Irrational enemies, a nice "feature"

In regard to Vietnam, wars are won and lost by your planning and execution of operations more so than a balance of forces. The US gets a B-B+ grade for military operations, but only C- or D for planning as the US was trying not to lose or maintain the status quo. That is is a tough ask for a military who knows it is superior to its enemy.

 

I always thought "what if the Axis coordinated like the Allies in planning and execution?" But that is anathema to Fascism, which is individual (each country) ambition in the conquests and imperial gains for that specific country. The Axis were allied in the sense that they said to each other "Japan takes Pacific area, Italy takes the Med. area, and Germany takes Eastern and Central Europe," but with not joint planning whatsoever.

 

I don't think it was ambition, but trust.
Hitler did not trust the Japanese with Barbarossa, thinking Japan would use it to Bargin with the Soviets. The Japanese did not trust the Germans with opening the Pacific War. Nobody really trusted the Italians.

 

The Japanese leadership thought themselves to be descendants of the famed samurai but they were not even on the same level or close. I think a lot German leadership were afraid to believe other wise hitler himself kept dictating how and ehat should be to speak other wise meant you could disappear and find yourself at the Russian front leading a charge that would end in disaster. Most believed assignment to the Russian front was as good as a death warrant many referred to it as the meat grinder.

 

And Yamamoto said if there was war with the US they could do almost anything for one year and then it would end. How stupid the axis leaders were in the end. When attacking the USSR Hitler was disarming june 1941 when he should have been making mora of everything. When Guderian visited Hitler in September asking for new tanks and men, Hitler said he could give 200 tank engines, that´s all....wonderful.