ABSTRACT
General K. F. Skorobogatkin echoes the theme presented by Ceneral Shtemenko in the preceding selection. The Great Patriotic War was the most important stage in the development of Soviet military science. As Soviet military thought predicted, the war turned out to be protracted and bitter and it demanded enormous effort of all the forces of the belligerents. In 1941-1942 Soviet military thought gave central attention to solution of organizational questions and the conduct of defense and to the struggle against massive tank and motorized strikes of the enemy, supported by large-scale aviation forces. In 1942 the theory and practice of strategic defense received further development. The depth of the defense, making possible maneuverability and activeness, significantly increased. One of the most important problems successfully solved by Soviet military science was the problem of smashing the enemy front and destroying large enemy groupings by carrying out strategic offensive operations of groups of fronts.
