@Imperious:
Thats way off topic.
In that case I’ll post something on-topic to get this thread back on track. And I’d encourage you to do the same.
Germany’s original plan to invade France didn’t involve a plan to take Paris or knock France out of the war. Instead the plan was to take the Low Countries and Channel ports; and hope for the best from there.
Von Mannstein, working together with Guderian, created an alternative plan–a plan many German generals tried to keep away from Hitler. In a tactical sense von Mannstein’s plan was far more imaginative and daring than the original German generals’ plan had been. But von Mannstein more clearly saw the bigger picture. He realized that if the tactical situation remained relatively static, the combined industrial potential of Britain + France + the peacetime U.S. would greatly outproduce Germany in the long run. A fairly high level of tactical risk was justified if in exchange Germany could significantly improve its strategic situation. Von Mannstein’s desire to change Germany’s strategic situation was also why he initially favored Operation Sea Lion.
Many of Germany’s other generals didn’t seem to understand the need to accept increased risk at the tactical level in order to reduce risk at the strategic level. They were overly focused on tactics; and didn’t have von Mannstein’s ability to see the big picture. Von Mannstein’s ability to see the big picture is one of the (many) ways in which he rose far above the average level of German generals; and why he should have been put in charge of Germany’s entire war effort.
