Red Army = most effective force !

[Marcello]

The problem with the road disruptions methods which have been listed here is that:
A) they are often substantially time consuming;
B) require a certain amount of advance planning to be effective;
C) they are often quick to repair.
For some you will have the additional problem of denying road use to your own side earlier than desiderable. Were they contemplated or are these just ideas that are being tossed around?
Again I have been taken aback by how little disruptive and easily fixed the damage caused by runways bombing was in many cases.

[Marcello]

"Tell that to British XXX. corps veterans from op Market-Garden"

I am not aware of the specific configuration of that area but from what I have seen of the Netherlands when I was there, I would suspect that going off road may be a somewhat trickier proposition than in the rest of Europe. Plus driving around antitank guns isn't like driving around a blown up culvert.

[PlasmaKrab]

Marcello, I think we can write off the advance planning argument in the Cold-War-Germany scenario, don't you? If we are assuming a fixed NATO forward defence against a Soviet push, then the NATO demolition/obstacle work would have taken place on friendly ground.
Granted, after the attack alert it wouldn't probably have remained friendly for very long, but remember that engineer units on both sides had literally decades to think up and plot contingency plans including what to blow up, where and when. I don't think charges were planted in advance (though the shelf life of modern explosives would certainly have allowed it), but possibly some emplacements had already been drilled and readied.
Come to think of it, and given the defense policy and the political climate in FRG, I wouldn't rule out that some strategic infrastructure was designed with the task of permanently blocking them in mind.

[Marek_Tucan]

It's similar to Czechoslovakia in 1938 - all bridges were prepared for demolition (in sense that there were picked places where to put them to have greatest effect, how large amount to put there and larger bridges got already prepared special "demolition chambers"). During the mobilisation, all that was needed was to proceed along the plans and place explosives where needed.

[Marcello]

I have no doubt about the bridges were set up for quick demolition. That is pretty basic.
What I have reservations about is the other stuff it has been talked about, such as demolishing the off-ramps etc. In South Korea they have massive concrete blocks ready to be dumped on the roads and tricks like that.But it is all prepared in advance and ready to be operated on short notice. Was something like that done in Germany? I might be wrong but not that I am aware of.

[Shan]

I believe there are many myths about the WP that still persist in the West. As Siddhi mentioned, it's important to distinguish between Category A, B and C units - and so on: it would be important to get some knowledge about the Soviet + WP doctrine and organization first - some 'dry' reading unless you're a real freak or you had officer training on that subject anyway, but I really appreciate my old copy of a manual on that subject - quite useful,then you know exactly what+ where TVD West was and so on, and dont have to rely on 3rd-hand sources or the over-rated western intelligence reports from the 80s that still persist on the internet... but such manuals aren't printed any more (I would guess), better get one on the flee market or via e-bay!

[baggypants]

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[Smersh]

I'm not exactly a expert on NATO tactical or strategic defense strategy, its been a few years since I've red anything about it. But, is what you guys keep talking about, essentially sabatoging and destroying transport and other infrastructure, what NATO defense strategy called for? I find it hard to beleive West Germany would carry out a sort of modern 'scourged earth' plan.

Arming civilians I think would have lead to increased civilian casaulties, by makeing it difficult for soldiers to distinguish combantants from non-combatants. Its not difficult to imagine military age men universally being arressted or targeted.

this again brings up the fact that any probable conflict would be extremely painful and destructive for all sides.

[baggypants]

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