Russian bayonet fight. Is bayonet fighting necessary in a modern army? Bayonet fighting in the Russian army
For the Nazi invaders who attacked the USSR on June 22, 1941, the ability of the Red Army soldiers to fight with bayonets, sapper shovels and knives was as unexpected as the T-34 medium tank or the legendary Katyusha rocket launcher. The Germans were able to evaluate the bayonet attack of the Soviet troops and its effectiveness on themselves already in the first hours of the war in the Brest Fortress. There is nothing surprising in this, because in the Red Army, almost from its very inception, military personnel began to actively train, develop their speed qualities, endurance, agility, strength, and also pay due attention to the moral and psychological qualities of fighters. Hand-to-hand combat has become a very important part of the training of the Red Army.
At the same time, the bayonet in the Russian army began long before the Great Patriotic War. It originates from the time of Peter I. The introduction in 1709 of a bayonet instead of baguettes made the gun quite suitable for action in battle, not only with fire and a butt, but also with a bayonet. Unlike the baguette, the bayonet did not have to be separated from the gun before each new shot and during the loading process. The combination of a bayonet with a gun significantly increased the offensive power of the Russian infantryman. Unlike the armies of European countries, in which the bayonet was used as a defensive one, in the Russian army it was used as an offensive weapon. A strong bayonet strike has become an integral part of the tactics of the Russian army. Over time, the Russian method of conducting a bayonet fight so intimidated the enemy that, according to the Geneva Convention, the traditional blow to the stomach was replaced by a “more humane” blow with a bayonet to the chest.
Officially compulsory classes in gymnastics and knife fighting became in the Red Army already in 1918, they were combined with compulsory shooting exercises. Hand-to-hand combat in the army necessarily included combat gymnastics - various movements with weapons, a spade, somersaults, as well as overcoming various obstacles. During the years of the civil war, it was possible to accumulate very great experience hand-to-hand fights, on the basis of this experience, the development of hand-to-hand combat in USSR. Beginning in 1924, the first official military manuals for the physical training of fighters and citizens of pre-conscription age began to be published in the country.
Before the start of World War II, a sufficient number of reforms had gone through in the army, which significantly changed the principles of hand-to-hand combat. Bayonet fighting, grenade throwing and shooting were combined in a single complex. Great lessons were also learned from the military conflicts with Japan and Finland. The experience gained by the Red Army proved that the bayonet fight, or, in any case, readiness for it, was still the decisive and final element of any attack. This experience clearly testified to significant losses in hand-to-hand combat, both due to the competent use of the bayonet, and due to the inability to use it.
In the USSR, it was understood that hand-to-hand combat, night combat, the actions of scouts, the combination of grenade strikes and edged weapons - all this created the situation that requires the necessary peacetime training for any army that wants to secure victory in future battles and achieve it at the same time. little blood. The combat charter of the infantry of the Red Army even before the war was quite categorical: "The ultimate combat mission of an infantryman in an offensive battle is to defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat."
The Red Army soldiers were constantly taught that their bayonet was an offensive weapon, and the very essence of bayonet fighting was interpreted as follows: “The experience of wars shows us that a large number of soldiers were killed or wounded only because they did not know how to properly use their weapons, especially bayonet. At the same time, bayonet fighting is the decisive factor in any attack. Until the last opportunity, bayonet fighting is preceded by shooting. At the same time, the bayonet is the main weapon in the night battle. The soldiers of the Red Army were taught that in the course of hand-to-hand combat, retreating enemies must be pushed with a bayonet and hand grenades to the very line that was indicated in the order. And to pursue the running enemy with fast, well-aimed and calm fire.
In the Red Army, much attention was paid to the speed with which the fighters could move, and their ingenuity was developed with the help of fast games and diverse exercise, which required an instant muscle reaction and a high speed of thinking. At the same time, boxing and sambo, which went hand in hand with teaching the basics of bayonet fighting, played a significant role in the development of the individual qualities of fighters.
The harsh school of war
The Finnish war proved the importance of studying hand-to-hand combat techniques, and battles with fascist troops, especially battles in cities and trench battles, generalized and greatly strengthened this experience. Lieutenant General Gerasimov described tactics for storming the enemy’s fortified defense areas in this way: “From a distance of 40-50 meters, the attacking infantrymen must cease fire in order to reach the enemy trenches with one decisive throw. From a distance of 20-25 meters, hand grenades come into play, which the soldiers throw on the run. This is followed by a point-blank shot and the defeat of the enemy with cold weapons.
The catastrophic start of the war and the boilers of 1941 led to significant losses in the ranks of the Red Army. But already in those difficult months of the war, the strengths of the Soviet armed forces became clear. It was possible to establish that in hand-to-hand combat, the Wehrmacht soldiers were inferior to the Red Army in terms of training. Thus, the disputes that simmered before the start of the war that the bayonet had already lost its relevance demonstrated the correctness of those military specialists who insisted on mass training of soldiers in bayonet fighting skills.
Today, on the newsreels of those years, you can see how the militia is taught to stab the enemy with a bayonet on the run, but in the first months of the war, the fascist invaders had to be destroyed in other conditions - in their own or other people's trenches, trying to deliver an accurate blow to the neck. At the same time, the sapper shovel became the most formidable weapon of the Soviet fighters. Builders who joined the ranks of the Red Army and numerous collective farmers, who often had to work with carpenter's axes, were especially good at this improvised weapon. Their blows were sharp and sometimes so strong that they could cut limbs, not to mention broken heads. After hand-to-hand fighting, the funeral German teams often found their soldiers with their skulls cut open.
Remembering the campaigns in Europe, the soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht more and more often in conversations with each other and in their letters to their homeland expressed the thought: “Whoever did not fight in Russian hand-to-hand combat, he did not see real war". Artillery fire, bombing, skirmishes, hunger and cold, grueling marches in the mud could not be compared with furious and short fights in which it was very difficult to survive.
“We fought for 15 days for one house, using mortars, machine guns, grenades, bayonets,” wrote a German lieutenant of the 24th Panzer Division in his letter home about the battles in Stalingrad. - Already on the third day of fighting in the stairwells, stairs and basements, we left the corpses of 54 of my comrades. The "front line" in this war went along the corridor that separated the burnt rooms, along the ceiling between the floors. Reinforcements were pulled up to us through fire escapes, chimneys, from neighboring buildings. The fight went on from morning to night. From one floor to another, our faces blackened with soot, we threw grenades at each other, fighting in the roar of explosions, clouds of smoke and dust, among pools of blood, heaps of cement, fragments of furniture and fragments human bodies. Ask any fighter what half an hour of hand-to-hand combat in such a fight means. And then imagine Stalingrad. 80 days and 80 nights of some hand-to-hand fighting. In which the length of the street is now measured not by meters, but by the corpses left behind.
Basic bayonet fighting techniques
In the Red Army, the following basic methods of bayonet fighting were practiced: injection, blow with a butt and rebounds.
Injection
The injection, of course, was the main method of the bayonet battle of the Red Army. The main point of the bayonet fight was the aiming of a rifle with a bayonet directly at the enemy, threatening his throat and hitting an open area of \u200b\u200bthe body. To perform an injection, it was necessary to send the rifle (carbine) forward with both hands (pointing the tip of the bayonet at the target) and, fully straightening the left arm, advance the weapon right hand on the palm of the left hand until the magazine box lies on the palm. At the same time, it was necessary to sharply straighten the right leg and, moving the body forward, inflict an injection with a lunge of the left leg. After that, it was necessary to immediately pull out the bayonet and take the starting position.
Depending on the combat circumstances, an injection could be applied both without deception and with deception of the enemy. In cases where the enemy's weapon did not interfere with the injection, it was necessary to stab directly (an injection without deception). And when the enemy was covered by his own weapon, then by sending the bayonet directly, it was necessary to create a threat of injection (deception), and when the enemy tried to beat off, quickly move his bayonet to the other side of the enemy’s weapon and inflict an injection on him. At the same time, it was necessary to always keep his opponent under attack, since a soldier who could not deliver a sensitive blow to an open place on his opponent’s body for even just one-fifth of a second risked being killed himself.
Mastering the technique of making an injection by the Red Army was carried out in the following sequence: first, an injection was practiced without a stuffed animal; after that, an injection into a scarecrow; then an injection with a step forward and a lunge; injection in motion by step and run; an injection on a whole group of stuffed animals with a change in direction of movement; at the end, the fighters practiced an injection on stuffed animals in various settings (trenches, trenches, forest areas, etc.).
In training and studying the injection, the main attention was paid to the development of strength and accuracy. As part of the study, the soldiers of the Red Army literally memorized the saying of the Russian General Dragomirov: “It is necessary to constantly remember that when using edged weapons, the eye is undoubtedly more important than when firing: there an infidelity of the hand or an error in determining the distance to the target leads to the loss of a bullet , here it can lead to loss of life.
butt kick
Soldiers had to use blows with the butt if they met their opponent closely, when it was no longer possible to inflict an injection on him. At the same time, blows could be applied from the side, from above, forward and backward. In order to strike the enemy from the side, it was necessary, simultaneously with the lunge with the right foot forward and the movement of the right hand from the bottom up, to deliver a strong blow with a sharp angle of the butt to the area of the head of the enemy soldier. A butt blow from the side could be conveniently applied after a rebound to the left.
To strike forward with the butt, it was necessary to push the butt down with the right hand and, intercepting it in the right hand above the upper lozhny ring, take your rifle or carbine back, swing, and then hit the enemy with a lunge with the left foot, with the back of the butt.
To strike back with the butt, it was necessary to turn on the heels of both legs to the right in a circle (while the legs at the knees did not unbend), at the same time it was necessary to swing, for this it was necessary to take the rifle or carbine as far back as possible, turning it with the magazine box up . After that, with a lunge of the right leg, it was necessary to strike with the back of the butt in the face of the enemy.
In order to strike with the butt from above, it was necessary to toss the weapon, turning it with the magazine up, on the fly to grab with the left hand from above at the upper false ring, and with the right hand from below at the lower false ring and, with a lunge with the right foot, deliver a strong blow from above with a sharp corner of the butt .
At the same time, blows with the butt had to be applied quickly, accurately and strongly. The training of these blows was carried out on stuffed animals of the “sheaf” type or on the ball of a training stick.
chops
The rebounds were used by the Red Army to protect against enemy injections during an attack, when the weapon in the hands of the enemy prevented the injection. After repulsing the enemy's blow, it was necessary to immediately carry out an injection ourselves or carry out a blow with a butt. Rebounds were performed to the right, to the left and down to the right. The rebuff to the right side was carried out when an enemy soldier threatened with an injection in the upper right part of the torso. In such a situation, with a quick movement of the left hand to the right and a little forward, it was necessary to make a short and sharp blow forearm on enemy weapons and immediately carry out an injection. In order to beat back down to the right (when the enemy tries to prick in lower part body), it was necessary to quickly move the left hand in a semicircle to the left and down to the right to carry out a sharp blow with the forearm on the enemy’s rifle.
Rebounds were performed with one hand, they were performed quickly and on a small scale, without turning the body. The sweeping rebound was unfavorable for the reason that the soldier opened himself, making it possible to inflict an injection on the enemy. At first, only the technique of rebounds was studied, after which the rebound to the right was studied when pricked with a training stick and repulsed, followed by an injection into a scarecrow. After that, training began to be carried out in a complicated and varied environment, in combination with injections and blows with the butt.
During the Great Patriotic War, a huge number of hand-to-hand fights took place. It was a vital necessity. At the same time, statistics clearly show that in most hand-to-hand fights, it was the fighters and commanders of the Red Army who were the initiators. According to statistics, the opponents of the Red Army decided on hand-to-hand combat only in 29% of cases, which indicates their fear of this type of battle, while the soldiers of the Red Army, on the contrary, sought to impose hand-to-hand combat on the enemy.
In 1684, the Austrian army was the first to decide on the abolition of pikes and the introduction of bayonets (predecessors of the bayonet, which were inserted into the barrel of a musket for close combat). Soon in France they came up with a bayonet. In 1688, in the presence of King Louis XIV, experiments were carried out on fencing with bayonets, but the design of fastening the bayonet to the barrel was still imperfect, and the bayonets slipped off the muskets when striking. The King of France rejected the innovation, but the Austrians, having improved the mount, immediately re-equipped the infantry in 1689. Then the innovation spread throughout the armies of Europe, and the French adopted it as the latest, in 1703.
The shape of the bayonet was determined by its method of attachment to the weapon:
1. Bayonet-cork - baguette. It had a tapered handle for tight sticking into the barrel.
2. Socket bayonet. It had a cylindrical handle and was mounted on the trunk.
3. Bayonet. The handle has a groove that fits over the stem and a ring that wraps around the barrel.
4. Non-removable bayonet - permanently fixed and usually has a mechanism for folding and quick folding.
The technique of fighting with a bayonet, of course, has not yet been developed. So, the charter required the Swedish musketeer to attack, holding a gun in his left hand, and a naked sword in his right. This method of simultaneous fencing with two hands required a long preparation. Therefore, the Russians, who did not have enough time for learning, nor worthy teachers, used more simple tricks.
Petrovsky charter
At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter I made the practice of bayonet fighting a statutory law of the army. The brutal defeat at Narva served as the starting point for extensive training of army and navy personnel in hand-to-hand combat, and the introduction of fencing into educational institutions. In 1700, with the direct participation of Peter, the first official document regulating combat training Russian infantry "Short ordinary training". In him Special attention was given to bayonet fighting using baguettes (a kind of bayonet). Moreover, if in the Western armies baguettes were used mainly as a defensive weapon, the idea was developed in the "Brief Ordinary Training" offensive the use of a bayonet.
Petrovsky grenadier
The preparation of soldiers for bayonet fighting occupied a significant place in the "Military Regulations" put into effect in 1716. Peter 1 demanded that the officers organize and train their subordinates in such a way that "the soldiers get used to it, as in the battle itself." At the same time, great importance was attached to individual training: "It is necessary for the officers to notice every soldier with diligence, so that they can cope in the best possible way."
Fool bullet, well done bayonet
The revolution in the use of the bayonet was made by A.V. Suvorov, who understood that only by seriously mastering the skills of a bayonet fight, Russian soldiers would be able to defeat the Turks in hand-to-hand combat.
“Shoot rarely, but accurately. Bayonet if hard; the bullet will miss, but the bayonet will not miss. When once! - Throw the busurman from the bayonet; Dead on the bayonet, scratching his neck with his saber; Saber on the neck - skip a step - strike again - if another, if the third. The hero will stab half a dozen, but I saw more. Watch out for the bullet in the muzzle! Three will jump - stab the first, shoot the second, the third bayonet Karachun.
In the days of Suvorov, the bullet was indeed a fool. Suffice it to say that at the end of the 18th century, up to 20 percent of shots misfired. Of course, this does not mean at all that Suvorov refused rifle fire. He demanded to "finish" the bullet in order to shoot at the moment of approach to the enemy with maximum efficiency.
Russian heavy infantry (grenadiers)
At a relatively low level military equipment, aimed fire from smoothbore weapons could be fired no further than 80-100 steps. This distance was covered by running in 20-30 seconds. During such a period of time, the enemy, as a rule, managed to shoot only once. Therefore, a swift attack, turning into a swift bayonet strike, was Suvorov's main means of achieving victory in the battle. He said that "the enemy has the same hands, but they don't know the bayonet."
“Attack the first enemy line with hostility! - hooray! - Platoon commanders: if, if!
Soldiers were trained to act with bayonets both in the ranks and individually. Before the Italian campaign of 1799, Suvorov, knowing that the Austrians were weak fighters in a bayonet fight, wrote instructions specifically for their army. It gave such advice: "... and when the enemy approaches thirty steps, the standing army itself moves forward and meets the attacking army with bayonets. The bayonets are held flat, with the right hand, and stabbed with the help of the left. chest or head.
"... at a distance of a hundred steps to command: march-march! At this command, people grab their guns with their left hand and run at the enemy with bayonets shouting "Vivat"! The enemy must be stabbed right in the stomach, and if which is not pinned with a bayonet, then its butt."
The recommendation to strike in the stomach is due to the fact that the soldiers of the regular army (in this case, the French) had thick leather straps on their chests that crossed each other (one for a half-saber, the other for a cartridge bag).
French infantry
Breaking through such protection is quite difficult for an experienced fighter. A blow to the face was also associated with the risk of a miss, since the opponent could turn his head away. The stomach was open and recoil, being in the ranks, the soldier could not. Suvorov taught to hit the enemy with the first blow, so that the fighter then had time to fend off the attack directed at him. The actions had to be clear and coordinated, according to the principle of "prick - protection" and again "prick - protection". At the same time, as can be seen from the above tips, the butt could be widely used. The tactics used against the Turks, the Russians successfully tried on the French.
Borodino is a great battle.
Here is how the officer of the Yelets Regiment M. Petrov describes the bayonet attack in the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau: existence, having wandered to the left into the corner of our zigzag three-line front position, leaned out with the heads of the columns from the snowy curtain directly to the main 40-gun battery of our center, bursting at them with rapid fire of buckshot; the French realized they wanted to go back, but it was too late, because the regiments of our Osterman division and others, having entered the regimental fronts of the two front battalions of each regiment to the left and right, engulfing them, began to strangle them, working with Russian bayonets! We were reinforced by a considerable force of infantry and cavalry, and terrible fires of enemy bodies cluttered the suburban meadow valley. In this defeat, I, with the military children of my company, took revenge on my hardened heart with an unprecedented war on the snowdrifts of the winter of the northern country, but my military anger soon found its collision and drooped to the sorrow of the heart; when our enraged soldiers, having broken everything and become ill, began to break the fires of corpses with bayonets, looking for living French who had hidden under them.
The feat of the grenadier of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment Leonty Korenny in the battle of Leipzig in 1813. In the battle of Leipzig, several soldiers of the 3rd battalion of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment were surrounded by numerous enemies. The brave men defended themselves stubbornly, covering the retreat of the wounded. When Leonty Root was left alone, he continued to fight. A Russian soldier received 18 wounds in this battle. Exhausted, he was taken prisoner. Napoleon set him as an example to his soldiers.
Grenadier Kondraty Yekimenko
Bayonet of Mass Destruction
And in the future, special attention was traditionally paid to bayonet fighting in the Russian army.
“If, for example, you are feigning, so feint mentally, because feiting in battle is the first thing, and, most importantly, remember that you need to stab the enemy at a full lunge, in the chest, short blow, and pull the bayonet out of his chest shortly ...
Remember: from the chest shortly back, so that he does not grab it with his hand ... That's it! R-time - full lunge and r-time - shortly back. Then r-one-two! R-one-two! stomp your foot briefly, frighten him, the enemy r-one-d-two! It was in 1871, Gilyarovsky then served in the army as a volunteer.
The instructor Ermilov, like Suvorov, also loved figurative and intelligible expressions:
“And whoever has the wrong fighting stance, Yermilov loses his temper:
- What's got you hooked? Stomach, whether that hurts, gray-footed! You freely hold on, like a general fell apart in a carriage, and you, like a woman over a pail ... A goose on a wire!
The method of hitting “on a full lunge, in the chest, with a short blow” at that time was a relative novelty in the Russian army, because back in the years of the Crimean War (1853-1856), Russian soldiers hit with a bayonet in a different way. The writer-historian Sergeev-Tsensky described this technique as follows:
“Russian soldiers were taught to hit with a bayonet only in the stomach and from top to bottom, and, having hit, lower the butt, so that the bayonet went up, twisting the inside: it was useless to even take such wounded to the hospital.”
Indeed, what could be the use of the hospital after that ...
Refuse so effective way bayonet fighting had to be under international pressure.
The fact is that in 1864 the first Geneva Convention was signed, which dealt exclusively with the issues of rendering assistance to wounded soldiers. The initiator of the convention was the Swiss public figure Henri Dunant. In 1859, he organized care for the wounded at the Battle of Solferino during the Austro-Italian-French War, which resulted in 40,000 dead and wounded. He was also the initiator of the creation of an organization that later became known as the Red Cross (Red Crescent) Society. The Red Cross was chosen as the identification badge of doctors working on the battlefield.
In Russia, the Red Cross Society was established in May 1867 under the name "Society for the Care of the Wounded and Sick Soldiers." This is where I had to face the requests of the international community (mainly in the person of England and France, who had the saddest memories of Russian bayonet attacks during the Crimean War) to abandon the terrible blow to the stomach. As an alternative, the blow to the chest described above was chosen.
Bayonet fighting is a kind of fencing, in the technique of which a lot is borrowed from the technique of fighting with long-pole weapons. The assertion that the Russian bayonet battle was the best in Europe, although it set everyone on edge, is nevertheless true, and this was recognized in any army until the Second World War.
The main recommendations for bayonet fighting at the beginning of the last century were set out in Alexander Lugarr's book "A Guide to Fencing with Bayonets", published in 1905 after the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
Here are a few of the methods outlined there:
“The soldier strikes with his gun at or slightly above his head.
The butt of the weapon is turned up. The bayonet is aimed at the head, neck or chest; a little above. A parade against such a blow is made, holding a gun
butt up, leading the enemy's bayonet to the left with the central part of the box.
(It is possible to repulse such a blow with your own bayonet or top guns, holding the weapon with the bayonet up and taking it away with a directed blow to the right or left,
while slightly bending the body).
2. The blow is applied from the bottom up, with bent knees, and directed to the abdomen. They beat him off by turning the gun with a bayonet to the ground, taking the enemy’s weapon to the left or right.
3. It is carried out according to the same principle as impact No. 2, but the knees are not so strongly bent. The bayonet is directed from the bottom up to the head or neck. The parade is in progress with a simple movement guns to the side. The attacker's bayonet is taken to the center of the box; body moves to the left. (With the upper grip of the gun with the right hand, the same thing is done, but in the other direction. This position is also convenient in that it allows the defender to immediately go on the attack himself).
As we can see, Lugarr does not offer to refuse a bayonet in the stomach. True, he does not recommend raising the bayonet in the stomach, “turning inside out”. The times are not the same, the humane twentieth century is in the yard ...
Marines. Sevastopol 1942.
Sports fencing with bayonetsThe main actions in bayonet fencing.
Bayonet fencing at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, along with saber fencing, was quite applied view sports. As a sport in our country, it survived until the 60s, simultaneously changing the rifle to a carbine.
It was considered the simplest, among other types (saber, sword and rapier), due to fewer techniques.
Even at the beginning of the 20th century, fencing with bayonets was not widespread and popular view sports, it was developed and cultivated in the army. However, by the beginning of the 1930s, attempts were being made in our country to make this sport popular among the people. This is facilitated on the one hand by its simplicity and accessibility, on the other hand, mass training in bayonet fighting in the Army and in Vseobuch.)
In 1925, the first championship of the Red Army in fencing with bayonets was held.
In 1927, the first championship of the RSFSR in fencing with bayonets was held at the All-Russian Summer Festival of Physical Education.
In 1928, the first championship of the USSR in fencing with bayonets took place at the first All-Union Spartakiad.
In 1929 Yu.T. Khozikov conducts mass fencing classes with bayonets in the Gorky Park of Culture and Rest in Moscow.
Khozikov Yuri Tikhonovich (1904-1992).
Born in the city of Lebedyan, Lipetsk Region, on April 16, 1904.
He started fencing in 1920.
Honored master of Sport. First Winner
championship Russian Federation 1927
fencing on rifles with an elastic bayonet.
One of the initiators of the mass development of fencing in the country.
Honored USSR coach. From 1951 to 1957 head coach
USSR national team.
Working as the head of physical training of the USSR Border Troops
made a great contribution to the development of fencing in the system Armed Forces.
Coach of the USSR national team at the Olympic Games 1952, 1956.
He was the chairman of the USSR Fencing Federation.
For many years he was the chairman of the Fencing Federation of the RSFSR,
Chairman of the All-Union Coaching Council,
All-Union College of Judges.
Author of monographs on fencing with bayonets
and hand-to-hand combat programs.
Awarded the Order of the Red Banner,
Order of the Patriotic War of the second degree,
Order of the Red Star, and eleven medals.
A bayonet for sports fencing was made of a thin strip of springy steel with a “button” at the end. The weight and length of the weapon changed, first copying the Mosin rifle (length 165 cm, weight 4.5 kg), from 1930 to 1938 the weight decreased to 2 kg with the same length, from 1939 they returned to a weight of 4.5 kg, and from In 1948, they switched to a carbine, the weight of which is 2.5 kg, and the length is up to 136 cm - the length of the carbine of the same system.
They fenced on a track, the same as for a saber, which limited movement only in the direction back and forth. The affected area is similar to rapier fencing: limited to the neck and torso. The lower boundary of the affected space are the lines passing in front along the bend of the legs in the groin, and behind - at the level of the waist.
For additional protection of the body, a cotton bib was used, a mitten with a quilted long gaiter was put on the left hand to protect the forearm from blows with the forearm and the bayonet tube, and an ordinary fencing glove was put on the right hand. The mask used is the same as in saber fencing. Breastplate and left gauntlet.
The battle was fought in left-handed stances, the loss of a carbine during the battle was penalized with an injection.
Only injections were allowed, cutting blows and blows with the butt were prohibited. Throwing attacks were also prohibited.
Fights were held up to five injections lasting up to 6 minutes of "pure" time.
Only men fenced with rifles or carbines. For women and children, the loads were considered too heavy due to heavy weight weapons.
Unfortunately, this type of fencing did not become Olympic, although it was cultivated in different countries, but according to national rules, which made it difficult to organize international meetings. By the 60s in our country, which begins to take an active part in Olympic Movement, non-Olympic sports have ceased to be given at least some attention, leaving them without state support. This was the reason that fencing with bayonets almost instantly came to naught. After the 60s, we completely forgot about him.
bayonet fight
Army techniques and methods of teaching bayonet fighting were very different from sports fencing with bayonets.
Just like the saber, with the advent magazine rifles and machine guns, the bayonet was predicted to resign, which still has not taken place.
However, the new realities of combat have changed quite a lot the technique of fencing with a bayonet.
Training group fight.
The use of machine guns forced the infantry from dense formations shoulder to shoulder to reorganize into a sparse chain. This gave the fighter free space, and the actions in the bayonet attack were no longer reduced to only a straight forward movement. The soldier got the opportunity to maneuver back, left and right, bypass the enemy from the side.
The massive use of artillery made the First World War a trench. This forced the soldiers to fence in extremely disadvantageous conditions and gave rise to short injections with wide grip rifles (left hand right behind the bayonet tube), as well as a blow from below, well known in foreign armies, but never appeared in our manuals and regulations.
According to legend, the first Geneva Convention made it necessary to abandon the strike from above in the stomach, followed by the lowering of the rifle, as a result of which the wounds received were no longer compatible with life. However, according to another version, the reason for refusing this technique was the high probability that the bayonet would be clamped by the convulsing muscles of the press, and the fighter would remain unarmed in the midst of hand-to-hand combat. One way or another, but a blow from above to any part of the body, in the 20th century, completely disappears from instructions and charters. If for A. Lugarr this is the “first strike”, then after the Imperialist war it is no longer mentioned. Perhaps the reason for this was the great influence on hand-to-hand combat of sports fencing on bayonets, where this blow was not used due to the fact that the attacker opens too much.
Army manuals and regulations are outrageously simple, often containing only two injections (long and short), two or four rebounds and one or two blows with the butt. They don’t explain any subtleties of the manual, and the methods involve extremely short training periods, in which they either don’t devote time at all to fights with a real opponent, or devote too little time compared to other exercises (hitting in the air and at targets). This is understandable, they always tried to save money on a soldier, on uniforms, allowances, training and so on. However, this did not suit many talented fencers, and they wrote their own textbooks and instructions, which sometimes reached their direct addressee.
Illustration from the book by A. Lugarr "Guide to fencing with bayonets"
One of the most complete guides for its time was the “Guide to Fencing with Bayonets”, published in 1905, compiled by Alexander Lugarr, a fencing teacher at the Alexander Military School and at the Imperial Moscow University. In the introduction, the author just writes that before the Russo-Japanese War, the opinion prevailed that the bayonet had outlived its usefulness and would no longer play any noticeable role in wars. In the decade leading up to the said war, the attention paid to bayonet fighting, and as a result, the ability of soldiers to wield a bayonet, declined sharply. However, the war proved the fallacy of this view of the bayonet fight.
The book beautifully outlines the program of preparation for a bayonet fight, which includes, in the spirit of the times, the use of a bayonet against a cavalryman.
Unfortunately, in the "Bayonet Training", approved in 1907, Lugar's recommendations were not used instead of the corresponding pages of the Charter of the Combat Infantry Service. Get by with the bare minimum.
After the Civil War, the issue of improving the methods of teaching bayonet fighting and fencing was raised more than once at different levels, the best swordsmen of the country were involved in compiling manuals and methods.
Illustrations from G. Kalachev's book "Bayonet Fight"
In 1927, G. Kolachev wrote his study of bayonet fighting abroad, compiled on the basis of studying foreign charters and instructions "Bayonet Fight". It examines in great detail the teaching methods and techniques of bayonet fighting of the largest Western states, and gives recommendations on the possibility of using these techniques and methods in the Red Army. However, even these recommendations were not allowed to get into the training methodology in our army, which can be easily seen by comparing the work of Kalachev with the corresponding chapter from the 1939 Red Army Infantry Combat Regulations.
Konstantin Trofimovich Bulochko, who compiled the country's first institute fencing textbook "Fencing and hand-to-hand combat", published in 1940, and the program for physical education institutes "Hand-to-hand combat and fencing". As a result, he writes many more instructions on bayonet and hand-to-hand combat.
Honored coach of the USSR, multiple champion of the USSR, professor.
Founder of the Leningrad school of fencing.
Honored Master of Sports, professor, one of the leading specialists in
training of masters of Russian hand-to-hand combat.
He achieved his first successes in sports in the 20s.
Participant of the first Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR in 1928, where he took first place
among foil fencers and the third - in fencing with bayonets.
Repeated winner of the championships of the USSR.
Headed the department of fencing GDOIFK them. P.F. Lesgafta (Leningrad)
Champion of the USSR in 1938 in individual competitions in foil fencing and
sabers, 1939 on rapiers and carbines with an elastic bayonet.
He was the director of military numbers of the institute physical education named after Lesgaft
at sports parades in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as the soloist of these hand-to-hand
battles.
Founder and leader of the Youth Sports School in fencing in Leningrad.
Trained more than 50 masters of sports.
He is the author of one of the first fencing textbooks for InFizKult,
author of more than 100 scientific and methodical works.
In addition to sports bayonet fencing in the USSR after the Civil War and before the Patriotic War, "hand-to-hand combat" military-applied biathlon was practiced, consisting of passing a 150-meter obstacle course, on which there were targets for hitting with a bayonet and a butt, and fencing up to one injection on rifles with elastic with a bayonet, but not on the fencing track, but in a circle where the fighters had a real opportunity to maneuver not only back and forth.
Group combat training.
Illustration from the book by K. Bulochko " Physical training scout"
Training in bayonet fighting, as a rule, consisted of practicing techniques in the ranks, when injections and blows were delivered "in the air" at the command of the instructor; blows on the meshes, which were either bundles of brushwood or bags stuffed with straw; individual fights between students on wooden models of weapons; group hand-to-hand fights using the same layouts; and tactical exercises with practicing the offensive, throwing a dummy grenade and a “bayonet attack” with the same mock-up rifles. Wooden model of a rifle with a soft tip.
In bayonet training, an elastic bayonet was rarely used, more often it was a model rifle made of wood and weighted with metal strips. The bayonet was usually not separated from the rifle. At the end of the bayonet was a homemade "humanizer" - either a rubber ball or a winding of rags and tow.
There was another option that was used in foreign armies, but did not take root with us. It consisted of the following: they fenced with combat rifles, but they put scabbards on the pin, often the end of the scabbard was humanized with rubber balls, cork balls, etc.
Literature:
K. T. Bulochko.
(Some questions of the methodology of preparing for hand-to-hand combat
On the method of preparing a fighter for hand-to-hand combat
On the development of a fighter's speed of perception and response
Front requirements for hand-to-hand combat
Scout physical training
Captain Bulochko sums up - biographical sketch)
A.A. Tarasov "DESTROY YOUR ENEMY IN HAND FIGHT"
G. Kalachev "BAyonet Fight"
A. Lugarr. Fencing manual with bayonets (1905)
Fencing training with bayonets 1907
From the Order of the Infantry of the Red Army 1939 Bayonet battle
Combat fencing technique
Feldman. Making inventory
Fencing with a bayonet American instruction
Yu.T. Khozikov "Fencing with bayonets"
______________________________________
bayonet fight- This is one of the varieties of close combat, during which the bayonet is used as a piercing and cutting object, and the butt - as a striking object. Bayonet fighting is based on the same principles as for fencing.
It can be said with complete certainty that the idea of creating a combined weapon appeared a very long time ago. But its most popular form eventually became the halberd, which combines such weapons as an ax, a spear and a hook. However, the greatest number of developments of combined weapons occurs during the period of development of firearms.
It was the complexity and duration of reloading that required additional equipment. In many museums of the world, a large number of such weapons have been preserved - this is a sword pistol, ax pistol, shield pistol, cane gun, knife pistol, ink pistol, halberd arquebus and many others. However, the bayonet itself appeared much later.
According to legend, the bayonet was invented in the 17th century in France, in the city of Bayon, hence the name bayonet.. The first copies of it were pike tips with a shortened shaft, which was inserted into the muzzle for further combat. In order to introduce this weapon for the entire army, it was decided to demonstrate it to Louis XIV. However, the imperfect design led the king to order bayonets to be banned as impractical weapons.
Fortunately, the same demonstration was attended by a captain with a very famous surname d'Artagnan, who managed to convince Louis. So it appeared in service with the French army the new kind weapons. Then its use spread to other European states. In 1689, the bayonet appeared in service with the military in Austria.
Soon, one small innovation was introduced - in addition to the cut-off peak, a tube was also attached to the barrel. And so a type of weapon appeared, which the Russians call a bayonet. For a very long period of time, these weapons were used as a means of protecting foot soldiers from cavalry.
But it was A. Suvorov who made the bayonet a means of attack, emphasizing its clear advantages in close combat. This decision was caused by a number of objective reasons. So, the firearms that existed at that time were effective at a distance of a maximum of 70 paces. The infantry could overcome such a distance in 20 seconds, that is, not a single shooter could fire more than one shot. And it took more than half a minute to recharge.
Initially, there were relatively few tricks in bayonet fighting. Warriors learned to use a bayonet, both against infantry and against cavalry, to defend themselves with it from a bayonet, saber or lance. When armor was used in the army, special training was also carried out. strong blows. At the same time, the development of bayonet fighting went in parallel with the development of classical fencing. And the famous fencing teachers very often devoted time to learning how to use the bayonet. This is evidenced by the works of N.Sokolov and A.Valville.
At the same time, it should be noted that the technique of using the bayonet was deliberately kept extremely simple in order to ensure greater efficiency in the mass training of soldiers. Often, they were limited to two or three basic techniques.
In the Russian troops, the bayonet became popular during the time of Alexander Suvorov. He approaches the training of soldiers in much more detail. In his appeals to ordinary soldiers, one can find not only the basic principles of combat psychology, but also the basics of applied technology and even instructions for the development and use of peripheral vision.
However, at the beginning of the last century, the frequency of the use of bayonets dropped sharply. The reason for this was the emergence of a large number of small arms equipped with magazines for ammunition. And the Russo-Japanese War completely proved that the bayonet battle had lost its position. The thing was that although the Russians defeated the Japanese in the course of close combat, it was the presence of firearms that had a great influence on the outcome of the war.
A First World War, which began soon after, finally proved that a bayonet fight would be a guarantee of victory. And it was possible to use it only at the very end of the battle, when it was necessary to “finish off” the demoralized enemy.
From the 20s of the twentieth century to the present day, bayonet fighting is just one of the elements of hand-to-hand combat, and, in addition, also good method physical and psychological hardening of warriors. Besides, bayonet fighting was and probably will remain the most real of all types of hand-to-hand combat. Bayonet skills are acquired very quickly, and besides, on their basis, further training in the methods of conducting a fight using a sapper shovel takes place, and throws and strikes with bare hands are polished.
In the Soviet years, quite favorable conditions developed for a bayonet battle for some time. The military themselves spoke about the insufficient training of soldiers in his methods and were guided mainly by the charters of foreign states. However, no matter how much teachers would like to reduce the amount of training in bayonet fighting to the required minimum, they could not do without expanding individual combat skills.
So, a bayonet fight appeared in the West, based on ... boxing. Its founder, the English officer Ebrey Nobbs, who was actively involved not only in fencing, but also in boxing, was a very extraordinary person. This style quickly gained great popularity around the world. Later, the fencing aspect found its expression in sports, and the boxing aspect in the army.. It was on the basis of this style that hand-to-hand combat techniques using improvised means began to develop in the army.
In the 30s of the twentieth century in the USSR, another type of bayonet fighting was invented - on skis, which was based on the Chukchi tradition, known as "keputen". At this, the second stage in the development of bayonet fighting was completed.
After the Second World War, its development practically ceased. The mechanization of the army, the presence of automatic weapons, as well as the reduction in the service life of soldiers led to the fact that an in-depth study of bayonet fighting techniques became irrelevant.
In the military structures of other states, bayonet combat still remains one of the main ones in the process of preparing soldiers. However, even comparison does not make sense. In these states, the army is professional, and for a year of service, not only a bayonet, at least they learned how to hold weapons correctly.
Until recently, the American army could serve as an example for others. But today the US military department has decided to stop using bayonets. The first step in its implementation will be the rejection of training in bayonet fighting techniques. And although the bayonet is part of the armament of the infantry, it is used less and less.
The last time this type of weapon was used was in Iraq in 2004. And the American military command is confident that the bayonet can no longer be an effective weapon in modern warfare. Instead, American soldiers will be trained in hand-to-hand combat using improvised means. It is envisaged that much attention will be paid to the appropriate psychological training (which, by the way, was previously carried out in the process of training in bayonet fighting). But how it will be implemented is still unknown.
However, the Marines have already stated that, at least in the near future, they do not intend to abandon the use of bayonets. This decision is explained very simply - it is the Marines who most often have to engage in close combat with the enemy. So, for example, it was in Afghanistan and, quite possibly, in Iraq. Often they have to deal with cleaning up the territory and holding the occupied area.
Meanwhile, other states are not yet ready to abandon the use of bayonet weapons. Bayonet fighting techniques are mandatory for training soldiers in Great Britain, France, Germany, Australia, India, and China. In Russia, such a direction of bayonet fighting as the ORSS system is more or less developed, in which training takes place in a sports and game form in two versions - a simplified one, in which no protective equipment is used, and the battle itself is carried out on mock-ups, and complicated - instead of a bayonet ball, masks, bibs, protective gloves.
Conducting comprehensive training in bayonet fighting makes it possible to feel confident in a duel, both with the use of weapons and without it. The most complete course of training in bayonet fighting techniques is used in the process of preparing special forces.
Maybe the Russian military command should still reconsider its attitude towards bayonet fighting? Maybe we should return him to the army? Remember Chechnya, where most of the fighting was fought in close combat, and think about whether soldiers will need bayonet skills in the event of a new military threat?
Much about melee weapons has already been touched upon in our articles - types, history, care and storage. But an important aspect is the ability to use the blade. Be it a knife, a halberd, a sword and others like them. Here is about one of the types of fencing, namely about fencing with bayonets we'll talk. And this is not a knife fight with bayonet-knives, namely bayonet fencing when the bayonet or bayonet is attached to the weapon. How much bayonet fight necessary? Is it relevant bayonet fencing in terms of modern weapons?
In the 20th century, with the advent of automatic small arms, armored vehicles and tanks on the battlefield, the question of the advisability of having bayonets in service was raised many times (especially after global wars). About the relevance of skills bayonet fencing in modern combat. This item of soldier's equipment was discussed both in the Soviet Union and in post-Soviet Russia.
History knows no declensions, but rather likes to repeat itself. And here is another example of this. Here is what Alexander Lugarr, a professional military man and fencing teacher at the Alexander Military School, wrote in his manual at the very beginning of the 20th century:
« Unfortunately, I have to be banal from the very beginning, turning to the Russo-Japanese War for practical examples. The fact is that, being a fencing professional, before this war I was, like most of the military, convinced that the song had already been sung, and with the improvement of modern guns, the bayonet is an extra burden for the soldier when shooting. That such a view really existed is proved by the error of the Japanese, who changed their guns according to the theoretical European opinion about the proposed tactics of a future war. Their bayonets, according to eyewitnesses, are not practical due to the fact that they have to be either unscrewed or screwed on: a circumstance that convincingly proves that the inventor of their bayonet and the commission that accepted the invention were of the opinion that bayonet fighting was a special case in a future war, whose main strength is rifle fire».
Familiar? fifties of the last century. For service Soviet army a modernized Kalashnikov assault rifle arrives. And new bayonet knife(model 6x4), in which the combat properties are almost completely destroyed. As a result, the soldier did not get any good bayonet for hand-to-hand combat, nor a practical economic and trench tool. The last, really fighting bayonet, was bayonet knife AK-47 assault rifle and SKS carbine. The leading minds considered that with the massive introduction of automatic weapons into service bayonet attacks and the battle went down in History as an anachronism, leaving weapons with bayonet-knives only a company of the guard of honor.
And again the words of Alexander Lugarre:
«… one thing is certain - the Russo-Japanese war showed ... the bayonet decides the battle, despite the improvement of artillery and the multi-shot guns. Therefore, one does not need to be a prophet at all in order to easily foresee that the evolution of the bayonet, as a weapon of fencing, must again receive movement. The sooner this happens, the better it will be for the army that first comes to its senses. Will have to go back to fencing with bayonets and pull out of the archives already forgotten theories of fencing».
Isn't it true that the words are still relevant today. And if during the Great Patriotic War the machine gunners of the Red Army had good knife HP-40, there were specialists - hand-to-hand instructors and knife fight. Nothing has passed, and during both Chechen campaigns, our fighters (except for the elite of the Armed Forces - Spetsnaz) no longer owned bayonet fencing.
Yes, not now bayonet attacks. But Chechnya has shown that hand-to-hand skirmishes, especially in street fights, are not uncommon.
« And, in any case, for the fulfillment of something, readiness and will are not enough, it is necessary, mainly, skill, for which one must first learn. In addition, in the performance of any of his duties by a person, it is important, in our time, not that a person fulfills his duties, but it is important how he fulfills them. That's the whole point. The enemy can be defeated by force, time and exhaustion, but victory can also be achieved by art. Each of us is ready to lay down his life for the homeland, but our homeland, in the event of our death, does not need from us that we die, it needs in this case that it would have at least some benefit from our death. Therefore, if we are given a weapon in our hands in order to beat the enemy and die, then we must conscientiously be able to do this as best as we can. If every soldier and commander understands this simple and uncomplicated matter, then those of us whom fate leads to clash chest with chest with the enemy will give him the victory at a high cost or easily take it themselves. This will happen because each of us will be able to do his job well, as he learned this “be able to do it well”».
What now? In the army of such a combat training center as bayonet fencing No. To date bayonet fencing is studied only in the schools of hand-to-hand combat of the Kadochnikov system. And let the firepower of weapons decide a lot at long distances, but as Suvorov used to say, “A bullet is a fool, a bayonet is well done.” And in close combat bayonet fight can solve a lot. To know once again the lessons of History is not for the future.
UPD. 16.02.2015
Here is a quote from a book on basic military training:
Photos of the cover of the book on NVP and the photo of the bayonet on the spread are used with the permission of their author - http://nikolaj-s.livejournal.com/1212826.htmlA bayonet thrust is applied quickly, accurately and strongly, at least half the length of the bayonet. Depending on the situation, it can be performed without a lunge and with a lunge.
A thrust without a lunge is applied when colliding with an enemy at close range. To inflict an injection, sharply send the machine gun with both hands with a bayonet at the target until the left arm is fully extended. Pull out the bayonet immediately. Then, quickly taking the machine gun to the ready position for battle, continue moving forward.
To deliver an injection with a lunge from a ready position for battle, send the machine gun with both hands forward with a bayonet at the target. At the same time, sharply straightening the right leg and sending the body forward, lunge with the left leg, placing it with a roll from the heel to the entire foot. After inflicting an injection, immediately pull out the bayonet and, having taken the position of ready for battle, continue moving forward.
