It is the sheer numbers that get you.

[rubato]

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/06/l ... .html#more


It is the sheer numbers that get you: 6.46 million soldiers in the Soviet Army before the battle of Kursk.

You'll have to read the link.



yrs,
rubato

[Rick]

Quanity has a quality all it's own...

[MajGenl.Meade]

It is indeed.

[rubato]

Actually I posted the above partly just to follow with this. Nothing quite like complete self-delusion smashing against brute force:


http://ww2today.com/1st-july-1943-hitle ... or-citadel

"... Now, two years later, he faced an eastern enemy that was immeasurably stronger. The Soviets had always possessed tanks that could take on the German panzers, now they had them in much greater numbers and had developed the tactics to use them effectively. The two sides were now much more evenly balanced.

There remained a chance that Germany could seize the initiative by attacking a huge salient in the Russian lines near the city of Kursk. Attacks from the north and south might recreate the conditions for another great victory, like the massively successful encirclement battles of 1941.

But the preparations for the Kursk battle had gone on so long that the element of surprise had long ago been lost. His most senior commanders had misgivings about the plan. Hitlers faith that the new Panther and Tiger tanks would prove game changers was not so widely shared. In briefing his generals when he returned to his advance headquarters on 1st July 1943, Hitler chose not to address these concerns.

A familiar theme now emerged: he would blame others for the situation he was in; and his main objective was now to hold on to territory at any cost ‘without yielding’.
- See more at: http://ww2today.com/1st-july-1943-hitle ... G4fcB.dpuf ... "

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

[Rick]

I posted what I posted cause that is a quote from Stalin...