"Imperial Army's reform will first be the reform of the military system. Among the army's units, the two organizations of corps and brigade will be abolished, and the organization of group army, division, regiment, battalion, company, platoon and squad will be directly adopted!" Oscar said.
The previous organization made the command response of the troops very slow. After these two organizations are eliminated, the organization of the army will undoubtedly become flatter. With the continuous development of communication technology, this will allow the troops to respond more quickly. This will be very effective in future operations.
In this regard, the generals of the Imperial Army had no objection. They had already expected that Oscar would do this. After all, Imperial Army's 8th Army Corps, that's what it is. However, 8th Army Corps had canceled the brigade organization before, but this time it went a step further and directly eliminated the army organization.
In addition, it doesn't matter if the legion is changed to a group army. It's just that the name has changed. Everything else remains the same.
According to the new organization of the army, a group army of the Imperial Army consists of 10 Infantry Division and one Armored Division. Together with other units directly under the group army, the total strength reaches 200,000.
In this case, some of the Imperial Army's existing legions will have to be reduced. For example, the total strength of 1st Army Corps is as high as 360,000, and the total strength of 2nd Army Corps is as high as 280,000. All excess troops need to be eliminated.
However, in Oscar's reform plan, Imperial Army's establishment is as high as 12 group armies, if these group armies are full. In other words, these 12 army groups alone have a population of 2.4 million people. Compared with the standing force of German military before the war, this is already three times as much.
If logistics, Gendarmerie and other non-combatants are included, the total strength of the Army will probably not be less than three million. This is not large compared to the size of the current army.
Imperial Army's generals burst into laughter when they saw such a reform plan. Originally they thought that Oscar would ask the Army to disarmament, and if they could save more than one million people, it would be God's blessing. But what they didn't expect was that Oscar valued the army more than they thought, and actually reserved so many people for the army. This undoubtedly made them very satisfied.
The only person who was unhappy was probably Prime Minister Bülow, who attended this military meeting on behalf of Cabinet. The size of the army alone reaches nearly three million. If the navy and the soon-to-be-established air force are included, then the total size of German military must not reach four million! You know, the total population of Germany is now only over 50 million people. This kind of force size is simply too large.
At the same time, maintaining a large number of troops means that military spending will soar. This is not a good thing for Germany's finances.
"Your Majesty, is the size of the army too big? There are 12 armies, 2.4 million people. Including other civilian personnel, the total strength must be more than 3 million, right?" Chancellor Bülow put forward his own opinion.
Suddenly, all the army generals looked at Chancellor Bülow fiercely. If eyes could kill, Prime Minister Bülow would be riddled with holes!
"Prime Minister, these group armies will not remain full during peacetime. Except for the troops stationed overseas and Armored Forces, each unit will only retain about 60% of its strength. Once war breaks out, they will all be full." Oscar explained.
Although Oscar wants to further expand the power of German Navy, he will not resort to violence. It would be inappropriate to allow Germany, which has a population of only over 50 million, to maintain an army of four million all year round.
But even if 60% of the troops are retained, the total strength of the German Army will probably be close to two million. However, this is much better than the total strength of the army exceeding three million men. Germany's financial pressure can finally be relieved. Of course, Chancellor Bülow also knows that after the Empire won this war, its territory and sphere of influence were further expanded. To defend these interests, a large number of troops are also needed. Therefore, the size of the army has increased to two million people, which is not too much for the current German Empire.
As for military expenditure, although it will increase a lot. But as Germany's financial resources continue to increase, ensuring the expenses of these troops will not be a big problem. After all, there are so many colonies for Germany to exploit and oppress. Are you afraid that you will not have enough funds to support the army? Just one India, if it can be won, the income obtained will be enough to cover the expenses of German military! Not to mention there were many more colonies.
Imperial Army's generals also have no objections to this. It is customary for the army to remain understrength during non-war periods. Besides, the current military strength is much larger than before the war broke out. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?
"The reform of the Army is not only in terms of organization, but also in other aspects. In the next ten years, the Army will further increase the number of Truck, armored vehicles and even tanks, and further improve the mechanization level of the army." Oscar then made a request.
Although, Oscar knows that in this era, it is simply unrealistic to develop German military into a mechanized force. Financial resources and technology alone cannot achieve this. However, there should be no problem in realizing motorization within ten years! As long as this goal can be accomplished, German military will be enough to defeat any enemy on the battlefield in the future.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" All the army generals replied one after another.
They have already seen the power of Armored Forces on the battlefield. There is no doubt about increasing the number of tanks and armored vehicles. As for Truck, that is also very important. If all the troops can be transported by Truck when marching, the marching speed of the troops will be amazing. Among other things, when chasing the enemy, it is difficult for the enemy to escape. Of course, the prerequisite is that the road conditions must ensure that Truck can drive.
For the German Army, a squad of troops and equipment can be transported by a Truck. There was even excess capacity to transport war supplies. This can undoubtedly strengthen the logistics support capabilities of the army.
With Germany's financial and industrial strength, it will not be too difficult to achieve this in the next ten years. After all, Germany is now very wealthy.
In addition, there are other reforms that Oscar requires the Army to gradually implement in the future.