In fact, on the battlefield of the Elbe, the most embarrassing point of the Prussian army was the lack of long-range firepower. The Elbe is a large European river with a relatively large width, which not only caused trouble for crossing the river, but also caused considerable difficulties when carrying out fire cover. The 40,000-odd Prussian army under the command of Karl I seemed to be very large, but in terms of firepower it was far inferior to that of the German army.

Although the Prussian army at this time was more advanced in weapons and equipment than itself in the other plane, and the proportion of artillery was greatly increased, there were only more than 60 guns in number, and the number of large-caliber artillery was also relatively limited. Prussia imported a total of 20 caliber howitzers to the Tang Dynasty during these years, and Karl I's troops were equipped with 12 of them, and these 12 Tang-made howitzers were also the only weapons that the Prussian army could threaten the other side. Some of the rest of the artillery were imported Tang-made 70-mm field guns, and more were Prussia's own guns, and even a few were made up with smoothbore guns.

The Germans, who did not appear to be very regular, defended the Elbe line with only one infantry division and two international columns, but the number of artillery was four times that of the Prussian army led by Karl I, with more than 240 light and heavy guns. These artillery pieces are basically the standard weapons used by the early Tang Army, including 60mm mortars, 81mm mortars and the most classic 105mm howitzers.

Guo Xin also personally came to the defense line of the Elbe River to inspect the German defense here. In addition to the professional artillery composed of veterans from the German Corps, there are still some artillery in the German army who have not undergone much training, and the overall combat efficiency and hitting ability are slightly insufficient. Although Guo Xin did not lead troops in the Tang Army, he was also very familiar with the reform and configuration of the Tang Army. The Don army has already advanced a generation in artillery. At present, the mortars and howitzers used by the artillery of the Tang Army are all improved on the basis of the artillery brought by the original crossing, and their performance has been further improved. Moreover, the scale of the establishment has also been further improved, for example, the original Tang Army infantry company was composed of two infantry platoons and one firepower platoon. Now the infantry company of the Tang Army has expanded to three infantry platoons and one fire platoon, and the firepower of the infantry squad has gradually increased with the introduction of assault rifles. The artillery battery on the infantry battalion was also strengthened. Two machine-gun platoons were armed with 12 Browning heavy machine guns, and two mortar platoons were armed with six 81-mm mortars. Finally, the brigade artillery regiment has three artillery battalions each equipped with 18 105-mm howitzers and one battalion equipped with 155-mm heavy artillery.

At this time, the firepower configuration of the German army was roughly similar to the firepower level of the Tang army in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, even though it is much inferior to the Prussian army in terms of strength, there is a huge advantage in firepower, which is why Blucher believes that he can rely on his weak forces to block the Prussian army's strong offensive, and the lack of manpower is supplemented by firepower. It was also the combat concept of the Tang Army, which was brought to Germany by Blucher from the Tang Army.

Major General Julius is still respectful in front of Guo Xin, and now the entire officer system of the German army is basically transferred from the German Corps, and Julius was originally only a colonel commander, but because of his outstanding performance, he was directly promoted to a major general and led the strength of a division. In the face of Guo Xin, a figure who is also very famous in the Tang Army, although the military rank is Pingji, Julius is also a subordinate posture.

"The Prussian army's first attempt to cross the river by boat failed. But Karl I and Frederick behind him? Wilhelm II would not give up easily, and the Prussian army must be brewing a larger-scale offensive. In fact, when you think about it, the tactical arrangements that the Prussian army can make are relatively limited. It is more likely that they will be able to take advantage of their numerical size and launch a strong attack on multiple locations at the same time, so that we will not be able to take care of the end of the day, and if one point is broken through and the Prussian army successfully crosses the river, they will probably be able to continue to expand the results through this one point, and eventually collapse our entire defensive line. Guo Xin recounted.

Julius, the commander of the defensive line, said: "Whenever Prussia starts building ships or erecting pontoon bridges at any point of our line, our reconnaissance forces will detect it. Then we can quickly transfer the artillery over, as before. Cover them and thus resolve the crisis. ”

Guo Xin shook his head. analyzed: "What you said is not wrong, but although the Prussians are rigid, they are also very attentive in the face of this battle. It is true that we can respond to the Prussians' shipbuilding or bridge building in a timely manner, but the Prussians may try to gradually figure out our maneuvers and firepower deployments. Of course, if they were a little smarter, they could build ships where our artillery could not reach, and then either with animal power, or by digging ditches to let those small boats crossing the river into the river, and finally launch a full-scale attack on us. I am almost certain that the Prussians will choose to cross the river at multiple points at the same time, and this will be a serious challenge for our defence. ”

Julius also agreed with Guo Xin's words, and said, "If that's the case, do we need to send a special operations team to swim to the other side to sabotage their shipbuilding operations?" ”

In the years since its establishment, the German Corps has also built a special forces to carry out some tasks such as spying, sabotage, and demolition behind enemy lines. This special forces force is now officially transferred to the German army, although the number is not large, but the role is not small, Julius has also been in the Tang army for many years, naturally understands some of the keys to special operations.

Guo Xin nodded and said: "If you have the opportunity, you should still try, after all, we can't wait too passively." You know, simply blocking the Prussian army on the east bank of the Elbe is not a victory for us. The Austrians were approaching the battlefield, and their troops were coming in the south of us, and we did not have the Elbe to hold them back, so that we would be attacked on both sides, and we would face a total disadvantage in numbers, and it would be even more difficult to win. ”

To be honest, Guo Xin doesn't like this feeling now, because the initiative in the battle is actually in the hands of the coalition forces. The best situation is that the attack launched by Karl I is thwarted at the hands of the Germans, and the Prussian army suffers relatively large casualties and setbacks, and is even intimidated, and then Blucher defeats the Austrians again, then the whole battlefield situation will be more favorable to the German army. However, if the stalemate continues and the Prussian and Austrian forces complete the convergence, it will be a great disadvantage for the German army. (To be continued.) )