Pablo22510 wrote:
Rommel obviously wanted the wall. Makes it harder to disembark, doesn't it?oceanhawk wrote:
Not really, Rommel wanted the wall,
Give me one good argument why Rommel is better... and some examples in combat..
Look, I'll give you an example. When the Allies disembarked, Rommel wanted to fall back to the Seine-Rhone line, fortify himself there, where his inferiority in numbers wouldn't matter, and then launch a quick counterattack with two Panzer divisions and send the Allies back to the beaches.
K time to debunk this once and for all
Rommel’s was an overwhelmingly minority viewpoint. His superior, Rundstedt, supported a completely different approach to the defense of northwestern France. The Werhrmacht‘s senior active-duty field marshal found his position strongly supported by the commander of German armored forces in the West, General Schweppenburg. The Rundstedt-Geyr von Schweppenburg operational solution basically said that there was nothing they could do to prevent a successful Allied landing. Instead, they championed tactics much in consonance with German operational and tactical doctrine, as expressed in Die Truppenfuhrung (Troop Leadership, cant speak German very well, so spelling may be a bit off), the Wehrmacht‘s basic doctrinal manual. The two generals argued that German forces in the West should concentrate available armored forces for a massive counterattack against the Allies once they were ashore. , the panzer forces should be held back from the coast; then once the Allies had landed, the panzers would concentrate and move forward to counterattack. German armor would also then be available to execute a mobile defense that would utilize superior Wehrmacht training, tactics and equipment. Manstien was behind Rundstedt's idea, and helped to plan it.
As for the Atlantic Wall, it was a complete failure and an Huuugggeee waste of time and resources. The Germans had, with stunning effect, shown the advantages of mobile warfare. To revert back to static defense, which harkens back to the type of trench warfare used in WWI, proved the dire straits that Germany was really in. It had already lost air superiority and had never really gained mastery of the seas. This, combined with the vast amount of men and materials chewed up in the East, made it's loss in Normandy an all but forgone conclusion....
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