The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1305 - 952 Turn to the Southeast
Chapter 1305: 952 Chapter: Turn to the Southeast
Chapter 1305: 952 Chapter: Turn to the Southeast
The German Army was defeated, and the extent of the defeat was quite exaggerated.
This was something no one had anticipated since the war began, not even the Russians who had caused it all were expecting the Germans to experience such a massive defeat in Moscow.
In this battle, Germany and Russia had deployed a total of over five million troops, about 1.8 million from the German Army, and approximately 3.4 million from the Russian Army.
Yet, the significant disparity in numbers was not the fundamental reason for Germany’s defeat in this battle. Ultimately, it was the weather and logistics that defeated Germany.
The casualties on both sides reveal much. The German Army suffered about 600,000 casualties, of which just under 220,000 soldiers died, and the others, though injured to varying degrees, were mostly not life-threatening.
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For Germany, this was an acceptable loss. Although it dealt a serious blow to Germany’s campaign in Russia, at least the current German Army was still able to launch another offensive, and hope for victory had not yet been extinguished.
For the Russians, however, it was a very tragic victory, much more devastating than the defeat suffered by the Germans.
The German losses were only around 600,000, while Russian Army casualties soared to 1.5 million, nearly three times those of the German Army.
What was more exaggerated was the number of deaths in the German Army, which was about 220,000, but the Russian Army suffered 970,000 deaths and had more than 530,000 soldiers with varying degrees of injury.
Given the current state of Russian medical care, reaching a death toll over a million was only a matter of time, as Russian medical facilities were simply incapable of handling over 530,000 wounded, not to mention a significant proportion of them being severely injured.
Casualties nearly three times those of the Germans were exaggerated enough, but the fact that Russian deaths neared five times those of the Germans was why it was said that the Russians had endured a painfully heavy victory.
However, the good news was that after successfully defending Moscow, not only did it stall the German offensive against Russia, but it also bought precious time for Russia to regroup and directly shattered the German aspiration to quickly annihilate Russia. Indeed, Germany’s so-called Barbarossa Plan had already failed since they couldn’t possibly launch another offensive against Moscow anytime soon.
After all, when an entire 1.8 million-strong army had failed to capture Moscow, launching another offensive and avoiding the same mistakes would require more than 2.5 million troops.
But for the current Central Army Group, it was difficult to even gather 1.5 million troops, let alone 2.5 million.
Moreover, for the current German Chancellor, regathering more than two million troops to attack Moscow had already become the least cost-effective plan.
On December 11, 1937, the day after the defeat in the battle of Moscow, the German High Command held a meeting to discuss the next steps in the war against Russia.
This meeting was crucial for the current state of Germany. Without a clear plan for subsequent operations, the impact of the defeat at Moscow would grow even worse, and the Germans’ hope for victory in the war would become even more elusive.
In the meeting, the German Chancellor did not focus much on the performance of the Central Army Group in Moscow. Instead, he proposed a new operational plan to the High Command, that was to abandon the attack on Moscow and lead the main forces south toward Stalingrad.
For the direction of the German military’s advance, Moscow and Stalingrad were as different as north and south.
Moreover, Stalingrad was even deeper into Russian territory than Moscow. If the main forces were to be deployed to attack Stalingrad, it meant that Germany couldn’t possibly launch a corresponding offensive against Moscow anytime soon.
Even to ensure sufficient troops for the attack on Stalingrad, some forces from the Central Army Group had to be reduced.
This way, not only attacking Moscow would be out of the question, but even maintaining the current front line would be a huge challenge.
The German Chancellor’s proposal met with opposition from the German Commander-in-Chief. The Commander-in-Chief argued that compared to Stalingrad, Moscow was clearly a more important city.
As a key traffic hub for Russia in Europe, Moscow played a crucial role in Russia. If Germany could capture Moscow, it could divide Russia in two, making the divided Russia no longer formidable.
The second reason for opposition was that the German attack on Stalingrad would stretch the front lines too long.
Moscow was already far enough, but Stalingrad was even more remote than Moscow. More importantly, Stalingrad was located in the southern part of Russia, completely opposite to the previous path of the German attack on Moscow.
If troops were sent to Stalingrad, it would mean that the road to Stalingrad would be extremely arduous, and the railways between Germany and Russia would also need some repairs before they could be used.
In the view of the German Commander-in-Chief, attacking Stalingrad would require an extremely long preparation time and even if it were successful, it wouldn’t deal a fatal blow to the vast lands of Russia.
Instead of expending efforts on attacking Stalingrad, it would be better to regather forces and then counterattack Moscow.
As long as Moscow was captured, the Russian resistance would become negligible. This approach also essentially matched the previous combat philosophy of the Junker Nobility, which was to straightforwardly attack the enemy’s capital.
