The demonstration of the 501st Heavy Tank Battalion was of course very successful. After all, the two projects of vk4001 and vk5001 have been underway for 6 years, and when there was no interruption or slowdown in the middle, they have always been the highest priority R&D projects. So by May 1942, the Tiger tanks and Black Panther tanks that Hessman saw were already mature products. Whether it was the power system, armor defense and firepower system, they all reached a satisfactory level, and completely met the conditions for large-scale equipment.

After completing all the demonstration projects, the 501st Battalion, led by the battalion commander Major Rudel, boarded the train to Brest. According to the plan, they would arrive at the Eastern Front on May 15 and be incorporated into the Eastern Front General Reserve Team, waiting for practical inspections in the war against the invasion of the Soviet Red Army, and summarize the experience of battlefield use.

After the inspection, Hessman did not return to Berlin to talk nonsense with the visiting Molotov. Instead, he went directly to Poland and began to inspect the Barbarossa defense line on behalf of the German Emperor William III. The purpose of his trip was mainly to cheer up the Polish defense forces stationed on the eastern front.

Because in this time and space, Germany did not destroy Poland on the surface, but instead allowed the German emperor to serve as the King of Poland. Although the Communist Alliance in Europe was often the first step in the merger of two countries (this is a relatively acceptable merger), the merger has not been completed yet, and Poland and Germany are theoretically two countries. Therefore, the "independent" Polish Kingdom also has its own army, with King William III (that is, the German Emperor William III) as the defense army.

In the upcoming anti-Soviet War, the Kingdom of Poland will be the cannon fodder standing on the frontline!

"How is the morale?" Hessman asked Marshal Guderian, who was in the same car as him, while visiting the Trespol Ring Fortress on the Bouge River.

"It's a bit worrying!" Guderian smiled bitterly, "The Poles are Poles after all. Although most officers have common interests with us, the morale of ordinary soldiers is generally not high..."

Guderian is now the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, and his headquarters is located in Danze City, which belongs to the German Empire. However, most of the time, he does not stay at Danze headquarters, but inspects all parts of the Barbarossa defense line. Among them, Poland is the top priority for inspection, not only because the relationship between Poland and Germany is always special. Among all the Communist coalition countries in Germany, Poland has the strongest willingness to be independent, but also has a vigorous battle with Germany. In addition, Poland must be the focus of the Soviet Red Army's offensive!

Although the border between the Soviet Union and Europe (European Community) is now very long, more than 3,000 kilometers, not all locations are suitable for breakthroughs. For example, the northernmost Soviet-Finnish border cannot become the main battlefield. Even if Stalin conquered the entire territory of Finland, it would not be a big blow to Germany.

The Baltic states and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which are across the sea from Finland, are not very suitable to be the main breakthrough point. Because the area is covered with forests, it is not conducive to the entry and exit of large troops, and the geographical location close to the Baltic Sea is conducive to the mobilization of the army in Germany with sea control. In addition, Germany has been operating in the Polish state for many years, with a deep foundation and difficult to shake.

Western Ukraine on the southern front is not very suitable for breakthroughs, because the Ukrainians have a bloody feud with the Soviet Union, and are very pro-Germany, and are completely on the side of Nazi Germany. Therefore, the Germans organized hundreds of thousands of defense troops in Western Ukraine, and built Lviv, the capital of Western Ukraine, a fortress city that can be held for a long time. Western Ukraine is a large piece of hard Ukrainian bone that is difficult to chew.

Romania on the further south is "soft" enough. When the plan for a big thunderstorm was first formulated, the General Staff of the Red Army wanted to treat Romania as the main attack direction, cut off Germany's oil supply by occupying the Ploiesti oil field, and paralyzing Germany's war machine.

However, Germany took over the Middle East in 1941. After a year of hard work, oil production in the Middle East has completely recovered. Now the Middle East's oil production is several times more than Romania, and winning Romania is no longer enough to cut off Germany's oil supply.

The Soviet Red Army that broke into Romania was likely to be blocked in the Transylvania mountainous areas and would be difficult to sweep Central Europe quickly, and their retreat would be cut off by German armored clusters attacking from Poland and Western Ukraine.

Therefore, Romania cannot be used as the main attack direction. The remaining Polish Plain, which can be used as the main attack direction, is only 660 kilometers from the banks of the Bouge River to Berlin, the capital of the German Empire. It is all the plains that are safe and can be defended, and is the most suitable battlefield for armored troops.

In addition, the ******* between the Poles and the Germans always existed. Although Germany has organized more than 500,000 Polish defense forces in Poland, everyone knows that these Poles will not fight the Soviet Union as hard as the Ukrainians.

...

"Marty of the Empire, what you see now is the Trespol Ring Fortress."

On the banks of the Bouge River, across the river from the Brest Fortress, the big car Hessman was riding slowly on a circular road. Guderian pointed to the inside of the road, which seemed a little deserted, with countless "millions" distributed in various sizes, and said to Hessman.

"The outermost side is the minefield and barbed wire, which surrounds Trespol tens of thousands of anti-infantry and anti-tank mines. The minefield covers the defensive positions arranged in a deep staircase. The main body of the defensive positions is five trench systems 250-300 meters away from each other. There are also a large number of anti-tank support points scattered between these trenches, which are independent company-level ring defense positions. They have excellent shooting vision and can form a dense firepower network together with other support points."

Gudery settled down and said: "The front of each support point is about 1,000 meters and the depth is about 700 meters. Usually, 3-5 artillery pieces are deployed, usually 2 Type 38 50mm caliber anti-tank guns and 2-3 75mm infantry guns. In addition, 2-5 mortars, a large number of Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launchers and mg42 machine guns. At some key anti-tank support points, Type 40 75mm caliber anti-tank guns will be arranged. Most of the artillery and machine guns are placed in permanent fortifications of reinforced concrete to withstand the bombardment of 152mm grenades, and a large number of anti-tank trenches and anti-tank minefields are arranged around these support points.

And 3-4 such support points are connected by traffic trenches, and they will be able to form a battalion-level defensive position that can be independently supported. There are 4 battalion-level defensive positions around the Trespol Ring Fortress. Under the sanitation of these four battalion-level defensive positions, there is a huge core circular position, which is the main position of the Trespol Ring Fortress. The brigade of the Trespol Fortress Brigade, artillery bunkers, material and ammunition storage warehouses, and simple airports responsible for maintaining external traffic when surrounded when they are surrounded are all in the core circular position..."

Guderian took Hesman to visit the so-called "ring defensive fortress", which is actually a brigade-level defensive position that can stand independently while surrounded and can effectively resist the attacks of armored troops.

The reason for such a position was that the Polish defense army, which was responsible for acting as cannon fodder on the front line, had weak forces and was unable to deploy a long and deep defense system on a frontal surface of more than 400 kilometers.

Guderian's solution is to deploy dozens of ring defense fortresses that can be independently maintained after the front line (this is just a border line used to prevent smuggling), each fortress has a brigade of troops. With enough anti-tank weapons, ammunition and supplies, these "cannon fodder brigades" can last for a few days or weeks under the siege of the Soviet Red Army. If the defensive Polish cannon fodder are willing to fight to the death, it will be no problem to defend for a few weeks with the solid fortifications and armed forces of these ring fortifications.

At the same time, these ring-shaped fortresses are all set near major traffic arteries, which can delay the advancement of Soviet mechanized troops. Moreover, these dozens of ring-shaped defensive fortresses are not arranged in a row, but are arranged in depth steps. A fortress area about 150 kilometers wide is formed east of Warsaw.

"The fortifications are very strong, but are the guards reliable?" Hessman asked, he had already got out of the car. Accompanied by Guderian and Major General Carol von Rommel, the brigade commander of the Polish Defense Forces, he visited various parts of the fortress and witnessed the ring fortress called the "Polish reactionary fortress" by the later Soviet Red Army General Staff.

"Of course reliable!" Major General Carol von Rommel spoke fluent German. He was a Polish-German. Rommel's surname was passed down from his ancestors. If you look through the genealogy, you can still get along with General Rommel, the commander-in-chief of the Middle East.

"Everyone of the officers of the Trespol Brigade is a nobleman of the Kingdom of Poland, some are imperial nobles, and most of them are landlords who own manors." Baron Rommel introduced, "and more than 80% of the officers and chiefs participated in the Solidarity Trade Union Party."

It was Hessman's idea to imitate the Prussian Junker Knights' model to establish the Polish noble officer group. All the officers of the Polish Defense Forces were reactionary aristocratic landlords! The Unity Trade Union Party was formed by Natalie and several traitors of the Polish Bolshevik Party who came out of the prison. Now the Prime Minister of the Polish Kingdom Earl Valetsky is the chairman of the Unity Trade Union Party. The Third International gave him the characterization of the traitor, traitor, and labor thief. In short, they are reactionary figures. They don't need to be modified and shot directly!
Chapter completed!