Germans Counter-Attack Eastern Front instead of Western Front

Lets say in December of 1944, rather than attacking through the Ardennes, the Germans instead choose to attack the Soviets on the Eastern Front. Where would they attack, and how would it effect the outcome of the war?


The Yalta Conference hadn't happened yet, so maybe the Western Allies will try to get more of Germany, like Pommerania and Silesia.
 
By that time the Soviets were actually pretty overextended, and a counter-attack might have been pretty bad. However, the Russian counteroffensives would have knocked them back quickly. They had so much of everything at the front that there was no way for their advances to face a serious obstacle.

I can see more of Germany becoming a democracy than OTL.
 
Maybe the Allies can reach the Oder? East Germany would consist of Pommerania and Silesia, as well as parts of Prussia. East Prussia would be split between Poland and the USSR.

Could the W. Allies even capture the area currently controlled by the Czech Republic?
 
A counterattack aimed at relieving the Courland Pocket would seem like a good idea IMHO, though I am not sure how likely the OKW or Hitler would be to launch such an attack. There were over 200,000 soldiers trapped defending a few worthless U-Boat bases and some doomed Baltic German cities.

Relieving the pocket would force the Soviets to focus on the Baltic when their next offensive resumed during the Spring, as it would leave their flanks perilously exposed to do otherwise. Not going to change the final outcome, but maybe delay the Soviets a few additional weeks. I don't know about the final effect on the borders, but it would save hundreds of thousands of East Prussians from being raped/murdered by rear echelon troops of the Red Army.
 
I dont see the Western Allieds getting to the Oder river or even taking Berlin. Ile would not waste the his troops lfe for either object. But I do see the Western Allied taking all of Austria now and crossing the Rhin in early January. In Austria may become a NATO member now than a netural country as OTL.

The Soivet on the other hand would have been stock in the first day of two but went they would have counterattack they would destroy the budge that was in their lines.

As for the German people it would have buy more time for them to let to the western army.
 
If the offensive takes place before Yalta (Which was in late January), and the W.Allies see that the Soviets would take longer to get into Germany, the W.Allies may try for more land in their occupation zones.
 
Why do people always use this Germans do anything = Soviets do worse line of thinking?:rolleyes:

If the Germans use up their reserves in the east whilst holding the front in the west then the Soviets could advance quicker than OTL as the Germans have pissed away their remaining manpower in a useless attack, when trying to hold as best they can would've made more sense.

Overall I see the Soviets doing better not worse. Any forces the Germans commit to a major offensive will either be smashed or cut-off and annihilated. Allowing the Soviets to launch their own counter-attack.;)
 
Why do people always use this Germans do anything = Soviets do worse line of thinking?:rolleyes:

If the Germans use up their reserves in the east whilst holding the front in the west then the Soviets could advance quicker than OTL as the Germans have pissed away their remaining manpower in a useless attack, when trying to hold as best they can would've made more sense.

Overall I see the Soviets doing better not worse. Any forces the Germans commit to a major offensive will either be smashed or cut-off and annihilated. Allowing the Soviets to launch their own counter-attack.;)

The Germans can only hold one front while they attack another at this point (IOTL, while the Allies were stuck in the West, the Soviets were pushing towards Berlin.) If the German High Command wanted what was best for Post-War Germany, they would try to hold back the Russians and let the W.Allies take as much as they can.
 

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Why do people always use this Germans do anything = Soviets do worse line of thinking?:rolleyes:

If the Germans use up their reserves in the east whilst holding the front in the west then the Soviets could advance quicker than OTL as the Germans have pissed away their remaining manpower in a useless attack, when trying to hold as best they can would've made more sense.

Overall I see the Soviets doing better not worse. Any forces the Germans commit to a major offensive will either be smashed or cut-off and annihilated. Allowing the Soviets to launch their own counter-attack.;)

Any Soviet counter-attack would be a few weeks, if not a month or two, in the wings. The problem with advancing so far, so fast is that your supply lines are wafer-thin. It certainly won't change the general outcome, that being, the Jerries lose, but it may prolong the war a little longer. I question the Soviets being in Berlin before June at the earliest, if, depending on how successful the Germans manage to get.

This depends less on fighting ability and more on Lady Luck.
 
I'm reminded of a board game I saw once; two player theater level game of W.Allies/Germany/USSR. Germany is divided roughly in half (about on the historical Iron Curtain). One player plays the Western Allies and the eastern half of Germany forces, the other plays the USSR and the western half. Force transfers from front to front are by event. From what I've seen it probably gives a more realistic look at the situtation than a three-or-more player game would.
 
The Germans can only hold one front while they attack another at this point (IOTL, while the Allies were stuck in the West, the Soviets were pushing towards Berlin.) If the German High Command wanted what was best for Post-War Germany, they would try to hold back the Russians and let the W.Allies take as much as they can.

The German High Command was Hitler for all intents and purposes. The assault on the WAllies was chosen because as democracies, Hitler thought they would quit if he kicked them hard enough.
 
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