I am just wondering how close was Germany to winning the war... I know that it was not just Paulus, or just one war-turning defeat or betrayal that lost the war for Germany. High ranking generals of the Wehrmacht were purposely sabotaging the Germany army literally during the whole war. The scale of the betrayal is insane, it's like if the high command of the Wehrmacht was filled with jews... For example, the junkers deliberately did not sent provisions to the encircled 6th army in Stalingrad. Or the junker Seydlitz, who deliberately pushed the Germans to leave their defensive positions to break-out (so they can be destroyed by the awaiting Soviets) which allowed the soviets to split the German 6th army. Also, even though Von Manstein’s Operation Winterstorm for the relief of Stalingrad was successful at first, but after a few days vital parts Hoth’s force received orders to leave the offensive to take other positions. In the end the German relieve force was deliberated weakened to fail. The 6th army had a chance to survive, but the junkers made sure it had no chance at all. These are only a few examples, it was not just Stalingrad, but all major defeats.
I personally believe that the biggest betrayal of the German generals was in July 1941, when they ignored Hitlers orders, and kept pushing Army Group Center forward to Moscow. Instead of attacking Smolensk Hitler had demanded that Army Group Center would focus on defending their lines so that it could serve as strategic reserve for the main attacks in the south and north. Hitler’s plan for Operation Barbarossa was to focus advance in north and south, while having the Soviets focused on Army Group Center while Army Group North & South advanced to take the coasts, the Caucasus and Leningrad. In July 1941 Army Group Center advanced against the orders of Hitler to Smolensk instead of following Hitlers plan to focus the advance in the north (to connect with Finland, and thus deprive the Soviet Union of foreign aid) and South, the Caucasus (to cut off the soviet union from it's oil) and then swing way round the defenses from behind to pocket Moscow. In Smolensk the Soviet Union had built a new line of defense for Moscow, supported by 42 divisions... While the road to Leningrad as well as Rostov was open... By the end of September, Stalin had grouped nearly half of the Soviet Army before Moscow... Now, i'm not a military expert, but as far as I know the first rule of warfare is to attack the enemy where they are weak, not where they are strong. The only logical explanation why the generals wanted to advance directly on Moscow, instead of focusing the advance in North and South, seeking both the way of least resistance, where not only weaker, but more important strategic objectives were available is betrayal, they were purposely working for the defeat of Germany. If Hitler's plan for Operation Barbarossa was followed, Germany would cut the Soviets off from their oil in the Caucasus, and they would had taken Leningrad, and thus they would have closed of the Baltic sea for the Soviets depriving them from their foreign aids. Then Germany would regroup and make a large encirclement around Moscow from behind coming from the north and south. The German army would have defeated the Soviet Union within three to four months, as planned.
