This stemmed from Joseph Stalin advocating that the tactical mode of conventional “artillery attack” could be effective if used in a massive, highly focused, and overwhelming manner. Massed (smaller) Soviet artillery guns had the effect of successfully suppressing the fire-power of the Nazi German Army by peppering its formations in a relentless and destructive manner (massacring the Gustav Ground Crews and destroying the stockpiles of stored ammunition). This increased the survival rate of the numerically superior Soviet Red Army – and quickly defeated the Nazi German enemy. Therefore, the Soviet Military Factories operated at full capacity and manufactured a large number of weapons and ammunition for the Soviet Red Army on the front line, including 90,000 artillery pieces of various types.
