Compared with Manstein's nervousness, Shulka and others who were at the 51st Army Headquarters were a little ashamed of the organization and command of the airborne brigade. At the same time, they also understood why Veniamenko was concerned about this airborne.
I don't have much hope for the battle.
"How is the situation?" Zolotarev asked anxiously.
"It's not clear yet!" Veniamenko replied.
"Who is in charge of the battle in Miloway City?" Trufanov asked.
"I don't know, Comrade Trufanov!"
"What about Highland 3?"
"I don't know either..."
"Why don't you know anything?" Zolotarev looked at his watch in confusion: "It has been fifteen minutes since landing. Besides, shouldn't these arrangements have been made long ago?"
Veniamenko helplessly replied: "Believe me, Comrade Zolotarev, I also want to arrange it in advance, and it is actually very easy to arrange these in advance. We just need to assign the tasks one by one.
Got it!"
"Then why don't you do this, Comrade Veniamenko?" Zolotarev asked doubtfully.
"Comrade Veniamenko cannot do this!" Shulka said: "And it makes no sense!"
Veniamenko nodded and explained: "This is an airborne operation, Comrade Zolotarev! And we have three attack targets. All of us are not sure where we can airborne. So, assign it in advance
What about the mission? If the 1st Airborne Regiment is arranged to attack Highland 3, but most of them parachute down to Butul Village...should we let them rush to Highland 3 to fight?"
Hearing this, Zolotarev and Trufanov were speechless.
This is another characteristic of airborne operations, to be precise, the characteristic of airborne operations during World War II: uncertainty.
The airdrop point is uncertain, the mission is uncertain, and even the troop strength, equipment and organization are uncertain.
For example, it was originally planned to parachute a group to Highland No. 3, but a sudden gust of wind... it may not necessarily be that most of the people were blown to Miloway City.
Therefore, it is meaningless to parachute the first, second, and third regiments, and who is commanding and taking charge is of course meaningless.
In this era, a large part of airborne operations depended on luck.
For example, now, let's first airdrop the more than 3,000 airborne troops into that area, then let them freely combine and rank them according to their military ranks, and then launch an attack based on the principle of proximity.
"So..." Shulka asked a question: "How can they know where they are parachuting to, or which target they should attack?"
If this problem were modern, it would be a trivial matter. As soon as the satellite positioning is turned on, you will know your own position. Of course, you can also know the positions and even distances of several targets, and then it will be clear at a glance which target you want to attack.
But there was no such thing as satellite positioning at this time. If you were to land in the air, your eyes would be completely dark, especially at night. This requires excellent ability to read maps and find points... This may be feasible for modern well-trained airborne troops.
, but Shulka expressed serious doubts about these Soviet airborne troops who had only received a few months of parachute training and were still used as infantry.
"We have also considered this!" Veniamenko replied: "So we temporarily recruited many soldiers from Miloway, who are familiar with the terrain, and each company added three...So, the first thing after the troops airborne
Just find them!"
"Temporary recruitment?" Shulka was a little confused.
Veniamenko's method does work.
On the one hand, there are many soldiers from Miloway in the army, and many of them can serve as guides at a single order. When they parachute into that area, they can judge their approximate location from the surrounding terrain, and then use
This further action.
On the other hand, each company is supplemented by three people, that is, almost one per platoon. Such airborne troops are airdropped in batches. These "guides" who are familiar with the terrain will also walk around the soldiers more evenly. The officers and soldiers of the airborne troops can easily
can find them.
Shulka's doubt is...
"If it is a temporary recruitment, there is no guarantee that they will parachute, right?"
"Of course!" Veniamenko replied, then looked at the confused people and asked: "They really don't know how to parachute. Is there any problem?"
Shulka and Trufanov looked at each other.
This is not only a problem, but a huge problem.
Although these "guides" do not need to prepare and arrange their own parachutes, although they will automatically open their parachutes when parachuting... Parachuting is not just as simple as a parachute, especially at the moment of landing, if you do not know how to simply control the parachute
Avoid dangerous areas. If you don’t know the essentials of landing movements, you may be injured by falling, or you may be strung on a tree or have your neck broken.
However, these seemed to be nothing to the Soviet army.
Because even if there are these casualties, a considerable number of those "guides" can still land smoothly... What's more, it doesn't matter if those "guides" fall and get injured. They are not expected to participate in the battle. They only need to recognize the location.
It can probably be done in any part.
In other words, these "casualties" may be within the scope of Lieutenant General Veniamenko's consideration.
It can be seen from this that Lieutenant General Veniamenko's thinking is quite careful, but he seems to be a little ruthless...but this seems to be an essential quality for a general.
While several people were discussing, the signalman reported excitedly: "There is news. The 1st Airborne Regiment has landed near Highland No. 3. The 2nd Airborne Regiment and the 3rd Airborne Regiment are located to the east and south of Miloway respectively.
…”
Several people were shocked when they heard this. Two airborne regiments were near Miloway City. Does this mean that there are no troops in the most difficult village of Butur?!
But this is not the case.
Because the airborne regiment mentioned here is actually just the command team carrying the radio... After landing, they first determine their position, and then use the radio to report to the headquarters.
However, this at least proves that the Butul direction is in a state of unmanned command.
"It won't be without a command!" Veniamenko said: "Because we told everyone in advance that this situation is likely to happen after they airborne. The next battle will require them to organize themselves spontaneously.
fighting!"
"But they can't contact us, that is, we can't coordinate with them!" Zolotarev complained: "Why don't you let them bring more radio stations!"
"I have already done this, Comrade Zolotarev!" Veniamenko said: "But we only have twenty-one radio stations, twelve of which have been assigned to the airborne troops! But we cannot guarantee that they will land on the ground