The greatest general of the 20th century

His name doesn't crop up in readily available rankings, but his under-resourced and underfed army prevailed over the world's mightiest super power

Among the large number of aficionados of military history, a favourite question is: Who was the best army general of the 20th century? Usually, the focus is on the Second World War (WW2), since the first, exemplified by its ghastly record of static trench warfare, interspersed with suicidal break-out attempts, did not flatter generalship. The names that crop up most often are Rommel, Guderian, von Manstein and von Rundstedt from the German army; Zhukov, Konev and Rokossovsky from the Red Army; and Bradley, Montgomery, Patton and Slim from the Anglo-Saxon allies. In readily available rankings, the German generals are usually