MontyB
All-Blacks Supporter
good, bad or irrelevant?
August 3rd 1941 a decision is taken to stop the drive on Moscow and send the bulk of Panzergruppe 2 under Generaloberst Heinz Guderian and the 2nd Army under General Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Weichs from Army Group Centre and send it on a drive South to support Army Group South and cut off the Russian South West Front.
The end result was the capture of Kiev and the taking of around 600,000 Russian POWs however it also prevented the possible capture of Moscow.
The effect of the Lotzen decision has been raised here many times but it has never really had its own thread to my knowledge so now is our chance, many believe this decision was the turning point of the war in the East I personally am not so sure as I do not believe the Soviet Union would have surrendered even with the fall of Moscow.
I also tend to believe that the huge salient's both North and South of Moscow would have left Army Group Centre vulnerable to encirclement during the Russian counter attacks of December 1941 much in the same way the 6th Army was encircled at Stalingrad a year later therefore the decision to head South was the right one.
Anyone have an opinion on this?
August 3rd 1941 a decision is taken to stop the drive on Moscow and send the bulk of Panzergruppe 2 under Generaloberst Heinz Guderian and the 2nd Army under General Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Weichs from Army Group Centre and send it on a drive South to support Army Group South and cut off the Russian South West Front.
The end result was the capture of Kiev and the taking of around 600,000 Russian POWs however it also prevented the possible capture of Moscow.
The effect of the Lotzen decision has been raised here many times but it has never really had its own thread to my knowledge so now is our chance, many believe this decision was the turning point of the war in the East I personally am not so sure as I do not believe the Soviet Union would have surrendered even with the fall of Moscow.
I also tend to believe that the huge salient's both North and South of Moscow would have left Army Group Centre vulnerable to encirclement during the Russian counter attacks of December 1941 much in the same way the 6th Army was encircled at Stalingrad a year later therefore the decision to head South was the right one.
Anyone have an opinion on this?