How He Fights (1980)

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] I the [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you are all aware that our offensive operation is about to begin soon you will be some distance to the west from where you are now comrades our motorized rifle Battalion has been directed to spearhead the offensive we will be the Advanced guard for the regiment which means we will be the first unit to encounter the enemy ideally we would like to achieve complete surprise and reach our objective without encountering the enemy but we cannot expect that to happen knowing the enemy he will be deploying to his forward areas this means it will be inevitable that our force will make contact with him we have a term for that when we make contact with the Enemy we will be conducting a meeting engagement now you all know what a meeting engagement is the enemy does I cannot say for a certain he do not use that term they do not appear to have a similar movement their closest maneuver according to our intelligence is what they call movement to contact from your training you know the meaning engagement is combat between opposing units advancing rapidly toward each other such an engagement ment is conducted within the context of Soviet Army Doctrine this Doctrine as you know stresses speed maneuverability and continuous operations keep this Doctrine in mind at all stages of the meeting engagement from the time we first make contact with the Enemy through our initial penetration at that time we expect the enemy will have reacted to deploy his tactical Reserve either to Counterattack or to rush in to fill the Gap by this time we should be deep within the enemy's formation and he should have deployed to block our attack we will also be undertaking flanking movements ideally these movements will force the enemy into a general withdrawal but but it could happen that the enemy will have been quick and successful in establishing defensive positions and launching counterattacks if so we will need to identify the enemy's route of advance so as to launch a Counterattack of our own that comrades is the essence of a meeting engagement it is conducted throughout in accordance with our doctrine of speed maneuverability and continuous operations now this is the route assigned by regiment for our March during the first night we will proceed along the road from here until contact with the enemy is made our Battalion has been reinforced and is at maximum strength altogether we comprise the advanced guard we will March in standard formation in this order first a combat reconnaissance Patrol consisting of a motorized rifle platoon an engineer Squad and a chemical reconnaissance Detachment this Patrol will precede the advanced Party by up to 10 kilm the advanced guard main force will follow the advanced party at a distance of from 5 to 10 km the main force will be followed by the rear party at 3 km observe the positions and distances of the flanking parties the advanced party will be formed around a motorized rifle company it will include the following elements a tank platoon an anti-tank Detachment a self-propelled artillery battery an engineer Detachment a chemical Detachment and an an anti-aircraft attachment the advanced guard main force will be formed around the motorized rifle Battalion minus also the 120 mm motor battery and the Battalion headquarters the following elements will be added to the main body a tank company minus an anti-tank platoon an artillery Battalion minus an engineered platoon minus an anti-aircraft Detachment and our Battalion rear which will include the medical post finally one platoon of motorized infantry will form the rear guard and two platoon of motorized infantry will form the two flanking parties questions Colonel as commander of the first motorized rifle company is my command vehicle to be positioned just behind the tank platoon leading the advanced party that's correct captain and Captain ivanof as artillery battery Commander you will be in your command vehicle right behind captain prozorovski and to all of you this reminder do not become engaged in fighting minor pockets of resistance sweep past them our following or flanking units will pick them up also remember that the meeting engagement is a very fluid situation this can result in changing formations be ready to react to my order comrade gas the your companies are in the advanced guard main Force you will detach one rifle platoon each to provide right and Left Flank security and Captain KAS you will detach a platoon to provide the rear Guard Security rear security these security platoon have complete freedom to maneuver they job is to protect our Advanced guard and prevent enemy units from interfering with or halting our forward movement Lieutenant solenov yes Colonel zavi I want you to explain the importance of your platoon's mission as reconnaissance Patrol yes come back Colonel first it is essential that we accurately identify all terrain features second it is vital that we see the enemy first we should catch him in March formation it is important that we report his position and strength as soon as possible third our Patrol chemical Recon team must identify the enemy's chemical and and nuclear capabilities especially its potential effect on our Force if employed our mission is to identify anything that might hamper the advance of the main Force finally our mission is reconnaissance and nothing more we should avoid if at all possible direct contact with the Enemy very good Lieutenant questions Colonel what about communication security during the March and engagement radio silence will be maintained until contact with the enemy is made visual signals and Messengers will be used on the march my command vehicle will be at the head of the main body your Messengers will know where to find me Captain Custer explain the communications procedure following initial enemy contact yes comrade colonel on contact Communications will leave the main column route and set up operations on terrain that will mask enemy interception we do this to deny him as much information about us as the situation permits excellent now once the reconnaissance Patrol is reported detection of the enemy the advanced party will move in quickly to engage him probably initial contact will be with the enemy's reconnaissance Force this Force must be destroyed destroyed quickly Captain prozorovski what will your Advanced party do at this time my Advanced party would move quickly to engage the main enemy Force true but it could happen that your Advanced party won't be able to deal with the Enemy Force if that happens then our main force will move in to engage him keep in mind comrades the enemy will'll also be trying to rapidly engage so for us speed is of primary importance speed allows us to move into the best positions First Once committed we prefer that our units engage as opportunities arise this is much better than our delaying the form and launch a coordinated full force assault such delays would only favor the enemy and give him time to better position his forces our motorized rifle Battalion contains combat command control control and support units its speed is of primary importance at night we average from 15 to 20 km by day 20 to 30 km once our column has been underway for several hours designated control points will be established your units must pass through these points at precise times which you will be given reconnaissance will be conducted at all times along the rout of March and at all control points there will also be designated stopping points along the Route there you will service your vehicles make any necessary equipment repairs and briefly rest your soldiers our Battalion must be capable of defeating enemy reconnaissance and security units they must also be capable of dealing with an enemy two times our strength Captain C explain how the enemy handles his Communications comrade colonel in situations like this the enemy employs Communications in quite a different manner than we do we believe this difference favors us in a meeting engagement we enjoy a distinct advantage over the enemy in radio electronic combat we have this Advantage because our mission in Battlefield procedure call for establishment of roots and objectives in advance of starting our March we have little need for lengthy Communications as we proceed to our objective if the enemy tries to jam us it does him no good there's nothing to jam on the other hand our own jamming of the enemy's radio communication will make it more difficult for him to react against us in a coordinated manner we know that the enemy too often misuses His Radio and this we will use against him very good Captain our non-use of communications should serve us very well indeed now how about the rest of our regimen the main force of the regiment will be 20 to 30 km behind our Advance guard this main Force contains the bulk of command control and and support elements the main force will advance on one route the Tactical situation will determine whether attached resources will be with subordinate units or included with the main body if our Advanced guard cannot deal with the Enemy quickly then the regimental main force or a portion of it will move forward and engage him we can expect rapid commitment once the enemy is engaged as advanced guard Commander I shall be relaying my battle plan based on my initial contact to regimental command the regimental Commander will direct the main Force accordingly based on my report this will continue until the regimental Commander has come far enough forward to observe the battlefield situation personally he can then make necessary adjustments the mission terrain expected enemy opposition and the speed at which we move will determine the formation which can be column line wedge inverted wedge or Echelon keep in mind that while we are advancing our our regimental Commander will be providing us with new information on the size of the enemy Force what the enemy is doing and what the enemy is expected to do therefore it will not be necessary for me to retransmit this information to you regimental Commander will be receiving this information from the divisional and regimental recon units Colonel yes major we are aware that the enemy stresses the use of Tactical Air Support will our defenses protect our service support elements against an aerial attack yes major air defense in our Advance guard will be continuous and cover all approaches this way we will have as early a warning as possible any alert will come from the Battalion observation post which has that responsibility the observation post will tell our Advanced guard of the appearance and approach of enemy aircraft anti-aircraft weapons will be prepared to deliver their fire both on the move when we are at a short halt Small Arms fire will also be employed from combat Vehicles during movement or at a halt on my signal you will disperse your units in the procedure established use every protective feature of the terrain and use camouflage of course our force will have its own Tactical Air support our aerial reconnaissance will give us information on the location of the enemy the size of his Force his actual movements and his probable movements our Air Forces will be making strikes to stop or delay his movement this will force him to change his battle plans causing him again to communicate ideally our air strikes could destroy him where he is I wish to stress something else in this kind of Engagement there will probably be no solid front line our objective is to keep the enemy from either deploying or continuing a forward March our mission at all costs is to keep the enemy confused and off balance the essence of a meeting engagement once deployment from the March is made is to engage and hold him in combat by keeping the intensity High situations will develop which allow attacking the enemy flanks and even his rear we must maneuver quickly this activity occurs in a very fluid constantly changing situation defensive positions will be broken wherever they are encountered now suppose the enemy can organize a defense in this case our entire Advanced guard would mount a full frontal assault if necessary the regimental main Force might join us should that happen our sister regiments might be directed to attack the enemy flanks and rear Captain prozorovski what do we do if that should occur comrade colonel in that situation we would Engage The Enemy while he is preparing a Counterattack or moving to a more advantageous defensive position it is our mission to keep him from preparing a defense or organizing a Counterattack now here time becomes especially critical we must seize and hold the initiative by using our mobility and intense Firepower very good Captain Captain gas what will the range and intervals of our battle units be Colonel our attack Frontage is determined by our Battalion operations combat Force strength the composition of the enemy Force the effect of our use of nuclear or Conventional Weapons prevailing terrain and other Battlefield conditions motorized rifle platoon can attack along a line with a 200 meter front intervals between our combat Vehicles will be up to 100 m a company following this procedure can attack along a front of up to 800 M with intervals of 400 to 500 M between companies there will be a reserve force of one or two platoon a motorized rifle Battalion such as ours deployed in frontal attack formation can operate along a front of from one to 2,000 m very good captain now I want to caution you all about something during our March it is important that you either Bypass or isolate populated areas small towns and Villages combat in these areas only ties down your men and equipment that result in what we want least delays if you cannot bypass these areas go straight through not stop or Bunch up as you move I also want to say a few words about our night movement gives us several advantages it allows us to move under the cover of Darkness with less chance of detection it reduces our losses from both conventional and nuclear weapons it increases our chances of surprising the enemy whatever the time in place our movement will result in a meeting engagement comrades time is growing short and much is yet to be done in a meeting engagement Victory goes to the side which best Recon orders the enemy locates his forces and then deploys and attacks quickly Victory goes to the side which best uses the effect of his nuclear weapons more quickly and efficiently first fires his Conventional Weapons and sustains intensive Firepower moves rapidly and pursues every Advantage presented to him and uses weather time and terrain maximum Advantage you know comrades in the final analysis what determines your Victory is your soldiers their courage discipline decisiveness persistence your soldiers under your leadership your leadership includes your knowledge of your weapons what they can do you must be skilled once in battle you must be dynamic stubborn resourceful once Comm it seize and then keep the initiative must always impose your will on the enemy do all that victory [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the for