USSR 1941

What Shulka said is actually the "blitzkrieg" that the Germans are using, but there are some compromises because of the different conditions of the Soviet army.

For example, the German "Blitzkrieg" placed high demands on the Air Force.

As I said before, the air force has a great advantage in reconnaissance. In addition, if you don't have air supremacy, tanks are excellent targets under enemy aircraft... You can't "dodge" even if you want to, and you can't even "dodge". Before arriving at the destination, our own 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 could not change, so he could only ask for aerial reconnaissance.

As for the threat of German airpower...

"Weather and camouflage!" Shulka said to Admiral Kirponos: "I heard that the weather around Kyiv is not good at this time?"

"Yes!" Admiral Kirbonos replied: "July and August are the rainy season in Ukraine, and there are rare sunny days!"

This is obviously not a good time for Germany to attack... The attack will start on June 22, the rainy season will enter in July and August, and then it will enter winter in a few months.

So it's kind of confusing.

But Shulka knew that this happened because the offensive time was delayed... As early as early April, the German army had gathered troops on the border to prepare for the offensive.

The offensive was delayed because the Italian army in Africa had been beaten 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 of the extremely important strategic position of Africa.

This is especially the latter, because whether it can be controlled is related to the question of whether the connection between Britain and the British colonies can be cut off, and it is also related to the question of whether Germany will be attacked by enemies.

Arguably, as long as it controlled the African continent, Britain would have no problem, as it would not have the ability to cross the English Channel and threaten Germany's hold on Europe.

Conversely, if Germany loses control of Africa, Britain will be integrated with the British colonies through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. After it recovers, it will obviously pose a great threat to Germany.

This forced Hitler to send troops to reinforce Africa, and he would never dare to act rashly until the fighting in Africa was stabilized. (Note: Rommel reinforced Africa in February 1941)

This is why Hitler has always ordered Rommel to hold the front line.

According to Hitler's thinking, because the German army had to use supplies and military power to attack the Soviet Union, of course they couldn't make a big fight in Africa, because such a result would inevitably require more troops and supplies.

At the same time, the German army did not invest much troops and equipment in Africa, and Hitler believed that he did not have the conditions and capabilities to "make a big fight".

Who would have thought that Rommel would launch a full-scale counterattack when he entered Africa in February and March with a serious shortage of troops and equipment. Not only did he counterattack, but he also defeated the British army all the way.

Even Hitler himself was frightened by this victory, or it can be said that Hitler was also dazzled by this victory, so he changed his previous decision to "stabilize the front line" and continued to increase troops to Africa. The 10th Army was used to bomb the island of Malta.

This caused the German army's offensive in the direction of the Soviet Union to be delayed again and again. It was not until June 22 that Hitler thought that he could free up his hands to attack the Soviet Union in an all-round way... At this time, Rommel in Africa had recovered all the lost ground and controlled the border between Libya and Egypt. The key point, Halfa's teeth, completely defeated the counterattack of the British army a few days ago.

Hitler promoted Rommel to the rank of general, and then he couldn't wait to direct his troops at the Soviet Union.

The result was a poorly timed attack, which also gave Shulka room to maneuver.

"It's hard for the German planes to take off under the heavy rain!" Shulka said: "Even if they barely take off, it's hard to get results. I mean if they want to bomb and intercept our tank troops!"

Admiral Kirponos nodded in agreement.

Needless to say, the reason is that the visibility is very low during heavy rain, which will bring many dangers to the fighter plane, such as turbulence, mechanical failure, etc., and ground bombing and strafing are even more impossible...

This is due to the high flying speed of the fighter planes. For example, the German BF fighter jets can reach a speed of more than 700 kilometers per hour, and the "Stuka" bomber can also fly at a speed of more than 400 kilometers per hour.

At this speed, the pilot needs to have a wide and good view to conduct dive bombing or strafing. Otherwise, the visibility is only tens of meters, which means that it takes less than half a second for the pilot to find the target and respond.

Half a second... let alone dropping a bomb and then pulling the nose up and leaving, it would be a god if it didn't crash with its head on the ground.

This danger is also present in cloudy and rainy days, and the same is true in air combat. It is difficult for them to keep up with and shoot down enemy aircraft in poor visibility, even though the speed of German fighters is much faster than most Soviet fighters. Also much more advanced.

In other words, the rainy season has severely weakened the German air power, allowing the Soviet reconnaissance planes and mechanized troops to carry out "blitzkrieg" without air supremacy.

"If we make the necessary camouflage on the tank!" Shulka continued: "For example, covering it with leaves, canvas, etc., this will make it more difficult for the German planes to find us!"

"The problem is the command of the tanks, Shulka!" Admiral Kirponos frowned and said, "This is what I have been worrying about!"

"The command of the tank?"

"Yes!" General Kirponos replied: "We fought the Germans on the Dubno, Lutsk and Rivno lines. I thought we could win this battle. But ...We finally had to retreat!"

Shulka knew about the battle that Admiral Kirponos was talking about. It was when the Germans first launched an offensive. The Soviet army deployed several times as many tanks as the German army on the border, but they were defeated by the German army with fewer victories and more battles. Be embarrassed.

The Soviet tanks are no worse than German tanks in terms of protection or firepower, or even slightly better... The 45MM artillery of the Soviet T26 light tank can suppress the German Panzer III, let alone the No. 1 and No. 2 light tanks.

"Communication equipment?" Shulka said.

"Yes!" General Kirponos replied: "Our tanks are seriously lacking in communication equipment, and the radios are barely equipped to the battalion level, which makes it impossible for us to command our own tanks, and they are almost fighting alone! "

Tanks are different from other equipment, and the tank crew is enclosed in the tank cabin to fight against the enemy.

Therefore, if there is no communication equipment, it can almost be said to be isolated from the world. Of course, they will fight on their own and be defeated by the German army.