"Yes, Comrade General!" Shulka said: "First of all, I think we should make some changes in the use of artillery!"
"Artillery?" This surprised Zhukov and even Major Gavrilov.
Zhukov thought Shulka was talking about infantry or tanks.
"Is there any problem with the artillery?" Zhukov asked.
"I noticed that in our organization, one infantry division is attached to one or two artillery regiments!" Shulka paused here.
"Yes!" Zhukov nodded.
There is nothing wrong with this organization in itself. Modern infantry divisions are also equipped with artillery regiments, because both infantry operations and mechanized unit operations require artillery support.
The problem is...
"With all due respect, Comrade General!" Shulka said: "Our military commanders are generally inexperienced and lack the ability to command multiple arms operations. Our army's grassroots artillery training is also insufficient. The problem caused by this is that the artillery cannot or cannot
It’s hard to play a role in the army!”
Zhukov looked at Shulka with a bit of surprise in his eyes: "I think so too, Comrade Shulka. We are planning to bring part of the artillery under the unified command of the front army!"
There is a saying that "teach students in accordance with local conditions and aptitude."
There is no one organization or system that is suitable for all armies.
For troops with good military quality and rich command experience, it is of course better and more flexible to equip them with artillery.
However, if it is outside of its command capabilities, then attaching artillery will not only bring no benefits but will also be a heavy burden, because there are many logistics and artillery safety as well as infantry, artillery, infantry and tank coordination that need to be considered.
Especially when being compressed into a smaller space for defensive battles near Moscow, the artillery of each division was meaninglessly mobilized back and forth in the rear due to poor coordination. Sometimes the artillery regiments of the two divisions exchanged positions, which affected the overall deployment.
It has no impact, but consumes a lot of transportation capacity and increases the risk.
If the front forces were under unified command, such problems would not arise.
More importantly, if artillery is used intensively, it can offset the shortcomings of insufficient artillery training to a certain extent... It is difficult for an artillery regiment with dozens of guns to cover the designated target, even if the same number of artillery shells are fired multiple times,
The target may have moved as well.
But if hundreds of artillery pieces from several artillery regiments fire at the same time, the probability of hitting is obviously much greater.
"I think there are some problems in defense!" Shulka said: "I don't know about other directions, but from the deployment in the south, such as the Tula area... our army is fortified everywhere with evenly deployed troops, and it is impossible to accurately judge the enemy in a timely manner.
The main direction of attack puts our army in a passive state!"
This is actually the "offensive superiority theory" mentioned before. This weakness is common on the defensive side. Of course, Zhukov cannot be blamed for this.
"This allows the enemy to use a small number of troops to contain the main force of our army on the front!" Shulka said: "Then concentrate the main force to break through from a certain position and penetrate to the important transportation town behind our army's defense line... We are in the picture
Ra’s fight is an example of this!”
"You are right, Comrade Shulka!" Zhukov frowned: "Although our deployment is comprehensive, it is completely unable to withstand the powerful firepower when the enemy concentrates in one direction to break through. The final outcome is that the battle line is broken through and the troops are destroyed.
Divided, surrounded, and then annihilated one by one. This situation is even repeated again and again on the battlefield, but how can we solve this problem? Disperse the defense? Guess which part they will attack? No, this will not work.
!”
It really doesn't work.
Decentralized defense means there are loopholes everywhere, which is equivalent to inviting the wolf into the house.
Guessing the enemy's attack direction... this can only rely on luck. The enemy may even change the target of attack at any time. It is obviously impossible to accurately estimate.
"Mobile defense, Comrade General!" Shulka said.
"Mobile defense?"
"Yes!" Shulka replied: "We must have one or several mechanized troops, which can flexibly maneuver through roads or railways. When a crisis occurs in a certain position, they can be quickly replenished to block or attack the enemy.
retreat……"
"This is not something that ordinary troops can do!" Major Gavrilov said: "It should even be said that this must be an elite force, and the tank performance and speed must be at least as good as the enemy..."
Major Gavrilov is right. If mobile defense is to be carried out, then this unit must have strong mobility and combat effectiveness, at least on par with the German army.
If you don't have mobility, it means you can't catch up with the enemy and block the gap. No matter how strong the battle is, it will be in vain.
If you don't have fighting power, even if you catch up, it's all in vain. It's just going up to die.
The Battle of Tula actually exposed this problem.
If the Soviet army had such a fast mobile force, it would not have taken two days and one night without reinforcements to reach Tula.
If the Soviet mobile force's combat effectiveness was strong enough, it would not be just a Branfenburg force blocking the reinforcements on the road.
On the other hand, if a fast mobile force with strong combat effectiveness arrived in Tula, then the crisis in the Tula War would not exist at all, and the German army would be beaten back very simply.
However, it is obvious that such a unit has high requirements on both people and equipment.
People may not be the problem. After all, there are so many people in the Soviet army, and you can always pick out the good ones if you pick one out of a hundred.
But the equipment cannot be caught up in a short time.
"Our tanks..." Major Gavrilov also thought of this, and then shook his head slightly.
"No, Major!" Zhukov said: "We have tanks!"
"Comrade General!" Major Gavrilov said: "You may not understand what I mean. Our tanks either have a high failure rate and are too slow, or have insufficient protection and firepower..."
"No, Comrade Major!" Zhukov interrupted Major Gavrilov: "You don't understand what I mean. We have tanks, and the performance and maneuverability of these tanks are better than those of the German tanks!"
"T34?" Major Gavrilov looked at Zhukov with doubtful eyes.
"Yes, t34!" Zhukov nodded.
It is not surprising that Major Gavrilov would know the T34, because this tank has been put into use on the battlefield, but in small numbers.
"Do we have enough T34s?" Major Gavrilov couldn't help but ask.
"We are seizing the time to produce day and night!" Zhukov said: "Before this, we almost produced one and put it on the battlefield immediately. Now..."
As he spoke, Zhukov looked at Shulka and then said: "I think we should use it to form an army!"