71 years ago today, on May 14, 1954 (April 12, 1954 in the lunar calendar), Guderian, the father of the German armored forces of World War II, died. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (German: HeinzWilhelmGuderian, June 17, 1888 - May 14, 1954), the first general of the German Army (1888-1954), an outstanding strategist, military theorist, commander-in-chief, advocate of armored warfare, and the initiator of "Blitz" and "Tank Warfare", known as "the father of the German armored forces". Manstein, Rommel and Guderian were later known as the three famous generals of Nazi Germany during World War II, and the founder of the famous army tactical "Blitz". Guderian was a famous German army general in World War II, with the highest rank as a general. Guderian was an important promoter of the use of tanks and mechanized forces in modern warfare before the outbreak of World War II. Under his theory of organization and promotion, Germany established a most efficient armored force at that time. In the early days of World War II, it defeated enemy forces with a new type of warfare - blitzkrieg. Guderian was also a promoter of the development of war patterns such as joint arms operations and front-line command. Guderian served as the commander of the armored forces in World War II and commanded the 19th Panzer Army during the Polish campaign to conduct a rapid piercing offensive and join forces with the Soviet army. In the Western Front Campaign in 1940, Guderian served as the commander of the 19th Panzer Corps of Army Group A, one of the spearheads of the main armored forces on the Western Front. After the offensive was launched, Guderian commanded the troops through the Ardennes Forest, which was considered difficult for the Allies to cross by tanks, and drove straight to the English Channel to encircle and eliminate the Allied forces trapped in Belgium. The success of this military operation made Germany and the world realize the importance of armored forces in modern warfare. In June 1941, Germany launched the Barbarossa operation to invade the Soviet Union. Guderian served as the commander of the 2nd Armored Corps of Army Group Center and commanded the German armored division to complete multiple encirclement and annihilation battles. However, under the order of Adolf Hitler, Guderian gave up his original goal and instead led his troops south to conduct the largest encirclement and annihilation battle in history. The battle ended with a German victory, but because of the delay, the German army had to be in a very unfavorable winter condition Guderian was removed from his post after the German defeat at Stalingrad in 1943. Guderian returned to his post as Panzer General to rebuild the Panzer Corps, leading to the largest armored battle in the world, the Battle of Kusk, but the Germans were again defeated. In July 1944, Guderian became Army Chief of Staff, the highest position he had ever been promoted to, but was dismissed shortly before the end of the war. Guderian has now become a representative of Germany's development of armored forces, known to historians as the "father of blitzkrieg", and has also been nicknamed "Quick Heinz" by his subordinates because of his impatient and straightforward personality.