my head

() From the victory of the German blitzkrieg, the whole world has seen the astonishing power of modern mechanical warfare that can turn clouds and rain in an instant and determine victory or defeat. However, no other country has had time to adjust the construction, organization, equipment, thinking, tactics, and training of the army to Adapting to the mode of modern warfare, if it encounters a lightning attack, it will be vulnerable to heavy losses.In addition, the great purges of the Soviet Union at the end of the 30s made the Soviet army shattered: a large number of experienced senior generals and army backbones were executed.In the Soviet-Finnish War, the Soviet Union invested millions of troops and made great sacrifices to defeat Finland, a country with a small country and a small army. It can be seen that the Great Purge dealt a heavy blow to the Soviet army.

3. Strategic Situation:

Before the war against the Soviet Union, Germany had organized a strategic alliance against the Soviet Union, including Finland, Hungary, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey and other countries. These countries sent troops to participate in the war against the Soviet Union to varying degrees.From north to south: The armies deployed in Finland, East Prussia, former Poland, Hungary, and Romania formed a crescent-shaped encirclement of the Soviet Union.The multi-channel offensive forces are powerful and concentrated, and they all point to the key parts of the Soviet Union: the German and Norwegian army attacked Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the Arctic Circle, intending to cut off the only northern supply port of the Soviet Union during the war;

The Finnish Karelian Army Group and the Southeast Army Group cooperated with the German Northern Army Group to attack Leningrad, trying to regain the territory lost in the Soviet-Finnish War; the German Northern Army Group Yu passed through the three Baltic countries and captured the holy land of the Soviet October Revolution: Leningrad The German Central Yang Army Group advanced along the attack axis of Minsk, Smososk, and Moscow, aiming at the heart of the Soviet Union; The task of strategic resources; Romania's 3rd and 4th armies cooperated with the German South Army Group to enter Ukraine to avenge the Soviet Union's forced cession of land.Contrary to Germany, the Soviet Union was in an extremely isolated international situation: while signing a non-aggression treaty with Germany, it also cut off the hope of joining forces with Britain and France; the consequence of attacking Finland was that the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations; Actions such as Poland, forcing the three Baltic countries to join the Soviet Union, and issuing an ultimatum to force Romania to hand over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina further made the Soviet Union notorious in the world and created many powerful enemies.

In addition, the troops deployed by the Soviet army on the western border were too far forward and lacked sufficient depth.Once the defense line is quickly broken through by the German army, it is easy to be divided and surrounded.Historically, in the early days of the Soviet-German War, entire Soviet armies and divisions were surrounded and wiped out, and the number of troops lost was as high as millions.

Combining the above factors, Zhang Jun concluded that the German army was indeed capable of annihilating most of the Soviet armed forces, occupying the three strategic cities in the north, central and south, advancing to the front line of the Ural Mountains, and completing the goals set by the "Barbarossa Plan".As long as the German army occupies the European elite part of the Soviet Union, controls important cities, grasps transportation hubs, and develops strategic resources, then only a small-scale armed force is needed to calmly deal with the counterattack of the Soviet Union's Asian part.Although the remaining Soviet Union, which lost the European part, has a vast area, it is sparsely populated, economically backward, lacking in supplies, and inconvenient in transportation. It cannot gather enough forces to challenge Germany, which has occupied the elite part of the Soviet Union and is even more powerful.

It was not for nothing that Hitler believed that the Soviet territory beyond the targets involved in the "Barbarossa Plan" was a barren wasteland and not worth occupying.If the Soviet Union reached that point, it would be no different from defeat.Therefore, it was indeed possible for Germany to defeat the Soviet Union.

Due to the muddy rainy season and terrible winter in the Soviet Union, it will also greatly affect the logistical supplies and combat capabilities of the German army, which may prevent it from completing the "Barbarossa Plan" before the winter of 1941, causing the Soviet-German war to become a long-term war.

If the war dragged on after 1942, would it still be possible for the German army to defeat the Soviet Union?The answer is: yes!History Although Germany failed to win quickly in 1941, she still achieved a brilliant victory: a large number of Soviet troops were annihilated, large areas of Soviet territory were occupied, and the German army remained in the hinterland of the Soviet Union waiting for the next attack.If Germany can continue to annihilate the Soviet army in large numbers so that it loses a lot of blood and has no time to replenish it, continues to occupy the territory of the Soviet Union so that it will lose its support for a comeback, and continues to seize the resources of the Soviet Union to support the war, it will still be able to destroy the Soviet Union's war power and deprive the Soviet Union of continuing to fight. potential to win.

Of course, the Soviet Union will also get the most important breathing time: countless military service members have joined the army, dozens of hundreds of new divisions have gone to the front line, a large number of factories have moved eastward to the Ural Mountains and have started construction, and hundreds of weapons and equipment have been produced. Wire?The war power of the Soviet Union gradually expanded, and the quick-decision battle between the Soviet Union and Germany gradually evolved into a long-term confrontation between the comprehensive strengths of the two countries.

If the Soviet Union wins further on the battlefield, the balance of victory will finally fall to the Soviet Union.In the end, Germany failed to suppress the Soviet Union's war potential and transform it into war power, which will be an important reason for Germany's defeat.

There are many other factors that cannot be ignored.If Germany fails, it must be the combined effect of many reasons, not just one-sided decision of one or two factors.

1. Allied opponents:

Although Germany organized the European Union, controlled most of the European continent, and became a veritable European empire, it has created too many opponents after all.The Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, South America, Africa, Asia and other countries that are enemies of Germany.They have mastered most of the world's population, resources, materials, economy, and technological power, especially the United States, which has a strong war potential, a country that will declare war on Germany sooner or later, adding a decisive star to the victory balance of the Allies against the EU. The weight: Compared with the European Union, the Allies have 4 times the advantage in manpower, 3 times the advantage in steel, and even greater advantages in oil. The powerful opponent also prevents Germany from concentrating on dealing with the Soviet Union. Even if the fierce battle is about to start now, Germany On the western front of Europe, Norway, and North Africa, a considerable number of troops have also been maintained to prevent possible future attacks.

Germany's investment in the Soviet Union was about 70% of the total army strength, far from doing its best.After the Soviet-German war broke out, a comprehensive anti-EU alliance will eventually be formed.The Soviet Union will not only receive military support from countries headed by the United States and Britain, even Japan, which has been hostile for a long time, can sign a non-aggression treaty with it, so that it can free up its hands and fully resist the German attack.

This is as if Germany tied one hand and fought against the Soviet Union, which could go all out and take an intermission. The disadvantages are very obvious.

2. Union of European Nations:

Although the European Union has been formed, it is actually very difficult to integrate all the strengths of the European Union. It is common for the later generations of the European Union to quarrel over an issue for several months.

In addition, the combat effectiveness of these European Union troops is really worrying. For the German Army, they can only be a group of soy saucers. For example, Italy did not notify Germany and rashly attacked East Africa, North Africa, Albania, and Greece. The army was vulnerable and recruited to a disastrous defeat.Not only did it destroy the balance of power in the Balkans and Africa that originally met Germany's expectations, but it also forced Germany to send troops to save its disgraced comrades-in-arms, which indirectly led to the dispersion of troops and the delay of "Plan Barbarossa".

Hitler helped Franco during the Spanish Civil War.However, when Hitler hoped that Franco would reciprocate and implement his "Phoenix Plan" to occupy the Strait of Gibraltar and choke Britain's lifeline, the answer he got disappointed him. It can be seen that Spain also has its own small calculations.

The signing of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact led to the collective resignation of the Japanese cabinet.Soon after, Japan retaliated and signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, choosing the latter between "Northward Advance" and "Southward Advancement" as its national policy.At this time, the situation where Germany and Japan attacked the Soviet Union no longer existed, and Zhang Jun also had to bear certain responsibilities, because Zhang Jun had always opposed the alliance with Japan with all his strength, and Hitler didn't want to hurt his "little carrot-headed heart". Rejected the olive branch from Japan.

3. War command:

The combat quality of the German officers and soldiers is certainly unparalleled, but the high-level command of the German army can be said to be full of problems: the German Supreme Command (okw) established by Hitler and the Army General Headquarters (okh) have overlapping responsibilities and overlapping authority.They intrigue and scramble for power and profit; Hitler and the top German generals often have disagreements and distrust each other.Hitler acted arbitrarily and centralized power too much. He did not decentralize power and commanded by leapfrogging.Not only will it insist on going its own way in the general strategic direction, but it will even interfere with the combat command to the battalion and company level, and the army cannot make reasonable disposal according to the battlefield situation.The German commander laughed at himself: "Without the order of the head of state, I dare not move the sentry post from the door to the window."

In history, the major decision-making mistakes made by the German army in World War II are as follows. To give a few examples: After the defeat of the German army in the Battle of Moscow, Hitler resolutely refused to retreat, which directly led to the annihilation of a large number of German troops and severely damaged their vitality.The German army no longer had the strength to launch a full-scale offensive from the following year, so it had to implement a focused attack; in 1942, the German army attacked the Volga River and the Caucasus region at the same time, and as a result, its forces were dispersed, and neither of the two strategic goals was achieved; The German elite field troops of the regiment were thrown into the meat grinder in the city, causing a large number of casualties; after the Sixth Army was surrounded, it was not allowed to retreat and was wiped out by the Soviet army; In order to forcibly attack the position station instead of blitzkrieg; and then at the most critical time of the battle, several elite SS armored divisions on the southern line were transferred to deal with the landing of the Allied forces in Italy, resulting in the loss of the last hope of winning the Battle of the Fortress... (To be continued.)