War Tactics

[Ouroboros]

It's a revolution!! ...again!!

Give tanks padding and windshield wiper!!

[Manitou]

The referrence to "Hitler's" tank columns is kind of wrong.

The tactic employed by the German Army in 1939 was actually a fairly new way of waging war. It was the result of a long thought out plan involving masiive propoganda, subterfuge and not a little underhanded diplomacy (the agreement with the Soviets).

Once the German government had brow beat the Chek Republic into accepting their occupation, and having gained Anschluss with Austria, the German Army was in a perfect position to employ the two prong attack from the north near the Polish corridor. This effectively cut that and reunited the main part of Germany with the little area of ethnic Germans separated by the Treaty of Versailles. Then the southern part of the German Army swept up and hit the southern part of Poland. The Polish Army, though massively outdated in comparison to the Wermacht actually fought valiantly. In one little known counter-attack, they nearly dealt the Germans a nasty defeat. There are many German soldiers who have much respect for the ferocious defense put forth by the Polish Army. This battle lasted nearly a month before the Germans were able to plant any ideas of Polish victory. It was further sealed by the Soviet Army's push from the east as guaranteed by the treaty between her and Germany.

This initial bloodletting experienced by the German Army did a few critical things.
1) It allowed the Germans to test their new form of warfare now well known as "Blitzkrieg", or "Lightning War" (actually coined by Western press).
2) It tested the "intestinal fortitude" of Britain and France (they failed the test).
3) It most importantly allowed the Germans to recover what they had been missing since 1918; the fierce national pride that would fuel the people and lend to an almost fanatical belief in total victory.

Sorry... I love history... hehe

[Sputty]

Good story...How'd it end?

[BLuE_ZeRO]

Stay tuned for the next episode of "Hitler: Man he was a bad guy" with your host Manitou only on the history channel

[Sputty]

[Manitou]

Did you realize that they very Nation Hitler claimed was the super race, the Aryans, he was not a member of? He was from Austria and he had Jewish blood.

[Sputty]

Ooohhh......

So much information to mold my young, impressionnable mind!

[NARF]

Interesting how a short, scrawny, brown haired brown eyed Jewish-Austrian can convince an entire nation that the ideal (and only person worthy of living) was a tall, strong, blond haired blue eyed person and that the root of all evil was the ****. Did you know that one of the major reasons Hitler lost the war was his dabbling in the occult, had he not done so, many things would have been different, not to mention my despise for him would be somewhat less, and i would be less motivated to piss and dance on his grave.

[Camping Carl]

A sqaud of reavers could drestroy such a wall of tanks withs little difficulty. So sorry, that only worked in hitler's day because he caught people by suprise with his massive tank rushes, such tactics were fairly new on the battlefield then. Think up an original strategy, it'll work better.

[Sputty]

Don't forget about his love of square dancing!

[NARF]

*coughsplintercellcough*

Has anyone been watching the news lately, the new tactics in the world are small, elite, assasins. Of course its illegal, but alls fair in Love and War, not to mention Sex.

[Sputty]

Any major offensives would require air and ground co-ordination.

[Sputty]

I hope you're joking NARF..

[Warborn]

I'd say the Fins did a lot better against the Soviets than the Poles against the Germans, if you're talking about bravery and valour. While, sure, it takes some balls to ride a horse up against the tank divisions of the Wehrmacht, Poland itself suffered a remarkably swift defeat. Only their staunch hold on Warsaw made the battle drag on, and even then, the Poles in their capitol city were being bombed and shelled unmercifully, and were reduced to a starving wreck by the end of the campaign. As they say: Some people should know when they're conquered. While I respect the fact that the Poles did not want to lose (who would?), they really, really suffered unnecessarily for just another week or so before the white flag went up.

2) It tested the "intestinal fortitude" of Britain and France (they failed the test).

Britain and France weren't afraid to fight or anything. The tactics of the French were pretty much resting upon the principles that de Gaulle had thought of for his book, which was published prior to the war, and was emulated in spirit by the Maginot Line. The French and British were both looking to slog it out in the trenches, not race across Europe and bring the fight to the Germans. Hell, neither France nor Britain was even remotely capable of doing such a thing anyway. Their infantry were largely unmechanized, and their tanks were mixed into infantry divisions as support units, rather than the Panzer Divisions which served as a steel fist which would punch through enemy lines.

Unless you meant something else by it, in which case, do tell. I love history also.

So sorry, that only worked in hitler's day because he caught people by suprise with his massive tank rushes...

German tactics didn't rely on massive tank rushes. That was the Soviets. The Germans actually, at the start of the war, had tanks which were inferior in armor and firepower to the French tanks, and they also had about 200 or so fewer tanks than the French. The reason they whupped their ass so heavily is because the bulk of the French Army was at the Maginot Line, so they were able to totally avoid most of it, and because the Germans relied on mobility and, yes, surprise, rather than huge numbers. That coupled with the fact that the French didn't know how to properly use their tanks, and with their infantry being largely unmechanized, meant that not only were the French unable to effectively fight the Germans, but they were also unable to actually move to intercept, encircle, flank, or otherwise use movement to their advantage. They were about as bad off as the Italians were in North Africa when they engaged the meager British troops holding Egypt.

[Guardian AngeL]

Originally posted by Sputty
Don't forget about his love of square dancing!