Battle of the Third Reich

German advisers dispatched to the Yugoslav army found that the situation of this armored force was worse than they thought. The Army’s four independent armored battalions actually consist of only two. The tanks that can be used are only one hundred and ten. The rest of the units only exist on the Army Command’s establishment table.

The Yugoslav Army plans to order Skoda's fifty s1-d light tanks and compile them into a light tank battalion (the 50 tanks that were missing in the previous article). These tanks were included in the equipment list by the Army, but because Skoda was immediately After being annexed by Germany, this transaction is destined to be impossible to complete.

Although the French tank's trading contract has been finalized, the French have problems with the supply. These tanks are too old and must undergo a certain degree of renovation, otherwise this transaction is really too ugly.

As a result, after the German invasion of France, the refurbishment of French tanks was not completely completed. Some of the antique tanks kept in the factory warehouse also became the spoils of the German army. In the end, the Yugoslavs got only 54 of them. And forty-eight Renault ft-17.

The German consultants were surprised to find that all these antiques are all m26/27. This is an improved tank with the purpose of "infantry auxiliary tank". It has been strengthened on the basis of ft17 and new Designed suspension system and gearbox. The frontal armor of this tank has been increased to 30 mm, the thickness of the armor on the side of the hull is also 16 mm, and the armor of the turret is 22 mm, so the total weight of the empty car has also been increased to eight tons, and the road speed has been reduced to Thirty-five kilometers per hour.

As a French-style "infantry tank", this driving speed is completely acceptable. The thickness of the armor and the firepower carried are also sufficient to cope with the low-intensity wars of the 1920s and 1930s. This tank has not been favored by the French army. But unexpectedly won many overseas orders.

The answer to the first country to buy this tank for export may be unexpected. It turned out to be the Japanese empire that is thousands of miles away from Europe.

The Japanese Army has previously purchased fifteen Renault ft17 basic tanks from France, some of which were handed over to the Japanese Army Cavalry School for teaching and research of armored soldiers. At the same time, it was also used as a model for technological development and was intended to be developed on this basis. Japan's own tank armored vehicle.

The starting point of Japanese tank equipment in history is actually very high. It can be said that borrowing from the most advanced armor technology of Britain and France, it was completely synchronized with the world trend in the initial stage of development. As for why it would be like the ghost in history, this question There are both internal and external causes, and it is really difficult to explain in a few words. I will talk about it in detail later when I talk about it.

In addition to Japan, another Asian country also bought this tank, to be precise, it should be a local faction, that is, the Feng Dynasty warlords that dominated the three eastern provinces at that time.

Zhang Yuting had established China's first formed tank unit very early. The weapon of tank also appeared on the battlefield of China's civil war for the first time with the outbreak of direct war.

The Northeast Army initially purchased only 14 basic Renault ft-17 basic models, but by 1930, the number of Renault tanks had increased to 36, of which 15 were the m26/27.

According to some domestic information, these are the Renault tanks copied by the United States. In fact, n27 is the type number assigned by the French government to export tanks. It is recorded that these tanks were shipped to the northeast in 1930. The Huanggutun incident was two years ago. After the outbreak, the Northeast Army experienced a period of turmoil and civil unrest, and the upper-level power transfer has been basically completed. The Feng faction is now at the peak of this warlord faction.

On September 18, 1930, Zhang Hanqing and Jiang Zhongzheng reached a deal. He could not resist the temptation to enter the customs and control Zhili, so he released a high-profile "Qiaodian" that day, and the Northeast Army officially intervened in full swing. "Central Plains War".

Feng Sect's knife at the critical moment completely destroyed the already fragile anti-Jiangmeng alliance. Zhang Hanqing took control of the North China region that his father had dreamed of, and laughed that it should be the commander of the National Government, Jiang Zhongzheng.

September 18, 1930 became an important turning point in the history of the Feng faction. The Feng faction climbed to the peak of the local armed faction since its birth. After receiving the soldiers and chassis owned by the Northwest Army, Feng Jun instantly Expansion became China's most powerful armed force north of the Yangtze River.

Perhaps it was also in response to the saying that Sheng Ji was declining, and the decline and final destruction of the Northeast Army also began at this moment.

Zhang Hanqing wouldn't even think about it even if he was hungry. In the second year, also on September 18th, Fengxi will usher in the biggest turning point in its destiny. On that day, a group of "Showa Staff" brought the tradition of army deer under control to the extreme. Without the approval of the Japanese emperor, cabinet or even the military department, the conspiracy planned and launched the "September 18 Incident."

If Zhang Hanqing was not too naive in politics at the time and too incompetent in military command, this military adventure launched by a handful of Japanese officers would have no chance of success.

The topic is a bit far away, and now I will return to the Yugoslav Army's reorganization.

The report submitted by the German consultant to the commanding department is very detailed. There is a thick stack of all kinds of charts alone. In order to save the precious time of the heads of state, what Xu Jun saw is a simplified version after finishing.

The role of Yugoslavia in Germany’s Eastern Front strategy is honestly difficult to tell the exact position. The geographical location of this country is very important. The mountains and mountains in the territory are not suitable for the deployment and maneuvering of large forces, especially armored forces. But it is very suitable for small units to carry out guerrilla warfare. As long as the external material support is kept, the mountainous areas here can easily become a quagmire where invaders are buried, or even become a flesh and blood mill like Afghanistan, so that any intruder can smell Discoloration.

However, there is an important premise for achieving this goal, that is, a smooth supply line must be maintained to provide a continuous flow of support. At the same time, the defender must have a certain ground advantage, and also need to seize the air control in the theater.

The combat strength of the Yugoslav ground forces is really worrying. It cannot be said that the Serbs are not brave enough. They are really brave. Even Hitler praised them. The problem is that the equipment and command ranks in their hands are too bad.

Yugoslavia’s ethnic conflicts led to an imbalance in the military’s strength. Serb officers once accounted for 99% of the number of officers. Before the war, there were a total of 165 general officers, of which only four were Croatians.

The Croatians can only serve as the bottom soldiers and the grassroots officers in the king's squad, which obviously lays the root of the future defeat. After the German invasion in history, a large number of Croatian soldiers fought in battle and were unwilling to fight for Serbian officers. The defense line that was not organized enough was destroyed at once, coupled with the outdated rigid tactical concept of the senior military command. Under the rapid attack of the Germans and their allies, the Kingdom The elite in the armed forces were quickly lost, and they were eventually forced to surrender to the Germans. At this time, it was only twelve days before the war.

If you want to avoid this problem from happening again, you must reform the army’s membership structure to change the Serb’s dominance in the king’s squad and at the same time foster the strength of the Croatian ethnic group in the army, but this approach is in Today, the top Serbs have agreed to cooperate fully with Germany, which obviously does not work.

At that time, even if the Yugoslav royal family came forward to make a package, I am afraid that it will not be able to suppress the negative impact of this practice on the Serb nationalists. Xu Jun is likely to witness another coup in Belgrade.

Xu Jun does not want to take risks at this juncture. Germany strategically needs an internally stable Balkan, and at least for the next four years there will be no drastic social unrest.

It is an impossible task to maintain the lasting harmony between the various ethnic groups in Yugoslavia, but it is still within the scope of Germany's current ability to keep them stable for a year or two.

If the Eastern Front war broke out, Yugoslavia, as a member of the European Military Alliance, could not keep itself out of the situation.

Because once Hungary was invaded by the Soviets, the neighboring Yugoslavia would become a natural strategic line of defense to block the Soviet fronts from penetrating the southern Balkan peninsula, and it was impossible for the Soviet Red Army Staff to see this.

Once the Yugoslav army was invaded by the Soviets, Xu Jun felt at ease waiting to see a good show.

The reason why Yugoslavia killed a mess in history is that the Germans destroyed the kingdom government recognized by all ethnic groups in the country, and drove away the nominal king-owner (although the people were dissatisfied but they still recognized their kingship), directly torn apart The curtain between several ethnic groups, at the same time deliberately provoke ethnic hatred.

Historically, the civil war in Yugoslavia was more **** than the foreign war against the aggressors. The Croatian puppet government supported by Germany launched a brutal killing of the Serbs in the country. At the same time, the Serbian armed organizations also launched a **** campaign against the Croatian civilians in the country. revenge.

Paramilitary organizations and guerrillas under the two communities. Family guards, local guards, and even armed civilians are like dead enemies once they encounter them. They will never stop if they don’t hit one of them, and they have the habit of not leaving prisoners alive, and prisoners are usually cruelly abused. Afterwards, the victor was executed with an axe.

This habit has caused that once fighting breaks out in some areas, the two sides will often fight until the last breath, willing to commit suicide rather than raise their hands to surrender.

When the Eastern Front war broke out in history, there were more guerrillas led by Yugoslavia in the civil war. At the same time, the Slovenian armed family guards also appeared on the scene, and almost every nation living on this land. Involved in this hopelessly melee battle, because of the fundamental contradiction in concept, there is no room for compromise between the parties, so there is no possibility of vertical and horizontal, just beat Yugoslavia into a potpourri Porridge.

In this civil war, which was dominated by guerrilla warfare, the forces of all parties showed extraordinary coldness, and showed no mercy in the face of the enemy. Eventually, the hatred even extended to the civilians who had helped the opponent.

The specific number of combatants and civilians who were killed in this ethnic civil war can no longer be counted, because the data has been deliberately covered up and revised after the war. The preliminary estimate is at least 300,000 people, while the same period The total number of deaths in the Balkans, including missing German officers and soldiers, was less than 40,000.

It is impossible for Xu Jun to open this Balkan box again. Of course, the Croatian and Slovenian ethnic groups really need to be appeased, but they must not be used to shake up the social structure of Yugoslavia. Perhaps it is a bit unfair to those ethnic groups, but it is clearly not a social structural reform now. Good time.

Prince Paul was quite sensible, and under the pretext of the German Huwei, he succeeded in persuading most Serb veterans in the cabinet and parliament to allow them to agree to raise the position and position of the Croatian ethnicity within the Yugoslav government and army Share, but only if the Croats must stop all separatist activities in Yugoslavia.

As a support for Prince Paul, Xu Jun promised that Germany would not provide any form of support to the Croatian’s political demands, but at the same time, he also said that he would put the Yugoslav Croatian ethnic group under the protection of the Third Reich and prohibit any organization and Individuals may resort to retaliation for their previous actions.

This series of agreements amounts to a peace of mind for both parties. The Serbs no longer have to worry about Germany overthrowing the kingdom. The Croats have gained a strong enough backing, and everything seems to have returned to the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As for the Slovenians, the two most difficult to deal with were silent. If they were dissatisfied, they could stand at the front desk and say it out loud.

The individual qualities of Yugoslav infantry are generally good. Whether they are Serbs or Croats, they will not lose to the Slavic barbarians at all. As long as they are trained strictly and reasonably, and they are equipped with sufficient equipment, these people may be the best in Europe. Mountain Light Infantry.

The Yugoslav infrastructure is quite backward in Europe. Although there are some excellent projects, such as the famous "Tara Valley Bridge" (the prototype of the movie "Bridge"), most of the roads in its territory are outdated.

Most mountain roads are still rammed earth and gravel roads. Although they do not turn into quagmire in the rainy season, they also restrict the movement of heavy equipment.

At the same time, the bearing capacity of the bridges in Yugoslavia is also a problem. Like most old bridges in Europe, these bridges usually can only carry a maximum weight of about 30 tons, and many of them can only pass through 20-ton vehicles, which is light for the original The armed Yugoslav army is sufficient, but at this time it limits their equipment level.

In the case of Germany’s temporary inability to invest in local infrastructure, Germany has not yet completed the reinforcement of its own bridges at this time, and can only refer these issues to the Yugoslav local engineering team. Completing these projects will require a large amount of capital and For materials, if the Royal Government of Yugoslavia is unable to obtain sufficient loans, it may not even be able to start construction as scheduled.

The command headquarters prepared the first armored brigade of the Yugoslav Royal Army for the h35 tank produced by the French Hodgkis Company. The first 320 units have been delivered to Belgrade, and a standard tank regiment is being formed with the help of German advisers.

The headquarters' next plan is to wait until the officers and soldiers are familiar with the use of these new equipment, and then transfer this unit to the Yugoslav border provinces for adaptive training, and quickly formulate battlefield regulations and equipment manuals in line with the local combat environment.

The long-distance maneuvering of these armored units is impossible to rely on road march and vehicle transportation. The most suitable way is to use Yugoslavia’s fairly qualified railway system. Although the Yugoslav railway cannot be compared with several developed countries in Europe, it is also second to none in the Balkans. Too.

The railway system of Yugoslavia first developed from the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and entered a period of rapid development after World War I. The railway from Zagreb to Belgrade was built in the 1920s. The famous Orient Express is along this railway Crossing Yugoslavia and then entering Bulgaria.

Xu Jun does not expect to see the results of these trainings in a short period of time. He only hopes that when the Eastern Front war breaks out, Yugoslavia will be able to complete war preparations and join the European Union’s battle sequence as scheduled.

ps: Thank you for your understanding.