ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:17 pm wrote:all the same, it took some doing stopping those german panzer divisions once they got rolling, they went through western europe like a dose of salts.
even with all the manpower the russians had (not to mention bravery) it still took them nearly a 1000 miles and a severe winter to stop them
The Germans grossly underestimated the conditions they would face. The fact that they delayed the planned start of Operation Barbarossa from mid May to late June had a severe effect on their plans for a quick victory. The Gemans were almost at the gates of Moscow when the rains came and turned the ground into a virtual mud swamp having a devastating effect on their supply and movement.
When the snows finally came they were totally unprepared for the severity of the Russian winter with weapons of all calibre freezing solid along with their armour and transports.
In addition German intelligence failed to correctly assess the strength of Russian armour, the Germans were shocked when they first encountered the newly developed Russian heavy tanks ( the KV1) and the superb Russian medium tank (the T34)
Allied to this the Russians almost limitless manpower and their ability to relocate and reorganise their production centres with entire factories being dismantled shipped east beyond the Urals and rebuilt meant that German hopes of a quick victory over Russia were doomed almost within just a few months of their initial attack.
Two of the best and most authoratative books on the war in the east are "The Road to Stalingrad" and "The Road to Berlin" by John Eriksen, a bit dry but a must read for anyone seriously interested in the subject.
Another great book is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer a record of the war in the east from an individual soldiers perspective, although there is some debate on it's authenticity it's probably the most engrossing book on the war in Russia that I've ever read.
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:40 pm
