Page 256 - The Chief Culprit

June 13, 1941 y 217

trenches, and prepare covers behind the barricades. e Red Army did nothing of the kind.
However, Soviet divisions, armies, and corps destroyed all previously constructed defensive
structures. Troops were concentrated not behind water barriers, in a fashion convenient for
defense, but in front of them, which was convenient for offense. Soviet troops did not take
over vast fields that the enemy would need to cross, but hid in the woods, just like the
German troops preparing for invasion. Perhaps all this was just a demonstration of might? Of
course not—a demonstration has to be visible to the enemy. e Red Army, on the contrary,
tried to hide its preparations. e TASS announcement was not written to scare Germany,
but to allay its fears.