[BroJoeK]

"Certainly taking Berlin cost the Soviet Union many lives. But at least part of that was due to Stalin’s way of waging war. The Americans had good equipment and good planning, for the most part, and valued the lives of their troops. So they softened up the enemy, did flanking maneuvers, and so on, to preserve lives. Stalin sent his forces bulling forward as fast as possible, to capture territory and avenge himself on the Germans."

Possibly true at certain points in the war, but by 1945 the Soviets had well learned just what it took to beat the Germans, and it was NOT sending masses of human bodies out against machine guns & artillery. Instead, the Soviets used huge masses of their own artillery, rockets, tanks and aircraft.

If the American Army had a critical advantage over the Ruskies, it was in medium & heavy bombers, which our guys used to great effect in breaking out of Normandy, and breaking up the German Battle of the Bulge offensive.

But I think you well point out one of the biggest reasons the Soviets lost so many killed -- because the Germans fought them tooth & nail for every foot of ground. Germans rightly feared the revenge Russians would wreak, and much preferred surrendering to Americans or Brits.

Before D-Day in June 1944, Soviets did nearly all the real fighting. Even after D-Day, for every German soldier Americans or Brits faced, the Russians had to defeat three or four. And I think the ratio of Russian to German dead was never less than two-to-one.

[Tallguy]

...but by 1945 the Soviets had well learned just what it took to beat the Germans, and it was NOT sending masses of human bodies out against machine guns & artillery. Instead, the Soviets used huge masses of their own artillery, rockets, tanks and aircraft.

The Battle of Berlin probably cost the Russians far more than it should have. Stalin deliberately setup 2 of his front commanders -- Marshals Zhukov & Konev -- in a sort of competition to see who could capture the heart of the city first.