Snefens, TY for your list. Although I'm looking for the manpower tied upin the occupied countries, but maybe I can find it through this website.
And Viking. OK, we're at Stalingad....
Originally posted by Viking
I don't think so Angus. I don't think it was possible for the Germans to win the Battle of Stalingrad; in essence it wasn't a battle, but a trap set by Zhukov to destroy the German sixth army. With the forces available to him Zhukov could have held the city indefinably, but what he did was to just commit enough forces to the battle to keep the Germans interested ... and bleed them dry. All the while Zhukov was massing his tank armies just beyond Stalingrad to make a decisive blow once the sixth army was reduced to combat ineffectiveness.
Here is Wiki on the subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_stalingradLittle things like:
"Soviets relied extensively on "Workers militias" composed of workers not directly involved in war production. For a short time, tanks continued to be produced and then manned by volunteer crews of factory workers. They were driven directly from the factory floor to the front line, often without paint or even gunsights.
By the end of August, Army Group South (B) had finally reached the Volga, north of Stalingrad. Another advance to the river south of the city followed. By September 1, the Soviets could only reinforce and supply their forces in Stalingrad by perilous crossings of the Volga, under constant bombardment by German artillery and planes.
Amid the debris of the wrecked city, the Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies, which included the Soviet 13th Guards Rifle Division anchored their defense lines with strongpoints in houses and factories. Fighting was fierce and desperate. The life expectancy of a newly arrived Soviet private in the city dropped to less than 24 hours and the life expectancy of a Soviet officer was about 3 days"
"Fighting on Mamayev Kurgan, a prominent, blood-soaked hill above the city, was particularly merciless. The position changed hands many times.[6] During one Soviet counter-attack, the Russians lost an entire division of 10,000 men in one day"
"In November, after three months of carnage and slow and costly advance, the Germans finally reached the river banks, capturing 90% of the ruined city and splitting the remaining Soviet forces into two narrow pockets. In addition, ice-floes on the Volga now prevented boats and tugs from supplying the Soviet defenders across the river"
...Tell you that the Soviets narrowly escaped from competely loosing the city, which would have enabled the Axis to secure it from north and south before the Volga froze over. And here is the thing that was the Axis undoing at Stalingrad. They fought too long, and didn't guard their flanks. The Russians held the fighting in the city untill Zhukov could launch his tried and tested pincher attack over the Frozen river. Hitler concentrated on the city and refused reinforcements to the flanks. In the meantime, you have El-Alamein and operation Torch. Operation Torch goes around the same time as Zhukov's pincher is closing. Axis rely on an airbridge for supplies, but take the desicion of sending the brunt of their transport to the butchery in Tunisia.
My point is that the USSR won Stalingrad by a margin. Time and winter was their ally, and the Axis didn't have the strength to be fast enough.
Would 400.000 troops and 2000 aircraft have made a difference?
Anyway, had Moscow fallen before, this would have looked way different. And BTW, nice map you posted thereViking
