Posted on Jan 29, 2014
What are opinions of the worst defeat of a land army in history?
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I thought I might add a military history question. I study military history, strategy, and tactics as a hobby. Interested to see opinions on the worst defeat of a land force in recorded history, does not have to be American history. Ill start this thread with my vote for the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. GO!
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Military History
Military History
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
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I'd say the bypass and fall of the French Maginot Line. It gave birth to a new form of war.
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SGT (Join to see)
Good choice, and it did open a new chapter in warfare, not only due to the proof that fixed fortifications were limited in effectiveness, but also in the ability to move armored units through dense areas previously thought impassible to such types of units, as shown in the actual flanking of the Maginot Line.
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Cpl John Davis
It was the first modern use of maneuver warfare since the Roman soldiers out flanking the Greek hoplites.
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SGT (Join to see)
....have anymore?...Ill add one, for mass of captured soldiers and equipment, the massive Russian losses at the outset of Barbarossa
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SGT (Join to see)
The Rommel Papers is an interesting read on just how helter skelter this period was and supports your point. Many incidents in which they simply "drove by" armed French units and no resistance was given and they didnt even take the time to disarm them. He was actually ordered to stop forward momentum as he had left his support units soo far behind
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As a good German of Prussian decent, I'd submit the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. This battle broke the Prussian Army and allowed Napoleon to subjugate the Prussian-Saxony army, leaving only Russia as an obstacle to total French domination of the continent of Europe. Among major Prussian military thinkers present, Clausewitz, Gneisenau, and Schoernhoerst were all officers that faught on the Prussian side. Each drew lessons that shaped German strategic thinking for over a century, leading two both WWII invasions of France through the Low Countries.
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