The Third Reich: The Return of the King

Chapter 715

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: 0.030s Scan: 0.019sWhen the news of the fall of Manchester was received, there was a cry of grief in the Fog City!

The fall of Manchester not only meant that their one million troops in the north were annihilated, but also meant that there was no obstacle for the German army to move south. The next time they would face the German artillery fire, it might be their capital Fog City!

The speed at which the situation deteriorated was completely beyond the imagination of the people of the British Empire!

However, just when they thought they had lost the 400,000 British troops in Manchester, they were surprised to find that these soldiers had returned!

“What’s going on? Didn’t Manchester fall? How did they come back?”

The British army was confused and couldn’t figure out what was going on.

When Liverpool fell, except for a very small number of British soldiers who escaped, almost all the other soldiers were annihilated or captured by the Germans. So when the news of the fall of Manchester came, everyone in the British Empire thought that Manchester was another Liverpool, so in their hearts, they had assumed that the garrison stationed in Manchester was completely wiped out!

But unexpectedly, these people actually came back!

And it seems that most of them are back, at least the ordinary soldiers are back, as for the officers…

Among the British troops stationed in Manchester, almost all the officers above the rank of second lieutenant were detained!

This was also a preventive measure taken by Model. Although the German army destroyed the British Empire’s factories, he Their weapons and equipment could no longer be produced, but the British Empire was, after all, an old and powerful country, and its foundation should not be underestimated.

So Model was worried that the British Empire might still have some weapons reserves in its hands. Therefore, if these soldiers were simply released, the British Empire might be able to take out their stored weapons and really re-arm these people. If so, Hans would be shooting himself in the foot.

So, he simply did things to the extreme and released all the ordinary soldiers, but detained all the British officers!

The core of an army is not the soldiers but the officers. As long as the officers are still there, even if the army is completely killed or wounded, they can be quickly replenished, and after a period of training, their combat effectiveness will soon be restored.

But if the loss of officers If the loss is too severe, then the army will be basically ruined. It will take a long time to rebuild, and there will be no big relationship between the rebuilt army and the original army!

Therefore, on the battlefield, it is much more useful to organize an army as a whole than to severely damage it.

In the early days of the Soviet-German War, the German army would be transferred back to the rear for rest and recuperation as soon as it suffered losses on the battlefield, and then recruit new soldiers to supplement the army. As long as the majority of the army’s officers were preserved, their combat effectiveness would recover very quickly.

On the other hand, the Russians were often hit by large-scale annihilation battles by the German lightning pincer offensive, so many Soviet troops were annihilated or captured by the German army as a whole, which caused the Soviet army to suffer heavy losses. The front-line troops had no way to withdraw to the rear for repairs. Even if the rear was heavily damaged, To build this army, it is necessary to recruit soldiers and officers again if you want it to form combat effectiveness.

After the Great Purge, the number of qualified officers in the Mao Bear Army was originally very scarce.

In addition, the heavy losses in the early stage of the war made the number of Mao Bear officers seriously insufficient.

It can be said that before 1942, there was a huge gap in quality between the Mao Bear Army and the German Army.

This gap was not gradually reduced until the Battle of Moscow.

In the Battle of Moscow, the German army did not achieve its combat objectives, nor did it annihilate the Soviet army in an organized manner.

Although it severely damaged many Soviet troops, most of these Soviet troops were able to retreat to the rear to replenish their troops, and the veterans who had been baptized by the war evolved into middle and lower-level officers, enriching the positions of commanders inherited by the Mao Bear Army, so that the combat effectiveness of the Mao Bear Army did not decrease but increased.

Throughout 1942, Mao Bear was in repeated battles and tugs with the German army, accumulating experience little by little, getting used to and adapting to the German army’s tactics little by little. As a result, the strength of the Soviet army began to become stronger and stronger, and the gap in strength between the two sides gradually disappeared, which eventually led to the defeat of the German army!

Therefore, although the German army released the 400,000 British soldiers in Manchester, because all the officers of these troops were annihilated, these 400,000 troops actually had no combat effectiveness. They were hastily formed recruits, and the only ones with combat experience were their officers. Now that these officers were gone, the army naturally became a mob!

After discovering this situation, the British government and military in the Fog City were dumbfounded!

“The Hans are so cruel!”

“Yes, they released these people, but seized their weapons and officers, and returned the people to us. This group of people is useless to us. If we want to arm them, we must provide them with weapons, officers, and even bedding!”

A British officer said angrily. The German army not only seized the British weapons, but also stripped their uniforms. As a result, when the British soldiers returned to the Fog City, they were left with only a pair of shorts. They looked funny and spectacular. Walking on the streets of the city, they immediately attracted a large number of onlookers. Of course, there were more people pointing and talking.

“This is not the most fatal thing. The most fatal thing is what to do with the food of these 400,000 people? They have no combat effectiveness, but they are still members of the British army. According to the standards of the army, we have to supply them with food, but we have no food at all now. Even if we have it, we must give priority to those troops fighting on the front line, not such useless people!”

The minister in charge of military logistics was worried. When he heard the news of the fall of Manchester, he was relieved. Finally, he didn’t have to worry about the food of the 400,000 troops in the north. Unexpectedly, these guys lost the city and ran back. Moreover, the German army only gave them two days of food. When they arrived at the outskirts of the foggy city, they were already starving!

Now these 400,000 people are looking at me eagerly, waiting for me to distribute food to them to fill their stomachs, but the problem is that the Minister of Munitions can’t take out any food at all. Even if there is food, it can’t be given to them!

“This move is really vicious, and I don’t know who came up with it!”

Others also saw the hungry eyes of these soldiers. Four hundred thousand hungry soldiers, this is really terrible!

Especially since they have entered the Fog City!