why the Nazis didnt destroy all the important train tracks that the Russian Red Army used in WWII?

Question

was this difficult to do really? how much the Red Army used the rails to provide them with soldiers and equipment and why same wasnt done to German rails?

as seen at even the end of the war that trains were still transporting tanks to germany and thought this very strange.

please explain what you can.


thanks for your answers!

Answer 1

There are a number of reasons why the tracks were not destroyed. Probably the most significant is that it is difficult to do a good job when your army is retreating as you don't want to destroy the tracks too soon as it hampers your retreat, but leave it to late and the tracks get over-run.



Whilst ripping up the tracks is fairly easy (I've seen photos of a plough being pulled along the track destroying all the sleepers), it's far more difficult to destroy the route in such a way that it can't be rapidly brought back into service by re-laying the lines. Explosives can make a mess of tunnels and bridges but the majority of the track on the grade or in small cutting / embankments won't be badly affected.



Back on the bridges / tunnels front, again these have to be destroyed at the last minute. Whilst it was on the western front, the bridge at Remagen is an example of what can go wrong. The bridge was wired with explosives, but the explosives were fired too late (to allow a retreat across it) and failed to go off fully, leading to the bridge falling almost intact into allied hands.

Answer 2

Well, the train tracks in Russia are different from the rest of Europe. They consist of a middle or third rail. During the planning stages of Barbarossa Foreign army's east(intelligence for the eastern campaign) knew this and sit aside an entire brigade of engineers to solve the problem. They fell woefully behind due to many reasons-the main one being pulled away from a job to work on another by a different commander.



Also, the grade of fuel produced by the Russians was not up to the standards needed for the modern motorized units so this plan begin to fall apart just as the rail situation did.

The constant mistrust of the General Staff had the Fuhrer convinced that these problems were inside jobs(he was correct) The office of the quartermaster general, in charge of supply, had to go to the Supreme Command to deal with these major problems. There are large gaps in the shorthand recordings of the briefing staff at this time so how this was handled is not quite clear. Using my experience I can reason that the Fuhrer was forced to decide the importance of individual shipments of material-which is a no win situation.

A command change was the result as the Fuhrer moved section L under Warlimont out of OKW and under the supervision of Jodl(OKH). This now put this part of the planning staff under the control of the supreme command. This was an infuriating insult to the General Staff and set the stage for future supply shortages and the constant battle between the Fuhrer and his own staff now had a life of it's own.

Answer 3

The Germans didn't destroy the train tracks in Russia because they needed to use them for their supply trains. However, the Russian tracks did slow down the Germans. The gauge (distance between the rails) of Russian train tracks was different what German trains used. The Germans had to re-gauge all the Russian train tracks before their trains could use them.

Answer 4

because By 1943 germany was so low on fuel it only used aircraft to kill the eneny



the NAZIS used about 700,000 horses in WW2 because the British denied them the Oil fields In north Africa



the Germans were Being supplied with fuel and oil about 36 % by standard oil up to 1944



The worlds Biggest Refinery was in Abadan could Process 14 Million Tonnes of Crude per year



and Egypt a Modest 500,000 tonnes the Indian Army was Given the Job to protect the Iranian Oil fields and 150 Mile Pipe line and all Going to the British



Throught WW2 the British never suffered a Fuel or Petrolium By product shortage



that was why the RAF could put up 1000 bomber raids on a regular basis

Answer 5

They needed to use the rail tracks in the occupied parts of the USSR themselves, so would not have wanted to destroy them.



As for the rest of the Soviet rail network, it's very difficult to destroy rail tracks unless you're on the ground and able to work on them close up and personally. Bombing them is pretty ineffective as you need a direct hit to sever the line, and even if you accomplish this it's easy for the enemy to repair. Artillery has the same problem and can only attack lines a few miles away so it's even less effective.

Answer 6

No sensible chief is going to conflict without each and all the factors to salary conflict and in case you have a Mechanised military then you definately choose steel (presented from Sweden as much as 1945) ball bearings (SKF made in the u . s . a . as much as 1945) yet oil substitute into the biggest difficulty even even with the undeniable fact that prescott Bush maintains to furnish Germany via ability of properly-known oil it substitute into no longer adequate Germany substitute into importing Oil from the u . s . a . 36% of Germany's desires Russia substitute into offering 4 million Barrels a 300 and sixty 5 days the British on the different had by no ability had petroleum scarcity The worlds greatest Refinery substitute into in Abadan ought to technique 14 Million Tonnes of Crude according to 300 and sixty 5 days and Egypt a Modest 500,000 tonnes the Indian military substitute into Given the interest to guard the Iranian Oil fields and one hundred fifty Mile Pipe line The Germans used Over seven-hundred,000 horses in WW2 because of the fact of this there have been No enormous weapons at Dunkirk and after the conflict of england while Germany nevertheless had the prospect to Take North africa went of at a Tangent and attacked Russia consequently Loosing 4 million barrels a 300 and sixty 5 days even after the Minister in value of Germany's gasoline and Munitions Albert Speer advised hitler in october 1940 at Germany's modern fee Germany will Run out of gasoline in 2 years via the tip of 1943 there substitute into no longer something germany ought to do the Nazis had bled themselves Dry the conflict of the Bulge substitute into the final gasp and the L:ost because of the fact the tanks ran out of gasoline