However, no one blames Voroshilov too much, the reality is like this, there is nothing to dwell on, in the face of the choice of quality and quantity, quantity always comes first. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info What's more, the marshal has really come up with a way to do it in other places - after the T-34/85 and IS-1 could not be successfully mass-produced, and the KV-1S\KV-13\KV-85 and other experimental models failed one after another, proving that they were not Tiger opponents, he solemnly launched the T-43.

The T-43 and T-34 have 75% of the parts that can be used in common, and two major improvements have been made: one is to increase the turret volume, increasing the thickness of the turret frontal armor to 90mm, and the frontal armor of the hull adopts a 75mm/55 degree inclination layout; Second, the transmission and suspension system has been improved, and even if the weight of the whole vehicle has increased to 34.1 tons, its maneuverability can still reach the level of the T-34. Since the structure has not changed much, its stability is much stronger than that of other new heavy tanks.

Voroshilov used the saved armor steel to ensure the production of the T-43. Theoretically, if the T-43 and the No. 4H were to play alone, the former would have a greater advantage, because the 75mm/55-degree inclination was much stronger than the 80mm vertical armor of the No. 4 tank, and the T-43's 76.2mm gun could penetrate the No. 4 armor before the No. 4 75mm gun could penetrate the T-43's frontal armor.

The T-43 also provides better defense against the Tiger, which is difficult to deal with the T-43's frontal armor without tungsten armor-piercing shells at least 1,500 meters away. Because front-line tank crews usually attach some tracks or steel plates removed from damaged tanks to the frontal armor, these irregular defensive measures both increase the ricochet coefficient and strengthen the defense capability.

The T-43 is very similar in appearance to the T-34, and it is easy to misidentify it without looking closely, which makes tactical tactics possible in certain situations. It's just that the T-43 observation and sighting equipment is not powerful enough, and these advantages have to be discounted somewhat, but at least it has some advantages over the No. 4, which is much stronger than the shoddy T-34. In terms of tank allocation, the Guards tank units gave priority to the T-43 with good quality and performance, and other ordinary units were equipped with the T-34.

In addition to the T-43, another major contribution of Voroshilov was to accelerate the introduction of two anti-tank destroyers, the Su-122 and Su-85, and at the same time decisively discontinued the Su-76. In the face of the real threat of the Tiger and the fact that the new heavy tank could not be effective for a while, the Soviet military industry department, which was in a hurry to go to the hospital, imitated the ideas of the German pursuers and assaulters and came up with a new tank destroyer, of which the Su-122 and Su-85 can cause fatal damage to the Tiger under certain conditions, and the difficulty of production is much lower than that of heavy tanks.

What's more, tank destroyers without turrets significantly reduced production requirements, and fuel consumption was slightly less than that of the T-34, which seemed to make the number of tanks and armored vehicles in the front-line units of the Red Army decline not so quickly, and in internal estimates, tanks and destroyers were usually included together - here in the Germans, destroyers, anti-tank guns were considered artillery fire, while in the Soviet army, destroyers were considered armored forces.

This is not self-deception, because offensive operations and defensive operations are completely two different concepts, and the same technical weapons play different roles in different environments, and more than 70 percent of the Tiger tanks destroyed in the last three months are the result of the battles of these new anti-tank destroyers.

"How are we going to defend against this possible landing in the Caspian Sea?" Seeing that everyone was a little dumbfounded, Stalin asked unhurriedly, "Of course, let's not talk about such a method as adding an army of 250,000 men, wouldn't it be better to have so many troops directly pushed to the front line to attack?" ”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"The General Staff has considered three methods: first, to transfer airborne troops to the front line and carry out-for-tat tactical confrontation; Second, we will do everything possible to strengthen the first-line defense of the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, lay mines, build semi-permanent fortifications, and send more small and medium-sized warships and gunboats to join coastal patrols. Third, increase the allocation of air forces and use the air force to weaken and delay the opponent's offensive. However, these approaches are relatively negative, and I came up with a new idea after considering them. ”

Vasilevsky's eyes lit up: "Just put this group of enemies up to fight!" They had the advantage at the head of the Caspian beach, and instead of barely coping with it, it was better to put this group of enemies under the city of Stalingrad and try to concentrate 5-6 times the strength to destroy them. However, if we do, we will have to go on the defensive in other directions. ”

Zhukov agreed with this idea, if it was really Rommel's 100,000 men and 1,000 tanks, he felt that it was necessary to concentrate at least one front army in order to encircle and annihilate it, and that it was advantageous to encircle and annihilate this part of the German army than to encircle and annihilate the German army in other theaters was that the enemy's supply must pass through the long Caspian Sea line, and once it was effectively cut off, the German air power alone could not support it at all, and the German heavy equipment troops that had lost their logistical supplies would soon be vulnerable -- this was the "reverse" plan that the two men came up with after careful consideration.

The opposite of the "reverse" plan is the "forward" plan, which is actually a continuation of the very unsuccessful operation Uranus at the beginning: let the German heavy army group consume the attack force under the city of Stalingrad, use human lives, barricade fortifications, and urban street battles to gradually weaken the German offensive force, support until the autumn muddy period arrives, and then put a large number of reserves to counterattack, compared with the reverse plan, the forward plan is much stronger, and it may be necessary to consider encircling and destroying 30-500,000 troops of the German army, that is, 3-4 army groups, The Red Army had to mobilize more than 2 million troops for this purpose, and it had to mobilize not only all the mobile forces of the Stalingrad theater but also all the mobile forces of the Moscow theater, and even the main forces of the Far Eastern Military District had to be drawn at the most critical time.

In contrast, the forward plan was more regular, and the whole was rehearsed in the defense of Moscow, and Zhukov believed that even if the Germans guessed the positive plan, it was impossible to abandon the offensive - Stalingrad was so important and significant that he did not think that the enemy would abandon it for fear of losses. The two sides fought for speed - whether the Germans would attack Stalingrad first or whether the Red Army's heavy army group would surround the German attacking forces first.

In his imagination, the scene involved in the positive plan will be very grand, in addition to the need for 2 million troops to encircle and annihilate in the later stage, he must prepare at least 1.5 million to 2 million troops for defense in the early stage, taking into account the successive losses and additions, the entire campaign process needs more than 4 million Red Army to deal with, it is completely a decisive battle situation, and it is a strategic decisive battle under the weak.

Zhukov, who served as the commander of the Kiev Military District, had a different idea from most people, he did not think that the Germans would finally fight a decisive battle by attacking Moscow, for the simple reason that the German army had an advantage in the southern theater of operations over the central theater: the territory here is vast and flat, which is conducive to the maximum effectiveness of armored forces; After the Germans took full control of the Black Sea, the axis could maintain supplies through two passages, sea and rail, which was far more convenient than the central theater of operations; In terms of climate, the southern front warmed up earlier and cooled later than the center, and there were fewer extreme low temperatures, which were all factors conducive to the operation and supply of large corps; It is also very important and crucial to fight on the Southern Front with the cooperation and assistance of Romania, Ukraine, Caucasian nationalists, Iran, Turkey, etc.

If he were Manstein, he would have preferred to fight a decisive battle on the southern front than to gnaw on the hard bone of Moscow.

He did not have any psychological burden on the Soviet-German strategic decisive battle, and even had some vague expectations. It is not that he thinks that he is sure of victory, he has repeatedly calculated many times that the victory rate of the Red Army will not exceed 20% in the current strategic decisive battle, but he believes that the current painless maintenance of the situation cannot be delayed any longer, and if it drags on, it will be the destruction of the entire Russian nation.

In the depths of the center, he can see far more than the average person: the Soviet Union's grain production has fallen to one-third of the pre-war level, oil production is only 40%, and the combined calculation of other industrial capacity is only about one-third.

Although he could not see the civil affairs report from the rear, he knew that the situation was very bad: the newly cultivated wasteland could not provide food until autumn, and the old people who had lost their ability to work had refused to eat, so they had to leave the food for the young people at home; The premature infant mortality rate is said to be more than a quarter of newborns, mainly due to malnutrition due to hunger; Factories are full of child laborers around the age of 12, some in their early teens – the age at which they should have been educated in school. He was resolutely opposed to the recruitment of pure female soldiers at first, but he could not resist Comrade Stalin, who had gone mad, and finally could only agree against his will!

For the sake of food, Comrade Stalin not only sent Budyonny's cavalry to China to grab grain and livestock, but also made private transactions with Japan. Zhukov clearly knew that these unscrupulous grain would never be left for the civilians in the rear, and they had only one purpose - military rations!

The German rhetoric of the high exchange ratio tactics was no longer speculative or illusory, and the intelligence system had transmitted information that the enemy had instilled this idea in the head of every officer, and that it had been resolutely carried out.

As in April, when the turning period arrived, the German panzer clusters, which had the upper hand and had absolutely spare strength, suddenly stopped their offensive and disengaged on their own initiative, even leaving breathing room for the poor Caucasian Front. While most of the people in the base camp thought that the Germans were stupid, Zhukov felt a chill down his spine: this was a sign of the full self-confidence and initiative of the German Führer and senior generals, who did not want to occupy this or there, but who wanted to destroy the Russian living forces in the open. (To be continued.) )