When the cannons sounded on September 1, 1939, the German army of 1.6 million pounced on Poland, and at the same time, the Soviet Union stabbed Poland in the back, facing a two-sided attack on Poland, unable to resist, and 28 days later chose to surrender. On May 10, 1940, Germany launched another offensive against Britain, France, the Netherlands, belgium, the German army was overwhelming, Hitler also received the news of victory, a series of victories in the early stages of the war, let him lose his mind, his personal ambitions swelled sharply, and continued to expand the war.
But as time went on, "Hitler wasn't happy for long. In June 1944, the Allied landings in France were a success that Hitler could not bear, when the Germans on the Western Front were gradually defeated and the German defeat was decided. He also had illusions about the war, desperate to have a counteroffensive and enhance the German will to fight, and there was indeed a "good news" at this time that made Hitler finally make up his mind to carry out a counteroffensive, so what kind of news made Hitler decide to carry out a final struggle?
Just as he was feeling overwhelmed by the situation of the two-front operation, he summoned The Chief of Operations of the Supreme Command, General Jodel, to discuss with him his idea of a counterattack, and asked about the total strength of the Allied forces on the Western Front and its subsequent deployment.
It was his question that made him aware that the Allied forces on the Western Front had only 60 divisions, and that the remaining 74 divisions were either still unboard in Britain or were still assembling on American soil. This greatly excited Hitler, and the news made him think that this was a godsend for a counteroffensive, to seize the opportunity to defeat the Allies before they had all landed. At the very least, stabilize the situation on the Western Front, and then shift the main force to deal with the Eastern Front.
For the German army at the beginning of the war, the enemy of 60 divisions would certainly not be taken seriously, and Hitler, who was at this time overwhelmed, obviously forgot that they had lost their air superiority, and the army was already exhausted and had no initial morale and combat effectiveness. But Hitler's obstinate behavior still made him say to Admiral Jodl that the time had finally come for a counteroffensive. And how will Yodel react at this time?
General Jodl had been Hitler's indispensable man since 1941, he knew the character of the Fuehrer very well, he understood that it was not enough to go to a tough and obstinate number of people, but it would irritate him even more, so Yodel did not say no to the Führer, but pointed out four suggestions to the Führer.
If a large-scale counteroffensive is to be launched, the problem of the German air superiority must first be solved, and the time of the counter-offensive should be chosen in the harsh season, such a season, "nature will become our ally," as long as the Allied aircraft can not take off, the terrible air threat will be eliminated, and our panzer division will have a chance of victory.
Then there must be sufficient logistical support, the domestic productivity is low, the resources are insufficient, the shortage of troops, the logistics support is very unfavorable, if you want to carry out a counter-offensive, the domestic factories must readjust the production tasks, first of all to ensure the needs of the front.
Third, the counter-offensive must ensure sufficient troops, and now the western front is insufficient to support the loss of soldiers in the counter-offensive, and it is necessary to transfer troops from the eastern front to be a reserve.
Finally, the counter-offensive must be kept secret, but large-scale troop mobilization, assembly, and deployment are bound to be discovered by the enemy's aerial reconnaissance, so that the suddenness of the counter-offensive will be lost. The enemy can choose to take the initiative to attack, or take defensive measures in advance, then our counterattack will lose its meaning.
General Jodl's answer was obviously not satisfactory to the Fuehrer, and a man who was not willing to lose finally launched the Ardennes counterattack in the winter of 1944, but the result can be imagined, the German army was once again defeated, lost a lot of troops, and still did not gain the initiative in the war, which was also Hitler's last effort on the Western Front, and since then there has only one outcome for this war maniac, that is, a complete failure.
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