Chapter 656: Multiple breakthroughs, one point is the main one
Brusilov shook his head slightly, with a hint of embarrassment in his tone: "I don't think this is an advantage, Lieutenant General. We do have more troops, but their combat effectiveness is hard to describe."
There is a saying that goes "Quality is more important than quantity". At this time, the Russian army was "large but not refined", which is a big taboo in military strategy.
However, sometimes "more but not more" also has advantages, it just depends on how to utilize and expand this advantage.
Charles put the document in his hand on the table. "If this is the German defense line, our goal is clear, which is to break through the enemy's defense line and quickly penetrate to the rear to attack their fragile logistic supply line."
Brusilov agreed with this. He had studied Charles's infiltration tactics and knew that its essence was to use mobile troops to infiltrate.
But the next second he felt something was wrong: "This is why I need armored troops, Lieutenant General, but you think our situation is not suitable for the use of armored troops."
"I didn't say armored troops," Charles replied.
"Then, what else could it be?"
"cavalry!"
"Cavalry?" Brusilov exclaimed, looking at Charles in amazement. "No, that's impossible, Lieutenant General. The cavalry will suffer heavy casualties under the enemy's machine guns."
It's unbelievable that Charles actually proposed to use cavalry to infiltrate?
Isn't this the tactic he rejected?
And the huge casualties of the cavalry at the Somme...
Ciel shook his head slightly.
This may be true in other places. After the appearance of machine guns, cavalry should have been eliminated, and after the appearance of tanks, they completely replaced the position of cavalry.
However, this is not the case in Russia's unique climate and terrain.
Even in World War II, the Soviet army still maintained cavalry divisions and played a major role on the battlefield.
"Cavalry may be more useful than tanks in the snow and mud, General." Charles said firmly: "I heard that you have horse-drawn sleds, so why don't you load the Maxim on the sleds?"
Brusilov was stunned for a moment, and after a long while he murmured, "Yes, yes, a sled! Why don't we load the Maxim on the sled? Good question!"
Charles picked up a piece of paper and a pen, and while drawing, he analyzed: "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 means that the muzzle cannot face forward."
Charles drew a gun muzzle pointing backwards on the paper and continued:
"But we can point the muzzle of the gun backwards so we can shoot while moving. Of course, this takes some training."
"If it were any other time, I mean when it wasn't snowing, we could just turn it into a horse-drawn carriage."
(The picture above shows a simple device combining a horse-drawn carriage and a Maxim machine gun, commonly known as the Tachanka, which is an important weapon widely used by both the Soviet and Russian armies.)
Brusilov stared at Charles's drawing in amazement. It took him a while to react and he nodded in praise:
"This seems to be better than expected, Lieutenant General."
“This could be exactly what we need because it doesn’t cost money.”
"I mean, it only needs a carriage and machine guns. We can equip them in large quantities in a short time."
Charles handed the sketch to Brusilov and reminded him:
"It shouldn't be charging at the enemy, General."
“Its muzzle is in the rear, and the vulnerable horse is in the front.”
"You should suddenly turn your horses around when you are out of the enemy's rifle range and fire at the enemy with machine guns!"
The Maxim machine gun has a longer range than a rifle, and its high rate of fire allows it to hit an area at once. Using this in encounters and on positions is likely to have miraculous effects.
"Of course." Brusilov nodded heavily.
"The most important thing is mobile warfare." Charles added: "You can assume that a carriage like this will encounter 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 they do except run away when they encountered an infantry company?
Suddenly, he figured it out.
The carriage could keep its distance from the enemy, always maneuvering within the range of the Maxim machine gun but outside the range of the enemy's rifles. In the end, the carriage might even consume an entire infantry company.
"Unbelievable." Brusilov stared at Charles in amazement. "It was designed just for us. Although it cannot be called perfect, it is the most suitable one!"
Charles turned his gaze 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 their rear, just like my penetration operation."
But Brusilov had concerns about this. He hesitated and said:
"I did, Admiral."
"Perhaps because the Germans have had the experience of being successfully penetrated by you before, they have formed a mobile force on the second line."
"Once my troops break through somewhere, their mobile forces will rush here and fill the gap."
This is one of the disadvantages of a cavalry breakthrough.
The characteristic of an armored force's breakthrough is that it is so fast that the enemy's mobile forces have no time to stop it. Even if the mobile forces arrive, they cannot withstand the powerful combat effectiveness of the armored forces and are crippled and unable to stop it in a few seconds.
The combat and defensive capabilities of cavalry are far inferior to those of armored forces, so they are easily held back by mobile forces. As a result, the enemy becomes more and more numerous and is eventually blocked and unable to penetrate.
But of course Charles had thought of this, and he said calmly: "That's why I said we should take advantage of our 'larger number of troops'."
Brusilov looked confused. What does this have to do with military strength?
Charles tapped the border of the document representing the German defense line with his fountain pen: "You have a numerical 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 capabilities and combat effectiveness are likely to only be able to support one breakthrough.
But the next second his eyes lit up: "Lieutenant General, what you mean is that all other breakthroughs are fake, and only one is real?"
Charles secretly praised him in his heart, saying that he was worthy of being called Brusilov, as he understood it so quickly.
But this does not seem surprising, as this was the tactic first pioneered by Brusilov during World War I: "breakthrough at multiple points, with one point as the main one."
This tactic is very suitable for use when the interspersed troops are insufficient in combat effectiveness.
The purpose of breaking through multiple points at the same time was to make the Germans confused about which one was real and which one was fake, so the second-line mobile troops were not sure where to support.
The main point is to wait until the German second-line mobile forces are transferred to other places and are delayed, and then suddenly launch a force to implement penetration.
By then, the Germans would have no second-line mobile forces or not enough mobile forces to block the attack.
Finally, Charles added: "I think you can choose to launch an attack in June, because then..."
Brusilov continued, his tone full of excitement and joy: "At this time, the ice and snow have melted and there are swamps everywhere, and there are many mosquitoes. Such a climate and environment is not suitable for the Germans to fight or for the mobile forces to maneuver."
(End of this chapter)
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