The Combatants III

Soviet Rifle Troops

Of all the armies of the Second World War, the Red Army is perhaps the least appreciated in terms of its achievements. Political issues and behavior to German civilians aside, the bald truth is that the Red Army was the largest contributor to the defeat of the German land forces. While hobbyists have long been fascinated with a very particular set of famous German units, the fact remains that by May 1945, practically every one of these celebrated German units had had its back broken by the Soviets. One should not be confused on this point: the credit for the defeat of the Third Reich goes in major part to the Soviet Union.

The bulk of the Soviet army were the rifle troops. Undermanned and poorly equipped with antitank weapons, the rifle troops of the Red Army fought with incredible tenacity and suffered staggering losses on the roads to Berlin, Warszawa, Budapest, Praha, and Wien in 1945. The losses were so high that rifle units in general were understrength. The following figures reflect this, and are meant to reflect a rifle division with a reduced establishment of some 5,300 men. The reader should note that while the division was downsized through such expedients as removal of entire battalions, the Soviets endeavored to maintain those battalions in the field at something like normal strength unless the division had fallen to extremely low levels of manpower. The Soviets generally had a triangular structure to their units, although this was modified for reduced-strength establishments. In the case of the 5,300 man division, for example, each regiment had only two vice the normal three battalions.

The figures for weapons follow:

Rifle M1891/30, 276 each, 20 rounds per minute, 11.98 grams/bullet
Light MG DP, 27 each, 150 rpm, 11.98 grams
Sub MG PPSh, 27 each, 150 rpm, 5.57 grams
Medium MG Maxim, 12 each, 250 rpm, 11.98 grams
82-mm Mortar, 6 each, 8 rpm, 3050 grams

Thus, this variant of reduced strength Soviet rifle battalion could produce some 320 Kilograms (703 pounds) of metal and high explosive in a minute of combat. Note this is roughly only one-third of what a German Grenadier battalion could produce.