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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
In World War II, Germany and Japan, two countries, which can be said to be in the east and the west, tossed the Eurasian continent to a half-dead death. Germany, in particular, is a strength that should not be underestimated. In just one year, Germany swept almost the entire European continent.
From Paris to Oslo, from Vienna to Athens, the German swastika flies in every corner of the European continent. Only Britain, alone overseas, trembled under the German bombers. If it had not been for the Soviet Union's entry into the war, I am afraid that Germany would have really united Europe.
(German Army of World War II)
Then we throw up the question, if in World War II, the mainland did not deal with Japan, but Germany. So what was the situation of our war at that time?
1. 10 times
First of all, we draw the conclusion that if China had fought against Germany in World War II, then our War of Resistance would have been 10 times more difficult! Although Japan held out longer than Germany in World War II, it was mainly because of its geographical advantage. In fact, Germany's overall strength is far stronger than Japan's.
(German Army of World War II)
The first is the number of troops, and in fact the population of Japan is slightly larger than that of Germany. However, from 1939 to 1945, the strength of the German army was always higher than that of the Japanese. In 1939, the German army, which had not yet waged war against foreign countries, already had a huge strength of 3.23 million men. At this time, Japan, which had been using troops against China for two years, only had 1.42 million troops.
In 1945, the last year of World War II, Germany had been pushed to its homeland by the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the strength of the German army still maintained the figure of 7.5 million, and the strength of the Japanese army was only 7.19 million to 8.26 million, and the median value was only comparable to that of the German army. During World War II, the Germans mobilized a staggering 17 million troops, while the Japanese army was only about 9.7 million.
(German Army of World War II)
Germany's industrial strength is also much higher than that of Japan. In 1938, Germany produced 23.2 million tons of steel, while Japan produced only 6.472 million tons, which is much smaller than Germany. And more steel production often means more bullets, more tanks, thicker armor, and more lethality.
At the beginning of World War II, the German army relied on its strong scientific and technological superiority to win the European battlefield. In terms of equipment, how did the Japanese army compare with Britain? How did it compare with France? Britain and France were both defeated by the German army, while the Japanese army and the British, Burmese, and Anglo-Indian troops on the third and fourth lines were still fighting back and forth. It can be seen that Japan is a country that cannot compare with Germany.
(German Army of World War II)
However, the fact that Germany is stronger than Japan is not the most terrible point. What is even more terrifying is that the tactics used by the Germans, combined with the terrain of China, may also have "unintended consequences".
Second, the terrain kills
In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army attacked North China from the northeast from north to south. North China, on the other hand, is a vast plain. Such terrain is very suitable for the deployment of large-scale armored clusters. However, due to Japan's own weak strength, it was unable to give full play to its advantages in armored combat.
(North China Plain)
For Germany, however, the blitzkrieg itself was their specialty. Encountering such terrain as the North China Plain, I am afraid that the German army will repeat the picture of "blitzkrieg against France". However, on the North China Plain on the mainland, there was no "Maginot Line", and the Northwest Army did not have the same equipment and troops as the French army.
Unlike the Japanese invasion of North China, if it were replaced by the German army, I am afraid that the North China Plain would have been occupied before all aspects of China could react. Song Zheyuan's department, I'm afraid it has also been annihilated. While China's roads are also not in good condition, North China is not as rainy as in the Soviet Union, so muddy roads are unlikely to exist.
(World War II Japanese Army)
Similar problems existed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, and on the Songhu battlefield, I am afraid that the German army would be more relaxed than the Japanese army. Because the German army has more armored forces, but our army's anti-tank capabilities are very limited. In this case, I am afraid that it will be difficult for our army to deal with it calmly.
And the armored units of the German army are far from being comparable to the Japanese army's "small bean tank". But in the face of street fighting, the German army was actually as weak as the Japanese army. Therefore, in the Battle of Songhu, the German army may outperform the Japanese, but it will not be exaggerated.
(Japanese Shodouding Tank)
3. Difficult does not mean losing
But even if the Germans were so strong, they were not without their weaknesses. The German armored forces were strong, but the German armored forces had a fatal flaw. That is, the German armored forces generally have poor endurance, which is the main reason why the German army can perform so well in France, but not very well in the Soviet Union.
On the Soviet-German battlefield, the reason why the German army was able to achieve such high results in the early stage. In fact, the main reason is that the Soviets were completely unprepared, but this was not the case on the continent before the war. In 1936, when the Japanese army was fully preparing for war, our army was also preparing for war. The continent, like the Soviet Union, has the same enormous strategic depth.
(WWII German tank)
This also meant that it was simply impossible for the Germans to rely on a blitzkrieg to win a quick victory. On the Chinese battlefield, the German army will inevitably fall into the quagmire of a long war. And all the problems that the Japanese army faced in China, the Germans would encounter.
This will undoubtedly be an even more serious problem for the more industrialized Germany. Moreover, in the Chinese battlefield, the German army will inevitably deal with the Soviet Union, so Germany will also face the problem of fighting on two fronts. Moreover, in the vast western part of the continent, most of which were hilly and mountainous terrain, the armored forces of the German army were not very easy to deploy.
(WWII German tank)
However, these terrains are the special battles of our party. On the Korean battlefield, we defeated the invincible American army, so there is no reason why our party cannot defeat the German army. The German infantry, having lost the cover of armored units, often did not perform well. Therefore, when the German army enters the western region, I am afraid that the war situation will be a different situation.
During World War II, Germany also experienced harsh security warfare in Europe, and the guerrillas behind enemy lines in various countries were also very active, and the overall performance of the German army in the later period was not very good. Therefore, even the German army, our army was able to fight hard, defend the homeland, and achieve the fruits of victory.
(WWII German tank)
Resources
Journal of Yichun University, 2005, 27(1):2.
Characteristics and defects of the development of German tank technology in World War II[J].Sea, Land, Air and Space Inertial World, 2009(2):16.)
Zhang Jian, Zhang Tanggui." A brief analysis of the size of the Japanese army before and during World War II[J].Journal of Chongqing Normal University(Philosophy and Social Science), 2019, 000(003):19-25.