Chapter 1110: Weapon System

To stubbornly compare one weapon to an opponent’s is an extremely amateurish and irresponsible thing to do. Take, for example, the 150mm towed howitzer now equipped by the German Wehrmacht’s artillery. If you’re just comparing performance, it’s actually inferior to other countries’ cannons of the same type.

In terms of range, the German gun can’t beat the American 155mm or the Soviet 152mm. Under the same conditions, its propellant charge per shell is also smaller. So if you’re only talking about performance, the German artillery has been fighting with outdated equipment.

However, this 150mm towed howitzer has received unanimous praise from German officers and soldiers. By sacrificing combat performance, the gun’s weight was massively reduced, making it easy to tow. It was a weapon tailor-made for the long-range raids of a German army that had not yet fully mechanized.

This cannon could even be towed by horses, rolling forward alongside the German armored units, allowing the artillery to keep pace with the tanks and provide effective fire support for the panzergrenadiers. Even though the Germans often got the worse of it in artillery duels, it still couldn’t change this weapon’s status as a mainstay of the German artillery corps.

Why did the German army equip such a seemingly lackluster cannon? On one hand, it was a matter of mobility, to keep up with the armored forces. On the other hand, it was because a large part of Germany’s fire support had already been handed over to the Air Force’s attack aircraft.

Furthermore, with the attack aircraft taking on a large part of the artillery’s proper work, the various types of assault guns equipped by the German grenadier units also shouldered a portion of the fire support mission. These assault guns could accompany the infantry attack, providing more timely and direct support.

It was precisely because the German Air Force had the ability to shatter the enemy’s defenses, destroy their artillery positions, and disrupt their rear deployments before an offensive even began; and because the assault guns on the battlefield could clear out enemy bunkers and directly cover the infantry’s charge—that the German artillery could, with a clear conscience, use these lighter but less powerful cannons. If this gun were in the French, British, Soviet, or American armies, it would clearly be a garbage weapon. But in German hands, it displayed the special characteristics of a blitzkrieg support tool.

For this same reason, Germany’s firepower was severely affected during long periods of rainy weather. Because the air force couldn’t fly, the entire support system’s artillery shortcomings were immediately exposed, forcing them into a bitter struggle with the enemy. This phenomenon clearly illustrates the weakness and helplessness of a single weapon once its “system” is broken.

By the same analysis, the German Stuka II attack aircraft is recognized by the world as the best ground-attack aircraft in service. Its characteristics are that it’s tough, durable, and not fast, allowing it to loiter repeatedly over the battlefield, providing timely and stable support.

But if you look at it in isolation, this plane uses a low-horsepower, cheap engine. Because of its own weight and its engine’s limitations, its aerial maneuverability is not outstanding. Its pull-out characteristics from a dive are even worse than the original Stuka’s. But because it is cheap and reliable, Germany continues to use it in large numbers.

If you just talk about performance, this plane can only be described as “able to fly.” Its performance is not outstanding, even somewhat backward. But because the German Air Force’s advanced fighters have complete control of the air, this plane suddenly becomes very useful. Its slow speed becomes an advantage, and its reliable, cheap, and easy-to-manufacture design is infinitely amplified.

Therefore, many weapons have very mediocre performance data, but they still cannot be underestimated. Conversely, a weapon that seems extremely powerful is not necessarily a panacea that can rewrite the war just by being equipped.

The AK-47 assault rifle looks incredibly powerful, but if it had been fielded in World War I, it would have been a disaster for the soldiers. Trench warfare meant that the engagement range for rifles was generally over 800 meters, but the AK-47’s range is only 400 meters. The result of fielding it would be that these soldiers, with all their firepower, would be pinned down, unable to even lift their heads.

Similarly, because the MG42 general-purpose machine gun developed by Germany was just too good, so good that it masked its own shortcomings, such as a lack of stability, the German Wehrmacht has, to this day, not equipped a proper heavy machine gun. The heavy machine guns that German units have are either captured or old equipment from storage.

Akado came from a later era. He was a transmigrator. He had, according to the future he knew, forged the German army into the strongest force possible. In this process, he truly experienced just how difficult it was to implement the dream of a “strong army.”

To mechanize the army as much as possible, to increase the troops’ mobility, resulted in fuel consumption rising to a terrifying level. Equipping them with a large number of cars, tanks, planes, and cannons—so much advanced equipment—caused a massive improvement in training and quality. The soldiers became more andis more precious, and also increasingly difficult to replace. Finding all kinds of ways to increase the troops’ firepower, allowing them to quickly break through enemy defenses, directly led to ammunition consumption increasing by several times, even dozens of times.

Thus, it was not just the front-line combat troops that needed to be reformed, but also the nation’s resource extraction capabilities, its rear production capacity, its transportation capacity, its population’s overall quality, and its ability to mobilize. And if you count all these abilities, it pretty much represents the entire comprehensive national strength… To put it bluntly, it was about improving the entire country.

In ancient warfare, you sharpened your sword, packed your dry rations, and set off. Such an army might collapse at the first contact, but for defending a city or just making a show of force, it was absolutely sufficient. But in modern warfare, every soldier must be trained, must master how to use complex weapons, just to become a new recruit. And those low-quality, temporarily conscripted and armed units, their combat capability has been compressed to a new historical low. They are not even capable of independent combat.

So Akado knew that after his army reached a historic 7.5 million, Germany had already exhausted its last bit of war potential, becoming a thoroughly militaristic state, armed to the teeth. His army could not fail, because once it failed, he would have no ability to raise a new army to replace it.

And after General von Bock was ordered to leave the General Staff to form Germany’s last army group, P Army Group, the German forces would not be expanded any further. The entire Empire would maintain 16 army groups, right up until victory or defeat.

The armies at the front, of course, did not know that their Führer was working so tirelessly for them. These bravely fighting soldiers only knew that if they could crush Stalin within a few months, they could return to their homes and enjoy a rare Christmas.

So they shoved shell after shell into the breeches of their cannons, closed the blocks, and fired one heavy gun after another, sending hundreds and thousands of tons of shells into the city of Moscow. At this very moment, that place was thick with smoke, and the burning flames even reddened the sky.

The war had raised its bloody curtain. On the long front lines, there would be countless forms of slaughter. While the German Navy was firing on the enemy in the depths of the ocean, the German Army was also experiencing the thunder of cannons on the long Eastern Front. Everyone’s life had been changed by this damned war. Now, all they had to do was kill.

Beside a collapsed building, a German soldier leaned against the ruins, quietly smoking. They had just experienced a life-or-death struggle, and had finally nailed their position firmly in some low-rise building complexes on the outskirts of the Soviet capital of Moscow.

Both sides had fought fiercely here. The entire ruin was littered with the bodies of men in gray-green Wehrmacht uniforms and grass-green Red Army uniforms. They had all shed their last drop of blood for their countries. Now they could only, as a part of the ruins, bear witness to the final ownership of this land.

Perhaps God did not exist. Or perhaps He did, but He could not shine His light on every corner of the world. At least in this land, people did not feel God’s blessing. They could only rely on themselves, to find a way to live in the hail of bullets.

“Charge!” On the distant ground positions, a command in Russian shattered the relative calm. All the German troops propped their weapons on the cover they had been leaning on and aimed their cold muzzles in the direction of the enemy’s attack.

There, a group of Soviet soldiers was leaping out of their trenches, charging forward madly with their rifles. They were going to charge into the German shelters, to drive these men back to where they had been just a few hours ago. These soldiers, shouting “Urrah!”, launched a ferocious, death-defying charge.

“Fire!” With a command from a German officer, a German MG42 machine gun, hidden in the ruins, began to fire fiercely. Tracer rounds drew straight lines, flying into the distant crowd. Blood began to splash, and debris and bricks, shattered by the bullets, were everywhere. The sound of screams and shouts of “Urrah!” rose and fell. In an instant, the calm battlefield was boiling like water.

A German assault gun slowly revealed its ferocious face from amidst the ruins, aiming its 75mm cannon at the charging Soviet infantry. With the roar of the cannon, smoke and dust suddenly filled the air. The German soldiers’ return fire became even more ferocious. Long guns and short guns all joined this chorus. The Soviet troops fell in droves. This scene continued until the battlefield had returned to quiet, only then did it end.

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