Trivia: the image of Russian troops being sent against the enemy unarmed and expected to pick up weapons from the slaughtered comrades that preceded them is actually based on reality. Except that it was during WW1.
Trotsky left behind a reasonably modern and capable Red Army when he got exiled. The real reason why it nevertheless performed so horroribly in the first months of the German invasion has been pointed out several time now.
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