WW2: The Eastern Front: German and Russian Train warfare…
I’ve always known about armoured trains, and for me it was a fascinating topic. However, I never found any decent video footage or writings about train warfare and how it worked or did not work. But of late I’ve been reading a lot about the Wehrmacht and many of their amazing battles in the USSR in WW2. The battles I’ve been reading about are much smaller than the big battles we’re used to.
The smaller battles are utterly fascinating. I might make use of some of them in my videos. Some of them are insanely interesting.
But for the first time ever, I read of Germans versus the "Partisans" (i.e. the Terrorists/Guerillas) who would attack trains. German train warfare was really quite a massive and ongoing thing. The Partisans would attack trains, especially if there were tanks or heavy artillery on them.
But the Germans worked out their own tactics to fight against these attacks/ambushes of these trains. I found it amazing. And the distances some of those German troops went by train is incredible.
The 6th Panzer Division for example, travelled 4,000 Km by train from France to Russia to fight in the attempt to save Stalingrad. I can’t remember the exact number, but I think it took about 50 trains to move the men and equipment for 6th Panzer Division. It took the troops WEEKS of travel by train to eventually reach their destination.
Once in Russia they had to be prepared at any time of day or night to fight back against an attack against the trains.
I never knew it was this bad. I found it all very riveting. But as can be expected the Germans had worked out tactics and methods for everything and those German soldiers on those trains fought back and they killed and captured a lot of these Partisans. (There were many Jews among them I think).
I walked away totally insanely impressed by this.
When I have time I’ll read and look more into warfare on the Eastern Front. That war was the greatest war in all of history. The Americans and British know nothing about warfare. The Eastern Front was a war of brutality with a scale and complexity unlike anything any White men have fought.
And those Germans were AMAZING!