Two Ukrainian Neptune Anti-ship missiles hit and damaged The Moscow, the Russian's Black Sea Flag ship. The ammunition deck is on fire and all hands have abandoned the ship. The Moscow was the destroyer flag ship of the Russian Black Sea fleet. She fired cruise missiles into Ukraine and now she is headed for the bottom.
 |
| The Moscow before she was hit with two missiles |
She is the largest warship to be destroyed by enemy action since WWII. This is an enormous blow to the prestige and capability of the Russian Navy.
Prior to the Moscow being hit, she attacked a Ukrainian force on a Ukrainian Island and in a radio exchange demanded the soldiers surrender. The soldiers responded "Go Fuck Yourself Russian Warship!" Somewhere, General Anthony McAuliffe, the General at Bastone when the 101 airborne was surrounded in December, 1944, is smiling. When the German commander asked for his surrender, General McAuliffe replied: "From the American Commander, Bastogne, to the German Commander: NUTS!".
What we are seeing is a repeat of the lessons of history- a big and well equipped but unmotivated army is no match for a smaller, well trained and highly motivated army. At the start of WWII Germany had the largest and most professional army in the world. A bunch of young men, citizen soldiers, from the cities and plains of the United States put on a uniform, learned to shoot a rifle, and emerged victorious. Two hundred and fifty thousand British men, their country facing imminent invasion, went to Egypt and defeated Germany's best tank divisions and their most brilliant general, while 18 and 19 year old pilots dueled and beat the Luftwaffe over the skies of their country.
As we marvel at the bravery and courage of the Ukrainians, the words of Winston Spencer Churchill ring true once again: Never was so much owed by so many to so few.
Well done Ukraine. Well done indeed.
The irony that you have overlooked the Russian (Soviet) army's HUGE contribution to the victory against the Nazis in the face of this current discussion of the Russian army is rich.
ReplyDeleteAround 34 million Soviets fought in WWII. By the end of the war, the Soviets had lost roughly 10 million soldiers in the fighting against the Germans and the Red Army was still over 11 million men strong. Nobody can say for sure what might have been. But only a fool would suggest that the western armies defeated the Nazis in a vacuum, or that the crush of millions of Red army soldiers on the German eastern front didn't meaningfully soften the German western front for the US et al. Don't forget that it was the Red army, not the US or UK, that captured Berlin.
I am no Russian apologist. Fuck Putin and the tank he rode in on. But let's not live in fantasy land either, please.
Yay ! 🧨 🎯 🔥 💪 🌻 🇺🇦
ReplyDelete1:06 my dear amateur historian- careful study of the German invasion of Russia, which I have devoted many many years to as part of my life long study of famous battles, shows that the Germans were especially afraid of the Ukranian soldiers and worked to avoid fighting them. That being said, the USSR's contribution to WWII was immense. The USSR as a nation and people bore the brunt of damage and devastation wrought by the German army. It is doubtful England could have held out without the second front, and the war would have taken years longer to prosecute to a successful conclusion. I have never shortchanged the importance of the Soviet army in WWII.
ReplyDeleteBut make no mistake, in this current war, Russia as the illegal invading army, is Germany. They have no moral right to this action. Their soldiers are mostly conscripts and are not motivated. Indeed intelligence reports many battalions were tricked and lied to and told only that they were engaging in training. They were demoralized to be confronted and cursed at by old Ukrainian women as they crossed the border, and they have shown themselves to be an ill equipped and badly trained army.
The Russian army has been exposed. They are not nearly as powerful as we expected. Poorly trained, poorly led, they cannot overcome the basic needs of an army on the move- logistics.
Only the threat of the use of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons has kept NATO from imposing a no fly zone. If NATO did so, I believe we would see that their air force is also poorly trained and equipped and would be quickly neutralized.
Anyway, keep studying history. It is a worthy endeavor and I am always here to correct and mentor. I am very much a frustrated history professor.
NATO shouldn't give in to nuclear blackmail. All that does is embolden Putin as he knows his extortion scheme is working and giving him the desired results.
ReplyDelete