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By Root 1426 0

missions of importance in the First World War, and it turned out they may have been the most important in the Second World War. Germany’s entire air force was constructed around the tasks of reconnaissance and close air support.[320] Allied air forces wanted to be more. Because of theories put forth after the First World War by many air theorists, such as Italian General Giulio Douhet[321] and Sir Hugh Trenchard of England, aviators thought by bombing civilians the enemy nations would cave in. They thought the bomber would always get through. However, radar and other modern inventions soon showed the bomber would be detected and shot down unless it got some help. Moreover, bombing did not cause civilian populations to demand peace. And why anyone thought a totalitarian nation would listen to its people is another unanswered question.

Some have concluded that indiscriminate bombing, as well as using the atomic bomb, was a war crime. This is based on the idea that killing civilians is illegal and immoral; however, ever since Sherman’s “March to the Sea” civilians have been fair game in modern war. The civilians support the war, manufacture the machines of war, produce the food that keeps the army in the field, and provides the soldiers necessary to fight the war. Destroy the workers and the nation’s ability to fight dissolves. Thus, there are no civilians in modern war. The Islamic terrorists know this, but many in the civilian world are loathe to admit this reality of our modern world.

Even with one thousand plane raids on Germany and around-the-clock bombing, air power did not work its predicted magic. It did kill many people and spread the misery of war far and wide. Now everyone suffered. Children and their mothers died right along with the soldiers. What a charming world we had invented.

The Eastern Front—After Stalingrad

The war in Europe was won for the Allies on the Eastern Front. The Soviets knew about the German offensive in the Ardennes through their excellent spy network in Nazi Germany (and everywhere else). Typical of the Soviets, they did not alert the Allies about the planned attack. Instead, they gathered their forces for another push at Hitler after his reserves were committed in the West. As the war in the East progressed, Soviet attacks were launched over a wide front with great effectiveness.[322] The ability to achieve deep armored penetration and encirclement destroyed German Army Group Center in Operation Bagration[323] and constituted the final extinction of any German hope of shielding the homeland from the rapacious swarms rushing from the east. Germany was unable to supply its troops with enough of anything, and the harsh Russian winters continued taking their toll. The basic Soviet attack consisted of enormous numbers of troops and tanks, supported by large numbers of aircraft and artillery, falling upon German positions in all-out attacks of the most violent nature. The USSR had complete control of the air. With new aircraft types produced in enormous numbers, the Luftwaffe was simply being swept aside. Stalin’s orders included shooting commanders who failed, so Soviet commanders drove their troops inexorably forward while ignoring losses. Hitler’s orders hindered the German commanders and prevented proper troop dispositions with the net result of defeat after defeat for the Nazis.

Spies were everywhere in the Nazi regime, and they were working for the Soviets. As a result, Stalin knew Hitler’s every plan. Before the battle of Kursk on July 4 through 20, 1943, the last German offensive in the east, the Soviets knew about the attack through their Lucy Spy Ring, and constructed numerous and deep defensive lines in front of the German assault positions. The USSR assembled 1,300,000 men; 3,600 tanks; 20,000 artillery pieces; 2,400 aircraft; laid over 1 million mines; and had 23 antitank guns per kilometer in the Kursk salient. The Soviets even knew the time of the German attack, and opened an artillery barrage on German positions just prior to the German assault. At Kursk, the Wehrmacht threw