The opening of the second front. In Russia, most people still walk in the illusion that the whole world considers us the winners in the Great War. In fact, the history of World War II has already been rewritten in the world. The West created their own myth about the world war. In this myth, the winners are Great Britain and the United States with their allies. Moreover, the USSR is already together with Germany in the ranks of the instigators and instigators of the world war. Stalin is placed next to Hitler. Communism is on a par with Nazism.
How Germany prepared to defend France
The inevitability of the opening of a second front in France in connection with the heavy defeats on the Russian front was obvious to the German military-political leadership. In this respect, they assessed the situation quite realistically. At the end of 1943, the Reich went over to the strategic defense and, as before, sent all the main forces and resources to the East. However, the Red Army was still far from the vital centers of the Third Reich. A different situation could have developed in Western Europe in the event of the appearance of a second front in France. Back in November 1939, Hitler, amid the outbreak of World War II and the threat from France and England, noted that Germany has an "Achilles heel" - the Ruhr. Opponents could attack the Ruhr area through Belgium and Holland.
However, this opportunity was not used by the Anglo-French armies in 1939, when the Allies waged a "strange war" against Germany, trying to send Hitler to the East. Nor did the Anglo-Americans open a second front in 1941-1943, waiting for the Third Reich to crush the Soviet Union and destroy the Soviet (Russian) project of globalization based on the co-prosperity of countries and peoples, which threatened the Western project of enslaving mankind. In fact, the masters of the West gave Hitler such assistance that he could not receive from any of his European allies. France (before the occupation), Britain and the United States helped Germany avoid a war on two fronts, which was the greatest fear of many leading German politicians and military personnel. The Third Reich was able to concentrate all its forces to destroy the USSR.
After the collapse of the plans to conquer living space in Russia and the destruction of the USSR, the transition of the Red Army to a strategic offensive, the threat of an offensive by Anglo-American troops from the West arose. The Moor has done his job, the Moor can leave. Hitler has practically fulfilled his destined role. He could no longer do more (except for causing maximum damage to the Russians). The USA and England were now to land in Europe as liberators and conquerors.
On November 3, 1943, Hitler signed Directive No. 51, in which he noted the threat of an "Anglo-Saxon invasion" in the West. The document outlined measures to keep the "European fortress". The German high command attracted all types of armed forces for the defense of Western Europe: the navy, aviation and ground forces, which were to play the main role in repelling an enemy strike. Particular attention was paid to the organization of the defense of the Atlantic coast., To the construction and improvement of the existing system of fortifications on the French coast. Orders for the construction of fortifications in France were given already in 1942, when the Hitlerite command became convinced of the failure of the "blitzkrieg" plans in the USSR. However, work on the creation of the "Atlantic Wall" was carried out slowly. So, by the end of 1943, there were about 2,700 artillery and over 2,300 anti-tank guns of various calibers along the entire coastline with a length of 2,600 km. 8449 permanent fortifications were also erected. This was clearly not enough to create a deeply echeloned defense on the French coast. The Third Reich did not have the necessary forces and resources to solve such a problem. They were involved in the East. In addition, for too long the leadership of the Reich was confident that there would be no second front. Therefore, work in France proceeded without the mobilization of all forces and means, the concentration of efforts of the authorities and command. As a result, the construction of reinforced concrete fortifications on the coast of the English Channel could not be completed in time, and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in France was not reinforced at all.
The German command admitted the possibility of a successful enemy landing on the coast. Therefore, the Germans were preparing to stop the enemy's further advance with crushing blows from mobile formations and throw him into the sea. German troops in the West (in France, Belgium and Holland) united in Army Group "D" under the command of Field Marshal Rundstedt. The German commander believed that the defense of the coast should be based on large reserves, primarily mobile formations. Tanks and motorized infantry could deliver powerful blows to enemy landing forces and throw them into the sea. In January 1944, Field Marshal Rommel was appointed commander of Army Group B (15th and 7th Armies, and the 88th Separate Army Corps). He believed that armored units should be deployed along the coastline, immediately beyond the access zone of enemy naval artillery, since enemy aircraft would not allow moving mobile formations over a long distance. Rommel also assured that the landing of troops far in the West (in particular, in Normandy) was not considered by the enemy, and a small number of tanks could be sent there. As a result, the panzer divisions were dispersed. Only two divisions were transferred to the northern coast of France west of the Seine, and only one of them to Normandy.
Thus, Rommel's orders led to disastrous consequences for the German army during the Allied landing. There is a version that part of the German generals, participants in a long conspiracy against Hitler (including Rommel), sabotaged defensive measures on the Western Front and did everything to open the front to the Anglo-American troops. Since, with the real power of the Wehrmacht's mobile formations (they showed themselves in the Ardennes operation), they would simply have thrown the Anglo-Saxons into the sea if the strike groups had been saved and transferred to the landing site in time.
German forces
Army Group B consisted of 36 divisions, including 3 tank divisions. They defended a 1300 km stretch of coastline. The 1st and 19th Armies, which were defended in a 900-kilometer sector along the western and southern coasts of France, were combined into Army Group G under the command of General Blaskowitz. Army Group G consisted of 12 divisions, including 3 tank divisions. Both army groups were subordinate to Rundstedt. In its reserve there were 13 divisions, including 4 tank and 1 motorized (Panzer Group "West").
Thus, the Germans had 61 divisions in the West, including 10 armored and 1 motorized. However, the combat effectiveness of these forces was lower than that of the divisions on the Russian front. Elderly, limitedly fit soldiers were sent here. The equipment of the troops with weapons and equipment was worse. There was an acute shortage of heavy weapons, especially tanks. The defeats of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front led to the fact that the promised reinforcements were delayed, people and equipment first of all went to the East. Infantry divisions in the West were usually understaffed and had 9-10 thousand soldiers. The tank divisions looked better, they were manned, but the number of tanks was different - from 90 to 130 vehicles and more. By the end of May 1944, the Germans had about 2,000 tanks on the Western Front.
The German defense in the West looked especially bad from sea and air. The German fleet in Northern France and the Bay of Biscay could not withstand the combined power of the Anglo-American Navy. Of the 92 submarines that were based in Brest and in the ports of the Bay of Biscay, only 49 submarines were intended to repel the landing, but not all of them were on alert. The 3rd Air Fleet stationed in the West had only 450-500 aircraft by June 1944.
In addition, the German command made a mistake in assessing the possible landing site of enemy troops. The Germans believed that the Anglo-Saxons would make a landing across the Pas-de-Calais, followed by an offensive in the direction of the Ruhr region. At the same time, the Allies could cut off the main forces of the German Western Front from Germany. The area was convenient for disembarkation due to the presence of a large number of good ports in Dieppe, Boulogne, Calais, Dunkirk, Antwerp, etc. That is, the landing troops were easy to reinforce and supply. Also, the proximity of the British Isles made it possible to use allied aviation to support the landing with maximum efficiency. All of this was reasonable. Therefore, the Germans created the most solid defense here (the engineering work plan was completed by 68% by June), deploying 9 infantry divisions here. Each division had about 10 km of coastline, which made it possible to create a good defense density. And in Normandy, where the Allies landed troops, there were only 3 divisions on 70 kilometers of the coast. The defense was poorly prepared (only 18% of the planned engineering work was completed), the defensive orders of the German divisions were greatly stretched.
Operation Overlord
The allies had an overwhelming superiority in forces and means. The Germans had more divisions, but they were numerically and qualitatively weaker than the allies. Anglo-American infantry divisions numbered 14-18 thousand people, armored divisions - 11-14 thousand. American armored divisions had 260 tanks each. The airborne troops included 2, 8 million people, the Germans had 1.5 million people in the West. The Anglo-American forces had 5,000 tanks against about 2,000 German troops, 10,230 combat aircraft against 450, overwhelming superiority at sea.
The Allies began the operation with the forces of the 21st Army Group under the command of British General Montgomery. It consisted of the 1st American, 2nd British and 1st Canadian armies. The landing was carried out in two echelons: 1st - Americans and British, 2nd - Canadians. Provided for the simultaneous landing of 5 infantry divisions with reinforcement units (130 thousand soldiers and 20 thousand vehicles) in five sections of the coast and 3 airborne divisions in the depth. In total, on the first day of the operation, it was planned to land 8 divisions and 14 assault armored groups and brigades. On the very first day, the allies were going to seize tactical bridgeheads and immediately combine them into one operational one. On the 20th day of the operation, the bridgehead was supposed to have 100 km along the front and 100 - 110 km in depth. After that, the 3rd American Army entered the battle. In just seven weeks, it was planned to land 37 divisions (18 American, 14 British, 3 Canadian, French and Polish).
May 30 - June 3, 1944 Allied troops were loaded onto ships and vessels. On June 5, convoys of allied forces began crossing the strait. On the night of June 6, 2,000 Allied aircraft struck a powerful blow along the coast of French Normandy. These strikes did not do much harm to the defense of the Germans. But they helped the landing of the airborne assault, as they forced the German soldiers to hide in shelters. The 101st and 82nd American and 6th British Airborne Divisions were dropped by parachutes and gliders 10-15 km from the coast. Thousands of ships and transports under the cover of the Air Force and naval artillery passed the English Channel and at dawn on June 6 began to disembark soldiers on five sections of the coast.
The landing was sudden for the Germans, they could not disrupt it. The German Navy and Air Force were unable to provide effective resistance. And the response measures of the ground command were belated and insufficient. Only in the evening of June 6 did the Germans begin the transfer of reserves to Normandy, but it was too late. Three German divisions, which received the main blow of the allies, were chained by battles on a 100-kilometer sector and could not repel the blow of the superior enemy forces.
As a result, the seizure of bridgeheads on the coast and their expansion were successful. Allied naval artillery and aircraft quickly crushed individual foci of enemy resistance. Only in one sector, where the 1st Infantry Division of the 5th American Corps landed (Omaha sector), the battle was heavy. The German 352nd Infantry Division at that time was conducting exercises to defend the coast and was in full combat readiness. The Americans lost 2 thousand people and seized a bridgehead at a depth of only 1.5 - 3 km.
Thus, the beginning of the operation was very successful. By the end of the first day of the operation, the Allies captured 3 bridgeheads and landed 8 divisions and 1 tank brigade (156 thousand people). On June 10, 1944, one bridgehead was created from separate bridgeheads, 70 km long along the front and 8-15 km deep. The Germans transferred reserves, but still thought that the main blow would follow in the 15th Army's zone and did not touch its units. As a result, the Nazis were unable to concentrate the necessary forces and means for a powerful counterattack in time. The second front was opened. The allies fought to create a strategic foothold, which continued until July 20.
Revision of the history of World War II
In Russia, most people still walk in the illusion that the whole world considers us the winners in the war, that everyone knows that the USSR made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Germany. In fact, after the masters of the West were able to destroy the Soviet Union with the help of the betrayal of the Soviet elite, the history of World War II was already rewritten in the world.
The West created their own myth about the world war. In this myth, the winners are Great Britain and the United States with their allies. They defeated the Third Reich and Japan. The Russians in this myth "partisan" somewhere in the East. Moreover, The USSR is already together with Germany in the ranks of the instigators and instigators of the world war. Stalin is placed next to Hitler. Communism is on a par with Nazism. Russians are the warmongers of the World War, "occupiers and invaders." This myth now dominates not only in the West, but thanks to the leading Western media (with a global reach) and in the world community and in the former Soviet republics. He dominates the Baltic, Little Russia-Ukraine, Transcaucasia and partly Central Asia. Russian, Soviet soldiers in this myth are "occupiers".
Besides, things are already going to create a myth that Stalin is worse than Hitler, and the "bloody Bolshevik regime" in the USSR is worse than the Nazi regime. That Hitler defended himself, defended the then European Union from the intrigues and threats of Stalin, who planned to spread the "world revolution" to Europe. Jacob, Hitler delivered a preemptive blow to the Soviet Union, as he learned that Stalin was preparing a march to Europe.
The political results of the Second World War were revised. The Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations has already been destroyed. On the basis of this myth, plans are already being made to dismember the remnant of Great Russia (USSR) - the Russian Federation. The Japanese are demanding the transfer of the Kuril Islands. Nationalists in Estonia and Finland began to stir, demanding the transfer of part of the Leningrad and Pskov regions, Karelia. In Lithuania, they remember the historical rights to Kaliningrad. Soon the Germans may also demand the return of Koenigsberg.
World War II - the blow of the masters of the USA and England to Russia and Germany
Contrary to the deceitful Western history of World War II, which lays everything on the losing side (Germany and Japan) and the "bloody" Stalinist regime, namely The USA and England unleashed a world war. For this they used Germany, Italy and Japan as their "rams". They acted as "cannon fodder" of the masters of the West. The masters of London and Washington unleashed a world war in order to get out of the next stage of the crisis of capitalism and establish absolute power on the planet. To do this, it was necessary to destroy the Soviet (Russian) project, to subjugate the elites of Germany and Japan.
The Anglo-Saxons once again managed to pit the Germans against the Russians. Germany was a "club" in the hands of the West. In 1941-1943. Americans and British shared "Russian" and "German pies". They looked forward to colossal gain and absolute power on the planet. However, the great Russia (USSR) confused all the plans of the global predator. The Soviet Union not only withstood the fiercest battle in world history, but also became even stronger in the crucible of war. The victorious Russian divisions and armies began to push the powerful enemy to the West. Russia has confused all the plans of the Western parasites. Therefore, in the summer of 1944, the United States and England had to open a second front in Western Europe in order to prevent the Russians from liberating and occupying all of Europe.
At the same time, the masters of the West found a common language with part of the German command so that they would not be thrown into the sea. The German opposition in the country's elite hated Hitler and wanted to eliminate him in order to come to an agreement with the United States and Britain, to create a common front against the Russians. Therefore, the resistance of the Wehrmacht on the Western Front was minimal, all the strongest and most efficient troops were still fighting in the East.
