In the Soviet-German battlefield in World War II, how did the Soviet army's deep tactics defeat the blitzkrieg on which the German army was famous? For example, Marshal Zhukov, who became famous in the First World War of Nomonhan, admitted that his victory was due to the great depth theory, but as the two founders of the great depth theory, they did not succeed.
When it comes to the Soviet army during World War II, the first thing that comes to mind is the tactics of not counting casualties and seas of people, which should be said to be a misunderstanding. After the end of the First World War, the technical equipment of the armies of various countries developed rapidly, and many new branches of the army appeared, and the old military theories were no longer suitable for modern warfare.
Therefore, in how to focus on effective defense and offense, the Soviet army combined the experience of the First World War and the civil war, and gradually formed a new idea of a large-depth campaign.
The basic principles of the great depth theory are: the establishment of assault groups, containment groups, reserve units and firepower groups in the combat formation of the troops.
Assault groups are used to carry out attacks in the main assault direction:
The diversion group is used to assist the assault direction of the operation, its task is to divert the attention of the enemy and ensure the smooth attack of the assault group;
Reserves are used to complete tasks that arise suddenly during the course of combat;
The main task of the fire group is to provide fire support to the assault group.
At the same time, the great depth theory emphasizes the continuity of the campaign, eliminating the enemy by implementing a series of battles. That is, in the process of implementing the first campaign, it is necessary to consider and organize the next campaign, the purpose of which is not to give the enemy any opportunity to change the deployment and counterattack, in order to achieve the continuity of the campaign.
However, the organization of successive campaigns depends on whether logistics can keep up. For example, in the early days of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet army was in a state of chaos, and it was impossible to organize successive battles. However, in the middle and late stages of the war, after the Soviet army stabilized its position, it launched the famous "Ten Assaults of Stalin" in succession, completely crippling the German army.
In the great depth theory, the breakthrough and the pursuit theory are the two most critical parts.
Breakthrough: That is, in the main direction of the assault, a large number of troops and technical equipment must be invested, requiring 50-80% of the infantry, nearly 70% of the artillery, 80-100% of the tank self-propelled artillery and aviation on the breakthrough section of the total width of 7-12%. When the first echelon breaks through the enemy's first defensive zone, the so-called "pure breakthrough", then the rapid army group cooperates with the second echelon to make a breakthrough in the entire tactical terrain, comprehensively advances to the depth of the battlefield, and quickly transforms the tactical breakthrough into a campaign breakthrough, thus completing the campaign objectives.
Pursuit: Once the enemy is found to be ready to retreat, it should immediately turn into a state of pursuit and strive to encircle and annihilate the enemy before reaching a new defensive area. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the pursuit, before the campaign is launched, each participating unit must clarify its own pursuit route and task, and form a pursuit unit composed of tanks, motorized infantry, artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, anti-tank troops, and engineer detachments.
At the same time, in the process of pursuit, there must be aviation to cover the pursuing troops from the air to avoid being ambushed by the enemy troops prepared, while the main force follows behind, ready to launch a combat formation at any time.
As the main battlefield of World War II, the German blitzkrieg and the Soviet army were mutually successful, and also marked the two most practical tactics of mechanized warfare at that time.
Blitzkriegs are built on the situation that the opponent has not reacted and the battle has not yet begun. The basic principles of blitzkrieg warfare are: use their armored assault forces to suddenly cut into the depth of the enemy's army, quickly annihilate the enemy's command system or form a pincer-shaped offensive, so that the enemy is trapped in a state of chaos and paralysis, and then divide and annihilate.
Blitzkrieg, with armored units at its core, emphasizes speed and suddenness, and does have a one-time advantage in the early stages of the war. However, as the battle line was lengthened overnight, if the logistical supply was not guaranteed, the attacking forces in the front would inevitably be the end of the crossbow, so in the case of no quick victory, defeat was inevitable, and this was the fate of the German army in World War II.
The large depth is based on the absolute advantage, and finally forms a step, frank, empty three-dimensional, unstoppable "steel torrent". In the theory of the large-depth campaign, it is necessary to concentrate several times the enemy's strength, and at the same time, the technical arms such as tanks, aviation and long-range artillery are no longer only playing a role in the breakthrough stage of the campaign as in the past, but need to run through the entire campaign and provide all-round and uninterrupted in-depth support.
Speaking of which, we may wish to refer to many famous battles on the Soviet-German battlefield, such as the defense of Moscow, the defense of Stalingrad, the battle of Kursk, and the capture of Berlin. Of course, if you must say that the Soviet army relies on the tactics of the sea of people, it is understandable, after all, people are rich and powerful.
Someone once made a very vivid analogy between blitzkrieg and big depth, that is, the different attitudes of two students when dealing with the exam:
One student put all his energy into speculating on the teacher's ideas, and then guessed the questions in a desperate way, while another student reviewed all the content he had learned several times, and the effort was old.
The former student even if the guess of the exam question is only a temporary gain, once the guessing mistake will lose very badly, the latter student although it costs a lot more effort than others, but the return must be very rich.
Of course, it is impossible to speak of the theory of the great depth campaign without mentioning its two founders, Triandafilov, deputy chief of the general staff of the Soviet Army, and Marshal Tukhachevsky.
Vladimir Kiriakovich Triandafilov:
Triandafilov was a military theorist of Greek descent who, while serving as deputy chief of the general staff of the Red Army, co-founded the theory of the Great Depth Campaign with Marshal Tukhachevsky. As soon as the theory of the Great Depth Campaign came out, it became the main operational guiding ideology of the Soviet Army, for example, Marshal Zhukov, who became famous in the Battle of Nomonhan, admitted that his victory benefited from the Great Depth Campaign Theory.
However, on July 12, 1931, triandafilov died of a plane crash at the age of 37 while flying to the Kiev Military District to teach the theory of the Great Depth Campaign.
Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky:
Tukhachevsky was one of the first five marshals of the Red Army of the Soviet Union, a titan in military circles, known as the "Red Napoleon", the founder and implementer of the theory of the great depth of the campaign. Born into an aristocratic family in Smolensk, Tukhachevsky became the first former Russian officer to join the Red Army after the Outbreak of the October Revolution, and was awarded the rank of Marshal in 1935.
However, Tukhachevsky's military brilliance aroused the envy of the enemy, and on June 11, 1937, the Soviet Union was caught up in nazi Germany's counter-plan (of course, some say it was due to the Great Purge of the Soviet Union), and Marshal Tukhachevsky was secretly executed at the age of 44.
At this point, the two founders of the Great Depth Campaign Theory died young, and both died of fate. However, the theory of the Great Depth Campaign eventually became the dominant tactic of the Soviet Army, and in World War II, it defeated the Blitzkrieg on which the German Army was famous.