The Soviet steamroller

1. Enormous manpower

On January 1, 1945 Stauka’s strength, according to Field-Marshal von Man-stein, was as follows: 527 infantry and 43 artillery divisions, and 302 tank and mechanised brigades, totalling 5,300,000 men, to the Germans’ 164 divisions (1,800,000 men) on the Eastern Front.

2.  The JS-3 tank

In the last six-month period, Soviet armoured strength had increased from 9,000 to about 13,400 vehicles, in spite of battle losses. This was all the more remarkable in that the Russians had changed over from the heavy KV-85 to the Stalin tank. This weighed 45 tons and its 122-mm gun was the most powerful tank gun of the war. It had a 600-hp diesel engine, a range of 120 miles, and a top speed of 25 mph. The Soviets also continued to build self-propelled guns, and in particular their SU-85,100, and 152 vehicles were to take heavy toll of both German permanent and field fortifications.

3.  Zhukov’s and Konev’s enormous resources

If we refer to Alexander Werth’s version of The Great Patriotic War, Volume 5, we see that Stauka allotted to Marshals Zhukov and Konev, commanders of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts

Respectively, the following forces:

1.  160 infantry divisions;

2.  32,143 guns and mortars;

3.  6,460 tanks and self-propelled guns; and

4.  4,772 aircraft.

The air forces were divided into two air armies, one to each front. The 16th Air Army (General S. I. Rudenko) was under Marshal Zhukov and the 2nd (General

S. A. Krasovsky) under Marshal Konev. Stauka had thus done things well and the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts had a superiority over the German Army Group "A”, according to Werth, of:

(a)  5.5 to 1 in men;

(b)  7.8 to 1 in guns and mortars;

(c)  5.7 to 1 in armoured vehicles; and

(d)  17.7 to 1 in aircraft.

If we realise that the superiority of the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts (respectively under Marshal Rokossovsky and General Chernyakhovsky) must have been similar, it will be realised that, rather than trying to create a bogey with which to frighten Hitler, Gehlen was on the contrary somewhat modest in his calculations.