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From: slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Soviet Conventional Offensive Capability...
Message-ID: <149@drutx.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 4-Oct-85 17:09:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: drutx.149
Posted: Fri Oct  4 17:09:01 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Oct-85 07:39:10 EDT
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 40


 al@ames.UUCP (Al Globus) writes:
>2. When the Wermacht invaded the USSR on 22 June 1941 the Red Army was
>vastly superior in numbers of men, tanks, and aircraft.  The Germans
>went through the Red Army like a hot knife through butter.

I had always heard that the Germans penetrated Russia so quickly
partially as a maneuver on the Russian's part.  The usual tactic
if you are a country with so much open space is to fall back, burning your
fields as you go.  The enemy is left with long supply lines (which
they must use--since you have left them nothing useful in the 
burned over areas)  You then wait until they slow down and start
to starve and freeze to death (something which always comes eventually
in the Russian winter).

I know that the Russians used this technique effectively in the 
Napoleanic and First World Wars.  I had thought that WWII saw them
use the same technique.  The eastern front was horrible for the
German army.

When the Russian army did stand, i.e. Stalingrad, they did well--Hitler 
was reportedly foaming at the mouth.  And Hitler actually did worse
than Napolean did--he never took Moscow.

All this should not be taken as a reflection on your basic premise,
which sounds quite possible, but which I do not have the information
to judge for myself.

-- 

                                     Sue Brezden
                                     
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