The thickening snow on the ground may give the Soviet tanks painted in white an advantage.
However, this does not have much effect when there is a clear line between enemy and friendly tanks and the visibility is very good. German fighters can still easily find the T34 and destroy it. They even only need to cooperate with the artillery to guide the shells into the T34 tank group.
Needless to say what will happen next, without the T34, it will be difficult for the Soviet infantry to stop the advance of the German armored divisions.
Without air superiority and artillery, it is almost impossible to defeat the enemy in this situation.
In fact, Rokossovsky also believed that there was nothing he could do, so he called Zhukov before that, hoping to abandon Volokolamsk and withdraw to Istria, where the Soviet army could rely on the reservoir for defense.
But of course, it is impossible for Zhukov to agree to this request, or the Supreme Command does not agree to this request.
In the end, Rokossovsky was forced to use the method of blowing up the reservoir to stop the German army from advancing.
Therefore, it was a bit difficult for Rokossovsky to ask Shulka this question... He himself did not know how to face this problem.
However, Shulka is Shulka after all.
He thought for a while and replied: "Then there is only one way!"
"What can you do?" Major General Panfilov couldn't help but widen his eyes. He couldn't believe what else he could do in this situation.
"I'm listening!" Rokossovsky raised the corners of his mouth with a smile on his face, as if he didn't believe that this "breakout hero" could think of any suitable method... Even if there is any method, there are loopholes, Rokossovsky
Sovsky believed that he could easily find out its flaws from the enemy's standpoint.
Major Gavrilov looked calm. If any officer present had confidence in Shulka, he was the only one... This is a habit. Shulka has never made a mistake, and he will not do it this time.
Exception, although the situation at hand seems to have reached a dead end.
"Yes!" Shulka replied: "I think there is a feasible way, but it requires brave troops and there will probably be heavy casualties!"
"These are not problems!" Major General Panfilov replied: "We have been prepared for it a long time ago!"
"Tell me your method, Comrade Shulka!" Rokossovsky couldn't wait any longer.
"Defense!" Shulka said, pointing to the map.
"Defense?" The officers in the command headquarters couldn't help but look at each other. They all graduated from military schools and had rich combat experience, but they had never heard of this tactic.
"Uh..." Shulka explained: "This is a name I gave it randomly!"
"You mean... no one has used this tactic before?"
"Is this your own tactic?"
"You can say that!" Shulka replied: "So, I don't know if it is useful!"
This is not true, and it is right to give random names, but Shulka actually drew on the tactics used by the Volunteer Army when fighting the U.S. Army on the Korean battlefield... The Volunteer Army also had no air superiority or artillery superiority against the U.S. Army. This gap was even far greater than
At this time, the Soviet army was far behind the German army, but they were still able to keep the US military away from the 38th parallel.
So, why didn't Shulka borrow their combat experience?
"To put it simply!" Shulka explained: "The enemy has air superiority and artillery superiority, so the daytime belongs to the Germans. During the daytime phase, we only need to block the Germans' footsteps as much as possible. What I mean is...
It is not difficult to do this, because we can blow up bridges, destroy roads, lay a large number of mines, and at the same time build defenses to retreat layer by layer..."
"We cannot retreat!" Rokossovsky interrupted Shulka: "Our superiors do not allow us to take a step back!"
"Yes!" Major General Panfilov agreed: "This is the second line of defense. Once it retreats, it will bring great danger to our flanks!"
"If we can control the situation!" Shulka said, "What if we can recapture these positions every night to fill the gap?"
Hearing this, Rokossovsky and others couldn't help but be stunned.
Major Gavrilov agreed: "The reason why our superiors ordered us not to retreat even a step is because retreating will affect the morale of the entire army and cause the collapse of the entire defense line. On the other hand, it is very far away from Moscow.
There is not much room to retreat... If we only retreat a dozen kilometers or less every day, and can recapture them at night, I think this will not affect the overall situation, and may even be beneficial to us, because the Germans will retreat after their defeat.
A lot of equipment was lost in the process!”
As mentioned before, the equipment and supplies of the troops that always remain on the offensive are always in the rear, but this is not the case for the troops that retreat.
Rokossovsky nodded and said: "We will discuss this later, if your tactics are indeed feasible..."
"The main reason why we are in trouble is because the temperature has dropped and the rain has turned into heavy snow!" Shulka said: "This has increased the visibility. The enemy air force poses a huge threat to our tanks. If our tanks attack in the dark, there will be no such thing.
The problem is the same with enemy artillery!"
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but nodded in agreement.
This idea is obviously valid. It is difficult for aircraft and artillery to function at night, especially aircraft... let alone this era, the US military fighter planes during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea did not have much night combat capability.
"But our tanks don't have the ability to fight at night!" Major Zahakavich interjected.
"The enemy's tanks also don't have the ability to fight at night!" Shulka replied: "That means we are at least on the same level at night, and neither of us has an advantage!"
Rokossovsky nodded. This was at least much better than facing enemy aircraft, artillery, and tanks during the day.
"What's more, in fact we have an advantage!" Shulka said.
"What advantage?" Major General Panfilov asked.
"Geographical advantage!" Rokossovsky replied.
"Yes, geographical advantage!" Shulka said: "For example, if we plan to retreat 20 kilometers during the day, then the 20 kilometers retreated are the 20 kilometers we will counterattack at night... We can plan the attack route in advance.
You can conduct on-site inspections, set up ambushes or scouts, and even bury ammunition as a supply point, etc."
"That's a good idea!" Major Zahakavich's eyes couldn't help but light up after hearing this: "We can pave the way forward for the tanks in advance. These roads are unknown to the Germans... This can make our tanks suddenly