Chapter 1716: Thirteen. Icewind Forest (8)

While Lapland was accumulating strength, the Principality was not idle.
The combat plan for the Karelia Isthmus and the Hanko Peninsula has been revised for the third time and frozen. In other words, the combat plan has been finalized, and it will only be implemented after the outbreak of war.
The main purpose of the battle plan for Lapland is to conduct a limited offensive war with the troops belonging to the Saint Petersburg military region. The battle plan assumes that the Lapland Army cannot effectively resist due to its limited strength and chaos after the war. In this case, the Lieutenant General Brusilov planned to launch a full-scale attack after the border exchange of fire, destroy the main force of the Lapland Army at the stage of crossing the border, and then quickly occupy the target area. According to the estimates of the Cavalry Lieutenant General and the Secretary of the Army, this battle will involve a total of four army groups, launching a comprehensive offensive along the border between the Lapland Bay in the south and the Pesamotus in the north.
The fighting sequence of the four group armies is as follows:
The Seventh Army, commander General Yakovlev, under the command of nine infantry divisions and four Cossack cavalry brigades, was strengthened by five heavy artillery regiments. Reinstall the Tenth Army as the reserve team of the army. Its main task is to break through the main defensive zone of the Karelia isthmus, annihilate the main force of the enemy, and go out to the front line of Vyborg before turning into defense.
The Eighth Army, Commander Admiral Khabarov, was responsible for assaulting north from Lake Ladoga. Under the jurisdiction of five infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade, the task of the group army is to be copied to the rear of the Karelia defense zone, and cooperate with the seventh group army to annihilate the main force of the Lapland army.
The ninth army, commander General Dukhanov. Under the jurisdiction of four infantry divisions.
The 14th Army, Commander General Florov, has two infantry divisions and one mountain infantry division.
The mission of the two group armies is to expand at the northernmost end of the border and capture Petsamo in cooperation with the Ice Sea Fleet.
On the surface, this plan seems to be a bit rough, and only gives a rough range of tasks. The specific course of action, the supply plan, the predicted emergency situation and the resolution plan are not listed. So that the whole plan does not look like a combat plan, but it is like a graffiti of military school students.
This is not a malicious derogation. The combat plan made by the first-year students of the officer school is actually equally terrible, but at least the rookie students will try to avoid confusion.
Letting four army groups and more than 200,000 people launch attacks along the border line at the same time sounds courageous. Actually, the visual effect is really good. The problem is that in order to ensure the intensity of the attack, each group army is required to advance at least 20 kilometers per day-this is almost an infantry division's marching speed in peacetime.
To achieve this speed, it is necessary to use the transportation network in Lapland. However, the area has high forest coverage, rugged terrain, swampy areas, scarce roads and poor road conditions. In order to ensure the speed of advancement during the war, there will inevitably be situations in which various forces compete for roads, traffic jams, chaos, and delays. In order to avoid this kind of thing happening in wartime, the staff team should plan the marching sequence and schedule according to the actual situation and needs in the planning stage.
If it is the army of a western country, a complete system and a staff system for personnel training have been formed, and it is not difficult to do such a thing. But the army of the East... Although the armies of Lapland and the Principality have also changed in terms of equipment and some tactical ideas, they have only stepped into the threshold of modernization with one foot, and the other foot and most of the body are still outside the threshold Old times.
To put it simply, the number of real professional staff in the Principality is not enough to support the mobile operations of the large corps, especially the management of railways and logistics. Many of the relevant personnel are directly assigned to the railway company employees to let them Serve the army. However, this emergency measure not only failed to solve the problem, but extended more problems and confusion.
The core of all problems is the cognitive difference between the military and the enterprise, and the contradiction between military needs and the survival of the enterprise.
By gradually buying equity, the Principality successfully recovered the railways and most of the equipment controlled by the consortium. However, many nobles and capitalists realized that the future economic development of the country would be inseparable from the railway. This includes the operation of existing lines and the construction of more railways and trains. The huge business opportunities and profits there cannot be ignored by anyone. Overnight, various railway companies with obvious backgrounds and backgrounds were established. The railway system of the entire Principality was controlled by dozens of railway companies. These companies were not affiliated with each other, and usually had a political backstage. Even in wartime, it is difficult for the military to fully control the nation's railways. In previous military exercises, in order to ensure that the railway transported munitions and materials as required, the munitions officer had to bring a team of military police with bayonet to help the railway company increase the efficiency of its work. However, neither railway company is a fuel-efficient lamp. These companies usually have a solid backstage. They are either the ministers of the Privy Council or the princes who often go to the Winter Palace, or they are a judge. Things are really stiff, and the army is often the loser.
Conversely, in the eyes of the railway company, the military acted arrogantly, completely disregarding the needs of the people's livelihood and the company's life and death. Military commanders often prioritize the needs and interests of the military and require all railway companies to cooperate with them unconditionally. But the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and various emergency transportation needs often occur without warning, which will inevitably disrupt the original operation schedule and cause unexpected economic losses to the railway company. Leaving aside this layer, simply looking at the operation of the railway system itself, the military's requirements are often unreasonable, completely ignoring the complexity of the operation of the railway system. In order to meet these demands, the operation of the line is often disturbed. In severe cases, it may even cause large-scale line paralysis, and it will take at least several days to recover. Over time, unless the crisis is close, railway companies are rarely willing to meet the needs of the military, and the military is aware of this, and more and more frequently treats each demand as an emergency in order to obtain priority transportation right. The military’s self-respect against the enemy will in turn lead to dissatisfaction and resistance from the railway company...
Others such as losses and costs incurred in transporting soldiers, disputes about increasing vehicle turnover speed, reducing empty wagons, priority of vehicle scheduling, etc., have led to constant conflicts among the military, politicians, and railway companies. It is foreseeable that this chaos and conflict must be due to the special environment of Lapland after the war (the railway gauges of the two countries are different, Lapland is the standard gauge, and the Principality is the wide gauge. In addition, it is subject to the geographical environment of the isthmus and swamps. The number is limited, and some routes must also pass through the turbulent sister river.) All the contradictions and chaos will inevitably be greatly upgraded, which will inevitably seriously affect the progress of the entire operation and the achievement of the ultimate goal.
This issue is not only known to the Principality itself, but also to the empire and Lapland.
As an old rival who has been fighting for hundreds of years, Lapland certainly will not miss such an obvious problem, let alone the generals of the Principality and the boss of the railway company are a group of big mouths. Whenever there is unhappiness in a dispute, the heads and capitalists who are full of resentment will shout all the content of the quarrel and the unhappiness of the past. To grasp the operation of the railway of the Principality, there is no need to bother to spy on intelligence, just crouch at the door of the railway company. Not to mention the empire. Not only do they have better intelligence personnel, they also laid the foundation of the Principality’s railway network, and the entire Principality Railway has no secrets for them.
"Starting against the weak links of the enemy, this is a tactical principle that every soldier understands. Now that Lapland and the Empire have mastered the fragility, chaos, decay, and hopelessness of our railway system, once the war begins, they have no reason to let go Regardless of our fragile arteries, we honestly crouched in the trenches waiting for us to kick their ass."
Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov stared closely at the sand table, between the red and blue flags representing the numbers of the enemy’s and our troops, the railway network between the borders of the two countries and the sister river Several railway bridges are particularly eye-catching. Aside from the iron plate, two captains are putting models that symbolize air battleships into the sand table.
The air warships and transport ships of the Principality are concentrated in one place, and the warships of the empire are scattered, but they are not randomly scattered. The overall air power of the empire in Lapland has shown a loose semi-encirclement situation.
"Alexander Vasilyevich, what do you think?"
"Your Excellency, the Empire clearly wants to reproduce what happened to the Charlemagne."
Commander of the First Minefield Team of the Principality Lapland Fjord~EbookFREE.me~ Major General Alexander Vasilyevich Gorchak straightened his back and answered in a calm and loud voice:
"With limited strength, we focused on attacking our railway lines and floating transport ships, and completely cut off the supply line, making it difficult for our army to maintain the offensive."
With the strength of the empire, it is entirely possible to use "maintain Lapland's neutral position" and the "Lease Act" to "lease" an entire air fleet to Lapland after the outbreak of war. With its powerful air power, it is not impossible to annihilate the Principality's supply arteries by severing a few mouths, or even annihilating the Principality's army that has penetrated into Lapland. But in order to avoid tearing his face with the Principality, the Empire will never do this. On the premise of maintaining Lapland's sovereign independence and integrity, it is in their best interest to let the Principality's army retreat despite difficulties.
In other words, the empire can only invest a small amount of air power in the name of "lease", and it cannot be a sensitive unit such as a large battleship. The Empire will use this fast and flexible small mobile unit to continue and violently attack the opponent's soft flanks, completely paralyzing the supply line of the Principality Army, and then forcing the Principality Army to retreat.
"Assuming their goals are what you said, what do you think they will do?"
The old man lit the cigar and took a big sip, the light blue smoke filled up, and the wise eyes shone from behind the smoke to observe the young man on the opposite side.
"Give full play to the characteristics of the guerrilla forces and launch raids against our supply lines. After our army is tired, we will carry out a surprise attack on this place."
Kolchak picked up a long wooden stick and pointed to the location on the sand table where the Principality Army's many airships were gathered, and read out the little-known place name aloud.
"Yam Liza! Your Admiral, I believe that this will be the key point in determining the victory or defeat of this war."