Raiding party

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Stoßtrupp is an attack formation of the infantry , which is formed by reclassification of an infantry platoon in a storm group, and a cover group. It was developed by the storm battalions as a form of attack against enemy forces in open field fortifications . Today this formation is used especially in local and house wars as well as in forest wars against an enemy in field positions.

The fight in combat patrol method requires intensive training and high physical performance of all deployed soldiers. In addition to the drill-like mastery of standard situations, every soldier must be able to move to the next higher management level if his military leader is absent during the fire fight. The leaders of the individual storm troops are often teams .

Tight, local leadership, rapidity in movement, the quick and decisive exploitation of favorable opportunities and close cooperation with the cover fire of heavy infantry weapons and artillery as well as the neighbors are the key to success. Stormtroopers are supported by infantry and artillery mortars , armored personnel carriers or battle tanks , and if necessary also by storm pioneers . The assault grenadiers were especially formed for local and house warfare.

The term shock troop is also used colloquially.

structure

The division of the strike force serves to optimize the principle of "fire and movement" by creating a strike element (movement) and a cover element (fire) under joint leadership. The raiding party is to be supported closely with the fire of the artillery.

The strength basically consists of a pull. A company can be divided into several raiding parties.

It is essential that reinforcements follow the raiding party.

Germany

An infantry platoon divided this example in:

  • Leadership team working with the impact element, consisting of:
  • Impact element : from 1 or 2 storm groups , each with:
    • 1 storm troop of 3 soldiers, equipped with assault rifles and hand grenades
    • 1 storm troop to 3 soldiers, as a grenade gun troop also to hold down the enemy by the storm group in the approach, the group leader usually leads this troop himself
    • Explosive / blind squad of 2 soldiers, possibly only 1 squad for both storm groups
  • Cover group as a cover element , led by the deputy platoon leader with the platoon's heavy weapons
    • 1 sniper squad, 2 telescopic sighters, often deployed separately
    • 2 MG troops of 2 soldiers each to hold down the enemy in the approach and to seal off the break-in area to the left and right
  • 1–2 carrier troop (s) for carrying weapons and ammunition
  • 1 medical team (from the medical train).
  • Anti-tank / tank destruction squads are only formed in a special situation for anti-tank defense.

Switzerland

In Switzerland , the cover element is called the support element.

Example 1: Reinforced fusilier group

Example 2: Reinforced fusilier train

  • Leadership: platoon leader with parts of the platoon
  • Push element :
  • Support element :
    • Chief: Deputy platoon leader (assault rifle)
    • 2 reinforced assault rifle groups with
      • 1 group leader each (assault rifle)
      • 2 rifle squads each: 3 fusiliers each (assault rifles)
      • 1 rocket tube troop each : 2 fusiliers (assault rifles, 1 rocket tube ) from anti-tank group
      • 1 rifle grenade troop each : 2 fusiliers (assault rifles, rifle grenades ) from the support group

Action

An infantry company can order multiple break-ins for one platoon each or follow the other platoons to lead the attack in depth.

By closely coordinating fire and movement, the company commander orders the raid troop or several raid troops one or two break-in points to which the approach takes place under fire from the artillery or mortar - or silently under surveillance by them - and into which the raid troop then attacks by storm and break-in .

He uses additional forces for the fight through the depths of the enemy defense so that enemy command posts are taken as quickly as possible. This is intended to impair the enemy's leadership ability and prevent counterattacks. Then enemy forces are flanked to the left and right of the break-in point or rolled up from behind. The company should be structured as deeply as possible and the operational area should therefore be kept narrow.

Special risks arise for the soldiers deployed if the enemy had previously had the opportunity to prepare for defense. There is a particular danger from mines and booby traps .

history

German Shock Troop Soldier on the Western Front (1916)
Stormtroop in Flanders (approx. Between 1916 and 1918)
German raiding party in the First World War

In military tactics, troops were formed early on in order to clear up special combat situations; In the Ancien Régime, for example, the line infantry and the hunters used the piquet for special tasks.

The raid troop procedure was developed in the First World War by General Oskar von Hutier in the east and Major Willy Rohr in the west, when conventional attack procedures had become ineffective in view of the increased defense using trenches , barbed wire entanglements and machine guns . Major General Georg Bruchmüller , also known as breakthrough miller, developed the increased and combined use of artillery to a short, heavy fire strike before the infantry attack, which both hold down the opposing infantry and at the same time their artillery positions using various methods, e.g. B. gas grenades, should be fought efficiently.

Hutier referred to the tactics successfully used by Brusilov in the Brusilov offensive in 1916 for purely material need against the Austrians with a brief fire attack by artillery, followed by an infantry attack. This tactic had the advantage that, unlike the usual long and massive continuous fire, the enemy was not warned in advance and could no longer provide reserves.

Rohr in particular played a key role in the development with the formation of storm battalions as training units. Since the end of 1917, storm companies and later also storm battalions were formed from special volunteers , which as elite formations were able to achieve particular tactical successes. Ernst Jünger was a highly decorated shock troop leader towards the end of the First World War and wrote his first great novel In Stahlgewittern about this time in 1920 . From the diary of a shock troop leader .

An integral part of the storm battalions were its own pioneer company and a mortar company for immediate fire support. The fixed short spade gained importance as a close combat weapon, since the use of bayonets in trench warfare did not make sense. The storm battalions were the first to receive the Bergmann MP18 submachine gun .

The upper body armor issued in the form of a steel plate was usually only worn by machine-gunmen, who mostly remained in the starting position to support fire, and sealed off the burglary area to the left and right with fire.

The raid troop procedure was also used in the German spring offensive in 1918 . Despite their experiences in World War I, the majority of the generals were skeptical of the new tactics.

This type of combat was later adopted by the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht . Felix Steiner , a former officer of the Reichswehr, introduced the principle of the raid troop into the training of the Waffen-SS in order to use this tactic to form a new type of army.

The terms Sturmgrenadiere and Sturmpioniere were used for battalions that were specially structured and equipped for infantry combat and used in local and urban combat e.g. B. were used during the Battle of Stalingrad .

After the Second World War , the NVA and the German Armed Forces adopted this tactic for infantry attacks in local and house-to-house combat , in forest combat and in coup d'état in hunting combat .

Media reception

Contemporary history - special forces in World War II: storm troops ( documentation from 2004).

For other uses of the term, see

literature

  • Ralf Raths: From mass storms to shock troop tactics. The German land war tactics in the mirror of service regulations and journalism 1906 to 1918 (= individual publications on military history. Vol. 44). Rombach, Freiburg (Breisgau) et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-7930-9559-0 .
  • Hans von Dach : Combat technology. Volume 2: Combat in Special Circumstances. 6th edition. Swiss Association of NCOs, Biel 1995, ISBN 3-924753-15-6 .

Web links

Commons : German shock troops of the First World War  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Austro-Hungarian shock troops of the First World War  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roof: Combat technology. Volume 2: Combat in Special Circumstances. 1995, pp. 82-83.
  2. ^ Roof: Combat technology. Volume 2: Combat in Special Circumstances. 1995, pp. 37-40.