Chapter 664 - Breakthrough in multiple areas, one point as the main one

Brusilov shook his head slightly, with a little embarrassment in his tone: "I don't think this is an advantage, Lieutenant General, we do have a lot of troops, but their combat effectiveness is hard to describe."

There is a saying that "soldiers are more valuable than quantity", and at this time the Russian army is "more but not better", which is a taboo in military strategy.

However, sometimes "more but not better" also has advantages, it depends on how to use and expand this advantage.

Charles put the documents in his hand on the table: "If this is the German defense line, our goal is very clear, that is, to break through the enemy's defense line and quickly penetrate to the rear, attacking its fragile logistics supply line."

Brusilov agreed with this. He had studied Charles's penetration tactics and knew that its essence was to use mobile forces to penetrate.

But the next second he felt something was wrong: "This is why I need armored forces, Lieutenant General, but you think our situation is not suitable for using armored forces."

"I didn't say to use armored forces." Charles replied.

"Then, what else could it be?"

"Cavalry!"

"Cavalry?" Brusilov exclaimed, looking at Charles in amazement: "No, this is impossible, Lieutenant General. Cavalry will suffer heavy casualties under the enemy's machine guns."

It's unbelievable that Charles actually proposed to use cavalry to penetrate?

Isn't this a tactic he denied?

And the huge casualties of cavalry in the Somme River...

Charles shook his head slightly.

This may be true in other places. After the appearance of machine guns, cavalry should be eliminated, and after the appearance of tanks, the position of cavalry was completely replaced.

However, this is not the case in Russia's special climate and terrain environment.

Even in World War II, the Soviet army still maintained cavalry divisions and played a great role on the battlefield.

"Cavalry may be more useful than tanks in snow and mud, General." Charles said firmly: "I heard that you have horse-drawn sleds, so why don't you install Maxim on them?"

Brusilov was stunned for a moment, and muttered for a long time: "Yes, yes, sled! Why don't we install Maxim on sleds? Good question!"

Charles took a pen and paper and analyzed while drawing: "The sled cannot be too high, because it will lose stability and easily overturn. Therefore, the height of the machine gun should not exceed that of the horse, which determines that the muzzle cannot face forward."

Charles drew a muzzle facing backwards on the paper and continued:

"But we can point the muzzle backwards, so that we can shoot while moving. Of course, this requires some training."

"If it is at other times, I mean when it is not snowing, we can change it to a carriage."

(The picture above shows a carriage and a horse The simple equipment combined with the Maxim machine gun, commonly known as Tachanka, is an important weapon widely used by both the Soviet and Russian armies. )

Brusilov stared at the picture drawn by Charles in amazement. It took him a while to react and nodded in praise:

"This seems to be better than expected, Lieutenant General."

"This may be exactly what we need, because it does not cost money."

"I mean, it only needs a carriage and a machine gun, and we can equip it in batches in a short time."

Char handed the sketch to Brusilov and reminded him:

"It should not charge at the enemy, General."

"Its muzzle is at the rear, and there is a fragile horse in front."

"You should suddenly turn the horse's head outside the range of the enemy's rifle and use the machine gun to shoot at the enemy!"

The Maxim machine gun has a longer range than the rifle, and the high rate of fire can hit a surface. Doing so in encounters and positions is likely to be very effective.

"Of course." Brusilov nodded heavily.

"The most important thing is mobile warfare." Charles added: "You can assume that a carriage like this encounters an infantry company or even more enemies in an open area."

Brusilov was stunned. There were only three people and a machine gun in a carriage. What else could he do when encountering an infantry company except running away?

Suddenly, he figured it out.

The carriage can keep a distance from the enemy, always maneuvering within the range of the Maxim machine gun but outside the range of the enemy's rifle. In the end, this carriage may even consume the entire infantry company.

"Unbelievable." Brusilov stared at Charles in a daze: "It is simply designed for us. Although it cannot be called perfect, it is the most suitable!"

Charles turned his eyes back to the German "defense line": "With such equipment, coupled with elite cavalry and infantry, we can quickly break through the enemy's defense line and attack its rear, just like my penetration operation."

But Brusilov had concerns about this, and he hesitated and said:

"I have done this, Lieutenant General."

"Perhaps because the Germans have had the experience of being successfully penetrated by you, they have formed a mobile force in the second line."

"Once my troops break through from somewhere, their mobile forces will immediately rush here and fill this gap."

No mistake, one sentence, one post, one content, one 6, one book, one bar, one look!

This is one of the disadvantages of cavalry breakthrough.

The characteristic of armored forces breaking through is that the enemy's mobile forces have no time to stop it. Even if there are mobile forces, they cannot withstand the powerful combat effectiveness of the armored forces. They are crippled and cannot be stopped in a few strokes.

The combat and defense capabilities of the cavalry are far inferior to those of the armored forces, so they are easily dragged down by the mobile forces. As a result, the enemy becomes more and more numerous and is eventually blocked and unable to penetrate.

However, Charles certainly thought of this, and he said calmly: "That's why I said that we should take advantage of the 'large number of troops'."

Brusilov looked confused. How much does this have to do with the strength of the troops?

Charles tapped the border of the document representing the German defense line with his pen: "You have a strength advantage, General. Using this, you can gather a large number of troops in several directions at the same time to break through several different positions of the enemy's defense line at the same time. For example, this, this, and this..."

Brusilov looked solemn.

The Russian army's logistical supply capacity and combat effectiveness may only support one breakthrough.

But the next second his eyes lit up: "What the lieutenant general means is that the breakthroughs in other places are fake, and only one is real?"

Charles secretly praised in his heart, worthy of being Brusilov, who understood it so quickly.

But this doesn't seem strange. This is the tactic pioneered by Brusilov in World War I: "Multiple breakthroughs, one point is the main one."

This tactic is very suitable for the use of interspersed troops with insufficient combat effectiveness.

The purpose of breaking through multiple points at the same time is to make the Germans not know which one is real and which one is fake, so the second-line mobile troops are not sure where to support.

The main point is to wait for the German second-line mobile forces to move to other places and be delayed, and then suddenly launch an attack.

By then, the Germans will not have second-line mobile forces or not enough mobile forces to block.

Finally, Charles added: "I think you can choose to launch an attack in June, because at this time..."

Brusilov continued, his tone full of excitement and joy: "At this time, the ice and snow melted and there were swamps everywhere, and there were many mosquitoes. Such a climate and environment is not suitable for the Germans to fight or for the mobile forces to maneuver."