Best General of WWII

In his book, Panzer Leader, Guderian wrote:"In this year (1929) I became convinced that tanks working on their own or in conjunction with infantry could never achieve decisive importance. My historical studies; the exercises carried out in England and our own experience with mock-ups had persuaded me that the tanks would never be able to produce their full effect until weapons on whose support they must inevitably rely were brought up to their standard of speed and of cross-country performance. In such formation of all arms, the tanks must play the primary role, the other weapons being subordinated to the requirements of the armor. It would be wrong to include tanks in infantry divisions: what were needed were armored divisions which would include all the supporting arms needed to fight with full effect." [1]Guderian was probably the most important general in developing the Blitzkrieg strategy which became so useful while fighting in Poland, France, and the Soviet Union. Heinz Guderian realized the potential that a combination of tanks and infantry could be deadly.Hermann Balck said: "The decisive breakthrough into modern military thinking came with Guderian, and it came not only in armour, but in communication." [1]The German victories from 1939 through 1941 were not due to superior equipment, but to superior tactics in the use of that equipment, and superior command and control which allowed the German panzer forces to operate at a much higher pace. Guderian developed the strategy which helped Germany conquer Europe.Now onto the Second World War:Invasion of PolandGuderian led the XIX Corps during the invasion of Poland. This corps was made out of a panzer division and two motorized infantry divisions. Guderian led his corps in the Battle of Wizna and the Battle of Kobryn and defeated Polish forces. In each of these battles his theories of rapid maneuver in combat proved highly successful. Following the defeat of Poland, Guderian continued to improve the Panzers in armor and firepower.Invasion of FranceGuderian helped to develop the Manstein Plan for the invasion of France [2]. His force spearheaded the invasion of France which was a staggering success. He led the attack that broke the French lines at Sedan which also proved successful. Guderian's panzer group led the "race to the sea" that split the Allied armies in two. It deprived the French armies and the BEF in Northern France and Belgium of their fuel, food, spare parts and ammunition. Faced with orders from his superiors to halt, he managed to continue his advance by stating he was performing a reconnaissance in force. Guderian's column was famously denied the chance to destroy the Allied forces trapped in the pocket at Dunkirk by an order coming from the high command [1].Invasion of RussiaIn 1941 Heinz Guderian commanded the Panzergruppe 2 in Operation Barbarossa. His armored spearhead captured Smolensk in a remarkably short time and was poised to launch the final assault on Moscow when he was ordered to turn his army south to encircle the Soviet forces to his south in the Battle of Kiev. He protested this decision however was forced to turn south. Here Guderian helped to encircle hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops at Kiev. [3]Guderian then spearheaded the drive on Moscow. With winter fast approaching the offensive seemed to be doomed. He was ordered to continue the advance anyway. Several units under Guderian's command made it to the outskirts of Moscow. The Soviets then launched a counterattack that eventually forced the German army to retreat a hundred miles. Guderian was not allowed to pull his forces back, but instead was ordered to "stand fast" in his current position. He disobeyed the order and went personally to Adolf Hitler's headquarters. However the order was not changed. After returning to his command, he carried out a series of withdrawals anyway in direct contradiction of his orders. After a final clash with von Kluge, Guderian asked to be relieved of his command. On December 26, 1941 Guderian was relieved, along with 40 other generals. He was transferred to the reserve pool.In September 1942, when Erwin Rommel was recovering in Germany from health problems, he suggested Guderian as the only man suitable to replace him in Africa. The response from the Oberkommando came as: "Guderian is not accepted."Inspector of Armored TroopsAfter the German defeat at Stalingrad Hitler realized he was in need of Guderian's skill. He personally requested Guderian to take a new position as "Inspector General of Armored Troops". Guderian made a number of changes to ensure that he would have the requisite authority to perform his duties. Hitler agreed to the conditions, and in 1943 he was appointed to the new position. His responsibilities were to oversee the rebuilding of the greatly weakened panzer arm, to oversee tank design and production, and the training of Germany's panzer forces, and he was to advise Hitler on their use.Heinz Guderian never suffered a single real defeat. He won victories in Poland and in France as well as in the Soviet Union. Guderian's defeat at Moscow was a defeat for Hitler, not for Guderian. Hitler refused to provide the German army with appropriate supplies for the winter and as a result, German troops died in the thousands and many German tanks stopped working altogether. It was Hitler's mistakes that cause Germany to lose WWII altogether. In addition to this, Guderian was almost always outnumbered. Following the fall of France, Guderian doubled the amount of German Panzers. Guderian developed the Blitzkrieg strategy that enabled Germany to conquer all of Europe.Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org...http://en.wikipedia.org...http://en.wikipedia.org...