The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1303 - 951 Moscow Moscow
Chapter 1303: Chapter 951: Moscow, Moscow!
Chapter 1303 -951: Moscow, Moscow!
While the opening of Sydney’s Metro City Circle Line was widely reported across Australasia, thousands of miles away on the Eastern European Battlefield, the campaign had reached its most critical juncture.
The two deserving protagonists were, naturally, the German Central Army Group, now pressing in on Moscow, and the Russian Reservist Army Group tasked with defending it.
Around Moscow, the armies were fighting so fiercely that, in some areas where fire was concentrated, the smoke from gunpowder explosions almost engulfed the entire battlefield, reducing visibility to mere tens of meters.
How fierce was the war between the two sides? Currently, on the battlefields surrounding Moscow, at least 30,000 soldiers died each day, with nearly 20,000 of them being from the Russian army.
But it was precisely these Russian new recruits, with little training, who stubbornly resisted the powerful onslaught of the German Central Army Group and swore to defend Moscow to the death.
Tens of thousands of Russian Soldiers shouted “Ura!” as they unhesitatingly charged toward the German army ahead.
Even if they were armed with nothing more than shovels, it did nothing to dampen their courageous advance.
The Germans had never before seen such a fearsome and dauntless sight. Although the German army possessed formidable combat strength, many within its ranks lacked absolute loyalty to the country.
More importantly, at this time, the German army was not entirely united. The German Chancellor and the remnants of the Junker nobility had significant differences, indirectly leading to discord between the German government and the General Staff.
Early in the drafting of the so-called Barbarossa plan, which was to attack Russia on three fronts, some generals in the German General Staff already had significant conflicts with the German government.
While everyone’s goal was to defeat Russia in a short time, the German Chancellor preferred to strengthen attacks in the north and south and to capture the extensive farmlands of Ukraine and the oil fields of the Caucasus, as opposed to the full-on attack on Moscow desired by most German generals.
Of course, when Germany’s resources and manpower were still abundant, both these objectives were easily achievable by the German army.
This is why, in the early stages of the war, the discord between the government and the General Staff wasn’t as significant as imagined, and Germany’s advance was fast, the situation looking very favorable.
But ever since the German army was held up outside of Moscow, Germany’s domestic resources had dwindled with each passing day.
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At this point, the discord between the government and the military grew more intense. Although not as extreme as imagined, it still had a considerable impact on the war.
No one can be judged right or wrong in such matters, as both sides had completely different perspectives. However, it’s undeniable that as Germany’s offensive gradually worsened, and winter approached putting a strain on German logistics, chaos had set in within the ranks of the German army.
Another factor influencing the battle was the failure of the German blitzkrieg tactics.
The invincibility of the blitzkrieg relied on the enemy’s lack of understanding of rapid tank advances.
The Poles lacked it, and so did the Russians.
Especially since Russia, even before the outbreak of World War II, had self-destructively purged its own military, executing many high-ranking leaders including Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky.
How important was Tukhachevsky to Russia? He was hailed as the Red Napoleon, the youngest Marshal of Russia before World War II, a genius strategist, and an exceptional leader with unique vision.
During his tenure as Minister of Armaments, due to his active advocacy, Russia established motorized troops, later to become armored forces.
He also established a sizable Air Force, a new model navy, and various paratrooper units. In addition, Russia upgraded its infantry and Artillery Units. His contributions were among the key reasons Russia possessed formidable military strength.
Yet such a visionary and talented leader was hastily executed, simply because of a minor smear campaign and Stalin’s previous dissatisfaction with him, leading to the young Marshal’s premature demise.
His death had a tremendous impact on Russia. Had Tukhachevsky continued in a high position until today, Russia’s armored troops and Air Force might have been greatly improved, performing much better in the war.
It was precisely because Tukhachevsky was executed early during the purges that Russia’s armored forces only rushed to make improvements after Germany launched the blitzkrieg, still failing to reach an adequate scale to this point.
Yet, ultimately, Germany could not achieve complete victory with blitzkrieg alone.
Firstly, blitzkrieg required strong logistics, something difficult to achieve in Russia during winter. Plainly put, even in peacetime, Russians could hardly ensure complete logistics, let alone Germans during wartime, to provide for their logistical needs on Russian land.
Logistics falling short was actually not the complete reason for the failure of the German blitzkrieg.
Ultimately, the vastness of Russian territory was the pivotal issue. It provided Russians ample time to respond to German tactics, and even the powerful blitzkrieg had its flaws.
Additionally, the export of a large number of T-14A Heavy Tanks from Australasia to Russia allowed the Russian armored forces to gradually counteract the German armored forces.
