*sigh*
There's a common myth perpetrated by the Nazi's that the Poles fought the Germans on horseback because they were so "backward". Hence why I posted the pic of the hussars. Having a laugh! Pulling your leg! 'You got ploughed by winged horses'. Sarcasm: sarkazm. Get it?
I put the asterisk with explanation instead of a /s - by way of saying - "yes I know they weren't fighting as winged hussars. The Polish army were relatively well armoured at the start of WWII just outgunned and out-armoured by the Germans".
Fuck me.
Wiki:
>The tank force consisted of two armored brigades, four independent tank battalions and some 30 companies of TKS tankettes attached to infantry divisions and cavalry brigades. The TK-3 (TK) and TKS light turretless reconnaissance tanks, commonly called tankettes (in Polish: tankietka), were the most numerous armoured vehicles of the Polish Army at the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Their number of over 500 vehicles constituted formally a significant tank force. Unfortunately, they were not fully capable tanks, and, apart from few cannon-armed ones, could not fight against other armoured fighting vehicles.
Before the war, in 1939, the Polish Army still had 102 Renault FT light tanks, of which 70 formed the 2nd armoured battalion in Żurawica and 32 the two Armoured Trains Units (as armoured draisines). Some of these tanks were "iron" FT CWS. The combat usefulness of FT tanks in 1939 was very limited, since they were obsolete and extremely slow by the standards of the day, but they participated in the defense of Poland in September 1939; the 2nd Armoured Battalion formed three light tank companies (numbers: 111, 112, 113), equipped with Renault FT tanks.
Bruh, I have one of those tankieta as a 1:35 model kit due for build along with about 30 others of various countries to build and about 20 built and painted and another 6 unpainted. I have 2 book-cases full of READ WWII tank books. Even ones as obscure as Panther vs Sherman by Osprey.
Bruh, I know tanks and WWII.
Bruh, I probably know more about Polish history than you do since I've read everything Norman Davies has put out.
Bruh, have I made my point?
Could you list your source for the numbers?
Also the FT-17 WAS AGILE for the situation and time it was in, which was trench warfare, nearly non-moving fronts and no man's land areas,just because it's obsolete now doesn't mean it wasn't revolutionary (you can read up on it or watch some documentaries it's not some "fringe saying") the Vickers didn't come out until 1928 which is late in the inter-war period, many tanks before then were based off either the FT-17 or mark IV
Strategic sense includes actually realizing how much industrial power a country has.
Read up on the kursk offensive, within 5 days only 10 Panthers out of 240 non-destroyed ones were deemed operable because of missing spare parts, broken transmission or other problems. (not including how damn complicated german tanks were to actually operate)
Obviously the T-34 broke down more, have you actually watched or read anything about Russian Tank usage/production?
It was by design choice, if your tank is going to last for a few hours in combat and be obsolete in a year, you use the cheapest and fastest way to get it out, this is what the Russians did and it was brilliant!
I mean hell, you could probably tear a T-34 apart with some basic tools, but that was a great thing for the situation the Soviets were in.
Now an expensive Tiger 1 for example costs the same as TWO IS-2s (which can easily destroy a Tiger 1) while also taking more time to produce, a higher part count (needs more spare parts which Germany had a real big issue with) AND is fighting far away from home.
Now I don't have much to say on the western front, a Sherman costs about 40k~RM while a Panther costs 100K~RM.
Now even if the "5 Shermans 1 panther" myth was true they'd still be even at costs to the nations and the Shermans were faster and easier to make then Panthers.
(I am using a Sherman Firefly for this comparison)
If a single Panther faced a single M4 in a clear field with no cover.I’ll be in the Panther.However, if I was a general in a war I’d want M4s.
Here is a good book about western front tank performances.
https://www.amazon.com/Panther-Sherman-Battle-Bulge-1944/dp/184603292X/ref=cm_rdp_product