German order of battle for Operation Fall Grün (Fall Grün)

From Alternative History

This article details the order of battle of the German army units invading Czechoslovakia in October 1938.

Germany was only moderately prepared for the invasion of Czechoslovakia; stocks of ammunition and replacement vehicles, for example, were low, and Hitler's move was regarded as a military gamble as well as a political one. The German economy had for years geared toward production of military equipment and supplies, and was capable of creating an army that could successfully invade its neighbours only if the campaign was not a long one. The German economy was never fully mobilized for war and was burdened by heavy militarisation, and urgently needed foreign currency. Germany enjoyed a numerical advantage over the Czechs, and their organisation and command structure was very efficient of its time. While German forces were not as mobile or numerous as they would be in the later stages of the Second World War, the Wehrmacht had 2,606 tanks organized into 3 armoured (panzer) and 2 light (leichte) divisions.

The military strength of Nazi Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, France and the Soviet Union on September 30, 1938.

Less mobile mechanized infantry and regular infantry (who, along with their horse-drawn artillery support, vastly outnumbered their mechanized comrades) would then in theory follow-up the panzer divisions' penetration into enemy territory. The Heer was closely supported by the Luftwaffe, especially by dive bombers that attacked and disrupted the enemy's supply and communications lines and spread panic and confusion in its rear, thus further paralyzing the enemy's defensive capabilities. Mechanization was the key to this German tactic first revealed in the September Campaign and nicknamed blitzkrieg (lightning war) by contemporary journalists, who found the name fitting because of the unprecedented speed and mobility that were its underlying characteristics.

Aircraft (particularly fighter and ground attack aircraft) played a major role in the fighting. Bomber aircraft purposely attacked cities and civilian targets causing huge losses amongst the civilian population in what became known as terror bombings. The Luftwaffe forces consisted of 1,180 fighter aircraft (mainly Bf 109s), 290 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers and 290 conventional bombers (mainly of the Heinkel He-111 and Dornier Do-17. In total, Germany had 2,850 aircraft (~2,000 of them can be considered militarily modern) with most of them deployed to participate in Fall Grün.

The German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, was also the best force of its kind in 1938. It was a ground-cooperation force designed to support the army, but its planes were superior to nearly all foreign types. In the rearmament period from 1935 to 1938, the production of German combat aircraft steadily mounted, and the standardization of engines and airframes gave the Luftwaffe an advantage over its opponents.

[edit] German political and military leadership - October 1, 1938

Flag for the Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces.

[edit] German Order of Battle - October 1, 1938

• German army order of battle
• German air force order of battle