T. A. Gardner wrote: ↑27 May 2023, 01:53
As I've posted times before here, and elsewhere, what the Germans needed most was a vastly improved ability to do civil engineering. Rather than neglecting this and relegating it to mostly, almost entirely, manual labor, the Germans adopt to some degree--whatever is possible-- mechanizing their construction engineering and adopting other related engineering in this field.
For example:
They go heavily into prefabrication of system components. This means, like the British and US, the Germans have a series of prefabricated buildings kitted for shipment and use in erecting bases as they advance. The buildings, in their case, could be mostly wood products making them "non-strategic" in materials use.
For railroad repair, they have prefabricated lengths of track with the ties installed and use a flatcar to bring them forward. A crane on another car sets them in place. They have dump cars (bottom or side) that can deliver ballast for the railbed quickly.
Road construction units have at least a proportion of mechanized equipment to include one or more bulldozers, road graders, road rollers, and dump trucks. They don't have to be fully motorized or mechanized, but rather have some equipment to do the heavy lifting alongside manual laborers.
They also have portable sawmills, rock crushing plants that make sand and gravel, etc. You bring these in by rail, set them up, and they go to work making mass materials for construction. They had some historically, here they add more.
For use in Russia, they kit the necessary parts to construct standardized riverine craft that are then assembled using locally manufactured wood (eg., a sawmill making the lumber) to which the parts are added. This means they can make more use of the Russian river system to move troops and supplies.
This really becomes critical in Russia. Imagine the Germans did the above. They could be improving unpaved roads as they go, upgrading them to say, oiled (using used motor oil, etc.) and graveled with a compacted, graded surface with good drainage. Such a road would stand up to the rainy season and mud reasonably well. The few paved roads are maintained better and improved in terms of drainage, etc. Truck losses due to wear and tear are decreased meaning less need for replacements.
Where railroads exist, the availability of prefabricated rail sections and dump cars delivering gravel ballast make it possible to quickly expand a single rail system with sidings or a second track. Prefabricated buildings, tanks, and such allow building coaling and watering stations along with offices for communications rapidly.
Prefabricated buildings mean less waste of supplies sitting outside as you can build warehouses quickly. Troops have more shelter available in winter. Maintenance services have shelter to do their work rather than being outdoors.
Better roads and railroads equate into less wastage of vehicles and materials. This in turn means what supplies are already available are made more readily accessible to the front in a timely manner.
Fewer construction troops can do the same amount of work with the added mechanization meaning more men available for combat units without drafting more men.
Thus, by having improved civil engineering available, the Germans get improved logistical results with the same level of materials and supplies they had historically. There is less wastage across the whole system.