The “just sit and wait for the Phony War to end in April 1940” option is a bit perplexing as an answer to “You are the German High Command! What is your next Combat Movement?” because it seems to imply that the Phony War was operating on a fixed timetable, and that this timetable was in someone else’s hands. The lack of action on land on the Western Front is certainly due in part to inaction by France and Britain (whose strategy was basically to sit around for a couple of years to built up their strength for a showdown, while simultaneously hoping that the Nazi regime would be overthrown by a coup), but it was also very much a deliberate choice by Germany. The Wehrmacht needed to analyze the Polish Campaign, fix the tactical and operational elements that hadn’t worked as well as expected, plan the upcoming campaign against France and the Low Countries, rest and replenish its forces, give them more training, provide them with additional equipment, and redeploy them to the west. Doing this properly took time, but Germany could afford to take the time to do the job right because of the lack of Anglo-French pressure on the western front. ( In other words, by sitting on their collective hindquarters France and Britain surrendered the strategic initiative to Germany, which gave the Wehrmacht the luxury of attacking at the time and place of its own choosing.) Moreover, the time period during which these activities took place were the fall of 1939 and the winter of 1939-1940, which was conveniently timed because this meant that the Wehrmacht wouldn’t have to fight in the fall (manageable, but rainy and muddy) or in the winter (far less harsh in the West than in Russia, but still potentially nasty as veterans of the Battle of the Bulge will recall). The late spring / early summer period chosen for the offensive in the West was much more congenial for military operations.
Oddest Tank Fight in WW2
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Recently I was reading about combat in the extreme North of Russia. After the opening days of Barbarossa this Front became a sideshow, consequently the heavy weapons on the front were older systems.
There were reports of German fighting in Somua S35 tanks opposed by M3 Lee tanks operated by Russians.
Is this not the oddest tank duel?
If you had to choose, which tank are you taking?
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@ABWorsham4 thr Somua. Better armoured and armed with a good gun , fast enough too.
Having a crew of three , being the only set back I can think of . -
Definitely a very odd battle.
Probably the Somua S35.
Near equal road speed and superior off road speed, better armour overall, and a shorter height (always important for hiding).
Also, at the time the Germans were winning, so I can call in artillery or infantry to help out if necessary, and more of those than my enemies could (at least in terms of combat effectiveness).
A lot of it is probably due to bias toward France and Germany during this time period in general though.
I’ll say before researching I overestimated the Somua S35’s “superior to most German tanks in the Battle of France” capabilities and severely underestimated the M3 Lee/Grant’s “hopelessly obsolete against the Japanese” capabilities, at least on paper.
I think I was confusing the M3 Lee/Grant with the Stuart.
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