4 ms·

Just a nitpick, but the article didn't explain how this piece of intel gave them a big strategic advantage, it just explained that they got this piece of intel.

Just a nitpick, but the article didn't explain how this piece of intel gave them a big strategic advantage, it just explained that they got this piece of intel. Had to look this up on Wikipedia for a more thorough explanation.

iuygthjkllkjnh 16y ago
Knowing how many tanks the other guy has, and how quickly they can build more new ones is generally of some interest if you are having a war with them
- ramchip 16y ago
  My impression is that it is a strategic advantage of course, but not a "big advantage". Knowing that the enemy is weaker then expected is good, but it's not directly useful like decrypting Enigma communications or acquiring research material. If it really affected the war, I would have liked to see why.
  - csallen 16y ago
    Here are a few possibilities of the advantages afforded by knowing an enemy makes 255 tanks/month: - You may figure it's worth your time to go out of your way to bomb a few extra tank factories, as the payoff will be 5.5x greater than it would if they were making 1400 tanks/month. - You may save money on R&D. Instead of devoting tons of resources to anti-tank weaponry, your more realistic estimate will lead you to spend money countering more important threads. - You'll have more realistic estimates of the number and type of German forces at each battle, and thus will be less likely to over (or under) commit your own forces, and also less likely to bring ill-suited weaponry and tech. - You'll be less likely to avoid or back down from winnable battles you would have previously considered to be un-winnable. Etc. Fighting a war (or doing anything for that matter) without proper intelligence turns it into a guessing game. It's always to your advantage to know rather than guess :)
  - icegreentea 16y ago
    One thing to remember is that German tanks generally outclassed the western Allies tanks by the time of D-day. The M4 would lose going one on one with almost any of the main line German tanks, unless it had very favorable terrain. The number of Panthers that Germany could field in the west was very much important to the success of the D-day invasions. Had the allies had solid intelligence that Germany had several times greater number Panthers and Tigers, it's entirely possible that they would have done D-day completely differently. Of course, this is all with hindsight.
DanLivesHere 16y ago
I intentionally left it out -- it would have made the email too long. The fact that it's valuable, I think, is obvious (450 tanks versus 1400). How valuable? Not as important. For the same reason, I also left out that the Allies used the same mathematical tools to estimate supply lines. If you're seeing a "rate of production" in Berlin of 100 units/mo, and for the same unit type, only 25 units/mo in Paris, that's probably evidence that it's taking a really long time for that unit to get to Paris.

iuygthjkllkjnh 16y ago

Knowing how many tanks the other guy has, and how quickly they can build more new ones is generally of some interest if you are having a war with them

ramchip 16y ago
My impression is that it is a strategic advantage of course, but not a "big advantage". Knowing that the enemy is weaker then expected is good, but it's not directly useful like decrypting Enigma communications or acquiring research material. If it really affected the war, I would have liked to see why.
- csallen 16y ago
  Here are a few possibilities of the advantages afforded by knowing an enemy makes 255 tanks/month: - You may figure it's worth your time to go out of your way to bomb a few extra tank factories, as the payoff will be 5.5x greater than it would if they were making 1400 tanks/month. - You may save money on R&D. Instead of devoting tons of resources to anti-tank weaponry, your more realistic estimate will lead you to spend money countering more important threads. - You'll have more realistic estimates of the number and type of German forces at each battle, and thus will be less likely to over (or under) commit your own forces, and also less likely to bring ill-suited weaponry and tech. - You'll be less likely to avoid or back down from winnable battles you would have previously considered to be un-winnable. Etc. Fighting a war (or doing anything for that matter) without proper intelligence turns it into a guessing game. It's always to your advantage to know rather than guess :)
- icegreentea 16y ago
  One thing to remember is that German tanks generally outclassed the western Allies tanks by the time of D-day. The M4 would lose going one on one with almost any of the main line German tanks, unless it had very favorable terrain. The number of Panthers that Germany could field in the west was very much important to the success of the D-day invasions. Had the allies had solid intelligence that Germany had several times greater number Panthers and Tigers, it's entirely possible that they would have done D-day completely differently. Of course, this is all with hindsight.

DanLivesHere 16y ago

I intentionally left it out -- it would have made the email too long. The fact that it's valuable, I think, is obvious (450 tanks versus 1400). How valuable? Not as important. For the same reason, I also left out that the Allies used the same mathematical tools to estimate supply lines. If you're seeing a "rate of production" in Berlin of 100 units/mo, and for the same unit type, only 25 units/mo in Paris, that's probably evidence that it's taking a really long time for that unit to get to Paris.