Chapter 1936： Rolling iron

"Damn, I found for the first time that our railway system is actually not enough! These big guys from Bavaria are too crowded!" At Essen station, a Prussian colonel had just been told that his regiment Will take the train in 2 hours to the front line. This is the fourth time it has been postponed. The most important reason for this is the northward movement of the Bavarian Army.

With the Bavarian Army, several aviation regiments, and at least three heavy artillery troops from the Austro-Hungarian Army marching north, the railway line in western Germany faced the biggest challenge since the beginning of the war. The volume is even bigger! Few people can imagine that the number of wagons needed by a division now is about twice that of the original division! A large number of 75MM rapid-fire guns were replaced by 105MM howitzers and 150MM heavy howitzers. Some elite infantry divisions may also be assigned an additional armored battalion. And the capacity demand of this armored battalion is almost 30% more than that of an infantry regiment!

"To be honest, I am in a very complicated mood now. From the point of view of a pure soldier, our compatriots in the south have lived much better than ours. They have the best equipment and the best treatment. It is also better than taking a train. Our priority is higher.” The colonel said as he looked at his colleagues who were driving a wolf tank onto a flatbed trailer in the distance with the help of a guide.

Actually, it takes about 180 trains to transport an armored division. Each train tow 50 cars. What is this concept? Historically, when Germany went to war in 1914, it only needed 120 trains to transport an army. And you should know that an armored division is probably between 17,000 and 20,000 in terms of number. And one German army is about 42,000 people. An armored division needs about 4 to 5 times the volume of an infantry division of the same number! As for the heavy artillery divisions supported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this number is probably even more terrifying, because these heavy artillery requires too much ammunition!

And what is the level of the French counterpart of the Germans in the same period? According to historical records, at the beginning of World War I, the French used 361 trains to transport 115,000 British troops and their 46,000 horses from the landing site to the front.

Therefore, for the current German frontline, they are both painful and happy. Commanders suddenly discovered that for the first time, they will doubly overwhelm their opponents in terms of military strength and equipment. However, then, the German commander who was just ecstatic suddenly discovered one question. These troops and equipment are hundreds of kilometers or even hundreds of kilometers away. It is really difficult to transport these people and weapons.

Under the huge transportation pressure, the German railway system once again exerted its strong transportation capacity. At Essen Station, on average, a train carrying a large amount of equipment and materials will pass through the station every 7 to 9 minutes. This record even surpasses the historical Cologne, the latter's transportation limit is about one train passing every 10 minutes.

"God! This is definitely the largest human migration I have ever seen. In the era of Emperor Napoleon, the 500,000 Russian army was just a trick compared to this." At this time, there were a total of 20 thousand outside the Essen train station. In the sky, a French long-range reconnaissance plane is overlooking the entire station. Trains leaving the huge station every few minutes. Essen Station is like a huge heart, pumping hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of tons of materials along the railway line to the front line.

At this time, central stations such as Cologne and Alsace are also operating with extremely high efficiency. Looking from the air, trains painted with huge German ash form a long steel line galloping along the railway line. If you compare railway lines to the arteries of the human body. Then the intricate road transportation network is like human capillaries. The transport efficiency of these blood vessels is much worse than that of the aorta. But it far exceeds the historical level!

Because of Crown Prince Ruprecht, the car ownership of the German army on the western front is more than 40 times higher than that of the German army in 1914 in history? (Historically, the number of vehicles in the German Western Front Army in 1914 was only 4,000. Of course, the reason for this is in addition to the great efforts of the German industry, the Americans also contributed! They provided 100,000 trucks of all kinds. And various spare parts greatly enhanced the German military's strategic mobility.

what? Does anyone believe it? Well, it can only be said that these people are too underestimating the powerful America. In history, starting from April 1917, the US military had only 3,038 trucks, 437 other vehicles, 670 motorcycles and 12 tractors. . And then on July 1, 1919? (This time node was taken because the Versailles Treaty was finally signed on June 28, 1919) U.S. industry has provided 185,000 cars, 30,000 ambulances, 40,000 passenger cars, 70,000 motorcycles, and 33 motor vehicles. Around ten thousand cars! The total value is more than 700 million US dollars...

As for another country that used cars in history, France, UU Reading with his industrial size, the number of cars he owned during the war was also excellent. At the time of the armistice, the French Ministry of Motor Transport had 59,069 cars. Among them, 23,571 are trucks, in addition to 24,069 artillery tractors, and 13,946 other motor vehicles. A total of 97,000 various vehicles. And these cars did play an important role. When the Germans launched their last offensive in the Battle of the Somme, a car passed by about every 4 seconds at a certain location! (As for the Germans in history, forget it, it's shameful to say it)

At present, including the vehicles of the Bavarian Army, at least 100,000 trucks are transporting supplies for the most powerful army in history. Among them, there are 60,000 Class A trucks and 30,000 Class B trucks. The remaining more than 10,000 trucks are super-heavy flatbed trucks or used to tow heavy artillery. (Using the classification standards of the United States for World War I, the weight of Class A trucks is 1.5 to 2 tons, and the weight of Class B trucks is 3 to 5 tons)

And now in Ruprecht’s headquarters, at least 30% of the personnel are arranging transportation and army deployment. And the remaining 20% ​​of the personnel are arranging one by one from the Eastern Route and Bavaria to enter the scheduled airport, or the temporary field airport to land. These guys flying in the air are very fast. According to some people’s complaints, “They are still eating bread 200 kilometers away during breakfast, and before our lunch is served, we have to give them first. Arrange lunch!"

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