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Operation Barbarossa

The weather it's all about the weather. :hitwall:
 
The weather it's all about the weather. :hitwall:
Of course! Poor guy Hitler was expecting to see the palm trees and tropics, but here was frost and snow... What a miracle, what a surprise!
 
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The weather it's all about the weather. :hitwall:
Also the soviet resilience and the sheer size of that country.

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German armor on the eve of 22nd June 1941

152 PzKpfw-1


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782 PzKpfw-2

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269 PzKpfw-3 (37 mm cannon)

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707 PzKpfw-3 (50 mm cannon)

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439 PzKpfw-4 (75mm howitzer)
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160 PzKpfw 35(t)

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660 PzKpfw 38(t)
images

 
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German armor on the eve of 22nd June 1941 (continued)

Panzerjager-1 Tank Destroyer



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Sturmgeschutz-3 Assault Gun

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sIG-33 Bison SPG


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SdKfz 231 Armored Recon

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SdKfz 251 Hanomag APC

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My summary of operation Barbarossa:

Germans attack. Army Group Centre's two Panzer Groups (followed by its two armies) form two giant pincers that encircle the whole Soviet western front. Western Front is annihilated. Now everyone expects Germans to reach out to Moscow and take it. Meanwhile large Soviet masses are resisting the progress of Army Group South in Ukraine. Hitler decides to take Ukraine first. He puts the Moscow offensive on hold and redirects the tanks of Army Group Centre towards south to encircle those Soviet armies resisting around Kiev. Five Soviet armies are encircled and smashed. Army Group South can now take the industrial and grain areas of Ukraine. Army Group North has not taken Leningrad yet. Its decided that encircling the city will suffice so that tanks can be released for Moscow offensive. Moscow offensive resumes. Tanks of Army Group North have joined up as well. Soviet armies in the way are out-manoeuvred and smashed as usual. But then the rains start. Moscow offensive in bogged down in mud. Then the frost comes. Mud freezes. Offensive resumes but too much time has passed. Soviets have build-up very strong defences around Moscow. Siberian units have arrived from Far East as well. Moscow offensive fails. Germans are depleted and have no cover against the cold. Soviets launch counter-offensive.
 
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^ that half tracked half wheeled armoured vehicles are quite unique............
 
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Attacking USSR was the biggest mistake for German HQ. Had they remained committed to Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of non-aggression , 3rd Reich might have survived a long time !
 
it was a miracle that the red army didn't colapse in late 1941. indeed stalin did everything wrong what he could.

-he eliminated the brain of the red army between 1937-1940 in the great purge. until then the red army was a master of armoured warfare with it's own version of blitzkrieg called "deep operations".

-he ignored all warnings and let the red army increase it's readiness way too late.

-his deployment of the border armies made it easier for germans to pocket large parts of this armies in the first months.

-he refused to let the red army retreat from kiev which cost the red army 650.000 men in september 41.

-his winter offensive was too spread. shukow and wassiliewski wanted a concentration against army group center but stalin wanted to recapture everything. if the winter offensive would happen only in the center there is no doubt that army group center would have been destroyed.

red army and soviet union won the war despite stalin.
 

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