The soldiers under General Patton's 3rd Army, which liberated 211,000 square kilometers and 12,000 villages, set an unprecedented record in the history of war
It was General George S. Patton
Described as an extremely fastidious general, very strict with soldiers and swearing
General Patton did not receive the support of the American press at that time, but he left glorious victories, military records that no one has broken
Having been present in France since World War I, General Patton is known as the first American to know how to drive a tank
During World War I he was also commander of the cavalry, after which he developed the American tank theory
In 1940, Patton believed that cavalry would soon be replaced by tanks and armored vehicles on the battlefield
So he worked hard to develop the armored force, train the first tankers, and devised the first American tank combat tactics
An extremely arrogant and war-hungry man, Patton almost jumped to the news of the United States' participation in World War II
In his eyes, only war did military commanders - like Patton - quickly achieve success
This general, dyslexic and very ignorant at school, joined the 3rd Army to attack France after the US opened the second front and attacked a Nazi den
His tactics could be considered a copy of the German "lightning warfare" tactic, used to attack Poland in 1939
However, Patton took this tactic to a new level, with Extremely good speed and logistics capabilities of the richest army in the world
The strategy of General Patton and the 3rd Army was very simple, using powerful tank divisions, hitting the enemy's lines
At the same time put pressure on the enemy's back lines, forcing the frontline units to retreat due to lack of logistics or down morale
Meanwhile, Patton's infantry simply overflowed, filling in the battle space that the enemy left
It sounded quite simple, but at the time, with his strong logistics capabilities, General Patton had sparred the vanguards of tanks
messing with the enemy for a week, causing tremendous damage to the enemy
Only during the operation from the Rhine to Elbe, Patton's 3rd Army had only 300,000 soldiers, captured 84,000 square kilometers of Nazi territory
Their damage was also record low, only about 10,000 casualties, but caused 70,000 casualties to Germany, capturing 650,000 enemies
By the end of World War II, the 3rd Army, under Patton's command, had liberated 211,000 square kilometers in 281 days of combat
liberating 12,000 towns and villages, crossing 24 major rivers in Europe
General Patton's 3rd Army also captured, destroyed or removed from the battlefield 1.8 million German soldiers - three times the number of this force
Those were unprecedented records in the history of the war
Excluding logistics, transportation, and ambulance units
each Patton soldier liberated and held on to a square kilometer for nearly a year - an unprecedented combat performance
Unfortunately, this war-hungry general had a rather sad ending after World War II ended
Patton himself affirmed that the biggest enemy of America after defeating the Nazis was the Soviets
He argued that the US should immediately attack the Soviet Union, in order to maintain America's world hegemony
instead of having to share the dominant power of the world with Moscow
By this point, the legendary general Patton had become a thorn in the eyes of the American leadership
because he prevented Washington from developing good relations with the Soviet ally
General Patton's life ended not long after that
He died in a traffic accident