The Battle of Kursk- III: Day One - Extra History
Added 2016-03-21 14:27:14 +0000 UTCOn July 5, 1943, the long-awaited German assault on the Soviet defense at Kursk began.
Comments
Quite.
Jim McGeehin
2016-03-24 09:19:13 +0000 UTCThe modern version of the spearmen vs. cavalry strategic balancing?
Extra History
2016-03-24 04:08:59 +0000 UTCGlad you're enjoying it!
Extra History
2016-03-24 04:04:15 +0000 UTCI wonder if that's because we've spread them out so widely? There were three weeks between Episode 2 and Episode 3. That was due to a localization delay, not intentional, but even I had to go back and re-watch the first two episodes to get my bearings on this narrative again.
Extra History
2016-03-24 04:04:09 +0000 UTCWell yeah. Why worry about 126,000 when 3 million Russians are rushing you.
Sean Sarff
2016-03-23 23:13:19 +0000 UTCI don't know why, but I've had more trouble following what's going on in this series than I ever have had in any other Extra History series. Maybe it's just too much information too fast? Maybe I'm getting too old for this.
De
2016-03-23 05:09:18 +0000 UTCgreat series!
Arturo Gutierrez
2016-03-22 13:42:46 +0000 UTCOdd to think that a battle involving millions of people and tons of equipment (from tanks to war planes) could lull you into a false sense of security. "Oh, that measly little force of 100,000 - we can worry about that later."
Extra History
2016-03-22 06:00:59 +0000 UTCHeather's face really makes that one for me. ;D
Extra History
2016-03-22 02:08:08 +0000 UTCWon't be very long next time! The final episode comes out March 28.
Extra History
2016-03-22 02:07:29 +0000 UTCOne of the big problems with the German war engine was how much it required early success to snowball, using their momentum to carry forward to victory, and fronts that stood fast against the Germans could be quickly flanked when the Germans rolled through gaps in the line. Layered defense and gradual withdrawal bogged down the German war machine and left them exposed to (relatively) cheap counter-attack with artillery. Couple that with the Soviet Union's manpower, and the highly-mechanized German forces found their doctrine counteracted at the fundamental level. Attrition warfare is a very real strategy, and the Russians being on the defensive meant their cost of waging war was much lower (from a financial standpoint, not a casualty standpoint) than the Germans. With shorter supply routes and plenty of men to use, the Soviet leadership picked a devastatingly effective strategy against the Germans, one that played directly into key weaknesses of German military doctrine.
Jim McGeehin
2016-03-21 23:49:17 +0000 UTCI got a good chuckle from James juggling the knives.
Aaron hutchinson
2016-03-21 19:31:26 +0000 UTCIt's ironic that the German army's use of a single tactic was it's downfall not only here in World War 2, but with the von schlieffen plan in World War 1. Since the attack on Poland, the Russians were able to safely observe the use of blitzkrieg and devise the most cunning counter to it. Layered defense. The great strength of the blitzkrieg was it would circle the defenses of a single point and starve them out until either the Germans could easily roll over the opposition or they surrendered. But, if you circled a single line, only to find another line behind that one, then you've just allowed yourself to be flanked. And this was the issue that the Germans encountered. Their dogmatic dedication to a single overall strategy was their truest failing at Kursk. On an additional note, because of the massive number of men that were fighting on this front, when the western forces finally were used, because in the beginning they barely numbered over 100,000, Hitler assumed it was merely a probing force and held back the military he had in France while he waited for the real offensive force to arrive.
Sean Sarff
2016-03-21 16:13:51 +0000 UTCIt's ironic that the German army's use of a single tactic was it's downfall not only here in World War 2, but with the von schlieffen plan in World War 1. Since the attack on Poland, the Russians were able to safely observe the use of blitzkrieg and devise the most cunning counter to it. Layered defense. The great strength of the blitzkrieg was it would circle the defenses of a single point and starve them out until either the Germans could easily roll over the opposition or they surrendered. But, if you circled a single line, only to find another line behind that one, then you've just allowed yourself to be flanked. And this was the issue that the Germans encountered. Their dogmatic dedication to a single overall strategy was their truest failing at Kursk.
Sean Sarff
2016-03-21 16:07:49 +0000 UTCWell done! I'm looking forward to the next presentation.
barefoot James
2016-03-21 15:06:01 +0000 UTC
