After Hitler came to power, Germany promoted a total of 27 marshals, 2 of whom were the most famous, whether it was strategic, tactical guidance, or military theory, they were the best among the Nazi generals at that time.
These two are "Blitzkrieg" Manstein and "Desert Fox" Rommel, from their titles can be seen, Manstein is good at blitzkrieg strategy and tactics, and Rommel shows the tank warfare to the fullest.
Erich von Manstein
In addition, in fact, the German army also had a general, whose theoretical and tactical level was no less than Manstein and Rommel, who was the advocate of armored warfare, the German general Guderian, also known as the "father of the armored army".
For a long time, there has been a misconception that Guderian was also one of the 27 marshals of the German army, but in fact, he was not, his rank was army general, and Manstein, Rommel and called the three famous german generals of World War II.
All three are inheritors and advocates of blitzkrieg warfare, and are also one of the best generals in armored warfare applications. Many people like to rank their abilities, but the results are often a matter of opinion.
In order to make an objective ranking of the capabilities of these three people, it is not easy, and this article will comprehensively judge their capabilities from the aspects of strategic guidance, tactical command, military theory, offensive and defensive capabilities.
What is a "strategy"? In short, it is the strategy of war. Then, the ability of strategic guidance is also very well understood, that is, the ability to make overall planning for war.
Heinz William Guderian
Of the three, Manstein's strategic guidance ability is undoubtedly the strongest. First, let's look at the "sickle harvest plan" he formulated, although it is a dangerous move, but it is enough to prove Manstein's strategic ability.
While everyone thought that the Germans would attack along the old path of World War I, Manstein took a different path, using the Unfavorable Aden Pass as the main direction of attack, and eventually annihilated more than 30 French divisions.
Manstein was not on a whim, whether the armored group could pass through the Ardennes, he had consulted Guderian, this battle the German army broke through the Maginot Line, straight into the Atlantic Ocean to divide France in two.
Rommel was second in strategic capacity, having proposed the North Africa Plan in 1941. If this plan is successful, the situation in North Africa may have to be rewritten, and his strategic thinking is to focus on attack.
Guderian was only third in terms of strategic guidance, and his achievements were mainly in terms of tactics and military doctrine. Throughout World War II, Guderian did not come up with a concrete strategic plan.
As a result, Manstein's strategic guidance was strongest, followed by Rommel and finally Guderian.
Erwin Johannes Jugan Rommel
In fact, the three are not inferior in terms of tactical command, and on the whole, Manstein and Rommel are all-rounders in terms of tactics, while Guderian is more single-minded and good at armored blitzkrieg tactics.
Manstein not only has a strategic vision, but also a variety of tactical methods, infantry, artillery, armored troops can be skillfully commanded, in the offensive, defensive, field command is also proficient.
The Crimean Campaign and the Kharkov Counterattack were manstein's pinnacle battles. Like Manstein, Rommel was an all-rounder, and his tactical achievement was armored warfare.
Rommel had only three German panzer divisions in the North African theater, and although not very numerous, the losses inflicted on the British were enormous, equivalent to the losses inflicted on the British by dozens of German divisions on the Western Front.
Guderian applied armored blitzkrieg to the point of pure fire, and blitzkrieg Poland was a battle to test his tactics, and he broke through with armored groups, emphasizing the trinity of firepower, mobility and protection.
In the middle is Manstein
In the Battle of France, Guderian's 19th Panzer Army penetrated more than 400 kilometers of France in only 6 days, rushing to the Atlantic coast in one breath, and he was the ceiling for the tactical application of armored groups.
Overall, Manstein's tactical command complex was slightly stronger, followed by Guderian's armored cluster blitzkrieg tactics, with Rommel relegated to third place, and his last strategic proposition was not adopted.
In terms of military theory, Guderian and Rommel were richer than Manstein. Before the outbreak of World War II, Guderian wrote "Vigilance! Tanks", Rommel wrote the book "Infantry Attack".
These two works on military theory are the embodiment of the level of military theory of the two men. Although Manstein created a new form of defense (mobile defense) in the late second period of World War II, it did not rise to the level of theory and did not publish a book.
In this respect alone, Manstein was slightly inferior to Guderian and Rommel. Guderian's military theory was more systematic, and the most radical change in armored cluster blitzkrieg tactics was also the greatest.
On the right is Guderian
Many of Guderian's military theories are original, and he put forward his own theory of "blitzkrieg warfare", which pays attention to the three major factors of mobility, defense and firepower in the blitzkrieg raid of armored groups.
Rommel proposed the concept of combining infantry offensive tactics with firepower and armor, which is also an innovative theory.
In short, from the perspective of theoretical innovation level, Guderian is first, Rommel is second, and Manstein is third.
On the offensive end, there is no doubt that Guderian must have been a sharp sword. He was the spearhead of the German offensive in the early days of World War II, with a long drive into the western front and repeated breakthroughs on the eastern front, and no one surpassed.
Guderian used armored clusters to rampage on the battlefield. Manstein is more calm, but this is only relative, and there is no doubt that Manstein is also an expert in blitzkrieg.
Rommel's offensive power in North Africa can not be underestimated, compared to the hard steel of the first two, Rommel is more euphemistic, that is, the tactics are more bizarre, and the virtual reality is unpredictable.
As a result, Guderian was first in attack, Manstein second and Rommel third.
In the middle of the front row is Rommel
On the defensive end, Rommel is a good player, he pays attention to the combination of defense and attack, that is, the integration of attack and defense. He placed the armored group behind the defensive line, both able to counterattack and retreat at any time.
In the North African battlefield, Rommel's trick was tried and tested, and when facing the british army with the superior number, he used the integration of attack and defense to negotiate with the British army for two years, which was enough to show its defensive ability.
Manstein emphasized the concept of mobile defense, which works well when the two sides are evenly matched, and when several parties gradually weaken, the effectiveness of mobile defense is greatly reduced.
Guderian fought almost no defensive battles, was removed from his post during the Battle of Moscow, and never had much chance to perform after that.
Thus, defensively Rommel was first, Manstein second and Guderian third.
In terms of record, Guderian must have been the vanguard of the Polish-French campaign in the early part of World War II. This was followed by Manstein's Battle of Crimea and finally Rommel.
Blitzkrieg Imagine
In the later stages of World War II, Manstein was superior, and the Kharkov counterattack and the Zhytomyr-Korostian counterattack were classic mobile defensive records, which no one could match in the later period.
Rommel's record was mainly in North Africa, Italy and France, and his later record was better than Guderian's.
As a result, Manstein tied for first place with Guderian in terms of results, with Rommel behind.
In summary, the overall ranking of these three people is that Manstein is first, Rommel is second, and Guderian is third, but in the use of armored groups, Guderian is uncompromisingly ranked first.