The Soviets showed a ruthless pragmatism concerning specialist units during the Second World War. They simultaneously recognized the need and displayed the willingness to concentrate scarce technical assets, representing both equipment and trained manpower, in specialist units above division level for employment where needed. For the most part, this was a highly effective use of resources. In the case of artillery, however, they almost certainly carried the process too far. The Soviets, and before them the Czarist Russian Army, had always relied heavily on the artillery arm, and the lack of effectiveness of Soviet artillery (when measured against the number of guns available) was due largely to organizational errors made fairly early in the war. Soviet artillery before the German invasion was organized along lines similar to that of every other Western army. The division included light guns and howitzers for direct support of the infantry maneuver regiments and medium howitzers to undertake general support missions. The Germans, like the U.S. Army at the time, included only a single battalion of general support howitzers in the divisional artillery mix and grouped all of these guns under a single administrative headquarters. The Soviets, like the French, included several battalions of general support howitzers and grouped them under a separate howitzer regiment, with the direct support artillery controlled by a "light artillery regiment" headquarters. With the German invasion came reorganization, and one of the first steps was to withdraw the general support howitzer regiments from the rifle divisions and concentrate them at corps (and later army) level. Much of the more sophisticated fire control equipment and trained personnel went with them, leaving the rifle division with a small direct support regiment of two battalions, but very little of the technical support (such as survey units) needed to conduct precise indirect fire missions. The result of this was that the divisional regiments came to rely more and more on direct fire to support the maneuver regiments, while the heavier howitzer units at army and front level which were capable of indirect fire mission lacked the forward observer network at the maneuver unit level necessary to conduct direct support. Soviet maneuver units thus fought the war essentially without the benefit of direct support indirect fire missions, at least as we understand them in the West. This lack of an indirect fire capability is reflected more in the second printing of Armies of the Second World War by the deletion of the spotter stands from the artillery battalions of the Soviet divisional artillery. The units can still conduct indirect fire by having the battalion commander move forward and act as a spotter (which was a common practice), but this obviously has some difficulties associated with it, and in game terms the easiest thing to do is find a hill with a nice view of the battlefield and park your artillery there (another common Soviet practice). With the reduced divisional capability for indirect fire, some representation of the huge (if somewhat ponderous) indirect fire assets available at army level becomes that much more important, and to that end we offer the following unit organizations. Howitzer Brigade Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff radio truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand 3 Howitzer Regiments, each with: Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff telephone truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand Battalion, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff telephone truck 2 medium ammo trucks 1 support stand 4 122L22 howitzers 4 gun crew stands (ds) 4 medium trucks or heavy tractors 1 medium general supply truck with trailer 1 medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen 1 support stand Battalion, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff telephone truck 2 medium ammo trucks 1 support stand 3 122L22 howitzers 3 gun crew stands (ds) 3 medium trucks or heavy tractors 1 medium general supply truck with trailer medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen 1 support stand  Heavy Howitzer or Heavy Cannon Brigade Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff radio truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand 3 Howitzer or Cannon Regiments, each with: Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff telephone truck 1 medium general supply truck with trailer 1 medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen 3 Battalions, each with: 1 command infantry stand 1 light truck 1 medium ammo truck 1 support stand 1 152L23 howitzer or 152L50 field gun 1 gun crew stand (ds) 1 heavy tractor Heavy Gun-Howitzer Brigade Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff radio truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand 4 Heavy Gun-Howitzer Battalions, each with: Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff telephone truck 2 medium ammo trucks 1 support stand 2 152L29 gun-howitzers 2 gun crew stand (ds) 2 heavy tractor 1 medium general supply truck with trailer 1 medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen 1 support stand Super-Heavy Howitzer Brigade Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff radio truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand 4 Super-Heavy Howitzer Battalions, each with: Headquarters, with: 1 command infantry stand 1 light truck 2 medium ammo trucks 1 support stand 1203L21 howitzer 1 gun crew stand (ds) 1 heavy tractor 1 medium general supply truck with trailer 1 medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen 1 support stand Cannon Regiment Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff radio truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand 3 Cannon Battalions, each with: Headquarters, with: 1 command infantry stand 1 light truck 1 medium ammo truck 1 support stand 1 107L42 or 122L45 field gun 1 gun crew stand (ds) 1 medium truck or heavy tractor 1 medium general supply truck with trailer 1 medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen Rocket Regiment Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff radio truck 1 medium baggage truck 1 support stand 3 Rocket Battalions, each with: Headquarters, with: 1 command stand 1 car 1 staff telephone truck 2 medium ammo trucks 1 support stand 2 MRL (BM-8, BM-13, or BM-31) 1 medium general supply truck with trailer 1 medium maintenance truck with trailer 1 medium baggage truck with field kitchen 1 support stand Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Quarterly # 5 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Greg Novak. 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