What Shulka was talking about was actually the "blitzkrieg" that the Germans were using, but there were some compromises because the situation of the Soviet army was different.
For example, the German "Blitzkrieg" placed high demands on the air force.
As mentioned before, the Air Force has a great advantage in reconnaissance. In addition, if it does not have control of the air, tanks will be perfect targets under enemy aircraft... They cannot "dodge" even if they want to.
Before reaching the destination, our tanks have been almost wiped out by the enemy's air power.
At this time, the Soviet army was at an absolute disadvantage in air power compared with the German army. This was something Shulka was unable to change, so he could only ask for aerial reconnaissance.
As for the threat from German air power...
"Weather and camouflage!" Shulka said to Admiral Kirponos: "I heard that the weather in Kiev is not good during this period?"
"Yes!" Admiral Kirponos replied: "July and August are the rainy seasons in Ukraine, and it is rare to have sunny days!"
This is obviously not a good time for Germany to attack... The attack was launched on June 22, and the rainy season entered in July and August, followed by winter in a few months.
So this is a little hard to understand.
But Shulka knew that the reason for this situation was that the attack time was delayed... As early as early April, the German army had assembled troops on the border and prepared for the attack.
The attack was delayed because the Italian army in Africa had been defeated by the British and Germany had to reinforce it.
On the one hand, this was because Hitler needed Italy as an ally, and on the other hand, it was because Africa's strategic position was extremely important.
This is especially true of the latter, because whether it can be controlled is related to whether the connection between Britain and the British colonies can be cut off, and it is also related to whether Germany will be attacked from both sides.
It can be said that as long as it controls the African continent, Britain will not be a problem because it does not have the ability to cross the English Channel to threaten Germany's control of Europe.
On the contrary, if Germany loses control of Africa, Britain will be connected to the British colonies through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. After it regains its strength, it will obviously be a great threat to Germany.
This forced Hitler to send troops to reinforce Africa, and he would not dare to act rashly until the fighting in Africa was not stable. (Note: Rommel sent reinforcements to Africa in February 1941)
This is why Hitler kept ordering Rommel to stabilize the front.
According to Hitler's idea, because the German army wanted to use its materials and military power to attack the Soviet Union, of course it could not make a big move in Africa, because the result would inevitably be the need for more troops and materials.
At the same time, the German army did not invest much troops and equipment in Africa, and Hitler believed that it did not have the conditions and capabilities for a "big fight."
Who would have thought that when Rommel entered Africa in February, he would launch a full-scale counterattack in March despite a serious shortage of troops and equipment. Not only did he counterattack, he also defeated the British army.
This victory scared even Hitler himself, or it can be said that Hitler was also dazzled by this victory, so he changed his previous decision to "stabilize the front" and continued to send more troops to Africa, especially the German Air Force.
X Corps was used to bomb the island of Malta.
This delayed the German offensive in the direction of the Soviet Union. It was not until June 22 that Hitler thought he could free up his hands to launch a full-scale attack on the Soviet Union... At this time, Rommel in Africa had regained all the lost territory and controlled the border between Libya and Egypt.
The key point is Halfa Pass, and a few days ago it completely defeated the British counterattack.
Hitler promoted Rommel to general, and then he couldn't wait to direct his troops towards the Soviet Union.
The result was that the timing of the attack was wrong, which also gave Shurka room to operate.
"It is difficult for German planes to take off under heavy rain!" Shurka said: "Even if they barely take off, it will be difficult to achieve results. I mean if they want to bomb and intercept our tank troops!"
Admiral Kilponos nodded in agreement.
Needless to say, the reason is that visibility is very low during heavy rain, which will bring many dangers to fighter operations, such as turbulence, mechanical failure, etc. Ground bombing and strafing are even more impossible...
This is because fighter planes fly very fast. For example, the German BF fighter jet reaches a speed of more than 700 kilometers per hour, and the "Stuka" bomber also reaches a speed of more than 400 kilometers per hour.
At this speed, the pilot needs to have a wide and good field of vision to carry out dive bombing or strafing. Otherwise, the visibility is only a few dozen meters, which means that the pilot takes less than half a second from discovering the target to reacting.
Half a second... let alone dropping the bomb and then raising the nose of the plane to fly away, it was already a miracle without plunging to the ground and crashing.
This danger also exists on rainy days, and the same is true for air combat. It is difficult for them to keep up with enemy planes and shoot them down in poor visibility, even if the German fighter planes are much faster than most Soviet fighter planes.
It's also much more advanced.
In other words, the rainy season has seriously weakened the German air power, allowing Soviet reconnaissance aircraft and mechanized units to carry out "blitzkrieg" without air superiority.
"If we add necessary camouflage to the tank!" Shulka continued: "For example, covering it with leaves, canvas, etc., it will make it more difficult for German aircraft to detect us!"
"The problem lies in the command of the tanks, Shulka!" General Kilponos frowned and said, "This is also the problem I have been worried about!"
"Tank command?"
"Yes!" General Kirponos replied: "We fought the Germans on the Dubno, Lutsk and Rivne lines. Originally I thought we could win this battle. But
...We finally had to retreat!"
Shulka knew about the battle that General Kilponos was talking about. It was when the Germans first launched their attack. The tanks deployed by the Soviet army on the border were several times that of the German army, but the German army defeated them with fewer tanks and more tanks.
In great embarrassment.
The Soviet tanks are no worse or even slightly better than the German tanks in terms of protection and firepower... The 45mm gun of the Soviet T26 light tank can suppress the German Panzer III tanks, let alone the Panzer I and II light tanks.
"Communication equipment?" Shulka said.
"Yes!" General Kilponos replied: "Our tanks seriously lack communication equipment, and radios are barely equipped at the battalion level. This makes it impossible for us to command our own tanks. They are almost all fighting independently!
"
Tanks are different from other equipment. Tank crews are enclosed in the tank cabin to fight the enemy.
Therefore, if there is no communication equipment, it can be said to be almost isolated from the world. Of course, they will fight on their own and be defeated by the German army one by one.