German Soldier vs Soviet Soldier

German Soldier vs Soviet Soldier PDF Author: Chris McNab
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147282458X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
By the end of the first week of November 1942, the German Sixth Army held about 90 per cent of Stalingrad. Yet the Soviets stubbornly held on to the remaining parts of the city, and German casualties started to reach catastrophic levels. In an attempt to break the deadlock, Hitler decided to send additional German pioneer battalions to act as an urban warfare spearhead. These combat engineers were skilled in all aspects of city fighting, especially in the use of demolitions and small arms to overcome defended positions and in the destruction of armoured vehicles. Facing them were hardened Soviet troops who had perfected the use of urban camouflage, concealed and interlocking firing positions, close quarters battle, and sniper support. This fully illustrated book explores the tactics and effectiveness of these opposing troops during this period, focusing particularly on the brutal close-quarters fight over the Krasnaya Barrikady (Red Barricades) ordnance factory.

German Soldier vs Soviet Soldier

German Soldier vs Soviet Soldier PDF Author: Chris McNab
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147282458X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
By the end of the first week of November 1942, the German Sixth Army held about 90 per cent of Stalingrad. Yet the Soviets stubbornly held on to the remaining parts of the city, and German casualties started to reach catastrophic levels. In an attempt to break the deadlock, Hitler decided to send additional German pioneer battalions to act as an urban warfare spearhead. These combat engineers were skilled in all aspects of city fighting, especially in the use of demolitions and small arms to overcome defended positions and in the destruction of armoured vehicles. Facing them were hardened Soviet troops who had perfected the use of urban camouflage, concealed and interlocking firing positions, close quarters battle, and sniper support. This fully illustrated book explores the tactics and effectiveness of these opposing troops during this period, focusing particularly on the brutal close-quarters fight over the Krasnaya Barrikady (Red Barricades) ordnance factory.

German Infantryman vs Soviet Rifleman

German Infantryman vs Soviet Rifleman PDF Author: David Campbell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472803256
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 83

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Book Description
The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 pitted Nazi Germany and her allies against Stalin's forces in a mighty struggle for survival. Fighting alongside the spearhead Panzer divisions were Germany's highly skilled and veteran motorized infantrymen – including the German Army's premier unit, Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) Großdeutschland. Opposing these German mobile forces, the Soviets deployed the often ill-trained and poorly equipped men of the rifle regiments, who fought tenaciously and with the threat of savage reprisals from their own side. In this book three bruising clashes during the first seven weeks of the campaign are assessed – a bloody encounter battle at Zhlobin, the struggle for the destroyed city of Smolensk and then a prolonged clash along a dangerously stretched German defensive perimeter at Vas'kovo–Voroshilovo.

Soviet Partisan vs German Security Soldier

Soviet Partisan vs German Security Soldier PDF Author: Alexander Hill
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472825640
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
The savage partisan war on the Eastern Front during World War II saw a wide variety of forces deployed by both sides. On the Soviet side, civilian partisans fought alongside and in co-operation with Red Army troops and Red Army and NKVD 'special forces'. On the German side, German Army security divisions, with indigenous components including cavalry, fought alongside SS police and Waffen-SS units and other front-line troops employed for short periods in the anti-partisan role. In addition to providing the background history of the forces of both sides, this study focuses upon three examples of German anti-partisan operations that show varied success in dealing with the Soviet partisan threat. Notably, it covers a major operation in north-west Russia during the spring of 1943 – Operation Spring Clean – that saw Wehrmacht security forces including local components fighting alongside troops under the SS umbrella against a number of Soviet partisan brigades. During the fighting, German forces even employed captured French tanks from earlier in the war against the partisans. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon an array of sources, this is an absorbing account of the brutal fighting between German security forces and their Soviet partisan opponents during the long struggle for victory on World War II's Eastern Front.

Soviet Rifleman 1941-45

Soviet Rifleman 1941-45 PDF Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781846031274
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Osprey's study of Soviet riflemen during the portion of World War II from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945, known as the Great Patriotic War. In the first four months of the war the The Red Army did not refer to its ground combat troops as "infantry" but as "rifle troops" (streltsi), dating back to the Czarist era when rifle units were considered more elite than rank-and-file infantry (pyekhoty). The Soviet rifleman initially suffered defeats and retreat during the early desperate days of the Great Patriotic War, then rallied to conduct a stubborn defense in the brutal winter of 1941/42, and eventually turned the tables at the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. This title provides a view of the Soviet rifleman in defeat and victory, on the defensive and in attack, and in the heat of the summer and the frozen brutality of the Russian Winter. Their political beliefs, motivation, training, everyday life, weaponry and equipment are examined, accompanied by rare photographs and full color artwork.

German Infantryman Versus Soviet Rifleman

German Infantryman Versus Soviet Rifleman PDF Author: David Campbell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


French Soldier vs German Soldier

French Soldier vs German Soldier PDF Author: David Campbell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472838181
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
On 21 February 1916, the German Army launched a major attack on the French fortress of Verdun. The Germans were confident that the ensuing battle would compel France to expend its strategic reserves in a savage attritional battle, thereby wearing down Allied fighting power on the Western Front. However, initial German success in capturing a key early objective, Fort Douaumont, was swiftly stemmed by the French defences, despite heavy French casualties. The Germans then switched objectives, but made slow progress towards their goals; by July, the battle had become a stalemate. During the protracted struggle for Verdun, the two sides' infantrymen faced appalling battlefield conditions; their training, equipment and doctrine would be tested to the limit and beyond. New technologies, including flamethrowers, hand grenades, trench mortars and more mobile machine guns, would play a key role in the hands of infantry specialists thrown into the developing battle, and innovations in combat communications were employed to overcome the confusion of the battlefield. This study outlines the two sides' wider approach to the evolving battle, before assessing the preparations and combat record of the French and German fighting men who fought one another during three pivotal moments of the 101⁄2-month struggle for Verdun.

German Soldier vs Polish Soldier

German Soldier vs Polish Soldier PDF Author: David R. Higgins
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472841727
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
The Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939 saw mostly untested German troops face equally inexperienced Polish forces. With the Polish senior leadership endeavouring to hold the country's industrialized east, Hitler's forces unleashed what was essentially a large pincer operation intended to encircle and eliminate much of Poland's military strength. Harnessing this initial operational advantage, the Germans were able to attack Polish logistics, communications and command centres, thereby gaining and maintaining battlefield momentum. With the average infantry soldier on both sides comparatively well-led, equipped and transported, vital differences in battlefield support (especially air power and artillery), tactics, organization and technology would make all the difference in combat. Featuring specially commissioned artwork, archive photography and battle maps, this study focuses upon three actions that reveal the evolving nature of the 1939 campaign. The battle of Tuchola Forest (1–5 September) pitted fast-moving German forces against uncoordinated Polish resistance, while the battle of Wizna (7–10 September) saw outnumbered Polish forces impede the German push north-east of Warsaw. Finally, the battle of Bzura (9–19 September) demonstrated the Polish forces' ability to surprise the Germans operationally during a spirited counter-attack against the invaders. All three battles featured in this book cast light on the motivation, training, tactics and combat performance of the fighting men of both sides in the 1939 struggle for Poland.

Hungarian Soldier vs Soviet Soldier

Hungarian Soldier vs Soviet Soldier PDF Author: Péter Mujzer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472845633
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
On 26 June 1941, unidentified bombers attacked the Hungarian town of Kassa, prompting Hungary to join its Axis partners in Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. Hungary's contribution to Barbarossa was designated the Carpathian Group, its most powerful component being the Mobile Corps, which fielded motorized rifle, cavalry, bicycle and light armoured troops. The Hungarians faced Soviet forces belonging to the Kiev Military District, deployed in four armies along a 940km-long front. On the defeated side in World War I, Hungary had seen its borders redrawn and its armed forces constrained by treaty, but was determined to recover territories lost to adjoining countries. When Hungary decided to participate in Operation Barbarossa, however, the Royal Hungarian Army was deployed in the Soviet Union and not against its neighbours. Meanwhile, the Red Army, while remaining among the most formidable armies of the era, had been seriously weakened by successive purges, its shortcomings exposed by the Winter War against Finland in 1939–40. During the opening battles (4–13 July), the Hungarian motorized rifle and armoured units clashed with the withdrawing Red Army forces. In the battle for Uman (15 July–8 August) the Hungarians blocked the Soviet troops' efforts to break out from encirclement. During the Hungarian defensive operation at the River Dniepr (30 August–6 October), counter-attacking Soviet units exerted heavy pressure on the defending Hungarians. Both sides would seek to draw lessons from these opening battles as the war in the East continued to rage into 1942. Fully illustrated, this book investigates the Hungarian and Soviet soldiers who fought in three battles of the Barbarossa campaign, casting new light on the role played by the forces of Nazi Germany's allies on the Eastern Front.

Soviet Soldier vs Finnish Soldier

Soviet Soldier vs Finnish Soldier PDF Author: David Campbell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472838319
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
In a bid to recapture territory conceded following the Winter War of 1939–40, Finnish forces cooperated with Nazi Germany and other Axis powers during the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Rapid Finnish progress in reoccupying lost ground in Karelia during the first few months of the invasion gave way to a more static form of warfare from October 1941. The Finns resisted German pressure to participate fully in the Axis attack on the beleaguered Soviet-held city of Leningrad, and the Continuation War came to be characterized by trench warfare and unconventional operations conducted by both sides behind the front lines. In June 1944 the stalemate was abruptly ended by a massive Soviet offensive that pushed the Finns back; the two sides clashed in a series of major battles, including the battle of Tali-Ihantala, with the Finns halting the Soviet advance before agreeing to an armistice that September. The evolving military situation in this sector of the Eastern Front meant that the soldiers of the Soviet Union and Finland fought one another in a variety of challenging settings, prompting both sides to innovate as new technologies reached the front line. In this study, the doctrine, training, equipment and organization of both sides' fighting men are assessed and compared, followed by a detailed assessment of their combat records in three key battles of the Continuation War.

Finnish Soldier Vs Soviet Soldier

Finnish Soldier Vs Soviet Soldier PDF Author: David Campbell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472813243
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
Focusing on three key battles of the epic David-and-Goliath Winter War, this illustrated study assesses the combat performance of Finnish and Soviet forces during this short but savage war.