Carpet Bombing in WWII

[Pontifex Rex]

Wait I'm a bit confused about the 88mm guns, so did the Nazis shift the guns back from the front lines to the cities?

Not really,...but probably some. German AA guns were deployed in Luftwaffe flak regiments attached to armies and corps and in the German army's flak battalions in their motor/mechanized divisions. The bombers did not prevent 88s from be deployed to the army (The panzer and Pz Gren divs normally had there two or three batteries) but did redirect the units of the Luftwaffe ground units (flak regiments). Caution needs to be used about the 88s though. Because there was a bomber offensive, more 88s were produced to defend the cities,...but.

It begs the question. Had there been no bomber offensive, would the Germans have built so many 88s in the first place? Probably not, resources would have/could have gone to other projects.