Indeed, and Stroop's initial third-line occupation force troops were hardly the cream of the Wehrmacht. But the Blitzkrieg coordination of field forces and aircraft was of minimal value in the confines of cities, and just as Patton bypassed urban areas wherever he could to avoid the inevitable cost in casualties and time that was required for house-to-house clearance and control, so too did the wise leaders of the Blitzkrieg. One Stalingrad was quite enough, and the Germans wanted peaceful surrender, not bitterly contested ruins. They made their point at Rotterdam.
19 April-16 Mai, 1943.