausen, the commander-in-chief of the "Red Army", suggesting that he immediately shrink his troops and carry out a decisive battle. Then he summarized his "exercise experience" with his staff.

The "Red Army" General Command, which received the telegram from Manstein, was already in a very panic at this time. Farkenhausen originally thought that he had a lot of experience in "anti-mechanized combat". However, he did not expect that the "Blue Army Armored Cluster" would be so huge that it would be crazy. He did not expect that their breakthroughs and advances would be so rapid.

From the start of the Blues' artillery to the present, the exercise has only been carried out for less than 8 hours. Not only has the Red Army's defense line been broken, but the Blue Army's armored cluster has also advanced for more than 8 kilometers!

"Lieutenant General, Major General Manstein, reported that his troops could only reach 2 to 3 hours."

Major General Witzleben, the chief of staff of the "Red Army", reported the latest "war situation" to Farkenhausen. As the 2 to 3-hour exercise referee, if Manstein was defeated in 2 hours, he could retain half of his troops. If he was defeated in 3 hours, he would be wiped out.

"It's not enough!" Farkenhausen looked at the map, "Can you stabilize the defense line by letting the two regiments in Fort William top up?"

He was still trying to get the troops back so as to form a new defensive front, so when he wanted to use the reserve team Manstein wanted them, Farkenhausen did not agree, and the two regiments had not been used until now.

"Support until tomorrow morning at most," said Major General Witzleben.

"The enemy has at least one armored division and a motorized sniper brigade. These are not something that three infantry regiments without fortifications can resist."

"It's okay to resist until tomorrow morning... Time is very important to us!" Farkenhausen nodded. Just as he wanted to order the reserve team, a staff officer shouted and reported.
Chapter completed!