Rasputitsa
Posts: 2903
Joined: 6/30/2001 From: Bedfordshire UK Status: offline
|
Just coming to the end of 'Demolishing the Myth - The Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943' - Valeriy Zamulin and it joins some of the small number of books that have genuinely changed history for me. 'The Bloody Triangle' - Victor J. Kamenir graphically described the state of Soviet forces in 1941, explaining the initial rapid successes for the Axis during Barbarossa. 'Demolishing the Myth' shows that in 1943 the same Soviet command and control problems were still there, lack of co-ordination with other ground and air units, lack of reconnaissance, units knowing little about enemy, or even friendly dispositions, higher HQ setting unrealistic tasks, all of which results in tragically high casualty rates. The main theme is that the biggest tank battle in history, never happened, at least not in the way it has been described up to now. It wasn't a chaotic encounter battle with a surprised enemy, the II SS PzK knew the Soviet tank attack was coming on the 12th July and where it would take place, going over to the defensive on that part of the front, to inflict maximum casualties on the attacking Soviet tank corps of the 5th Guards Tank Army, whilst continuing to advance on the flanks of the expected attack. It didn't involve 1500 tanks and there was no great melee of AFVs, most of the damage was done by anti-tank guns and tanks firing from ambush positions on expected lines of advance. Tanks and guns did become intermingled, but not on the scale that has been previously presented. Quote : The brigade has been fighting under conditions of complete ignorance of the enemy's strength that has been concentrated on this sector; without sufficient attack preparation: and on an unsuitable tactical line, which has restricted the maneuver of tanks and infantry - all of this has contributed to heavy casualties in the brigade. The command staff is poorly directing the fighting. It does not always skilfully assess the situation and make decisions. - Col. Drozdov, 11th Guards Mechanised Brigade This is echoed in the reports of many other tank units, thrown hurriedly into the attack, expecting to expand and exploit an existing breakthrough, but finding themselves blundering into a prepared and unbroken enemy. The Germans seemed so well prepared on the sector of the Soviet attack, that one Soviet commander commented that it looked as though the Germans had been in their positions for a month, rather than having just occupied them the day before. There is a stark contrast in command and control abilities even at this late stage in 1943. None of this changes the eventual result of the 1943 summer campaign, but it didn't happen the way it has been portrayed. The point is, that in attempting to set an historical framework for the game, the problem is what is that historical framework to be. It is clear that much of the original story is from the memoirs and reports of Gen. Rostmistrov - 5th Guards Tank Army and Col. Gen. Vatutin - Voronezh Front who, having thrown the strategic reserve into the battle with little preparation, needed another narrative to explain the huge losses. The German command and control advantage was hugely significant at the tactical combat level, where the game system is working, even if it was sometimes pitiful at the operational and strategic level, but then the player fills that slot. This is not looking for a 'Germans win button', but a more realistic balance of the capabilities of the two sides, as well as just adjusting logistics and OOBs. Even 'War in Russia' from the 1980's had a feature that some plotted movement for Soviet forces, in the initial turns of the campaign game, would randomly fail to be enacted, to reflect the command and control problems experienced by the Soviet side. WiTE gives the Soviet side command and control abilities that historically did not exist, requiring the game to be re-balance by changing other features, which then do not match historical levels.
< Message edited by Rasputitsa -- 1/7/2014 7:31:13 PM >
_____________________________
"In politics stupidity is not a handicap" - Napoleon “A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything” - Napoleon “Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress" - Napoleon
|