General Heinz Guderian
December 1941,
During Rastenburg airfield’s conference with Hitler, I described the situation of the 2nd Panzer Army and 2nd Army to Hitler and the officers of his entourage and about my decision for the withdrawal on 5th December. When I spoke of my intention to withdraw both armies to the Susha-Oka position – which has already commenced and was approved by then Field-Marshal von Brauchitsch – Hitler shouted, “No! I forbid that!” I was certainly taken by surprise by his outburst of anger. I told him straight that the withdrawal has already commenced and reiterated the reasoning for withdrawal. He certainly did not get it. Here’s the conversation that ensued.
Hitler: “If that is the case they must dig into the ground where they are and hold every square yard of land!”
I: “Digging into the ground is no longer feasible in most places, since it is frozen to a depth of five feet and our wretched entrenching tools won’t go through it.”
Hitler: “In that case they must blast craters with the heavy howitzers. We had to do that in the First World War in Flanders.”
I tried to explain to him the shortage of ammunitions we are facing at the front but he failed to comprehend. He insisted on his order that we remain where we are.
Here stands a man who had never attended military school and does not understand the situation up front…
Heinz Guderian
No comments:
Post a Comment