Chapter 55: Changing the Situation

"Air Force? Hey, it's this old question again."

Since the German army launched Operation Barbarossa, Rokossovsky, who hastily led his troops to defend his motherland, has heard or seen this word countless times in military meetings and documents between superiors and subordinates.

From the fact that almost all the air forces in the entire western theater of the Soviet Union were eliminated on the runway as a priority after the German army launched Operation Barbarossa, to those that flew around like flies above our own heads in the subsequent ground battles and swooped down from time to time. Luftwaffe fighter planes strafing attack.

The rollercoaster-like contrast between the enemy and the enemy between heaven and hell has proved to Rokossovsky with silent and painful facts the huge role of the air force in contemporary wars that cannot be ignored.

Rokossovsky, who had been serving in the Soviet Red Army for decades, felt for the first time the great changes in modern warfare. Those small aircraft that were almost marginalized units in World War I have now grown up to be enough. The degree to which it affects a battle or even the future and national destiny of two warring countries.

After a brief summary and thinking, at least on the crucial issue of the role of the air force, Rokossovsky, as a superior, has reached an agreement with Malashenko from a macro-strategic perspective.

"You are right, Captain Malashenko, those guys who spread death in the sky have indeed grown to a level that cannot be ignored. When our Red Army's rear reserve air force division and new air force division are established and replenished, The days when the Germans controlled the skies of our motherland will be gone forever!”

Seeing that Rokossovsky agreed with the conclusions and opinions he brought from later generations, Marat secretly thought that a famous general is a famous general after all. He also admired Rokossovsky's outstanding foresight on war and his polite and corporal attitude. Shenke then continued to speak.

"The summary just now is just one of them, Comrade Commander."

"In addition, based on what I encountered in the battle and comparing the equipment and tactics used by the Germans, I think that even though our Red Army tank force has the advanced T34 tank with absolute superiority in quality, it still has There is another reason why it is difficult to achieve an overall strategic advantage in battle, and that is the wireless communication radio for inter-vehicle communication! "

"A wireless communication station for inter-vehicle communication?"

After hearing this rather professional equipment term from Malashenko's mouth, I was stunned for a moment. At this time, in the summer of 1941 when the Barbarossa invasion had just begun, I still hadn't fully realized the effectiveness of this seemingly inconspicuous little thing in actual combat. Rokossovsky, who was somewhat unclear about what Malashenko said about the huge role it could play, then asked further.

"Tell me more details, Captain Malashenko. I want to know why this seemingly inconspicuous little guy has such an important role in your mouth."

As a future time traveler, Malashenko was well aware that the Soviet army before 1941 had never paid enough attention to wireless communication between vehicle crews. Malashenko realized that he needed to change this serious disadvantage as soon as possible. Co then put on a serious expression and spoke to the waiting Rokossovsky.

"Before I formally answer your question, Comrade Commander, I have a question for you. Suppose students in two classes take the exam at the same time and the questions are the same. Students in one class are allowed to wear headsets and conduct public exercises during the exam. The students in the other class were asked to answer questions completely alone and had no way to communicate with their classmates during the exam. "

"Even in this class where students take the exam based entirely on their own abilities, both in terms of individual academic performance and the average level of the class, they are much better than the class that wears headsets to take the exam. But when the real exam is over And after the results are announced, which class do you think will have better test scores?”

"Uh this"

This rather curious and rare question from Malashenko's mouth left him speechless on the spot. Rokossovsky, who didn't know the reason but began to slowly think about the answer to the question, spent almost a few seconds. So that you can come up with the answer in your own mind.

"I think this question is not difficult to answer, Captain Malashenko. The final test score will definitely be that the class student wearing the headset is better! No matter how strong an individual's ability is, it cannot be compared to the joint efforts of dozens of people to brainstorm. In the process of learning from each other and communicating with each other where mistakes and shortcomings are corrected and compensated, the first class that allows the use of headsets for exams will undoubtedly win.”

After hearing Rokossovsky's unexpected answer, he looked at each other and smiled. Malashenko, who realized that most of his goals had been successful, spoke slowly.

"Then, the current actual combat confrontation between our Red Army tank troops and the German armored forces is the same."

"Same? What does this have to do with it? Wait, my God, I understand! This, this is such a straightforward and simple principle!"

After Malashenko told this easy-to-understand, concise and straightforward story, he finally realized the profound meaning contained in it. Rokossovsky suddenly understood what happened when the German armored forces fought against their own tanks. What is the greatest advantage?

In the summer of 1941 when the German army launched Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet tank forces, which had an overall and absolute overwhelming advantage in tank quality, were seriously hampered in overall combat effectiveness and coordination due to poor communication between crews. Using flags and hand gestures to communicate between crews on a battlefield full of flames was simply ridiculous and absurd.

On the other hand, the German army, as the invader.

The German armored forces, which were fully equipped with wireless communication radios for inter-vehicle communication at all levels of units from top to bottom, often encountered constraints and difficulties in local battles due to the quality advantage of the Soviet tank forces.

However, these German armored forces, which were experienced in combat and fully equipped with radio stations, cooperated with each other skillfully, and were often able to cooperate with the enemy in battles through some difficult interweaving tactics that their Soviet counterparts could not do at all, and finally completed the annihilation operation with the support of the German Air Force or forced the Soviet troops trapped in the encirclement to surrender.

In the series of battles that have been experienced so far, the lack of radio communication in the grassroots tank units of the Soviet Army has been tormenting them half to death. While complaining about this biggest flaw in the Soviet armored forces, Malashenko, who survived the disaster, was always thinking about how to solve this problem as soon as possible.

When Malashenko saw Rokossovsky, who was recognized by later generations as one of the three famous generals of the Soviet Army in World War II, a plan suddenly came to Malashenko's mind.