larry johnson speaks about our war with russia;

David Glantz and Jonathan House did mankind a service when they delved into Soviet Army archives and produced a must read about World War Two — When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. This book is not just about the earthshaking events from 80 years ago, when the Soviets shrugged off initial devastating losses and proceeded to eviscerate the German Wehrmacht in the course of the war on the Eastern front. The book is still relevant because it provides an understanding of Russia’s approach to military planning and combined arms that is unfolding in Ukraine.

I was particularly struck by the authors’ account of the Operation Citadel aka the Battle of Kursk because of the parallels with Ukraine’s failed 2023 counter offensive. For starters, both the Soviets of 1943 and the Russians of 2023 knew that there was an impending “offensive” or “counter-offensive.” Neither the Germans of 1943 nor the Ukrainians of 2023 made any efforts to obscure their intent to launch a major offensive.

Then there is the matter of defensive entrenchments. The Soviets constructed hundreds of miles of trenches and fighting positions in depth along the expected axis of attack. The Russians erected what is commonly known as the Surovikin lines — a series of defensive structures 30 kilometers deep and spread across a hundred mile front. These Soviet and Russian entrenchments proved effective in defeating the respective Nazi and Ukrainian offensives..........more.........