This episode of real engineering is brought to you by Skillshare. Home to 15,000 classes that could teach you a new life skill. The first 400 people to sign up using the link in the description will get a 2 month free trial. World War one was a static, grueling war. Weapon technology had advanced quickly, but the technology to carry these weapons lagged behind, resulting in bloody face offs between entrenched armies. No battle embodies this ghastly form of war more than the Battle of Verdun on the Meuse river, which was the longest battle of world war one: lasting 300 days with over 1 million casualties, a stalemate where territory was won with the lives of the men brave enough to push forward into the storm of bullets and explosive shells raining from all directions. 26 years later the Germans crossed this same river in a single day empowered by immense improvements in motorized vehicles. Most notably the tank. The Germans created a new form of warfare where battles were fought and won before the victim even understood what was happening. With these machines in your arsenal, trench warfare was obsolete. War was no longer two-dimensional. In one moment you were ducking for cover anticipating an explosion as the whir of swarming dive bombers filled your ears, the next you're facing a wall of armored vehicles. This of course was the infamous blitzkrieg which Germany employed to take over the majority of Europe with eerie efficiency. Europe would get its first taste of this lightning war on September 1st, 1939 when 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland. The German invasion of Poland was a battle of epic disproportions. The Luftwaffe flew ahead armed with Younker 87 Stuka dive-bombers which were fitted with horrifying sirens (which were simply high revving propellers fitted to the landing gear of the plane). They were designed to cause mass panic and fear among civilians and enemy troops alike. They destroyed strategic positions and caused civilians to flee and interfere with supply lines, softening the border defenses before the German armoured divisions broke through, like a spear point through inadequate armor. Followed by motorized German infantry who formed a supply column reinforcing the frontline with fuel and ammunition. Never stopping to celebrate, always pushing forward and keeping the pressure on. Any troops that did not retreat fast enough where encircled and decimated this pattern was repeated. And in a single week, German troops advanced 225 kilometers onto Warsaw's doorstep, despise Poland mobilising 1 million men to fight back. One famous battle on this first day of war, often mistold, involved a valiant Calvary rush of the Polish army on the German infantry, dispersing them and delaying their advancement long enough to allow the Polish first rifle battalion to retreat. Only then German tanks appeared and fired upon them forcing the horsed units to retreat. German propaganda announced the stupidity of Polish commanders sending cavalry armed with sabres and lance's against armoured vehicles, when in reality they were armed with anti-tank rifles which were capable of penetrating 15mm of armor at 300 metres at 30 degrees. The Panzer 1 and 2 used in this battle were vulnerable to this weapon. On September 28th, four weeks after the first shot was fired, the Polish capital surrendered to the relentless German siege, while Russia took the east. This proved the effectiveness of the blitzkrieg and sent shockwaves through Europe. On May 10th 1940, Germany launched an invasion of the low countries of Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Luxembourg with its 400 infantry and 12 cavalry fell in a single day. Belgium's defense, centered around the Eben-Emael fort with 1200 men, also fell in a single day. This fortress was one of the strongest in the world but was created with 2D-strategic maneuvers in mind. It took about 500 German special forces landing with gliders to disable Eben-Emael's major defenses. They removed explosive charges from nearby bridges, ensuring a clear route for German reinforcements. Others landed inside the force planting their own explosive charges and throwing grenades into bunkers and destroying artillery. Where they couldn't overcome defenders, they called for airstrikes from Stuka dive bombers. Holland, despite having advanced warning of the imminent invasion, were caught off guard by merciless bombing of their cities by the Luftwaffe, followed by the deployment of the 7th and 22nd Airborne Division's. Germany now had a direct northern route into Franc. The Allies were prepared for this threat and focused their best troops on the northern border. Leaving the heavily fortified border between Germany and France relatively low-manned. The invasion of the low countries was not intended as an invasion route. It was a diversion and on May 12th the spearhead of the German blitzkrieg broke through what was once called the impenetrable defense of the rough mountainous and heavily wooded area of the Ardennes. Quickly enveloping and trapping the 400,000 Allied troops stationed to defend the assumed invasion from the north. Culminating in the Battle of Dunkirk, where thousands of civilian ships sailed from Britain to save stranded soldiers. A month later, on June 22nd the French surrendered to Germany. The French were simply not prepared for the speed and ferocity of this type of warfare, despite having tanks more than capable of taking on the German Panzers in one-on-one battle. For example the French S-35 was arguably the best tank at the outbreak of the war. It had good balance between Armour mobility and firepower. It was more than capable of taking on the Panzer ones and twos that formed the brunt of the armoured divisions, and it's forward-facing armor could even withstand direct hits from the German heavy tank the Panzer 4. Where the s-35 failed was its lack of numbers: with only 440 built. Had the French been prepared, and built enough tanks, they could have defeated the German invasion. The Germans were more than aware of this outclassing of their tanks, and led them into pushing further to create larger tanks with thicker and thicker armor, and larger and larger guns. They pushed the boundaries and experimented with gigantic tanks, like the Panzer VIII, which still, to this day, is the heaviest fully enclosed armored fighting vehicle ever built. Real Life Lores just uploaded a video about the crazy designs of tanks the Germans came up with. Here he is to tell you a little more about them. [Real Life Lores:] The Panzer VIII Maus weighed 188 tons: over three times heavier than a TIger I tank. It's 128 millimeter main gun was enough to destroy all allied armored vehicles then in service at ranges exceeding 3,500 metres. Only two were ever built, near the end of the war, but the Germans had far more ambitious plans than even the Maus tank. The Landkruezer P.1000 Ratte was a super tank designed in 1942 that was planned on weighing 1,000 tons. This behemoth would have then armed with naval artillery and be equipped with 25 centimeters of hardened steel armor. It would have had a crew of over 40 men operating it, had it ever been built. But as with most insane Nazi engineering ideas, the Landkruezer remained a blueprint for the entirety of the war. [Real Engineering:] This wild experimentation could have been their downfall: constant iterations and improved technology kept production costs and [production] time high. Ultimately Germany had some of the most advanced tanks, but too few to take on what was to come. Because the Russians were busy building a staggering secret army of t-34s. This haunting recording of Hitler's normal speaking voice captures his shock at the sheer number of tanks encountered on the Eastern Front. At this stage Hitler knew the might of the German blitzkrieg had met its match. Germany had focused so much of the time trying to create the perfect war machine, while Russia saw how to beat the blitzkrieg: in sheer numbers, determination, armor, and firepower .Russia could build enormous amounts of the t-34 partially because of the insanely huge factories, but also because of the Russian ethos of quantity over quality. Russian tanks were crudely constructed, welding was poor, and armored plates rarely fit together: a flaw which the Japanese exploited by throwing Molotov cocktails at the tanks which then dripped flaming fuel onto the crew. The pins that held the track of the t-34 were not held in place either. Most tanks had some form of locking mechanisms that kept the pin in place, but the t-34 pins were free to float. To prevent them from falling out, the t-34 simply had a hard stop in the path of the track that hammered the pins back into place as they passed by. A crude, yet effective, measure to keep the manufacturing time and cost down. This crude construction did not stop this tank from being a formidable opponent. In fact the t-34 is one of the standout tanks of World War two. It had heavily sloped armor which both help deflect projectiles but also increase the effective thickness of the armor, thanks to a bit of trigonometry: if we take the 47 millimeter thick front hull armor of the t-34 its Armour its simply 47 millimeters thick when vertical, but if we begin to tilt it its effective thickness equals the original thickness divided by the sine of the tilt angle. The front hull armor had a slope of 60 degrees, making this effective thickness 94 millimeters: double its actual thickness. This combined with the enormous gun, allowed the t-34 to take on any tank on the battlefield. By the end of the war 8/10 German soldiers died fighting on the Eastern Front. One of the standout battles on the Eastern Front, if not in the history of mankind, was the Battle of Kursk. While D-day, Stalingrad, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Britain are hailed as the great turning points of the war, as they should, they all pale in magnitude to the Battle of Kursk. This battle epitomizes the resilience of the Russian people. Kursk sat in the middle of a bulge on the eastern front. A bulge that needed to be eliminated to prevent Russia from mounting a counter-offensive on the Germans rear. The strategic importance of this battle was known to both sides. Hitler had told Heinz Guderian, the mastermind of the German blitzkrieg, that the thought of the battle made him sick to his stomach every time he thought about it. Russia had dug deep in Kursk. Every single citizen was involved in the war effort with near 5000 kilometers of trenches circling the city, 500,000 each of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, with obstacles torn through barbed wire: and this was just their passive defense! Russia had amassed 1.3 million soldiers, 20,000 artillery pieces, 3,600 tanks, and 2,600 aircraft. This was Russia's last stand. Hitler ordered 900,000 soldiers to the region, drawing men away from the Western Front as the Allies were not expected to attack anytime soon, along with 10,000 artillery guns, 2,700 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft. This was a third of Germany's remaining military strength, concentrated in a single area. What led with the largest tank battle in history, and a battle that ultimately blunted the spearhead of the German blitzkrieg. Day after day, Germany attempted to break through the Russian defense, only to be repelled time after time. The Luftwaffe was prevented from gaining air superiority by the Russian Air Force. While German tanks were crippled by the combined onslaught of anti-tank mines infantry artillery fired and the never-ending barrage of t-34s. All the while partisan citizens to the rear disrupted the already dodgy supply lines feeding the German front. This was the last step for the Nazis took. Russia had endured the storm. Germany would be on the back foot for the rest of the war and the race towards Berlin between the Allies and the Soviets was on. Many of you asked me what software I used to animate these videos and how I learned. I use a program called Adobe After Effects and taught myself how to use it by watching videos online. These days you can teach yourself pretty much any skill online and Skillshare is a fantastic place to do it. 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As usual, if you want to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or listen to my new podcast with Sam from Wendover productions, the links are in the description. I'd also like to thank my patreon supporters. You may have noticed a significant leap in animation quality this week and that's thanks to Patreon and Mike from Moe Bock's graphics. Mike is an engineer like me and a far superior animator. All of your pledges go to employing Mike. If we can raise enough on patreon we may even be able to get Mike working on real engineering full-time, to bring you more videos every month. Thanks for watching and see you in two weeks for the next episode of Real Engineering!
