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To: yarddog

The Wehrmacht suffered huge casualties to snipers at Stalingrad. Every history of the battle documents this so I don’t think there is any doubt about it. The history of female snipers in the Soviet Army is also extremely well documented. As to real numbers in the fog of war - who knows?

Stalingrad was reduced to a rats maze of rubble and the fighting was often close range (less than 50m). The Soviets also “pushed” their troops through the initial barrage so that the German lines were continually penetrated and the Soviets used snipers the same way machineguns were used - to pin the enemy down. The number of snipers used by the Soviet military was impressive and they supported their pushes and came in on the back end to take up new positions. This was a source of study at the infantry school years ago (suspect it still is).

Snipers are an integral part of the infantry and their effectiveness is well documented. The Soviets also used them to protect their flanks, but then again Uncle Joe cared little about casualties. The Russians were reckless and brutal in the extreme and it is little wonder the Wehrmacht was terrified of them.


14 posted on 02/06/2016 3:05:40 PM PST by volunbeer
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To: volunbeer

Very interesting post.


30 posted on 02/06/2016 4:22:40 PM PST by beaversmom
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