Quote:
Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman
I always get annoyed by this concept that the Russians where ill-trained, ill-equipped, ill-motivated and got lucky because the enemy leader was a moron.
|
The Soviet army west of the Urals
was ill-trained in 1941. And only had two leaders worth a damn, Timoshenko and Zhukov. The good troops were facing the Japanese ... until Stalin received word that the Japanese were not going to be a threat, intending to go after the US instead, allowing him to transfer them west. (Why he didn't do it sooner, regardless of the Japanese, is further proof that losing troops by the hundreds of thousands wasn't part of the Soviet defense plan. Stalin was expecting the troops west of Moscow to hold, which they failed to do.)
Stalin didn't allow a reorganization of the army even after the near-disaster of the Winter War exposed just how crappy the Russian army was. That didn't begin until Zhukov took over the defense of the Moscow front. It's a testament to how good Timoshenko was that he pulled a victory in the Winter War from what was an ongoing defeat, and Zhukov managing to pull together routed units and civilians and defend Moscow long enough for the Siberian units to arrive and turn the tide.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 95th Rifleman
The Russians had one of the best SMGs ever made (PPSH), they had excelelnt snipers who carried effective and modern (for the time) sniper rifles. many concepts of modern sniping where developed by the Russians.
The Russians turned rocket artillery into an art form with their masse katyusha bateries and today's western MLRS systems are a direct descendent.
|
The Russians also had superb tanks from 1940 onwards, and then there's the IL-2 "flying tank". And some of the best medium and heavy field artillery used in WW2. I could go on.