Dear Comrades
So much to say, so little time to say it.
Firstly, congratulations on your rightmindedness in adopting the modified Sphere of Influence plan.
Next, Comrade Rakobolskaja, welcome back from your leave. You should probably speak to the General Secretary about installing better communications at his dacha in Yalta to avoid future inconveniences. I have outlined the first part of my overview of our military assets here. I would appreciate your views after reading it.
By way of update since the preparation of that discussion paper, I have noted no significant changes in our forces save for the 10 Tank divisions revealed by the General Secretary and an additional transport in Leningrad. However, I do note that our tanks are now more modern and that the 10 new Tank divisions are all at full strength, not Reserves. As such, they would form a vital part of the Strike Army which I propose we form out of the Far Eastern forces.
With respect to the comments of Comrade Sokolov, I am in full agreement with my old teacher that we should aim for 2 Rifle divisions per area in the Red Wall, but first we must build the first row of bricks. However, his comments also caused me to reflect on the composition of the Rifle Corps and I agree with his views that they should be 4 Rifle divisions. The addition of a 4th Motorized division merely fritters away this asset in penny packets in a Wellesleyian manner, whereas the Motorized divisions should be kept concentrated in a Napoleonic force de rupture. I also have no objection to considering paratroops but the technology for forming these formations of troops and the transports they will require are a number of years away and my plan is more focused on the next 1-3 years.
I am also indebted to Comrade Yagoda's suggestions to convert the 4 Garrison divisions to Mountain divisions and to convert the Cavalry divisions to Motorized/Tank divisions. This becomes immediately important in response to Comrade Hrynko's question to me.
Comrade Hrynko, it is my preference to convert the 4 Garrison divisions to Mountain divisions, with 3 Mountain regiments replacing the 3 Garrison regiments in each division. This should costs about 5.34 IC and take 95 days which is considerably cheaper and faster than starting from scratch. I suggest doing 2 divisions at a time. I also ask that the 5 Cavalry divisons be converted with 1 Motorized regiment and 1 Tank regiment replacing the 2 Cavalry regiments. This will costs 3.33 IC each and take 59 days. This can be done one at a time as they are all Reserves.
I place upgrading at a lower priority as we will be modernising the army considerably over the next 3 years and the various forces are so large that it would take an enormous IC commitment to do it properly. I believe it is better to build new units starting with the new technology and let the rest catch up once we have expanded our industrial capacity to take on this mammoth job. I would also not rush to build too many new units at this stage as I hope to make considerable technological advances over the next 3 years.
By way of general remarks on the allocation of production, I note we now have 2 transports. Without wishing to fan the flames of the Naval enthusiasts amongst us, the remaining 3 transports advocated by said enthusiasts could be built in seriatim within 18 months at 8 IC each.
I would also appreciate either an INT or a TAC in a series run of 3. From what I can see, IC's will be in short supply so we cannot afford to run both at this time. The preference should depend on the Air Marshal supervising the works (the present one is a fighter supporter) as this will protect the practical knowledge longer. The situation can be reviewed early in 1937.
I will review the possible targets for liberation in part 2 of my discussion paper tomorrow night. From my review so far, we presently do not have the technology to improve the road and rail net. However, if we decide that Afghanistan is a viable target, I request that at least 1 airfield be built as close as possible to our border opposite Kabul. If we are looking at Finland, an airfield to the East of Lake Ladoga would also be appreciated.
On the issue of leadership points, I will leave that mostly to others, except to express the view that I would prefer our economy was bolstered (especially Education, Agriculture, Supply and Industrial efficiency) before we upgrade the Armed Forces. The military upgrades should first focus on the Fighter aircraft, then the Bombers, then the Tanks and finally the Infantry in order to reflect how much longer it takes to build the more complex units. I am happy to expand on this at a later date if Comrades require specific preferences.
Yours fraternally
NF Vatutin (Col)
NK Stavka
So much to say, so little time to say it.
Firstly, congratulations on your rightmindedness in adopting the modified Sphere of Influence plan.
Next, Comrade Rakobolskaja, welcome back from your leave. You should probably speak to the General Secretary about installing better communications at his dacha in Yalta to avoid future inconveniences. I have outlined the first part of my overview of our military assets here. I would appreciate your views after reading it.
By way of update since the preparation of that discussion paper, I have noted no significant changes in our forces save for the 10 Tank divisions revealed by the General Secretary and an additional transport in Leningrad. However, I do note that our tanks are now more modern and that the 10 new Tank divisions are all at full strength, not Reserves. As such, they would form a vital part of the Strike Army which I propose we form out of the Far Eastern forces.
With respect to the comments of Comrade Sokolov, I am in full agreement with my old teacher that we should aim for 2 Rifle divisions per area in the Red Wall, but first we must build the first row of bricks. However, his comments also caused me to reflect on the composition of the Rifle Corps and I agree with his views that they should be 4 Rifle divisions. The addition of a 4th Motorized division merely fritters away this asset in penny packets in a Wellesleyian manner, whereas the Motorized divisions should be kept concentrated in a Napoleonic force de rupture. I also have no objection to considering paratroops but the technology for forming these formations of troops and the transports they will require are a number of years away and my plan is more focused on the next 1-3 years.
I am also indebted to Comrade Yagoda's suggestions to convert the 4 Garrison divisions to Mountain divisions and to convert the Cavalry divisions to Motorized/Tank divisions. This becomes immediately important in response to Comrade Hrynko's question to me.
Comrade Hrynko, it is my preference to convert the 4 Garrison divisions to Mountain divisions, with 3 Mountain regiments replacing the 3 Garrison regiments in each division. This should costs about 5.34 IC and take 95 days which is considerably cheaper and faster than starting from scratch. I suggest doing 2 divisions at a time. I also ask that the 5 Cavalry divisons be converted with 1 Motorized regiment and 1 Tank regiment replacing the 2 Cavalry regiments. This will costs 3.33 IC each and take 59 days. This can be done one at a time as they are all Reserves.
I place upgrading at a lower priority as we will be modernising the army considerably over the next 3 years and the various forces are so large that it would take an enormous IC commitment to do it properly. I believe it is better to build new units starting with the new technology and let the rest catch up once we have expanded our industrial capacity to take on this mammoth job. I would also not rush to build too many new units at this stage as I hope to make considerable technological advances over the next 3 years.
By way of general remarks on the allocation of production, I note we now have 2 transports. Without wishing to fan the flames of the Naval enthusiasts amongst us, the remaining 3 transports advocated by said enthusiasts could be built in seriatim within 18 months at 8 IC each.
I would also appreciate either an INT or a TAC in a series run of 3. From what I can see, IC's will be in short supply so we cannot afford to run both at this time. The preference should depend on the Air Marshal supervising the works (the present one is a fighter supporter) as this will protect the practical knowledge longer. The situation can be reviewed early in 1937.
I will review the possible targets for liberation in part 2 of my discussion paper tomorrow night. From my review so far, we presently do not have the technology to improve the road and rail net. However, if we decide that Afghanistan is a viable target, I request that at least 1 airfield be built as close as possible to our border opposite Kabul. If we are looking at Finland, an airfield to the East of Lake Ladoga would also be appreciated.
On the issue of leadership points, I will leave that mostly to others, except to express the view that I would prefer our economy was bolstered (especially Education, Agriculture, Supply and Industrial efficiency) before we upgrade the Armed Forces. The military upgrades should first focus on the Fighter aircraft, then the Bombers, then the Tanks and finally the Infantry in order to reflect how much longer it takes to build the more complex units. I am happy to expand on this at a later date if Comrades require specific preferences.
Yours fraternally
NF Vatutin (Col)
NK Stavka
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