Long live Joachim

Chapter 90: Family Guest Actors (Part 2) In 1909, at the age of 22, Manstein served as a junior officer in the German Imperial Guard Infantry Third Regiment with the rank of Second Lieutenant;Guderian is 21 years old and served as a second lieutenant in the 10th Hanover Light Infantry Battalion in Germany;Rommel was 18 years old and a high school student in the city of W ü rttemberg. That year, Xia Shu first came into contact with German army affairs as Prince Joachim. The brave generals of the Third Empire were still unknown calves, and discovering their potential in advance could potentially yield rich rewards or have a negative effect of nurturing them. In Xia Shu's view, instead of relying on these "future stars" for hope, it is better to find those who can make great use of existing resources - historical opportunities have created talents, but inevitably buried some talents. Since Crown Prince William promised to help him with Charlotte's affairs, Xia Shu has no reason not to provide advice for his troubles. However, the situation was not as simple as imagined, because William did not want outsiders to know that he had sought help from Xia Shu. Xia Shu could not appear in public at the Army General Staff and could not coordinate and communicate with the staff members involved in the exercise plan. He could only solve the problem in a strange way of "outsiders" working behind closed doors. In terms of arrogant and conceited personality, William is on par with his father, but he is not foolish enough to be arrogant. In order to enable Xia Shu to develop a clever and practical exercise plan, in addition to the two restrictions mentioned above, he tried his best to create conditions, including providing Xia Shu with a large amount of absolutely confidential military information and sending his personal military advisor to assist Xia Shu - this is particularly risky for a crown prince, as Xia Shu ranks sixth in the succession to the throne and theoretically has a chance to sit on the supreme throne. It is a taboo to let potential competitors know his trump card. Whether it was a stronger desire for victory or a feeling that he could control his relationship with Xia Shu freely, William did give him full trust this time. Through the mouths of several military advisors, Xia Shu quickly learned the whole story: after participating in multiple military exercises and drills, the confident Prince William hoped to serve as the commander of the Autumn General Exercise, which was the largest military exercise of the German Army every year and an important operation to fully grasp the "Schlieffen Plan", gathering the most elite troops of the German Army. The biggest difference between the parade and the exercise is that it basically follows an action plan step by step, and participants do not have much freedom to express themselves. However, the German army has studied the "Schlieffen Plan" year after year, and the staff commanders at all levels have memorized the route and timetable. Even if an ordinary officer is appointed as the parade commander, there will not be too many mistakes. However, the generals of the Army General Staff Department repeatedly refused, citing Prince William's lack of experience, which caused the fierce prince to curse at him at a staff meeting. As a result, the leaders gave him the current exam question. If he can pass smoothly, he will be appointed as the overall commander of the autumn parade. At first glance, the old men of the Army General Staff Department seem like a group of ignorant and stubborn individuals. In this monarchy where imperial power is paramount, the heir is the future ruler. Fighting against him will not lead to a good outcome? On the other hand, Xia Shu believes that this is the same principle as William II's "lead battleship". Tirpitz did not want the emperor to interfere in the specific affairs of the navy, and senior army generals also hoped to maintain traditional power in their respective fields. The theme of the legion exercise entrusted to Crown Prince William this time is to break through a 20 kilometer wide fortified line of the Russian army with the strength of one legion. Although it may seem simple, the actual situation is very complex. The "Schlieffen Plan," highly praised by German staff, made extremely detailed arrangements for how the German army could use rotational tactics to encircle and annihilate the French main force in one fell swoop. The annual parade was only adjusted appropriately based on changes in troops and equipment. Although this plan was based on the premise that the German army would simultaneously fight against France and Russia, the arrangement for the Eastern Front was much simpler - initially, a small number of troops were used for defensive restraint. When the German main force defeated France, they could use the developed railway network to advance eastward. As for the next step of advancing eastward, although Schlieffen had considered it when formulating this plan, it was clearly unable to keep up with the changing situation. After the alliance between France and Russia, in order to strengthen Russia's strategic deterrence against Germany, the French government provided Russia with a huge loan to help improve the railway system from Moscow to Warsaw. At the same time, Tsarist Russia was constantly strengthening its fortress system in western Poland. After Schlieffen stepped down, Marshal Moltke's nephew, Moltke the Younger, became the Chief of Staff of the German Army General Staff. He was a staunch follower of Schlieffen's plan and spent a lot of energy every year repairing the western front operations, while the content of the eastern front was put aside. Perhaps in the eyes of this far more capable general, as long as he defeated the French army and defeated the Russians, it was effortless. In terms of the strength of the German and Russian armies, the operational difficulty of the staff for this legion attack is not high. The key is that William did not enter the General Staff for a long time. Before that, he was only a regimental commander and suddenly rose to the level of legion command. There were no ready-made plans to draw on, so it is no wonder that he was worried that his plan would be picked up by experienced generals with a lot of flaws and loopholes during the exercise. After a few days of communication, Xia Shu had a new question in his heart: William's personal military advisors were all retired senior officers, and decades of military career had made them more familiar with the operation of the German army than many active duty officers. Colonel Muras, the chief advisor, was also Schlieffen's right-hand man. With the abilities of this group of people, it should be easy to complete staff operations in infantry, cavalry, artillery, and logistics. How could Prince William cross the boundaries of military branches and seek his help? The situation seemed full of contradictions, and at first it even made Xia Shu worry about whether there were traps buried here. It was not until Musla came up with his conventional and unimaginative plan that Xia Shu gradually realized the meaning behind this contradiction... In the era of Old Moltke, whether it was the Prussian Army or the German Imperial Army, the staff structure always emphasized full preparation before the war and adaptability during the war. After Old Moltke retired, the German Army entered the era of the famous military staff officer Schlieffen. The advantage of "adequate preparation" has been retained, but "adaptability" has gradually been put aside. Schlieffen's famous work is the "Schlieffen Plan" developed for France, which is regarded as a classic by many people due to its clever design. However, during Schlieffen's tenure as Chief of the General Staff, he instilled in his colleagues the concept of precise execution, and every military exercise must be strictly executed according to the plan. Over time, the staff departments at all levels became too dependent on the plan, and every military plan they formulated was so detailed that it was astonishing. However, they forgot that the battlefield situation was constantly changing, and even a small change could have the consequence of "a small mistake, a thousand miles of error". Not only that, Schlieffen's advocacy of annihilation warfare has evolved into a dogma of thought, and the criterion for judging the success of a military plan is no longer to win the maximum victory at the minimum cost, but to surround and eliminate the opponent. How creative can Colonel Muras' plan be under the influence of such ridiculous dogmas? How could the German army not fall into the trap of trench warfare under such rigid and rigid combat thinking and decision-making? Xia Shu felt regretful in the face of the deficiencies in the army command system, but at the same time had to feel grateful for the decision of Prince William. The situation in Europe is still relatively stable, and there should be some time before inevitable war. He still has the opportunity to awaken the army generals who are trapped in the Schlieffen Barrier, even in alternative indirect ways A few weeks later, the German army held a large-scale military exercise in Silesia. The 1st Army, with a force of 200000, was divided into two, with 120000 soldiers playing the attacking role and 80000 relying on Austrian fortifications for defense. The terrain and situation of the combat area were highly similar to the western defense line of Russian Poland. According to the exercise plan formulated by the German General Staff, the attacking side restrained the two wings with a small number of troops, concentrated artillery and main forces in the middle of the defending defense line to launch a fierce attack, tore open the breakthrough with a local absolute advantage, and then consolidated and expanded the breakthrough with half of the troops. The cavalry and rapid troops marching in vehicles rushed forward towards the military strongholds deep in the defending side, forcibly capturing and firmly occupying these tactical support points in a relatively short period of time, thus cutting off the defending supply lines and forcing the defending army to fully withdraw from the fortified area and retreat backwards. According to the assessment of the military observation group, it took the attacking side 5 days to capture the defense line, resulting in approximately 15000 casualties, 25000 deaths and injuries to the defending army, 10000 prisoners of war, and a large amount of supplies and materials seized. According to the traditional combat mode, carrying out assault operations with only 1. 5 times the strength and equipment advantage, the time and casualties incurred far exceeded the evaluation results of this exercise. From this perspective, the "combat plan" of the German General Staff achieved great success. However, some senior generals of the General Staff questioned and criticized the results of the exercise, believing that the attacking side failed to take effective measures to cut off the defending army's retreat after breaking through the defense line, thus missing the opportunity to completely annihilate the opponent. As a result, the remaining defending army had the opportunity to retreat to the rear for rest and replenishment. In addition, the attacking side utilized dozens of aircraft and a large number of civilian vehicles that were not within the combat sequence of the 1st Army, which enabled them to quickly win. So, this rehearsal plan was not successful, and can even be said to have failed. Faced with the denials of senior generals, Prince William, who was responsible for the staff work of this exercise plan, unexpectedly calmly refuted them one by one: after breaking through the enemy's fortifications, the defending army not only lost the advantage of defense, but also suffered a heavy blow to their morale and morale. It was much easier to find opportunities for annihilation in the following combat operations, and the attacking troops did not need to launch a pursuit war after a difficult assault;The exercise rules did not restrict the military from temporarily requisitioning civilian materials during combat, which verified the reconnaissance and firing role of aircraft on the battlefield, as well as the feasibility of infantry carrying vehicles for rapid marching operations. Instead of a failed attempt, it should actively introduce German combat practices. The reasonable, well founded, and restrained arguments of Crown Prince William left the opposing generals of the General Staff speechless, and the appreciative remarks of German Emperor William II, who watched the performance on site, put an end to the dispute between the two sides. The eye-catching German Crown Prince not only had the precious opportunity to host the autumn parade of the entire army, but was also revered by supporters as the future "Hohenzollern War God" who could rival Frederick the Great