USSR 1941

  Chapter 94 Blitz

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

  For example, the German "Blitzkrieg" has high requirements 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 perfect targets under enemy aircraft... You can't "dodge" even if you want to, and you haven't even At 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 powerless to change, so he could only ask for aerial reconnaissance.

   As for the threat of German airpower...

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

   "Yes!" Admiral Kirponos replied: "July and August are the rainy season in Ukraine, and it is rare to have sunny days!"

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

   So this is 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 postponed because the Italian army in Africa had been beaten by the British army and Germany had to reinforce it.

   On the one hand, this is because Hitler needs Italy as an ally, and on the other hand, it is because of the extremely important strategic position of Africa.

   This is especially 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 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 to 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 is obviously a great threat to Germany.

  This forced Hitler to send troops to reinforce Africa, and he never dared 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 stabilize the front line.

  According to Hitler's idea, because the German army will use materials and military power to attack the Soviet Union, of course it cannot fight in Africa, because such a result will inevitably require more troops and materials.

  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 "fight big".

  Who would have thought that Rommel would launch a full-scale counter-offensive when he entered Africa in February and March with a serious shortage of troops and equipment. Not only the counter-offensive, but also the British army was defeated 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 to delay its offensive in the direction of the Soviet Union. 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 fortress on the border between Libya and Egypt. Dihalfa's teeth were closed, and the counterattack of the British army was completely defeated a few days ago.

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

   The result is that the timing of the attack is wrong, which also gives Shulka room to operate.

   "It is difficult for the German planes to take off under the heavy rain!" Shulka said: "Even if they barely take off, it is difficult to achieve 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 the heavy rain, which will bring many dangers to the combat aircraft, such as turbulence, mechanical failure, etc., and ground bombing and strafing are even more impossible...

  This is due to the high 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 drop the bomb and then pull up the nose and leave, it would be a **** if it didn't crash 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.

   That is to say, the rainy season has seriously 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 Kirbonos 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 the German army fought more with fewer victories. 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 German Panzer 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, the tank crew is enclosed in the tank cabin to fight against the enemy.

  So, 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 one by one.

  (end of this chapter)