Something Strange, Strange, Strange on the Eastern Front!

Reference

Track width in 1941

- Germany

- Panzer IV: 38 cm

- Panzer III: 36 cm

- Soviet Union

- T-34 medium tank: 55 cm (simplified version 50 cm was also available)

- KV-1 heavy tank: 70 cm

- ほうこうおんち

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Hitler accounted for "Russia's winter" in his plans.

Napoleon I suffered a crushing defeat during his Russian campaign. The phrase "defeated by General Winter" is widely known. Learning from this, Hitler devised a strategy to attack the Soviet Union as the snow melted, aiming to capture or destroy key areas before winter's onset. Although the late thaw that year and an emergency in the Balkans delayed the campaign until June, the fragility of the Soviet army initially allowed the invasion to progress smoothly.

However, something unexpected occurred in September, when the weather turned into a prolonged rainy season. Mornings and evenings became bitterly cold.

"But it was so hot until August," some remarked, unaware that even the hot days had been fewer than usual.

From Poland into Soviet territory, where transportation infrastructure was poor, the land turned into a quagmire. Germany's tanks began to get bogged down in the mud.

The tracks of German Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks were narrow. While these tanks boasted excellent maneuverability and mobility on the battlefield, their high ground pressure made them immobile in muddy conditions. In contrast, the Soviet T-34 tanks had wide tracks, and they began to demonstrate remarkable performance on muddy battlefields.

The quagmire also strained German logistics. Germany relied on horse-drawn transport due to a shortage of vehicles across the vast frontlines. Even the horses struggled in the mud, and supplies could no longer reach the front lines. Of the few supplies that managed to make it through, ammunition was still usable—it didn't spoil. However, bread delivered in the rain was often moldy, and wet sausages fostered dangerous bacteria that caused severe food poisoning. Food shortages began to plague the German front lines.

Additionally, the quagmire caused disease outbreaks in the German ranks: tetanus from wounds contaminated by mud; epidemic typhus, which thrives in unsanitary conditions, as seen in the Napoleonic wars; severe fungal infections caused by damp socks soaked through with muddy water. From life-threatening illnesses to excruciatingly itchy conditions, a variety of diseases afflicted the German troops.

These maladies were the subordinates of "General Winter," nicknamed "Colonel Quagmire," "Dr. Epidemic," and "Ambassador Hunger."

However, the abnormal weather didn't only afflict the German forces. The prolonged spring and autumn rains that fell on rye fields led to a poor harvest.

Hitler issued the order: "Seize the breadbasket of Ukraine."

However, Ukraine's wheat harvest was poor. Meanwhile, Soviet troops from Eastern Siberia began arriving at the European front via the Trans-Siberian Railway. In this region, soldiers and civilians alike—on both sides, friend and foe—began to suffer from famine. Yet, neither Hitler nor Stalin understood the gravity of this situation from the rear.

One said: "If we had seized the breadbasket earlier, this wouldn't have happened!"

The other said: "Hold out until the Eastern Siberian reinforcements have fully arrived. Failure means execution!"

Both armies poured massive forces into a battlefield devoid of food, exacerbating the famine further.

This change must have been welcome news for the Soviet leadership. By mid-September, snow began to fall.

"Snow, at this time of year?"

The Germans were caught off guard, while the Soviets rejoiced: "This must be God's... no, my bad! This is Comrade Stalin's miracle!"

However, even Soviet soldiers at the front muttered in annoyance, "Why is it snowing at a time like this?"

By October, the cold intensified rapidly. Temperatures had already dropped below -10°C.

"This is unnatural," many began to think.

In Moscow, closer to the frontlines, Stalin himself started to notice the anomalies. However, the "Man of Steel" prioritized victory over such concerns.

"Counterattack! Launch an offensive!"

The German advance was already faltering: heading south yielded no food, going east brought no supplies, and progress slowed to a crawl. The Germans were unable to reach Moscow. The Soviets, initially prepared to retreat to Moscow, saw no reason to let the enemy approach their capital if the tide was turning in their favor. Thus, they launched a massive offensive at the Smolensk-Moscow midpoint along the Vyazma-Borodino line, where the Germans had claimed victories during the summer.

"What are they doing!? I told them repeatedly to secure Ukraine first! And yet, they insisted on attacking Moscow, so I allowed it. But now they can't even reach Moscow? Is the Army slacking off!?" Hitler shouted furiously in Berlin, warming himself by a stove.

Meanwhile, the Soviets also miscalculated. The entirety of their Eastern Siberian forces had yet to arrive. The offensive had clearly been launched prematurely, leaving them short on manpower. Additionally, the frozen mud restored the Germans' tanks to their former mobility. Even so, the Germans' 37 mm tank guns and short-barreled 75 mm cannons were unable to penetrate the armor of Soviet T-34s and KV-1 heavy tanks.

The battle dragged on inconclusively, with the Soviets holding a slight advantage. What prevented a total German defeat was their air power. With the battlefield not far from Moscow, German bombers launched supportive attacks from their rear airfields.

By November, however, even that crucial German air support faltered. A stagnant front formed over Soviet airspace. A low-pressure system from the Arctic collided with a high-pressure Siberian cold air mass, blanketing the area. The stationary front created a two-layered cloud structure: a lower cloud sea and an upper cloud sea, with a clear gap between them. Yet, any aircraft attempting to fly through the gap encountered severe turbulence. To avoid being shot down by turbulence, German aircraft flew at lower altitudes, where they were intercepted by Soviet fighters. German planes, which performed best at high altitudes, became easy prey for the Soviet air force.

By mid-November, temperatures had dropped below -40°C.

"Comrade Stalin, this is clearly abnormal."

"I know that. But victory is paramount. Without victory, nothing else matters."

Even as people froze to death in Moscow, Stalin roared his orders, surrounded by maximum heating.

German tanks came to a halt. The gasoline engines of German tanks could still run since their fuel could vaporize, but their lubricants froze. Without cold-weather adaptations, they were now useless.

However, Soviet tanks also stopped functioning. Powered by diesel engines, Soviet tanks had been outfitted with cold-weather measures such as antifreeze. But these adaptations were based on lessons from the previous year's war with Finland, which had been comparatively less severe. Diesel fuel designed to endure up to -30°C turned into a waxy substance in the -40°C cold, rendering the tanks immobile.

At this point, it became a matter of sheer willpower.

This wasn't some story from an island nation—tanks couldn't be moved with determination alone, but human bodies could still be pushed to their limits. From the heated Kremlin, Stalin ordered no retreats, insisting that the Germans be driven back even without tanks.

On the German side, Hitler who was warming his hands by a stove issued a Führer directive: "Seize Moscow and take shelter there for warmth. Until then, I will not permit a single step back!"

The Soviet soldiers were slightly better off.

Having suffered heavily against Finnish forces during the Winter War, they had overhauled their winter gear. Thick gloves, insulated coats, and snow-ready boots offered some protection, albeit briefly. Meanwhile, German soldiers desperately kept firing their machine guns—not just to fight, but to stay warm. If they stopped shooting, they would freeze. This futile expenditure of lives and ammunition eventually forced the Germans to retreat.

During the ensuing 10-day pursuit, both sides were decimated. German soldiers dragged their exhausted bodies as they retreated. Soviet soldiers pursuing them in little more than overcoats froze to death along the way.

The battle ended in a Soviet victory, with the Germans driven back. The German army was devastated, losing a massive number of tanks, military vehicles, and horses. However, Soviet casualties were even greater than those of the Germans. While the Germans had superior combat strength, the Soviets were better adapted to endure the cold.

Receiving news of the German retreat, Stalin smugly declared to those around him, "See? Our scorched-earth strategy left the Germans without warmth, and they crumbled! Deny them a single piece of bread, a drop of soup, or a moment of warmth, and victory is ours! Our army's perseverance has delivered this triumph!"

No one dared correct him, for fear of being purged.

The truth was, there had been no scorched-earth strategy. The situation had simply deteriorated into something worse than scorched earth all on its own. It was true that the Germans had neither bread, soup, nor warmth. But the Soviets fared little better—they barely had half a piece of bread, half a drop of soup, or even a fleeting moment of warmth. This battle cost both armies over a million lives combined. More soldiers froze to death than were killed in combat—around 400.000 on both sides. Additionally, three times that number of civilians succumbed to the cold.

Both leaders realized midway through that "something is wrong with this weather." However, once events were set in motion, neither could stop them. This battle served as a stark illustration of that truth.

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The next chapter will be uploaded at 18:00.

- ほうこうおんち