Russia Just Lost the Biggest Tank Battle of the War

When you are on the defense and have ample planning time, you develop the battlefield. Know where the man made and natural obstacles are located. Determine where the dead spaces are. Use Target Reference Points (TRP) which gives direction and distances. TRPs can be used to facilitate artillery. Anticipate enemy avenues of approach. Determine the most dangerous enemy weapons systems. Develop a rational fire plan for efficacy and efficiency of munitions used. Fields can look flat, but they are usually not totally flat. Perhaps a friendly tank will have to back up 50 meters or 100 meters to hide the tank behind a gradual terrain.

The anti-tank weapons are definite combat multipliers. Infantrymen with missiles hiding behind terrain features are difficult or impossible to spot, and the western doctrine of precision missiles are proving their value in this war. A vehicle 2,000 meters away looks like a little dot with a 10-power scope. Thus infantrymen 2,000 meters away are even harder to spot. The tactics remind me of when Hannibal lost his final battle. I believe that the Romans made way for the charging elephants and created corridors in the formations and killed them that way. Tanks attacking in column formations deserve to be killed quickly.