There were huge differences between the 41 opening assault,
and the 42 offensive in the south... The Germans played the
same pattern.. But the Russians played it differently...
In 41, Stalin had personal control of the frontier armies.. He sat
in his bedroom weeping like a child for 45 days, while his field
officers were screaming for orders, and being slaughtered..
He honestly thought that his commie buddies were going
to put a tokarev bullet in his ear for trusting Hitler... Then, when he
finally realized how cowed his lackies were, begging him "save us
comrade stalin" he came out and ordered whole armies to
hold their ground, (Kiev).. Or make idiotic attacks, (Smolensk)..
Wasting what forces had survived the initial German assault...
Almost cost the whole shebang...
In 42 stalin had given control of field ops to his Marshals...
Zhuchov and Koniev had shown their worth at Moscow and
Leningrad, so (luckily for all involved) Stalin was allowing
them to make militarily LOGICAL decisions.. In the spring
of 42 the Russians launched a sizable offensive in the south..
But it ran headlong into the German army that was staging
for the their big 42 push.. The Russian marshals realized what
was happening, and called their offensive off... Then Switched over
to Delay and run/scorched earth tactics as the gemans marched
forward.. German generals made comment in reports that they
knew major Soviet forces were in their area, but refused to fight..
When Russian troops quit running, (stalingrad) we all know what happened...
It was perfect gameplay by the rooskies, the same as they worked
against Napoleon.. Space for time!!!
The diff between victory and defeat was made by Stalin, when he decided
to let his generals DO THEIR JOB... Didn't matter to him, he took all the credit
for winning the war anyway... But he was sooo afraid of Zhukov, that he
couldn't kill him, had to send him away instead... To vacation land by the black sea..
All credit to the Russian ppl, they properly honor Zhukov now...
Now that the Egotistical Maniac Stalin is dead...
RC