The 51st Army only had one tank division with more than a hundred tanks... This was the result of reorganization after suffering heavy casualties in Surovino, and some of the tanks were injured.
"But placing the infantry division in the front won't change the situation!" Trufanov asked Shulka: "You mean, let the infantry conduct fire reconnaissance in the front?"
Fire reconnaissance is a tactic commonly used by the Soviet army. Simply put, the infantry charges forward to attract the enemy to fire, and then finds out the enemy's fire deployment.
"You can say that!" Shulka replied: "But I'm not just talking about fire reconnaissance!"
As he spoke, Shulka pointed to the map and said: "What I mean is that the infantry is lurking in the front and advancing instead of charging. At the same time, we distribute artillery observers and tanks to follow the infantry, and the communications troops follow up, and the infantry advances.
The communications troops will set up telephones wherever they go..."
Trufanov somewhat understood what Shulka meant: "Then let the tanks and artillery advance as fire support for the infantry?"
"Yes!" Shulka nodded.
"This is difficult!" Trufanov said: "They have never received such training and have never fought in this way!"
"I know!" Shulka replied: "But they need to do this now! So, I think the best thing to put in the front is the naval infantry battalion... We happen to have enough naval infantry in our army!"
What Shulka said is actually what infantry has to do in modern warfare.
This tactic sounds simple, but it is not easy to actually implement it.
The reason is that it involves the coordination of infantry, tanks, artillery and even the air force... On the one hand, it requires high communication equipment, and on the other hand, the quality requirements for infantry are not to the extent that just a rifle can be an infantryman in this era.
can meet the requirements.
There is no need to say more about the reasons.
Infantrymen must be able to command artillery. If necessary, they can report coordinates like artillery observers and guide artillery to bomb targets. They must be able to direct tanks to shoot at targets, and even indicate positions for the air force...
This almost requires the infantry to be versatile and able to fight and charge when necessary.
Of course, it does not require that every infantryman be omnipotent, but that there must be soldiers in the army who can do these things and be prepared to cooperate.
Shulka wanted to do this under the existing conditions, or he could barely do it. On the one hand, he used telephone lines instead of walkie-talkies.
This is obviously a shortcoming. Telephone lines can easily be blown down by artillery fire and there is no guarantee. At the same time, the darkness on the front line will also lead to problems such as command and guidance confusion.
But now we can only make do.
On the other hand, the more serious problem is the quality of the troops...
This is divided into two levels. In terms of coordination, it is easy to say. Just like Shulka said, some artillery observers and tank followers are arranged to join the infantry. If the infantry wants artillery or tank cover, they can directly tell them
These arms then give orders to artillery and tanks.
The problem is that the Soviet infantry has never fought like this, and their tactical thinking is all stuck in the Second World War or even the First World War... This seems to be the Second World War, but from Shulka's perspective, their tactics are very backward.
As Trufanov said, they have not received relevant training. They have been taught that once a war begins, they should not be afraid of sacrifices or difficulties, and then grab their rifles and charge in the direction of the enemy... Even the Guards Infantry are not afraid of them.
exception.
In fact, the Guards infantry should be said to be a typical example in this regard, because most of them got the title of "Guards" because they were "not afraid of sacrifice" and "not afraid of difficulties" on the battlefield and then bravely charged at the enemy.
So, if Shulka puts these infantrymen in front... they have no coordinated thinking at all, and they still wave their pistols as usual: "Comrades, for Stalin, for the Soviets... charge!"
Then they rush forward like a colony of ants, and everything is over. What awaits them are machine guns and artillery shells. Even if artillery observers and tank followers are deployed among them, even if the correspondent has put the call in front of them, it will not matter.
No help.
Because they don't know how to use it.
Therefore, Shulka needs naval infantry with higher education and better quality.
"They don't have many troops!" Trufanov hesitated.
Trufanov came from a pure infantry background, while Shulka obviously valued naval infantry more, which made Trufanov feel a little uncomfortable.
But the battlefield is very realistic, and there are no polite words to say. What Shulka wants are soldiers with a higher level of education, because they are more flexible and reasonable, and they can also understand Shulka's tactical ideas faster.
"I know!" Shulka replied: "Then supplement their ranks with infantry, just like we did in the attack on Surovino, and commanded by naval infantry!"
The key point here is that the naval infantry is commanded. As long as the commander understands it, it doesn't matter whether the subordinates understand it, because they only need to fight according to the orders of their superiors.
Trufanov turned his attention to Zolotarev.
Zolotarev thought for a while and then asked: "Are you sure you want to fight like this?"
"Yes!" Shulka did not hesitate.
"Are you sure this will work?" Zolotarev asked again.
"No, I'm not sure!" Shulka replied: "But I think we should at least try!"
"There are too many uncertain factors in this!" Zolotarev said: "For example, the reorganization of the troops, mutual cooperation, etc., it may cause the troops to fall into chaos!"
"I know!" Shulka nodded.
It can also be seen from these words that Zolotarev has a certain understanding of military affairs.
He is right, the new tactics are indeed good. If the various arms, namely infantry, tanks, and artillery, can be coordinated together, the result will be that the overall combat effectiveness will be doubled.
But if the Soviet infantry is simply unable to assume this role and complete these tasks, then coordination will be out of the question and the infantry will have too many tasks and will be scurrying around like headless flies.
At this time Trufanov added: "I think they are very experienced in this regard!"
"What?" Zolotarev didn't understand what Trufanov meant.
"I mean chaos!" Trufanov explained: "From the outbreak of the war to now, they have been fighting in chaos. So, I believe they will not be as negative as we thought!"
After thinking for a while, Zolotarev nodded and said: "Okay! I have no objection. So... Comrade Shulka! What should we prepare now?"
"I need to summon the commander of the naval infantry!" Shulka said: "All the battalion commanders, and the company commanders!" (To be continued)