USSR 1941

Hey, it's five o'clock by accident! What about the applause, where about the flowers? What about the monthly pass?

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After hesitating for a while, Golikov said: "Comrade Shulka, I know that you have extraordinary talents. You have brought various troops out of danger and won victories time and time again. But, you have also seen... ..."

Speaking of Golikov, he said to the map: "Stalingrad is generally a rectangle. Although it is 50 kilometers long along the Volga River, its width is only 5 kilometers to 10 kilometers. In other words, if the enemy To advance west to east, especially to capture the northern factory area of ​​the city, you only need to advance ten kilometers in battle, and then you can cut Stalingrad into pieces that cannot be connected with each other!"

"In addition, our troops and equipment are seriously insufficient!" Krylov took over the topic: "We counted, the entire Stalingrad has only a few 80 tanks that can be put into battle, and the troops we can mobilize are only more than 300,000 people, and it is still decreasing sharply!"

"The enemy should be only three hundred thousand!" Shulka said.

"Should" is used because Shulka shouldn't know the number, and Shulka isn't sure.

"Yes!" Krylov replied: "They have two army groups with a total strength of more than 300,000 troops, but..."

Having said that, Krylov didn't say anything further. He glanced at Golikov, and the faces of the two were full of embarrassment.

Shulka knew what that meant.

Because it was the two armies of the German army with more than 300,000 people who defeated the Soviet Army's Southeast Front Army and now they are chasing all the way to Stalingrad.

On the surface, the total strength of the German Army Group B was similar to that of the Soviet Front Army, but the Italian Army and the Hungarian Army actually only defended on the west bank of the Don River and did not participate in the battle.

In other words, the two armies of the German army can almost be said to be facing the Stagrad Front Army and the Southeast Front Army at the same time with more than 300,000 people.

Of course, on the battlefield, it is sometimes impossible to simply measure the number of troops and draw the conclusion that the Soviet army is far inferior to the German army.

The reason for this result is that on the one hand, the German army has taken advantage of the air force and has always held air supremacy, which is enough to magnify the infantry's combat effectiveness several times... The air supremacy on the battlefield is too important, because when the two armies confront each other, the one with air supremacy One side can easily get the enemy's timely intelligence and make a targeted response. In addition, it can bomb the enemy's artillery, so the air force is formed against the artillery,

Artillery versus infantry, infantry clearing up the asymmetrical situation on the battlefield.

On the other hand, it was because the elite of the Southeast Front Army was encircled and wiped out in Kharkov first, and the rest were mobs, and of course they could not compete with the German army.

The problem is, the remnants of the Southeastern Front in Stalingrad are still mobs.

Therefore, this 300,000 yuan is not the other 300,000 yuan.

What Krylov and Golikov meant was that the more than 300,000 Soviet troops in Stalingrad were no match for the more than 300,000 German troops.

"We need to concentrate all the forces in the city!" Shulka said. "The unorganized troops scattered all over the city, as well as the workers..."

"Comrade Shulka!" Golikov interrupted Shulka: "Maybe I shouldn't pour cold water on them, but organizing them can't change anything. They are not professional soldiers. This has been verified from previous battles!"

Golikov was referring to the rout of the Southeastern Front when it was stationed south of Stalingrad.

It should be said that there is some truth to this statement. There is a saying that "soldiers are expensive and elites are not expensive", and that is what it means.

This is not obvious in the era of cold weapons, but in modern warfare there is no experience and no basic military quality, no matter how many soldiers are on the battlefield, they are looking for abuse... The two armies came together, bombed by planes and artillery, Then the tank pushed forward, and everyone was frightened and ran away.

There is not much difference between having such soldiers and not having them, and it is a waste of rifles and supplies.

"So we should change tactics, Comrade Golikov!" Shulka said.

"Change tactics?" Golikov looked at Shulka suspiciously: "Can changing tactics change anything?"

"Of course!" Shulka replied: "The 82nd Infantry Regiment to which I belong is also a unit with no combat experience, and many of them are still recruits!"

"Yes!" Major Mikhailvich affirmed this at the right time, and took the opportunity to promote his troops: "Our troops were formed in Uryupinsk, and more than two-thirds of the soldiers have never been on the battlefield. New recruits on the battlefield, all they have is anger at the enemy!"

Of course, Shulka would not say that the 82nd Infantry Regiment had trained for more than two months specifically for urban street warfare.

"Change what tactics?" Golikov asked.

"We can no longer stick to certain areas like before!" Shulka said: "I mean, we have been trying to build a defensive line to block the enemy. This tactic needs to change!"

"What else can we do?" Krylov asked curiously: "Should we hand over the position to the enemy? We don't have much room to retreat. Behind us is the Volga River!"

With a depth of 5 kilometers to 10 kilometers, it is true that, as Krylov said, there is almost no room for retreat.

"I know, Comrade Krylov!" Shulka said: "But we can fight over and over again, that is, adopt a method similar to elastic defense. When it is not conducive to our army to fight during the day, we exchange space for time, and at night we can fight again." Take back these positions!"

"Night?" said Golikov. "You think we should fight at night?"

"Yes, of course!" Shulka said: "At night, the enemy's artillery, tanks and aircraft are basically useless. The enemy can fight us only with infantry, but this is not the case during the day!"

Golikov thought about it for a while, then nodded silently: "You are right, Comrade Shulka, in this way... a war of attrition against the enemy infantry will be formed!"

The reason is actually very simple. The problem is that the Soviet army is always used to rushing and fighting at the first sight. Golikov still has the taste of being beaten by the German army, so he didn't think of this.

"Why can't we be like the 82nd Infantry!" Krylov said, "I mean, if you can hold hospitals and schools, then other units can hold them just as well with the same tactics." position!"

Shulka shook his head and said: "Comrade Krylov, the reason why we were able to defend the hospital and school is because the Germans hope to use the hospital and school as a forward base and supply line for attacking Mamayev Hill. Otherwise, They could literally blow up our garrisoned buildings one after another to rubble!"