The organization of infantry troops and the mindset of their commanders were radically different from those of advance panzer forces. Mechanization of the German Army substantially lagged behind the Red Army, although the blitzkrieg of 1941 temporarily reversed the tables: the Germans captured tanks, trucks and tractors but were losing horses: 179,000 died in December 1941 and January 1942 alone. A German soldier wrote: "A curious odor will stick to this campaign, this mixture of fire, sweat and horse corpses."