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Radio War Nerd EP #454 — Operation Bagration, Pt. 2: Battle Begins, feat. Annibale (Patreon)

Published:
2024-07-07 16:22:46
Imported:
2024-07

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Content

Guest: Annibale

Recorded: July 3, 2024

Annibale is back with part 2 of his Operation Bagration series (part 1 here). This episode, we discuss the Red Army's initial breakthroughs in Belarus beginning on June 22, 1944, along the Vitebsk-Orsha line, Mogilev, and Bobriusk.

Maps

*Deployments during Operation Bagration

*Vitebsk-Orsha offensive, June 22-27

*Mogilev offensive

*Bobruisk offensive

*Check out part 1 of Annibale's Operation Bagration series, EP #453.

Total time: 1:50:18

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here

*

Subscribe to Radio War Nerd at patreon.com/radiowarnerd

Sound production by Telescope Audio

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Files

Comments

PostmasterFenian

My first exposure to weeb nazi weirdos was trying to order tamiya kits from hobby link japan most stuff on the bestsellers and landing page there is quite weird to say the least

Matt McCartney

Sunday brunch with Annibale. Life is good.

Al Goehring

Belandi! Ma che podcast, eeeeeehhh? Eh belandi ma non siamo Lega Nord, siamo Lega NERD! ah ah ah! e allora PAPEREEEEEEE

Borvis

I’ve found Bagration to be the most compelling operation ever since I read David Glantz’s book When Titans Clashed, which I really appreciated Annibale mentioning. Such an utter and thorough smashing of the Nazis that it was buried in the popular retelling of the war here in the U.S. lest anyone get the wrong idea about the relative skill and intelligence of our NATO pals in West Germany vs. “the Soviet threat.” Instead of hearing about an ingenious, well-planned, and daring attack on the erstwhile Kings of Europe by the Soviets, all you heard was that Stalin threw “waves after waves” of men at the Germans, a la Zapp Brannigan. An incredible insult to the Soviets who were not only fighting for their lives but to ward off extermination. Great episode. Thank you.

Annibale

There is no way someone who ain't Italian can make such a good Gabibbo impression!

Al Goehring

Haha thanks I thought he was so funny I had to learn to talk like him

hamburglar

The hardest part about listening to a new Annibale episode is knowing I have to wait instead immediately listening to the next

Joe S.

I'm very much looking forward to hearing Annibale's thoughts on lend-lease. I've found it hard to sort fact from propaganda on that issue.

Al Goehring

I loved some of what Varlam Shalomov wrote about lend-lease food (American bread is bland and has no fiber and collapses after baking, spam dissolves if you try to use it in soup, glycerine they called “American Honey,” etc)

Christopher Small

I wonder how much the Red Army’s “only reinforce success” mentality has persisted in the Russian army today. Like, I’d always assumed the Russians were attacking here and there in short bursts across the front in Ukraine as a means of neutralizing Ukraine’s interior lines (i.e. its runs the reserves ragged going back-and-forth, and always too late to do much good). But it would make sense if this was just the upper command going “oh, things have ground down here, no point throwing good money after bad, let’s switch it up.”

CR

I was thinking the same thing. That policy only rewards and reinforces very short term tactics and not really strategic thinking.

Joe S.

I'll have to look that up. The thought of just dumping raw spam into a soup is extremely upsetting though. Perhaps I don't want to know more.

Joe S.

A breakthrough in one area, if reinforced, can make the failure of an assault in another area irrelevant. That being said, I don't get the impression that the Russians are aiming for a WWII-style maneuver-warfare victory.

William

Mark, people have been saying the same things about the Russians since the Crimean war

Al Goehring

When gulag inmates complain, you know it’s bad! Shalamov actually liked the white bread because it had no fiber and said those carbs probably saved lives

Joe S.

Wonder Bread: if it's good enough for the gulag, it's good enough for your kids!

MoldyTolge

So great hearing the history brought to life. We could get Annibale episodes on anything, but I’d be interested to see if he’s done particular reading on Poland/General Plan Ost. He’s always turning up something.

Al Goehring

The short story is just called “Lend-Lease” actually

SHEEBCORE

sorry freaks, gonna have to wait for Futa War Nerd

Miko

off topic, could you guys do an episode on PTSD and war in the future? Maybe a guest on the topic? From world war I "shell shock" to today PTSD is a constant companion but it seems to wax and wane for elite discourse and populat attention to it. I would think that both warfigher and civilian PTSD from our many imperial wars has got to be severely undiagnosed. I remember in the early 80s there would still be documentaries that would touch on the topic in regards to the world wars, but feel like during the war on terror it got swept under the rug by most of polite society just as it became more obvious how many GWOT vets were mentally wrecked. Likewise my social media feed is a daily drip of mangled palestinian kids, and I feel something beyond weariness and depression knowing there's going to be more mangled kids on the timeline tomorrow and potentially for years to come.

Yup

We still need the end to the Italian Wars!!!! I believe Annibale said he wants two more episodes in Ep 3! Annibale does a breakdown of The War of the League of Cambrai in the final Venetian Republic episode, but I need to hear his version of Louis XII and House Angouleme!!!!

Jack Ross

I clapped like a seal when annibale said “do you want to hear a story? Do you want to hear a story?”

Christopher Small

I think it plays into the long term strategic thinking in so far as it chips away at the front and keeps the rate of attrition favorable. It's suits Russia's traditional situation where time and resources are on their side. Conversely, I think what Anibale was getting at with the Germans was that their thinking had to be the opposite. They were surrounded by enemies with greater resources, so they had to go for the decisive win, which means getting everyone to stick to the big stab at the jugular no matter what

Doug Cartel

Did a paper on this in college and let's just say I was still figuring out how research works. It was basically a really inefficient copy/paste job.

A.I.Schmelzer

Rokosovsky was the GOAT. One of the reasons he wasnt shot is that he could prove, using the Zvezda newspaper, that the person who supposedly made him betray was at that point already dead for 10 years. If you read his works, he uses the word "love" very frequently, some people think that, if a page in his work has the word love in it, he actually means the page.

Annibale

Sorry for the late response. I should have clarified that the "only reinforce success" Soviet policy was reserved for offensive and was a consequence of the "deep battle" operational doctrine. It meant more or less than at the Army level; the Front would look for several breakthrough opportunities but commit exploitation reserves only where the breakthrough was achieved. Similarly, strategic reserves would go only along the most favourable axis of exploitation. This must be understood, however, in the context of the Soviet tendency to apply pressure in a non-uniform, "staged" way along the chosen attack front, something for which "Bagration" is a perfect example. This made a coherent German response almost impossible because they had to shift their reserves up and down to try to "plug holes" in different locations simultaneously.

Annibale

It must also be understood that German doctrine required immediate counterattack into an open "breach" less than 24 hours after it opened. This made any Soviet attempt to break through a failed attack, putting more reserves largely futile, as it had been discovered many times in 1942-1943, particularly around Rzhev. Quick breakthroughs and exploitation were thus mandatory. Interestingly, in their progressively more rigid way of attempting to stop Soviet breakthroughs, the Germans tended to keep mobile armoured reserves closer and closer to the frontline. This led to some catastrophic mistakes; for example, the 24th Panzekorps, in the initial stages of the 1945 Vistula-Oder offensive, was placed very close to the Soviet Sandomierz bridgehead. When the Soviets attacked, the 24th Pz was supposed to quickly "close the gap", but they discovered, to their horror, that they were too close to the front. The Soviet breakthrough/exploitation had been so fast that a few hours after the attack started, the Soviet exploitation forces (3rd and 4th Tank Armies) were already BEHIND them on their way to Krakow). At the same time, the 24th PzKrp staging areas were being plastered by Soviet long-range artillery and "katyushas". When the Germans managed to regroup in the right direction and attempt a counterattack, they got overrun by Leylushenkos' 4th Guards Tank Army in the so-called "battle of Kielce", and two German panzer divisions were almost destroyed

Alberto Panerai

When is pt 3 coming out? I am hungry for more

Gengeros

If annibale could do a series on the Courland pocket that would be great.