Bernd
09/10/2019 (Tue) 21:18:33
No.29063
del
>>28855Yeah Luftwaffe was the little favourite...
>>28972>French tanks being dispersed across divisions, compared to Germans having them in only a few, are not very relevant.It was very relevant. It's added a lot to the effect of concentration of power. Tanks dispersed meant they couldn't send them in the way of the enemy armor effectively, they weren't a mobile force to throw punches with, but bound to slow moving infantry as an addition of mediocre amount of firepower.
>German rearmament did not fit into the concept of Blitzkrieg, neither before the war nor up to July ’40 when the main priority was ammunition, particularly for the artillery. This, and the first plans for a full frontal attack, shows Berlin’s expectations were close to the mass battles of the Great War.Interesting reading these lines worded like this. Kinda new consideration for me but I'd agree with Tooze, the Germans relied on concentration of power, and the plan of Manstein played out so brilliantly because the Frenchies and Brits outsmarted themselves. They moved into Belgium instead of staying put and they had nothing to counter the Germans, when they forced they way through their troops. Even Germans did not expect that, and their panzers lost contact soon with the main force behind, because they saw the opportunity to move on.
And here a larger mobile tank unit could have come in handy for the Allies. If there would have been such with their armies in the lowlands. That could have been directed toward the lone German panzers.