Four Days to Weser Army General Preview
Hello, hello, hello!
We return with another NORTHAG-flavored DevBlog. In today’s post, we’ll focus on the first of the two new Army General campaigns to be featured in our upcoming major expansion.
Let’s go explore Four Days to the Weser campaign!
陆军将军战役“威悉河四日”
你好你好你好
我们带着另一个NORTHAG（北方集团军群）风味的DevBlog回来了。在今天的文章中，我们将重点介绍我们即将进行的重大扩张中的两次新的陆军将军战役中的第一次。
让我们去探索威瑟四天战役！
?
NORTHAG’s Army General Campaigns
The NORTHAG expansion will feature two new massive turn-based Army General campaigns. Both are centered on the NORTHAG command, detailing two new powerful Warsaw Pact thrusts into NATO-controlled territory.
The northern offensive is aimed at Bremen and sees the East Germans strike through a (still) mobilizing Dutch I Corps around the Lüneburg area. This campaign is called Four Days to the Weser, and preview it in more depth below.
The southern strike is around Hanover, and it is here that the communists run into trouble early on, giving the reinforcing British time to bring up heavy tank reinforcements. This, in turn, sees the hasty deployment of some additional mechanized Polish units. The name for this Army General campaign is Armored Fury and will be detailed in a future DevBlog.
NORTHAG的陆军总战役
NORTHAG的扩张将包括两次新的大规模回合制陆军将军战役。两者都以NORTHAG（北约北方集团军群）司令部为中心，详细介绍了华沙条约组织向北约控制的领土发起的两次新的强大攻势。
北部攻势的目标是不来梅，东德人通过吕讷堡（Lüneburg）地区周围（仍在）动员的荷兰第一军发动进攻。这场行动被称为“威瑟河四日”，下面将对其进行更深入的预览。
南部的袭击发生在汉诺威附近，共产党人在这里很早就遇到了麻烦，这给了增援的英国人时间来增援重型坦克。这反过来又导致了一些额外的波兰机械化部队的仓促部署。这场陆军将军战役的名字是“装甲狂怒”，将在未来的DevBlog中详细介绍。
?
?
NORTHAG’s Historical Context
NATO’s NORTHAG command, as we already mentioned a couple of times, was the cobbling together of four different NATO corps from four different nations, all under unified British command. From the south to the north, these were the Belgians, British, Dutch, and West German, backed up by some additional pre-positioned American forces.
NORTHAG的历史背景
正如我们已经多次提到的那样，北约的NORTHAG指挥部是来自四个不同国家的四个不同北约军拼凑在一起的，所有这些军都在英国的统一指挥下。从南到北，这些是比利时人、英国人、荷兰人和西德人，并得到了一些预先部署的美军的支援。
Glancing at the numbers and equipment on paper, it looked like a very strong command, but in reality, NORTHAG was closer to an idol made with feet of clay. Made up of many different national armies, political pressures from various governments 徐先生 and conflicting policies were rife. For instance, the Belgian Army’s outdated equipment, the Dutch questionable decision to keep the majority of its troops home to be “mobilized” in case of war, lack of standardization, etc., were all issues identified by the 1980s.
瞥一眼纸上的数字和设备，它看起来像是一个非常强大的阵容，但实际上，NORTHAG更接近于用粘土脚制成的易碎品。由许多不同的国家军队组成，来自各国政府的政治压力和相互冲突的政策盛行。例如，比利时军队过时的装备、荷兰将大部分部队留在国内以便在战争中“动员”的可疑决定、缺乏标准化等，都是20世纪80年代发现的问题。
?
While the Americans believed Fulda to be the most likely flashpoint and invasion route of World War III in West Germany (due to the proximity of a whole bunch of military and civilian infrastructure in the Frankfurt/Middle Rhine area), the terrain was not very favorable to large-scale maneuvers. The Soviet High Command, seeing the benefit of keeping (at least some) of NATO’s attention fixed, was all too happy to oblige and play their part in a maskirovka deception to fix substantial CENTAG forces in this sector. Meanwhile, the North German Plain, essentially the whole of NORTHAG, was perfect for massive mechanized warfare. Furthermore, the disparaged multinational forces were perceived to be a key weakness, more fragile, and prone to break if enough pressure was brought to bear.
虽然美国人认为富尔达是第三次世界大战在西德最有可能的爆发点和入侵路线（由于法兰克福/莱茵河中部地区靠近大量军事和民用基础设施），但地形不太适合大规模演习。苏联最高司令部看到了吸引（至少是部分）北约注意力的好处，非常乐意在maskirovka（马斯基洛夫卡：军队伪装）欺骗中扮演自己的角色，以修复该地区的大量中央司令部部队。与此同时，北德平原，基本上是整个NORTHAG，非常适合大规模机械化战争。此外，被贬低的多国部队被认为是一个关键弱点，更脆弱，如果施加足够的压力，很容易崩溃。
The War Front
In our war scenario, which you already should be familiar with thanks to WARNO’s base game’s CENTAG Army General campaigns, the Warsaw Pact first launches several strong offensive thrusts across the Inner German Border, including Fulda. However, these are diversionary attacks. The sole Soviet 8th Guards Army is in the lead here, flanked and followed by an array of East German forces. Frankfurt was to be threatened or captured if possible, but seizing it wasn’t mandatory. The primary purpose of this offensive was to fix the American and West German attention (and troops) as much as possible.
战争前线
在我们的战争场景中，由于WARNO的本体游戏CENTAG（中部集团军群）陆军将军战役，你应该已经熟悉了，华沙条约组织首先在德国内部边境发动了几次强有力的进攻，包括富尔达。然而，这些都是转移注意力的攻击。唯一的苏联第8近卫军在这里处于领先地位，两侧是一系列东德部队。如果可能的话，法兰克福将受到威胁或被占领，但占领它不是必须的。这次进攻的主要目的是尽可能地吸引美国和西德的注意力（和军队）（声东击西）。
?Further north, the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army quickly attacked west; its path mostly opened in the initial covert ops raid at Kassel Airport. This thrust was aimed at NORTHAG’s soft underbelly: the 1st Belgian Corps. 
In the meantime, further up north, the rest of NORTHAG was bracing itself but eerily quiet, apart from artillery duels, small-scale attacks, and airstrikes. This wouldn’t last long.
再往北，苏联第一近卫坦克军迅速向西进攻；它的路线主要是在卡塞尔机场的最初秘密行动突袭中开辟的。这一攻势针对的是NORTHAG的软肋：比利时第1军。与此同时，在更北的地方，NORTHAG的其他部队正在做好准备，但除了炮击、小规模袭击和空袭外，他们出奇地安静。这不会持续太久。
NORTHAG Under Pressure
So, with the Belgian I Corps under pressure from the whole of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army, NORTHAG was forced to react. The British I Corps diverted its 3rd Armoured Division, and the West Germans its 7. Panzerdivision to the south. This also had the dangerous effect of forcing the rest of NATO’s divisions to shift their front or relocate to fill the gaps.
NORTHAG面临压力
因此，由于比利时第1军受到整个苏联第一近卫坦克军的压力，NORTHAG被迫做出反应。英国第1军调动了第3装甲师，以及西德则调动了第7装甲师向南。这也产生了危险的影响，迫使北约其他师调动战线或重新部署以填补空白。
This was, of course, the moment the Warsaw Pact had waited for. The northern communist army groups started their two main attacks on NORTHAG on June 23rd, 72 hours into World War III.
The northern one is an East German-led on the Lüneburg-Bremen axis, while the southern one is on the Hanover-Osnabrück axis (as mentioned briefly before). Let’s detail Four Days to the Weser (the northern attack) a bit more.
当然，这正是华沙条约组织所期待的时刻。6月23日，第三次世界大战爆发72小时后，北方华约军队对NORTHAG发动了两次主要袭击。
北部是由东德人领导的吕讷堡-不来梅轴线，而南部则位于汉诺威-奥斯纳布吕克轴线（如前所述）。让我们再详细介绍一下威悉河（北方进攻）的四天。
?
Four Days to the Weser AG Campaign Preview
This new Army General campaign takes place in the Lüneburg area, south of Hamburg. The Hanseatic city, although visible on the northern edges of the map, won’t be part of the campaign. It is situated across the unpassable river Elba and is part of NATO’s LANDJUT’s theater of operations.
威悉河四日 徐先生 AG活动预览
这场新的陆军总司令战役发生在汉堡以南的吕讷堡地区。汉萨同盟城市虽然在地图的北部边缘可见，但不会参与这场战役。它位于无法通行的厄尔巴河对岸，是北约LANDJUT战区的一部分。
In our new Army General campaign, which is I Dutch Corp’s area of responsibility, the Covering Force Area, a part of West Germany jutting into East Germany, has already been evacuated following pre-war plans. Surrounded on three sides by communist territory, it would have been complicated to defend this death trap. This shortening of NATO’s defensive lines allowed Warsaw Pact troops to cross the Elbe and advance on Lüneburg in force and relatively unmolested. The East German objective is to continue to attack and cross the Weser River near Hamburg within four days before NATO can muster enough reinforcements to mount a concerted defense on this natural obstacle.
在我们新的陆军总司令战役中，即荷兰第一集团军的责任区，覆盖部队区是西德延伸到东德的一部分，已经按照战前计划进行了疏散。三面被华约领土包围，保卫这个死亡陷阱会很复杂。北约防线的缩短使华沙条约组织部队能够越过易北河，在吕讷堡大举推进，相对不受干扰。东德的目标是在北约能够召集足够的增援部队对这一自然障碍进行协同防御之前，在四天内继续袭击并渡过汉堡附近的威悉河。
Opposing Forces
The Four Days to the Weser offensive has been entrusted to the East German 5. Armee, operating independently (unlike the 3. Armee against CENTAG’s armies). This army is made up of the 8. and 19. Motorisierte Schützendivision, the elite and well-equipped 9. Panzerdivision (featured as a playable division) and the 20. Motorisierte Schützendivision, which is a partially mobilized division with T-72s in its tank regiment. These Nationale Volksarmee formations are backed by a host of smaller detachments, including two powerful Soviet independent tank regiments equipped with T-64B main battle tanks.
相对势力
威悉河四天攻势的任务已委托给东德第5集团军，独立完成（和对抗中央司令部军队发的第3集团军不同）。这支军队由第8和19摩步师组成，外加装备精良的精锐第9装甲师（将作为一个可玩的师）和第20摩托师是一个部分动员师所组成，其坦克团中有T-72。这些国家人民军编队得到了许多较小单位部队的支援，其中包括两个强大的苏联独立坦克团，配备了T-64B主战坦克。
Opposing the communists is a verifiable Tower of Battle of NATO forces: chiefly the West German 3. Panzerdivision and the Dutch 41 Pantserbrigade, the lone Dutch formation actually stationed in West Germany. Additional support comes from the US Army’s 2nd Armored Division’s 3rd Brigade (Forward), pre-deployed in the area. The main forces of the Dutch I Corps (1ste and 4e Divisie) were supposed to be at their pre-arranged combat positions within 48 hours, being transported from the Netherlands. However, in the chaos of war, including major transportation issues, strikes on critical infrastructure, and a sumptuous sprinkling of Soviet Spetsnaz sabotage and raid actions in the rear, have clearly derailed this overly optimistic Dutch mobilization plan.
对抗华约是北约部队的一个明确的番号：主要是西德第3装甲师和荷兰第41装甲旅，这是唯一实际驻扎在西德的荷兰编队。额外的支援来自预先部署在该地区的美国陆军第2装甲师第3旅（前方）。荷兰第1军（第1师和第4师）的主力部队本应在48小时内从荷兰运送到预先安排的战斗阵地。然而，在战争的混乱中，包括重大的交通问题、对关键基础设施的袭击，以及苏联特种部队在后方的大量破坏和突袭行动，显然使这一过于乐观的荷兰动员计划脱轨。
NATO has the objective of holding the East Germans at bay long enough for the Dutch main reinforcements to (finally) show up. Then, it's either stabilizing a defense or, ideally, counter-attack when the opportunity arises. For the Warsaw Pact, the war goal is simple: break through the enemy defenses as soon as possible and seize the objective across the Weser before the offensive stalls.
北约的目标是将东德人拒之门外，让荷兰主要增援部队（最终）出现。然后，它要么稳定防御，要么在机会出现时进行反击。对于华沙条约组织来说，战争目标很简单：尽快突破敌人的防御，在进攻停滞之前占领整个威悉河的目标。
