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Old 10th April 2007, 22:22
Mirek Wawrzynski Mirek Wawrzynski is offline
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Re: Historical Text on the Origins of WW2 on the Eastern Front - Peer Review Requested

Hi Denes

Quote:
In mid-June, the Red Army had overall superiority over the Wehrmacht and the small Axis allies in almost all military aspects. The ratio was approximately 1.1:1 in manpower, 3.6:1 in armour, 2.5:1 in aircraft, and 8:1 in artillery to the Soviets’ advantage (it has to be noted, however, that the dry figures are somewhat misleading, as the majority of Soviet aircraft and armour was obsolete to the day’s military standards.
In my opinion the superiority of the Soviet was much more higher then your figures. There were about 10.700 combat planes (excluding U-2/Po-2 + several hundred civil planes of "GVF/AEROFLOT" and a few tens of planes of NKVD aviation in 2 border squadrons + several independent flights. NKVD squadrons had for example SB bombers on the strength and made in the first day of war several bomber missions against Germans. The Axis air force power was about 3.500-3800 combats planes. According Soviet sources they had about 4.000 planes.

Second Germany had panzer force which had PzkpfwI., II, III, IV, and for several hundreds examples of Pz.I, and Pz. II, which were total outmoded even with Soviet, these several 1000s "old" T-26 or BT-5, BT-7. Such Soviet tanks like: T-34s, KV-1s, KV-2s had not any German tank opposition. Soviet had these top modern tanks about 1.500 on the Western borders. German several hundreds Pz.IVs were no match with these “obsolete” Soviet’s tanks, produced in 1940/41.

I still do not understand the "fear" spread among many Western historians (see: Bergstrom book vol. I: Black Something + Something Red) about obsolete Soviet air power. And I can not sill understand the superiority of German bomber force, which had such top "modern" planes like: Ju 87, Hs 123 and reccon Hs 126 planes over Soviet I-16 typ 18 and over type 24, 29 and I-153. There were also many cases, that bombers He 111s and Ju 88s were cached by I-16 typ 24 or I-153. These not modern fighters were produced in 1939-1941. I do not mentioned yet about 1.000 very modern MiG-1, -3 fighters, which Soviet had more then Luftwaffe had on the East all Me 109 E and F.

So your opinion about these still obsolete Soviet aircraft and armour is very for me strange. Maybe you believe, that Romanian P.11, P.24, Slovak biplane Avia B.534 or S.328 or Finnish D.XXI and Brewster B.239 were better, much modern planes then I-16 typ 24, 27, 29 or I-153 or MiG-3 (?). This is a joke? I-16 type ten or typ 5 were in this period already replaced by modern planes.

In my opinion you had not mentioned about Soviet BUS- bolshyje ucziebnyje sbory. This was a military code official introduced by Soviet in 1939. Exactly mean Soviet army mobilization. Soviet had twice had ordered this army mobilization before summer 1941. RKKA had about 5.000.000 soldiers in the army.

Next gen. Zukov had got the nomination to take miliatry power of Kiev Special Military District (south_western forn since 21 VI 1941 - one day before German premtive attak with the order to immediately travel to the command post in Tarnopol not so far from the border with Germany.

Quote:
Lieutenant-General Ivan I. Proskurov, explained Stalin already in August 1940 that Germany could not successfully invade Great Britain, he dismissed him (he was executed in October 1941).


Proskurov (1xHSU) was dimissed by Stalin in May 1941, but he was arrested by NKVD on 27 VI 1941! 5 ays after 22 VI 1941.

Strange, that you have ommited to mentioned that on 28 October 1941 were executed by NKVD with Stalin acceptance the last 3 main chief of VVS RKKA, before gen Zygariev. There were killed: Loktionov, Smuszkiewits (2xHSU) and Rychagov (1xHSU) with his wife major Niestierenko. This was a pruge done by Stalin among high Red air staff in 1941. The air commanders were arrested by NKVD since March 1941. Rychagov was arrested for example on 24 VI 1941 - 2 days after 22 VI).

I do not underline more thing about your text. I had written about this events and much more concerning air operation in my 3 texts, printed in Poland see (text only in Polish!):

1)The Day of Armagedon. Dzień Armagedonu - uprzedzenie „Czerwonego Blizkriegu”. 22 czerwca 1941 r. rozbicie wojsk lotniczych Stalina, vol. II, p. 14˝, [in:] Militaria i Fakty 1 (26) /2005.
2) The Day of Armagedon. Dzień Armagedonu - uprzedzenie „Czerwonego Blizkriegu”. 22 czerwca 1941 r. rozbicie wojsk lotniczych Stalina, vol. 1, p. 10˝, [in:] Militaria i Fakty 4(25)/2004.
3) Red Blitzkrieg. Stalin invasion on Germany in July 1941. Czerwony Blitzkrieg. Inwazja Stalina na Niemcy w lipcu 1941 r., p. 17, [w:] Militaria i Fakty 2(24)/2004.

Regards
Mirek Wawrzyński
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