Emperor Reinhard had just finished speaking when Chief of Staff William Kelt chimed in, “The staff has already formulated several plans corresponding to the main attack directions of north, central, and south, our assessment shows that the plan to take Saint Andrew Fort in the north is the most reliable.”
“The supply route for this plan is the shortest, although the marshes and forests of Livonia and the guerrilla teams scattered among them have seriously disrupted our military’s logistics, the other directions also have problems with guerrilla teams.”
Reinhard suddenly became furious and banged the table hard, “I was prepared to wipe out the Ante people from the beginning, but you all stopped me, and now you’re telling me that we have a serious guerrilla problem?”
William Kelt glanced at Walter Von Bulein, the Army commander, and said, “We need to hire civilians to ensure logistics. Our logistics department has employed nine million workers, including railway workers, truck drivers, and maintenance workers, among others.
“We originally thought that these people would be enough to supply logistics for several million troops, but the reality has deviated significantly from our predictions. Ante’s infrastructure is too poor; with only these nine million workers, we can’t ensure the supply for 153 divisions on the eastern front. We must hire Ante people.”
Reinhard: “And because we hired Ante people, the supply line is a mess!”
William Kelt: “Better a mess than no supply line at all. In fact, this is true for all the non-Traditional Prosen territories we occupy, such as Carolingian, Melania, and the Netherlands Republic — resistance organizations are everywhere.”
At that moment, Chief of Ceremonies Heintz from the Imperial Household Ministry, who had been silent, gently pushed up his glasses and said, “We’re doing our best to eliminate these resistance groups. Just this past month, we caught several hundred spies airdropped from the United Kingdom.
“There are certainly many more that have infiltrated. Every night, the United Kingdom broadcasts various poems in different languages, all of which are code for the resistance groups in various locations.
“The enemy can carry out these airdrops because someone boasted that not even a fly could get through!”
Duke Meyer pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his sweat before he retorted, “The enemy uses all-wood airplanes which our radars can’t detect; it’s impossible to guard against such planes. These wooden planes invade from high altitudes and our ground observation posts have difficulty directly spotting them.
“These planes also fly very fast…”
Heintz smiled faintly, “You always have a reason, Your Grace.”
Duke: “What do you mean ‘reason’? These are objective facts. We now control almost the entirety of Europa. It’s very difficult to defend such vast airspace against a type of plane invisible to radar.”
Army Commander Walter said, “We’re used to the Air Force being unreliable.”
Duke Meyer frowned, “I can’t agree with that. Without the cooperation of the Air Force, Blitzkrieg would have been impossible. General Moochi would agree with me!”
General Moochi was feeling melancholy at that moment, having been relieved of his front-line command duties. Although he still held the title of director of Armored Troops, unless he achieved field victories, getting a marshal’s baton was virtually impossible.
As General Moochi considered that his promotion had come to a halt, he couldn’t help feeling somber.
Just under two months ago, he had observed Ye Fort through binoculars and ordered shelling of Ye Fort.
The thought made him even more melancholic, even inclined to have a drink.
Unfortunately, Emperor Reinhard didn’t like to see people drinking before a military meeting.
Suddenly put on the spot by Duke Meyer, General Moochi could only look around bewildered, “Sorry, I just zoned out. What were you asking me?”
Duke Meyer repeated his question, “I was asking if you agree that Blitzkrieg would be unachievable without the support of the Air Force?”
The cooperation between the two rising military forces, the Air Force and Armored Troops, was what created the glory of the Blitzkrieg, at least that’s how the Prosen Empire’s propaganda spun it.
General Moochi had no intention of spoiling the effect of the propaganda, which was beneficial for maintaining his position, as he was the one in the dark black uniform of Armored Troops, also the director.
So General Moochi answered, “Yes, close air support from the Air Force has been a great help to us.”
Duke Meyer immediately showed a pleased expression.
But then General Moochi continued, “However, during the recent Ye Fort campaign, the Air Force hardly played a role. This was due to our failure to switch the aircraft to antifreeze lubricant in time, but it has to be acknowledged that sometimes the Air Force really isn’t that useful.”
Duke Meyer hastily assured, “We’ll apply the proper lubricant next year, so even in winter the planes will be operable.”
“I hope that’s the case,” General Moochi said.
Determined to steer the conversation back to its original course, Duke Meyer declared, “I guarantee that the Air Force will be fully committed to the attack come the spring offensive.”
“That’s what you said before the war started,” Commanding General Walter stated.
Duke Meyer argued, “We did fully commit to the attack when the war started, but Ante is so vast that it directly resulted in a perception from the infantry on the ground that our close air support was once again diminished.”
He paused and emphasized again, “We truly gave it our all!”
Marshal Von Bulein commented, “If giving it your all yields only such results, then the Air Force is nothing special after all.”
Duke Meyer: “You!”
“Enough!” Emperor Reinhard rebuked sharply.
The Air Force, being an emerging high-tech branch, had always been favored by Reinhard, and in such times, he naturally stood on the side of the Air Force.
Marshal von Bulein bowed his head, showing his compliance, which relaxed the tense expression on Reinhard’s face somewhat.
The army’s leadership primarily consisted of Junker officers, and Emperor Reinhard had already used the division of Armored Troops to weaken as much as possible the influence of the officer corps within the army, and recently, he had formed the Asgard Knights, which did not fall under the command of the Army’s Chief of Staff.
However, the army was so large and the officers so numerous, with the intertwined relations of the Junker nobility deep and complex, that even a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Moreover, Reinhard keenly felt that the mouths of the old guard in the army, previously shut by a series of brilliant victories, were beginning to loosen again.
There were two leaders among the old guard, one was the retired Marshal Hindenburg at home, and the second was von Bulein, only five years younger than Hindenburg.
Of course, several years of splendid victories had already established an exceptionally solid rule for Reinhard, so even facing a minor setback, von Bulein still expressed his obedience to Reinhard.
Besides, after several years of war, the old guard also knew that technological innovation had changed the nature of warfare, and the large influx of officers skilled in new technologies into the military was an inevitable trend, with the dilution of Junker officers’ power becoming a foregone conclusion.
Many of the old guard had already given up resistance and resigned themselves to the military innovation.
Just as the nobility of Ante lost power, so too would the Junker military nobility gradually lose theirs.
Many Junker nobles had already sold their ancestral estates, having inherited them for so many years, and moved into modern concrete cities; their children were accustomed to electricity, radio, and running water, and were no longer willing to return to the archaic estates.
Reinhard stared at the Chief of the General Staff for several seconds, then nodded, “The Air Force will do its utmost to assist you. To reach the banks of the Valdai Hills River in about four months’ time, you don’t need to cross the river, just set up a defensive line along it, forcing the enemy to reinforce Kuban via Inland Sea shipping.”
Von Bulein nodded, “We can just modify our southern line plan for that. Our plan was only to break through the coastal-Bolsk line and occupy this fortified area to choke the enemy’s throat and prevent a counterattack from the south.”
Reinhard, “Your plan is too conservative, even Giles wouldn’t like it.”
Giles was still in charge of the defense of the southern part of the Central Army Group’s frontline, that is, the Duva River line, so he did not attend this imperial conference.
Von Bulein, “We will have a new plan before the end of this month, although we don’t yet have a clear offensive plan, we can start stockpiling ammunition and equipment.”
Reinhard turned to his Armored Troops supervisor, “Replenish the troops with new tanks as soon as possible.”
General Moochi, “As I’ve just said, unless we begin mobilization and switch to a wartime production system, our army is not able to quickly replenish the long-barreled Panzer IVs. By the time the attack begins in April, I estimate that ten armored battalions in the eastern front will have received long-barreled Panzer IVs.”
Reinhard immediately picked up on a keyword, “Received?”
General Moochi, “To facilitate the rearming process, it’s certain that the original crews who already operate the Panzer IVs would have to be reequipped first. Each battalion has only about 25 Panzer IVs.”
“That’s only two hundred and fifty tanks!” Reinhard’s voice grew louder, “Only 250 tanks in three months? Has my Prosen industry weakened to this extent?”
General Moochi, “It’s mainly for two reasons, first, the production capacity of the long 43-caliber 75 mm gun barrels is limited. After all, the imperial army has just placed large orders for PAK40s, and although the two types of gun barrels are different in detail, they still compete for production capacity. Switching to wartime production would solve this problem.”
Reinhard waved his hand, “What’s the second reason?”
“The new tanks are to be first armed with the Asgard Knights Division, and the Air Force field divisions.”
Reinhard was stuck.
Von Bulein and other old-school officers exchanged glances, then simultaneously settled into a state of watching the show.
In the end, Reinhard shook his head, “Then for the spring offensive, make even more use of the Asgard Knights! Place them at the most crucial point, where the enemy’s forces are strongest! Last time they met Rocossov and performed poorly, becoming the subject of ridicule in the newspapers of the Federation and the United Kingdom! Now is their chance to redeem themselves!”
Von Bulein and William Kelt exchanged glances again.
Then Chief of General Staff William Kelt said, “Then we need Your Majesty to assure us these units will be positioned on the frontline according to our plans.”
“I assure you! Just treat them like ordinary Armored Divisions for deployment, but they’ve got to be at the most difficult breakthrough points!” After saying this, Reinhard turned again towards the supervisor of Armored Troops, General Moochi, “How is the situation with the new tanks?”
General Moochi, “The Panzer V was only in the research stage before, with no design drawings produced, so I had the design team carefully measure the captured Ante tanks. We are basically planning to improve upon the T34’s basis, correcting its flaws. The earliest we could test the prototype would be by the end of this year.”
Reinhard, “Then it seems this tank will not see use in the war against Ante. We are going to take out Ante’s coal and oil fields this year, and they will surrender by next spring.”
General Moochi, “There is one tank that might be put into battle this year though. Previously, we struggled against the Carolingian B1 heavy tanks, so we proposed a tender for an 88 mm carrier vehicle, mainly making improvements based on the previously halted VK3001 project.
“Currently Hensher and Porsche have produced prototype vehicles, which are undergoing tests at Belka’s tank test field. If all goes well, by the April offensive, production models will be sent to the front.”
General Moochi, “In Belka? Okay, I want to take a look. This meeting is adjourned!”