What Book Are You Reading at the Moment?

[Smitty-48]

Smitty, you might enjoy some of Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson's takes on WWII. He's far from conventional but i think thats because he knows Russian and has alternative soutces. Check this out if you get bored and lmk what you think.

Radio Albion: The Orthodox Nationalist: Stalin’s Infamous ‘Ten Strikes’ of 1944 – TON 022620 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RadioAlb ... alins.html

Well, I've read the original speech, Stalin is basically just rattling off ten places where the Soviets ultimately defeated the Wehrmacht, but he doesn't articulate any particular strategy, the "Ten Strikes" don't amount to much more than him saying "we won here, and here, and here", he doesn't actually state how, why, or from what means

I agree with Grigorenko, that Stalin was poised to attack Germany, and that Hitler preempted him with Barbarossa, though not that Stalin was a complete bust as a leader. Stalin provided a key ingredient, which was terror, Stalin was scarier than Hitler, so that kept the Soviet troops from retreating beyond the Volga.

In terms of General Winter, that does prevent the taking of Moscow in the first year, but really the Germans were brought down by logistics,

Hitler said so himself when meeting with Mannerheim in Finland.

[Smitty-48]

The other thing to consider, as AH eludes to there, is that it's not just an invasion of the USSR

It's a huge pincer attack, the northern pincer through Ukraine to Baku

The southern pincer is through North Africa across Arabia to take Iran

The war plan was not just to take the Soviet oil for Germany, it also hinged on denying the ME oil to the British

[Smitty-48]

Ultimately, at the strategic level, in both World Wars, Germany is defeated at sea

In the First World War, Germany is blockaded but fails to break the blockade

In the Second World War, Germany blockades but that is broken

Anglo-American Mahanian Eternal Seapower encircling the Eurasians FTW

[TheReal_ND]

Dr. Jones contends the weather wasn't as big a factor as it's made out to be that it helped in some ways the advance by freezing the mud. The stories about being sent out without winter clothes because they were sure to conquer Moscow were false. They were supplied with winter clothes and they knew that conquering that amount of territory would take a long time but their was issues with the trains. The tanks the Germans fielded were not the tanks of the late war they were relics and barely moved faster than the teams of horses they used to supply them with. Dr. Jones contends that the war was essentially over for Germany before Barborosa. Fuel was already at critical levels before the invasion began. The reason he attacked was to save Europe.

[Smitty-48]

Dr. Jones contends the weather wasn't as big a factor as it's made out to be that it helped in some ways the advance by freezing the mud. The stories about being sent out without winter clothes because they were sure to conquer Moscow were false. They were supplied with winter clothes and they knew that conquering that amount of territory would take a long time but their was issues with the trains. The tanks the Germans fielded were not the tanks of the late war they were relics and barely moved faster than the teams of horses they used to supply them with. Dr. Jones contends that the war was essentially over for Germany before Barborosa. Fuel was already at critical levels before the invasion began. The reason he attacked was to save Europe.

Winter is only an issue at the gates of Moscow in 41'

The issue is not so much the winter kit, it's just that winter favored the defenders

Thing about winter operations is that everything slows down, you can't maneuver the same way

The attacker cannot maintain momentum, the defender doesn't need momentum

The bigger factor was Japan attacking America instead of the Soviet Union, the Axis was fake news

The Siberian army is fresh, they jump off the trains and straight into the line, defenses already dug for them

Wouldn't have mattered much if the German's had better kit, things have to slow down in winter no matter what

The Germans actually had a lot of Soviet tanks too, which they captured in the opening phases

The war is over for Germany before it begun because they were a land power encircled by seapowers

[Smitty-48]

This is why the Soviets, starting in the 1960's, convert themselves from a land power to a seapower, It was the only way to break out

The reason the Soviet Army is so run down and ramshackle at the end in 89', is that they had been spending all the money on the navy.

[TheReal_ND]

I don't buy the narrative of Stalin being incompetent. I think if anyone was it was probably Hitler simply by insisting on being commander over more competent generals. Errors were made and honestly despite that, Germans punched way above their weight. If it wasn't for Uncle Joe, we'd all be speaking German.

[Smitty-48]

I don't buy the narrative of Stalin being incompetent. I think if anyone was it was probably Hitler simply by insisting on being commander over more competent generals. Errors were made and honestly despite that, Germans punched way above their weight. If it wasn't for Uncle Joe, we'd all be speaking German.

Stalin underestimated Hitler's resolve to just go for it and try a smash and grab on an unprecedented scale

Hitler underestimated just how big the Soviet Union actually was

[Smitty-48]

At the operational level, the problem for the German's is terrain

The problem is that it is not only exponentially vast, but also largely featureless

There's nothing to hold on to, there's nothing to pin the Soviets down upon

The Soviets can just keep backing up forever, there's no English Channel to pin them against to force a resolution

There is also no high ground, to dig in on, and then defend, it's just an ocean of grass

I think this is why they become irrationally fixated on Stalingrad, it's the only thing there, so they go there.

[TheReal_ND]

At the operational level, the problem for the German's is terrain

The problem is that it is not only exponentially vast, but also largely featureless

There's nothing to hold on to, there's nothing to pin the Soviets down upon

The Soviets can just keep backing up forever, there's no English Channel to pin them against to force a resolution

There is also no high ground, to dig in on, and then defend, it's just an ocean of grass

I think this is why they become irrationally fixated on Stalingrad, it's the only thing there, so they go there.

Makes sense. I think if it was taken it would have crushed Soviet moral more than Moscow. Everyone knew taking Moscow didn't mean anything. It wasn't as important as Stalingrad perhaps. The Germans left a road of life out of Stalingrad to be used for evacuation. That's part of the reason it was never taken. If they were ruthless they would have cut it off. Apparently there were ethnic Finns in Stalingrad that were removed by the Soviets before the Germans showed up. Finns would have been a second army against the Soviets.