“A network of anti-tank ditches, dugouts, dugouts, pillboxes, scarps, underground storage facilities and communication passages, observation posts formed a neglected and mysterious city on the banks of the swampy Nizhva River... When the UR was abandoned, it, of course, immediately turned into a scarecrow. Like any structure abandoned by people, like everything incomprehensible, it began to inspire people with a feeling of superstitious horror.”
Viktor Smirnov, “The Troubled Month of Veresen”
The history of fortification goes back many centuries. Even before the First World War, the military thought of Europe, supported by ever-increasing industrial power, came to such novelties as armored towers for the artillery of fortresses (some of the towers could rise and fall), underground concrete shelters for infantry, flares, and road transport for supplies. Some of the fortresses had to be tested by battle, others (German) remained practically untouched.
The conclusions of military theorists from the world war were as paradoxical as the war itself. On the one hand, at its beginning, the Belgian fortresses quickly capitulated under the fire of heavy German guns of 305-420 mm caliber. On the other hand, the French forts of Verdun, and even such relatively weak fortresses as the Russian Osowiec and the Austrian Przemysl, successfully repelled attacks for months, despite all the efforts of the enemy.
Long-term defense now relied on field fortification, where even the position of the rows of barbed wire was carefully calculated so that it would not serve as cover or a “springboard” for the attacking enemy. Instead of continuous lines of trenches dug “on a ruler,” the defense by the end of the war relied on a complex network of resistance nodes from several firing points, sweeping the entire surrounding area with crossfire. These units, relatively small in size, were carefully camouflaged and protected by concrete slabs and metal shields.
One of the methods of combating such advanced defenses was tanks. With some luck and the absence of reliable anti-tank weapons, even a machine-gun tank, approaching the embrasures or the exit of a concrete fortification, could force its garrison to flee in panic. Tank crews learned to interact with infantry - especially snipers, machine gunners, grenade launchers, as well as artillery and aviation. Each tank received a specific task and its “own” support infantry. As a result, the actions of such combined groups could breach defenses of almost any degree of complexity. Where a couple of years earlier just one hidden machine gun behind wire stopped an infantry regiment, now tens of thousands of prisoners and hundreds of guns were taken in a couple of hours.
But after the truce, experienced personnel with combat experience were left idle, unlike military theorists who enthusiastically described new models of “ideal defense”, which will now definitely protect the country. One of the most “convicting” examples of such theorizing is considered to be the French line of defense, named after the Minister of War Andre Maginot. Why did the French decide to build this line of fortifications?
First of all, with the reconquest of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, the eastern border of France found itself unprotected by modern fortifications. Near the border were vital sources of raw materials and industrial areas that would be threatened in the next war. France, having suffered millions of losses in the war, was sharply inferior in population to Germany (40 million people versus 70 million), where there was a higher birth rate. In the second half of the 1930s, German superiority in manpower would have been even more threatening. A line of fortified areas would protect key industrial areas, compensate for the German superiority in manpower and give the French army time to mobilize.
By the mid-1930s, construction of the Maginot Line was largely completed. Concrete casemate pillboxes with walls up to 2-3.5 m thick, protecting even from shells of 240-420 mm caliber, appeared 5-10 km from the border. Armored embrasures and steel domes up to 30 cm thick, slightly protruding above the ground, concealed coaxial machine guns, rapid-fire 25-mm anti-tank guns and 50-60 mm breech-loading grenade launchers, 81-mm mortars (in practice, it was not possible to arm all the necessary structures with grenade launchers). Moats 2 meters wide and 3 meters deep protected the embrasures from the laying of explosive charges and pieces of concrete crumbling from the walls during shelling. Each casemate with a supply of food, water and an electric generator was completely autonomous. Based on the experience of the First World War, a thorough system for purifying the air from poisonous gases was developed.
In larger pillboxes (petit ouvrages), the garrison could rest from shelling at a depth of 20 or even 30 meters from the surface. The largest pillboxes (gros ouvrages) were entire ensembles of firing points, with a garrison of up to 500-1000 people. They could open fire from 75 mm guns, whose rate of fire reached 24 rounds per minute, or 135 mm bomb launchers.
It’s a paradox, but contrary to popular belief, the Maginot Line... fulfilled its purpose. It gave the army time to mobilize, protected key areas, and at the time of the armistice, its largest bunkers successfully resisted. However, the Germans were able to defeat the Allied armies in a maneuver battle.
In the Polish campaign of the Red Army in September 1939, only eight T-26 and T-37 tanks, far from the strongest and newest vehicles, were enough to capture two Polish pillboxes in two hours. Why? A preliminary reconnaissance was carried out, and the Polish fortifications, from which the armored parts were removed and sent to the German front, were clearly visible by the blackening embrasures. The tanks approached to a distance of 5-6 meters, blinded the Polish machine gun points with point-blank fire and covered their embrasures with their hulls, preventing the defenders from shooting. The infantry covered the embrasures with earth, after which sappers, under the cover of armor, installed charges weighing 100 kg and blew up the fortifications.
On the contrary, in Finland in December of the same year, during the first assault on the Mannerheim Line, according to the report of the chief of the armored forces of the 7th Army, brigade commander Vershinin, “... in all cases, the tanks walked ahead of the infantry, having unexplored terrain in front of them, so the tanks suffered heavy losses from anti-tank fire and from bunkers and returned to their original position”. The outcome of the battles without reconnaissance and support was predictable: tanks, even successfully breaking through into the Finnish rear or driving onto the roof of bunkers, without the help of infantry could not notice and destroy anti-tank guns and squads of tank hunters armed with grenades and petrol bottles. Even high-quality reinforced T-28 tanks, radio-controlled teletanks and an experienced heavy SMK did not help, and the latter, having been blown up by a mine, remained on enemy territory.
Conclusions were drawn, and in February 1940, during a new assault, the tanks did not rush to the rear, but approached the Finnish trenches at a distance of 60-100 m, starting to methodically shoot them. Anti-tank guns were knocked out by artillery and tanks. The Finnish infantry could not reach the tanks with grenades, mines on poles and bottles, finding themselves defenseless. T-26s also towed armored sleds with infantry through the snow.
A more complex battle formation was also used - flamethrower and cannon tanks were in the first line. Not reaching 100-150 m from the Finnish trenches, the cannon tanks stopped and opened fire on places where anti-tank guns could be hidden. At this time, flamethrower tanks filled Finnish positions with burning fire mixture. In the second line were tanks with troops on their armor. They landed infantry next to the trenches and then attacked positions in the depths. The third wave of tanks landed troops behind Finnish lines.
According to the Finnish company commander Iiivo Riikonen, “...if the flamethrower tank worked on us alone, then, in my opinion, it only affected the psyche. If there were many of them, and they threw fire mixture together at one place, and cannon tanks joined them, then they created hell on earth, and not a single soldier could resist them.”.
In 1941, the Soviet military noted: “When attacking firing points of a fortified position, the Germans use the following methods: 1) blocking the bunker with tanks; 2) artillery fire directly at the embrasures; 3) the use of flamethrowers to burn out the bunker garrison through the openings in it (embrasure and observation slits, ventilation ducts)".
On the one hand, the armor of the ball mounts of machine guns and bunker guns provided good protection from overhead charges of explosives, flamethrowers and shells from anti-tank and assault guns: “the shelling of bunkers and embrasures with assault guns turned out to be practically ineffective due to the good quality of the concrete and the low location of the embrasures with powerful spherical masks”. Even 21-cm mortars often only chipped off pieces of concrete. On the other hand, the ventilation shafts of bunkers going up turned out to be the weakest point: “Experience shows that the best way to combat Russian pillboxes is to throw explosives, smoke bombs, gasoline and flamethrower fuel through the ventilation systems.”.
But the Soviet army improved its ability to fight, including crushing enemy fortifications. If in the winter of 1941-42. It was a huge problem to suppress a bunker made of logs (often withstanding even a couple of howitzer shells), then by 1945, assault groups with the support of sappers, tanks and self-propelled guns could in a short time even take the forts of Konigsberg and Poznan several floors high: “Fire from self-propelled artillery installations and tanks had a strong impact on the enemy. Soon the garrison of the fortress stopped resisting."
Sources:
- Allcorn William. The Maginot Line 1928-45. Osprey Publishing, 2003.
- Waldron, William Henry. Elements of trench warfare. New York, E. N. Appleton, 1917.
- Combat actions of a rifle regiment (Collection of combat examples). – M.: Voenizdat, 1958.
- Dogadin V. Actions of sappers during the capture of the fort. Military engineering magazine, 1951.
- Izmestiev P.I. A short guide to elementary and general tactics. Petrograd, 1919.
- Irincheev B. Tanks in the Winter War. – M.: Tactical-press, 2013.
- Isaev A.V. Dubno-1941. The greatest tank battle of World War II. – M.: Yauza-Eksmo, 2009.
- Kaufman J.E., Kaufman G.W. Fortification of the Second World War 1939-1945. III Reich. Fortresses, pillboxes, bunkers, dugouts, defense lines. – M.: Eksmo, 2006.
- Mitchell F. Tanks at war. History of the development of tanks in the World War 1914-1918. – M.: Gosvoenizdat, 1935.
- Reports on the combat operations of armored units of the Red Army for the period from 09/17/1939 to 09/30/1939 in Poland. RGVA, f.31811, op.4, no.20.
: Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, a decree was adopted to create a “Total Defense Zone” around Moscow. It included various fortifications, which were supposed to delay the Nazis for some time as they approached the borders of the capital. In the shortest possible time, impressive structures, pillboxes, tank guns and many trenches were erected. The prisoners had to hold the line. In case there was a riot in the ranks or the fortifications were captured by the Nazis, the entire territory was strewn with charges. Luckily there was no need to defend ourselves. The enemy army was stopped literally “on the approaches” to the fortified area, not reaching several kilometers. This review will focus on a fortification system located near the city of Nakhabino (Novo-Rizhskoe direction).
(Total 15 photos)
1. The territory of the positions is fenced and at first glance empty.
2. But if you look carefully, in some thickets you can see “Sticking out” Tank guns
3. Under each cannon there is an emergency exit, located a little further away.
4. There are two small rooms inside. The first, where the gun itself is located
5. The second is a room with a cabinet for storing ammunition
6. In addition to numerous cannons, you can find two huge hills hiding a huge area for vehicles.
8. The second “hill” is tightly closed.
9. You can also find small residential dugouts hiding in the thickets or a half-collapsed trench.
10. Inside, as a rule, the room is cylindrical in shape, separated by a partition.
11. This is what this room looks like from the outside (Layout from the museum part).
12. Another type of dugout (Metal rods covered with fabric are used as a spacer).
Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, a decree was adopted to create a “Total Defense Zone” around Moscow. It included various fortifications, which were supposed to delay the Nazis for some time as they approached the borders of the capital. In the shortest possible time, impressive structures and pillboxes were erected. tank guns and many trenches. The prisoners had to hold the line. In case there was a riot in the ranks or the fortifications were captured by the Nazis, the entire territory was strewn with charges. Luckily there was no need to defend ourselves. The enemy army was stopped literally “on the approaches” to the fortified area, not reaching several kilometers. This review will focus on a fortification system located near the city of Nakhabino (Novo-Rizhskoe direction).
1. The territory of the positions is fenced and at first glance empty.
2. But if you look carefully, in some thickets you can see “Sticking out” Tank guns
3. Under each cannon there is an emergency exit, located a little further away.
4. There are two small rooms inside. The first, where the gun itself is located
5. The second is a room with a cabinet for storing ammunition
6. In addition to numerous cannons, you can find two huge hills hiding underneath a huge bunker for vehicles.
7. It can fit up to 6 trucks
8. The second “hill” is tightly closed.
9. You can also find small residential dugouts hiding in the thickets or a half-collapsed trench.
10. Inside, as a rule, the room is cylindrical in shape, separated by a partition.
11. This is what this room looks like from the outside (Layout from the museum part).
12. Another type of dugout (Metal rods covered with fabric are used as a spacer).
If you are not going to make a secret out of the move, you can dig in the “Berlin” way: a trench is dug, the walls and roof of the future move are built in it, and then everything is filled up. But the neighbors will come to look, everyone will want the same one, only bigger, and in the end someone will accidentally dig up hell. It’s better to dig unnoticed, using the “Parisian” method: a vertical well is dug, and an adit is led from it sideways.
Where to dig
Sandy soils are ideal. At one time, they made it possible to dig passages under the Berlin Wall, including the famous “Tunnel 29” 140 meters long. Clay is difficult to dig, and there is a higher chance of encountering interlayer water. It is useful to drill wells along the entire trajectory in advance and find out what you will be dealing with.
How to strengthen
If you are digging an adit without strengthening the walls and ceiling, place a slab with dates of life on top. When you are overwhelmed, your family will be able to limit themselves to a buffet table. But it’s better to reinforce the passage every half meter with support - a frame made of tarred boards. When it is ready, it is necessary to thoroughly plank the walls and ceiling or even concrete them, as the Palestinians do in the secret tunnels from the Gaza Strip to Israel.
How to arrange
To keep the tunnel dry, it must be made downhill. It is advisable to arrange forced ventilation: a fan at the entrance and pipes with holes along the entire length of the structure. One of the problems of the “tunnel of life” in Sarajevo, through which people got out of the besieged city, was the lack of ventilation. As a result, we had to get oxygen masks.
How not to fall asleep
You can only dig an underground passage in your own land. Otherwise, if discovered, it will be buried, and you will pay for the event. Before starting the process, find out if there are any cables, oil pipelines or missile silos along the way. A depth scanner will help with this. And underground gas analyzers for carbon dioxide and methane will not be damaged, otherwise the tunnel will be different - with a flight to bright light and a feeling of grace.
The small island of Shumshu in the Kuril ridge is known as the site of the bloodiest battle in the Russo-Japanese War. The blood is stirred by legends about underground samurai, who, without hearing the general’s order to surrender, remained in their underground fortifications. Shumshu Island has been known in Russian history since the 18th century. Over the course of several centuries, its population changed citizenship several times. Today the island is uninhabited. There is no one here except the researchers of the annual expeditions, who come to work for a while in harsh climatic conditions, and 7-8 lighthouse keepers. We will tell you the most interesting facts from the history of the island and its military past. You will find out what this amazing place is like now.
Location, climate and natural features
The area of the island is slightly less than 400 km 2. It belongs to the group of the Northern Kuril Islands. Shumshu and Kamchatka are separated by the First Kamchatka Strait, 11 km long. The second Kamchatka Strait is smaller (2 km), it separates Shumshu from Paramushir. There are no volcanoes on the island, which is very surprising. Among the reservoirs, it is worth noting a fresh lake, small rivers, and swamps.
The climate here is arctic and harsh. Flora and fauna are very weakly expressed: seaweed grows well on the shores, seals, sea otters and sea lions swim. On the island itself there are small rodents and foxes, and polar bears from Kamchatka often come.
About how the poor Ainu ended up on Shikatau
Initially, the ancient Ainu tribe lived here. This small people came to the island of Shumshu (in the photo below you can see representatives of the ethnic group) after they were forced out of the Japanese islands. The Ainu lived in yurts and engaged in fishing and hunting. The nation became part of the Russian Empire in the 18th century, after a detachment of Yakut Cossacks landed on their land. They did not immediately accept citizenship; they were independent and original. Later, Catherine the Second wrote in orders that the Russians should not offend the Ainu and should not take taxes from them, but trade furs and other trade goods with them by exchange.
During the reign of Nicholas I, Japan declared Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands sovereign. The Crimean War, which began a little later, forced the Russian emperor to sign the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855. According to this Russian-Japanese treaty, the border between the countries began to pass between the islands of Iturup and Urup. Shumshu remained Russian for another 20 years, until the signing of the Treaty of St. Petersburg (in 1875), and then passed to Japan.
The few Ainu were dissatisfied; they liked the Russians more, who conducted mutually beneficial trade with them and did not interfere with their centuries-old way of life. The Japanese, having come to Shumshu, after some time again evicted the remaining Ainu to the island of Shikatau. The poor people began to die due to dramatically changed living conditions. Some scientists even talk about the deliberate genocide of the Ainu by the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun.
How the inventive Japanese increased the usable area of the island and created a system of underground fortifications
Shumshu has been Japanese for 70 years. Samurai are characterized as cruel and emotionless warriors, devoid of fear of death. From time immemorial, their military leaders were distinguished by great intelligence and cunning, and the ability to carry out sophisticated executions. Their soldiers became famous for their atrocities against children and women, their cynicism and callousness, and the lack of any pity during the Russo-Japanese War.
Since the 30s. XX century and until 1945, these people turned a piece of territory with an area of 30 x 20 km into an incredible military garrison. What is most impressive is the system of underground fortifications on Shumshu Island. At a depth of up to 70 m, military hospitals, barracks, warehouses with large supplies of provisions were built, and electricity was installed. Concrete artillery and machine gun bunkers were deployed on the surface and shelters were created for soldiers and military equipment.
Captured Chinese and Koreans, whom the Japanese drove to the island as labor, took part in the construction. After the garrison was ready, the unfortunate builders (more than 1000 people) were drowned in the sea. Shumshu Island was ready to resist the Soviet Army and hold its defense to the end.
Events of August 1945
One of the commanders-in-chief of the Japanese army were the sons of Emperor Hirokito, and losing the battle for them meant great shame for the entire empire. To help them were tanks, fortresses with artillery, air defense and the entire Kataoko naval base. The number of samurai was more than 10,000 people.
The Soviet Army sent marines and troops without heavy armored vehicles, which were not possible to deliver to the island. On August 17, the first bombing of the island by our troops began. The Japanese's clever camouflage did not produce the expected results. Then our landing craft encountered concrete jams, the military jumped into the icy water and sank to the bottom under a heavy load of ammunition. Some were able to walk underwater to the shore from a depth of more than two meters. The Japanese fled in fear. Aviation from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which carried out bombing attacks, helped the Soviet military a little. Gradually the Japanese were pushed back to the south of the island.
On August 19, the enemy capitulated, but on August 20, when our ships approached the shore, they were surrounded by fire from Japanese batteries. On August 23, the assault on Shumshu Island was completed, the Japanese general signed the terms of surrender. During this short, but very cruel and bloody battle, the Soviet Army lost 418 people, more than a hundred were missing.
After the war, life began to gradually recover. Many people came here to earn money by fishing with their entire families, and then stayed to live on the island. The population was restoring a cannery built by the Japanese. The former name Kataoko was changed to Baykovo. The village gradually deteriorated, and other fishing settlements appeared near military bases.
Terrible tsunami
This happened in the summer of 1952. A wave about 20 m high simply washed away the village. A lot of people died. Settlements and fishing bases disappeared; even the heavy tanks that remained from the war were washed away by the pressure of the sea elements.
Scientists recognized that this natural disaster was the largest in the entire history of Russia. Moreover, our people were not prepared for this kind of danger. They just didn’t know that there could be a tsunami here. They did not listen to the few indigenous residents who built their yurts “for some reason” on the hills. They built their houses closer to the sea or in the lowlands, where it was more comfortable. The number of victims and the scale of the disaster were deliberately kept silent by the party. According to official data, more than 2,000 people died, according to unofficial data - more than 50,000.
Gradual desertion of Shumshu Island
In other years, the island experienced earthquakes, which were an echo of the natural disasters occurring on the neighboring island of Paramushir. People lived, as if on a volcano, in small two-story houses; in the hallway there was always a ready-made bag with the most necessary things and documents in case of an accident.
After the tsunami, people were afraid to go to the island to work, much less stay here to live. Gradually there was no population left at all. At the beginning of this century, the island was officially recognized as uninhabited.
Two lighthouses and 7 people
Today it is a closed territory controlled by a military base of the Russian Federation. In the north, on Cape Kurbatov, there is a lighthouse, and another one in the west of Shumshu Island - Chibuiny Lighthouse.
Both of them do not play a significant role for navigation, because now there are more advanced radio systems for coordinating ships and electronic navigators. However, the lighthouses are not being written off from service, nor are the seven people who work on them.
What is the purpose of annual expeditions to the long-suffering island?
After the war, not only unexploded shells and bombs, fortifications, and rusty military equipment remained here, but also the remains of soldiers who were officially “missing in action.”
At the beginning of the 21st century, under the guise of “scientific researchers”, those who wanted to profit from war trophies, especially Japanese ones, came. The underground fortifications remained with covered entrances and exits. There were rumors that samurai remained there - Japanese soldiers who did not hear the order of their general to surrender and remained in their underground shelter with huge canning and drinking supplies. These rumors arose at different times. For example, in the 40s of the last century, several young women in the village went missing. In our century, a team of seekers went down into the dungeon, but never returned. There is no actual evidence, but experts say that the Japanese may indeed have remained underground in the terrible year of 1945.
Expeditions in recent years, according to the law, must be of a truly military-historical nature. Recently, the remains of both Japanese and Soviet soldiers have been found, which were transferred to the homeland of the soldiers. Exploration work is carried out on Shumshu every year. The authorities of the Sakhalin region are planning to organize a war memorial on the island. Today, the glory of our liberating soldiers is immortalized in a monument that is visible on the highest point of the island.
