During the spring exercise, Weiss was nervously paying attention to news about the hostile elements. In order to cope with various possible situations, the emergency team also canceled the leave and all staff were on standby. From the perspective of ensuring operational efficiency, this team was stationed in three places: Warrens, Somsonas and Mason. Warrens is an industrial center in the north of Lorraine, which supplies electricity from most areas of Lorraine and produces a large amount of industrial products. It is regarded as the industrial sub-center of Lorraine. Mason is the capital of Lorraine, its political, economic and industrial center, and supplies equipment used for military exercises.

The channels for exchange of information from the government are gathered here, which is an important target that is easily targeted by the enemy. Although Somsonas is located between Warrens and Mason, its strategic position is no longer the same as before, because the Free Lorraine Canal Industrial Zone gathers a number of factories with high technical content and the new military production line of the Klumber-Hisson factory, it is also easy to cause the covetousness of hostile personnel. Furthermore, Somsonas is stationed in an agricultural and forestry air force, which is the most mobile force of an unofficial organization, which is conducive to the effect of military-civilian cooperation and military-civilian joint defense.

However, until the large exercise came to an end, the enemy never emerged from the darkness. Of course, there were two situations. One was that the enemy was afraid of the strict guards of the Lorraine military and civilians and did not dare to make big moves. The other was that their secret actions were not discovered. No matter which one, they finally survived this very difficult period. The army began to return to their respective garrisons. As one of the hosts, Weiss closely watched the various arrangements for the return of the army, fearing that an accident would occur in the last stage of negligence. Fortunately, all kinds of worries did not become a reality. Just as the troops basically withdrew from Lorraine and their lives were about to return to their original state, he met the genius staff officer who had a wonderful confrontation in the military chess performance not long ago.

In the Mason Liaison Office of the 17th National Defense Department, Colonel Ben Timney, General Fries and Weiss sat at a very ordinary tea table, drinking very ordinary tea and chatting about some very ordinary topics. Half of the tea, Ben Timney turned from chatting to the main topic: Before he left, he invited the two to gather together to discuss some military topics. General Fries has rich command and management experience in the front-line troops, and Chief Clumber Heisen has rich military experience and rare guerrilla combat command experience that ordinary people have. He is also a rising star in politics. He can discuss topics with the two, and he thinks it can play a good complementarity.

The preparation and complimentation combined took more than half an hour. This is the daily style of the staff officer? Weiss muttered in his heart. Of course, he was still full of respect for this talented staff officer who could defeat himself in wargame deduction, but this respect also had a subtle contradiction with his overly ordinary appearance and temperament, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"What I want to talk about today is about the tactical theory I mentioned before." When Colonel Ben Timney said this, his eyes were on Weiss. Thanks to those who had read many military books and magazines about World War II in his spare time, Weiss had a deeper understanding of the Blitzkrieg than those around him. In addition, he was in line with the laws of battlefield practice. He had previously talked with Colonel Ben Timney twice and had attracted his attention through this communication.

I believe this spring meeting has gained something and found new problems. Weiss said in his heart.

Ben Timney said indeed: "To be honest, we encountered some problems that we couldn't get around in the big exercise that just ended. It feels that the perfect theory on paper has many insurmountable obstacles in practice."

Because he did not participate in the spring conference exercises in person, Weiss had to act in a scrupulous manner and listen to Colonel Ben Timney's story. Fries was an eyewitness of the exercise, but due to his role, his position was obviously not as high as that of the General Staff Officer.

Since many aspects of the exercise involve confidentiality, Colonel Ben Timney can only briefly introduce the process, focusing on his personal point of view. The shoulder belt said that the purpose of this spring conference exercise was to test the assault capabilities of mechanized troops and study how to conduct active defense. On the prairie in the southwest of the Federal State of Nazhatal, the offensive troops showed strong attack power in ground operations, and with multiple tactics such as interspersed encirclement and division, the exercise troops played the defensive side to beat. In the mountains and forests in the northwest of Lorraine, the offensive side imitated the tactical routines of the Norman army in the previous battle, adopting the tactics of ground advancement and air jumping to make it more stable

The mechanized attack of the body also hits the defensive side. This seems to confirm Colonel Ben Timney's blitz theory, but based on the institutional constraints of the Federation, they are unlikely to take the initiative to play the attacking side in the war. Once they fight with the Norman Empire, the first task of the federal army is to withstand the enemy's three axes, wait until the situation stabilizes before launching a defensive counterattack, and then enter the enemy's hinterland. Only at that stage can there be a chance to show the blitz theory. Therefore, the current focus of the Federal Staff Department's current research is how to defend against blitz, and this is also the real core of Colonel Ben Timney's military research topic.

"The most direct and effective way to deal with blitzkrieg is to use the battlefield depth to gradually weaken the offensive side's offensive. However, according to the situation of this exercise, the enemy, with sufficient preparation, may cross the entire Federation from the north, break through all our defense lines to Free City, and even our eastern coast. Whether it is a defense line built on rivers, lakes, mountains, or solid fortifications built on plains, it cannot stop the powerful assault of mechanized troops... Once the military and political power of the Norman Empire is truly stabilized, they are likely to set off this terrible offensive frenzy."

After Colonel Ben Timney finished speaking, Weiss felt that the person in front of him seemed to be a fake Colonel Ben Timney, because from his extremely calm and wise performance in wargame deduction, there was no problem that could stop him. As long as he was given two opportunities, it would be difficult to take away the victory from him no matter how many wargame deductions were played. How could such a super annoying and unworldly character lose confidence by the spring exercise directed by himself? With such doubts, Weiss thought carefully.

During this period, General Fries talked about his views on blitzkrieg. He believed that some inferences exaggerated the attacking ability of the attacking party, especially the continuous combat capability, because the territory of the Federation is so vast that once the layout line within the Federation exceeds 1,000 miles, the supply efficiency of the invaders will be greatly reduced.

"Just as the reform of the military mobilization system we are currently implementing, as long as the enemy dares to invade the Federation, no matter where they are, there will be resisters around them, and they will no longer be those unarmed protesters, real armed resisters, and organized and prepared guerrillas. In that case, with an outstanding guerrilla commander like Chief Klumber Heisen, the enemy will suffer in great pain." General Fries analyzed with confidence.

"Guerrilla warfare is not that it cannot be the main battlefield of war, but it also means that the front battlefield is almost completely defeated, which means that the residents of the enemy-occupied areas will endure endless pain. It is best not to have such a situation unless it is absolutely necessary." Weiss put forward a conclusion that had been drawn in the war on the spot - the price of guerrilla warfare is far beyond the front battlefield.

Immediately afterwards, he put his eyes on Colonel Ben Timney's face and looked at him: "From the chessboard of the battle situation, the tactic of using the concentrated mechanized troops to conduct a quick counterattack seems impeccable... As long as the strength is strong and the command is correct, you will definitely win. In this case, the strategy of breaking the situation should be to break out of the chess and cards. Simply put, there are two countermeasures, one is to use mobile warfare to use mobile warfare. When the enemy's high-speed attack is interspersed, our mechanized troops will find the enemy's weaknesses accordingly, or face it head-on to decide the victory or defeat. This requires us to have a mechanized troops with sufficient strength and correct warfare.

Technique strategy. The second channel is that we continue to stick to it, but at the same time try our best to destroy the enemy's traffic lines and industrial resources behind it. This requires us to establish extremely powerful air forces, seize air supremacy at the beginning of the war, use continuous and fierce attacks to disintegrate the enemy's ground attack, and use long-distance raids to attack the enemy's heavy industrial zones with sufficient strength. In other words, in dealing with blitzkrieg, there must be more firm and decisive elite combat forces than the attacking party, or gain an overwhelming advantage in the air. Otherwise, once we enter the rhythm that the opponent is good at, if we want to turn the situation around, we must make huge sacrifices."

After saying this, Weiss paused for a moment: "Strictly speaking, there is a third way, which is to give up most of the territory to the other side, use guerrilla warfare to consume the troops that delay the enemy, gather our own elites in the farthest place from the enemy's territory, and wait for the enemy to continue to consume fatigue in the vast occupied areas, seize the opportunity, and launch a counterattack. This is somewhat similar to our strategy in the middle and late stages of the previous war. It has strategic feasibility, and its biggest disadvantage is that it will cause huge casualties of innocent civilians."

Weiss' analysis and suggestions Colonel Ben Timney obviously listened to it, and he nodded repeatedly, and said, "In the three paths you listed, I agree with your point of view. The third one should not be adopted if it is less than possible, because it brings a heavy burden to the entire country and the people. The second one is what the Air Force School advocates, and I do not object to it, but that is not what I am good at. What I am really interested in is the first path you mentioned, that is, the showdown between the mechanical forces and the machine forces. In this big exercise that just ended, I equipped the defense party with roughly half of the mechanized force. I have always believed that at home advantage

The defense party can compete with the offensive side with proper strategy, but because the offensive side concentrated on using mechanized forces, the only two confrontations ended with the failure of the defender. This reminds me of the fierce fighting between cavalry in the era of cold weapons. In certain specific periods, it is the decisive force of the battlefield - the cavalry wins when they win, and the cavalry loses when they lose. Even if the defense party defends the city to resist the enemy's attack, the cavalry unit can always cut off the supply of the defensive side, turn their city into a lonely place, a dead place, and eventually fall. In modern battles, mechanized units can also do what the cavalry unit did back then."

After a pause, the talented staff officer said with a serious expression: "I am an army school. I must consider how to control the battle situation with ground combat when the flight troops cannot gain an advantage, and even how to turn the tide when the flight troops are at a disadvantage... These are all things I need to consider."

Although this consideration has parochial meaning, it is indeed a situation where war needs to be dealt with, because no one can guarantee that the battle in the air will proceed as expected. It is neither reliable nor responsible to simply expect the flight troops to grasp the situation. Weiss said: "I understand your concerns, which really needs to be considered. Perhaps we cannot find the key to breaking the deadlock at the tactical level, but at the technical level, there is a key that is shining in the dark."

Hearing this metaphor, Colonel Ben Timney hesitated for a moment, then his eyes shone: "Yes, you are a genius in the military industry, and your judgment and grasp of the development trend of technology are incomparable to us staff officers."

Weiss smiled and said, "Suppose that the flight troops were hindered in the season when there were a lot of rain and fog, but the war would continue. Our chariot troops launched assaults on the enemy, and both sides encountered them in plains or hills - this situation was relatively common in the previous war. Excluding the factors in the air, what determines the outcome of the ground troops? In the past, it was determined by the skills of the commander, the skills of the soldiers, the cooperation of the team, and the difficult luck factor. In the era of mechanization, the performance of weapons, just like the power of the cavalry in that particular period, gradually became the decisive force of the battlefield. This means that we need to design and manufacture mechanized weapons that are better than the enemy, and the core is the chariots covered with armored and artillery-carrying vehicles - they are the cavalry of this era."

Seeing Colonel Ben Timney fell into deep thought, Weiss slowed down his speech: "At least we must ensure that our tanks are comparable to those of the enemy. If possible, we should maintain the advantage as much as possible. I believe that the reason why the last war was able to achieve a miraculous reversal was due to our leading position in combat aircraft performance and those brave pioneers. Now, in addition to the continuous development of aircraft technology, tank technology is also an area that the military needs to pay attention to. We must not only have tanks that are not inferior to our opponents, but also have soldiers who can control them and form technical and tactical conditions for team cooperation. We must make good use of radio tools to make it an auxiliary improvement of tactical power."

The genius staff officer thought for a while and suddenly looked up at Weiss: "You really don't consider going back to the Dellefig Advanced Staff College? I think you can graduate early without exception, and then we will study tactical theory together. I believe there will always be some achievements...at least in the history of the college!"
Chapter completed!