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title: Germany_Strategy-_Taming_the_Bear
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Russia has massive manpower and military potential and often hostile
terrain. You must carefully plan your attack to reach definable
objectives before adverse environmental effects start to make your life
difficult.

-   The Russian army can be dealt with by motorized encirclement and
    destruction warfare.
-   The Russian environment can be dealt with by careful timing and
    preparation.

All other military options are meaningless distractions. Russian
industry is widely dispersed and is impossible to deal with by strategic
bombing. Naval blockades, for a nation as self-sufficient as Russia, are
totally useless.

This is one of the most difficult invasions as Germany. As you can see,
USSR\'s land mass is huge and it has a large army. However, you should
have much higher quality troops. Before the invasion, try to have 1941
infantry and improved medium tanks.

::: {#toc .toc aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading" role="navigation"}
::: {.toctitle dir="ltr" lang="en"}
## Contents {#mw-toc-heading}

[ ]{.toctogglespan}
:::

-   [[ 1 ]{.tocnumber} [ Be Prepared ]{.toctext}](#Be_Prepared)
-   [[ 2 ]{.tocnumber} [ Be Early ]{.toctext}](#Be_Early)
-   [[ 3 ]{.tocnumber} [ Two Offensive Seasons
    ]{.toctext}](#Two_Offensive_Seasons)
-   [[ 4 ]{.tocnumber} [ Deploy for maximum effect
    ]{.toctext}](#Deploy_for_maximum_effect)
    -   [[ 4.1 ]{.tocnumber} [ Multiple Axes of Attack
        ]{.toctext}](#Multiple_Axes_of_Attack)
    -   [[ 4.2 ]{.tocnumber} [ Single Axis of Attack
        ]{.toctext}](#Single_Axis_of_Attack)
-   [[ 5 ]{.tocnumber} [ Russia\'s Natural Offensive Limits
    ]{.toctext}](#Russia.27s_Natural_Offensive_Limits)
:::

#### [ Be Prepared ]{#Be_Prepared .mw-headline}

It is vital that you define your objectives and lines of attack clearly
in advance. You can predict likely defensive positions and break through
to surround and destroy them decisively. If you do not your offensive
formations will be engaged piecemeal and may suffer the risk of
encirclement themselves.

#### [ Be Early ]{#Be_Early .mw-headline}

Every year the Russian military churns out more and more modern infantry
units. In sufficient mass they can make your life very difficult indeed.
If you have a plan and the units to implement it, do not wait another
year just to make sure your armour is all Medium rather than Light
tanks, nor to make sure your air support is all the latest models. Be
bold and strike early.

#### [ Two Offensive Seasons ]{#Two_Offensive_Seasons .mw-headline}

Observe weather map behavior year-round. As historically, Western Russia
suffers from heavy mud in the Spring and Autumn. **Mud is more fatal
than any other condition to the progress of armored and motorized
formations.** Your best time to attack is immediately after the clearing
of the
[\'Rasputitsa\'](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputitsa){.external
.text rel="nofollow"} - this gives you the longest campaigning season.
Because air support is more effective in the summer, the ideal time to
attack is May - watch the mud dry out for yourself on the weather map.

#### [ Deploy for maximum effect ]{#Deploy_for_maximum_effect .mw-headline}

Deploy your armed forces sensibly.

Your strategic plan will include the likely locations of defensive
obstacles, e.g. major cities, swamps, forests, etc: and obstacles that
limit enemy movement (e.g. the sea).

You must deploy armored and mechanized groups en masse so as to get the
highest chance of achieving one or more decisive encirclements. They
need to be deployed flexibly, i.e. in relatively small Corps. There are
no benefits to large unit size - if the mechanized units encounter a
serious obstacle they must either encircle it or wait for
reinforcements.

The armored units must be assisted by the infantry. Their role is:

-   To provide overwhelming force at the initial point of breakthrough
    of enemy lines
-   To pin in place enemy forces that are subsequently to be encircled
-   To assist in the destruction of Soviet pockets, in particular in bad
    tank terrain (cities, marshes)
-   To move up in support of the spearhead.

##### [ Multiple Axes of Attack ]{#Multiple_Axes_of_Attack .mw-headline}

Ideally, you\'ll have enough troops to divide them into three or more
large army groups. The Northern Army Group should try to capture
Leningrad and Moscow. The Center Army Group should try to capture
Stalingrad and Sverdlovsk. The Southern Army Group should try to capture
Baku and help the capture of Stalingrad.

##### [ Single Axis of Attack ]{#Single_Axis_of_Attack .mw-headline}

If you assess that you have relatively few armoured/motorised units it
may be best to aim for a single axis of attack. In this case you must
ensure that you infantry and artillery keep other areas of the front
under continual pressure so that the enemy is not able to concentrate
all their forces on your principal axis.

#### [ ]{#Russia's_Natural_Offensive_Limits} [ Russia\'s Natural Offensive Limits ]{#Russia.27s_Natural_Offensive_Limits .mw-headline}

There are areas of Russia in which it is impossible to conduct a
mechanised offensive. The roadless Arctic forests, the Caucasus
mountains, and the Central Asian deserts. These terrain features are a
natural defensive limit - when you have pushed te Russians back that
far, the balance of combat tips back to the Russians favour. Ensure that
you have destroyed enough of their forces so that you can achieve your
strategic objectives before becoming bogged down here.
:::