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Regardless of anything else, in this well-known quote Zhukov isn't describing a human wave attack. He furthermore explains how the casualties of ignoring infan
by the_af 2y ago
Regardless of anything else, in this well-known quote Zhukov isn't describing a human wave attack.
He furthermore explains how the casualties of ignoring infantry mines are in the end about the same. Remember minefields were not really used as area denial but for delaying operations. An offensive operation that gets successfully delayed results in much greater casualties later on, as the enemy has more time to prepare or retreat in an orderly fashion. Which is the whole point of using minefields!
But in any case, as Zhukov explained, the casualties of ignoring mines vs taking the time to disable them would have been about the same. So no real difference in lives.
The context of Zhukov's quote also matters. Unlike the case with the Western Allies, the war between the USSR and Nazi Germany was existential. Had the USSR lost, there was no surrender or retreat possible. There was no "going back home" or being "under new management": Nazi Germany had their Generalplan Ost, most of the Soviet officers would have been executed and more importantly 80% of the Slavic population of Eastern Europe would have been executed as well. When facing this kind of outcome, the tradeoffs that must be made are different.
But this is all a tangent, because what Zhukov describes is not a human wave attack. A human wave attack is infantry charging in waves, without cover or any tactics, and getting mowed down by dug in enemy infantry, without care about casualties and without any thought for tactics. This is definitely NOT what the Soviets did; in fact commanders who wasted the lives of their soldiers in this way were reprimanded, punished or removed from their posts (with some exceptions, of course, but exceptions also happened with the Western Allies).
- ajuc 2y agoThat's the good faith interpretation. Then you look at soviet loses vs everyone's else :)
- the_af 2y agoWell, the Eastern Front was fought with a savagery unmatched by the other theaters. It was a war of extermination after all. There's no denying the Germans were tactically superior (and the Soviets pretty bad, especially initially, as evidenced by their disastrous performance during the Winter War), just as the Germans were logistically and operationally inferior, especially as the war progressed.
- ajuc 2y agoHave everybody else not did that calculation too? Were they all wrong about it and soviets were the only ones who were right it reduces loses overall? We know soviets just pushed people through minefields. We know soviets had huge loses - higher than everybody else. Your reading is that it's unrelated because the guy that did it said so :) For me this is just excuses/trolling exhibiting the typical soviet attitude towards human life. And it's very much related to their higher loses through the wars they fought.
- the_af 2y agoWait, no. Two different things here. One, this is not a "human wave", are we agreed on this at least? Human wave describes something else. Zhukov describes attacking through minefields as if they weren't there, not running recklessly and getting mowed down in waves. They actually took cover, advanced tactically, etc; they just ignored minefields. Two, their higher losses were mostly due to tactical incompetence in relation to the Germans, plus a much more desperate situation (not comparable with anything the Western Allies faced). As for the Allies, did they not consider this tradeoff? Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but the tradeoff was different to them. A delay in a Western Allied operation was concerning but had different outcomes for them -- what was at stake was different. A delay in a Soviet operation had vastly more disastrous and costlier consequences (in lives). So what is the alternative? Take a very careful and time-wasting approach to minefields, such as wasting lots of time to disable them while avoiding hostile artillery and MG fire, or avoiding that avenue of approach entirely? Acceptable to the Allies, but disastrous on the Eastern Front. What do you mean, "trolling"? For decades the accepted thinking on the Eastern Front was what the Germans told the Allies. I call that the ultimate trolling... history as told by the losers! I recommend some reading of Glantz and House, both renowned military historians, both retired American vets, both expert on the Eastern Front.
- ajuc 2y ago> Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but the tradeoff was different to them Yes. Because they don't value human life as much. That's the point. > What do you mean, "trolling"? Taking pride in shocking westerners with your recklessness. > A delay in a Soviet operation had vastly more disastrous and costlier consequences (in lives). Notice how when it was politically beneficial - soviets waited for over a month on Vistula river bank while on the other bank Polish resistance was securing passage and fighting Germans.