Challenges+That+Russia+Posed

CHALLENGES RUSSIA POSED

Even though Germany had an easy time invading Russia at first, several factors would soon slow down their advance. Some came from Stalin's ferocity and ruthless tactics. Others came from the size, climate, and huge population of Russia itself.

The following documents were written by a German soldier. Read them and answer the questions on the page Mr. Bobsein gave you.

This first document describes the problems Germany faced due to the geography of Russia. [By this point, the German invasion has been halted, and the Germans are currently retreating from the Russian counter-attack.]
 * //“The extraordinary mobility of the German army- one of the best things we had going for us- disappeared entirely in Russia, as we plodded along at the rate of three miles an hour. // **
 * //… // **
 * //As we were too far from any of our airfields, Russian planes completely controlled the skies. This morning, five Russian planes had appeared despite the bad weather. Our tired men reacted automatically with self-defense, staring desperately at the flat plain for somewhere to hide. But, like animals caught in a trap, we understood there was no way out. We dropped to one knee, and attempted to shoot back. I saw several men torn to pieces by Russian bullets, but nevertheless we managed to bring down one of the planes. It was our bad luck that the plane crashed into one of our medic trucks full of wounded men. It created a crater 20 yards wide filled with shattered flesh. No one cried out, in fact, no one even stopped to look. We simply picked up our stuff and went on. // **
 * //… // **
 * //I have never seen a countryside so huge and so empty. We were supposed to reach our destination after 5 days, but it is now the 6th, and still we march, plowing through mud at an average speed of 2.5 mph. The trucks and other vehicles which had gas had passed us long ago. The vehicles without gas were pulled by the few half-starved horses we hadn’t eaten yet. We were supposed to receive more gasoline- God knows how, probably by air?- so that we could continue to drive, but none came. // **
 * //… // **
 * //The weather remained frightful. This was particularly hard on the sick and feverish- undernourished, dehydrated men with filthy wounds and bodies barely covered by ragged uniforms. But the worse the weather was, the better for me because that meant the Russian planes could not fly. Indifferent to anything, we continued our slow march. // **
 * //… // **
 * //Two or three times a day, some men were ordered to wait and slow down the enemy, to give the rest of us more time. The men chosen for this task dug shallow holes which only protected a quarter of their bodies. There they waited for the Russians to crush them. We knew we would never see them again. We sometimes lost hundreds of men like this, who were simply wiped out by the Russian tanks.” // **

In the next account, the German soldier describes another problem their army faced in Russia- they were hopelessly outnumbered. While the German army might have had a technological advantage over the Russians, Stalin figured out how to use his numbers in such a way that it no longer mattered. ** // “One morning the sergeant’s whistles drove us from the overheated hut where we slept. A patrol of Soviet tanks was just over a mile from us. The cold as we ran outside was like a blow from the butcher’s axe. Each man galloped to a precise point. // **

** // We had not yet reached our positions when the sound of heavy explosions shook the thin air to the west of us. Russian tanks, charging like maddened bulls, had driven into our minefield. Now it was the turn of the Russian tank crews to go up in smoke. Our observers were watching through their field glasses. Almost all the tanks were trying to withdraw the way they’d come. Our artillery remained silent, leaving the tanks to the mines. Firing might even set off more of our mines, and we couldn’t afford to waste any. // **

** // However, three Russian tanks had managed to cross the minefield and were driving toward the town in a roar of chains and exhaust. With extraordinary courage, they took the fire of our 37 anti-tank guns without slowing down. Next they were hit by our camouflaged tanks, with their terrible 88mm guns. In a sequence as unreal as anything Hollywood could create, all three tanks were hit by our first salvo. One turned over and exploded. Another stopped dead like a boar hit behind the shoulder. The third, although hit, turned without stopping, exposing its side to our anti-tank machine guns, which ripped off all its outside guns. It continued, on though, desperately trying to turn away from our guns. It went right back into the minefield, though. A series of explosions ripped the tracks off his left side, and the tank slowly came to a stop. As the thick black smoke poured out, two figures climbed out. But we did not fire at them. Both Russians were holding their pistols, prepared to fight. When they didn’t hear any guns, they threw down their weapons and raised their hands. A moment later we brought them in. Our infantry considered them heroes for their bravery. We took them to a hut and gave them schnapps. We felt no hatred for these brave soldiers. // **

** // During the following night, we sent out patrols to re-lay the minefield. Our defensive fighting was relying more and more on mines to take the place of our lost men. // **

** // The next night, though, the Russians sent a human wave of Mongols (people from a part of the USSR called Mongolia) against us. Their function was to knock out the minefields, by crossing it. The Russian generals wanted to save expensive tanks, so they sent out humans, as they had so many of them. // **

** // The attack failed, of course, but Stalin wasn’t looking for success. The minefield exploded under the howling mob, and we sent out a curtain of fire to destroy anyone who had survived. The pieces of the corpses froze very quickly, luckily, so we didn’t have to smell it. // **

** // We tried sending out a patrol to replace the mines, but the Russians were ready to fire on anything that moved. We could no longer depend on the mines to protect us- Stalin’s trick worked. We knew survival was no longer likely.” // **

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