The Ministry of Defence Building, Belgrade, Friday, 23 June 1944
General Ljubomir Stefanovic, Chief of the Defence Staff, scanned the preliminary report on the state of the Royal Yugoslav Army's motor transport. Overall, he was appalled.
"I know we have tried so hard," he thought, "but still the gaps are too large..."
The report was plain. Despite all the investment made in the Yugoslav automotive industry, deliveries to the forces fell far short of requirements, and the fleet of vehicles purchased abroad was insufficient. He had to admit that the requirements side of the equation seemed lavish to the politicians who voted in Parliament, but modern warfare required speedy movement. Some categories were better than others, and in a few cases vehicles on hand exceeded requirements - but such a surplus only meant that vehicles in one category were substituted to make good another. He looked up at Colonel Dragoslav Milosavljevic, author of the report.
"You pulled no punches Colonel," he said.
"No sir," replied Milosavljevic. "Our domestic productive capacity is far below requirements, though the Zastava and Novi Sad factories are working flat out. With the Austin factory converting its production over, things will improve somewhat, and they will grow better when the Massey-Harris factory begins production of Triglavs."
Stefanovic frowned. "Yes, the M40 field car is in the shortest supply, only because we need so many; barely twenty percent of requirements are fulfilled."
"True sir," Milosavljevic admitted.
"Even with the last round of purchases in Czechoslovakia and Hungary we will still be short," Stefanovic complained. "Why were the orders not larger?"
"As they are sir they represent the best the factories can deliver in the next year," Milosavljevic replied.
The general re-read the report in silence, pondering his response. "Before I submit your report to the Defence Minister, I want your recommendations on the best course of action to fill these gaps. Obviously, we will need more time to build up our factories; in the interim, I want to know if we can obtain abroad adequate vehicles for our needs without multiplying unnecessarily the types we have in service."
"Very well sir," answered Milosavljevic.
This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "BruceDuncan" (Oct 4th 2013, 1:58am)