Person
Vasily Chuikov
Commander, 62nd Army (the defence inside the city)
Life: 1900–1982
The commander who neutralised a gap in equipment by choosing the range — and whose thin strip was itself the chain that tied the German Sixth Army to the city.
The commander who held a strip of the city with the Volga at his back. He fixed on a single point — German air support and artillery only work when the two sides are apart — and ordered his troops to cling to the enemy as closely as possible. Close to a few dozen metres and the other side calls its own bombs onto its own head. Knowing that reinforcement was being deliberately rationed, he held a strip that at its narrowest ran about 200 metres back from the river.
Strategic signature — close until the enemy's strength cannot reach
Chuikov's method inside the city was not simply grit. German strength lay in air support and artillery, and those only work when the two sides are apart. So he ordered his troops to cling to the enemy as closely as possible. Close to a few dozen metres and the other side is calling its own bombs and shells onto its own head12.
This is building a medium in which the opponent's advantage cannot exist. With the same forces, changing only the range changes the exchange rate. Rather than looking for conditions in which you win, deny the conditions in which he is strong.
Recurring patterns
Hug to smother the firepower
Air support and artillery need distance. Remove the distance and the enemy's best equipment goes unusable.
Fight in small units
Break the battle down to buildings and rooms, and the advantage of an army good at handling large formations disappears.
Hold with what you are given
Knowing that reinforcement was being rationed, he held the strip along the riverbank. Holding was itself the mission.
Strengths and limits
Can neutralise a gap in equipment by choosing the range at which to fight.
At that range his own losses were extreme too. The exchange rate of street fighting was not cheap for the defender either.
Can redefine the mission within the forces he is actually given.
That redefinition depends on a higher plan (the blow outside). Standing alone, attrition becomes the purpose.
Where the signature showed — Stalingrad
At its narrowest the strip the 62nd Army held ran about 200 metres back from the river. That thinness was the chain that kept the German Sixth Army tied to the city.
Vasily Chuikov. USSR Ministry of Defence. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Appears in
