On March 18, 1941, at a meeting of the High Command held in the Ministry of Defense building at Wilhelm 77 in Berlin, the Chief of the General Staff, Field Marshal Hersmann, formally put forward a proposal for the general mobilization of the national economy and the transfer of the country to the mode of general warfare. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The concept of "total warfare" was put forward by former President Field Marshal Ludendorff on the basis of summing up the lessons of Germany's defeat in World War I.

However, knowing that total warfare does not mean that it can be carried out, because total warfare is extremely resource- and labor-intensive. Once the general war began, it would mean that the factories of Germany and even the European countries under the leadership of Germany would have to produce military supplies at full capacity. And this kind of large-scale production must have sufficient energy and raw material supply, and must have sufficient labor force to sustain it.

In the past, Germany did not have an adequate supply of energy and raw materials to turn Ludendorff's theory into practice. On the contrary, Britain on the other side of the English Channel, because of its huge colonial resources and the support of the United States, can quickly and better switch the country to the general war mode. After mobilization in 1939 and 1940 and continuous increase in production capacity, Britain now surpassed Germany in terms of total shipbuilding tonnage and total aircraft production, and even the production of tanks was not less than that of Germany.

Counting the United States, which was constantly expanding its armaments industry, the total output of various weapons and equipment on the British and American sides in 1941 could crush Europe under the leadership of Germany.

In addition, there was also a "comrade plus brother" Soviet Union, which was also constantly expanding its armaments. If the Soviet Union also defects to the side of Britain and the United States at some point in the future, then Germany will be at a very disadvantage, at least in terms of arms production.

And the only way to reverse this disadvantage is to put Germany and even Europe into a general war mode as soon as possible, and fully unleash the huge industrial and technological forces.

At this time, all of them realized how valuable Hirschmann's victory in the Mediterranean was to be achieved. Without the victory in the Mediterranean, even if Germany had forcibly mobilized, the tanks and planes produced would have been unable to operate because of the lack of fuel, and even the pilots who would have operated these planes and tanks would have been unable to train because of lack of fuel.

Therefore, after seizing the huge oil production areas of the Middle East, it is possible for Germany to let its aircraft and tank seas exert their real power.

However, it is not a matter of order or a sentence to move to the mode of total warfare in Germany and even in Europe under its leadership, and there must be a process of advancement. If German and European armaments were to reach their peak in 1943 and 1944, it was time to start moving.

Because armament expansion is a huge system project. In order to expand the production of tanks and various vehicles, and at the same time to ensure the continuous increase in the scale of ship production, it is necessary to increase the production of steel, and it is not ordinary ordinary steel, but a variety of special steels. This involves the mining and consumption of various non-ferrous metals.

To increase the production of aircraft, it is also necessary to increase the production of aluminum alloys, special plywood (used in the production of wooden aircraft) and engines, which requires the production of high-strength or high-temperature resistant aluminum alloy materials. This also involves the mining and processing of large quantities of rare metals such as magnesium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, and tungsten.

And in order for more advanced aircraft and tanks to be effective, the training of personnel must also keep up, which is actually the most time-consuming and energy-consuming.

It was quick to build an aircraft on an assembly line, but it took at least 20 months to train a qualified pilot (pilot) to the standards of the Luftwaffe and naval aviation, and a lot of precious aviation gasoline was consumed.

"At the heart of all the problems is oil!" Speaking at today's High Command meeting, Hersman said, "The shortage of non-ferrous metals can also be compensated for by reducing the design service life and increasing the weight, and there is really no way without oil." Therefore, the general war in Europe should still start with the increase of oil and various synthetic fuels.

In the past, we didn't have oil fields, so we couldn't do anything. But now that we have mastered the oil-rich regions, with the two mega-fields of Kirkuk and Khuzestan, we must do everything we can to increase oil production from now on. And in order to achieve this, we need to draw on not only Germany's oil extraction capabilities, but also the capabilities of Europe as a whole in this area. To that end, I propose the establishment of the European Community Petroleum Commission. ”

Hersman put forward the first proposal, to concentrate the forces of all Europe in the development of Middle Eastern oil! This is necessary because Germany's own oil industry is not well developed - there are no oil fields in Germany to exploit. France, Belgium and the Netherlands all have relatively developed oil extraction industries. France owns oil fields in Syria, was involved in oil development in Poland during the war, and has long been engaged in oil exploration and processing in Algeria. Belgian Petroleum Finance was involved in the development of the Romanian oil field. The Netherlands is even more powerful, Dutch Shell is a world-famous large oil company, which has developed many large oil fields in the Dutch East India and British Malaya.

Moreover, France, the Netherlands and Belgium all have oil processing industries in their own countries, especially the oil processing industry in France is still very developed, and its processing capacity even exceeded that of Germany before the war. France and Belgium are also well developed in heavy industry and can produce all the equipment needed for the oil industry, so they are in a position to rapidly expand the scale of their oil industry.

If these countries are allowed to participate in the development of oil in the Middle East, not only will the speed of extraction be greatly accelerated, but also the oil that has been extracted with great difficulty can be refined into high-quality refined oil.

In addition, European countries such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark have large fleets and shipbuilding capabilities that allow the oil to be shipped back to Europe.

Therefore, if Germany wants to speed up the development of Middle Eastern oil, it must pull in countries such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

And there is a great advantage to pulling these three countries to dig oil in the Middle East, which is the rhythm of everyone who has money. With common oil interests, France, Belgium and the Netherlands will truly stand with Germany.

"I think we can use the joint development of Middle Eastern oil as a trump card to attract countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands." Hersman laughs, "It's going to give them a real and tangible common interest with us!" ”

Having common interests cannot be empty words, something must be done. And the oil in the Middle East is undoubtedly the most attractive big cake, far more attractive than Hitler's monthly supply of tens of thousands of tons and 100,000 tons of oil.

Hitler seemed reluctant to do so - even the Dutch, even the French and Belgians could get their hands on Middle Eastern oil......

"Leader," said Hersmann, looking at Hitler, "if we win the war, the Aryan nation will get the whole world, and it will be nothing to take out some Middle Eastern oil benefits."

And if we share the interests of the Middle East, then we can ask France, Belgium, and Holland to share their colonies in Africa, America, or elsewhere with Germany, which would be very good for us to integrate Europe. ”

"Well," Hitler nodded, and said to Hess, "Rudolph, when you arrive in France to-morrow, mention this to Marshal Petain." As for the Netherlands, let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince go down and say. ”

Now that Hitler's government is actively courting France, the Netherlands, and Spain, Ribbentrop left for Madrid yesterday afternoon. Negotiations with France were the responsibility of Minister Hess. Dutch diplomacy was entrusted to the German royal family, which was close to the Dutch royal family, and because of Kaiser Wilhelm's old age and infirmity, his successor, Crown Prince Wilhelm, was transferred between Germany and the Netherlands.

"If France and the Netherlands are willing to join," Hersmann said with a smile, "then it will be easier to move forward in the general war, and we can hand over more production tasks to France and the Netherlands, which will help us to expand our production quickly." In my opinion, by 1943 we needed to increase the number of common aircraft to 18000, and the number of common tanks and assault guns to 12000. ”

Hersman refers to "common quantities," which refers to the planes and tanks that are equipped to the troops and ready for combat. And the actual annual production of weapons is generally more than this figure!

Goering was taken aback by this number and immediately reminded: "Marshal, if you want to maintain 18,000 common aircraft and 12,000 common tanks and assault guns. Then the actual annual output of the factory will be 1.5-2 times this figure. ”

Hersman thought for a moment and said, "It would be enough to make an annual production plan for tanks and assault guns on a scale equal to the usual quantities." The assault gun is tentatively based on the No. 3, and at the same time, it is necessary to study a lower-cost tank destroyer assault gun, and if there is a tank destroyer with a lower cost but the same power as the No. 3, it can replace some of the No. 3. Tanks are dominated by No. 4, which should account for 60% of the total production, and the rest is allocated to No. 5 and No. 6. ”

Tanks and assault guns can be repaired if they are damaged, and as long as the Germans can maintain their victory, the consumption will not be too large, and maybe they can fight more and more. But the plane will not work, and the downed plane will not have the ability to repair it.

"As for the airplanes," Hirschman continued, "given the possibility of a fierce naval and air war with Britain and the United States, annual production should be at least three times the usual quantity!" In addition, we must speed up the training of pilots and tank crews. The number of pilot cadets and tank cadets recruited this year should be 100% higher than in 1940. (To be continued.) )