The history of the Russian bayonet has overgrown with a mass of legends, sometimes completely inconsistent with the truth. Many of them have long been accepted as true.
Perhaps one of the most interesting references to the use of a bayonet, which are now very fond of citing various domestic and Western "historians", are the words of the greatest commander A. V. Suvorov: "A bullet is a fool, a bayonet is great." Now these words are trying to show the backwardness of the Russian army, in fact, saying that in the hands of a Russian soldier the gun was like a spear. And the function of the shot was absolutely secondary. Alexander Vasilyevich, if he knew about such an interpretation of his words in the future, would be very surprised.
In the original, words by A. V. Suvorov in Science to Win sounds like this: “Take care of the bullet for three days, and sometimes for a whole campaign, as there is nowhere to take. Shoot rarely, but accurately; with a bayonet if it is tight. A bullet will cheat, a bayonet will not cheat: a bullet is a fool, a bayonet is great. " This fragment as a whole completely changes the understanding of the phrase that is usually illiterately snatched from the works of the commander. The commander only calls to conserve ammunition and shoot accurately and emphasizes the importance of the ability to work with a bayonet. The era of muzzle-loading weapons forced to try to shoot accurately, the importance of accurate shooting was impossible to underestimate. But smooth-bore guns with bag loading could not provide a high rate of fire, the required accuracy, and a good command of the bayonet in battle was very important. This is emphasized by other Suvorov's words: "One man can stab three people with a bayonet, where four, and a hundred bullets fly into the air."
The Russian bayonet is traditionally needle-shaped with a three or four-edged blade, a neck and a tube with a slot for putting on the barrel. Nowadays it is customary to criticize military officials who held our soldiers with a needle bayonet for so long, when many armies of the world had already introduced a "cleaver bayonet", a bayonet with a knife-like blade and handle. What explanations for this do not come up with. The most absurd thing, perhaps, is that military officials believed that "bayonet knives" are of great economic value for a soldier, and they will carry them home from service. And no one needs a needle bayonet. Such nonsense can only be cultivated by people far from military history, who do not at all represent the rules for handling state property. It is strange that the presence of regular hatchets and other cold soldier weapons is not commented on by the authors of this “wild explanation”.
1812, Borodino, bayonet attacks
Back to the bayonets, so - the muzzle-loading bayonet. It is clear that the bayonet must be constantly attached, but at the same time it is safe for the shooter to make it possible to load the gun. These requirements are only suitable for a triangular bayonet, which has a long neck that moves the bayonet wedge away from the muzzle to a distance that is safe for the hand when loading. In this case, the edge facing the muzzle should not be sharp. A triangular bayonet with a flat edge facing the muzzle perfectly meets these requirements.
The huntsman sitting with a huntsman in a scabbard on the side of a bayonet-cleaver
Were there bayonets-cleavers in the Russian army? Of course there were. Back in the 18th century. for the jaeger fittings, such bayonets were adopted, in those days they were called dirks. The bayonet-cleaver, for example, was at the famous Russian littych fitting arr. 1843 A strange picture is drawn again, why the Russian huntsmen and skirmishers did not cut their hands when loading the choke with a cleaver blade. The answer to it is simple, the huntsmen and skirmishers solved specific tasks with their rifled weapons, in modern terms, they were snipers. An example is an episode related to the defense of Smolensk in 1812. Against the actions of only one huntsman on the right bank of the Dnieper, the French were forced to concentrate rifle fire and use an artillery gun, only by nightfall the huntsman's fire died down. In the morning of the next day, a non-commissioned officer of the Jaeger regiment, killed by the cannonball, was found at that place. What is the need for a sniper with a bayonet? Only as a last resort does he adjoin the bayonet to his fitting.
A very important issue was the length of the bayonet, it was determined not just like that, but based on the most important requirement. The total length of the rifle with a bayonet must be such that the infantryman can, at a safe distance, reflect the cavalry's saber strike. Accordingly, the length of the bayonet was determined in this way. Threaded fittings were shorter than infantry rifles and the bayonet-cleaver to them was correspondingly longer. When fired, he caused inconvenience, outweighed the muzzle of the barrel down, deflected the direction of the bullet.
A gun with a needle bayonet in the hands of a skilled soldier worked wonders. As an example, we can recall the feat of Corporal Leonty Korennoy, in 1813, in the battle of Leipzig in the village of Gossu, his unit was squeezed by superior enemy forces. Having evacuated the wounded, Korennoy, with a small number of comrades, entered into a bayonet battle with the French, soon he was left alone, parrying bayonet strikes, he inflicted them himself, after the bayonet broke, fought back with the butt. When Korennoy fell, wounded by French bayonets, there were many French bodies around him. The hero received 18 bayonet wounds, but survived, in recognition of his highest military prowess, on the personal order of Napoleon, he was released from captivity.
Time passed, weapons changed, after the Civil War in the United States, when all the advantages of breech-loading systems for unitary cartridges, characterized by a high rate of fire, were revealed, conversations began in the military environment about the senselessness of a bayonet. Since with such a rate of fire, it will not come to bayonet attacks.
The first Russian breech-loading rifles had triangular bayonets identical to the old rifles. This was due to the fact that 6-line rifles at the beginning of their release were converted from old muzzle-loaders, and there was no point in changing the old bayonet for them.
The last bayonet-cleaver in the Russian Empire for the fitting of rifle battalions arr. 1843 ("littykh fitting") and the first mass bayonet-knife in the Soviet Union for the AVS-36 rifle
Bayonet for the "littych fitting", scabbard - modern reconstruction according to the English model
The very first Russian rifle, which was originally designed as a breech-loading rifle, was a 4, 2-line rifle mod. 1868 Gorlov-Gunius system ("Berdan system No. 1"). This rifle was designed by our officers in the United States and was fired without a bayonet. Gorlov, at his discretion, chose a triangular bayonet for the rifle, which was installed under the barrel. After firing with a bayonet, it turned out that the bullet was moving away from the aiming point. After that, a new, more durable four-sided bayonet was designed (remember that three sides were needed exclusively for muzzle-loading systems). This bayonet, as on previous rifles, was placed to the right of the barrel to compensate for the derivation.
Feat of Leonty Korennoy. Leonty received 18 bayonet wounds, after the death of his comrades, he alone confronted the French unit in hand-to-hand combat. The wounded man was taken prisoner, as having shown the highest military valor, after being cured, he was released on the personal order of Napoleon from captivity
Such a bayonet was adopted for the 4, 2-line infantry rifle mod. 1870 ("Berdan system No. 2") and, slightly modified, to the dragoon version of this rifle. And then very interesting attempts began to replace the needle bayonet with a cleaver bayonet. Only through the efforts of the best Russian minister of war in the entire history of our state, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin, was it possible to defend the excellent Russian bayonet. Here is an excerpt from D. A. Milyutin for March 14, 1874: “… the question of replacing bayonets with cleavers was again raised … following the example of the Prussians. Three times this issue has already been discussed by competent persons: everyone unanimously gave preference to our bayonets and refuted the sovereign's assumptions that bayonets should adhere to rifles only at a time when the need to act with cold weapons would become necessary. And despite all the previous reports in this sense, the issue is raised again for the fourth time. With a high probability, here we can assume the insistence of Duke Georg Mecklenburg-Strelitzky, who cannot allow anything to be better here than in the Prussian army."
Bayonet for smooth-bore muzzle-loading Russian 7-line infantry rifle mod. 1828 With the decrease in the length of the gun or rifle, the length of the bayonet increased. The requirements for protection against a cavalryman's saber strike determined the total length of an infantry rifle (rifle) with an attached bayonet
Bayonet for 6-line rapid-fire rifle mod. 1869 ("Krnka system", this bayonet is a bayonet originally adopted for a muzzle-loading 6-line rifle arr. 1856)
Bayonet for 4, 2-line infantry rifle mod. 1870 ("Berdan system No. 2")
This issue was finally resolved only in 1876. That's what D. A. Milyutin writes about this on April 14, 1876: “During my report, the sovereign announced to me his decision on bayonets. The sovereign has long been inclined to the opinion of Duke George of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, that our infantry, following the example of the Prussian, should accept a German cleaver - a bayonet instead of our beautiful three-edged bayonet … and that the shooting should be carried out without a bayonet attached… All the minutes of the meeting, with the attachment of separate notes, were presented by me to the sovereign, who, upon reviewing them, made a decision, ordering the introduction of new bayonets - cleavers and firing without bayonets attached only in rifle battalions and in the guards; leave the whole army as before. Thus, there is a new complication, a new variegation; again the lack of unity and uniformity, so important in the organization and formation of troops. Nevertheless, I still prefer this decision to the one that I feared and to which the sovereign was noticeably inclined until now."
A bayonet, sharpened to a plane, and a standard rifle screwdriver (for example, the Berdan No. 2 system). It is unreasonable to think that such a bayonet is intended for unscrewing screws. If you try to do this, the tip of the bayonet will be damaged and most likely the unscrewing will receive a serious injury from the bayonet that jumped off.
Turkestan soldier in winter uniform. 1873 The soldier has a 6-line rifle mod. 1869 ("Krnka system") with an attached bayonet
Thus, for the sake of the Germanophiles in Russia, the Prussian cleaver supplanted the Russian bayonet, contrary to all common sense and the opinion of qualified specialists. But … in fact, apart from experiments and experiments, things did not work out. And the needle four-sided bayonet remained in its place.
The capture of the Grivitsky redoubt near Plevna, the Russian-Turkish war, 1877. The painting shows fragments of hand-to-hand fighting and bayonet work
Shooting practice of the lower ranks of the 280th Sursk infantry regiment wearing gas masks. 3-line rifles mod. 1891 with bayonets attached. 1916 First World War. 1914-1918
The Russian-Turkish war soon broke out (1877-1878). For the first time, the army of the Russian Empire entered into such large-scale hostilities with a rapid-fire treasury-charging weapon. An American military agent, engineer-lieutenant F. V. Green, who collected data for the benefit of the US Government. He was instructed to collect materials on the effectiveness of the use of sabers and bayonets in hostilities. This was due to the fact that the Americans wanted to give up both, but were afraid to make a mistake. After receiving the order, Green had a lot of conversations about the bayonet with Russian officers and among them he met only "ardent defenders of this type of weapon." In his report, the lieutenant engineer completely refutes the opinion of the American command about the impossibility of bayonet combat in the conditions of the use of rapid-fire weapons and notes on the contrary that during the campaign very often hand-to-hand combat decided the outcome of the battle. He described the tactics of attack with chains, when the chains move, using the shelters of the terrain, the first chain suffers greatly, and numerous subsequent ones break into the trenches or, as they were called then, rifle ditches. And then the enemy either runs, or surrenders, or a quick hand-to-hand fight begins.
The moment of the bayonet fight at the competitions in the Central Park of Culture and Rest. Gorky. Moscow, 1942
Bulgarian soldier armed with a Russian 3-line infantry rifle model 1891, converted to the Mannlicher cartridge model 1893, with a bayonet attached. An Austrian-style steel bayonet scabbard is visible on the hip belt. World War I. 1914-1918
As the American notes, the Turks usually fled or surrendered. But it was not always so. In 1877, in the September battle of Lovcha, the Turkish redoubts were surrounded, the Turks refused to surrender, during the attack all the defenders (about 200 people) were interrupted by Russian bayonets. A detachment of General Skobelev in the same September attacked two Turkish redoubts and rifle ditches south of Plevna, from which the Turks could only be knocked out with bayonets. The fortifications on the right flank at Gorny Dubnyak were also taken with bayonets during the October battles. 1878, January battles near Sheinovo, the attack on the fortified Turkish positions ended in hand-to-hand combat, after 3 minutes from its beginning, the Turks surrendered. At Filippo-lem, the guards captured 24 Turkish guns, while hand-to-hand fighting ensued, in which 150 Turkish soldiers and officers were wounded with bayonets. The bayonet has always worked and worked excellently.
The battle of January 1, 1878 at Gorny Bogrov is very indicative. The Russian units defended themselves, the Turks advanced. Fire on the Turks was opened from a distance of 40 yards (about 40 m), the Turks suffered serious losses, some of the survivors rushed back, and some into the Russian fortifications, where they were killed. Upon examination of the corpses, it turned out that some of them had their skulls pierced with rifle butts. This fact was explained as follows: the soldiers there were recruits, if they were more experienced, they would work with bayonets.
Austrian conversion of a bayonet to a 4, 2-line infantry rifle arr. 1870 ("Berdan system No. 2) for a rifle o6jj. 1895 (" Mannlicher system "). The blade is attached to the handle of a bayonet-knife Model 1895. The First World War. 1914-1918
Bayonet for 4, 2-line infantry rifle Model 1870 in Austrian steel scabbard. World War I. 1914-1918
Bayonets for a three-line rifle in the service of foreign armies in a scabbard. Bottom-up: Austrian, German, German ersatz, Finnish, Romanian scabbards
Green comes to one important conclusion: during a short-term hand-to-hand fight, only those who have bayonets side by side gain the upper hand. It is impossible to reload weapons during such a fight. According to Green's estimates, for 90 thousand people who died in that war, 1 thousand died from a bayonet. And there is no better weapon for hand-to-hand combat than a bayonet.
Here it is time to remember another interesting feature of the Russian bayonet, its sharpening. It is often called a screwdriver. And even very serious authors write about the dual purpose of the bayonet, they say, they can stab the enemy and unscrew the screw. This is, of course, nonsense.
For the first time sharpening the blade of a bayonet not on the point, but on a plane similar to the tip of a screwdriver, appeared on newly manufactured bayonets for the Russian rapid-fire 6-line rifle mod. 1869 ("Krnka system") and tetrahedral bayonets to the infantry 4, 2-line rifle mod. 1870 ("Berdan system No. 2"). Why was she needed? Obviously do not loosen the screws. The fact is that the bayonet must not only be "stuck" into the enemy, but also quickly removed from him. If a bayonet sharpened on a point pierced the bone, then it was difficult to extract it, and a bayonet sharpened on a plane seemed to go around the bone without getting stuck in it.
By the way, another curious story is connected with the position of the bayonet relative to the barrel. After the Berlin Congress of 1878, during the withdrawal of its army from the Balkans, the Russian Empire presented the young Bulgarian army with over 280 thousand 6-line rapid-fire rifles mod. 1869 "Krnka system" mainly with bayonets arr. 1856 But a lot of bayonets for rifled guns mod. 1854 and earlier smoothbore. These bayonets were normally adjacent to the "Krnk", but the bayonet blade was located not to the right, as expected, but to the left of the barrel. It was possible to use such a rifle, but accurate shooting from it without re-shooting was impossible. And besides, this position of the bayonet did not reduce the derivation. The reasons for this incorrect placement were different slots in the tubes that determine the method of bayonet attachment: arr. 1856 was fixed on the front sight, and bayonets to the systems of 1854 and earlier were fixed on the under-barrel "bayonet rear sight".
Privates of the 13th Belozersk Infantry Regiment in combat uniform with full marching equipment and a Berdan No. 2 rifle with a whipped bayonet. 1882 g.
Private Sophia infantry regiment with muzzle-loading rifle mod. 1856 with an attached three-edged bayonet and a clerk of the Divisional Headquarters (in full dress). 1862 g.
And so the years passed, and the era of store-bought weapons began. The Russian 3-line rifle already had a shorter bayonet. The overall length of the rifle and bayonet was shorter than that of previous systems. The reason for this was the changed requirements for the total length of the weapon, now the total length of the rifle with a bayonet had to be higher than the eyes of a soldier of average height.
The bayonet still remained attached to the rifle, it was believed that the soldier should shoot accurately, and when the bayonet is attached to the rifle, which was shot without it, the aiming point changes. That is not important at very close distances, but at distances of about 400 steps it was already impossible to hit the target.
The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) showed a new battle tactics, and it was surprisingly noticed that Japanese soldiers still managed to fasten bladed bayonets to their Arisaki by the time of hand-to-hand combat.
Soviet bayonets at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Top down:
bayonet for 3-line rifle mod. 1891, bayonet for 3-line rifle mod. 1891/30, bayonet for ABC-36, bayonet for SVT-38, bayonets for CBT-40 of two types
Sheathed bayonets. Top - down: bayonet to CBT-40, bayonet to SVT-38, bayonet to ABC-36
Despite the changed environment, the bayonet remained popular and in demand. Moreover, the officers walking with their lower ranks took from the dead and wounded a rifle with a bayonet attached, being more confident in the bayonet than in their saber.
As time went on, the question of replacing the bayonet with a cleaver was not forgotten. As before, the main task in its solution was the task of firing with and without an attached bayonet.
Mounted bayonets-cleavers did not allow accurate shooting, so it was possible to open fire with a bayonet attached only as an exception. With faceted needle bayonets, where the neck deflects the blade a certain distance from the axis of the barrel, shooting is not a problem.
The arguments of the supporters of this or that point of view on the bayonets were very sound. Supporters of bayonet-cleavers pointed to the development of hand-held firearms: with an increase in range, the beginning of a battle is tied at sufficiently long distances, which eliminates the need for hand-to-hand fights. The retreat of one side or the other occurs under the influence of only fire contact, bayonet battles in modern wars are encountered less and less, and the number of wounded and killed with cold weapons is also decreasing. At the same time, the needle bayonet, always attached to the rifle, nevertheless, although insignificantly, affects the accuracy of the fire. Its weight, applied to the muzzle far from the fulcrum of the rifle, tires the shooter. This was especially considered important when a soldier enters the battle already tired. Further, it was indicated that the needle bayonet, except for the attack, is useless in all cases of combat and marching life, the bayonet-cleaver also replaces the knife for the lower ranks, is used when chopping firewood, when setting up tents, when arranging bivouac and household devices, etc. The requirements for an instant connection of an open cleaver, according to its propagandists, were fulfilled, since the procedure itself is simple and does not require much time. If necessary: at posts, on guard, in secrets, etc. cleaver bayonets must be attached. If a soldier needs to go somewhere without a rifle, he will always be armed with a cleaver. The constantly attached bayonet makes the rifle longer, the bayonet in the woods clings to branches, makes it difficult to carry the rifle over the shoulder on a running belt. A cleaver bayonet hanging on the belt avoids these difficulties.
The poster shows a soldier with an SVT-40 rifle with an attached bayonet-knife, going into the attack
The issue of replacing the needle bayonet was considered in great detail in the Russian army at the beginning of the 20th century, and what is very important - the arguments for it significantly outweighed the above arguments against.
So what was said in defense of the permanently attached needle bayonet? To meet all the conditions of the battle, it is necessary that the infantry be armed with such weapons that make it possible to strike the enemy both from a distance and in battle "chest to chest". So that the infantryman at any moment of the battle would be ready to act with both firearms and cold weapons. The joining of bayonets before an attack presents significant difficulties, the conditions of the battle are so varied that it is impossible to determine in advance the moments at which the troops should have bayonets adjoined. The need for a bayonet in battles may appear suddenly, at a time when hand-to-hand combat is not expected.
Reserves for the front: In the classroom for practicing the techniques of bayonet fighting. Central Asian Military District, 1943
The adjoining of the cleavers when approaching the enemy entails the most unfavorable consequences: in this period of the battle, people are in such an agitated state that they may not adhere to the bayonet at all. In addition, it takes a lot of time to attach the bayonet in battle as it might seem. Experience has shown that in order to remove and attach the bayonet, it will take time corresponding to at least 5-6 shots. At a time when the lower ranks will be adjacent to the bayonets, the fire should weaken significantly, and this can have disastrous consequences. Moreover, the closer the bayonet is to the enemy, the more fussy and slower it will be.
Thus, our rifle with a permanently attached bayonet fully satisfies all the conditions for firearms and hand-to-hand combat.
The mentioned detrimental effect of the bayonet weight on the shooting results is insignificant. In battle, it is rare to shoot aiming while standing without cover, in most cases shooting is done lying down, and there is always the opportunity to put the gun on a support or to rest your elbow on the ground. As for the influence of the bayonet on the accuracy of fire, then, firstly, the bayonet attached to the right reduces derivation, and secondly, in our rifle system, the bayonet affects the accuracy of the battle. When the bayonet is properly attached, the radius of the circle that can accommodate all the bullets is smaller. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that when firing with a bayonet from our rifle (with the accepted barrel length, weight of parts and charge, etc.), the muzzle tremor is less, and the bullet gets a more uniform direction.
The decision, made in Western European armies, to shoot without a bayonet and adjoin it only when approaching the enemy at 300 - 400 steps, insignificantly contributes to less fatigue of the shooter, but the accuracy of the system loses from this. Shooting from a rifle without a bayonet, shot with a bayonet, without moving the front sight, gives such results that at a distance of 400 steps one can no longer expect marksmanship.
The needle bayonet gave more dangerous non-healing wounds, provided better penetration of thick clothing.
The decision made in the Russian army - to shoot at all distances with an attached bayonet, with which the rifle is aimed - is the most correct.
Years passed, August 1914 came, Russia entered the First World War. New types of weapons have not reduced the relevance of the bayonet. The Russian bayonet ceased to be only Russian.
Trophy Russian 3-line rifles mod. 1891 ("Mosin's system") was massively used by Germany and Austria-Hungary. In Austria-Hungary, both trophy and ersatz bayonets of Austrian production of excellent quality were used together with them. They differed from the original only in the cut in the tube, which was straightforward for the "Austrians". The scabbard for the original and ersatz bayonets was iron with hooks characteristic of the Austrian scabbard. The German scabbard for bayonets for the 3-line "Mosin rifle" could be of two types: iron, similar to the Austrian, but with a teardrop-shaped hook characteristic of the "Germans", and ersatz made of galvanized sheet.
Suzdal Infantry Regiment in the vanguard of the Danube Army. Forced movement towards Adrianople. 1878 The lower ranks have rifles of the Krnka and Berdan systems No. 2 with attached bayonets
Lower ranks of the 64th Kazan Infantry Regiment. Halt during the march from Baba Eski to Adrianople. 1878 In the foreground are rifles of the Berdan system No. 2 with attached bayonets, installed in the box
Repulsing the assault on the Bayazet fortress on June 8, 1877. The Russian soldiers defending the fortress have rapid-fire needle rifles mod. 1867 ("Karle system") with bayonets attached
In the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War, captured Russian rifles of the "Berdan No. 2 system" were also in service. Leather and iron sheaths were made for their bayonets. A number of bayonets for the "Berdan No. 2 rifle" were converted into bayonets for the rifle arr. 1895 "Mannlicher system", by welding the handle of the Mannlicher bayonet knife to the blade.
From 1882 to 1913, the Bulgarian army received from Russia about 180 thousand infantry rifles of the Berdan No. 2 system and 3 thousand dragoon rifles of the same system. All of them were equipped with infantry and dragoon bayonets. The Bulgarian army was also in service with about 66 thousand Russian 3-line rifles "Mosin system", which in 1912-1913. were delivered from Russia. In 1917, Austria-Hungary transferred allied assistance to Bulgaria -10 thousand rifles of the "Mosin system", converted under the cartridge of Mannlicher mod. 1893 Bayonets for them were in metal Austrian and German sheaths.
The war is over, the Russian bayonet proved to be excellent. But his time was running out irrevocably. The battle conditions changed, a new automatic weapon appeared. And for the first time in large quantities, already in the Red Army, the bayonet-knife came in 1936, it was a bayonet for the Simonov automatic rifle arr. 1936. Soon, new self-loading Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40 rifles begin to enter service. Only at that historical stage and only with the use of rapid-firing, quickly reloading rifles, with the widespread use of fire from automatic weapons, the needle bayonet surrendered its positions.
Life Guards Moscow regiment attacks Turkish positions at Arab-Konak
And our army would be with a new rifle and a new bayonet, if not for the war. June 1941, a powerful blow from the German army, the inability to take decisive action and outright sabotage by the military leadership of the Soviet Union allowed the Germans to seize a significant part of our country in the shortest possible time. The production of the "three-line" was accelerated, the bayonet was still needle-shaped, but already modified in 1930. In 1944, a new 3-line carbine was adopted, it also had a needle bayonet, but of a different design. The bayonet was fixed to the carbine and folded forward if necessary. The last needle bayonet in the history of the Soviet army was the bayonet for the Simonov self-loading carbine mod. 1945 Soon after the start of production, the needle bayonet was replaced with a knife bayonet. From that moment on, they did not return to the old needle bayonets in the USSR and Russia.
Bayonet attack of the Red Army
Training Leningrad militias in bayonet attack techniques
Soviet female servicemen at the firing line. The girls are armed with 7.62 mm Mosin rifles with attached tetrahedral needle bayonets and a 7.62 mm PPSh-41 submachine gun
Military parade on Red Square. The photo shows servicemen with self-loading Tokarev rifles of the 1940 type SVT-40 in the "on the shoulder" position. The rifles are joined by bladed monocotyledonous bayonets. Behind the soldiers - knapsack equipment of the 1936 model, on the side - small infantry shovels
Cadets of the school of Soviet snipers in practical training. In the photo, attention is drawn to the fact that almost all future snipers are trained to shoot with bayonets attached, and sniper sights are installed only on SVT-40
Training of Red Army soldiers in hand-to-hand combat shortly before the start of the war
