The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1943-09-24
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HOW GERMAN MILITARY
STRATEGY FAILED
Hitler's swift and steady advanc,
through western Europe showed tina
| the high command had it all cut ant
dried and it worked out to a T. Tht
| Maginot Line turned out to be a tral
for the French soldiers; his marcel
through France in six weeks was like
a victory parade netting him two mil
lion prisoners, evn going into Russia
appeared to be a success the first few
days but here is where his first blund
ers showed up. He was in a quand
airy as to whether to tackle England
or Russia first; he was determined tC
either have the lost African colonies
back or their equivalent in Ukraine
grain and Soviet oil. He was be
| tween the Devil and the deep sea
Had he gone into England at the time
of the Dunkirk retreat, the Red army
might have sneaked in on him like
it did in Poland, so after Hess visit
to England, he concluded that the
British Empire was not in a position
to start a second front in western
Europe and this would give him a
chance for a quick humiliation of all
the Soviet forces in Europe.
A Double Mistake
He had two detectives in Russia;
one was to destroy the Red army, the
other to get Ukraine grain and Baku
oil but he failed in both. His time
table called for the capture of the
Red army in the first three months
and the oil fields the first year; fail
ing to do this, his war was lost in
the first drive. Where the high COM
lndIu GU was Ill lulIhiuS IudI
it coud use the same battle tactics in
Russia as in the rest of Europe with
such success. While he captured
some large cities and his spear
heads drove 500 miles in some places,
he actually bit off more than he could
chew, he ran over more ground than
he could properly control. If small
groups of Soviet troops were cut off,
they would either fight their way to
their own lines or disappear in small
train guerilla bands to harrass the
enemy for the duration. Leaving so
much unprotected territory in his rear
was military blunder and the farth-
er he got into Soviet TERRITORY the
worse he was off and he was not pre-
pared for a winter campaign. He put
all his eggs in one basket, he over
extended his lines and made a dash
for the Crosby and Baku oil fields and
now his Caucasian army is doomed
in Novorosisk with no chance to es-
cape, and even with the fall rains
coming on to bog the Red advance
and no immediate outlook for west
ern front in Europe, Hitler will be
to fall back to the Dnieper
liver bend for a winter stand and the |
chances are that his troops are not |
much better prepared for this winter
han they were last.
Hitler found out too late the cohe-
iveness of the Red army and the
zig industrial plants developed in ST.
,eria, the Soviet revolutions he hoped
or failed to materialize and the So
let morale stood up better than the
ierman. Should the Allies start a
rive across the English channel,
Hitler would simply explode. The
est he can hope for now is to tie
he Allies up somewhere in the Medi-
Italy, Crete or Greece, a
thousand miles from their English
ase and closer to his front-line. He
an well afford to sacrifice his ex-
endables, Crete, Greece, Finland and
Torway, any OF all of them and still
old his Fortress of Europe" intact
lille waiting for a negotiated peace. (
It's not likely that Hitler will openly
SIX for peace, he is more apt to have 1
is London and Washington friends /
)me out for Negotiated Peace. |
y only engaging from 10 to Is of S
itler's force while picking up odds '
nd ends, the nazis are apt to keep 4
5 busy the biggest part of 1914. c
Expert military strategy. is too a
UGH handicapped by national poll a
cs, both here and in London; and p
5 not likely a second front will be u
arted this summer. HitIer's main u
aver now is: mud and more mud S
| his eastern front z
A. E. ANDERSON.