"The first thing you have to do is to forget the previous charge tactics!" Shulka shouted to the soldiers with a loudspeaker during training: "Although I still ask you to be brave, I don't ask you not to be afraid of sacrifice.
Bloodshed, let alone charging at the enemy at every turn!"
In fact, there is another thing Shulka wants to say, that is, there is no requirement to "not take a step back."
But Shulka didn't dare to say this, because if he said it today, people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs would come to him tomorrow.
But even so, the soldiers looked at each other in shock when they heard these words, because this was different from the education they had received before.
"But, Comrade Captain!" A soldier asked: "What difference does it make? Doesn't bravery mean that you are not afraid of sacrifice and bloodshed?"
"Are they no different?" Shulka asked.
The soldiers really didn't know the difference between the two.
This is a bit unbelievable to modern people, but for people of this era, especially Soviet soldiers who have been influenced by the Soviet army's combat ideology of blindly charging to kill the enemy for a long time, it is a corner that is difficult to turn around.
A famous Chinese general once studied and exchanged with the Soviet Union. The Soviet general asked the Chinese general what he would do when he was weak against the enemy.
The Chinese general who is good at fighting guerrilla warfare replied without thinking: "If you can't fight, run away and continue fighting in another place!"
This was immediately criticized by the Soviet generals...According to the Soviet tactical thinking, even if they cannot defeat, they should use fearless spirit to fight the enemy to the end, and will not consider retreat at all, at least at the officer level.
This is obviously wrong, and it is also a rigid and inflexible side of the Soviet army's tactics. The result is that the Soviet army always suffers heavy casualties on the battlefield, even when it occupies the battlefield advantage.
"Of course there is a difference between them!" Shulka said: "Because our purpose is to kill more enemies and win the battle, not to show how brave we are... In my opinion, bravery is to show
How many enemies can we kill and ultimately win, not whether we dare to charge at the enemy's guns!"
The soldiers nodded slowly and thoughtfully.
This truth is actually very simple. They even think so in their hearts, but they just don’t dare to say it or do it.
"So, you must understand one thing first!" Shulka continued: "If it is not necessary, or it is not ordered by superiors, you should save your lives as much as possible. Only by saving your own lives can you have a chance to kill the enemy.
More chances to win!"
Shulka could only express his combat thoughts in this relatively obscure way.
In fact, strictly speaking, it is already dangerous for Shurka to say this, because it is likely to be labeled as "fearful of fighting" and "afraid of life and death."
But Shulka had to do this.
Otherwise, the 82nd Infantry Regiment had only a thousand men, to be exact, only 1,039 men... This was the number after Shulka selected the original infantry regiment.
If these 1,000 men fought according to Soviet tactics on the battlefield, it would only take a few minutes to charge.
Therefore, if we really want them to play a role on the battlefield and change the destiny of the 82nd Infantry Regiment, they can only change their combat thinking.
This is crucial.
Of course, changing the soldiers' combat thinking is not just about talking about it, but more importantly, letting them apply it in training... Only if you do this in training, you will not be the same when you go to the battlefield one day.
Fight hard and rush hard.
This is indeed the case.
A considerable number of these soldiers thought that Shulka was just talking, so they still used the previous tactics in training...or it can be said that it was a habit. When they saw someone rushing forward, they rushed forward.
Shulka shouted from behind with a loudspeaker: "What are you doing? There is no bunker to hide in front of, hiding behind the carriage? Do you think the enemy's machine guns and mortars can't penetrate the rotten wood of the carriage?
?!"
"This is not the time to charge. You are already dead, you know? Already dead!"
"Hold your position, cover your comrades, and retreat!"
"Yes, you did it right! Cover each other, use the obstruction of the building, choose the blind spot of the enemy's fire and retreat!"
…
To put it simply, what Shulka was teaching them was not to attack, but to retreat, to retreat continuously.
This caused Shulka to encounter a little trouble in training. This trouble came from Major Mikhailovich, who had attended a military academy.
"Comrade Shulka!" Major Mikhailovich found Shulka during the training break: "I want to talk to you about training!"
"Do you disagree with my training method?" Shulka asked.
"You can say that!" Major Mikhailovich handed Shulka the wine bottle: "To be precise, I agree with your thoughts in some aspects. For example, you said that only by preserving one's own life can one
It's better to kill the enemy and ultimately win. I think this is a long-term way of fighting, rather than looking at the immediate future. But... we have been training to retreat! I don't think retreat will lead to victory, Shulka
Comrade!"
"It's easy to charge, but it's not easy to retreat in an orderly manner, Comrade Major!" Shulka took a few sips from the wine bottle, then handed it back to the major: "At the same time, they also
Need to practice retreating!”
"This will damage their morale and cause them to have negative thoughts!" Major Mikhailovich lowered his voice and said: "I know what you are thinking, Comrade Shulka, you hope that we can launch the attack at the right opportunity.
Counterattack. But... some people use this tactic as an excuse to keep retreating in order to save themselves, and eventually it turns into an escape, and we can't even blame them, because this is the tactic we taught them!"
"I think we should trust our soldiers!" Shulka replied: "I mean, if you want to build a real army, you have to trust them instead of guarding them. Otherwise, even if you organize behind them
The team can't change anything!"
This has been proven time and time again on the battlefield.
For example, on the Kerch Peninsula and the large area of land west of Moscow occupied by the German army, the Soviet army organized supervisory teams more than once to aim their guns at fleeing soldiers.
But its effect was very limited, and sometimes it even had a counterproductive effect... As a result, many soldiers mutinied collectively and chose to surrender to the German army.
"If it doesn't work, why do we do it when we know it doesn't work?"
"But...how can we trust our soldiers without reservation? There will always be some of them who are greedy for life and afraid of death!"
"All we have to do is believe in them!" Shulka replied: "Even if they make mistakes occasionally!"