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  • In 1941 the Soviet Union had 25 000 tanks.

  • These were decimated during the German invasion, but during the next year the Soviets had produced

  • another 25 000 tanks.

  • The German operations that year were less impressive and could destroy only part of

  • them.

  • By the winter of 1942 the Soviets had enough tanks for a large counteroffensive.

  • A big thanks to Paradox Interactive who I'm collaborating with on this video.

  • They just released a new expansion for Hearts of Iron 4, a game, which can be summed up

  • as an interactive version of Eastory map videos.

  • It is one of the best world war two games I've ever played.

  • I'll talk more about it at the end of this video.

  • The Soviet armor was organized into armored corps.

  • These units would hit hard and move fast, but their tanks usually quickly broke down

  • or were destroyed by the enemy and these units could only be used once during the offensive.

  • The success of this offensive would be decided by how the Soviets would deploy their 29 armored

  • corps.

  • In November of 1942 the Soviets had half of their armored corps on the southern part of

  • the front.

  • Their mission was to cut off the German troops in the Caucasus.

  • The operation would have 3 stages, each completed by a different group of units.

  • First group would cut off and destroy the Axis forces around Stalingrad and secure the

  • eastern flank of the Soviet advance.

  • Then the second group would encircle and eliminate the Axis forces on the western flank.

  • Finally the third group would be brought in, advance to the sea and cut off the Germans

  • in the Caucasus.

  • 6 armored corps were committed to the first phase of the operation.

  • The attack was successful and the Soviet troops linked up and the Axis forces around Stalingrad

  • were cut off.

  • But not all went according to the plan.

  • The German Stalingrad garrison was more numerous than expected and the Soviets could not make

  • them surrender.

  • Although encircling a large number of enemy soldiers was a good thing, it left the Soviet

  • forces tied up around the city and they had to delay the next phase of the offensive.

  • After several weeks they were ready to continue, but the Germans had meanwhile gathered all

  • of their available forces and attacked to reestablish land connection with Stalingrad.

  • The Red Army directed all of its efforts to prevent the Germans linking up and allowing

  • the encircled forces to escape.

  • To divert the German forces from the Stalingrad attack they began the second stage of the

  • operation.

  • The third group, which was originally to carry out the last phase, was sent to prevent the

  • Germans linking up near Stalingrad.

  • It turned out that the German attack was not that strong and the Soviets stopped it without

  • much difficulty.

  • At the same time the Soviet western attack was a massive success.

  • The armored corps cut off the Italian and Romanian forces, who withdrew but suffered

  • such a large number of casualties that they had to be removed from the front.

  • A large gap emerged in the German lines.

  • The Soviets could now attack towards the sea, but the forces that were to do that were already

  • sent to Stalingrad.

  • The Germans began to withdraw and the Soviet armored corps attempted to break through and

  • reach the sea from this direction, but they could not fully breach the German front and

  • depleted their tank strength without reaching their goal.

  • With this the German garrison in Stalingrad was doomed.

  • It would continue to hold up for another month until the last soldiers were forced to surrender.

  • With these offensives the Axis on the Eastern front had lost more than half a million men

  • out of 3,5 million and now had a large gap in the front.

  • To plug this gap they needed to free up forces by shortening the front line.

  • They decided to withdraw from the Caucasus to get 3 mobile divisions.

  • They also sent 4 elite mobile divisions from the west.

  • But it would take more than a month for these forces to arrive.

  • All of the Soviet armored corps on the southern part of the front were now committed and the

  • free corps were mostly in the north.

  • They shifted the operations north and starting from the gap in the front would encircle small

  • parts of the German forces in succession and in this way roll up all of their front.

  • For the first operation they deployed 2 armored corps.

  • These moved through the open flank deep behind the Italian and Hungarian forces and linked

  • up with the Red Army units coming from the other side, leaving a large group of Axis

  • forces encircled.

  • Then the offensive continued to the north and with the help of another corps several

  • German and Hungarian divisions were cut off.

  • A Large part of the Axis forces was able to escape the encirclement but the Hungarian

  • and Italian troops were soon sent away from the front.

  • This was a major success and the Soviets would continue rolling up the front with 3 of their

  • fresh armored corps.

  • The Germans wanted to prevent another encirclement at all costs.

  • They held a large salient from which they threatened Moscow.

  • To get the reinforcements to stop the Soviets, they had to abandon this advantageous position.

  • 10 of the freed up divisions were used to strengthen their positions in the south.

  • These forces were enough to stop the next Soviet attacks and the Soviets had to abandon

  • their strategy of rolling up the German front.

  • Most of the Soviet uncommitted armored corps still remained in the north and only two were

  • sent to the southern part of the front.

  • Here the few remaining German forces could not form a continuous front and the Soviets

  • carried on with their advance.

  • In the center they used some of their partially depleted armored corps to advance and take

  • the important city of Kharkov.

  • Further south they deployed two of their last uncommitted armored corps in another attempt

  • to reach the sea and cut off the Germans.

  • The Soviet armor advanced behind the German lines.

  • By that time German reinforcements had arrived.

  • They had received 2 tank divisions from the Caucasus and had freed up 3 more by shortening

  • the front.

  • They launched a surprise attack and encircled and destroyed two of the Soviet armored corps.

  • 4 German armored divisions had also arrived from the west.

  • They moved south and cut off and destroyed another Soviet armored formation.

  • The Germans turned north and continued to advance.

  • The Soviets now dispatched their armored corps from the north to halt the German offensive.

  • 6 German mobile divisions proceeded north, and destroyed another two weakened Soviet

  • corps.

  • The Soviets deployed their armor to stop the Germans in the north, but they were too weak

  • and were beaten back.

  • 3 of the fresh Soviet armored corps were deployed on the German path of advance and 2 more were

  • coming up.

  • But there was to be no clash between these forces because by that time the spring thaw

  • began making the roads unusable.

  • After the thaw ended neither side could go on the offensive, as their tank forces were

  • depleted.

  • It took three months to build them up once again and by the summer of 1943 the Soviets

  • had formed 34 armored corps , while the Germans had gathered 20 tank divisions to the Southern

  • part of the Eastern front.

  • These large armored forces would clash around the town of Kursk, in the largest tank battle

  • in history.

  • But that is another story.

  • I bet you have some ideas of what strategies the Soviets should have used to be more successful.

  • For example, they could have allowed Germans to link up with their Stalingrad garrison,

  • but at the same time launch an attack towards the sea and cut the communications for all

  • of their forces.

  • This would add to the 20 divisions encircled in Stalingrad also 30 more Axis divisions

  • cut off in other parts of the front.

  • If only there was a way to examine how this strategy could have played out

  • If you like looking at units moving on the map, then you might be interested in giving

  • orders to them yourself in Hearts of Iron 4.

  • This is a grand strategy game set during World War Two that lets you test out all of your

  • battle strategies.

  • Research new tank models, design your armor from different components and put them into

  • production, form the tanks into divisions and tailor them for the exact task at hand,

  • deploy them to the front lines and assign them battle plans.

  • Encircle the enemy's forces on land, drop paratroopers behind their lines and launch

  • amphibious assaults to outflank their defences.

  • The new DLCNo Step backmakes the Eastern front experience even better with New focus

  • trees, the improved railroad supply system, and the ability of giving your army a proper

  • spirit.

  • And, last but not least, with No Step Back you can now use my native country of Estonia

  • to invade Scandinavia and force it to be recognized as a proper Nordic country.

  • Check out Hearts of Iron 4 and No Step Back from the link in the description and remember,

  • by trying out the game, you will also support our war effort!

In 1941 the Soviet Union had 25 000 tanks.

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WW2 - From Stalingrad To Kursk(WW2 - From Stalingrad To Kursk)

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    香蕉先生 發佈於 2022 年 07 月 01 日
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