Anti-tank artillery of the Red Army
History and heroes of the elite type of troops born during the Great Patriotic War
The fighters of these units were jealous and, at the same time, sympathized. “The barrel is long, life is short”, “Double salary - triple death!”, “Farewell, Motherland!” - all these nicknames, hinting at high mortality, went to soldiers and officers who fought in anti-tank artillery (IPTA) of the Red Army.
All this is true: the salaries increased by one and a half to two times for the staff of the IPTA units, and the length of the barrels of many anti-tank guns, and the unusually high mortality rate among the artillerymen of these units, whose positions were often located nearby, or even in front of the infantry front ... But the truth and the fact that fighter-anti-tank artillery accounted for 70% of the destroyed German tanks; and the fact that among the artillerymen who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War, one in four is a soldier or officer in fighter-anti-tank units. In absolute terms, it looks like this: out of 1744 gunners - Heroes of the Soviet Union, whose biographies are on the lists of the Heroes of the Country project, 453 people fought in anti-tank fighter units, the main and only task of which was direct fire on German tanks ...
Keep up with the tanks
In itself, the concept of anti-tank artillery as a separate type of this kind of troops appeared shortly before World War II. In the years of the First World War, conventional field guns, for which they developed armor-piercing shells, developed fairly successfully with inactive tanks. In addition, the reservation of tanks until the beginning of the 1930-x remained mostly bulletproof and only with the approach of the new world war began to increase. Accordingly, specific means were needed to combat this type of weapons, which became anti-tank artillery.
In the USSR, the first experience of creating special anti-tank guns came at the very beginning of the 1930's. In 1931, the 37-mm anti-tank gun appeared, which was a licensed copy of a German gun designed for the same purpose. A year later, a Soviet semi-automatic 45-millimeter cannon was installed on the gun carriage, and thus an 45-millimeter anti-tank gun of the 1932 model, 19-K, appeared. Five years later, it was modernized, with the resulting 45-millimeter anti-tank gun model 1937 of the year - 53-K. It also became the most popular domestic anti-tank weapon - the famous "forty-five."
These guns are the main means of fighting tanks in the Red Army of the pre-war period. It was with them from 1938 that anti-tank batteries, platoons and divisions were armed, until the autumn of 1940 they were part of rifle, mountain rifle, motorized rifle, motorized and cavalry battalions, regiments and divisions. For example, the anti-tank defense of the rifle battalion of the pre-war state was provided by a platoon of 45-millimeter guns - that is, two guns; rifle and motorized rifle regiments - a battery of forty-fives, that is, six guns. And as part of the rifle and motorized divisions from 1938, a separate anti-tank division was provided - 18 guns of 45 caliber mm.
But the way the military operations of World War II, which began on September 1 of 1939, began to unfold with the German invasion of Poland, quickly showed that anti-tank defense at the divisional level might not be enough. And then the idea to create anti-tank artillery brigades of the Reserve of the High Command. Each such brigade would have been a formidable force: the standard armament of a human 5322 unit consisted of 48 cannons of 76 mm caliber, 24 of 107 mm cannons, and 48 mm 85 anti-aircraft guns and 16 of 37 mm anti-aircraft guns. At the same time, there were no anti-tank guns in the state of brigades, however, non-specialized field guns, which received regular armor-piercing shells, more or less successfully coped with their tasks.
Alas, by the beginning of World War II, the country did not have time to complete the formation of anti-tank brigades of the GDK. But also undeformed, these units, which came under the command of the army and front command, made it possible to maneuver them much more efficiently than they did with anti-tank units in the staff of rifle divisions. And although the beginning of the war led to catastrophic losses in the entire Red Army, including in artillery units, due to this the necessary experience was accumulated, which soon led to the appearance of specialized anti-tank units.
The birth of special forces artillery
It quickly became clear that regular divisional anti-tank weapons were not capable of seriously opposing tank wedges of the Wehrmacht, and the lack of anti-tank guns of the required caliber forced them to roll out light field guns to direct fire. At the same time, their calculations, as a rule, did not have the necessary training, which means that they sometimes did not work effectively enough even in favorable conditions. In addition, due to the evacuation of artillery factories and the massive losses of the first military months, the shortage of the main guns in the Red Army became catastrophic, therefore, it was necessary to manage them much more carefully.
In such conditions, the only right decision was the formation of special reserve anti-tank units, which could not only be set up on the front of divisions and armies, but maneuvered by throwing them at specific tank-dangerous directions. The experience of the first military months spoke about the same. As a result, by 1 in January 1942, the command of the army and the Supreme Command had one anti-tank artillery brigade operating on the Leningrad front, 57 anti-tank artillery regiments and two separate anti-tank artillery battalions. And they really existed, that is, they actively participated in the battles. Suffice it to say that the five anti-tank regiments, following the results of the battles of the fall of 1941, were given the title “Guards” just introduced in the Red Army.
After another three months, on April 3 of 1942, a decree was issued by the State Defense Committee, introducing the concept of a fighter brigade, the main task of which was the fight against Wehrmacht tanks. True, her staff had to be much more modest than that of a similar pre-war unit. The command of such a brigade was three times fewer people - 1795 soldiers and commanders against 5322, 16 guns of 76 mm caliber against 48 for the pre-war state and four 37-millimeter anti-aircraft guns instead of sixteen. True, in the list of standard weapons appeared twelve 45-millimeter cannon and 144 anti-tank guns (they were armed with two infantry battalions that were part of the brigade). In addition, for the sake of creating new brigades, the Supreme Commander ordered, within a week, to review the lists of personnel of all combat arms and "withdraw all junior and rank-and-file personnel who had previously served in artillery units". It was these fighters, having undergone short retraining in the reserve artillery brigades, that formed the backbone of the anti-tank brigades. But all the same they had to be equipped with fighters who had no combat experience.
By the beginning of June, the 1942 had already had twelve newly formed fighter brigades in the Red Army, which, in addition to artillery units, also had a mortar division, an engineering and mine battalion, and a company of machine gunners. And 8 June, a new GKO order was issued, which reduced these brigades into four fighter divisions: the situation at the front required the creation of more powerful anti-tank fists capable of stopping German tank wedges. Less than a month later, in the midst of the summer offensive of the Germans, who were rapidly advancing to the Caucasus and the Volga, the famous order No. 0528 “On the renaming of anti-tank artillery units and subunits into anti-tank artillery units and establishing the advantages of the commander and ordinary composition of these units” was issued.
Pushkarskaya elite
The appearance of the order was preceded by a large preparatory work, concerning not only the calculations, but also how many guns and what caliber new parts should have and what advantages their composition will benefit from. It was quite clear that the fighters and commanders of such units, who will have to risk their lives every day in the most dangerous defense sectors, require a powerful not only material but also moral incentive. Assigning the title of Guards to the new units, as was done with the units of the Katyusha rocket launchers, did not, but decided to leave the well-proven word “fighter” and add “anti-tank” to it, emphasizing the special significance and purpose of the new units. The same effect, as far as can be judged now, was designed to introduce a special sleeve insignia for all soldiers and officers of anti-tank artillery - a black rhombus with crossed golden barrels of stylized Shuvalov's "unicorns".
All this was spelled out in the order in separate points. The same separate points also spelled out special financial conditions for new units, as well as rules for the return of wounded soldiers and commanders to the line. Thus, the commanding composition of these units and divisions was set to one and a half, and the youngest and ordinary ones received a double salary. For each shotred tank, the weapons were also rewarded with a cash bonus: to the commander and gunner - 500 rubles, and the rest of the calculation numbers - 200 rubles. It is noteworthy that initially in the text of the document appeared other amounts: 1000 and 300 rubles, respectively, but the Supreme Commander Joseph Stalin, who signed the order, personally reduced the rates. As for the standards for returning to service, the entire commanding composition of anti-tank units, up to the division commander, had to be kept under special account, and the entire composition, after treatment in hospitals, was required to be returned only to the indicated units. This did not guarantee that the soldier or officer would return to the same battalion or division in which he fought before being wounded, but he could not find himself in any other divisions other than anti-tank fighters.
The new order instantly turned the anti-tankists into the elite of the Red Army artillery. But this elitism was proved to be expensive. The level of casualties in anti-tank units was significantly higher than in other artillery units. It was not by chance that anti-tank units became the only subspecies of artillery, where the same order No. 0528 introduced the position of deputy gunner: in battle, the calculations that rolled out their guns to unequipped positions before the front of the defending infantry and firing direct fire were often killed before their equipment.
From battalions to divisions
New artillery units quickly gained combat experience, which also spread rapidly: the number of anti-tank units grew. On 1 in January, the 1943 fighter-anti-tank artillery of the Red Army consisted of two fighter divisions, the 15 fighter brigades, two heavy anti-tank fighter regiments, 168 anti-tank fighter regiments and one anti-tank fighter division.
By the Battle of Kursk, the Soviet anti-tank artillery also received a new structure. The Order of the People's Commissariat of Defense No. 0063 of April 10 of 1943 introduced in each army, primarily the Western, Bryansk, Central, Voronezh, South-Western and Southern fronts, at least one anti-tank regiment of the army state of wartime: six 76 batteries of millimeters guns, that is, the entire 24 guns. The same order of the Western, Bryansk, Central, Voronezh, Southwestern and Southern Fronts organizational introduced one anti-tank artillery brigade of 1215 people, which included antitank regiment 76-millimeter guns - only 10 batteries or 40 guns, and the regiment 45-millimeter guns, who was armed with 20 guns.
The relatively quiet time separating the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad from the start of the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army command used to the fullest extent to complete, re-equip and train the anti-tank units. No one doubted that the impending battle would largely rely on the massive use of tanks, especially the new German cars, and this needed to be ready.
History has shown that the anti-tank units had time to prepare. The battle on the Kursk Bulge became the main test of the strength of the artillery elite - and it stood it with honor. And the invaluable experience, for which, alas, the fighters and commanders of anti-tank units had to pay a very high price, was soon comprehended and used. It was after the Battle of Kursk that the legendary, but unfortunately, already too weak for the armor of new German tanks, the "forty-five" began to gradually remove from these units, replacing them with 57-mm anti-tank guns ZIS-2, and where there were not enough guns, well-proven divisional 76-millimeter guns ZIS-3. By the way, the versatility of this gun, which showed itself well as a divisional gun, and as an anti-tank gun, along with the simplicity of design and manufacture allowed it to become the most massive artillery gun in the world in the history of artillery!
Masters of Fire Bags
The last major change in the structure and tactics of fighter-anti-tank artillery was the complete re-formation of all fighter divisions and brigades into fighter-anti-tank artillery brigades. Such teams to 1 January 1944, the composition of the anti-tank artillery was already fifty, and in addition to them 141 anti-tank anti-tank artillery regiment. The main weapons These units became the very 76-mm ZIS-3 guns, which the domestic industry produced at an incredible speed. In addition to them, the 57-millimeter ZIS-2 and a certain number of “forty-fives” and guns of the caliber 107 mm were armed with brigades and regiments.
By this time, the principled tactics of combat use of anti-tank units had been fully developed. The system of anti-tank areas and anti-tank strongholds developed and tested before the Battle of Kursk was rethought and refined. The number of anti-tank guns in the army has become more than sufficient, there was enough experienced personnel to use them, and the fight against the Wehrmacht’s tanks was made as flexible and effective as possible. Now the Soviet anti-tank defense was based on the principle of "fire bags", arranged on the paths of movement of the German tank units. Anti-tank guns were placed in groups of 6 – 8 guns (that is, two batteries each) at a distance of fifty meters from each other and were disguised with all due care. And they opened fire not when the first line of enemy tanks appeared in the zone of confident defeat, but only after virtually all the attacking tanks entered it.
Such "fire bags", taking into account the characteristics of anti-tank artillery guns, were effective only at medium and short distances of the battlefield, which means that the risk for artillerymen increased many times. It was necessary to display not only remarkable restraint, looking at how German tanks were passing almost nearby, it was necessary to guess the moment when to open fire, and to conduct it as quickly as the capabilities of technology and calculations allowed. And at the same time be ready to change the position at any moment as soon as it was under fire or the tanks went farther than the distance of a confident defeat. And, as a rule, it was literally on hand to do this in battle: most of the time, horses simply didn’t have time to adjust the horses or cars, and the loading and unloading of the gun took too much time - much more than the battle conditions with the advancing tanks allowed.
Heroes with a black diamond on the sleeve
Knowing all this, you are no longer surprised at the number of heroes among the fighters and commanders of anti-tank units. Among them were real artillery snipers. Such as, for example, the commander of the 322 guns of the Guards Anti-Tank Guards Regiment, Senior Sergeant Zakir Asfandiyarov, on whose account nearly three dozen Nazi tanks, and ten of them (including six "Tigers"!), He knocked out in one fight For this he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Or, say, the gunner of the 493 th anti-tank artillery regiment Sergeant Stepan Hoptyar. He fought from the very first days of the war, fought to the Volga, and then to the Oder, where he destroyed four German tanks in one battle, and in just a few January 1945 days, nine tanks and several armored personnel carriers. This feat was appreciated by the country: in April, the victorious forty-fifth Hoptyar was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
But even against the background of these and hundreds of other heroes from among the soldiers and officers of anti-tank artillery, the feat of the only twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Vasily Petrov, stands out. Called to the army in 1939, he graduated from the Sumy Artillery School right on the eve of the war, and met the Great Patriotic War as a lieutenant, a platoon commander of the 92-th separate artillery battalion in Novograd-Volynsky in Ukraine.
Captain Vasily Petrov earned his first “Golden Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union after crossing the Dnieper in September of 1943. By that time, he was already the deputy commander of the 1850 th anti-tank artillery regiment, and he had two Orders of the Red Star and a medal “For Courage” on his chest - and three stripes for injuries. The decree on assigning Petrov the highest degree of difference was signed on 24, and published on December 29 of 1943. By that time, the thirty-year-old captain was already in the hospital, having lost both hands in one of the last battles. And if it were not for the legendary order number 0528, prescribing to return the wounded to the anti-tank units, the newly-baked Hero would hardly have gotten a chance to continue fighting. But Petrov, always distinguished by his firmness and stubbornness (sometimes disgruntled subordinates and superiors said they were stubborn), achieved his goal. And at the very end of 1944, he returned to his regiment, which by that time had already become known as the 248 th Guards Anti-tank Artillery Regiment.
With this regiment of guards, Major Vasily Petrov reached the Oder, forced him and distinguished himself, keeping a bridgehead on the west bank, and then participating in the development of the offensive on Dresden. And this did not go unnoticed: by decree of 27 June 1945, for the spring exploits on the Oder of the Guard, major artillery Vasily Petrov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time. By this time, the regiment of the legendary major had already been disbanded, but Vasily Petrov himself remained in the ranks. And he stayed in it until his death - and he died in the 2003 year!
After the war, Vasily Petrov managed to graduate from Lviv State University and the Military Academy, received a Ph.D. in military science, rose to the rank of lieutenant general of artillery, which he received in 1977, and served as deputy chief of the missile forces and artillery of the Carpathian Military District. As the grandson of one of the colleagues of General Petrov recalls, from time to time, getting out for a walk in the Carpathians, an elderly military leader managed on the way up to drive his adjutants who could not keep up with him ...
Memory is stronger than time
The post-war fate of anti-tank artillery completely reiterated the fate of all the Armed Forces of the USSR, which changed according to changes in the challenges of time. Since September, 1946, the personnel of units and subunits of anti-tank artillery, as well as units of anti-tank guns, have ceased to receive increased salaries. The right to a special sleeve insignia, to which anti-tankists were so proud, remained ten years longer. But it eventually disappeared: the next order to introduce a new form for the Soviet army canceled this stripe.
The need for specialized anti-tank artillery units gradually disappeared. Anti-tank guided missiles came to replace the guns, units armed with these weapons appeared in the staff of the motorized rifle subunits. In the middle of 1970's, the word “fighter” disappeared from the name of the anti-tank fighter units, and twenty years later the last two dozen anti-tank artillery regiments and brigades disappeared along with the Soviet army. But whatever the post-war history of the Soviet anti-tank artillery, it will never undo the courage and exploits with which the Red Army anti-tank artillery fighters and commanders glorified their branch of service during the Great Patriotic War.
- Sergey Antonov
- http://rusplt.ru/society/istrebitelnoprotivotankovaya-artilleriya-krasnoy-armii-18580.html
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