During World War II, the advantage of population quality was difficult to offset the advantage of population quantity.

The Soviet Union was one of the most populous countries in the world at that time. At the same time, it also had a vast territory The strategic depth is something that those Western European countries with narrow land and sparse population do not have.

The essence of Nazi Germany’s blitzkrieg is the rapid breakthrough of armored forces, outflanking, dividing and annihilating the enemy. In the Soviet Union, Germany In the early days of the war, the German army did this during Operation Barbarossa. Nearly 1 million Red Army troops on the Soviet-German border were instantly defeated (of course, the main reason was the Soviet high-level underestimation and insufficient preparation for the German attack)

< p>However, in the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad, the German armored troops were completely unable to play a role in street fighting. In the narrow ruins of streets and markets, the quality of the army was often put in a relatively low position. What wins is often courage and the number of soldiers

As a communist country, the political commissar system of the Soviet Red Army can often allow soldiers to burst out with the courage to die in a short period of time, and advocates the use of weapons and equipment. It was difficult for the victorious German army to do this, which also confirmed Liu Deng's famous saying: When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins.

The failure of the Battle of Stalingrad almost resulted in the loss of all the elite German troops. At the same time, Russia also ushered in a harsh winter. The German army originally planned to force the Soviet Union to surrender before winter and end the war on the Eastern Front, so there was basically no Prepare supplies for the winter.

Without winter clothing, no winter supplies, and no antifreeze devices for weapons and equipment, facing hundreds of thousands of almost crazy Soviet Red Army troops mobilized by propaganda in the harsh Siberian winter, I don’t want to care. No matter how high-quality the army is, it cannot resist it.

The higher the quality of the army in war, the more rational it will be. At the same time, the less courage it will have to fight with one's life and risk one's life. The French Army, which was considered the number one in the world in the early days of World War II, is a good example. , faced with a successful or failed war, the French generals surrounded by the German army often chose the path of surrender with dignity.

The Soviet army was different. In the Soviet Union, surrender was tantamount to treason, even if it was later If you can return home alive, you will inevitably die, and it will also affect your family and friends. Therefore, when the Soviet army is destined to fail, most of them choose to fight to the death

In World War II, 26.8 million people died in the Soviet Union, accounting for 10% of the total population. 14%, of which 14 million were killed in the army. However, the number of people killed in the British World War II only accounted for 0.6% of its total population, and the United States only 0.3%.

It can be seen that the low-quality military wants to achieve Although victory comes at a heavy price, low-quality armies can often rely on their large population and fearless courage to achieve results and results that only high-quality armies can achieve.