Insightful post in some ways but not in others. I’m sure your characterization of the country is spot on as far as the roads and the oxcarts go.
But on the other hand, the Germans thought and said exactly the same thing about the Russians in 1941 and for that matter Napoleon might have done the same way back when. In each case, Russia had the last laugh.
We live in a different world from 1941. It cannot be equated. Ask yourself this question. Why hasn’t Putin already invaded the Ukraine and rolled into Kiev? Why isn’t he already standing in the square in Kiev with a shot of vodka and surveying his new territory?