69novels Chapter 972
Chapter 972
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: 0.081s Scan: 0.045sThe one who led the troops to Finland was General Reichenau, the former commander of the Prussian First Division. At this time, the Prussian First Division had been expanded to the Prussian First Army, with a total strength of about 80,000 people, equipped with two infantry divisions, a mechanized division and an armored division, as well as a heavy artillery division and a snow combat brigade.
The snow in the Finnish area was very thick and the road conditions were not good, so most of the armored forces of Reichenau’s Prussian First Army were equipped with light Type 3 tanks, and even a number of Type 1 tanks.
The German army currently does not have many troops on the northern front. If the two sides start fighting, the German army does not intend to invest too much troops in this area, nor does it intend to launch an attack on the Soviet army from here.
After all, it is a bit difficult to launch an attack from the snow. The bad weather and road conditions will cause great consumption to the German army itself, and this consumption will weaken their combat effectiveness, and even cause a large number of non-combat casualties.
During the Soviet-Finnish War, many Soviet soldiers were frostbitten in the cold weather, but they were not treated in time due to the war, resulting in a large number of non-combat casualties and even casualties.
People like the Russians who live in high-latitude areas all year round can’t stand the bitter cold of the Arctic, and the German army, who are used to living in temperate areas, are naturally even more uncomfortable!
So General Reichenau’s mission is very simple, to defend the Karelia Gorge area, block the Soviet army’s trend of expanding eastward, and create pressure on the Soviet garrison in the Leningrad area from the direction of the Finnish Bay!
“Nice to meet you, welcome to Finland!”
Although Mannerheim didn’t like Germany, he was still sensible and didn’t give the German army a cold shoulder when they arrived.
After all, it was Finland that needed help from the Third Reich, not the Third Reich.
This German army was here to help them protect their national security. After all, they were the ones who invited them, so they naturally had to be polite!
However, as a soldier, Mannerheim was somewhat disgusted with the stationing of foreign troops in his country.
What made him especially alert was that their president had just sent an invitation to the Third Reich to station troops, and the German army sent troops right after.
The time taken during this period was terribly short!
It involved the mobilization of 70,000 to 80,000 troops, especially the cross-border The mobilization of the sea usually takes a long time to prepare, but judging from the reaction speed of the German army, they did not seem to prepare for too long!
This can only mean two things: either the German army is well-trained, so they can do things that others cannot do in such a short time, so they move so quickly!
Or the German army had planned it in advance, and they had made advance preparations a long time ago, so when Berlin’s order was issued, these German troops could arrive so quickly!
In Mannerheim’s view, the second possibility is obviously greater!
However, no matter how much doubt he had in his heart, he could not express it.
And after seeing the German army get off the ship in an orderly manner and unload the adults’ dazzling equipment, Mannerheim The general’s face changed!
He had heard that the German army was well-equipped and the soldiers were well-trained. He thought it was fake news before, but today he realized that the German army was worthy of its reputation!
Mannerheim was a professional soldier. When he saw and evaluated the German army with the eyes of a professional soldier, he did not find anything to criticize about it!
This German army was indeed strong. Not only was it much stronger than the Finnish army under his command, but it was also much stronger than the army of the Russian bear on the other side of the canyon that had been coveting their land! Even compared with the German army of the Second Empire that he had fought on the battlefield, this German army was more elite!
Moreover, this was only the army stationed in East Prussia. They were 192 The army expanded after 7 years was not one of the seven most elite German armies.
The strength of these second-batch expanded armies has become so strong, so how terrible should the seven German armies that were first established be?
Thinking of this, Mannerheim completely lost his temper. With the strength of the German army, even if the other side had wolfish ambitions, they were simply unable to resist.
After seeing the strength of the German army, he even felt that as long as the German army was willing, they could even use this 80,000-man army to destroy Finland and Blue! Although the Finnish army has more people, the weapons and equipment, training level, and combat literacy of the soldiers are obviously not at the same level as the German army. If they really fight, they will definitely be easily crushed by the other side!
“Thank you very much for your welcome and hospitality. I wonder if the barracks prepared for our army are ready?”
During World War I, Reichenau had fought in the Lithuanian Potsdam area, and at that time Mannerheim happened to be serving in the Russian army, so the two actually fought on the battlefield.
Having had such an experience, Reichenau had no reason to be polite to Mannerheim. He directly stated his request. The German army had just arrived, and they needed the Finns to prepare a camping area for them so that they could settle down!
“Please follow me!”
Mannerheim made a gesture of invitation, his attitude was a little better than before, and he stepped aside. There was a jeep that had been prepared behind him. It seemed that he was ready to invite Reichenau to take the jeep to the destination! Reichenau was stunned for a moment after seeing the old jeep, and then smiled:”General, have you ever ridden in an armored vehicle?”
Finland is not an industrialized country. The population of only four million also means that they cannot industrialize. In this case, the Finnish army does not have the ability to produce heavy weapons.
Therefore, they rarely equip the German army with aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles and even heavy artillery. After all, if they cannot produce them themselves, they can only buy them from outside at a high price. In this era, when everyone is preparing for war with all their strength, it is difficult to buy the corresponding weapons even at a high price. What’s more, Finland has not been independent for a long time, and it has not inherited any heritage from the bears.
So they can’t come up with much. With little money to buy equipment, the Finnish army’s weapons and equipment look tattered, messy and old.
Their equipment includes weapons from the Soviet era, weapons donated by Western countries after the war, and weapons given by the German army as compensation for the defeated country after World War I.
The specifications and standards of these weapons are different, but they are mixed together in the hands of the Finnish army.
This messy situation is indeed far inferior to the neat and uniform equipment of the German army.
When Mannerheim heard Reichenau’s words, he immediately stopped and turned around to ask,”Did General Reichenau bring any armored vehicles?”
“Of course, the mechanized infantry is equipped with some armored personnel carriers and armored patrol vehicles. Among them, there is a half-track armored vehicle that is very suitable as a vehicle. I wonder if the general is interested in taking a ride?”_