Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Part 4 of memoirs of a German King Tiger Tank Panzer Commander, who served as a gunlayer on a Panzer tank during Operation Barbarossa; led a company of Tigers at Kursk; a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group against the Russians in Hungary. He was awarded many highest Wehrmacht awards for bravery Link of the playlist kzread.info/head/PLGjbe3ikd0XFWFT3fBpJhBAkmOAgR68-1 Link of Part 1kzread.info/dash/bejne/eZWYzNqzgpufqdI.html Link of Part 2 kzread.info/dash/bejne/Zo2Lr4-qad3addo.html Link of Part 3 kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZqemmKtvipPApbA.html

@niccolo8736

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for all your posts!

@WW2Tales

2 ай бұрын

@@niccolo8736 Thank you so much Sir ,your support means a lot

@darkgoth69

Ай бұрын

I've been really enjoying this one. Tells a great story. Not too much names and numbers. heh

This is from the book Panzer Ace. This book is a well worth read. It gives a frank account of what happened in this man's eyes.

To put things in perspective: Caucasus oil was main goal of German summer campaign. Germany would lose the war without it (historically they did) , as they were fielding more and more heavier AFV, increased number of planes, U-boats etc ... Thus, Hitler & OKW were trying desperately to keep Army Group A in Caucasus. Army Group B was simply there to protect its left flank. In fact Army Group B was a stepchild of OKH, receiving least reinforcements from all army groups. Army Group Center was engaged in bloody battles around Rzhev, North was engaged in offensives/counter-offensives around Leningrad etc ... Army Group B had lot of foreign Axis troops of lesser quality (Romanians, Italians, Hungarians, Croats ...) which were there only to "plug the gaps". 6th Army itself had a lack of fuel, fodder and horses even before the Uranus. It was practically immobile, especially across cold Russian steppe in the winter. It is doubtful they could save themselves even if they started retreating immediately when Uranus started, before pincers were closed. Original German plan (Operation Winterstorm) was to have LW supply them as much as they could, while Manstein assembles relief forces, gets close, and then 6th army attacks to link up. Thus, they would not have to retreat from Caucasus. However, Soviets started diverting forces from Saturn (2nd Guards Army) to prevent this. Saturn became Little Saturn, which gave time to Army Group A to retreat , thus prolonging the war at least for a year. Sacrifice of 6th army did slow down Soviets considerably, so it had strategic sense.

@AykutDans

2 ай бұрын

During the Operation, many times Hitler transfered Panzer Korps from Army Group A to B and B to A. This has become so often, Division commanders were furious about the traffic jams and this did not help their effort at all. Army Group A progress was slowed down and Russians reinforced the Caucasus. When they could have be of use, they became immobile in Stalingrad with no fuel. Also some Corps commanders meet up in secret after the Stalingrad encirclement and the subject was to disobey Paulus and try to breakout. In the end they couldn't agree and forget the idea.

@aleksazunjic9672

2 ай бұрын

​@@AykutDans In the first phase of Fall Blau, Germans were simply trying to repeat success of the previous year, when they successfully encircled and destroyed bulk of the Red Army. This was according to their doctrine of Schwerpunkt, which served them well to this point. This is not fault of Hitler, OKW, OKH or anyone else. They were simply trying to find place where Soviets would commit their forces, so they could destroy them there. At one point it seemed it would be at Kalach (end of July, beginning of August) , just west of Stalingrad. But Soviets, despite suffering severe losses, have learned enough from previous year that they simply did not offer Germans chance for such victory. In the end, Germans persuaded themselves that Soviets are spent, so they moved towards distant objectives, elonging the front line . Rest, as they say, was history. Corps commanders in Stalingrad did stage mini rebellion in order to persuade Paulus to break out on his own. But at that point it was useless. They could hardly muster few battalions for such of operation, they had fuel for them only for 30 km, not enough artillery munition to support them, starved troops in the winter ... Doomed effort from the start .

@axelscharf2415

2 ай бұрын

Hitler was a moron . The Generals called him behind his back the WW1 Gefreiter ( Corporal) . But they let him make strategic decisions for the hole Wehrmacht. All those Prussian Generals turned out to be cowards with a few exceptions. The hole idea with the oil in Baku was nothing but insanity. Overstretched supply lines plus partisans everywhere .

Brutal fighting!

91,000 Axis soldiers were taken prisoner by the Russians. Most ended up in gulags in Siberia. Only 5,000 ever made it back to Europe...

@Smudgeroon74

2 ай бұрын

* At Stalingrad when they surrendered in 1943

@King_of_Railways

2 ай бұрын

So what? At home there was destruction..

@GeneralFranco-jr2ji

2 ай бұрын

AFTER THE SOVIET FORCES TOOK BERLIN 1 MILLION GERMAN CIVILIANS WERE DISAPPEARED ..NO ONE MENTIONS THIS...

@howwwwwyyyyy

Ай бұрын

Russian pow,s were treated as badly

Thanks!

@WW2Tales

2 ай бұрын

@jeffreysainio2572 Sir, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your Super Thanks! Your support fuels our passion for creating content that resonates with you. We're incredibly grateful for your kindness and encouragement!"

Excellent presentation.

@WW2Tales

2 ай бұрын

Sir , Thanks for watching 🙏

Beautiful story, even if this was a content without video part.

Wonderful channel but KZread is wack. Why is it suggesting videos from the middle of your play lists instead of the start?

At about the same time as Stalingrad the same amount of men and material was lost in north Africa , entirely due to procrastination in the German high command, Rommel himself had gone to beg for evacuation,by the time he was listened to it was too late

A good commander should have broke orders to save his men when he could regardless, he was scared of hitlers wrath and put his men in that position to begin with

@imperialmodelworks8473

2 ай бұрын

Easy to say when you aren't looking at facing those consequences.

@aleksazunjic9672

2 ай бұрын

Wrong. Paulus could not do anything. 6th army had a lack of fuel, fodder and horses even before the Uranus. If they started retreating it would likely lead to catastrophe (open steppe, cold weather, no supplies, Soviet mechanized and cavalry units around them ...) . Worse, they would endanger German main effort - Army Group A

My good night sleep thanks you.

@WW2Tales

2 ай бұрын

@rickcamp8487 Stay blessed dear Sir

I can’t imagine many twenty one year olds in the u.s.a. Today doing this. Sad That was the greatest generation on all sides apparently.

@gearViewmirror

Ай бұрын

According to a comment i read on a similar video, todays young men would be WAY better soldiers due to their experience in games like Call of Duty etc.....!?😳🤣

It was necessary to delay the Soviets so that Army Group A could escape. Lose an army, or lose an army group, that was the choice

@robertschumann7737

2 ай бұрын

Exactly. Look at all of the Soviet troops the 6th army held up for 2 months. They were sacrificed for the greater good of the Wehrmacht.

@anthonycruciani939

2 ай бұрын

​@@robertschumann7737But they never should have been sent into the city at all. The original Case Blue plan didn't call for it. To provide flank protection for Army Group A heading south to the Caucasus and to halt traffic on the Volga at Stalingrad there was no need for the 6th Army to enter Stalingrad where it was bled white. That decision was Hitler's.

@caractacusbrittania7442

2 ай бұрын

But the original plans for barbarossa called for an advance to the volga, the capture of moscow and leningrad, And the screening of from that line of what the Germans called Asia. An advance to the volga included stalingrad. The real problem lay in splitting most of paulus Armour for a separate thrust deep into the caucasus, both paulus 6th army and the new panzer group south were too week to act independently. Blitzkrieg calls for army groups to converge, trapping the enemy, Not diverge and act alone necessitating the diluting of supplies across a 2000 mile supply line. Stalin grads assault, the correct one, Splitting units off to subjugate the caucasus Was an incorrect decision.

@psycho8927

2 ай бұрын

​@@anthonycruciani939Where would have them stop then in the fields in the winter? It was the right decision but they were understrengh and badly lead.

@aleksazunjic9672

2 ай бұрын

@@anthonycruciani939 Stalingrad is western most point of the Volga in that part of Russia. Also there were factories inside Stalingrad. Finally, forces and losses in Stalingrad were not that great compared to East Front standards . In fact Army Group B was weakest of all Army Groups, with lot of foreign Axis troops (Romanians, Italians, Hungarians, Croats ...) It is precisely for that reason Soviets attacked them and not Germans, in Uranus and Little Saturn.

It was promised by the Air Forced to be supplied till a new offensive could be made. The Air Force failed, because it wasn't prepared. Hitler only told them to hold because he was informed it would be an issue to keep them supplied. Afterwards he was pretty pissed.

@aleksazunjic9672

2 ай бұрын

Not exactly. LW knew they could not fully supply 6th Army (and the rest in the pocket), and Hitler & OKH knew that as well. But there were no other options. 6th was not mobile (lack of fuel, fodder and horses) , terrain was difficult, and their retreat would endanger Army Group A which was main effort.

I always felt Hitler sacrificed the Great 6th army but i could never find it as fact until this documentary..thank you

@WW2Tales

2 ай бұрын

@Arthur-tx8fd thank you so much Sir for your appreciation

@aleksazunjic9672

2 ай бұрын

At that point there was simply no other choice, as 6th army was practically immobile, and Army Group A was still in the Caucasus.

...in the same way that Stavka sacrificed many Soviet armies in 1941. The reputations of several German Field Marschals is as a result of Stavka mistakes, and vice versa.

The fool ones were the Hiwis, they joined German Army when they are on the brink of the defeat

now history repeats itself, wasting a whole country, Ukraine.

To the armchair generals here: One of Napoleon's generals actually wrote about the Russia phenomenon. You march from victory to victory until you forgot how to retreat.

@LawrenceofIsrael

2 ай бұрын

@@capablemachine Yes and no. The scorched earth strategy was still the same. In WW2 300.000 soviet soldiers were commissioned with nothing but this task. Against Napoleon this also worked in Portugal btw.

A to big gamble

Its called war . The 6th army destruction , had a stratigic purpose . They played a part they could not be made aware of , it actually was the correct decision to keep them there . Keeping them there fighting , had value throughout the entire seige . When it became clear that the oil feilds in the caucus could not be achieved , the 6th tied up enough Soviet units , to allow the army group in the south to withdraw in good order . Also , before that , Hitler needed to keep them there , because he knew , if he pulled them out , they would never be able to retake that area again . They played an important part , even if they didnt realize it at the time , from the beginning .

@daleburrell6273

2 ай бұрын

...IN OTHER WORDS: 1- PAULUS AND THE 6TH ARMY WERE "EXPENDABLE", 2- THEY HAD BEEN SENT ON A SUICIDE MISSION, AND 3- THEY NEVER HAD ANY CHOICE IN THE MATTER!!! THAT SOUNDS LIKE BETRAYAL TO ME-!!! MAYBE YOU CAN JUSTFY WHAT HITLER DID TO PAULUS AND HIS MEN, BUT I'LL BE GODDAMED IF I CAN- AND I'M AN AMERICAN!!!

@daleburrell6273

2 ай бұрын

...MAYBE YOU CAN JUSTFY WHAT HITLER DID TO PAULUS AND HIS MEN- BUT I'LL BE GODDAMED IF I CAN!!! AND I'M AN AMERICAN-!!!

@daleburrell6273

2 ай бұрын

...NO, IT'S CALLED "BETRAYAL"!!! FALLING IN BATTLE IS ONE THING- THROWING AWAY THE LIVES OF YOUR MEN IS SOMETHING ELSE!!! SENDING SOLDIERS ON WHAT AMOUNTS TO A "SUICIDE MISSION"- THAT THEY DIDN'T VOLUNTEER FOR- IS AN OUTRIGHT CRIME!!! NO COMMANDER THAT IS WORTH A DAM- IS GOING TO ASK HIS MEN TO DO ANYTHING THAT HE WOULDN'T DO HIMSELF!!!

@csonracsonra9962

2 ай бұрын

Not really they just got saved for a while until they got to go and try to save Berlin

@tolik5929

2 ай бұрын

That is War .......a leader is obligated to win , by any means possible . This is been done throughout history . Knowingly sacrifice one element in order to gain something over your enemy , or achieve a goal that in the long run is more important . Like Subutai sacrificing over 1000 rear guard troops , in order to lead the European coalition into a trap .....it worked , very few of the EU army survived , and the Mongols swept into the lands almost unopposed . We are talking Nazis here , that seems to be forgotten on this channel . Stalin did it regularly , so did the Japanese . @@daleburrell6273

...IT WAS AN AWFUL WASTE...

Paulus was a coward or he would have disobeyed orders and broken out.

@WW2Tales

2 ай бұрын

@j.dragon651 Indeed he was a coward being the very first German field marshal being captured alive

@daleburrell6273

2 ай бұрын

@@WW2Tales ...PAULUS WASN'T GOING TO DO HITLER ANY FAVORS!!! LOYALTY IS NOT A "ONE WAY STREET"- AND PAULUS SHOWED HITLER JUST AS MUCH LOYALTY, AS HITLER SHOWED PAULUS AND HIS MEN!!!

@daleburrell6273

2 ай бұрын

...FALLING IN BATTLE IS ONE THING- BEING LITERALLY TOLD TO COMMIT SUICIDE WITH YOUR MEN- IS SOMETHING ELSE!!! ROMMEL WAS FACED WITH A SIMILAR SITUATION AT EL ALEMEIN: BUT- UNLIKE PAULUS- ROMMEL PULLED HIS MEN BACK!!!

@csonracsonra9962

2 ай бұрын

​@WW2Tales put yourself in that situation you're not going to sit there and kill yourself just over some f****** Corporal that doesn't know how to run a war, he was incompetent I will say that

@j.dragon651

2 ай бұрын

@@daleburrell6273Amen

Total waist of German soldiers life’s

@daleburrell6273

2 ай бұрын

1- IT WASN'T JUST THE LIVES OF GERMANS THAT WERE WASTED, AND 2- YOU NEED TO WORK ON YOUR GRAMMAR...

@csonracsonra9962

2 ай бұрын

The whole damn thing was if they hadn't killed Jews and been racist I think that Britain and America would have joined in and communism would have never flowered like it did

Kharkov/Kharkiv was/is Ukrainian!