The amazing tenacity and cohesion of the German Army in Russia from
1941-1945, fighting against overwhelming odds but refusing to
disintegrate, has fascinated readers for decades. But most of the
available sources concentrate on the maneuvers of armies and panzer
corps, leaving the divisions, regiments, and individual soldiers in the
background. This fact has obscured skillful use of tactics employed by
the German soldiers at the divisional level and below. Until now, this
information has been sequestered in manuscript reports in various
archives. In German Battle Tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941-1945,
Professor Steven H. Newton has retrieved, retranslated, and annotated
the detailed tactical accounts of combat in Russia that German officers
provided their American captors after the war. In this collection of ten
essays, the Chief of Staff of the XXXXI Panzer Corps describes the final
furious dash toward Moscow. One of the commanders of the relief force
narrates the rescue of the troops trapped in the Demyansk pocket. A
corps commander on Manstein's right flank at Kursk analyzes the tactical
failures of the battle. And, in one of the more controversial documents
in the early cold war, the last commander of Army Group South recalls
his futile attempt to interest General Patton in assisting in the war
against the Soviets. A wide variety of tactical situations--from winter
warfare to desperate infantry defenses, and unit types--from panzer
divisions to cavalry brigades--are covered in this collection.
