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Also, if the German Special Operations Command had in 1938/39 decided to send agents into Britian with assassination orders for the leaders of the various services, it could have altered the entire War....
RAF Bomber Command required 4 years before they made a worthwhile contribution to the British war effort. What makes you think Luftwaffe heavy bombers would be more capable early on?strategic bombing capability could have made a difference against the Soviet Union
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An interesting sidebar about Soviet tanks,(from Mosier) is that even though they had more tanks than Germany, and arguably better tanks (early war), quality control was poor and service life was 100 hours or less. A system for repair was non-existant, so basically it was a new tank every week or so, whether they were lost in combat or just broke down beside (or on) the road somewhere.
It's always so that tanks planes get the limelight, however there is other weapons that people find useful. Artillery, for example, one of crucial things in wast East front. Unfortunately for Germans, it's where the Soviets have had the edge, both in quantity quality.
100 % agree with you there. German field and heavy artillery apart from exceptions like the 17cm heavy guns was very average.
Russian artillery was superb in virtually all aspects. Compare guns in each class where there was a similar weapon and the Russian piece was usually lighter, longer ranged and or threw a heavier shell. The 122mm M1938 gun-howitzer is reckoned to be one of the finest artillery pieces ever made. Nothing was particulary special but its combination of reliability, ease of use, good shells and ease of manufacture all combined to make it a battle winner. This is often the classic gun shown ranked up wheel to wheel firing by numbers in newsreels.
122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nazi Germany in contrast to the Soviet Union did not have the pressure of a massive invasion within its borders early in the war and it might be possible, in my opinion, that with a decent strategic bombing element coupled with the unstoppable drive towards Moscow the Germans achieved in 1941; the Soviet Union might had been force to capitulate early in the war leaving the overall Allied effort seriously comprised.RAF Bomber Command required 4 years before they made a worthwhile contribution to the British war effort. What makes you think Luftwaffe heavy bombers would be more capable early on?
Even if there are large areas of unwatched sky for German bombers to hide in, the Soviets can still concentrate defences around communications hubs, factories and other targets that they know the Germans will come after. And the lack of escorts is still a major issue. Given the 110s performance against single-seat fighters in 1940, Iwould argue that it would not be a highly succesful escort in 1941, even if freed from the strict 'close-escort' role. And admittedly, 110s half-way might be better than nothing at all..
Nazi Germany in contrast to the Soviet Union did not have the pressure of a massive invasion within its borders early in the war
But afaik they had one of the weakest fire control of all participating armies, at least early to mid-war.
It all comes down to what "if this" and "whattabout that" in these kind of threads. Nice, but really just a play ..... the fact is gents that Germany had very, very weak "strategy" - similar of a wolf of a tiger - ambush the weak and the sick on an "opportunity" basis.
If the LW was to have the "option" of an alternative air "strategy", that strategy would have to have been formulated and implemented - militarily and industrially, by 1938.
If the objective was Russia: then the LW needed long range escort aircraft, long range bombers, long range transports and long range reconnaissance.
The Nazis were drunk with power having picked off a few "stragglers" (no offense intended). They learned their "air" lessons in Spain. Good pilot training but absolutely the WRONG kind of a campaign from which to derive a LW strategy.
So - the alternative strategy that the LW should have adopted under a sane leader - was to build the aircraft they would need to DEFEND GERMAN AIRSPACE.