Chapter 676: November

In fact, the weather on the Ukrainian plain had already become somewhat cold. Especially for the troops stationed in the field, the nights were very difficult to endure. After all, the weather in Ukraine was a world apart from the warmth of Europe.

Both sides were preparing the necessary military supplies for winter warfare: cotton-padded clothes, tents, protective covers for soldiers’ guns to prevent freezing, and antifreeze. Both sides were doing their utmost to make final reserves of everything they could prepare.

Akado had prepared winter uniforms with white snow camouflage fabric for the entire 5.3 million-strong army on the Eastern Front. These short, hooded winter coats, in many of the pre-produced models, even had two convenient side pockets for carrying items. The workmanship could be said to be very fine.

The meticulous German rear echelon had even provided a full four types of white camouflage covers for firearms, covering the German MP-44 assault rifle, G43 semi-automatic rifle, Mauser 98k bolt-action rifle, and the MG42 general-purpose machine gun. This would raise the level of camouflage for the German army in the snow to a higher level than at many times in history.

This time, Germany had come prepared. To stockpile winter clothing in advance, Akado had started building up the German military’s own breeding farms as early as 1925. These farms not only helped the German military hide a large number of management personnel and troops under the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, but also provided Germany with a large amount of duck meat during the production process.

Because of the large stockpile of down products, there was even a period when Germany’s duck meat products were exported to 13 surrounding countries and regions, once allowing the French people of that time to enjoy the consumer experience brought by cheap duck and goose meat. And Germany, through this large-scale farming, had secretly stockpiled low-quality down jackets mixed with chicken feathers. Then, from 1937 to 1938, these low-quality down jackets were used to provide warmth for the workers in the rear.

In addition, Germany’s occupation of France and the Netherlands had given it a large number of pastures, strengthening its own animal husbandry and textile industry’s production capacity, which made Germany’s production capacity for civilian warm clothing very abundant.

And during this period, the high-quality down jackets and cotton clothes produced, as well as a large number of sweaters, were all transported to the front lines by the Germans to supply the military, allowing the German soldiers to obtain sufficient winter clothing in advance as the weather turned cold. Compared to another timeline, the German army’s winter preparations were now very sufficient, and they had even reached the point of stockpiling some spare materials.

On the other hand, the German armored forces’ preparations for winter were even more professional and systematic. For a full two months, using the factories in frontline areas like Kiev and Warsaw, the German tanks not only had their frontal armor thickened, but were also fitted with a device that could heat the engine. At least at minus 35 degrees Celsius, this device could effectively raise the engine temperature of a completely cooled tank or armored car to the normal starting temperature.

In addition, as the production capacity of the Romanian oil fields gradually increased, the oil supply for the German army on the Eastern Front was very timely and sufficient. Coupled with the fact that the German army’s original oil reserves were larger than in another timeline, both the quality and quantity of the German troops’ fuel had improved significantly. Compared to the well-known oil reserve figures of the German army in another timeline, the amount of oil in German hands was still a full 1.3 million barrels more than at the same period. This was already a very good result, because compared to the Germany of the same period, the German army now had more equipment that “drank oil.”

With this capital, the German company I.G. Farben provided enough antifreeze to ensure that Germany’s proud armored vehicles could maintain a very good condition in the coming winter. In this way, Germany could be said to have made all the necessary preparations to prevent its vehicles from being completely disabled by the cold.

Not only was the fuel they burned better, but the German armored vehicles had also made their own preparations in other aspects. For example, the track width of the German tanks was more than twice that of the Panzer III and IV of that era. The new tracks gave the Panther and Tiger tanks better passability in the mud and made them more suitable for snow and complex road conditions. This also gave the German armored forces more confidence to advance in the winter.

Also prepared were a full 1 million tons of charcoal and firewood for the German army. These materials would advance with the troops, ensuring that they could build fires for warmth in the field or to heat their vehicles. This wood was all sourced from the forests in Poland and Germany. To prepare these materials, the forest land in Poland had visibly shrunk. Originally, with the German army’s level of preparation, primitive materials like wood were not needed, but they still prepared a huge amount, some of which was even dried. It could be said that not a single bit of assistance was wasted.

The reserve of these materials supported the German armored forces’ 13,100 tanks of various types, 7,100 armored cars and self-propelled guns, 390,000 vehicles and motorcycles of various models, and 11,300 large-caliber towed support artillery pieces. 5.3 million soldiers stood ready. If one included the 300,000 Romanian troops, 200,000 Finnish troops, 700,000 Italian troops, and the 500,000 follow-on Turkish troops fighting alongside them, the total ground force of the German army on the Eastern Front exceeded 7 million. It could be said to be a mighty force.

Compared to the army, the German Air Force’s preparations could also be described as complete. In four months, with the help of engineers and prisoners of war, the German Air Force had built anti-freeze shelters for a full 20,000 aircraft on the Eastern Front. This allowed all German aircraft in the area from Poland to Ukraine to be housed indoors when the temperature dropped and the snow fell. This project was so incredible that even Akado found it hard to believe. The German high command had managed to not miss a single idea, whether it was a stupid method or a good plan.

In addition, the Germans had also prepared protective tents for the aircraft, as well as pre-cut wooden frames. When the German army advanced to Minsk and later to Smolensk and other areas, these would be used to quickly establish frontline field airfields. The German army had not made too many preparations for areas further away, only a follow-up support plan. After all, based on the timeline of the operation, it was estimated that by the time they attacked near Moscow, it would already be spring or summer.

Because they had obtained intelligence, the Germans still adopted a defensive posture. Nearly 6 million troops were waiting for the Soviet Red Army’s initial offensive. Although they had not prepared the same kind of embrasure-style defensive system as in Poland, they had prepared a deep defense system in the frontline areas, especially with the flanks of Kiev as the core.

Similarly, the Soviet Red Army, under the command of Zhukov, was also preparing for a winter offensive. Compared to the German army, which was experienced in fighting in Europe, the Red Army had very rich combat experience in the cold of Russia. Not to mention anything else, just by looking at the number of cotton-padded clothes in the Soviet standing army, one could tell that they were extremely familiar with winter warfare.

After the onset of winter, snowfall is often accompanied by mud and cold. At this time, the Soviet Red Army, which relied heavily on animal-powered mobility, welcomed its best opportunity for combat. The Cossack cavalry on their warhorses would conduct large-scale flanking raids in the cold weather, becoming a nightmare for the shivering enemy infantry. And the Soviets’ stronger resistance to the cold made them more suitable for launching offensives in cold climates.

Compared to the German forces, the total strength of the Red Army had a clear advantage. They had prepared 9.1 million soldiers in three echelons on the Eastern Front. Although most of these soldiers were not the elites of the Red Army at the beginning of the offensive in Poland, they had all received more than a month of combat training and had a decent basic combat capability.

And after a two-month delay, the strategic materials provided by the United States to the Soviet Union had also been transported from the distant Bering Strait to the foot of the Ural Mountains. This advanced machine tool and processing equipment provided the Soviet Union with a huge boost in industrial capacity.

To counter the German armored forces’ performance advantage in optical sights, the Soviet Union had even specifically ordered a full 500 sets of original, imported M4 Sherman aiming systems from the United States. After being calibrated, they were installed on the Stalin-type tanks to improve the accuracy of their firepower and give them the ability to fight against German main battle tanks like the Tiger and Panther.

In two months, the Soviet arms industry had worked overtime to provide the frontline Red Army with over 2,000 T-34 tanks, giving the Red Army a certain numerical advantage over the Germans in tanks—of course, only God knew how big the quality gap was.

To increase production, the T-34 tank used a new, more rounded cast turret, which was integrally formed and had an excellent ballistic shape. It could be said to be a significant improvement even over the original KV-1 tank. After this tank was delivered to the troops, it was very popular with the soldiers of the armored forces. At least when it replaced the T-26s in their hands, they were overjoyed.

But this was just the paper performance data provided by the Soviet engineers. No one knew how much protection this new turreted T-34 actually had in a real situation. After all, with workers producing 35 a day in a round-the-clock rush, the number of air bubbles and impurities inside the integrally cast turret’s steel body was not something the producers could subjectively control.

Of course, in fact, some of the tanks produced by the Soviet Union were still of high quality. For example, at least 50 Stalin tanks were almost completely handmade by workers, and their quality could be guaranteed. Most of these tanks were scattered among the other mass-produced Stalin tanks within the Soviet armored forces, to deliver a fatal blow to the German tanks in the form of a “cold arrow.”

In addition, in two months, more than 170 mass-produced Stalin tanks had been produced. Together with the handmade versions, Stalin’s production requirements for this tank had finally been met. This way, the Soviet Union would have more than 220 Stalin tanks, more than 2,300 T-34s, about 100 KV-2s, more than 5,100 KV-1s, and more than 5,500 T-26s, as well as 400 American-supplied M3 and M3 Lee tanks for the winter offensive.

Published: 2025-09-17T08:53:34.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-19T17:59:30.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c676-139090358

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