Quote:
Originally Posted by Feanor
A Mechanized Corps (Red Army term for tank corps) at the berginning of the war is 1021 tanks according to Viktor Suvorov's "Day M".
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When discussing the Red Army in WWII one has to remember that there were essentially
three Soviet armies and organizations:
The first was the early war army - spastic, mis-handled, and largely reactive, it was essentially destroyed on paper and in fact by 1942 and accomplished very little. So the early war organizations were gigantic and bloated but they didn't survive the first winter so it didn't really matter.
The second was the mid-war army - it was a stop-gap defensive force and was also essentially ground down and destroyed by the end of 1943, but it took a heckuva lot of Germans down with it. Fewer field grade officers and many new recruits required that the Sovs fight with regimental- and brigade-sized units without truly effective higher level organizations for them to operate in.
The third was the late-war army of 1944 - 1945. It was an offensive force and, while it didn't quite destroy itself getting to Berlin, it was a tired and spent force when the Great Patriotic War ended. By '44 real Division and Corps-level Headquarters existed once again (even if they were called Corps and Armies by the Sovs) and the Red Army gained the ability to operate large forces effectively. Very effectively.
-dale