In World War II, why were Soviet troops stronger than American and British troops?

1June, 944, with the landing of the allied forces led by the United States in Normandy, the "second battlefield" of the anti-fascist war was opened up, which accelerated the demise of the Axis countries. Less than a year later, Nazi Germany, the initiator of World War II, surrendered unconditionally, ending the six-year European war.

Looking back on this war, there are still many differences in the performance of the eastern and western camps with different values on the battlefield. Especially in the late World War II, the Soviet attack was sharper and more successful than the western allies, which became the main factor for the western camp to voluntarily give up conquering Berlin. Is there any reason for this?

Soviets have more combat experience.

First of all, it takes longer to experience the war. From June 22nd, 194 1, the Soviet Union experienced four years of war, the longest compared with western countries, especially the fighting between armies. No country can compare with it.

1939 After the German invasion of Poland in September, although Britain declared war on Germany, it was only "much cry and little rain", and the British and French allied forces were crowded in maginot line, afraid to confront the Germans. It was not until July 1940 that there was a real battle in Britain, but it was also a contest led by the air force.

The real contest is with Rommel, the "desert fox" in North Africa at the beginning of 194 1. However, with the US military entering the war at the end of 1942, only the US military can really compete with the Germans, especially when it landed in Normandy, which occupied more than half of the total allied forces. Therefore, the Soviet and German armies fought for a longer time.

Secondly, the longer you play, the more experience you gain. In the face of the long-planned German elite, the Soviet Union can be said to have "exchanged space for time" from a series of fiasco, summed up experience bit by bit and turned the situation around step by step. Summarized a lot of experience in fighting against Germany, especially the upgrading of weapons is more practical.

When the American army entered the war, most of the German elites were pinned down on the Eastern Front. With Germany's war potential almost exhausted, the campaign situation has also entered a state of seesaw and stalemate. With the victory of the battles in Alaman and Sicily, the allied forces led by American troops opened up a "second battlefield" and really fought face to face with the Germans on land.

At the same time, the Soviets are more experienced in large-scale offensive and defensive wars. Since the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the three German army groups have conducted "blitzkrieg" from three directions, which once plunged the Soviet Union into crisis. However, the tenacious Soviet army quickly summed up the defensive tactics of large corps and large deep steps, and gradually resolved the German "blitzkrieg".

And in the subsequent big counter-offensive, I also explored the tactics suitable for my large corps to advance rapidly. On the other hand, the allied forces have not encountered a regiment-level battle since the counterattack in continental Europe. It was only in the Ardennes campaign that they learned about the rapid counterattack of the 250,000 Germans who formed the East and the West. This was the first time that they felt the power of "blitzkrieg".

As a result, the allies were shocked. The Germans broke through its defense depth of nearly 50 kilometers, and 600,000 allied defense forces suffered nearly 65,438+10,000 casualties. If Barton's third army hadn't raided the south, I'm afraid the losses of the American army would have been even greater. This made Eisenhower completely abandon his plan to attack Berlin.

There are many contradictions within the Allies, and the Soviets are United.

First, the battle for allied leadership weakened the fighting capacity. As a country in the western camp that insisted on a long-term war of resistance against Germany, Britain naturally "pointed fingers" at the American troops participating in the war after the war and looked like a "veteran". However, with its strong military potential and weapons and equipment, the US military will certainly not be convinced of the British like a "second-rate army".

Therefore, both sides are directing the battle. Although there are ways to compromise and balance, they often argue over a small issue for the benefit of their respective countries. In order to compromise, the allied decision-making level can be said to have representatives from all countries, and no one will let anyone; In order to balance, the allies often split into two parts and fight separately.

Second, different countries have different combat styles, and it is difficult to achieve reunification. Judging from Barton and Montgomery, representatives of the American and British armed forces, Barton stresses "attack, attack and attack again" in combat, and the best defense is attack. He doesn't like Montgomery's caution and "fear of death".

Montgomery doesn't like the pride and recklessness of Barton and others. In his view, blind attack and rapid advance are self-defeating and lose more. These two different tactical concepts are embodied in the battlefield, that is, the two armies are not convinced of each other and tear down the stage to see a joke. The combat effectiveness of such a multinational force will be greatly reduced.

As a Soviet army that has been "fighting alone" on the Eastern Front, it can be said that tactical ideas and concepts are highly unified, and there is no contradiction like that of the Allies, which ensures the consistency of military orders. It has unique advantages in both rapid mobilization and tactical effect. Of course, the cooperation between ministries is the "magic weapon" to win.

Attitudes towards Germany are very different.

As the country that suffered the most in World War II, the Soviet Union suffered great pain. Among the 70 million people who died in World War II, there were 26.6 million Soviet troops, accounting for 38%; Countless people were injured, and even Stalin's son died tragically in a prison camp. Such a "national enemy hates the family", and the revenge mentality of the Soviets can be imagined.

This led to the Soviet Union's occupation of Berlin, burning, killing and looting, and committing all kinds of evils. German prisoners of war are even more cruel. Most of them were sent to Siberia to do hard work. One third of the 3 million people captured by the Soviet Union never returned to Germany, which shows that the Soviets hate the Germans.

On the other hand, the United States and Britain are both countries that hate the Soviet Union in values and belong to the same camp as Germany. Second, its homeland was not invaded by Germany, and its hatred was far less than that of the Soviet Union. This gives both sides a more "tolerant" atmosphere and is relatively tolerant when treating each other's prisoners of war.

Therefore, on the battlefield, the Soviets showed no mercy to the Germans, especially the SS, which was almost extinct, even if they surrendered. Faced with such an opponent, desperate Germans are even more afraid of the Soviets. They would rather do their best to surrender to the allies than fall into the hands of the Soviets.

Of course, the Soviet Union's combat effectiveness cannot be separated from the support and help of Britain and the United States. Especially in the United States, during the most difficult period of the Soviet Union, the United States provided 1 1 billion dollars of military material assistance, including a large number of industrial production equipment, which prompted the Soviet Union to turn into a wartime track and eventually become a military power.

At the same time, the "second battlefield" opened by Britain, the United States and other countries put the Germans in an unfavorable situation of fighting on both sides and being attacked on both sides. In addition, 75 German divisions were pinned down in Europe, enabling the Soviet Union to break the German resistance in a short time and expel it from the Soviet Union.

In World War II, the combat effectiveness of armies of different countries was different. Although the combat effectiveness is relative, it is really jaw-dropping for the Soviet strength that broke out in the late war. what do you think? Welcome to leave a message for discussion.

References: World War II and the whole history of World War II.

Welcome to search for "Talking about History under Poplar"//Learn history and spread positive energy of culture//Please don't reprint it without authorization!