Hitler'S Wave-Breaker Concept

Among the many controversies of World War II, prominent is the debate over Germanys strategy in the north of the Soviet Union, as the tide of war turned, and gigantic Russian armies began to close in on Berlin. In this long-awaited work, Henrik Lundeformer U.S. Special Forces officer and author of renowned previous works on the campaigns in Norway and Finlandturns his sights to the withdrawal of Army Group North. Providing cool-headed analysis to the problem, the author first acknowledges that Hitleroften accused of holding onto ground for the sake of ithad valid reasons in this instance to maintain control of the Baltic coast. Without it, his supply of iron ore from Sweden would have been cut off, German naval (U-boat) bases would have been compromised, and an entire sympatico area of Europeincluding East Prussiawould have been forsaken. On the other hand, Germanys maintaining control of the Baltic would have meant convenient supply for forces on the coastor evacuation if necessaryand perhaps most important, remaining German defensive pockets behind the Sovietsmain drive to Europe would tie down disproportionate offensive forces. Stalwart German forces remaining on the coast and on their flank could break the Soviet tidal wave. However, unlike during todays military planning, the German high command, in a situation that changed by the month, had to make quick decisions and gamble, with the fate of hundreds of thousands of troops and the entire nation at stake on quickly decided throws of their dice. As Henrik Lunde carefully details in this work, Hitler guessed wrong. By leaving four entire battle-hardened armies in isolation along the Baltic, the Soviets pulling up to the Oder River encountered weaker opposition than they had a right to expect. Having economic (or aid) resources of their own they cared little for Hitlers own supply line and instead simply lunged at his center of power: Berlin. Once that was taken the remaining German pockets could be wiped out. The Germans deprived themselves of many of their strongest forces when they most needed them, and the climactic battle for their capital took place. In this book, both combats and strategy are described in the final stages of the fighting in the Northern Theatre, with Lundes even-handed analysis of the campaign a reward to every student of World War II.