Wrangel's tanks were deployed in the center of the defense line, with Mannerheim's divisions on either side to defend and support them. In this formation, the turretless T-17 tanks could fully exert their firepower, since they only had to fire head-on.
On the other hand, when Mannerheim's weak infantry divisions deployed on both flanks were defeated, the army was in danger of being surrounded, but Wrangel decided to trust Mannerheim.
(That guy will do it.)
In the battle the next day, as expected, the Germans charged forward in a Panzer-Keil formation, with tanks at the front. Kornilov, on the other hand, used every possible means to counter the German attack head-on, including artillery barrages, minefields, tank ambushes, anti-tank guns, and the Molotov and grenades he had learned from Mannerheim, as well as smoke screens.
Mannerheim's troops were also in high spirits thanks to the abundant supplies they had received for the first time. They were firing their cannons and machine guns with gusto.
"Bring it on! We have superior firepower!"
The Germans launched multiple waves of attacks, but were crushed by the superior firepower of the Russians each time, especially the tank units, which were inferior in both firepower and armor to the Russians, and the more they attacked the greater the losses became.
The German offensive was a final, decisive battle in which they deployed all their forces, from reserve divisions to their most precious armored units, to the front lines.
However, the overwhelming firepower of the Russian army made it extremely difficult to concentrate forces. If the front of the breakthrough was limited, artillery shells would rain down on them, but if the front of the breakthrough was not limited and a thin attack was made on the entire front, they would be blocked by trench lines reminiscent of those on the Western Front, protected by the three sacred treasures of barbed wire, mines, and machine guns.
The Russians, in turn, sent in reinforcements one after another, as if releasing a large number of their reserve forces. The next day, a cavalry regiment and an infantry division led by Princess Tatiana arrived, providing sufficient depth to the Russian defensive line by securing their rear.
The battle was fierce, with the Russians going back and forth, but time was on their side. The Germans were unable to keep up with the speed of supplies and replenishment, and they were gradually depleted, losing their fighting power and their ability to attack.
The German army's final offensive was a campaign that had already stretched them beyond their limits. Within a week of the offensive beginning, the Germans' offensive was gradually weakening. They were overwhelmed by Russian firepower, and the lack of supplies and medical care in the cold climate caused huge casualties, and morale began to drop.
**
The changes were evident not only on the ground but also in the skies.
In the air battle that day, German bombing was slow as the Russian Army Air Forces deployed unprecedented numbers of fighter aircraft.
"The Russian military has so many fighter jets...?!"
The Red Baron, also known as Richthofen, is astonished.
(Until now, I've only ever seen Russian fighter jets, mostly reconnaissance planes, but where did they get such a large force...?)
Given the Russian Empire's technological level, mass-production of aircraft should have been difficult... but the answer became clear when they passed enemy fighter planes.
――― MADE IN USA.
"You damn dog of capitalism!"
The Red Baron spat on the land of freedom, equality and capitalism.
It's no big deal. Russia bought it from the world's leading industrial nation, the United States, with money. And with loans from the American financial world.
What's more, the plane isn't even strictly an American one, but a licensed production of the French Spad 7, a famous aircraft of the time, so it's really hard to understand what's going on.
In fact, at this time, US President Wilson was unable to refuse the demands of the industrial and economic sectors, and although he refused to enter the war,Lend-Lease The US financial industry provided long-term loans to Russia, and Russia used those funds to import weapons and civilian goods from the US industry, a method that was almost like a self-inflicted act.
This was a desperate measure for the United States.
The United States had originally lent its surplus funds to Britain and France, but the outbreak of the Communist Revolution in France turned the war tide against the Entente powers, and investors feared they would not be able to recover their debts.
Therefore, the remaining great powers, Britain and Russia, must win at all costs, but many Americans who have no connection to overseas investments want to maintain the Monroe Doctrine and remain neutral.
As for the German Empire, with the situation on the Western Front calming down, Kaiser Wilhelm II rejected unrestricted submarine warfare, which could have provoked the U.S. In fact, Germany's food problems were much better than in real life, as the country was connected to the Ottoman Empire by land and, with France's withdrawal, it became difficult for Britain to continue its naval blockade alone.
As a result, large amounts of supplies produced on the east coast of the United States were escorted by the Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean and via the Arctic Ocean, and were unloaded in large quantities in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, without being damaged by U-boats.
Some of it was also shipped from the West Coast, across the Pacific Ocean from Vladivostok via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
These loans from America allowed the Russian Empire to import large quantities of consumer goods from America, which was of great significance to the Russian Empire in alleviating public discontent.
When Nicholas II moved to a total war system, he concentrated most of the domestic factories on the production of military supplies. This inevitably led to a shortage of civilian goods, which were made up for by imports from the United States. In fact, food was in short supply, but Lend-Lease has allowed Russia to maintain the same level of supplies as before the war, including clothing and agricultural equipment.
As a result, unlike in actual history, dissatisfaction with the tsarist government was kept under control, and Nicholas II mobilized the masses who had barely managed to retain their loyalty in order to fight a decisive battle.
In the United States, too, an economic boom known as the Lend-Lease boom was beginning to take hold throughout the country. The stagnation of international trade caused by the World War had led to a considerable economic downturn even in the neutral United States, but large-scale loans and exports to the Russian Empire created huge demand.
At the time, America was already the world's largest industrial and economic power, and investment capital and industrial production capacity that had lost their place in the world flooded into the Russian Empire. The Lend-Lease boom rapidly restored the American economy, and Wilson's approval rating soared.
From the east coast, via the UK and the North Sea, or from the west coast, via Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway, American-made military supplies were being transported to the capital, Petrograd. Tsar Nicholas II used the precious time that Mannerheim had bought to gather as many huge supplies as possible in the capital.
How will the outcome turn out? The verdict will soon be handed down.