Artillery was so precise that up to 200 guns could put shells on the same target at nearly the same moment Artillery used a form of sound ranging that dated to World War I on more static fronts, with buried microphones recording time of fl ight of shells to determine range Western Allied commanders used heavy artillery for suppressing fire in offensive operations, creeping barrages ahead of the infantry in a style learned and practiced on the western front later in World War I In the east, poor quality of Soviet fire control, maps, radio communications, and forward observers led to an important difference in artillery doctrine and usage from Western armies The Red Army used rolling barrages instead Overall, the Soviets tended to concentrate on artillery’s active destructive effects in saturation bombardment and to rely on sheer volume of a bombardment in a manner more reminiscent of early battles of the Great War For that reason, and because the Soviets lacked sophisticated fire control systems and training, the Red Army organized artillery into corps and armies separate from its rifle divisions or tank armies No combatant’s artillery underwent more quantitative increase during the war than did the Red Army, or with fewer changes to production models That was because the Soviets suffered such huge losses of artillery tubes over the first six months of fighting that emergency quotas of gun and ammunition production concentrated on delivering large volumes of existing and simplified gun models, rather than experimenting with new calibers or designs Once factories forced to relocate to the Urals were up and running again by mid-1942, continuing heavy attrition on the Eastern Front kept up demand for existing tube calibers and models That said, by 1943 Soviet quantitative advantage in artillery had a qualitative effect in protracted battles with the Wehrmacht As the tides of combat and war production alike turned, the Soviets built new carriages and chaises types that allowed the Red Army to alter deployment and use of existing guns Most tubes were retained as conventional artillery, but some were converted into mobile anti-tank guns, while others became assault guns The new, tracked anti-tank guns were first used to effect in continuous offensives that cleared Army Group South from Ukraine over the winter of 1943–1944 The Soviet Union was producing an extraordinary volume of artillery tubes by 1945, along with tracked and towed carriages to give its artillery more mobility In combat, Soviet artillery concentrations per footage of frontline, and Soviet preliminary barrages, were easily the densest and heaviest of the war The Red Army achieved over 400 guns per mile of front on several occasions, not including masses of Katyusha rocket artillery capable of blanketing whole areas of the enemy’s rear with terrifying saturation attacks in just minutes The Germans were so impressed by Soviet rocket artillery they developed a counter in the form of heavier versions of their own Nebelwerfer rocket launcher They also learned to use these weapons in assault and anti-tank roles in the later battles of the war in the East See also anti-aircraft guns; anti-tank weapons; concentration of fire; counterbattery fire; division; electronic warfare; elephants; fire for effect; flash spotting; horses; mules; murder; prearranged fire; recoilless guns; reconnaissance by fire; rockets; serenade; standing barrage; stonk; superimposed fire; time on target 81