From the German blitzkrieg against Poland in 1939 to the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the German army, known for its blitzkrieg, swept across the European battlefield and was invincible. At the beginning of World War II, Germany grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, but since the defeat of the Soviet-German battlefield, the German army has not been able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Why did Germany fall to the altar? In fact, Hitler made many mistakes in decision-making, and although these mistakes were subtle, they added up to irreparable consequences.
Delay the timing of combat
It is often said that good timing is indispensable to win a war. Since Hitler suffered mainly setbacks on the Soviet-German battlefield, the delayed fighters here were mainly aimed at the Soviet-German war.
The first was the fighting in the Balkans, which disrupted the deployment of aggression against the SOVIET Union and delayed the plan to attack the USSR for 5 weeks.
Due to Mussolini's arrogance and incompetence, the mighty Italian army failed to attack Greece, but was surrounded by Greek troops.
In February 1941, Rommel was sent to North Africa to command Italy under unified command, while the Fifth Light Mechanization Division and an armored division were sent to North Africa to aid Italy. Although the Balkans were eventually occupied by Hitler and the peoples of Yugoslavia and Greece were enslaved, the heroic resistance of the two peoples to fascism forced Hitler to put the war against the Soviet Union on hold for the time being.
The second is the delay in timing caused by the Great Battle in Kiev
。 As the largest siege in the history of war, the Battle of Kiev was indeed a beautiful victory. The campaign, designed to protect the southern flank from the threat of an enemy counteroffensive, was of some importance, but not necessary. Under Hitler's interference, the two Panzer Armies of the Central Army were transferred to Leningrad and Kiev for combat, while they remained in place for three full weeks. This made the Germans miss the summer battle, during which the Soviets even took the opportunity to perfect the central defense line defending Moscow. By mid-September it was too late for the Central Army to march on Moscow, and the rain and muddy roads of October and the unbearable cold of November had inflicted direct losses on the ill-prepared Germans.
Since the Germans did not have enough winter combat supplies, the vigilant Soviet Union had already shifted most of the supplies to the rear. Due to the delay of the fighters, the starving German army finally failed and collapsed in the harsh winter cold.
Army Commander Brauchitsch resigned, and Hitler blindly commanded
With a glorious victory in Western Europe, Hitler considered himself a military wizard, but this was only his wishful thinking.
It is undeniable that Hitler was a master of war mobilization speeches, and his excellent eloquence enabled him to gain a large following at the beginning of the War of Resistance, including many outstanding military commanders, except for Rommel, who shined in the North African battlefield.
Brauchitsch
It was also one of them, and the blitzkrieg attack on Poland came from his hand.
In fact, Brauchitsch was not a member of the Nazi Party at the beginning, Hitler had just come to power and was in urgent need of control of the Wehrmacht, and Brauchitsch, who was not a Nazi Party and had a negative opinion against the Nazi Party, was not the best candidate.
Brauchitsch's appointment was served on the advice of Keitel, then chief of staff of the High Command. But in the course of the war against Britain and France, Hitler became estranged from Brauchidge and no longer listened to his advice.
Many of Hitler's orders proved to be wrong and even stupid.
In order to simultaneously occupy Leningrad, the symbol of communism, Hitler organized a terrible three-front battle plan;
When the situation on the battlefield was very good, under hitler's interference, the German army did not take advantage of the victory over Moscow to march, but instead dispatched the middle road army to expand to the north and south, delaying the fighters.
After the defeat at the Battle of Moscow, a disheartened Brauchitch offered to resign, and the commander-in-chief of the army was Hitler. Since then, Hitler's intervention in the German army has become even more excessive. Any military operation with more than one battalion strength required his permission. Such interventions are a serious obstacle to command and operations. On the eve of the Battle of Stalingrad, Halder, the chief of staff of the army, mentioned in his diary:
"The Fuehrer gave orders again, his infuriating approach, and he vetoed my proposal crudely, changing a series of don plans that I had carefully formulated."
The word "and" is evident.
Expectations of incompetent Axis forces were too high
Among the so-called Axis powers, germany's army was not only well-equipped, but also the strongest in combat effectiveness and will to fight. Several other countries are much worse in comparison.
In the case of Mussolini's army, the performance on the battlefields of North Africa alone was unsatisfactory. 19th century guns and rifles are still in use, machine guns are rusty, and there are no aircraft tanks and anti-aircraft guns. The difference between the will to fight and the German army is not a star and a half. In the battle against the British, the opponent just fired a few shots before raising a white flag and surrendering. There were also contradictions within the Axis armies. The Hungarians had a vendetta against the Romanians, and the Italians and Hungarians were dissatisfied with the fact that their troops were under German command. If these armies are used to launch an offensive, there is obviously too much uncertainty. Hitler certainly knew the level of these armies, but in order to fill the loopholes in the lack of German troops, he had to absorb the strength of 52 Divisions of the Axis Powers for the defense of positions.
Perhaps the increase in troop strength would have made Hitler more confident, but such an approach increased the pressure on logistics.
Hitler was indeed an ambitious politician and an inflammatory orator.
But in the military, he can only be regarded as a layman.
Due to his conceit and excessive intervention in the army in the later period, the timing of the operation was delayed, and the command ability of the officers was not fully and effectively exerted.
The details determine success or failure, and these small mistakes, like the butterfly effect, add up to determine Germany's failure.
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