Quote:
Originally Posted by McCoy
I don't think that it would have been any different as the commanders in place was able enough. Once the Russians started rollin' their steamer west there wasn't much the Germans could do.
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I agree. Once they failed to kick the Soviets out of Moscow in 1941 they pretty much had lost the war.* That, of course, had more to do with Hitler's wanting to grab more territory in the south and not seeing the psychological importance of taking Moscow (never mind its strategic importance as a rail hub) and forcing Stalin out of the Kremlin and into Asia (east of the Urals). Hitler didn't listen to the advice of the excellent Generals who were in command at that time and I doubt that he would have listened to Rommel. Holding Moscow was a psychological boost for the Russians. Had they had to go east of the Urals there might well have been an end to the war in the east. Whether Stalin liked it or not, his army may well have collapsed and the soldiers simply gone home.
*Yes, it's true that there was a somewhat successful summer offensive in 1942 but that ended up with a disaster at Stalingrad and never met its true objective of getting the oil that Germany needed. In the big picture however, that offensive probably never had a chance of dealing a knockout punch to the Soviets. In retrospect, as Hitler and his Generals knew, they had to win the war before winter.