Now that we are getting into it in the regular episodes, I want to ask if anyone has ever written counterfactuals about the Rzev pocket, which was actually a much bigger battle than Stalingrad. I’m wondering in particular if commands had been different if the German generals could have changed the outcome of Stalingrad either by
A. causing raiding damage so severe that the Soviets could not extend the AFVs to make a double encirclement of the 6th Army, meaning Manstein could break through or
B. Deceive the enemy enough they could seriously denude the pocket’s defences enough to give Manstein’s relief forces enough reinforcement to break through the double encirclement?
Reason I ask is that it seems to me the Rzev pocket is the PERFECT place for psychological warfare kit raiding and other non-cauldron operations. If you had an unconventional senior officer who was innovative enough to conduct operational trench raiding, you could do SERIOUS damage in that sector, especially given the surviving Soviet senior officers were not known for creativity and STAVKA was way more interested in command and control than victories that undermined their authority (at this time). No Bonapartes was the motto of the Reds from the time of Lenin’s death.