It should be said that it is not uncommon for Soviet airmen to be used as ordinary infantry. Shulka encountered it before when he was in Kiev... Paratroopers wearing air force uniforms charged towards the enemy's defense line with rifles, so much so that the Germans thought that the Soviets were too fast.
The troops are depleted.
In fact, it was not just Kiev. At that time, the Soviet Union had a total of five paratrooper armies, each with more than 10,000 troops, and a total strength of 5,146 troops, which were deployed in Kharkiv, Odessa and other places.
However, the fate of these paratroopers was, of course, like that of the Kiev First Parachute Corps, which failed to function and was used as ordinary infantry.
It should be said that it makes sense for these paratroopers to be used as ordinary infantry.
To be precise, it is not a reason, but a helpless choice... At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Air Force had no power to fight back and was almost suppressed by the German Air Force, without even a chance to fight back.
On the other hand, the Soviet infantry was surrounded and annihilated by hundreds of thousands, and the German troops were directed towards Moscow.
The Soviet paratroopers can only be used as ordinary infantry when they have no conditions to carry out airborne... Carrying out airborne without air superiority is almost equal to seeking death. The transport aircraft used for airborne may be wiped out before they fly over the target.
In the air, the airborne troops will really be "airborne" at that time.
But now, during the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet Union has reorganized the Airborne Corps... This happened in September 1941, when the Battle of Moscow broke out, and the Supreme Command ordered the reorganization of these five Airborne Corps.
This is not to say that the High Command has the foresight to know the importance of the air force, but that they hope to use airborne troops to assist in the defense of Moscow... When the German air forces and ground forces comprehensively attack Moscow, the High Command hopes to use the airborne troops to assist in the defense of Moscow.
The rear airborne troops attacked its supply lines and thus assisted in the defense of Moscow.
This idea is a good one, because there is only a small area in Moscow, and the number of frontline troops that the Soviet Union can invest at the same time is very limited. At that time, the airborne troops will be needed to harass the German army.
However, these airborne troops were not dispatched in the end.
On the one hand, it was because airborne landings at night were dangerous... Unable to gain air supremacy, the Soviet Union could only place its hope on airborne landings at night.
On the other hand, when the airborne troops were almost fully formed, they found that it was no longer necessary or necessary to use the airborne troops to carry out harassment. The cold weather had helped the Soviet Union complete this task.
From this perspective, although the German troops had indeed reached the city in the Battle of Moscow, they were still only a little short of capturing Moscow.
Then, these five airborne armies maintained training until the Battle of Stalingrad...At this time, they were used as ordinary infantry entirely due to insufficient strength, and they were still used on the front line of the Battle of Stalingrad.
Obviously, this is a tactical and ideological error.
Because at this time, the Soviet army already had partial air supremacy and the ability to launch a large-scale counterattack... For example, the Battle of Kharkov was the first counterattack launched by the Soviet army. In such a counterattack, the most ideal thing is to launch it from the frontline troops.
While attacking, airborne troops can be dropped behind the enemy's rear, or they can sneak attack enemy ammunition depots, important supply lines, occupy important military positions, or even simply attack the German army from both sides.
The problem is that the high command who made the plan never thought of using it this way... If it were fought this way, maybe the Battle of Kharkov would be different, and the German army would not directly hit Stalingrad with a counterattack.
The result of leaving the airborne troops unused is to integrate these airborne-trained troops into infantry divisions for emergency response when there is a serious shortage of troops... This obviously cannot play the role of airborne troops, and they may not even be as good as ordinary infantry, because
They were trained to airborne and then attack the enemy with light weapons, so they basically did not know how to coordinate with infantry and tanks (in this era, airborne tanks were not yet available, so airborne troops did not need infantry-tank coordination).
"They were divided into thirteen infantry divisions!" Trufanov pulled out a document and handed it to Shulka, saying: "From the 44th Guards Infantry Division, they were successively reinforced to Stalin's
How many airborne troops are left in the Gullah battle...it’s impossible to count!”
Shulka knows what "uncountable" means.
The troops that were reinforced to fight in Stalingrad all had one characteristic, that is, they suffered a large number of casualties, and then were replenished batch after batch. It may only take a week or even a few days for the entire unit to be replaced with new blood.
Therefore, those airborne troops who were added to the infantry divisions have probably disappeared on the battlefield.
This is indeed true in history, because after the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet army had to reorganize the Airborne Army again, this time 8 Airborne Corps were formed.
But what is puzzling is that these eight airborne troops, like the previous Soviet air force, were still used as ordinary infantry and were used up.
What really went into actual combat was the formation of the 0 Airborne Brigade in April 194... This 0 Airborne Brigade fought in the Dnieper River Airborne Operation, which was known as the most chaotic in history and the greatest disaster for the Soviet airborne troops.
"We can gather all the airborne troops again!" Shulka said: "There are five airborne troops, with a total strength of more than 50,000 people. Even if there are a lot of casualties, we can still gather a few thousand people!"
Zolotarev and Trufanov did not answer.
"Is there any problem?" Shulka asked: "You think you can't gather these thousands of people?"
"No, Comrade Shulka!" Zolotarev replied: "In fact, some of these Guards Divisions have not fought for too long, which means they have remained relatively intact, such as the 7th Guards Infantry Division.
, and the 41st Guards Infantry Division, so it’s not a big problem to gather a few thousand airborne troops!”
"Then..." Shulka spread his hands in confusion.
"We have limited time!" Trufanov said: "Only one day!"
"This is not the main problem!" Zolotarev continued: "We have the ability to assemble these airborne troops in a short time. After all, they are originally airborne troops and have received relevant training. The problem is that we have no experience and lack of officers.
The command experience of airborne operations and the lack of combat experience among the soldiers... Is this too risky?"
After hearing this, Shulka understood that the Soviet military had lost confidence in airborne operations.
This may sound ridiculous, but the Soviet Union was the first country to create airborne troops.
But when I think about it, it’s not surprising, because their opponents, the Germans, are so sophisticated, so good, and so successful in the use of airborne troops that the Soviet army is embarrassed to have airborne troops, or it can be said that they don’t have any.