History 05/03/20 Cossacks-scouts: how to fight the “forces” in the Imperial army
Scouts – special infantry units of the Kuban (black sea) Cossack troops.
the Origin of
their Very name shows that they fought mainly “crawling”. The main thing for them was to remain unnoticed and to find out the location, strength and intentions of the enemy. But one intelligence does not exhaust the functions of scouts. Put them and combat tasks: to suddenly sneak up on the enemy and attack him, remove his guards, thus ensuring the success of the upcoming attack their own troops.
the tradition of the scouts were born in Zaporizhzhya Sich, which at the end of the eighteenth century were deported to the Kuban, and from which came the black sea Cossack army, which later became part of the Kuban Cossacks. Bellies hut was born in Zaporozhye, and the current village of Plastunovskaya in Dinskoy district of Krasnodar Krai was founded on the Dnieper scouts.
a Special quality and selection of scouts
from time immemorial, the scouts were skilled hunters. Sharp vision, sharpness, speed walking, and the ability to cloak all these qualities they have developed in the Dnieper Plavni. But it is believed that their traditions of martial arts have roots in the deepest antiquity, and drawn from roamers, antes, Scythians. In Zaporozhye scouts sometimes called “characterniki”, that is, wizards, magicians, and believed that their art has as its origin a connection with the evil force. Scouts supposedly knew how to pretend to be invisible, turn into a animals to cross the river on the bottom, knew the incantations from swords and bullets and had similar mystical abilities. The priests in the camp refused to bury the dead and the dead scouts. And the scouts kept some of their special ceremonies.
But so what, every person was required to be able to have higher endurance, allowing him to pass dozens of keylametro day and night, in cold and in heat, to sleep anywhere, no campfires (which could give it to the enemy), to suffer hunger, to sit many hours in ambush, eaten by mosquitoes and midges, immovable, not to be discovered. These Cossacks could cross the river in the icy water for hours or sit in it, breathing through a straw. They should have been able to sneak up on an armed enemy and strangle him with my bare hands. Valued and the ability to be a good tracker.
Already in the Kuban until the beginning of the twentieth century, the Cossack elders, when young people have approached life, always make the selection: who is suitable to the honorable service of a Plast member and who is not. Who has not stood the test, perhaps to serve in the regular infantry Cossack part (those were in the Kuban army). However, do not pass the test was considered a disgrace. It was an initiation, signifying introduction into real scouts.
From generation to generation passed on the skills bellies of skill, but also an unwritten code of honor. If no orders for battle, it is not shameful to flee, and fast, to tell what’s going on the enemy – unless, of course, managed to get close to him and find out. Speed and discreetness is an important quality for the leaders. But if it came to the fight, then the enemy alive to be impossible.
the Blossoming bellies of the
In the North Caucasus, where the mountain terrain is even stronger than the smooth, limited action of cavalry, the scouts skills came in very handy. They were settled along the whole line of the black sea, on the border with the Circassians, and watched the highlanders. Settlement or pickets scouts were called “batteries” – each such settlement was given a flare gun, a volley which was notified about the attack of Circassians.
Initially, the scouts traditionally included in the Kuban Cossack units. In this capacity, they participated in all wars that fought the Kuban Cossacks: with Turkey, with Persia, with the Caucasian mountaineers. In 1842 these units have received regular organization. Bellies team was kaJDOM cavalry regiment (60 men) and each foot battalion (96 bayonets). That is not the whole of Cossack infantry and its special unit, the Cossack “commandos”, to carry out special tasks.
scouts on the principle of community, was formed and larger units up to battalion level. So, the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-55 especially the 2nd and 8th battalions bellies, famous for daring sorties, during one of which they took three of the enemy guns.
the Sunset “Cossack forces” in the world wars
By the end of the XIX century old caste system scouts began to blur. Many Cossacks, who from poverty was no longer able to contain war horse, tried to be assigned to the scouts, for it was more honorable than a simple infantryman. Here in the First world war on the Caucasian front fought two whole bellies brigade (1st – under the command of major-General Mikhail Przhevalsky, a cousin of the famous traveler). They distinguished themselves at the battle of Sarikamish in December 1914.
During the civil war, the scouts, like all Cossacks, suffered irreparable damage.
During the great Patriotic war, when Stalin tried to revive the form of the individual traditions of the Russian army, he ordered the creation of Cossack bellies part. In line with this, the 9th mountain infantry division in September 1943 was renamed the 9th infantry bellies. The division, which was located by the time the Kuban, in the reserve has been replenished with a large number of local natives. They were even allowed to wear St. George’s cross, honoured with the king.
“it was Formed, – recalled the head of the operations Directorate of the General staff, then Colonel-General Sergei Shtemenko, on the initiative of Stalin and under his personal leadership… Use scouts was only possible with the permission of the Bets”. He said that initially forces division bellies were planned to be sudden, without artillery preparation, the attack on enemy trenches in the early hours nastuplenieI, with the purpose of surprise:
“it was Suggested, for example, to scouts night silently crawled to the first trench of the Germans (they are scouts!), burst in without a shot, destroyed with any melee weapon, and then would have opened fire on the depth of the defense, and starts a normal attack.” Despite avanturisticki this idea, its initiators (Shtemenko does not name them; you can guess that they were supported by Stalin himself) insisted, and then had to play this method of attack is to exercise.
“then it became clear that the attack must in the usual way. Scouts scouts, and the times such attacks are long gone. Now is not the Crimean war”, – summed up Shtemenko.
Indeed, modern war has brought to the special forces, to methods of its teaching, quality new requirements compared to the wars “old” times, which was enough for the family traditions and skills.
Yaroslav Butakov
Source:
© Russian Seven
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