USSR 1941

"What?" Novikov looked at Shulka in disbelief: "You mean, can you help the reform of the Air Force?"

"No, Comrade Novikov!" Sensing that he was showing too much sharpness, Shulka hurriedly replied, "I'm just a little curious about what problems are bothering you. Maybe we brainstormed and came up with a feasible solution by mistake. maybe!"

Shulka is trying to pull Zhukov and Khrushchev into the water. It would be much easier if they joined him.

Khrushchev jumped at the sight of a pit...Khrushchev is quite conceited, and anyone who is conceited has curiosity and a desire to control, so even industries he knows nothing about will get involved.

"That's right, Comrade Shulka!" Khrushchev said. "I want to hear it too!"

"Okay!" Novikov rolled his eyes and replied: "First of all, the air force organization is fragmented and chaotic: we originally used aviation divisions as the basic tactical corps, and each aviation division has 4 to 6 aviation regiments under its jurisdiction. An aviation regiment has about 60 aircraft according to different types of aircraft..."

"Wait, by model?" Shulka asked.

"Yes, there are usually fighters, attack planes and bombers!" Novikov asked. "Any questions?"

Among them, fighter planes are mainly for air combat, attack planes are mainly for sea, ground or support infantry, and bombers are for bombing missions.

Shulka looked at Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, we seem to have encountered similar problems before!"

Zhukov thought for a while, and said, "You mean... we use the artillery in a centralized manner?"

"Yes!" Shulka turned his attention to Novikov: "Although I don't know much about the air force, Comrade Novikov, and I also know that the air force is different from the infantry, but the strategy and tactics are always different. the same!"

Novikov nodded in agreement. He himself was born as an infantryman. He served as a platoon commander, company commander, and battalion commander in the Soviet-Russian civil war.

"Our artillery was originally used in various units!" Shulka said: "The idea of ​​​​dispersion is very good, which enables the infantry to receive timely and rapid artillery support and have a faster response speed on the battlefield, but the fact is that It's just the opposite...Our commanders are generally inexperienced, they can't command infantry, artillery and their coordination on the battlefield at the same time, and this will increase many logistical and maintenance difficulties!"

"That's right!" Novikov immediately showed a serious look on his face: "Our aviation division has mixed fighter jets, attack planes and bombers, which makes it necessary for each aviation division to have three sets of maintenance equipment and personnel. Plus there are spare parts, ammunition, etc., maintenance and logistics are too complicated!"

"There is also command!" Zhukov interrupted: "I believe that the commander of the aviation division cannot control three types of aircraft at the same time!"

Zhukov is satirizing the air force in real time... Zhukov, as the supreme deputy commander, and commanded several large-scale attacks against Kotluban, all ended in disastrous failures. Of course, he has many complaints about the weak air force in his heart.

Novikov blushed, and although he was a little embarrassed, he had to admit: "You are right, Comrade Zhukov! This also makes the command system very complicated. The aviation division must have at least three command divisions to command three types of aircraft. , if there are new changes in the mission, there will be a phenomenon that some command branches are very busy and some command branches have nothing to do!"

This kind of organization cannot be said to be wrong. In fact, it is still an advanced tactic, because modern aviation has such an organization as mixed divisions and mixed brigades. battlefield.

Correspondingly, modern infantry is also gradually moving towards a "synthetic battalion", that is, half-step, artillery, tank, engineer... Almost all the basic infantry arms are organized into one battalion, so this battalion can almost independently complete all the infantry can complete. Tasks: infantry-tank coordination, infantry-gun coordination, breaking obstacles and clearing the way, etc.

However, these modern mixed divisions and synthetic battalions are all based on strong logistical supply capabilities, maintenance teams, advanced communication, information equipment and other technologies, as well as adequate training.

At this time, the Soviet Union can be said to be a mess in these aspects, especially the communication equipment. The communication between some backward fighter planes still needs to be completed by firing signal flares. In this case, the confusion is purely for yourself. looking for trouble.

"So, the important thing is not whether they are scattered!" Novikov said thoughtfully: "It should be organized according to the model!"

"Yes!" Shulka replied: "I think this will be much better than before, because in this way we can classify maintenance, logistics, command, etc. by type, which will greatly simplify maintenance and logistics. And command, so that there will be no confusion when fighting the enemy!"

Things on the battlefield are always as simple as possible.

Complexity does have complex benefits. For example, mixing various types of aircraft means that an aviation division of the Soviet Army can independently complete a complex task.

The problem is that "the ideal is always full, but the reality is very skinny". On the ever-changing battlefield, the Soviet army simply cannot bear the side effects of "complexity". Therefore, one advantage has no disadvantages but the other does not fall. It is a strange thing not to lose a battle .

After thinking for a while, Novikov nodded and said, "It makes sense, we should do this. In this way...we should centralize the command of the air force instead of assigning them to various units!"

This is another disadvantage of the Soviet aviation organization. Just like tanks, they almost assign aircraft to infantry. From top to bottom, there are the aviation of the headquarters, the aviation of the front army, the aviation of the group army and the aviation of the army.

The result of this organization method is that the aviation is limited by the combat direction and area of ​​the infantry... For example, the aviation of the Stalingrad Front is only responsible for the battle of the Stalingrad Front, even if the aviation of the Southern Front is fighting the Germans in the air. The entire army was wiped out. In principle, the aviation of the Stalingrad Front is not obliged to participate, that is to say, just watch and wait for the Luftwaffe to defeat them one by one.

Therefore, Shulka agreed without thinking: "Of course, Comrade Novikov, of course they must concentrate their command and unite their operations!"

At this time, Khrushchev and Zhukov seemed to see hope.