"Ah, the clean Russian air !"
JUNE 22 1941 at 4 a.m..... Operation Barbarossa... First German artillery salvos over Russia...
6 million men, 18,000 tanks and 12,000 aircraft face each other. The Wehrmacht is no more over-equipped than it was for the invasion of France. Only 8 additional divisions, including 1,200 tanks, but hardly any more guns and 1,000 fewer aircraft...
They benefit from recovered French equipment, but spare parts and ammunition become a problem in the field...
Half of the panzers have weak armor and guns. 70% of infantry traction and transport is on horseback. Stocks of petrol, ammunition and spare parts would ensure 4 to 6 weeks of fighting.
But the 3 million German soldiers had confidence in their weapons and their leaders. The world's only army in terms of tactical efficiency, experience and morale...
