Chapter 185: Cowardly Navy

"Congratulations, Marshal Rundstedt." Yannick handed a red marshal's scepter, which symbolizes honor and power, into Rundstedt's hand. This scepter is mostly covered with precious gems and precious metals. Even if it is not a status symbol, it is still an expensive item. "I hope you can lead everyone to continue to win the war and move towards the final victory!"

The entire banquet hall was instantly flooded with the sound of cameras and flashlights. Amid people's cheers and constant applause, Rundstedt was choked with excitement as he took over the scepter. "Please rest assured, Your Highness! I will do my best to win victory for you!!"

Next came the celebration banquet, with all kinds of fine wine and delicious food. However, few people really came here to eat and drink. After all, the people present were all high-level military officials. No one was so poor that they usually only eat bran and drink dilute, so they came here to have a feast. A meal. The most important ritual in a place like this is "humanity". Countless people come forward to celebrate, and countless people come forward to curry favor. The intoxicating temperature and intoxicating smell make it really easy for people to sing happily. Tonight is undoubtedly a day worth remembering for Rundstedt.

Yannick chatted with Guderian. "General Guderian, I heard that you were almost accidentally bombed by one of your own people on the front line?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Guderian was not afraid of the consequences, but said extremely relaxedly. "That's still heavy artillery."

On the first day of the attack on Poland, when the attack just started, the ground was covered with a thick layer of fog. As a result, the 3rd Armored Brigade in the first wave of attacks encountered the enemy east of Fort Zemper, and the first small-scale battle occurred. As a result, the heavy artillery of the 3rd Armored Division fired randomly into the fog.

The first shell landed more than 50 meters in front of Guderian's command vehicle, which was advancing with the 3rd Armored Brigade at the time, and the second shell landed 50 meters behind. Guderian estimated that the next shell would blow them away, and quickly asked the driver to turn right.

But the driver, who was frightened by the sudden explosion, stepped on the accelerator and drove the car into a ditch at full speed.

"It's really dangerous." Yannick couldn't help but clicked his tongue. "I almost lost an armored general. It seems we need to pay more attention to this issue."

Some people say that the history of mankind is a history of wars. There have been countless wars over the past thousands of years. The scale of wars ranges from large to small, and there are countless records of hundreds of thousands of people fighting on the battlefield. However, there is a problem that has been plaguing all parties in the war and has not been completely solved until the 21st century.

That is friendly fire.

Although there were many such incidents in ancient times, at that time it was a cold-weapon war on the ground. In modern times, war has become fully three-dimensional. From land to sea to sky, the scope and form of war have expanded, and incidents of accidental injury by the military have gradually increased.

For example, during World War II, Lieutenant General McNair of the US Army was accidentally bombed and killed by his own bomber, becoming the highest-ranking general of the US military to die in World War II. At that time, the Allied forces were executing the "Fortitude" deception plan. Lieutenant General McNair disguised himself as Patton and inspected the frontline positions.

At this time, carpet bombing began. Tens of thousands of bombs were dropped on the German positions. The German positions were instantly razed to the ground. Unfortunately, because the fleet was too large, some of the bombs fell into the US military's own positions, causing near-zero damage. There were 600 casualties, and one of the bombs hit Lieutenant General McNair who came to watch the battle.

After the smoke cleared, the soldiers could only distinguish him by the three general stars on his clothes. He became the highest-ranking general killed by the US military in World War II, and died in the hands of his own Army Air Forces.

The German army usually places a German military flag in the direction of advance, and also draws the German flag on the roof of its armored vehicles so that pilots can identify it from the air. When attack aircraft pilots are unable to identify the armored vehicles below, they usually request a "smoke screen identification", and nearby German armored units usually respond quickly.

However, this can only prevent accidental damage by the air force. Accidental bombing by ground artillery like what Guderian encountered cannot be prevented.

This kind of problem can only be strengthened through coordinated operations in all aspects of training and prevention to the greatest extent possible.

After chatting for a while, Yannick suddenly noticed the naval admirals gathered in the far corner. Each one of them looked like a group of frustrated little wives with depressed faces, which was in sharp contrast to the proud army and air force generals. After all, in this battle, the Navy only had one old battleship, the Schleswig-Holstein, which bombed the Westerplatte Fortress, but the Navy had no other achievements.

Yannick was angry and funny. He said hello to the people around him and walked towards them.

Several naval generals saw Yannick coming and stood up hurriedly. "Your Highness."

"What, are you embarrassed or are you jealous? To be honest, your navy really disappoints me." If the ocean only accounts for 20% or even 30% of the earth, with the navy's cowardice, he would not Not even a single battleship can be built. Wouldn't it be flattering to allocate all those resources to the Army and Air Force?

Unfortunately, the reality is that 75% of the earth is ocean. You can reach any place in the world through the ocean. Sea control is as important as air control, so he has to vigorously develop his navy.

Everyone lowered their heads in shame. Compared with the army and the air force, the German navy has always been in a very embarrassing position. On the one hand, they are highly valued by His Highness, but on the other hand, they are uneasy about their own development path. Compared with the army's expectation for war; the air force's confidence in the future; the German navy's inferiority complex buried deep in the shadow of the British Royal Navy makes them full of fear for the upcoming war.

"Your Highness, our navy is not fully prepared." Raeder whispered in defense.

Yannick snorted coldly. "What do you mean by fully prepared? Do you want to wait for the Bismarck battleship to be launched? Or the two Essex-class aircraft carriers to be launched? Are ten battleships enough for you? Are twenty aircraft carriers enough?!"

Looking at these people who were silent, Yannick sighed in his heart. "No matter how many battleships and aircraft carriers you are given, it will not be enough, because what you lack is not battleships, but the courage to win when you meet on a narrow road. Oh, I miss Admiral Reinhard Scheer a little bit now. At least he still has the courage to fight the British Navy. If he is still alive, I would like to ask him to be the commander of the navy."

Everyone has his own dignity, let alone the head of a country's navy. Raeder blushed and promised. "Your Highness, we will definitely live up to your expectations next time we attack!"

"Then I'll wait and see." After a faint response, Yannick looked at Dönitz on the side. "Is the submarine force fully prepared?"

Dönitz immediately straightened his back. "Your Highness, the submarine force can attack at any time!" In fact, he was also depressed in his heart. Although he worked overtime to supervise the manufacturing of submarines and frantically produced submarine forces, hoping that the navy could restore the scale of the submarine force in the past, after all, building submarines is not like building blocks, and it is impossible to form a scale in a short time.

Fortunately, submarines have an advantage that surface ships cannot match, which is that if they cannot defeat the enemy, they can dive into the water.