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Originally Posted by Supostat That is not true. Germany also declare war on USSR, however they did it after actual attack. |
I am pretty sure the Russians figured out they were at war long before the declaration arrived though so it was a rather meaningless gesture by Germany.
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First Tigers in Eastern front appeared on very end of 1942 and their first actions were quite unsuccessful.
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Indeed:
The first 4 Tigers to see combat were sent to the Leningrad area in August of 1942. Unfortunately they were deployed single file over swampy terrain and in their first day of combat all four were knocked out, although their armor was not penetrated. Three were later recovered.
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If Japan wanted to launch a surface attack to USSR, they needed as simple and reliable tank as possible rather than expensive, heavy protected and powerfully armed but caprice tank. Since if they succeed to brake a Soviet front they most likely would operate in rather large territories, what implicate some supply problems, especially in case of successful deep offensives.
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I don't believe Japan had the manpower or ability to carry out successful operations against Russia and I think they knew it, it is for this reason that I think the best support Japan could have given Germany was the continued threat of attack. Once this threat was gone it freed up large numbers of troops to the west at a time when the German army could least afford to face them.