Best general of WWII.

I'll start off by responding to your comparisons. Guderian's defeat at Moscow was a loss for Hitler as any defeat would be a loss to anyone with that high of a political position. However, Hitler was not directly responsible for the defeat, therefore I believe it falls on Guderian's shoulders. Numerical advantage doesn't determine how good of a leader someone is. It may determine who wins the battle, but the best general could have very few numbers and still win a battle, or vice versa. Besides, when it came to tank warfare, it would have been in even fight between the two. Germany had Panzers and Tigers, which were superior to the US's Shermans. However, the US produced more Shermans than Germany did Panzers and Tigers. "Patton was assigned to help plan the invasion of French North Africa as part of Operation Torch in the summer of 1942." [1] Although Guderian was a mastermind with tactics, and the invasion of North Africa didn't have that much of an impact on war tactics, we can at least agree Patton was a tactician as well. As far as combat experience, I'd actually say Patton had more experience. He was a cavalry soldier on border patrol in 1915 (this is where he began carrying a Colt on his hip). Later, he was part of an expedition led against Pancho Villa, during which time he began commanding troops. In WW1, he was assigned command of the U.S. 1st Provisional Tank Brigade and fought in the front lines of multiple battles. He was even wounded in one attack. I would go into further detail about these events, but the topic at hand is more focused on WW2 generals. Patton may have had many victories due to numbers, but that doesn't mean they're worth any less. After all, his victories did help a great deal to win the war. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The German High Command still had more respect for Patton than for any other Allied commander and considered him central to any plan to invade Europe from the United Kingdom. Because of this, Patton was made a prominent figure in the deception operation, Fortitude, in early 1944. The Allies fed German spies a steady stream of false intelligence that Patton had been named commander of the First United States Army Group (FUSAG) and was preparing this command for an invasion of Pas de Calais. As a result of Operation Fortitude, the German 15th Army remained at Pas de Calais to defend against Patton's supposed attack. This formation held its position even after the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. " [1] During his North African campaign, Patton quickly secured Casablanca, where he negotiated an armistice with the French Resistance. "The Sultan of Morocco was so impressed that he presented Patton with the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, with the citation 'Les Lions dans leurs tani"res tremblent en le voyant approcher' (The lions in their dens tremble at his approach)." Patton was a tough leader, and expected a lot out of his troops. He pushed them to accomplish their goals, and it led to success. He would even personally talk to troops. However, he would take his determination too far sometimes. There were incidents in which he slapped wounded soldiers who had complained about their pain. "Patton apologized to both soldiers individually, as well as to doctors who witnessed the incidents, and later to all of the soldiers under his command in several speeches." This shows how much of a man he was, outside of being a general. Not many people could own up to and apologize for such actions like this. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org...