Original title: Soviet-German war, German soldiers approached the city of Moscow, but Hitler ordered the abandonment of the attack on Moscow
In the defense of Moscow, the Victory of the German Army was within easy reach, but why was Hitler defeated under the city of Moscow? Faced with a frenzied German attack, the Soviets could only retreat to Moscow. The Soviets believed that the next goal of the Germans was to attack Moscow with the main force. The Soviet Union also believed that now the Soviet Union had no way to retreat, so in order to save Moscow, it quickly dispatched many Soviet troops stationed in the local areas to support Moscow and prepare for the German battle. MOSCOW – The Mozyesk Line is seen as a top priority. The closest German army to Moscow was in Red Polyana, just 27 kilometers from Moscow. When the German marshal stared with a telescope at the gleaming red star at the Kremlin spire, no one knew what he was thinking. But the closer the Germans got to Moscow, the greater the obstacles they faced. At that time, there was a saying in Moscow, "The mighty Soviet Union has nowhere to retreat, because Moscow is behind it." "Everyone fought to the death with the last drop of blood. The heroic deeds of holding the garrison so that the whole battalion and even the whole regiment were not left, also happened from time to time.
Hitler, however, paused the German offensive on Moscow at a crucial moment, stating that modern warfare is an economic war, and that if we want to seize grain from Ukraine, oil from the Caucasus, and coal from the Donets region, we must go south to take Kiev. Crimea was also an important target, where the Soviets targeted an unsinkable Romanian aircraft carrier. Romania is very important to Germany, and 150,000 tons of the 350,000 tons of crude oil needed every month come from here.
Many people are discussing the execution of the German campaign and the strategic choice, in fact, throughout the Soviet-German war, Germany did not make any obvious strategic mistakes. The discussions of later generations that ukraine should not be fought first, that Moscow should not be attacked in the winter, that Leningrad should not be attacked at the same time as moscow, and so on, are all hindsight. Looking at history from God's point of view, it is natural to think that the German high command is an idiot. Imagine, if the millions of Soviet troops in front of Army Group South were not first solved, what would be the consequences of this huge Soviet army suddenly appearing in the rear of the army group group? The attack on Leningrad was also motivated by the same considerations. Moreover, even the Soviets could not have predicted that the winter of 1941 would come so quickly. To carry the pot, that is also the German intelligence service to carry the pot. Before the war, German intelligence judged that the Soviets had only 200 divisions at most, and as a result, after the war, only 360 divisions were identified. The most ridiculous thing is that the German intelligence services have not been able to understand the key information such as the spacing of the Soviet railway tracks and the inconsistency of Western Europe.
So what exactly caused Hitler's defeat?
First, Hitler's command was improper.
In September 1939, the Germans blitzed Poland and World War II officially broke out. In the early stages of the war, the German army was so strong that even the mighty France surrendered within a few dozen days.
In May 1940, the Anglo-French forces were forced by the Germans to retreat to Dunkirk. When the German panzers were only 10 kilometers away from Dunkirk, Hitler gave the order to stand still. Such a decision gave more than 300,000 British and French troops sufficient time to withdraw, and finally they staged a miraculous Dunkirk evacuation.
After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, Hitler made even more mistakes. Typically, there are two events.
The first was in the early days of the Soviet-German War, after successive German victories, and launched a direct decapitation operation against Moscow. But Hitler believed that victory was already predestined. This wasted valuable offensive time for the Germans and eventually had to fight the Soviets in Moscow as winter approached.
The second incident was at the Battle of Moscow. Hitler ordered his army to capture Moscow before winter came. However, due to the long rainy season in the Soviet Union and the muddy roads, the advance of the German armored forces was greatly slowed. Eventually the war was dragged into winter. Hitler was overconfident and did not prepare cotton clothes for the German army for the winter. Coupled with the Soviet Union's implementation of the tactic of clearing the field, all resources around Moscow were emptied. The Germans eventually encountered Waterloo in Moscow, and the situation in the Soviet-German war began to reverse.
Examples like this abound in World War II. If Hitler had listened more to the generals of the United Front, Germany would not have had such a difficult time in the late Second World War.
Second, it was besieged by many powerful countries.
Germany's eventual defeat in World War II was largely due to the siege. Leaving aside France, which surrendered decades later, Germany's main opponents in World War II were actually Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. Due to its geographical superiority, Britain made itself invincible with a strong air force and navy. As long as Germany sends troops to the east, or the Soviet Union takes the initiative to attack Germany, then Germany will inevitably fall into the dilemma of two-front combat.
The country that fought hardest against Germany in World War II was obviously the Soviet Union. In the Soviet-German War, the Soviet Union lost tens of millions of soldiers and civilians, and its casualties ranked first in the world. And as a result of the German invasion, much of the infrastructure in the Soviet Union was destroyed, and the entire country was almost paralyzed. Therefore, although the Soviet Union contributed the most, it was actually the country that was beaten the hardest.
In fact, the most powerful country in the world at that time was the United States.
Even if Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union arbitrarily withdrew from one country and did not go to war with Germany, perhaps Germany could hold out longer in World War II.
It can be said that from the moment Germany invaded Poland and launched an unjust war, the outcome of the war was already predetermined.
In a sense, this is the most important!
The Battle of Moscow shattered Hitler's myth of the invincibility of the German army, the beginning of the demise of the German Eastern Front, and the defeat of the German Moscow Campaign, which laid the foundation for the Battle of Stalingrad, that is, the turning point of World War II.
Disclaimer: The picture comes from the Internet