offtaskagain Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Everyone knows the stories of how fearsome Russian artillery was. Thousands of guns firing thousands of rounds on 1 km of frontage and stuff like that. But I've run into some data that seems to suggest the Russians had a lot of tubes but not much ammo for them. I found a chart of ammunition production here . It's a little paste half way down. It gives production in 1940 (in thousands) Soviet: 17,168 German: 106,352. In 1941 Soviet: 42,234, German: 104,688. In 1942 Soviet: 73,480, German: 193,631. In 1943 Soviet: 85,800, German: 217,725. In 1944 Soviet: 94,768, German: 281,060. If you read the chart it shows the Russians making considerably more mortar and rocket shells for most of the war. This ammunition production would suggest to me that the German artillery was shooting off alot more than their Russian counterparts. I know alot of it probably sat in warehouses or got blown up on trains or by partisans. But the disparity is simply too big for those factors to even it out. In CMBB, the 150mm guns for both sides have even almost the same ammo: 30 for the 152mm Soviet gun and 35 for the German 15 cm. Does anyone else think it would be reasonable to give German artillery (not mortars) more ammo to account for the apparent historical advantage? IIRC American artillery in CMBO got more ammunition because of the huge supply vs the German shortage. I think it would be reasonable to do the same on the Ost Front, since I don't believe the Russian air forces were as successful at disrupting supply as the western air forces. I know basing my argument on data from 1 website isn't terribly scholarly of me, but if you look at the guys sources they seem pretty good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Doesn't quite sit right when looking at all those reports about the almost constant shortages of artillery on the German side. Also, German production was distributed on a number of fronts, not just the east. Interesting stats though. What would probably be more important is the breakdown in calibre. (nb haven't looked at the site) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtaskagain Posted November 19, 2002 Author Share Posted November 19, 2002 Originally posted by Andreas: Doesn't quite sit right when looking at all those reports about the almost constant shortages of artillery on the German side. Also, German production was distributed on a number of fronts, not just the east. Interesting stats though. What would probably be more important is the breakdown in calibre. (nb haven't looked at the site)I just noticed that's production of ammo 20mm and larger. That would skew the results considerably since the Germans produced so many 20mm AA guns. I found a chart of German gun production by type at Feldgrau. Be sure to look at the number of Luftwaffe 20mm guns at the bottom. Also, the same guy is responsible for both charts. [ November 19, 2002, 02:36 AM: Message edited by: panzerwerfer42 ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 There is yet another matter of importance in considering the original question the poster posed. Production is one thing, getting it to the guns at the front can be quite another. Especially in 1941, the Germans were unable to get much of anything forward with any alacrity. Both sides usually outran their supply lines toward the end of any major offensive. Specifying how much artillery ammo a side should have on hand in any given scenario would take very careful study and in any case is probably impossible to do with precision, though it is a matter that is possibly worth pursuing. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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