Chapter 944: Decisive Battle (11)

Five days of bombing must have at least 5 million tons of TNT.

What is the concept of 5 million tons of TNT? The energy released by the explosion of the "Little Boy" thrown to Hiroshima in the original time and space is about equal to 13,000 tons of TNT. The energy released by the "Fat Man" thrown to Nagasaki is about equal to 20,000 tons of TNT. Now Moscow is about to withstand an explosion energy that is 385 times that of Hiroshima and 250 times that of Nagasaki, equivalent to the power of a heavy hydrogen bomb. Even the single nuclear weapons of major powers in the future do not have this power.

Yannick couldn't help but sigh, this power is really crazy. Even if Moscow is a copper wall, it can be bombed into slag, right? If the ground is flattened, let's see how you can fight street battles. Maybe even the underground entrance is blocked for you, and you will be trapped underground.

"Isn't it a bit too exaggerated?" Yannick muttered to himself, it's better to use less.

However, think about it, after this war, many of these weapons will be eliminated or outdated. Now using them to bombard Moscow is also a good use of them.

For example, those large-caliber heavy artillery, the caliber of mainstream artillery in later generations is stable at 155 mm (only Russia uses 152 mm caliber, but in order to sell it, it has to specially develop a 155 mm foreign trade version). Basically, no country has developed towed artillery and self-propelled artillery with a caliber larger than 155 mm. Even if there are some in service, they are antiques produced decades ago.

As for why 155 mm was chosen, there are many factors involved. Such as range, power, mobility, etc.; 155 mm artillery is moderate in size, has both greater lethality and high mobility, can advance and retreat, meets the requirements of modern warfare, and naturally becomes the protagonist on the battlefield.

Not only the army, but also the caliber of naval warships has become much smaller. The caliber of mainstream naval guns in later generations is mostly around 76-155 mm, which is in sharp contrast to the caliber of artillery that was hundreds of millimeters during World War II. The main reason is that the progress of weapon technology such as missiles and artillery has led to a change in combat methods and theories.

Since the 1960s, no new models of cannons have been developed, and their performance remains at the level of the 1960s. At the same time, the performance of howitzers has been significantly improved, and they can perform the tasks of cannons of the same caliber. Many countries directly use howitzers to replace cannons.

In addition, infantry guns have been eliminated. Infantry guns in a broad sense refer to heavy firepower weapons assigned to infantry. In a narrow sense, infantry guns are like the German 75mm 18 series infantry guns. In World War II, more than 3,000 18 infantry guns served in the German army until the end of the war.

However, with the development of technology, there are more and more weapons for infantry to choose from. Various individual rocket launchers, recoilless guns, mortars, automatic grenade launchers, and anti-tank missiles are not only light in weight and small in size, but also more powerful. The old infantry guns are not only inferior in mobility, but also their proud dual-purpose curved and flat firepower are no longer as brave as they used to be. Indirect fire is not as flexible as mortars; flat fire is not as powerful as rocket launchers, recoilless guns, and individual anti-tank missiles; the firepower sustainability is not as fierce as automatic grenade launchers and 107 rocket launchers; in the end, it can only withdraw from the stage of history.

Assault guns and tank destroyers were also eliminated. They were originally emergency products, which were transformed from backward and damaged tank chassis. They were cheap and easy to manufacture. After the war, with the rise of main battle tanks and missiles, they were replaced by various infantry fighting vehicles and anti-tank missiles. At the same time, with the rapid development of armor-piercing technology, main battle tanks themselves are also one of the most powerful anti-tank forces. Who needs assault guns/tank destroyers when there are main battle tanks?

Once the war is over, these weapons and equipment will become waste. For example, in the original time and space, the United States, which has extremely strong industrial production capabilities, opened fire after participating in the war, but its huge industrial production caused a great waste of American resources.

During World War II, the US military built a total of 40,000 military aircraft of various types. After the war, many aircraft scattered around the world were not transported back to the country, but were directly destroyed on the spot or sent directly to allies. Among them, the main model of the US Air Force, the B-17, may be the worst, because the number of possessions is too large, and the dismantling work is also huge, so a large number of B-17 engines were dismantled and stored together, and the fuselages were either directly destroyed or left to fend for themselves.

In addition to aircraft, tanks and various vehicles were also seriously in excess. According to the data at the time, a Stuart light tank only cost $10 to drive home, and many tanks were converted into agricultural use, which was basically similar to tractors. The mountains of artillery and densely packed warships can only be sealed up, and many are used as carriers of spare parts; these wasted resources even exceed the total production of the island country during World War II.

In addition to the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and other countries also built a lot of weapons and equipment, but more than 60% of them were not used. These equipment were built but not available on the battlefield, and became a burden to the country that owned them after the war.

Thinking about the surplus of weapons and equipment in Europe, especially Germany, after the end of this war, Yannick had a headache. Although Germany is not worried about resources now, it does not like unnecessary waste.

Just as Yannick was thinking about how to properly deal with these weapons and equipment, Reinhard came to report. "Your Highness, Molotov sent a message saying that he wants to evacuate Moscow."

"Oh? Is there an evacuation passage?"

"There is no passage on the ground, but there are three passages underground to escape. However, these three passages have been dug out by our army."

Yannick nodded. "Yes, we can evacuate at any time. He has done a lot of work, so I will naturally fulfill my promise. What about Natasha? Didn't she say she wanted to evacuate?"

"Not yet, do we need to contact her?"

Yannick thought for a while and shook his head. "No, maybe she wants to see with her own eyes how Stalin spent his last days." The female spy chief, who was obviously a little twisted in her mind, is finally getting her revenge. I wonder what she feels when she sees her enemy going crazy in despair and eventually going to destruction. "How is Stalin's condition?"

Reinhard smiled slightly. "His mental condition is getting worse and worse. A few days ago, he asked Molotov to send a telegram to President Wilkie, asking the Americans to contact Vichy France to land in Europe. Molotov really sent the telegram."

"Land in Europe?" Yannick almost laughed out loud. Let alone President Wilkie who has resigned, the US Navy is now huddled in its own port and trembling. Let them go to land in Europe? I wonder if the Americans cursed after reading this telegram. "It seems that his condition is getting worse."