ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the war, Soviet forces overcame the influence of the factors of the surprise attack of German-Fascist forces. They were forced to conduct defensive operations and try, first of all, to seize from the enemy the strategic initiative. Offensive operations primarily took the form of counterattacks and counter-strokes. In these conditions, the concept of contemplated operations was worked out during the course of the defense, was simple, and the missions to forces were established before their full concentration. The basic means for achieving surprise was the rapid working out of a concept and the formulation of missions in accordance with complex conditions, the concealed concentration of forces and means for counter-attacks and counter-strokes, the use of the enemy's open flanks for the delivery of surprise flank attacks, and the extensive use of night operations.
