General military tactics suggest a force of three times the defender's size to successfully storm and win.

[1] Dalibaltayan was born in the Armenian-populated town of Bogdanovka (present-day Ninotsminda, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia) to Armenian parents, near the border with Armenia.

Dalibaltayan held various commanding positions in Echmiadzin, Yerevan, Perekeshkul, Prishib, Kirovabad, Abakan and Rostov-on-Don during his service in the Soviet Armed Forces.

He had also participated in higher academic courses for commanders at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR (now Russia) in 1976 and 1978.

Dalibaltayan held his final position starting in 1987 as Deputy Commander of the North Caucasus Military District for combat training in Rostov-on-Don.

The Armed Forces of Armenia, the country of origin for Dalibaltayan, had soon afterward joined him amongst its ranks.

Instead, together Dalibaltayan and Ter-Tadevosyan devised a strategy of launching several diversionary attacks against the adjacent villages to draw out the defenders of Shusha, while the Armenian forces would in the meantime encircle and cut off the town from further reinforcements.