Soviet marines in Angola. Striking sword: how the Soviet infantry learned to fight Soviet Marines

In March 1956, the 14th Marine Brigade stationed in Kamchatka, which was created in January 1946, was disbanded.

Due to the abolition of the Marine Corps, November 15, 1956 The Vyborg Marine Corps School was disbanded, and all cadets were distributed to other military schools.

7 years after the liquidation of the last Marine Corps formations, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces realized the error of their actions and began to re-create the branch of the military.

According to the directive of the Ministry of Defense from 07 June 1963 No. org/3/50340 The 336th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 120th Guards Motorized Rifle Division was reorganized into the 336th Guards Separate Marine Regiment of the Baltic Fleet (336th Separate Marine Regiment of the Baltic Fleet).

The 336th Regiment became the first military unit in the revived Marine Corps of the USSR Navy.

The same was done in all other fleets of the USSR Navy, where marine regiments were created. New regiments are formed on the basis of motorized rifle regiments, reassigned from military districts to fleet headquarters.

In the same 1963, on the basis of the 390th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 56th Motorized Rifle Division, transferred from the Far Eastern Military District to the Red Banner Pacific Fleet, the 390th Separate Marine Regiment of the Pacific Fleet (390th Marine Corps TF) was created with the deployment in the village Slavyanka, 6 km from Vladivostok.

In 1966, on the basis of the 1st battalion of the 336th Marine Regiment, as well as the personnel of the 135th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 295th Motorized Rifle Division of the Transcaucasian Military District, the 309th Separate Marine Corps Battalion of the Black Sea Fleet was formed (309th Separate Marine Corps Black Sea Fleet) with a deployment in Sevastopol.

Also in July 1966, from the 131st Motorized Rifle Division of the Leningrad Military District, the 61st Motorized Rifle Regiment was transferred to the Northern Fleet and was reorganized into the 61st Separate Guards Marine Regiment of the Northern Fleet (61st Separate Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet) with a deployment in .P. Satellite of the Murmansk region of the RSFSR.

In connection with the re-creation of the Marine Corps, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces raised the issue of training junior officers for the new type of troops.

Unlike the period of the Great Patriotic War, the training of lieutenants for the Marine Corps was given not to naval schools, but to schools preparing personnel for the ground forces.

In view of the relative small number of units and formations of the Marine Corps, for the training of the main officer military specialty in the Marine Corps (Marine Corps platoon commander), in 1966, as part of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School, a Faculty of Marine Corps was created (the only one for all schools of this type ), stationed in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region. One platoon in each cadet company of this school was a platoon of marines. The first release of lieutenants for the Marine Corps was carried out in 1968.

December 15, 1967 On the basis of the 309th Marine Corps, the 1st Marine Battalion of the 336th Marine Corps of the Baltic Fleet and a company of amphibious tanks of the 61st Marine Corps of the Northern Fleet, the 810th Separate Marine Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet (810th Marine Corps of the Black Sea Fleet) was formed.

In 1967, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces began to attract marines to combat service as part of operational squadrons, which was carried out in all oceans. For Marine Corps units, combat service meant being part of an operational squadron with standard military equipment and in full combat readiness to begin combat operations on land and at sea if necessary.

Initially, the squadrons included one company of marines, reinforced by a tank platoon on the PT-76, located on several medium landing ships. With the advent of large landing ships of Project 1171 in operational squadrons, two ships of this class transported a reinforced marine battalion. The reinforcement consisted mainly of a tank company with T-55s.

The combat service of the Marine Corps began with the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, where the USSR traditionally supported some Arab states in their confrontation with Israel and its Western allies. The reason for attracting the Marine Corps to combat service was the situation that created in April-May 1967, which eventually broke out in the Six-Day War.

The first military unit of the Marine Corps involved in combat service was the 309th Separate Marine Battalion of the Black Sea Fleet, stationed in Sevastopol. At the beginning of June, this battalion, as part of the Mediterranean squadron of the USSR Navy, was urgently transferred to the shores of Syria on 2 large landing ships and 2 medium landing ships. The battalion's initial task was to land at ports to support government troops in the event of further advance of Israeli troops on the Golan Heights. In connection with the cessation of hostilities, a group of landing ships departed for the shores of Egypt to the strategically important port of Port Said for its defense.

In June 1967, units of the 336th and 61st separate Marine Regiments were also involved in combat service in the Mediterranean.

In wartime, all naval reconnaissance points were deployed into separate special-purpose brigades. In 1968, the maritime reconnaissance point of the Black Sea Fleet was renamed into a separate special-purpose brigade. Despite the renaming, in fact this brigade was an incomplete battalion (personnel - 148 people).

The tasks of the special intelligence servicemen were:

reconnaissance of enemy bases, ports and other facilities;
destruction or disabling of warships, transport support ships, hydraulic structures, radio equipment on the coast and other objects;
targeting naval aircraft and missiles at enemy targets;
conducting reconnaissance in the interests of naval forces during the landing of marines;
capture of enemy documentary data and prisoners.
It was planned to use submarines, military transport aircraft and helicopters to transport reconnaissance officers. In connection with ensuring the secrecy of the advance, special reconnaissance personnel were trained in diving and parachute jumping. Officially, the military registration specialty of the personnel of naval reconnaissance points was called “reconnaissance diver.”

To train conscripts, the 316th separate special-purpose training detachment was created in 1967, based in Kyiv.

Between August 1968 and December 01, 1968 On the basis of the 390th separate marine regiment (390th separate infantry regiment) KTOF, the 55th Marine Division was formed.

Combat service in the World Ocean by units of the USSR Navy Marine Corps since the late 60s has been distributed as follows:

Name	Sphere of influence	Dislocation and composition
55th Marine Division	Pacific and Indian oceans	Pacific Fleet Snegovaya (on the eastern outskirts of Vladivostok). Composition: 85, 106 and 165 pmp, 26 tp, 84 ap, 417 zrp, etc.
61st Separate Marine Regiment	Arctic and Atlantic Ocean	SOF. Pechenga (Murmansk region)
336th Separate Guards Marine Regiment	Atlantic Ocean	BF. village Mechnikovo (district of Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region)
810th Separate Marine Regiment	Mediterranean Sea	Black Sea Fleet village Cossack (Sevastopol district)

Despite the repeated presence of the Marine Corps of the USSR Navy during combat service in close proximity to military conflict zones in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Since August 1969, units of the 390th Regiment of the 55th Marine Division of the Pacific Fleet began combat service.

Since May 1969, in connection with the further escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces created a consolidated reinforced battalion of marines, whose task was to guard the port of Port Said, which was provided by the Egyptian authorities as one of the points for the deployment of the Mediterranean squadron of the Navy THE USSR. Also, units of the reinforced battalion were on duty near oil terminals in the Suez Canal. To staff the battalion, companies were selected from marine units from all four fleets. The battalion's personnel were variable on the basis of constant rotation. Units seconded from military units changed every 4 months.

By the end of the 70s, due to the aggravation of the situation in the world and the emergence of new threats, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces, assessing the number of Marine Corps formations as insufficient, set the task of increasing its number and reforming military units.

The reform affected the military units of the marine corps of the Baltic, Black Sea and Northern fleets. It consisted in the fact that on the basis of the Marine Corps regiments, Marine Brigades were created, consisting of several military units.

November 20, 1979 The 336th and 810th Marine Regiments were reorganized into Marine Brigades, maintaining their serial numbers.

On May 15, 1980, the 61st Marine Regiment was reorganized into the 61st Marine Brigade.

The organizational structure of the created brigades was as follows
Name	Note
2 Separate Marine Battalions
Separate Marine Battalion	(frame)
Separate air assault battalion
Separate anti-aircraft missile and artillery division
Separate reconnaissance battalion
Separate rocket artillery battalion
Separate anti-tank artillery division
Separate self-propelled artillery division
Separate tank battalion
Brigade management
The armament of the brigades varied markedly depending on the fleet they belonged to. On average, the brigades were armed with the following military equipment
Armored personnel carriers	160-265 units
MLRS "Grad-1"	18 units
SAU 2S1	18 units
SAU 2S9	24 units
Tanks	T-55 - 40 units
Brigade personnel	about 2,000 people

Marine Corps Missions
The leadership of the USSR Armed Forces assigned the following tasks to the recreated Marine Corps:

landing of amphibious assault forces on a tactical scale to solve independent problems and to assist formations of ground forces;
use as the first echelon of troops during the landing of operational troops;
defense of bases and other facilities from air and sea landings, participation together with ground units in anti-landing defense.

At the end of 1981 in the settlement. The 175th separate marine brigade of the Northern Fleet was formed in Tumanny, Murmansk region. Initially, the brigade was created as a cadre formation deployed in wartime. The brigade's personnel did not exceed 200 people. At the same time, the brigade was almost completely provided with military equipment.

For example, in the summer of 1981, a battalion tactical group of the Marine Marine of the USSR Navy under the command of Lieutenant Colonel V. Abashkin, during joint Soviet-Syrian exercises, successfully carried out a landing amphibious in an unfamiliar area - in the area of ​​​​the city and the base of the Syrian Navy Latakia. And then our Marines advanced deep into the territory, into the desert and suppressed the resistance of the mock enemy.

In 1982, the Pacific Fleet conducted the “Beam” exercise, during which, in conditions as close as possible to combat, a large amphibious landing was carried out from ships onto a coast fortified by the enemy. The uniqueness of the exercise was that it took place at night without the use of any lighting devices. Control was carried out only using infrared equipment. And this is more than thirty years ago!

In June 1983, an even larger exercise was held in the Black Sea. For the first time, a full-strength marine brigade landed afloat at night with a simultaneous parachute landing. According to the recollections of the participants in that exercise, about two thousand marines (including reservists called up from the reserve), having at their disposal up to four hundred units of various equipment, went to the bridgehead from the sea and from the skies.

In 1985, a battalion of marines from the Baltic Fleet was embarked on landing ships, which made the transition from Baltiysk to the Rybachy Peninsula in the North. There they immediately landed afloat on an unfamiliar training ground, completed the assigned task, and then made a return landing on landing ships located at a distance from the shore and returned by sea to their place of permanent deployment.

Strengthening the Marine Corps

According to estimates by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the number of Soviet marines in 1988 reached 17,000 people. According to foreign researchers, this indicator reflected the total number of personnel of the 55th Marine Division, 3 Marine Brigades (336th, 61st and 810th), 17th Special Purpose Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet and 4 naval reconnaissance points.

October 12, 1989 By decision of the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces, the Coastal Forces of the USSR Navy were created, which included both marine infantry and coastal artillery units and formations subordinate to the fleets. According to this decision, four motorized rifle divisions were also transferred to the Coastal Forces from the Ground Forces, renamed into coastal defense divisions and reassigned to the command of the fleets.

In these divisions, while fully equipped with standard military equipment, the personnel were partially staffed - from 2,200 to 3,400 people. The total strength of the 4 coastal defense divisions was 12,000 people. According to some historians, these motorized rifle divisions should be considered as reserve divisions of the Marine Corps (RDMP - in the source).

In addition to motorized rifle divisions, 2 artillery brigades, 3 artillery regiments and 1 separate machine-gun artillery battalion were transferred to the coastal forces. In total, 16,000 personnel, 950 tanks, about 1,100 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers and the same number of artillery pieces and MLRS were transferred to the Navy from the Ground Forces.

According to one source, the total number of reinforced marines reached 27,000 people, according to another - 32,000 people.

This section lists military units and formations, which, in the opinion of Russian historians, should be classified as both units and formations of the Marine Corps and units and formations of reinforcement of the Marine Corps (reserve formations of the Marine Corps).

To train commanders of fire platoons of artillery units of the Marine Corps, the Faculty of Marine Corps was opened at the Kolomna Artillery School.

In 1989, a Marine Corps Faculty was created at the Leningrad Higher Combined Arms Command School, which trained Marine platoon commanders.

TO 01 January 1990 The units of special reconnaissance formations included 1 separate special-purpose brigade (personnel - 148 people) and 4 naval reconnaissance points.

Formations of special reconnaissance of the USSR Navy

01 January 1990 The 17th separate special forces brigade was reorganized into the 1464th naval reconnaissance point.

Personnel of maritime reconnaissance points (MRP) at January 01, 1990 but differed noticeably:

★ 17th Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet - 148 people;
★ 42nd infantry regiment of the Pacific Fleet - 91;
★ 561st infantry regiment of the Baltic Fleet - 91;
★ 137th infantry regiment of the Caspian flotilla - 42;
★ 420th infantry regiment of the Northern Fleet - about 300.

Formations and reinforcement units of the Marine Corps

These include motorized rifle divisions renamed coastal defense divisions and artillery units transferred in 1989-1990 from the ground forces to the USSR Navy:

Transferred from the Baltic Military District
Name	Dislocation
3rd Guards Volnovakha Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Coastal Defense Division of the Baltic Fleet	Klaipeda, Latvian SSR
710th Cannon Artillery Regiment of the Baltic Fleet (military unit 47131)	Kaliningrad
Transferred from the Leningrad Military District
8th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment of the Baltic Fleet (military unit 72452)	Vyborg
77th Guards Moscow-Chernigov Order of Lenin, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Coastal Defense Division of the Northern Fleet	Arkhangelsk
181st separate machine gun and artillery battalion	Fort Krasnaya Gorka
Transferred from the Odessa Military District
126th Gorlovka Red Banner, Order of Suvorov coastal defense division of the Black Sea Fleet	Simferopol,
301st Artillery Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet (military unit 48249)	Simferopol
Transferred from the Far Eastern Military District
40th Order of Lenin and Suvorov Coastal Defense Division named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze of the Pacific Fleet	n.p. Smolyaninovo, Primorsky Krai
166th Artillery Brigade of the Pacific Fleet (military unit 01780)	n.p. Lermontovka, Khabarovsk Territory
204th Artillery Regiment of the Pacific Fleet (military unit 61486)	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

At the end of 1991, the special reconnaissance combat formations of the USSR Navy included:

Name	Dislocation
42nd Naval Reconnaissance Point of the Pacific Fleet	Russky Island, Primorsky Krai
137th naval reconnaissance point of the Caspian flotilla	Baku, AzSSR
316th Separate Special Forces Training Detachment	Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR.
420th Naval Reconnaissance Point of the Northern Fleet	n.p. Animal farm, Murmansk region
561st Naval Reconnaissance Point of the Baltic Fleet	n.p. Parusnoe, Kaliningrad region
1464th naval reconnaissance point of the Black Sea Fleet	Pervomaisky Island, Nikolaev Region, Ukrainian SSR

Due to the fact that almost all formations and military units of the Soviet Marine Corps were stationed on the territory of the RSFSR (except for the 810th Brigade), after the collapse of the USSR they all became part of the Russian Navy.

Formations and units of the Marine Corps 1991.
As of 1991, the following formations and military units were directly included in the Marine Corps of the USSR Navy:

General information on the composition and deployment of formations and units of the Soviet marine corps and coastal defense at the beginning of 1991 is presented in the following table:

Marines
Name	Dislocation	Notes Additions. Main weapons
55th Marine Division Mozyr Red Banner	Pacific Fleet district of Vladivostok.	T-55A, BTR-60PB and BTR-80, 2S1 "Gvozdika", 2S3 "Akatsia", 2S9 "Nona-S", 2S23 "Nona-SVK", BM-21 "Grad", SAM "Osa-AKM" and etc.
61st Separate Marine Brigade Kirkenes Red Banner	SF. transferred to Sputnik village (northern Murmansk)	40 T-55A, 26 PT-76, 132 BTR-80, 5 BTR-60PB, 113 MT-LBV and MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 24 2S9 "Nona-S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1" , ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10", etc.
175th Separate Marine Brigade	SF. Serebryanskoye or Tumanny village (Murmansk district)	40 T-55A, 26 PT-76, 73 BTR-80, 40 BTR-60PB, 91 MT-LBV and MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 18 2S9 "Nona-S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1" , ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10", etc.
336th Separate Guards Marine Brigade Bialystok horde Suvorov and Alexander Nevsky	BF. Baltiysk (Kaliningrad region)	40 T-55A, 26 PT-76, 96 BTR-80, 64 BTR-60PB, 91 MT-LBV and MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 24 2S9 "Nona-S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1" , ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", "Strela-10", etc.
810th Separate Guards Marine Brigade	Black Sea Fleet Cossack settlement (Sevastopol district)	169 BTR-80, 96 BTR-60PB, 15 MT-LB, 18 2S1 "Gvozdika", 24 2S9 "Nona-S", 18 9P138 "Grad-1", etc.
299th Marine Corps Training Center	Sevastopol

In addition to the indicated formations within the USSR Navy, at each fleet and at the Main Headquarters of the Navy in Moscow, there were 5 separate guard battalions, the military personnel for which were selected from the Marine Corps formations:

★ 1643rd separate security battalion at the Main Headquarters of the USSR Navy (military unit 78328) - Moscow;
★ separate security battalion of the Cam Ranh naval base of the Pacific Fleet (military unit 15310) - Cam Ranh, Vietnam.
211th separate guard battalion of the Northern Fleet (military unit 42621) - ZATO Olenegorsk-2 (Bolshoye Ramozero settlement) Murmansk region; ]

In terms of numbers, the Soviet Marine Corps was significantly inferior to the Airborne Forces, but the Marine Corps has a much richer tradition, dating back to the landing parties of the Russian Imperial Navy during the time of Peter the Great. The Marine Corps reached its peak in terms of numbers during World War II, when there were 350,000 soldiers in 40 brigades, six separate regiments, and a number of smaller units. Five brigades of the Marine Corps received the designation of Guards during the war. During the war, according to official data, 114 amphibious landing operations were carried out. For the most part these were small tactical landings. Only four operations can be considered major, three of which were carried out in the Black Sea (two on the Kerch Peninsula and one near Novorossiysk) and one in the Baltic (landing in Moonsund). A significant number of marines was the flip side of the inaction of the main forces of the secular Navy. The naval personnel who joined the Marine Corps were commanders and sailors who did not have proper landing training and did not have land combat skills. The sailors everywhere demonstrated desperate courage, but suffered very heavy losses.

In 1947, the Marine Corps was virtually liquidated, leaving only small units in the coastal defense forces. The Marine Corps was revived again in 1961. Now these were specialized units designed for amphibious landing operations. In light of the new military policy, the construction of specialized landing ships of various carrying capacities began.

Since 1961, the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic fleets have one marine regiment each, and a marine brigade is deployed in the Pacific Ocean. These Western assessments do not entirely correspond to the truth; according to American intelligence, in the 80s the deployment of Marine Corps units was as follows:

– 63rd Guards Kirkenes Marine Regiment – ​​Pechenga, Northern Fleet
– 36th Guards Marine Regiment – ​​Baltiysk, Baltic Fleet
– ? Guards Marine Regiment – ​​Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet
– ? Guards Marine Brigade, Vladivostok, Pacific Fleet

The Marine Regiment included three Marine battalions and a tank battalion. Each battalion had 33 BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, the tank battalion was armed with 34 PT-76 light amphibious tanks and ten T-55 or T-72 main battle tanks. In a battalion armed with the T-55, often three out of ten tanks were flamethrower OT-55s. The Marine brigade had two tank battalions and five marine battalions. The brigade was approximately twice the size of the regiment; the strength of the Marine regiment was 2,500 people.

Just like in the Airborne Forces, the best were selected for the Marine Corps, and the level of combat training of the Marines far exceeded the level of “boots”, and maybe even the average level of “blue berets”. In addition to training in landing from ships on an unprepared shore, the Soviet marines practiced airborne landings with parachutes and landing from helicopters. Special units within Marine regiments were preparing to use nuclear explosive devices with a yield of 0.1 to 5 kilotons.

The strength of the Soviet Marine Corps, 18,000, was only a tenth the size of the US Marine Corps. Unlike the American Marine Corps, the Soviet Marine Corps was intended to solve tactical and operational-tactical tasks. The task of the Soviet marines is to seize a bridgehead on the coast, to which units of ground forces could be transferred. The technical equipment of the Soviet Marine Corps also cannot be compared with the American one. The Marine Corps is a customer of specialized military equipment, from aircraft to landing dock ships. All equipment of the Soviet Marine Corps was actually similar to that of the ground forces.

At the same time, the Soviet Marine Corps adopted air-cushion landing craft earlier and in greater numbers than the USMC. The USSR Navy had about 60 such ships of three types, the largest could carry four PT-76 tanks or two T-72 tanks, or 220 marines. The Americans were armed with only small hovercraft landing craft. Hovercraft can dramatically speed up a landing, and in the case of a landing on a weakly defended coast, even deliver people and equipment behind enemy lines, quickly overcoming the first line of defense.

A qualitative leap in the development of the Soviet marine corps came with the commissioning of large landing dock ships of the Ivan Rogov class. Previously, the area of ​​possible actions of the Soviet marines was limited to the seas adjacent to the Soviet Union. Now the Marines have entered the ocean. The Ivan Rogov class ships have significant autonomy, their own landing craft and provide acceptable comfort to marines staying on board for a long time. The ship's capabilities were demonstrated during a training landing of Soviet marines on the Syrian coast in the first half of the 1980s.

1. Captain 2nd rank of the Marine Corps in summer field uniform, 1985.

The cut of the Marine uniform is close to the cut of the Army officer's uniform, but the color of the cloth is black. The vest is a traditional item of clothing for Russian sailors, both military and civilian. Unlike the vests adopted by the Airborne Forces, on the sailors’ vests the stripes have darker colors. The gaps on the shoulder straps of the kavtorang are crimson - the color of the Marine Corps. The officer holds in his hand a Stechkin automatic pistol with a wooden holster attached to the handle, which serves as a butt.

2. Soviet marine in winter casual uniform, 1985

Again - a copy of the ground forces uniform, but black. The metal letters “BF”, Baltic Fleet, are attached to the shoulder straps. One badge is a land corporal or a senior sailor, as is customary in the Marine Corps. In addition to the star, the helmet features a version of the Marine Corps emblem. The fighter is armed with an RPKS light machine gun.

3. Tanker of the Marine Corps unit, 1985

The Marine Corps tank crews wore blue overalls; the cut of the Marine Corps overalls did not differ from the overalls of the tank crews of the ground forces. Under the overalls he wears a traditional vest. The headdress is a black beret of an Orsk infantryman. The overalls are marked with the code “532-1”. “532” is the side number of the tank, “1” is the tank commander. Slung over the shoulder is a pouch with a gas mask and a bag with signal flags, which were used to give orders in conditions of radio silence.

And what about those events that we usually call the Kronstadt rebellion? There, the marines and artillerymen of the coastal batteries, forming the backbone of those dissatisfied with the anti-revolutionary, in their opinion, policy of the then leadership of the Soviet Republic, showed considerable fortitude and courage, for a long time repelling numerous and powerful attacks by a huge mass of troops sent to suppress the uprising. There is still no unambiguous assessment of those events: there are supporters of both. But no one doubts the fact that the detachments of sailors showed an unbending will and did not show even a drop of cowardice and faint-heartedness even in the face of an enemy many times superior in strength.

As part of the Armed Forces of young Soviet Russia, the Marine Corps did not officially exist, although in 1920 the 1st Marine Expeditionary Division was formed on the Sea of ​​Azov, which solved problems characteristic of the Marine Corps, took an active part in eliminating the threat from the landing of General Ulagai and contributed to squeezing out White Guard troops from the Kuban regions. Then, for almost two decades, there was no talk about the Marine Corps, only on January 15, 1940 (according to other sources, this happened on April 25, 1940), according to the order of the People's Commissar of the Navy, the separate special rifle brigade created a year earlier was reorganized into the 1st Special Marine Brigade infantry of the Baltic Fleet, which took an active part in the Soviet-Finnish war: its personnel participated in landings on the islands of Gogland, Seskar, etc.

But most fully, all the spiritual strength and military skill of our Marines were revealed, of course, during the bloodiest war in the history of mankind - World War II. 105 marine infantry formations (hereinafter referred to as MP) fought on its fronts: one marine division, 19 marine brigades, 14 marine regiments and 36 separate marine battalions, as well as 35 naval rifle brigades. It was then that our marines earned the nickname “black death” from the enemy, although in the first weeks of the war, German soldiers, faced with fearless Russian soldiers who rushed into the attack in their vests, gave the marines the nickname “striped death.” During the years of the war, which for the USSR was predominantly of a land nature, the Soviet marines and naval rifle brigades landed 125 times as part of various landing forces, the total number of units taking part in which reached 240 thousand people. Acting independently, the Marines - on a smaller scale - landed behind enemy lines 159 times during the war. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of the landing forces landed at night, so that by dawn all units of the landing detachments would be landed on the shore and take up their assigned positions.

People's War

Already at the very beginning of the war, in the most difficult and difficult year for the Soviet Union, 1941, the USSR Navy allocated 146,899 people for operations on land, many of whom were qualified specialists in their fourth and fifth years of service, which, of course, harmed the combat readiness of the fleet itself, but such was the severe necessity. In November - December of the same year, the formation of separate naval rifle brigades began, which were then formed into 25 with a total number of 39,052 people. The main difference between a naval rifle brigade and a marine brigade was that the former was intended for combat operations as part of land fronts, and the latter for combat operations in coastal areas, mainly for the defense of naval bases, solving amphibious and anti-amphibious missions, etc. n. In addition, there were also formations and units of the ground forces, the names of which did not have the word “marine”, but which were staffed mainly by sailors. Such units can also, without any reservations, be attributed to the Marine Corps: during the war years, on the basis of Marine Corps units and formations, a total of six Guards Rifle and 15 Rifle Divisions, two Guards Rifle, two Rifle and four Mountain Rifle brigades were formed, and a significant number of sailors also fought in the 19 Guards Rifle Divisions and 41 Rifle Divisions.

In total, during 1941–1945, the command of the Soviet Navy formed and sent units and formations with a total number of 335,875 people (including 16,645 officers) to various sectors of the Soviet-German front, which amounted to almost 36 divisions according to the army staff of that time. In addition, marine units numbering up to 100 thousand people operated as part of the fleets and flotillas. Thus, almost half a million sailors fought shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army on the shore alone. And how it was fought! According to the recollections of many military leaders, the command always sought to use naval rifle brigades in the most critical sectors of the front, firmly knowing that the sailors would staunchly hold their positions, causing great damage to the enemy with fire and counterattacks. The attack of the sailors was always swift, they “literally rammed the German troops.”

During the defense of Tallinn, marine units with a total number of more than 16 thousand people fought on the shore, which accounted for more than half of the entire Tallinn group of Soviet troops, numbering 27 thousand people. In total, the Baltic Fleet formed one division, nine brigades, four regiments and nine battalions of marines with a total number of more than 120 thousand people during the Second World War. During the same period of time, the Northern Fleet formed and sent three brigades, two regiments and seven battalions of marines with a strength of 33,480 people to various sectors of the Soviet-German front. The Black Sea Fleet accounted for about 70 thousand marines - six brigades, eight regiments and 22 separate battalions. One brigade and two battalions of marines, formed in the Pacific Fleet and taking part in the defeat of militaristic Japan, were converted into guards.

It was the Marine Corps units that thwarted the attempt of the 11th Army of Colonel General Manstein and the mechanized group of the 54th Army Corps to immediately capture Sevastopol at the end of October 1941 - by the time the German troops found themselves under the city of Russian naval glory, the troops were retreating through the Crimean The mountains of the Primorsky Army have not yet approached the naval base. At the same time, the formations of the Soviet Marine Corps often experienced a serious shortage of small arms and other weapons, ammunition and communications equipment. Thus, the 8th MP Brigade, which took part in the defense of Sevastopol, at the very beginning of that famous defense, with 3,744 personnel, consisted of 3,252 rifles, 16 heavy and 20 light machine guns, as well as 42 mortars, and the newly formed 1st Baltic Brigade, which arrived at the front The MP brigade was provided with small arms only 50% of the required supply standards, having no artillery, no cartridges, no grenades, not even sapper blades!

The following record of a report from one of the defenders of the island of Gogland, dated March 1942, has been preserved: “The enemy is stubbornly climbing our points in columns, a lot of his soldiers and officers have been filled, and they are still climbing... There is still a lot of enemy on the ice. Our machine gun has two cartridges left. There were three of us left at the machine gun (in the bunker - author), the rest were killed. What do you want me to do?” To the order of the garrison commander to defend to the last, a laconic answer followed: “Yes, we are not even thinking of retreating - the Baltic people do not retreat, but destroy the enemy to the last.” People fought to the death.

In the initial period of the battle for Moscow, the Germans managed to approach the Moscow-Volga canal and even force it north of the city. The 64th and 71st naval rifle brigades were sent from reserve to the canal area, throwing the Germans into the water. Moreover, the first formation consisted mainly of Pacific sailors, who, like General Panfilov’s Siberians, helped defend the country’s capital. In the area of ​​the village of Ivanovskoye, the Germans several times tried to launch, funny to say, “psychic” attacks against the sailors of the 71st naval brigade of Colonel Ya. Bezverkhov. The Marines calmly allowed the Nazis to march at full height in dense chains and then shot them almost point-blank, finishing off those who did not have time to escape in hand-to-hand combat.
About 100 thousand sailors took part in the grandiose Battle of Stalingrad, of which in the 2nd Guards Army alone there were up to 20 thousand sailors from the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla - that is, every fifth soldier in the army of Lieutenant General Rodion Malinovsky (the latter later recalled: “Sailors "The Pacific people fought wonderfully. It was a fighting army! The sailors are brave warriors, heroes!").
Self-sacrifice is the highest degree of heroism

“When the tank approached him, it freely and prudently lay under the caterpillar” - these are lines from the work of Andrei Platonov, and they are dedicated to one of those marines who stopped a column of German tanks near Sevastopol - a historical fact that formed the basis of the feature film.

The sailors stopped the German tanks with their bodies and grenades, of which there was exactly one per brother, and therefore each grenade had to hit a German tank. But how to achieve one hundred percent efficiency? A simple decision comes not from the mind, but from the heart, overflowing with love for one’s Motherland and hatred for the enemy: one must tie a grenade to one’s body and lie down exactly under the caterpillar of a tank. There was an explosion and the tank stopped. And after the commander of that combat barrier, political commissar Nikolai Filchenko, a second one rushes under the tanks, followed by a third. And suddenly the unimaginable happens - the surviving Nazi tanks stood up and retreated. The German tank crews simply lost their nerves - they gave up in the face of such terrible and incomprehensible heroism! It turned out that the armor was not the high-quality steel of German tanks, the armor was Soviet sailors dressed in thin vests. Therefore, I would like to recommend that those of our compatriots who admire the traditions and valor of the Japanese samurai, look at the history of their army and navy - there they can easily find all the qualities of professional fearless warriors in those officers, soldiers and sailors who for centuries defended against various adversaries our country. These, our own, traditions must be supported and developed, and not bowed down to a life that is alien to us.

By order of the People's Commissar of the USSR Navy dated July 25, 1942, a Northern defensive region of 32 thousand people was formed in the Soviet Arctic, which was based on three brigades of marines and three separate machine-gun battalions of marines and which for more than two years ensured the stability of the right flank of the Soviet- German front. Moreover, in complete isolation from the main forces, supplies were carried out only by air and sea. Not to mention the fact that war in the harsh conditions of the Far North, when it is impossible to dig a trench in the rocks or hide from aircraft or artillery fire, is a very difficult test. It is not for nothing that a saying was born in the North: “Where a reindeer passes, a marine will pass, and where a reindeer does not pass, a marine will pass anyway.” The first Hero of the Soviet Union in the Northern Fleet was senior sergeant of the Marine Corps V.P. Kislyakov, who remained alone at an important height and held back the onslaught of an enemy of more than a company for more than an hour.

Major Caesar Kunikov, well-known at the front, became the commander of a combined naval landing detachment in January 1943. He wrote to his sister about his subordinates: “I command the sailors, if you could see what kind of people they are! I know that people on the home front sometimes doubt the accuracy of newspaper colors, but these colors are too pale to describe our people.” A detachment of only 277 people, having landed in the area of ​​Stanichka (the future Malaya Zemlya), frightened the German command so much (especially when Kunikov plainly transmitted a false radiogram: “The regiment landed successfully. We are moving forward. I am waiting for reinforcements”) that they hastily transferred units there two divisions!

In March 1944, a detachment under the command of Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Olshansky, consisting of 55 Marines of the 384th Marine Battalion and 12 soldiers from one of the neighboring units, distinguished itself. For two days, this “landing into immortality,” as it was called later, pinned down the enemy in the port of Nikolaev with distracting actions, repelled 18 attacks by an enemy combat group of three infantry battalions, supported by half a company of tanks and a gun battery, destroying up to 700 soldiers and officers, as well as two tanks and an entire artillery battery. Only 12 people survived. All 67 soldiers of the detachment were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - a unique case even for the Great Patriotic War!

During the offensive of the Soviet troops in Hungary, boats of the Danube Flotilla constantly provided fire support to the advancing troops and landed troops, including as part of units and units of the Marine Corps. For example, a battalion of marines distinguished itself by landing on March 19, 1945 in the Tata area and cutting off the enemy’s escape routes along the right bank of the Danube. Realizing this, the Germans sent large forces against the not very large landing force, but the enemy was never able to drop the paratroopers into the Danube.

For their heroism and courage, 200 marines were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the famous intelligence officer Viktor Leonov, who fought in the Northern Fleet and then stood at the origins of the creation of naval reconnaissance and sabotage units of the Pacific Fleet, was awarded this award twice. And, for example, the landing personnel of Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Olshansky, after whom one of the large landing ships of the Russian Navy is named today, who landed in the port of Nikolaev in March 1944 and at the cost of his life fulfilled the task assigned to him, was awarded this high award in full. It is less known that of the full holders of the Order of Glory - and there are only 2562 people, there are also four Heroes of the Soviet Union, and one of these four is Marine Sergeant Major P. Kh. Dubinda, who fought as part of the 8th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet .

Individual parts and connections were also noted. Thus, the 13, 66, 71, 75 and 154th Marine Brigades and Marine Rifle Brigades, as well as the 355th and 365th Marine Battalions were transformed into guards units, many units and formations became Red Banner, and the 83rd and the 255th brigade - even twice Red Banner. The great contribution of the Marines to achieving a common victory over the enemy was reflected in Order No. 371 of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of July 22, 1945: “During the period of defense and offensive of the Red Army, our fleet reliably covered the flanks of the Red Army, which abutted the sea, and dealt serious blows to the trade enemy fleet and shipping and ensured the uninterrupted operation of its communications. The combat activities of Soviet sailors were distinguished by selfless steadfastness and courage, high combat activity and military skill.”

It remains to be noted that many famous heroes of the Great Patriotic War and future commanders fought in the Marine Corps and Marine Rifle Brigades. Thus, the creator of the airborne troops, Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General V.F. Margelov, during the war years was one of the best commanders of marine regiments - he commanded the 1st Special Ski Regiment of the Marine Corps of the Leningrad Front. The commander of the 7th Airborne Division, Major General T.M. Parafilo, who at one time commanded the 1st Special (Separate) Marine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet, also left the Marine Corps. At different times, such famous military leaders as Marshal of the Soviet Union N.V. Ogarkov (in 1942 - brigade engineer of the 61st separate naval rifle brigade of the Karelian Front), Marshal of the Soviet Union S. F. Akhromeev (in 1941 - first-year cadet of the M.V. Frunze Military Military School - soldier of the 3rd separate marine brigade), Army General N. G. Lyashchenko (in 1943 - commander of the 73rd separate naval rifle brigade Volkhov Front), Colonel General I.M. Chistyakov (in 1941–1942 - commander of the 64th Naval Rifle Brigade).

Even during World War II, squads of Marines struck terror into German soldiers. Since then, the latter have been given a second name - black death or black devils, indicating inevitable reprisals against those who encroach on the integrity of the state. Perhaps this nickname has something to do with the fact that the infantryman wore a black peacoat. Only one thing is known for certain - if the enemy is afraid, then this is already the lion’s share of victory, and, as you know, the motto is considered a symbol of the Marine Corps: “Where we are, there is victory!”

Every infantryman was proud of his mission. In cases where it was necessary to fight while wearing a combined arms uniform, the soldiers did not part with their caps and vests. They went on the attack wide open, showing the enemy black and white stripes, instilling open terror on him.

History of the origin of the troops

During the reign of Ivan IV (the Terrible), the crews of all ships were supplemented by soldiers who were not sailors. These were separately created brigades consisting of archers. The first sailing ship "Eagle" was manned by Nizhny Novgorod archers by decree of the Tsar in 1669. Their task included boarding and landing actions. The first prototype of the Marines was also used for guard duty.

History includes the exploits of the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, which were formed on ships during the Azov campaigns. Not everyone knows that the commander of one of the companies of the naval regiment was Emperor Peter Romanov himself. Similar regiments equipped ships of the Azov and Baltic fleets.

The first victories of the then completely new formations occurred in 1701–1702. The Russian flotilla, consisting mostly of rowing ships, successfully fought with Swedish sailing ships on Lake Peipus and Ladoga. The Russian army owes its victory largely to the regiments of Ostrovsky, Shnevetsov and Tolbukhin, which served in the fleet, which were assigned to the fleet. Chroniclers noted that the infantrymen behaved boldly and decisively in battle.

If we are talking about the creation of the Marine Corps troops, then this event is closely connected with the name of Peter I. He summarized the experience of introducing ground forces into the fleet and in 1705 issued a decree according to which all squads of Cossacks and Streltsy were united, and the newly created formation was named "naval regiment" According to the new style, this decree is dated November 27, since then this date has been considered.

The Northern War was a real test for the newly formed unit. Infantry detachments repeatedly landed on enemy territory; they proved themselves in boarding battles at Cape Gangut. The next battle test was the Russian-Turkish war. In the mid-18th century, marines under the command of G.A. Spiridov participated in the liberation of the Greek islands. The field of action became not only the Black Sea, but also the Aegean Sea. Moving further along the ladder of times, it should be noted that the naval crew was involved in the Battle of Borodino and in subsequent offensive operations, for which they were awarded the St. George Banner.

Reforms of the 18th-19th centuries

Throughout history, the MP troops were restructured more than once; for example, in 1714 the structure changed. The regiments were divided into naval battalions, and in 1732 they were again assembled into regiments. At the next stage, the MP contingent is replenished with formed “soldier teams”; this innovation occurred in 1754.

As a result, every ship of the Black Sea and Baltic Fleet was equipped with infantrymen and soldiers. Their number depended on the displacement of the vessel, but sailing ships and galley ships received a similar “strengthening” of the crew. A separate team of soldiers was also formed in the Caspian Flotilla.

These structural elements were again abolished in 1762. It was decided to return to the battalion scheme of personnel recruitment. The only exceptions were galley ships, where soldier teams were still retained. The rest of the fleet was represented by musketeer and grenadier companies.

The next unification of the battalions occurred only in 1803, when they were reunited into regiments. Thus, the Baltic Fleet was represented by three regiments, and the Black Sea Fleet by one. The location of these regiments was Kronstadt, Revel, and Azov. The number of each element - regiment reached two thousand military personnel in various ranks. The structure of the Caspian flotilla is examined separately in history. Based on her command of personnel, a battalion of four musketeer companies was founded. Small companies operated in Arkhangelsk and on the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the approach of the naval leadership to the problem of staying and maintaining all marines in the fleet staff changed dramatically. Most of them advocated the abolition of this type of troops. Without going into details of the root causes, it should be noted that in 1811 their reassignment took place. Now leadership was entrusted not to the naval ministry, but to the military one. Ultimately, the naval regiments were reorganized and became part of the infantry divisions. This meant that the Marines no longer existed as a distinct and legally established branch of the military. The functions of infantrymen were assigned to members of flotilla crews. This order lasted for almost a hundred years, that is, until the First World War.

The inevitability of the First World War clearly showed that it was necessary to re-create MP detachments, as was the case before 1811. The main command body, the naval headquarters, made an attempt to urgently form marine infantry units. The idea was that these units should be deployed in the Baltic, Black Sea and Vladivostok. Why is this period positioned in history as an attempt? The fact is that in 1917 the Russian Empire ceased to exist, which means that the Russian fleet did not exist either. The revolution of 1917 became the starting point for the era in which the USSR Marine Corps was created.

The need to create a marine corps unit in the Red Army arose immediately; this was influenced by both the Civil War and the intervention. By the twenties, the total number of Marine personnel reached 75 thousand people.

It is noteworthy that one of the units was formed precisely on November 27, the birthday of the Marine Corps. Recruitment to the unit was initially carried out on a voluntary basis, but even then it was noted that increased demands were placed on candidates both in physical training and in the field of moral qualities.

It is documented that the creation of a separate type of troops in the USSR dates back to 1940. According to other sources, this event took place in 1925, but facts show that already during the Civil War, Marines took an active part in battles.

The real test of heroism and courage that the Marine Corps passed occurred during the Second World War, when in the first stage German troops captured vast territories of the state. Against the backdrop of general mobilization, which was difficult in the occupied parts, this type of troops played a key strategic role. The number of mobilized personnel amounted to more than one hundred thousand people, which made it possible to form infantry regiments of the Northern and Pacific Fleet.

The wartime Soviet marines were trained according to two programs at once:

1. One involved combined arms training.
2. The other suggested a landing.

Tactical, fire, reconnaissance and physical exercises were practiced. But lack of time did not allow volunteers to become real masters of their craft, so they had to send incompletely trained soldiers to the front.

In the post-war period, Soviet infantrymen participated in combat operations almost throughout the globe. Business trips to Angola and Ethiopia were organized to support government troops. Often this support came down to the fact that the entire volume of problems had to be solved by our compatriots. The war in Afghanistan has not spared the Marines. Although, as a separate unit, these troops were not sent to the DRA, there are many infantrymen under the auspices of volunteer organizations.

Black berets - the elite of the Russian troops

The events of the first Chechen war forced the command of the Russian army to resort to the help of marines. At that time, they turned out to be the most prepared for real combat operations. The soldiers accomplished a real feat during the assault on Grozny. Sixteen infantrymen were awarded the Hero Star. Unfortunately, there were casualties; 178 people died during the first campaign. The contribution that the Marines made to the history of the Chechen conflict will at all times be considered as a manifestation of the true professionalism of the Russian soldier.

Today, every young man who decides to link his destiny with the defense of the Fatherland dreams of joining the Marine Corps. But the road there is not open to everyone; there are certain requirements for the health of the conscript, because the combat training program includes not only combat service, but also boxing, hand-to-hand combat, and general physical training. In short, Marine Corps soldiers, with their own efforts, constantly prove their right to bear the status of an elite unit.

In September 1942, in the steppe near Kotluban station, Soviet troops tried to cut a corridor to besieged Stalingrad. However, the offensive quickly ended: the rifle units were unable not only to break into the front, but even to significantly push back the enemy. The disgruntled staff officers of the Don Front stated: “The artillery is doing its job, pinning the enemy to the ground, but at this time the infantry does not rise and does not go on the offensive.”

They didn't bow to bullets

It cannot be said that this problem became a revelation for the Soviet commanders. Even before the war, during maneuvers, the head of the Combat Training Directorate of the Red Army, Alexander Sedyakin, wrote with alarm that squads, platoons, and individual soldiers were undertrained, attacked in tight formation and would quickly die in a real battle. However, the rapid growth of the army, the general poverty of the country and the fever of reforms of the pre-war Red Army did not allow the infantryman’s training to be brought to the required level. Then the 1941 campaign took the question of the quality of training off the agenda for some time: any divisions were welcome at the fronts. Many offensives of the Red Army in 1942 stalled precisely because of the inability of the troops to solve quite standard tactical tasks.

At the beginning of the war, the Soviet infantry still acted ineptly, but German cities were taken by the real street fighting aces who were part of the assault groups.

But Headquarters was not going to silently watch what was happening. In the summer of 1942, the first collection of materials summarizing the experience of the war was published, and in the fall a new combat manual for the Red Army infantry was published. Great importance was attached to correcting mistakes, to the point of creating a separate department of the General Staff, exclusively engaged in learning lessons from the experience of battles and reworking military theory to meet the real needs of the troops. The efforts were not in vain: during the last 12 months of the war, a completely different army with completely different infantry went into battle.

Reconnaissance in German trenches

Although the Nazis went on the defensive on all fronts, this did not mean that the end of the battle would be easy. By the end of the war, the enemy had extensive experience in repelling attacks. Therefore, preliminary training on the ground became fashionable in the Red Army. In the rear, mock-ups of German positions were erected, followed by a mock assault. The training took place in conditions extremely close to combat conditions, with real shooting. In December 1944, in Poland, near the town of Kikow, a training ground with an area of ​​1 x 3 km was built, on which a “German” defense center was built. Half of the classes were held at night. The attacks were practiced as many times as necessary for each soldier to master his task, his maneuver. Particular attention was paid to interaction with artillery and tanks.

The calling card of the late Red Army was reconnaissance in force. This technique had an obvious advantage: the positions of the Wehrmacht and its fire system were revealed most accurately. The losses of the scouts were quite high, but if successful, they could capture the enemy’s advanced positions even before the start of the offensive. For the Wehrmacht, the standard technique was to withdraw the main forces immediately to the second line of defense in order to eliminate losses from artillery bombardment, so the capture of forward positions by Soviet intelligence officers often happened. So the Wehrmacht commanders were faced with a choice: fight the reconnaissance group and declassify their real positions or accept the loss of the front line. Intensive artillery support from reconnaissance groups added spice. As soon as the Germans discovered themselves, the gunners began to actively work on the identified targets.

Master key to "festung"

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army entered Poland, and in the winter of the following year it broke into Germany. For the Wehrmacht, one of the typical techniques of that time was the organization of “festungs” - fortresses. Such a fortress was created in advance in some important area, and during the collapse of the front, the remnants of the defeated units were pulled up to it. Inside, everything they needed for a long resistance was already waiting for them.

The barrage of fire, sweeping away everything in its path, was already the hallmark of the Soviet troops, but in old European cities with solid capital buildings it did not give the same effect as in an open field. In these conditions, well-honed tactics became salvation. Street fighting became the crowning glory of the late Red Army.

The core of the attacking units were assault groups. This phrase brings to mind for many images of soldiers wearing recognizable steel breastplates. This is what the soldiers of specialized assault engineering brigades looked like, which really played an important role in the war. But the small forces, of course, could not fight along the entire front or single-handedly storm large cities like Poznan, Danzig or Koenigsberg. Therefore, most often shock troops were equipped with ordinary riflemen, but there were also important additions. As necessary, the infantrymen were reinforced with sappers and flamethrowers, and the group included individual guns, tanks and self-propelled guns. The soldiers carried entrenching tools, smoke bombs, ropes, and captured Faust cartridges, which were used as engineering ammunition. The collection of captured grenade launchers and training in their use was put on a grand scale. The point of creating such groups was so that the commander would not waste time asking for help from the command: he already had all the necessary forces and means to perform a standard task. In the event of sudden changes in the situation, he could immediately react to what was happening, using all the capabilities of his diverse arsenal.

Assault and fire technology

Before the attack, the attack aircraft devoted several days to observing the enemy. The search and capture of enemy “tongues” was constantly carried out, so that by the beginning of the operation, the commanders of the assault groups already had a decent idea of ​​​​the Wehrmacht forces and the defense system.

On the eve of the assault on Koenigsberg, they even prepared a miniature model of the city with an area of ​​26 m², where all the enemy positions identified by reconnaissance were plotted.

The capture of the object began with a search for an abnormal passage. If it was not found, a breach in the fortification was made with the help of armored vehicles or by detonating a charge. A separate support subgroup crushed the enemy with fire, not allowing them to shoot at the attackers. Then the capture group burst into the building - it could include, for example, a dozen machine gunners, sappers, chemists and a flamethrower. First of all, the attackers tried to capture the attics and upper floors in order to isolate the house. Doors were knocked down with overhead explosive charges, and a grenade was thrown into every suspicious opening. Experience told the infantrymen to stock up on grenades in abundance - sometimes up to a dozen. The capture group was immediately followed by a reinforcement group with heavy machine guns and mortars. Meanwhile, the attackers began cleaning up. Excellent interaction between the attack aircraft and the assigned reinforcement units was required. For example, a small-caliber gun could fire at the windows of the second floor while the arrows were fighting on the first. In order not to shoot each other in the turmoil of the battle, they agreed on signals in advance and stocked up on missiles.

If it was not possible to clear the building without heavy losses, the sappers carried hundreds of kilograms of explosives in several stages and collapsed the house along with its defenders. One of the forts in Poznan was opened brutally but effectively: under the cover of shelling, the soldiers made their way onto the roof of the fort, blew up the caps of the ventilation shafts, then shot through the internal partition of the shaft with a faust cartridge and began pouring gasoline inside. After pumping 150 liters of fuel, the sappers threw a Molotov cocktail into the mine. The fort's garrison was lost in its entirety.

Sometimes unique technical solutions were used. For example, the practice of launching individual rockets has become widespread. The guides for the rocket were mounted on captured tripods of German machine guns. The shooting accuracy was, of course, low, but the PC could be dragged, for example, onto the roof and launched from a short distance into a specific attic. True, after the shot they had to quickly leave: the buildings from which the charges were fired also often caught fire. Another non-standard idea was homemade bombs for blinding embrasures, which were made from metal barrels and pyrotechnic charges.

Tank Saviors

It was the active actions of the infantry that became the key to the survival of tank corps in cities. Armored vehicles, contrary to the stereotype, can fight in dense buildings, but under the cover of infantrymen. A fruitful symbiosis was created: tanks and self-propelled guns supported the soldiers with fire and armor, and they cut off enemy infantry. Young men from the Volkssturm with Faustpatrons in their hands are a vivid image, but in reality, for every one who managed to lean out of the window and set fire to a tank, there were several more who received a bullet from the accompanying infantry. Snipers were often included in the attacking battle formations, including to combat grenade launchers. As a result, even the assault on such a metropolis as Berlin did not lead to the beating of tank armies with Faust cartridges: losses from hand weapons remained a rarity.