One month ago, I wrote of the Battle for the Donbas becoming the focal point of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. I speculated as to Russian capabilties, intentions, and what might occur. It appears that the Ukrainian position in the Donbas is in big trouble. The question is when will that position collapse, and the answer there is as much a product of Russian decision-making as to how it conducts its war as much as it might be a result of any other factors.
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Steve Mercatante
on: May 24 2022 - 3:51pm
Review Type: Artillery, Attrition, Bakhmut, BTG, Deep Operations, Donbas, Izyum, Luhansk, MLRS, OMG, Popansa, Russian Armed Forces, Severodonetsk, Steve Mercatante, Ukrainian Army, War in the Ukraine
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Steve Mercatante
on: May 9 2022 - 2:56pm
Lend-Lease is certainly in the news given the ongoing shipment of weapons from NATO countries into the Ukraine. This isn't the first time this was done. Author Vladimir Kotelnikov's Lend-Lease And Soviet Aviation In The Second World War offers a superb look into the delivering, modifying, and employing in combat of the various Allied aircraft shipped to the Soviet Union.
Given current events it is hard to find a more timely look at how much effort is involved in arming another country with
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Steve Mercatante
on: Apr 19 2022 - 6:52pm
Russian artillery fire and air attacks have intensified in the Donbas region. It appears the next phase of the war has begun. This will be the most important battle of the war.
By all accounts, the bulk of the Ukrainian army's best troops are located in the east (at least 40,000 men if not more of the most experienced, best equipped, and best led soldiers). If the Russians can encircle these forces, then most of the Ukraine east of the Dniepr will be open for the taking.
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Steve Mercatante
on: Mar 6 2022 - 12:43am
The footage coming out of the Ukraine is truly overwhelming. The ubiquity of smart phones and social media have enabled all of us to see things happening in real-time that previous generations couldn't imagine. However, that is not to say the information we are being presented is as consistently accurate. In fact, from the perspective of trying to understand in an operational military sense what is happening on the ground...well, let's just say that's another story.
There are alot of agendas
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Steve Mercatante
on: Feb 16 2022 - 4:00pm
This month's book review delves into StuG Abteilung 191. The book provides rich insight into the German usage of assault guns during the Second World War, all while paying attention to the kind of details that other works may overlook.
Review Type: Assault Gun, Balkans, Bruno Bork, Crimea, Eastern Front, Kuban, Operation Barbarossa, Operation Blue, Steve Mercatante, StuG Abteilung 191, Sturmgeschütz III, teacher, Ukraine, Voronezh, WWII
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Steve Mercatante
on: Jan 31 2022 - 9:02pm
This month I reviewed Special Forces and Vietnam Veteran Ed Wolcoff's book Special Reconnaissance and Advanced Small Unit Patrolling. This is a great book, providing an invaluable look at what it means to have to fight and survive in some of the most lethal circumstances imaginable - something anyone with even a passing interest in these matters should understand. You can check out the full review here.
Review Type: MACV-SOG, Mercatante, Procedures, Special Forces, Special Reconnaissance, Tactics, Techniques, Vietnam, Wolcoff
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Steve Mercatante
on: Nov 21 2021 - 2:57pm
Looking for a unique take on German operations and tactics during World War II? Niklas Zetterling's Blitzkrieg From the Ground Up does exactly that while also giving the reader a direct look at how German soldiers used their training and experience to solve tactical and operational problems they encountered during the war's first two years.
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Steve Mercatante
on: Oct 10 2021 - 6:25pm
I just finished Jeff Danby's Men of Armor. If you want to know what life was like in one of the U.S. Army's Second World War tank battalions then this is a book for you!
Review Type: 756th Tank Battalion, Jeff Danby, M4, M5 Light Tank, Men of Armor, Sherman Tank, Steve Mercatante, WWII
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Steve Mercatante
on: Sep 30 2021 - 4:00pm
Organized into nine chapters Red Army Into The Reich provides an excellent general overview of the Red Army's 1944-1945 push into not just Germany, but Scandinavia, Central Europe, and the Balkans as well.
Review Type: 1945, Eastern Front, Red Army, Steve Mercatante, World War II
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Steve Mercatante
on: Jun 17 2021 - 4:59pm
Chris Peers is a leading expert on African colonial warfare. This expertise is on full display in Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana - as is his extensive knowledge of the battlefield where these fascinating events took place. Check out my review of his latest.
Review Type: African Colonial Wars, British Army, Chris Peers, Isandlwana, January 22nd 1879, Rorke's Drift, Steve Mercatante, Zulu
