The very presence of tanks in the Reich is not an answer to the question of the reason for the success of the "lightning war".
German tanks were inferior in quality to their rivals. A significant part of the tank forces of the Wehrmacht, in the years 1939-1941, were light tanks "Panzer - 1" and "Panzer - 2" (in fact, tankettes with machine guns). Even the most advanced German tanks "Panzer - 3" and "Panzer - 4" were inferior in gun power and armor to the French Somua S-35 and B 1 bis tanks. Soviet tanks, medium "T-34" and heavy "KV", already in service with the Red Army, in a fairly significant number, also outnumbered German tanks.
German tanks did not outnumber the enemy either. On May 1, 1940, the Wehrmacht had 1077 Panzer-1, 1092 Panzer-2, 143 Panzer 35 (t), 238 Panzer 38 (t), 381 Panzer 3, 290 Panzer - 4 "and 244 command tanks (armed only with machine guns), that is, a total of 3365 tanks. The French army had 1207 light tanks "R-35", 695 light tanks "N-35" and "N-36", about 200 tankettes "AMS-35", and AMR-35 ", 90 light tanks FCM-36 ", 210 medium tanks" D1 "" D2 ", 243 medium" Somua S-35 ", 314 heavy" B1 "- a total of 3159 tanks. With British tanks, the Allies had more tanks.
The difference between the Wehrmacht and the French armed forces is not in number and quality, but in organization. In the Reich, a new principle of organization for tanks was developed, which greatly helped in organizing the blitzkrieg.
Reform
The reform of tank formations began on October 12, 1934, when they completed the development of a scheme for organizing the first tank division in the 3rd Reich. The 1st tank division consisted of: 2 tank regiments, the 1st motorized infantry regiment, the 1st motorcycle battalion, the 1st reconnaissance battalion, the 1st tank destroyer battalion, the 1st artillery regiment and auxiliary (engineers, signalmen, sappers), rear units. On January 18, 1935, General Lutz, Inspector of the Motorized Forces, began the formation of 3 armored divisions.
The first divisions were formed by poor machine-gun "Panzer-1", but most importantly, formations were created that were capable of not only breaking into enemy defenses. The innovation consisted in the fact that such divisions could, after breaking into the defense, develop an offensive on their own. Tank divisions received autonomy: they could fight with enemy reserves, capture important objects, restore crossings, remove a minefield, destroy obstacles, wage an artillery duel, hold important points (hold the defense).
Tank divisions were able to shake the entire defense system, creating the possibility of encirclement operations. The possibility of "lightning war" arose, when, having surrounded and destroyed the main forces of the enemy, the enemy was forced to stretch the troops, remove reserves, patch up "holes", introducing chaos into the defense system.
In September 1939, the Wehrmacht was able to consolidate the military reform in practice, without much risk - in the war with Poland.
In 1939, the reform had not yet been completed, the most common organization being a Panzer Division with 2 Panzer regiments. It had a tank brigade - 2 tank regiments, each with 2 tank battalions, a total of about 300 tanks and 3300 personnel; motorized infantry brigade - motorized infantry regiment (2000 people), motorcycle battalion (850 people). The total number of the division is 11,800 people. The artillery composition of the division: 16 - 105 mm guns, 8 - 150 mm guns, 4 - 105 mm, 8 - 75 mm guns, 48 - 37 mm anti-tank guns. So 5 divisions were organized, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.
In addition, there were non-standard units, the named division "Kempf", the 10th tank division, they had the 1st tank regiment, from 2 battalions. The 1st light division had 3 tank battalions, other light divisions had 1 tank battalion. The Polish campaign exposed the shortcomings of such an organization.
From October 1939 to mine 1940, a new reorganization took place, the light divisions were disbanded. 10 tank divisions were created: 6 (1-5 and 10th) had 4 tank battalions, 3 divisions - 3 tank battalions (6, 7, 8th), one - 2 battalions (9th).
After the surrender of France, the command carried out another restructuring - the number of tank divisions was brought to 20. Mainly by crushing existing divisions and creating new divisions on the basis of tank regiments. Now in all divisions there was a 1-n tank regiment, consisting of 2-3 battalions. The number of tanks was compensated by an increase in their quality by re-equipping tank units from "Panzer-2" to "Panzer-3". "Ideal", 3-battalion tank division in June 1941 (armed with "Panzer-2, 3, 4"), there was only one - the 3rd, under the command of Walter Model. Who then became one of the best generals of the Reich.
The divisions armed with Czechoslovak tanks were also 3 battalion ones, but this was no longer an optimization, but a compensation for their low quality in quantity.
Thus, the success of the German "blitzkrieg" depended not on the number and quality of tanks, but on their organization. The Wehrmacht took up with its skill and tactics.
