At the beginning of World War II, Germany destroyed its main force in Poland for 5 days and destroyed the country in one month; in France, the victory or defeat was known in 10 days, and it was forced to surrender in 42 days. The encirclement and annihilation of hundreds of thousands of people was completed so quickly, which had never been done in human history, and this was the "blitzkrieg" advocated by Germany. But in the Soviet Union it did not work, why?
First, blitzkrieg is beyond the scope of effectiveness. At the beginning of the war, the German army penetrated 800 to 1,000 kilometers deep into the Soviet Union in one go, which was already a remarkable result, occupying an area equivalent to 3 France. At this time, the weaknesses of the blitzkrieg were exposed, and the shortage of fuel, ammunition and spare parts restricted the speed of the troops' advance.
That is to say, blitzkrieg must rely on strong material support. For small and medium-sized countries, the difficulties in this regard are not obvious, but for the Soviet Union, which is vast and rich, the difficulty of supplying materials indicates that there is a limit to blitzkrieg warfare. After full preparation, a maximum of 800 kilometers at a time is, to put it bluntly, it is the limit of logistical support capabilities.
Second, winter in the Soviet Union was terrible, but for the Germans, it was more difficult to get around. At that time, the Soviet Union was far less well-off than the Western countries, with few roads and few railways. In the autumn and winter rainy season, it immediately turned into an endless mud swamp, german wheeled vehicles were struggling, and tanks were used to tow.
When the German Army Group B, with 1.7 million men, prepared to attack Moscow, it was surprising that only a real road was available, and the tactics were roundabout, all crowded on one road, which was obviously unrealistic. Fighting in cold, muddy places was more effective than using troops to block Germany's advance.
What's more, the core of blitzkrieg is armored forces, and the air force and motorized infantry only play a coordinated role. As the most effective armored division, the long replenishment and maintenance cycle of tanks is bound to affect the combat effectiveness. That is to say, in the Soviet Union, the Germans lost one less, and when they could not move, they were running out of tanks.
It is precisely because of the unavoidable flaws of blitzkrieg that the formation of a confrontation between the two armies in the Soviet Union is an inevitable result. The Soviet Union, which had more room to maneuver and more manpower replenishment, with the help of the United States and Britain, the military industry developed rapidly, although the tanks were "big and bulky", but they could not stand the large number, and gradually gained an advantage in consumption.
Not making good use of the political card was the key to the defeat of the German army.
"War is a continuation of politics", a considerable part of the reason why Germany invaded the Soviet Union was that the internal struggle in the Soviet Union was fierce, coupled with the unpopular policy of agricultural collectivization, people's lives were very difficult, the combat effectiveness of the army was very poor, and the various nationalities were torn apart, hoping that there would be foreign forces to overthrow the system of power.
Therefore, in the early days of the war, the arrival of the German army was often welcomed by the local peasants, and the troops fled to Germany in formation, and ukrainians, Belarusians, etc., regarded the German army as a "savior". However, this phenomenon soon disappeared, and the hatred of the German army became more and more hateful, which was the result of not taking advantage of the "political card".
First, it did not make good use of the internal contradictions of the Soviet Union to expand its own power. If Germany had overthrown the system of great power, given independent power to the occupied areas, and become a vassal state; and did not treat the local people as an inferior nation, it would undoubtedly have the support of the local people, and even tens of millions of people would take up arms and fight with the German army.
But in the German Fuehrer's goal plan, the Soviet Union was a German colony in the East, and the people would become enslaved, and the attack on the Soviet Union would be to conquer the entire Russian nation, not just overthrow the system of power. He needed Ukrainian food even more to solve the shortage at home, and the looted locals were bound to rebel.
The second is to promote more brutal means. In order to maintain the rule of the occupied territories, the German army declared that "crimes committed by the troops against civilians shall not necessarily be prosecuted". This is undoubtedly the "passport" for the German army to commit violence, they burned and looted, they did all kinds of bad things, and the people in the occupied areas had to choose, not to be a particularly brutal Soviet commander.
Even more heinous is the mistreatment of prisoners of war. During the war, 5.6 million Soviet soldiers became prisoners of war, at least half of whom died of ill-treatment, especially ideological differences, and Soviet political commissars were executed immediately after they were captured. As a result, ordinary soldiers know that surrender is inevitable, and political commissars at all levels have beaten up their troops and will not surrender.
In a sense, the Officers and Men of the Soviet Army at this time were not desperately rushing to kill for victory, but more for survival, which was not a good thing for the German army. On the contrary, the Resistance of the Soviet Army was more tenacious and the fight was more fierce, and in their view, only by defeating the German army could they win victory and have a way to live.
Of course, there were many more reasons for the failure of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In any case, the tactical effectiveness of blitzkrieg was good and fatal; the Soviet winter, combined with muddy roads and short-sighted political vision, was the main reason why Germany was doomed to failure at the moment of its invasion.
bibliography:
World War II, The Complete History of World War II