Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat (An Authentic Field Manual of the Red Army)

By Boris Karpa

“Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat” was the official Red Army close combat manual during the Second World War.

It was published in 1941, shortly after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. This would have been the very manual used to train the troops that fought -- and defeated -- the Nazis at Stalingrad and in Berlin, in fierce hand-to-hand and house-to-house combat. This, despite the superiority of German technology and firepower.

Now this book is available to you, with all its original illustrations, in this lovingly formatted electronic edition. The text was translated from the original Russian by author, translator and graduate student of history Boris Karpa, with the utmost care taken to preserve the meaning of the original text, without taking away its unique character.

This manual, however, is more than a historical curiosity. Though the average American gun owner is certainly a better shot and has better equipment than a Soviet conscript, very little emphasis in our culture is placed on hand-to-hand combat skills, even though most self-defense situations occur at point-blank range. If you are serious about the ideas of self-defense and emergency preparedness, “Destroy the Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat” may have something to teach you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dilernia Publishers
• Release date: Sep 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301155880

Book preview

DESTROY THE ENEMY IN HAND-TO HAND COMBAT

A.A. Tarasov, Boris Karpa

Copyright Boris Karpa 2012

Published by Dilernia Publishers at Smashwords

DESTROY THE ENEMY

IN HAND-TO HAND

COMBAT

Contents:

Foreword

Introduction

Movement

Basics

Sprinting

Crawling

Crossing Obstacles

Throwing Grenades

Fighting with a Bayonet

Basics

Deflecting Attacks

Fighting with a Shovel

Disarming the Enemy

About the Author

Note: If you encounter any typographical, grammatical or factual errors in the text, please e-mail Di Lernia Publishers at [e-mail]

Foreword

Russian military culture has always valued and rated highly the ability of the individual soldier in close combat. Already in the 18th century, Alexander Suvorov, the fabled Russian general, taught his men to supplement marksmanship with hand-to-hand combat skills: Shoot rarely, but accurately, stab fiercely with the bayonet. The bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a winner!

This emphasis on hand-to-hand combat has remained with the Russian military through the centuries. In the 19th century, Platov's Cossacks were renowned for their skill with the shashka - a wickedly-curved cavalry sabre, optimized not for hit-and-run thrusting attacks, like the straight sabres of Western European troops, but for vicious close-combat battles. The shashka rewarded the skill-at-arms and tenacity of those who dared to engage in a melee and not back down.

Soviet Communism, which destroyed many noble Russian traditions, did not destroy the Russian tradition of close combat. Not only members of the military, but law enforcement and even high school students of both genders were encouraged to learn how to fight with bayonets, entrenching tools, and even improvised weapons, like full-sized shovels. Bayonet-fighting became a competitive sport that is practiced in Russia to this day.

This was done not only for the direct practical benefits of close-combat skills, but to prepare the young men and women of Russia for combat spiritually and mentally. It was thought that