Schmart
Posts: 662
Joined: 9/13/2010 From: Canada Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Michael T Obviously the the a\c are landing on a flat field (not an airstrip), rolling the drums of fuel down a few planks and then taking off back to the point of departure for the second sortie. Natural, wild, grass fields are not usually all that flat and smooth. There's bumps, divets, holes, rocks/boulders, soft spots, bushes, tree trunks, etc. It does take some preparation work for many locations. Looking back to the Demyansk pocket air supply situation, the pocket had two reasonably equipped/prepared and existing (captured) Russian airfields. The majority of supply was not brought in on an ad-hoc basis. It was a planned, prepared, deliberate operation. I've worked in air operations in the Canadian bush, I think reasonably similar to the Russian hinterland in the 1940s (and many areas still today), with forests, swamps, rivers, lakes, limited infrastructure/road access, etc. Even designated and semi-prepared landing areas can create a lot of wear and tear on aircraft, even nowadays in modern times and even for small aircraft and helicopters. Access and landing areas are not 'wherever we want'. There are physical/geographical limits and restrictions. It's not easy, wide-open land wherever you want terrain. Large multi-engined transport aircraft are going to have a very hard time in anything other than fully prepared and well maintained landing strips. quote:
Hell they did this in the PTO on a regular basis, bulldoze a strip in a day and within 24 hours transports were flying supplies in. Yes, and the keyword here is 'bulldoze'. The US had the resources and specialist abilities to construct prepared or semi-prepared landing strips in a very short time. I don't recall the Germans (resourceful and ingenious as they were) having those kinds of heavy engineering assets on hand at a moment's notice. Where are these German bulldozers coming from and how are they getting to the front? If the Germans are having a difficult time getting basic fuel and supplies to the Panzers, how are they shipping bulldozers criss-cross around Russia? quote:
If the Soviets are running and the Mech units are chasing them then surely they would/could have used the LB fleet to act as transports especially when not being used as Ground Support as there was no enemy to bomb. In historical cases when the Russians were on the run and the Panzers were running on dry tanks, why didn't the Germans in real life think of these things? Either they were stupid or they didn't have the abilities/resources to pull it off. A game like WITE should allow for some exploring of 'what ifs', but it shouldn't be based on 20/20 hindsight and allow for correction of all historical errors, misinformation, misjudgments, etc. quote:
Use some imagination people. The Germans were quite innovative when faced with new problems. AND I am almost certain Guderian wanted to use the LB for this very purpose sometime in July 1941. IIRC I read it somewhere many years ago when the Germans halted for supply lines to catch up. Guderian beleived he could pursue with air supply (fuel) but was overruled by some superior, maybe even Hitler. Not sure but the theory was certainly in the mindset of the forward thinking Panzer General. In other words, there were real-life constraints to this aspect... Overall, I'm not saying air supply should be cut off completely. There are cases when the Germans pulled it off historically. Supplementing a division here or there, a small pocket now and again, and as Walloc (I think correctly points out) in limited, defensive, tactical survival situations, etc. And that is likely the intent of the air supply option within WITE. But on the scale that some are using in the game currently for supplying entire Panzer Armies driving east of Moscow before the fall mud, no way, and it's a bug within the game. I think realistically, using some imagination and ingenuity (and a hint of hindsight leeway) the Germans could have provided continuous air supply for one Panzer Korps on limited offensive operations. That's with the entire air transport fleet committed, all-in C&C, political, and logistical support for such an operation. That might provide for an operational level coup now and then, but I don't think it would've been enough for a strategic game changer in the scheme of things. Frankly, if the Germans had the resources and ability to pull that off, then why didn't they? They were intelligent and resourceful. Why couldn't they do it? The Western Allies definitely DID have the resources and abilities to conduct large scale air supply operations, but they notably didn't in the drive across Western Europe in 1944. Why not? Why were even they limited and reliant on road/truck re-supply for forward mobile columns? Why couldn't they have created a flying column with several Armoured Divisions driving through France into Germany, supplied only by air, walking into Berlin and ending the war in 1944? Sounds easy. Maybe Eisenhower just needed to use his imagination? I suppose Market-Garden was an attempt at such a concept, although it didn't end up working.
< Message edited by Schmart -- 9/6/2013 6:21:20 PM >
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