It cannot, of course, be argued that Reinhardt could have forced Rokossov-sky and Chernyakhovsky to give up their offensive if he had had the use of the "Grossdeutschland” Panzer Corps. There is no doubt, however, that by depriving him of this formation. Hitler virtually condemned Army Group "Centre" to inescapable defeat, a defeat which reached the proportions of a strategic catastrophe, involving the total destruction of 28 German divisions.
Advance along the axis Deutsch-Eylau-Marienburg-Elbing. This would prevent the Germans driven out by Chernyakhov-sky from crossing the Vistula, and they would then fall into the hands of Rokos-sovsky. Apart from slight variations this was the manoeuvre attempted by Rennen-kampf and Samsonov in August 1914 against East Prussia, which ended up in their defeat at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. Here, however, all resemblance between the two campaigns ceases. Chernyakhovsky and Rokossovsky were younger and more energetic than their predecessors in the Tsar’s army. Trammelled by the despotic authority of the Fiihrer, Reinhardt on his side had none of that perfect freedom of action which von Hindenburg enjoyed under the Kaiser and Moltke.
World History
