I agree, what he should be doing is digging in and trying for a negotiated peace ASAP.
True, but he was only willing to accept that in 45, in 43 he still thinks he can win LOL
I agree, what he should be doing is digging in and trying for a negotiated peace ASAP.
I don't know if Stalin can do that politically; he still had to answer to an angry public and military. If they don't get that he's doing this temporarily he may well get overthrown if they believe he's throwing away victory while they are winning.Yes, my typos obscured my contention. I don't live in a Stalin fantasy land where he would have cowed to Hitler, but he obviously used the idea of a separate peace in order to force the Allies' hand in terms of material support and such. If the Wallies are dogging it, his hand might be forced and he will go for a temporary peace and let the Allies wear the Germans until he feels he can get back in.
Do you think the Soviet people would accept surrender and let their leader live after that horrible war?But he's not winning
Except violently resist. I mean there is a reason why there were a lot of ethnic minorities fighting the Soviet government (Ukrainians, Balts, Chechens, Tartars, Cossacks, etc.) as well as even ethnic Russians. So there might well be enough discontent that Stalin runs another bloody purge and either triggers a coup against him or guts the military and society in such a way that it cannot function properly if there is war again. So peace is a risk, a big one, if it stops short of victory when the Soviets are in a position to win, even at high cost.Yes. The Soviet system did not give the luxury to people to do anything about their discontent.
They certainly outnumbered the Axis in terms of equipment, but they roughly equal in manpower. The problem is that tanks and aircraft are useless without supplies, so losing their supply dumps would effectively knock them out in a single blow.
In a world of perfect communication sure, but the problem was that the British were badly confused due to Rommel's counterattack that passed near the dumps, as he overran a number of supply units (further depriving their 'teeth' of their 'tail') and the British were in a panic. Its likely that given the chaos the loss of the dumps probably wouldn't have been realized for sure until it was too late.Having supply dumps captured doesn't mean tanks instantly run out of the fuel and ammo in their tanks/racks or that carried by the trucks between the dumps and the units. When the word comes down that the supply dumps are captured some armoured units will laager in nearby defensible positions so that what supply capacity remains can be used to support a counter attack.
Part of the advantage of capturing British supply dumps would also be that the Germans could have had the supplies to continue their maneuvers against the British rear while the Brits attempted to link up with Tobruk.On 23 November Rommel gathered his two panzer divisions in an attack with the Ariete Armoured Division to cut off and destroy the rest of XXX Corps. In the pocket were the remains of 7th Armoured Division, 5th South African Infantry Brigade and elements of the recently arrived 6th NZ Brigade.[48] By the end of the day 5th SA Brigade was destroyed and what remained of the defending force broke out of the pocket, heading south towards Bir el Gubi.[48] Comando Supremo in Rome agreed to put the Italian XX Mobile Corps, including the Ariete Armoured and the Trieste Motorised Divisions, under Rommel's command.[49] By 23 November, the Ariete, Trieste, and Savona had knocked out about 200 British tanks and a similar number of vehicles disabled or destroyed. British losses from 19–23 November were around 350 tanks destroyed and 150 severely damaged.[50]
The Afrika Korps was down to 40 tanks ready to be committed and Rommel ordered the relief of the frontier garrisons.[51] On 24 November the Afrika Korps and Ariete division headed for Sidi Omar, causing chaos and scattering the mainly rear echelon support units in their path, splitting XXX Corps and almost cutting off XIII Corps. Rommel hoped to relieve the siege of Bardia and pose a large enough threat to the British rear echelon to complete the defeat of Operation Crusader.[note 17] On 25 November, 15th Panzer set off north-east for Sidi Azeiz and found the area empty and were constantly attacked by the Desert Air Force. South of the border the 5th Panzer Regiment of the 21st Panzer attacked the 7th Indian Brigade at Sidi Omar and were repulsed by the 1st Field Regt RA, firing over open sights at a range of 500 metres (547 yd); a second attack left the 5th Panzer Regiment with few operational tanks.[53] The rest of 21st Panzer had headed north east, south of the border, to Halfaya.
By the evening of 25 November, 15th Panzer were west of Sidi Azeiz (where 5th NZ Brigade was headquartered) and down to 53 tanks, practically the entire remaining tank strength of the Afrika Korps.[54] The Axis column had only a tenuous link to its supply dumps on the coast between Bardia and Tobruk and supply convoys had to find a way past the 4th and 6th NZ Brigade Groups. On 26 November, 15th Panzer, bypassing Sidi Azeiz headed for Bardia to resupply, arriving around midday. Meanwhile, the remains of 21st Panzer attacked northwest from Halfaya towards Capuzzo and Bardia and the Ariete Division who were approaching Bir Ghirba (15 miles (24 km) northeast of Sidi Omar) from the west, were ordered towards Fort Capuzzo to clear any opposition and link with 21st Panzer.[55] They were to be supported by 15th Panzer's depleted 115th Infantry Regiment which was ordered to advance with some artillery southeast from Bardia towards Fort Capuzzo.[56]