Hitler launched World War II, causing an unprecedented catastrophe to mankind, bringing more than 60 countries and regions around the world, 2 billion people into the quagmire of war, about 70 million people died in World War II, and 130 million people were injured during World War II.
If the sky wants to die, it must be mad.
The evil deeds of Hitler and his Nazi Germany aroused the hatred of the people of the world, and more and more countries stood in the Allied camp and united against the fascist allies, which reversed the strength of both sides, and the "invincible" German army began to retreat on the battlefield. On April 30, 1945, the Reichstag was occupied by Soviet troops. When the tide was gone, Hitler committed suicide with his mistress in the basement of the Chancellery. After Hitler's death, what was the final outcome of the 5 famous generals he aided and tortured?
I. Manstein
Manstein was a brilliant German military scientist and strategist. Together with Rommel and Guderian, and called the three famous generals of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Manstein was born into a military family, his father, grandfather and uncle were all Prussian generals, and his uncle was German Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. Manstein rose to prominence during World War I and was promoted to captain. After World War I, he participated in the reconstruction of the Wehrmacht. In 1938 , Manstein became commander of the German 18th Division and took part in the occupation of the Sudetenland.
In 1939, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, Manstein was promoted to lieutenant general. Manstein was the initiator of German assault gun tactics. At the same time, he also formulated a plan for the German blitzkrieg against Poland, helping Germany to partition Germany with the Soviet Union in only 28 days. After Germany attacked Poland, Britain and France immediately declared war on Germany, triggering World War II. After destroying Poland, Manstein turned around and attacked France. Manstein's Schlieffen plan to attack France was extremely risky but rewarding, and he helped Germany defeat France, which had "the strongest army in Europe" in only 42 days, and drove the Anglo-French army to Dunkirk.
Hitler then ordered the army to stop the offensive and only let the air force continue bombing, giving the British time to withdraw most of their troops from Dunkirk.
In 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, and an army of 3 million troops began to attack the Soviet Union. Manstein embarked on a journey to conquer the Soviet Union. Manstein commanded the 56th Panzer Army to advance 200 kilometers in 4 days, catching the Soviets by surprise. In 1942, Manstein led the 11th Army in Sevastopol to successfully repel Soviet forces at a disadvantage in navy, air force, and numbers, and captured 170,000 Soviet soldiers. The victory in the Battle of Sevastopol allowed him to be promoted to marshal.
In 1944, Manstein offended Hitler because of strategic and tactical differences and was removed from office. In August 1945, Manstein was captured by British forces. In 1949, Manstein was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a war criminal. In 1952, Manstein was released early for health reasons. Later, Manstein worked as a consultant to the German army. On 10 June 1973, Manstein died of illness.
II. Guderian
Guderian is a famous German military scientist, the founder of "blitzkrieg", the advocate of "armored warfare" and "tank warfare", the "father of German armored forces", one of the most famous German army generals during World War II, and Rommel and Manstein are known as the "Eagles of the Reich".
Before World War II, Guderian advocated the use of tanks and mechanized units in modern warfare, and under his theory of organization and promotion, Germany built a most efficient armored force at the time. After the outbreak of World War II, the German army used Guderian's "blitzkrieg" and powerful armored forces to quickly defeat Poland, France, Belgium, Greece and other countries. In the early stage, the Soviet Union also suffered heavy defeats at Germany.
Later, Guderian and Hitler had a conflict, which led to its abandonment. On May 10, 1945, Guderian surrendered to American forces and was subsequently imprisoned for three years. Guderian did not abuse prisoners of war and massacre civilians during World War II, nor did he participate in the persecution of Jews, and after the war he was not prosecuted as a war criminal and acquitted. On May 14, 1954, Guderian died of a heart attack.
III. Rommel
Rommel is a famous military scientist, tactician and theorist in the world's military history, known as the "Desert Fox", "Imperial Eagle" and "Nazi God of War".
Rommel fought in World War I. After the war, he went to work as an instructor at the Potsdam Military Academy. Rommel was taken seriously by Hitler for writing The Infantry Attack. During the French campaign, the commander of the 7th Panzer Division led by Rommel served as a vanguard and made great achievements, so it was called the "Devil's Division". In February 1941, Hitler appointed Rommel as commander of the German African Army and went to North Africa to rescue the defeated Italian army. After Rommel's arrival, he quickly turned the tide on the battlefield and repeatedly defeated the British with fewer victories. Rommel's military talent was very outstanding, and the British praised Rommel as the "Desert Fox", and his competition with the famous British Montgomery has always been talked about by posterity. Others hailed Rommel as "Hannibal of the twentieth century".
Rommel ate and lived with soldiers in the army, and when fighting the enemy, he also respected his opponent, which made Rommel highly regarded by both the German and allied forces. In 1944, Rommel was involved in the assassination of Hitler at Wolfsburg. Rommel was not involved in the assassination of Hitler, but he had dealings with those who assassinated Hitler. After being denounced by Hitler's henchman Martin Baumann and finding false evidence that he (Rommel) will lead the new government after a successful assassination, Rommel was forced to commit suicide to protect his family.
IV. Dönitz
Germany's army is strong, but its navy is weak, and the navy of the British Empire is always at a disadvantage, and Dönitz's "wolf pack tactics" allowed German submarines to show their skills during World War II, sinking 2491 Allied ships, and once reversed the navy's disadvantage.
During World War I, Dönitz served as the captain of the German UB-68 submarine and was captured by the British for 10 months after a failed mission.
In 1920, Dönitz returned to Germany again. Upon his return, Dönitz began to devote himself to submarine tactics. Britain, the biggest rival of the German navy at that time, imported 75% of oil, 88% of iron ore, 95% of copper, 99% of lead, 89% of wheat, etc. Based on this weakness of Britain, Dönitz began to send submarines to attack British merchant ships, hoping to make Britain short of supplies and force Britain to surrender. Subsequently, Dönitz created "wolf pack tactics" with the core concept of "multiple submarines gathering to attack the fleet".
During World War II, Dönitz used "wolf pack tactics" to sink 2491 Allied ships with submarines, causing huge losses to the Allies.
Dönitz's indiscriminate attacks on merchant ships and ships caused a large number of civilian deaths, so the Allies called him a "hideous-faced undersea demon". In 1945, after Hitler committed suicide, Admiral Dönitz succeeded Hitler as President and Supreme Commander of Germany, but by this time, the general trend of Germany had passed. After Germany's defeat and surrender that same year, Dönitz was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In October 1956, after his release from prison, Dönitz went to live in Omile. On December 24, 1980, Dönitz died.
V. Albert Kesselring
Germany's most famous air marshal was Göring, but the "ace pilot" Göring during World War I performed very badly during World War II, but another air marshal, "Smiling Albert", was more outstanding and worthy of the title of General of the Five Tigers under Hitler.
Kesselring originally served in the German Army , but in 1933 he was transferred to the Air Force and became head of the Quartermaster Administration of Aviation. Kesselring participated in the reconstruction of Germany's aviation industry and created a strong air force for Germany. After the outbreak of World War II, Kesselring commanded the air force to participate in the invasion of Poland and France, the Battle of Britain, and achieved excellent results. In Operation Barbarossa, which invaded the Soviet Union, the Second Air Force led by Kesselring destroyed more than 2,500 Soviet aircraft in a week.
After World War II, Kesselring was sentenced to death for war crimes because his subordinates had committed massacres in Italy, but Kesselring, not allowing his subordinates to smash, loot, burn, and not abuse prisoners, many Allied generals felt that he was a clean man and interceded for him, so he was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1952, Kesselring was released early for health reasons. On July 16, 1960, Kesselring died.