During the Second World War, as aircraft and tank technology matured, the Germans took this opportunity and combined their traditional maneuvering tactics, large depth penetration and bypass of the enemy's superior defenses and destroy the opponent's tactics, and finally succeeded in creating a new method of warfare, which is what we often call "blitzkrieg"!
The term for this method of warfare was first adopted by a Western journalist during a German blitzkrieg against Poland! Around 1940 , the term " Blitzkrieg " , a term designed to describe the German army , was widely used. But what? The term "Blitzkrieg" may have been used more by those of us outsiders, who had never used the term "Blitzkrieg" as an official military term within the German army at that time, and even Hitler himself had said that the word "Blitzkrieg" was a completely stupid word!
Some senior Wehrmacht generals such as Kurt Stern, Franz Halld and Johann Adolf von Kilmensegg have also questioned the idea that "blitzkrieg" is a military concept! In their view, the so-called "blitzkrieg" was nothing more than the sudden finding of a temporary solution to the problem by the German army in a conventional state.
In 2005, the famous German historian Carl Heinz Frieder summed up the "Blitzkrieg", namely:
German commanders used the latest technology of the time in the most favorable way according to traditional military principles! It can be summed up as the result of using the right army at the right time, in the right place, and that's it!
Therefore, the so-called "blitzkrieg" is nothing more than a set of combat strategies suitable for the German army to give full play to the most mature technology of that era and combine its own military characteristics.
This mature set of technologies includes sufficient air superiority, well-configured tank armored units, and smooth air-ground communication!
In the air force, unlike the early Allied air forces, which specialized in air combat missions, the German air force was born from the beginning to support ground forces. At the beginning of World War II, when Britain, France and other countries had not yet found an effective method of air-to-ground support, Germany could already achieve an average of nearly 1500 fighters per day to support the size of the ground force.
Such as the biplane Hs-123 and the famous Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber are the backbone of the air superiority for the Blitzkrieg! In particular, the Ju-87 aircraft, it can be said that it is tailor-made for Germany's "blitzkrieg", the air combat ability is very poor, the weight is not light and the flight speed is slow, if there is no fighter escort state is easy to be shot down by the opponent. However, its ground/sea attack ability is extremely strong, and its performance such as accurate hitting, powerful enough, and disturbing sound effects is why it is famous all over the world.
In the case of Hans Ulrich Rudel, the world-famous German and even the world's strongest ace pilot, he played 2,530 times in his career, and most of his achievements came from the ground. For example, more than 500 tanks, more than 150 artillery positions, nearly 1,000 armored vehicles of various types, and even battleships were destroyed. Its record in air combat was pitifully small, with only three Soviet fighters.
Therefore, the reason why "Blitzkrieg" can be successful, the establishment of air superiority is indispensable! Once this advantage is lost, then the power of "blitzkrieg" will naturally disappear. Later in the war, as the Allied air power increased, Germany was gradually defeated in the absence of control of the sky, and finally hated Berlin!
The air force opened the road and the armored troops washed the ground, which was the most common method of warfare used by Germany in the early days of the war!
In October 1935, the Wehrmacht took the lead in forming three panzer divisions, namely:
1st Panzer Division led by Simelian Fleicher von Weix;
Guderian's 2nd Panzer Division;
and Ernst Fesman's 3rd Panzer Division.
The specific configuration of these three composite arms consists of an armored brigade and a motorized infantry brigade for each division;
The panzer brigade consisted of four battalions, each equipped with 128 tanks, and if you count the command tanks, a German panzer division was equipped with a total of 561 tanks;
In addition to this, the Panzer Division was also equipped with infantry units, but it was definitely not the main force of the Panzer Division, which consisted only of two battalions of motorized infantry and a motorcycle battalion.
In addition, the division also included a complete support branch: consisting of a motorized artillery regiment, a motorized anti-tank battalion, and a motorized vanguard company (later expanded into a battalion).
This armored division is not only powerful in combat, but also more mobile and survivable. In offensive operations, german panzer divisions would carefully look for defensive loopholes in their opponents, accompanied by strong air support, and when tank units attacked, mechanized infantry and artillery followed to hold the area occupied by tank troops. Most importantly, the force was extremely flexible, it could attack and quickly switch modes of defense, infiltration and pursuit in the course of a surprise attack, and its complete radio command system enabled it to coordinate quickly, providing a high degree of agility that other military units did not have at the time.
It should be noted that the new armored division formed by Germany and the so-called "armored division" formed by Britain and France are completely two different concepts.
The "Panzer Division" formed by the British is really just an Armored Division! Far less abundant than the Germans, the main force consisted of six tank battalions and one infantry battalion, and then there was no more.
France has designed a number of tanks with good performance, and it has a deeper understanding of the concept of synthetic combat! In the formation of the armored division, France is still mainly infantry, and heavy equipment such as tanks only serve as auxiliary tools for infantry to charge, and the results of using such an army to resist Germany are of course very "tragic"!
Comparing the armored divisions formed by each of these three European powers, it is clear which is stronger and weaker.
Compared with the French, the German Panzer Division thoroughly implemented Guderian's famous saying: to organize the troop attack with tanks as the core, not with the infantry as the core! With the support of this concept, the German armored division is more mobile and more aggressive!
Compared with the British, the Germans embedded tanks in a complex network of joint operations, balancing the weaknesses of other weapon systems with the advantages of one weapon system, and finally using the tank's capabilities to the fullest!
During the First World War, information transmission basically relied on roaring, charging instructions were ordered by sentinels, and the more advanced wired communication lines were often blown up!
By the time of World War II, that had changed dramatically. The range of this maneuvering tactic originally created by the German army is unimaginable in previous wars, and if it still relies on people to transmit information or wire communications, it may not be able to do anything!
If you want to implement air-ground coordination, it is impossible to do without radio. It can be said that radio technology closely connected the air power and land power in the "Blitzkrieg", and the two worked together to finally complete Germany's initial strategic ambitions.
Before the war, German radio was widely used, especially on ground equipment, and almost every tank, every armored vehicle, and every aircraft was equipped with A VHF radio device with a reception radius of about 3 kilometers.
With the blessing of this means of communication, even the smallest combat units of the German army can communicate more smoothly and smoothly with each other, and the transmission of information is more rapid and timely, thus ensuring the invincibility of the German army in the early stages of the war.
In contrast, the French barely used radio during the same period, the French High Command did not even have a dedicated radio station, and most of the instructions were sent to the front line in the form of paper documents by motorcycle from their headquarters outside Paris.
The Soviet Union was not much stronger? Before the war, soviet tanks and aircraft had little wireless communication equipment, and the commander of the tank force mostly relied on sign language to convey information when giving orders to soldiers.
Therefore, it seems that "blitzkrieg" is playing "armored" tactics, but in fact, it is a military concept that adapts to that era by the cooperation and coordination of multiple forces. Of course, in addition to these three, there are also some factors that have a very important impact on the emergence of "blitzkrieg", such as the development of military logistics, the probability of confrontation between large armies, and Germany's ambitions for foreign expansion.