Chapter 8 Legendary Figures
The training courses in the military school are not very tight. The daily schedule is two theoretical classes in the morning and a war game simulation in the afternoon. There are no arrangements in the evening and the students can move freely.
In the past two weeks, the instructor teaching Yuri and his classmates was a man in his 40s with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He once served in the 5th Cavalry Army, but later lost one of his hands in a shell and entered the military academy as an instructor.
To be honest, after studying at the military school for more than a week, Yuri discovered a serious problem, that is, the content of the instructors' lectures, or more precisely, the mainstream military thought in the current Soviet army, was obviously backward. In terms of offense, the instructors' military thought was still at the stage of relying on cavalry operations to solve strategic and tactical tasks, while in terms of defense, it mainly focused on the passive defense stage of building fortifications to resist the enemy. As for the thought of joint operations of various arms, they still only regarded tanks and armored vehicles as tactical equipment to support infantry attacks, so that a group of mechanized armies that had just been formed in 1936 were disbanded the year before last.
This backward military thinking has led to the fact that the entire Soviet Red Army still has 82 cavalry divisions. Just last year, when facing the issue of cavalry reduction in various countries, Comrade Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov loudly called out: "We hold another view: the Red Army cavalry is still an invincible and destructive armed force. It can and must complete combat missions on all fronts."
In the Great Purge that swept across the Soviet Union, generals like Tukhachevsky and Yegorov who advocated the mechanization of the army were all purged, and almost all the command positions at the strategic and campaign levels in the army were occupied by generals who came from the First Cavalry Army and emphasized the role of cavalry. Therefore, in the Soviet Union today, those who advocated the idea of mechanized warfare often did not end well.
Yuri knew that the cavalry would become cannon fodder in future wars, but he could not reveal this view. Of course, he did not want to reveal it, after all, it had nothing to do with him.
At present, what Yuri needs to do is to gain experience in the military academy and strive to move up a level. If possible, he wants to switch from a commander to a military commissioner. Considering that this path is not so easy to take, he also has a second plan, which is to leave the infantry sequence and become an artilleryman. He believes that compared with infantry, artillerymen who are always in the rear have a much greater chance of surviving on the battlefield.
It was precisely because of this consideration that during his studies in the military academy, Yuri, in addition to focusing on cultivating his military literacy, spent most of his time studying artillery professional knowledge.
That’s right, Yuri now doesn’t have any grand ambitions. His “positivity” is simply because he doesn’t want to die and become a glorious cannon fodder in the upcoming Soviet-German War.
Learning theories is boring, especially when you know that the theories are not applicable to current reality. However, you have to take courses like this. The instructors will record the situation of each class. If a student fails to meet the standards set by the school, he will be punished in the future.
The classrooms in the military school were all old buildings built decades ago, and they were all in a state of disrepair. Yuri's class was the 23rd Infantry Command Training Class, and the classroom was in the last row on the south side of the school's training ground. Behind the classroom was a large pond. In the cold winter, the entire pond was frozen, and every day the residents of the town would dig holes in the ice to fish. During class, Yuri's favorite thing to do was to stare at the glacier outside the window.
The situation today is a little special. The instructor who had been substitute teaching for the Infantry Command Training Class for the past period of time has been replaced by a tall but thin middle-aged man with short brown curly hair.
"Comrades, I'm Leonardo, Leonardo Grigorievich Petrovsky," said the morbidly thin middle-aged man standing on the podium, his hands supporting a crude table made of logs, "for a period of time from now on, I will be your instructor for the infantry command course, and my main topic will be the use and command of infantry firepower. You can call me Leonardo, or Comrade Petrovsky. Of course, if you want to be more formal, you can also call me Colonel Grigorievich."
Colonel Leonardo's self-introduction was very simple. After the introduction, he got to the point and explained the importance of firepower configuration in infantry combat.
The colonel seemed calm and concise when introducing himself, but Yuri was not at peace in his heart, because for him who had memories of his past life, the name the colonel introduced himself was too familiar. It had appeared in a series of Soviet Patriotic War-themed movies. The counter-assault campaign led by him that broke out on the Dnieper River line was also included as a classic battle example in military textbooks of many countries.
It was this Colonel L. G. Petrovsky who was almost executed during the Great Purge, but luckily survived and was able to return to the barracks. As a result, during the siege of Smolensk, he made a brilliant counterattack and was personally commended by Stalin and promoted directly from colonel to lieutenant general. Although he died in the end, he still became a legendary figure.
"As your temporary instructor, in the first lesson today, I will use the ongoing war against the Finnish Nazi group as an example to discuss with you the cadets the tactical points of large-scale, deep operations, as well as the command issues of infantry sequences during such operations." After completing a brief self-introduction, Colonel Leonid continued.
Following his words , the thirty or so students in the classroom started to make a lot of noise, as if a pot of boiling water had exploded.
The strategic idea of large-scale deep and large-scale corps operations was the military strategic idea highly respected by Marshal Tukhachevsky. In the Soviet military system, it was Marshal Tukhachevsky who had been engaged in large-scale corps and the synthesis of various arms. After Marshal Tukhachevsky was identified as an "apple" and executed, this strategic idea was shelved. Later, with Pavlov's triumphant return from Spain, he declared that tanks could only cooperate with infantry in combat, and could not attack alone. Marshal Tukhachevsky's strategic idea was completely abandoned, and many well-established armored and tank units were disbanded one after another.
It can be said that in the current Soviet army, Pavlov's military views prevail. However, under such circumstances, Colonel Leonardo talked a lot about the military strategic thinking of large-scale troop groups and deep operations. It is no wonder that the students present were discussing it.
Yuri sat in his seat with full spirit. He felt that since he entered the military school training, only today's class made him feel a little interesting. Yes, although he did not agree with Colonel Leonid's untimely approach, he very much agreed with the strategic idea of large-scale and deep operations. In his memory, Comrade Pavlov, who now seemed to be in great glory, seemed to have been shot by Stalin shortly after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War. The apparent reason was that he was not good at commanding the Western Front, which led to almost the entire Western Front being surrounded and annihilated by the German army, but Yuri suspected that this must also be due to the military ideas he advocated.
". The front is an offensive group temporarily formed for large-scale battles," Colonel Leonid ignored the students' comments and continued his explanation, "It should be formed by three to four army groups. Its role is to carry out campaign-level assaults, while strategic offensives are carried out by the coordination of several fronts."
Colonel Leonid's explanation was not very profound. He combined the combat examples of the 9th Army and the 13th Army in the Soviet-Finnish War to explain the strategic points of large-scale and deep operations in a simple and straightforward manner.
Yuri listened very carefully and took notes. You know, in the current Soviet military system, there are many people who believe in large-scale, deep-depth combat strategies, but there are very few people who really talk about , not to mention similar works. Just like the Red and Blue Army exercise conducted by Zhukov and Pavlov not long ago, although Zhukov used a blitzkrieg-like tactic to quickly defeat Pavlov's Red Army, when summarizing the reasons for the Red Army's failure, he did not mention the coordination of various arms required for large-scale combat.
The Soviet Union today is extremely short of middle and senior commanders, especially excellent commanders who are capable of taking charge. This is a tragedy and a danger for a country, but it is a precious opportunity for an individual. As long as a commander has excellent qualities, a certain command talent, military vision and a cautious attitude, it is not difficult for him to make a name for himself.
Of course, for Yuri, he now not only has to make a name for himself, but also has to ensure his own safety. The moment he saw Colonel Leonid, he had an idea. He felt that following this commander who was destined to shine in the early stages of the Soviet-German War and who was valued by Stalin , might be a good choice.
Of course, Colonel Leonid's future is not easy, after all, his 63rd Infantry Corps will be wiped out by the Germans along with his sacrifice, but Yuri had studied that war carefully in his previous life. In other words, it was a war he was familiar with. It was always safer to take a risk in such a battle than to take a risk in an unfamiliar battle.
