The 3:1 manpower ratio is a myth. Look at the battle for Berlin. Stalin had inferior numbers, used brute force to take it as quickly as possible, and the Germans still lost more.
Another myth is the fact that urban warfare is harder than open warfare. It's usually a last resort for defenders. Most city battles have ended up much worse for the defenders, even in battles they "won", e.g. the first battles of Grozny & Fallujah. It becomes harder to operate artillery, to move around, and very difficult to concentrate forces. While the attacker can pick the time and area of attack. That's assuming they actually bother with urban fighting. They can just sit outside and shell the place to the ground (as what seems to have happened in Mariupol).
If your game plan is to fight in cities you've already lost the war.
"The 3:1 manpower ratio is a myth. Look at the battle for Berlin. Stalin had inferior numbers,
used brute force to take it as quickly as possible, and the Germans still lost more."
It's absurd to claim that the attacking RKKA was outnumbered by the German defenders in the Battle of Berlin in 1945.
Are you counting every civilian in Berlin (then 'a city of women', to quote Cornelius Ryan) as a combatant?
In reality, the RKKA enjoyed overwhelming advantages in numbers of trained soldiers, firepower, and material support.
Nonetheless, Heinrici gave Zhukov a bloody nose during the first few days of the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
The defense fell apart when the Germans, unable to replace their losses, began to run out of ammunition.
"The
, fought over four days from 16 until 19 April, was one of the last
of World War II:
almost one million Red Army soldiers and more than 20,000 tanks and artillery pieces were deployed to break through the "Gates to
Berlin", which were defended by about 100,000 German soldiers and 1,200 tanks and guns.
The Soviet forces led by Zhukov
broke through the defensive positions, having suffered about 30,000 dead,
while 12,000 German personnel were killed.
"
--Wikipedia
