The city of Międzyrzecz traces its glorious history back to the beginning of the formation of the Polish state. Initially, it was the western outpost of the kingdom. A symbol of the glorious and rich history of those times is the imposing medieval castle, built during the time of Casimir the Great on the ramparts of the old fortress. The main advantages of the ancient city are its luxurious forests, rich in all kinds of animals, mushrooms and berries. Hidden in the forests deep lake– one of the most beautiful among the many reservoirs of the Lubusz Voivodeship. Fans of kayaking will get a lot of emotions and impressions from rafting along the Obra River along one of the most picturesque and interesting kayaking routes. Miedzyrzecz has equestrian centers and a host of other attractions that make these places tempting for tourists.
But the most interesting from an educational point of view will be a visit to the Miedzyrzek fortification area. This is a German fortification system built back in the thirties of the last century on the German-Polish border. It is one of the most valuable monuments of architectural fortification thought of the 20th century. This extraordinary defensive position is often compared to the Magginot Line built by the Germans in France. This fortified area was built in the period from 1934 to 1938 to cover the eastern borders of the Reich from possible attacks by the Polish army. The complex includes over a hundred hydraulic and military structures. The most interesting and educational element of the Miedzyrzek fortification area is unique system tunnels running underground, over 30 km long, uniting more than twenty military structures.
Despite the fact that according to Treaty of Versailles, the amount of military power for Germany, which lost the war, was limited, in 1925 the German command began building fortifications on its eastern borders. An international commission discovers this a couple of years later and forces the buildings to be demolished. However, construction is starting again. In 1935, Hitler himself came to the construction site, which gave a new impetus and accelerated construction. The construction was planned to be completed in 1944. Underground there was a power plant, a narrow-gauge railway, and barracks and warehouses. Prisoners were brought from labor camps for work. They also worked at the underground aircraft engine plant that was built later. Approaches to the fortified area were built and equipped: a belt of reinforced concrete anti-tank barriers was built. A system of water obstacles, anti-personnel abatis, etc. was erected.
But all this preparation was not successful. The tank brigade of Colonel Gusakovsky, under cover of the night, drove past the guns almost unhindered and took the garrison by surprise. At the site of the breakthrough, an obelisk was erected, built from the debris of the exploded bunker.
One cannot help but recall another unusual attraction of the fortified area: the climate here is very suitable for... bats. Their thirty thousand strong colony spends the winter here every year. This is the largest bat population in Europe. They settled in empty underground rooms after the war, and over time the number of these mammals increased significantly. They sometimes fly here for the winter from hundreds of kilometers away. A special exhibition dedicated to these unusual animals is open for tourists.
“A network of anti-tank ditches, dugouts, dugouts, pillboxes, scarps, underground storage and communication passages, observation posts formed a neglected and mysterious city... When the UR was abandoned, he, 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, road transport for supply. 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 fortifications, where even the position of rows of barbed wire was carefully calculated so that it would not serve as cover or a “springboard” for an 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 of such combined groups could hack 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 pillboxes larger size(petit ouvrages) the garrison could rest from shelling at a depth of 20 and 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 they were joined by cannon tanks, 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 good quality concrete and low 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 most weak point: "Experience shows that the best way fighting Russian pillboxes means throwing explosives, smoke bombs, gasoline and fuel for flamethrowers through ventilation systems.”.
But soviet army improved her 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), but by 1945, assault groups with the support of sappers, tanks and self-propelled guns could short time take even the several-story forts of Königsberg and Poznan: “Fire from self-propelled artillery units and tanks had 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 Great Patriotic War A decree was adopted on the creation of 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 as soon as possible 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).
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 with the “tunnel of life” in Sarajevo, through which people escaped from the besieged city, was the lack of ventilation. As a result, we had to get oxygen masks.
How not to fall asleep
Dig underground passage only possible 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.
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).