Aurelian
Posts: 3916
Joined: 2/26/2007 Status: offline
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Historically, the fact of the matter is that it was.....logistics. By June 24, 47th Panzer Corps was reporting fuel shortages among its furthermost elements, while the roads leading to and from the Bug crossings had deteriorated so much that it was difficult moving the traffic, with the wheeled transport carrying the fuel still lined up on the west side of the river. The war diary of Hoth's Panzer Group shows that road conditions restricted movement to a single file column, which stretched even further when heavily loaded tracks became bogged. All routes marked as roads turned out to be unsealed, unmaintained sand tracks. 20th Panzer reported that the French trucks they used could only manage a few meters forward before having to be dug out. Over and over. Ritter von Thoma reported that the 3rd Panzer Group would have only 70% of its panzer forces fit for service by July 2nd, with much of the missing 30% broken down. The there's the horses..... The invasion incorporated 650,000 horses. With the delay of converting Soviet rail, the horses had a lot of work to do. Thanks to operational time constraints and ever pressing demand for greater infantry support by the panzer commanders, the horses ended up with a punishing routine of exhausting marches that rapidly broke them down. The horses used by the Germans were not accustomed to the searing conditions and horrible roads of the east. Nor could they get the proper diet. (Oats was the preferred food, but what they usually got was green fodder or straw from peasant houses as the provisions could not keep pace.) Bypassing Soviets led to other problems. Kuntzen's 57th Panzer Corps: July 3rd "In the rear area there are unknown numbers of Russians lurking in the woods who cannot be captured by the corps with its present manpower, but who pose a serious threat to supply convoys." The German army was attempting to advance a major element of their supply apparatus *ahead* of the bulk of the army into what was still hostile territory. Panzer Group 2's Quatermaster-General's war diary noted on July 2nd that panzer losses were beginning to mount due to shortage of spare parts of all kinds. Panzer Group 3 reported on July 3rd that the roads and byways used were getting even worse the further east they went with the result of numerous losses in trucks. Production would not solve any of that. Not the bad roads. Not the July rain that slowed things down. It wouldn't help soldiers who had to push heavy wagons to keep them moving. Or how after 13 days of action Hoth reported that he had only 50% combat ready tanks. that the heavy wagons were unsuited for what was called roads.. There's more , but I'd suggest reading "Operation Barbarossa and Germany'sDefeat in the East" by David Stahel. Production doesn't mean much if you can't support its use or even get it to the battle
< Message edited by Aurelian -- 7/17/2016 1:31:29 PM >
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If the Earth was flat, cats would of knocked everything off of it long ago.
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