Soviet Partisan Warfare Integral to the Whole

8/3/2019 Soviet Partisan Warfare Integral to the Whole

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S o v i e t P a r t i s a n W ar fa re : I n t e g r a l t o t h e Whole

M a j o r R u s s e l l W . Glenn Corps of E n g i n e e r s

S c h o ol o f A dvanced M i l i t a r y S t u d i e s U . S . Army Command and Gen er al S t a f f C o l l e g e F o r t i e a v e n w o r t h , K an sa s

20 A p r i l 1988

Approved f o r p u b l i c r e l e a s e ; d i s t r i b u t i o n i s u n l i m i t e d


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Sel loo l (J f Advdllced Mil i tary Stl . tdissMonograph Approval

Nama of Student : t1\.i.gr:... R.b!?-2.ell....J&., GI.ennTi t l e of Monograph: 9_9Vi e t F'ar t i El i . ! > J 2 ) r f a L ~ ..JJ1i;.'.g.r:.'il.L..t.Clth e Whole

Appn,ved by:

D i r 8 c t o r ~. d i 2 . 2 ~ ..__ .._ _ . Schoo l o fColonel L. D. Holder, M.A . Advanced Militar"y S'tudiesDegr"esPh i l i p J. Brookes, Ph.D F'Y"CJgl"'ams......... _ ~ .. L __# ! ~ ~ ..__ .. Dir e c t o r , Graduate

d."y o f __ J L _ _ . i 9E$ .. "


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ABSTRACTSOVIET PARTISAN WARFARE: INTEGRAL TO THE WHOLEby Major Russell W. Glenn, USA

Soviet use of part isans has demonstrated an at t i tude oni r regular warfare quite dif fe ren t than the typical westernperspective. Soviet i r regular warfare in the Russian Civi lWar and: World War I I was an integral part of the to ta l i ty ofarmed struggle. I t supported conventional actions as didarmor or ar t i l le ry support . This coordinaticn of regularand part isan operations was fac i l i t a ted by the firm oontrolthe Soviet s ta te required in implementing i r regular warfare.The Soviet General Staff and subordinate part isan commandsassigned missions which struck at enemy vulnerab i l i t ie s andc r i t i ca l points . Synchronization of the part isan andregular force missions abetted the unbalancing of the enemycenter of gravity.

This study f i r s t establishes the thecre t ica l andhis tor ica l bases for part isan warfare in the Soviet Union.There follows a review of World War I I part isan warfare.The study concludes with an analysis of Operation Bagrationin Belorussia during the summer of 1944 and the integrationof part isan and 65th Army actions during that operat ion.The concepts of i r regular warfare be ins a par t of theto ta l i ty of warfare, of a strong control st ructure , and ofthe role of the par t isans in attaoking enemy vulnerabil i t iesand c r i t i ca l points are developed continually in theanalysis .Contemporary implications of World War II part isanwarfare exis t for both the armed forces of the Soviet Unionand those of i t s surrogates. I ts impact is apparent in thecurrent Soviet emphasis on Spetsnaz, airborne, and airmobileforces. Soviet surrogates are fe r t i l e ground fordevelopment of part isan a c t i o n ~ . Most importantly, Westernwar f ighters who pers i s t in separating i r regular and regularwarfare fa i l to grasp the inseparable nature of the two inSoviet thinking.


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Table of Contents lh.&

I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 11 . History and Theory of Soviet Partisan Operations . . . .3111 . Soviet Partisan Warfare in World War I1 . . . . . . . . . . . .13 IV . Prelude to Operation Bagration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20V . Soviet Victory: Operation Bagration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 8VI . Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Table 1: Estimated Soviet Partisan Strength During WWII . 14Figure 1: Generalized Structure ofa Partisan Brigade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . follows page 17Maps: 1 . Soviet-German Front LineTrace. 4 July 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . follows page 19

2 . Soviet-German Front LineTrace. 22 June 1944 . . . . . . . . . . .follows page 203 . Operation Bagration: FrontLine Traces. 22 June and

18 July 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .follows page 224 . Operation Bagration . . . . . . . . . .follows page 25 5 . German Estimates of PartisanLocations and Strengths inJune. 1944 prior to OperationBagration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . follows page 27

Annex A . Location Map for Belorussia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-1 Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Endnotes-1 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bibliography-1


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I r r e g u l a r w a rf a r e i s n o t a s e p a r a t e fo r m o f w ar f r omt h e S o v i e t p e r s p e c t i v e ; i t i s o r g a n i c t o t h e w hole o fw a r f a r e . I t h a s a b e t t e d t h e d e s t r u c t i o n of enemy c e n t e r s ofg r a v i t y a s an i n t e g r a l p a r t o f armed s t r u g g l e i n b o t h t h eRu ss ia n C i v i l War and World War 11. The e f f e c t i v e n e s s ofi r r e g u l a r w a r f a re h a s been p o s s i b l e o n l y b e ca u se o f t h ec e n t r a l i z a t i o n of c o n t r o l m a in t ai n ed by t h e S o v i e tg o ve r nm en t , a c o n t r o l t h e y deem e s s e n t i a l .

T h i s a n a l y s i s r e v ie w s t h e S o v i e t de ve lo pm en t ofi r r e g u l a r w a r fa r e and i t s u s e by t h e S o v i e t s t a t e . Thei n v e s t i g a t i o n o pe ns w i t h t h e t h e o r e t i c a l and h i s t o r i c a lb ac kg ro un d of S o v i e t p a r t i s a n d o c t r i n e and i t s u s e i n t h eSecond World War. Th er e f o l l o ws a re vi ew of World War I1p a r t i s a n w a r fa r e w i t h re g ar d t o i t s r o l e i n u n b al a n ci n g t h ee ne my 's c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y . The s t u d y c o n c l u d e s w i t h ana n a l y s i s o f t h e S o v i e t o p e r a t i o n i n B e l o r u s s i a d u r i n g t h esummer of 1944 and t h e i n t e g r a t i o n of p a r t i s a n a nd 6 5 t h Armya c t i o n s d u r i n g t h a t o p e ra t i on .

The a n a l y s i s d e v el o p s t h r e e p r im a ry c o n c e p t s . F i r s t ,t h e S o v i e t s vi ew i r r e g u l a r w a r f a r e a s an o r g a n i c componento f a rmed s t r u g g l e , n o t a s an e n t i t y s e p a r a t e f romc o n v e n t i o n a l o p e r a t i o n s . T h i s v iew h a s i t s s o u r c e i n t h e i rd i a l e c t i c a pp ro ac h t o a n a l y s i s ; t h e y f o c u s on t h e u n i t y ofo pp os in g f o r c e s i n a p r o ce s s t h a t r e s u l t s i n s y n t h e s i s .S ec on dl y, f i r m p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l i s e s s e n t i a l t o t h e S o v i e t

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u s e o f p a r t i s a n s . T h e i r p o l i t i c a l s ys te m d o e s n o t t o l e r a t et h e e x i s t e n c e o f a p o l i t i c a l l y v i a b l e and armed e n t i t yw i t h o u t i t s s u b j u g a t i o n t o t h e Communist P a r t y . F i n a l l y ,t h e s t u d y e s t a b l i s h e s t h e r o l e o f t h e p a r t i s a n s a s acomplement t o r e g u l a r f o r c e s ; p a r t i s a n s s t r u c kv u l n e r a b i l i t i e s and c r i t i c a l p o i n t s i n c o o r d i n a t i o n w i t hc o n v e n t i on a l u n i t s t o a t t a c k t h e enemy c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y

" C e nt e r o f g r a v i t y " , when us ed i n t h i s s t u d y , r e f e r s t ot h e m as s o f t h e enemy o r o n e ' s own f o r c e s . T h i s i s i nk e ep i ng w i t h C l a u s e w i t z ' s c o nc e pt o f c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y a sd i s c u s s e d i n Book 6 , C h a p t e r 27 o f Qn War. ( b u t d i f f e r s w i t ht h a t o f EM 1 0 0- 5 , May 1 9 8 6 ) w h er e t h e a u t h o r s p e a k s o f t h ec o nc e pt a s f o l l o w s :

. . . t h e blow f ro m w h ic h t h e b r o a d e s t a nd m os tf a v o r a b l e r e p e r c u s s i o n s c an b e e xp e ct e d w i l l b eaimed a g a i n s t t h a t area where t h e g r e a t e s tc o n c e n t r a t i o n o f enemy t r o o p s c a n be f o un d . . .Ac e n t e r of g r a v i t y i s a l w a y s f o u n d w h er e t h e m as si s c o n c e n t r a t e d m os t d e n s e l y . = [ em ph as es a r e i no r i g i n a l ]

A t t ac k i ng t h e e ne my 's c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y d i r e c t l y i sp o s s i b l e . I t i s f r e q u e n t l y more e f f e c t i v e t o u n b al an c e i tby s t r i k i n g a t h i s v u l n e r a b i l i t i e s and c r i t i c a l p o i n t s w h i l ea p p l y i n g o n e ' s own c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y a g a i n s t t h eo p p o s i t i o n ' s w e a kn e ss e s.

I r r e g u l a r f o r c e s a r e " armed i n d i v i d u a l s o r g r o up s whoa r e n o t members o f t h e r e g u l a r armed f o r c e s , p o l i c e , o ro t h e r i n t e r n a l s e c u r i t y f o r c e s . " 2 and i r r e g u l a r w a r fa r e i s

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w a r f a r e i n v o l v i n g c o n f l i c t b et ween t h e s e and o t h e r f o r c e s .. .A p a r t i s a n , d e f i n e d i n t h e S p v i e t U n i o n t a r v A f Ua r v E n c v c l o ~ e d i cD l c t l m , i s " a pe r son who

v o l u n t a r i l y t a k e s p a r t a s a member o f armed o r g a n i z e dp a r t i s a n f o r c e s on enemy-occupied t e r r i t o r y ( t e r r i t o r yc o n t r o l l e d b y a r e a c t i o n a r y r e g i m e) . " P a r t i s a n u n i t s ,d e f i n e d i n t h e same d i c t i o n a r y , a r e " o r g a n i z a t i o n a l l yi n de p en d en t p a r t i s a n combat u n i t s . They [ a r e ] n o t a p a r t o ft h e r e g u l a r f o r c e s . " a S o v i e t Second World War p a r t i s a nu n i t s were t h e r e f o r e i r r e g u l a r f o r c e s .

The S o v i e t s vi ew w a r f a r e a s a wh ol e ; t h e y s t u d y i tu s i n g d i a l e c t i c l o g i c wi t h a f o c u s on t h e u n i t y o f i t so r g a n i c p a r t s . 4 Viewed f rom t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , p a r t i s a nw a r f a r e i s n o t s e p a r a t e f r om c o n v e n t i o n a l w a r f a r e b u tconiplements r e g u l a r o p e ra t i o ns j u s t a s d o es a i r o r a r t i l l e r ys u p p o r t . P a r t i s a n s wer e o n l y a means t o t h e S o v i e t end i nWorld War I;: t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e German c e n t e r o fg r a v i t y and u l t i m a t e v i c t o r y . To v i ew p a r t i s a n u n i t s a smany w r i t e r s d o , as l e s s t h an d e c i s i v e , l e s s t ha n co mp le te lye f f e c t i v e a s a f i g h t i n g f o r c e , a s a f o r c e which would havemet d e f e a t h ad i t no t be e n ac c ompan ie d by r e g u l a r a rmya c t i o n , i s t o f a i l t o u nd er s t an d S ov i e t t h i n k i n g . Thep a r t i s a n s w er e n o t a f o r c e i n and of t h e m se l ve s . I r r e g u l a rw a r f a r e was n o t a n i n d e pe n d e nt means of d e f e a t i n g t h e

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G er ma ns . R a t h e r b o t h w er e p a r t o f t h e wh ol e o f S o v i e tw a r f a r e . Nor w er e t h e p a r t i s a n s m e re l y a m i l i t a r y f o r c e .They were c r i t i c a l t o t h e l o n g t er m p o l i t i c a l end a s w e l l a st h e s h o r t t e r m m i l i t a r y g o a l .

H i s t o r i c a l e x p e r i en c e w i t h p a r t i s a n s p r i o r t o World WarI1 i n f l u e nc e d S o v i e t a t t i t u d e s toward i r r e g u l a r w ar f a re a sd i d t h e i r s t u d y of w a r f a r e a s a w ho le . T h e i r s was a h i s t o r yo f e f f e c t i v e p a r t i s a n o p er a t i o n s , b u t one l ac e d w i t hd i s t r u s t d u e t o a l a c k of p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l o ve r t h e s ef o r c e s . C o n t r o l was k ey t o t h e d e c i s i o n t o im pl em en tp a r t i s a n w a r f a r e a g a i n s t Axis f o r c e s , and p a r t i s a n w a r f ar ei n t h e S o v i e t U ni on d a r i n g World War I1 w a s c h a r a c t e r i z e d b yt h e c e n t r a l i z e d n a t u r e o f i t s o v e r s i g h t . I t was t h i s s amec o n t r o l w hi ch made t h e c l o s e c o o r d i n a t i o n o f p a r t i s a n a ndr e g u l a r a rmy a c t i o n s p o s s i b l e a t t h e o p e r a t i o n a l l e v e l .

S o v i e t s t u d i e s i nc l ud ed t h e r e a d i n g of OnWaLI.C l a us e w it z a d mi t t ed h i s u n d e r s t a nd i n g of i r r e g u l a r w a r f a r ewas l i m i t e d , b u t h e d i d s t u d y i t a s what h e c a l l e d " g e n e r a lu p r i s i n g s . " A lt ho ug h l i m i t e d i n e x p e r i en c e w i t h i r r e g u l a rw a r f a r e , C l a u s e w i tz w e l l u n d e r s t oo d i t s c h a r a c t e r :

By i t s v e ry n a t u r e , s uc h s c a t t e r e d r e s i s t a n c e w i l ln o t l en d i t s e l f t o major a c t i o n s , c l o s e l yc o mp r es s ed i n t i m e a nd s p a c e . I t s e f f e c t i s l i k et h a t o f t h e p r oc e s s of e v a p o ra t i o n : i t de pe nds onhow much s u r f a c e i s e xp os e d. The g r e a t e r t h es u r f a c e and t h e a r e a of c o n t a c t be tw ee n i t and theenemy f o r c e s , t h e t h i n n e r t h e l a t t e r h ave t o bes p r e a d , t h e g r e a t e r t h e e f f e c t o f a g e n e ra lu p r i s i n g . L i k e s m o l d e r i n g e mb er s, i t consumes theb a s i c f o u n d a t i o n s of t h e enemy f o r c e s . . .To be

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r e a l i s t i c , o n e m us t t h e r e f o r e t h i n k of a g e n e r a li n s u r r e c t i o n w i t h i n t h e f r a m e w o rk o f a w a rc o n d u c t e d b y t h e r e g u l a r a r m y , a n d c o o r d i n a t e d i no n e a l l - e n c o m p a s s i n g p l a n . 6

C l a u s e w i t z f u r t h e r u n d e r s t o o d t h e n e e d f o r d i r e c tr e g u l a r f o r c e s u p p o r t f o r i r r e g u l a r g r o u p s :

A c o m ma n d e r c a n m o re e a s i l y s h a p e a n d d i r e c tt h e p o p u l a r i n s u r r e c t i o n by s u p p o r t i n g t h ei n s u r g e n t s w i t h smal l u n i t s o f t h e r e g u l a r a r m y . 6T h o s u c c e s s o f i r r e g u l a r w a r f a r e d e p e n d e d o n f i v e c o n d i t i o n sb e i n g met:

1 ) t h e war h a d t o b e f o u g h t i n t h e i n t e r i o r o fc o u n t r y c o n d u c t i n g a g e n e r a l u p r i s i n g , t h e2 ) t h e wars t r o k e , c o u l d n o t b e q u i c k l y s e t t l e d b y a s i n g l e3 ) t h e t h e a t e r o f o p e r a t i o n s ha d t o b e l a r g e ,4 ) t h e n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e rf i g h t i n g , a n d h a d t o b e s u i t e d t o s u c h

5 ) t h e c o u n t r y h a d t o b e r o u g h a n d i n a c c e s s i b l e . 7C l a u s e w i t z c o u l d h a v e b e e n d e s c r i b i n g R u s s i a , a n d w e l l h em i g h t h a v e b e e n . H i s p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h p a r t i s a nw a r f a r e w e r e l i m i t e d t o h i s t i m e s p e n t i n t h e s e r v i c e o f t h ec z a r a n d K i n g o f P r u s s i a . C l a u s e w i t z s e r v e d a s a s t a f fo f f i c e r i n t h e R u s s i a n Army i n 1 8 1 2 ; d u r i n g t h a t p e r i o d t h eR u s s i a n G e n e r a l D a v i d o v c om manded a p a r t i s a n u n i t b e h i n dF r e n c h l i n e s . D a v id o v m ad e i t c l e a r

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t h a c p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e a im s n e i t h e r a t i n f l i c t i n gp i n p r i c k s o n t h e enemy, s u c h a s k i d n a p p i n g a n i s o l a t e d s e n t r y , n o r a t a c h i e v i n g a d e c i s i v e v i c t o r y b y a f r o n t a l a t t a c k on h i s main f o r c e .T h i s t y p e o f w a r f a r e " i s c on ce rn ed w i t h t h e e n t i r ea r e a w h ic h s e p a r a t e s t h e enemy f ro m h i so p e r a t i o n a l b a s e , " a nd i t s o b j e c t i v e s a r e " t o c u tt h e c om munica t ion l i n e s , d e s t r o y a l l u n i t s andwagons w a n t in g t o j o i n u p w i t h him, i n f l i c ts u r p r i s e b lo ws on t h e enemy l e f t w i t h o u t f o o d andc a r t r i d g e s a nd a t t h e same t i m e b l oc k h i s r e t r e a t .T h i s i s t h e r e a l meaning o f p a r t i s a n ~ a r f a r e . " ~

While p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n s were e f f e c t i v e a g a i n s t t h e F re nc hi n h a r a s s i n g t h e i r r e a r , K ut uz ov , commander o f t h e R us s i anf o r c e s , f e a r e d t h e i r u s e :

t h e r e s ee me d t o o much d o u b t a b o u t w h at t h e s e ar me dg r o u p s of p e a s a n t s would d o a f t e r t h e F re n c h hadb ee n e x p e l l e d . F o r him i t w as m ore L i k e l y t h a tt h e y would u s e t h e s e a rm s t o t u r n upon t h e i rl a n d l o r d s a nd a t t e m p t t o t h ro w o f f t h e bo nd ag e ofs e r f d o m . 9

T h i s c o n ce r n o v e r c o n t r o l h a s b e en common t o c z a r i s t R u s s i aand S o v i e t l e a d e r s a l i k e

T he R u s s i a n s i n 1 8 12 -1 81 3 d e m o n s t r a t e d t h e p h y s i c a l a ndp s y c h o i o g ic a l e f f e c t i v e n e s s of p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e . C l a us e w i t zu s e d i t s l e s s o n s t o de ve lo p s e v e r a l i m po r t a n t t h e o r e t i c a lc o n c e p t s . He saw i r r e g u l a r w a r f a r e ' s v a l u e i n c a u s i n g t h eenemy t o d i s p e r s e h i s f o r c e , t h e re b y r e d uc i ng h i s a b i l i t y t of o c u s c om ba t p ow er a t a g i v e n p l a c e a nd t i m e . S t a t e dd i f f e r e n t l y , i r r e g u l a r w a r f a r e i n t e r f e r e d w i t h t h e enem y' ss t r e n g t h e n i n g of h i s own c e n t e r of g r a v i t y . C l a u s e w i t zl i k e w i s e saw t h e n eed t o s u s t a i n t h e i r r e g u l a r f o r c e w i t h

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l i m i t e d r e g u l a r army s u p p o r t . T h i r d l y , i r r e g u l a r w a rf a rewas a s o u r c e o f f r i c t i o n f o r t h e enemy c omm an de r. H i st i m e t a b l e s and s t r e n g t h e s t i m a t e s were u p s e t b y t h e s ef o r c e s . F i n a l l y , and c r i t i c a l l y , C l a us e wi tz r ec og ni ze d t h a ti r r e g u l a r a nd r e g u l a r o p e r a t i o n s had t o b e " c oo r d in a t ed i no ne a l l- e n c o m p a s s in g p l a n . "

L en in r e a d and c a r e f u l l y s t u d i e d C l a u s e w i t z i n 1 91 5, lOb u t h i s e x p er i e n c e s wi t h p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e s d a t e t o e a r l i e ri n t h e 2 0t h c e n t u r y . The f a i l e d O c t ob e r , 1 90 5 r e v o l u t i o nw as l e d b y members o f s o v i e t s i n S t . P e t e r sb u rg and M oscow.S o v i e t s we re g r o u p s w hic h a c t e d a s s t r i k e c o mm it te es t of u r t h e r w or ke r d em an ds . A lt ho ug h L e ni n d i d n o t s e e v a l u e i nt h e s e o r g a n i z a t i o n s , T r o t s k y fo un d them t o be of s e r v i c e i nf u r t h e r i n g t h e g o a l s of t h e Bo l s he v i ks . They a c t e d a s t h ev i o l e n t arm of p a r t y w h i le t e c h n i c a l l y r e m ai n in g o u t s i d e i t sj u r i s d i c t i o n . 1 With t h e f a i l u r e of t h e 1905 r e v o l u t io n ,h ow ev er , L en in s a w t h e n ee d t o p e r p e t u a t e t h e u s e o fv i o l e n c e i n t h e s e r v i c e o f t h e Bo l sh e vi k c a u s e . The s o v i e t shad f a i l e d , y e t Le ni n n o te d t h e y a l u e af " ? a r t i s a n ma c t i v i t i e s i n r a i s i n g f un ds and e l i m i n a t i n g p a r t y e ne mi es ,p r i m a r i l y p u b l i c o f f i c i a l s . I n h i s O ct ob er , 1 906 t r e a t i s e" P a r t i s a n W a r fa r e ", L en in a d d r es s e d t h e u s e of t e r r o r i s m i nt h e s e r v i c e o f t h e B o l s h e v i k c a u s e . 1 2 A c t s o f c r i me w er ee x e c u t e d by p r o f e s s i o n a l c r i m i n a l s i n g r o u p s known a s" a t t a c k s q u a d s " o r " co mb at g r o u p s " . However, t h e s ec r i m i n a l s o f t e n f a i l e d t o a c t i n t h e b e s t i n t e r e s t s of t h e

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p a r t y a n d f r e q u e n t l y k e p t t h e s p o i l s 0 2 c h e i r a z t a c b s t ot h e m s e l v e s . L e n i n u s e d p a r t y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i n a t t e m p t s t ok e e p t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n s c l e a r o f " d u b i o u s a n d u n r e l i a b l ee l e m e n t s " . S u c h s u p e r v i s o r s w o u l d a p p r o v e o r d i s a p p r o v e o fa t t a c k s q u a d a c t i o n s , h a n d l e m a j o r o p e r a t i o n s ' l o g i s t i c a ls u p p o r t , a n d g e n e r a l l y o v e r s e e p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e s . 1 3A t t a c k s q u a d u s e n e v e r e x t e n d e d t o a n y t h i n g o t h e r t h a na s s a s s i n a t i o n s a nd r o b b e r y o f g o v e r n m e n t a l a g e n c i e s , p r i v a t eb u s i n e s s e s , o r a f f l u e n t i n d i v i d u a l s . l 4 . T h e y were, h o w e v e r ,a n i r r e g u l a r f o r c e i n t h e s e r v i c e o f t h e B o l s h e v i k s .

L e n i n l e a r n e d t h e n e e d f o r c l o s e c o n t r o l b y t h e p a r t yo v e r " p a r t i s a n " a c t i v i t i e s . He r e c o g n i z e d a s we l l t h a t s u c ha c t i v i t i e s c o u l d n o t a l o n e a c h i e v e t h e o b j e c t i v e s o f t h es t r u g g l e , b u t t h a t t h e p a r t y m u s t i n t e g r a t e p a r t i s a n a n do t h e r m e a n s o f f o r w a r d i n g i t s aims. H e r e w e r e so wn t h es e e d s f o r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f p a r t i s a n d o c t r i n e a s e x e c u t e di n W o rl d War 11.

L e n i n b e t t e r s y n t h e s i z e d h i s t h i n k i n g o n p a r t i s a nw a r f a r e d u r i n g h i s L a t a r exilz a n d a e a d i n g o f C l a u s a w i t z .H i s f i r s t o p p o r t u n i t y t o a p p l y h i s c o n c e p t s came i n t h eR u s s i a n C i v i l War. B o l s h e v i k p a r t i s a n s i n l a r g e n u m b e rsw o r k ed w i t h Red Army f o r c e s d u r i n g o p e r a t i o n s i n t h e e a s ta n d s o u t h . A s i m p o r t a n t a s t h e i r m i l i t a r y r o l e w e r e t h ep o l i t i c a l e f f e c t s o f t h e i r a c t i o n s . O f t e n w o r k i n g w h e r e t h ep e a s a n t s h a d s u f f e r e d f o r c e d r e q u i s i t i o n s b y W h i t e Armyu n i t s , " t h e y f o r g e d b o n d s o f s y m p a th y b e tw e e n t h e m s e l v e s an d

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t h e p o p u l a t i o n . . . s o t h a t i t becam e im poss ib le L O d i s t i n g u i s ht h e P a r t i s a n f rom t h e p e a c ef u l p e a s a n t . " l 6

P a r t i s a n s were n o ta b l y e f f e c t i v e i n t h e e a s t e r n t h e a t e ro f t h e C i v i l War. H ere t h e Red Army o f f e n s i v e o f 1919-1920was c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h e c o o p e r a t i o n o f t h e Red Army a ndp a r t i s a n s d u r i n g o p e r a t i o n s . The weak Wh ite c o a l i t i o n off o r c e s s u f f e r e d blo ws t o t h e i r c o h es i v en e s s and v u l n e r a b l es u p p l y l i n e s f ro m t h e r e a r w h i l e t h e Red Army b a t t l e d thema t t h e f r o n t . With p r e s s u r e from w i t h i n and o u t s i d e t h e i rt e r r i t o r y , t h e Whi te c e n t e r of g r a v i t y was d e s t r o y e d by t h ej o i n i n g of t h e " e x t e r n a l " and " i n t e r n a l " f r o n t s . 1 "P a r t i s a n s a l s o s e r ve d a s i n t e l l i g e n c e g a t h e r i n g f o r c e s ,r e p o r t i n g t h e s t a t u s of W hi te f o r c e s , r e a r a r e a c o n d i t i o ns ,and t h e s t a t u s of o r ga n iz e d d e f e n s e s . A c t i v i t i e s ofp a r t i s a n s and r e g u l a r army u n i t s we re c o o r d i n a t e d t h r o u ghR e v o l u t i on a r y M i l i t a r y C o u nc i l (RVS) r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a t t h ef r o n t and s u b o r d i n a t e RVS s e c t i o n s of t h e 5 t h and 3 r dA rm ie s. 17 The p a r t i s a n s we re a l s o a i d e d d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o db y i n f i l t r a t i o n s o f s m a l l co mmu nis t g r o u p s Prom t h e S i b e r i a nB ureau o f t h e C on t r o l C om m it t ee who worked w i th th em . l aT hes e p r a c t i c e s o f c o n t r o l l i n g p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e s from armys t a f f s e c t i o n s and of s e n di n g t r a i n e d p e r s on n e l t o l e a d andc o n t r o l p a r t i s a n g r o u p s would c o n t i n u e i n t h e S econd WorldWar.

L en in and t h e h i e r a r c h y of t h e p a r t y r e c og n i ze d t h ev a l u e of p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e , b u t t h e y had l e a r n e d t h e

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n e c e s s i t y f o r c l o s e c o n t r o l o f i t s f o r c e s . I n a tow s e c r e tc i p h e r e d t e l e gr a m t o t h e M i l i t a r y R e v o l u t io n a r y C o u n ci l o ft h e E a s t e r n F r o n t ( J u l y 1 7 , 1 9 1 9 ), L e ni n warned t h e b ody t ot a k e

s p e c i a l m ea su re s [ t o ] e n s u re a g a i n s t p i l f e r i n g ofarms b y t h e Ural w or ke rs s o a s t o p r e v en t t h eg r ow t h among them o f d i s a s t r o u s p a r t i s a nm e n t a l i t y ; s e co n dl y , t o s e e t h a t t h e S i b e r i a np a r t i s a n movement d o e s n o t d e m o r a l i z e o u rt r o o p s . 1sI n l a t e r e a s t e r n o p e r a t i o n s (November , 1 9 1 9- J an u ar y , 1 9 2 0 ),r e g u l a r f o r c e s e l i m i na t e d t h e p o t e n t i a l t h r e a t i n h e r e n t i narmed i r r e g u l a r s b y i n c o r p o r a t i n g b yp as s ed p a r t i s a n u n i t si n t o t h e i r r a n k s . 2 0 O r d e r numb er 1 1 17 o f D ecem ber 26 , 1 91 9f o r m al l y s u bo r d i n a t e d p a r t i s a n u n i t s t o m i l i t a r y c o mm a nd s .~ l

Thus t h e B ol s h e v ik l e s s o n s i n u s i n g p a r t i s a n s i n t h eC i v i l War w e r e m i x e d . W hi l e t h e y h ad b ee n a n e f f e c t i v ef o r c e i n t a r g e t i n g White v u l n e r a b i l i t i e s i n r e a r a r e a s andi n p r o v i d in g v a l u a b l e i n t e l l i g e n c e t o r e g u l a r f o r c e s , t h e i rp o l i t i c a l r e l i a b i l i t y and i n f l u e n c e were t o b e f e a r e d . TheC i v i l War had c o n f i r m ed t h e v a l u e a nd r i s k s of u s i n gp a r t i s a n s l e a r n e d i n 1812 and i n t h e r e a d i n g of C l a u s e w i t z .

The u l t i m a t e q u e s t i o n was wh et h er t h e b e n e f i t s o fi r r e g u l a r w a r fa r e ex c e ed e d t h e s e r i s k s t o t h e S o v i e t s t a t e .L en in saw v a l u e i n p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n s i n s p i t e o f t h ed a n g e r s . He r e c o gn i z e d p a r t i s a n p o t e n t i a l t o o ut ma ne uv erl a r g e r , l e s s mo bi le f o r c e s , t o c o n c en t r a te on v i t a l

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v u 1 , n e r a b i l i t i e s t o weaken t h e e ne my , t o r e d u c e enemy m o r a l e ,and t o bond t h e c i v i l i a n p o p u l a t i o n w i t h t h e Red

F r u n z e , a p r o m i n e n t C i v i l War commander, was av id i n h i ss u p p o r t o f p a r t i s a n s . He r e c o g n i z e d t h e i m p or t a nc e o f t h er e a r a nd t h e i m po r t of r e a r a r e a o p e r a t i o n s :

i n o u r t i me , t h e u ni on o f t h e f r o n t w i t h t h e r e a rm us t come much c l o s e r , more d i r e c t and d e c i s i v e .The l i f e a nd work o f t h e f r o n t a t a n y g i v e n momenti s c o n d i t i o n e d b y t h e work an d c o n d i t i o n o f t h er e a r . And, i n t h i s s e n s e , t h e c e n t e r of g r a v i t yi n t h e w aging o f war ha s moved back f rom th ef r o nt - - to t h e r e a r . " 2 3M a r s ha l T u k h ac h e v sk y , l i k e w i s e a success fu l com m ander

du I:i n g t h e C i v i l War, s t a t e d t h a t "b y o r g an i z in g u p r i s i n g sand p a r t i s a n a c t i o n s i n t h e r e a r o f t h e enemy we a l s o c r e a t ea f a v o r a b l e [ c o r l r e l a t i o n of f o r c e s . " z * T uk ha ch ev sk y' sc h i e f - o f - s t a f f n o te d t h e v a l u e of p a r t i s a n s i n " un e xp e ct e dl yi n f l i c t [ i n g ] damage on t h e e ne my 's s o f t s p o t s [ em ph as is i no r i g i n a l ] . " z 5 P a r t i s a n s f o r c e d t h e enemy t o f i g h t on twof r o n t s . They a l s o pr ov id ed a d e ep a t t a c k c a p a b i l i t y f o r Redf o r c e s . A s s u c h t h e y w er e a n e f f e c t i v e im pl em en t of w a r .

I n t e r w a r a n a l y s e s of C i v i l War p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e s wereb o t h h i s t o r i c a l and t h e o r e t i c a l . I n u s i ng t h e d i a l e c t i c

l o g i c c h a r a c t e r i z e d by t h e u n i t y o f o p p o s i t e s , z e S o v i e t st e nd e d t o c o n c e n t r a t e on t h e u n i t y , w e s t e r n e r s on t h eo p p o s i t e s . T hu s w h i l e t h e w e st h a s v ie we d i r r e g u l a r andr e g u l a r w a rf a re a s two d i s t i n c t fo rm s of c o n f l i c t , t h e

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S o v i e t s h a v e v i ew e d t he m a s c o m p o n e nt s o f t h e w h ol e ofw a r f a r e . A s s u ch t h e r e i s no i r r e g u l a r a nd r e g u l a r wa r, b u tr a t h e r w a r fa r e which i n c l u d e s p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n s a s a means

t o an e n d , j u s t a s t a nk maneuver a nd a i r s t r i k e s s e r v e t h a te n d . , V i c t o r y i s t h e s y n t h e s i s o f t h e s e m ea ns . The

-n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e t h i r d v olume of T . . ~a d d r e s s e s t h i s i s s u e , s t a t i n g "o ne can c ou n t on t h e f a c tt h a t wa r f ar e of s u c h a t y p e i n [ t h e ] f u t u r e . . . w i l l becomet h e p e r f e c t f e l l o w - t r a v e l e r o f r e g u l a r w a r f a r e .0 z 7

A lth ou gh no o f f i c i a l gu i da n ce f o r t h e i n t e g r a t i o n ofr e g u l a r and p a r t i s a n a c t i o n s a t e i t h e r t h e t a c t i c a l o ro p e r a t i o n a l l e v e l s would a pp ea r i n f i e l d r e g u l a t i o n s u n t i l1 9 44 , 2e t h e R us s ia n P a r t i s a n D i r e c t i v e o f 1 93 3 o u t l i n e d ag e n e r a l p l a n f o r p a r t i s a n w a r fa r e s ho u ld R u ss i a s u f f e ri n v a s i o n . 2 8 The S o v i e t L ea d e rs h i p c o n t i n u ed t o q u e s t i o n t h ep o l i t i c a l r e l i a b i l i t y of s u ch f o r c e s , b u t t r a i n e d a n uc l e uso f p o t e n t i a l p a r t i s a n l e a d e r s and s e n t some o f t hem t o f i g h ti n t h e S p a n i s h C i v i l War o f 1 93 6- 19 39 . A t l e a s t one oft h e s e v e t e r a n s c r e a t e d a s ch oo l f o r p a r t i s a n w a ~ f a r e n t heS o v i e t Union upon h i s r e t u r n . 3 0 The S o v i e t s a l s o c l o s e l ys t u d i e d t h e w r i t i n g s o f Mao T s e tu n g on g u e r r i l l a w a r f a r ed u r i n g t h e C h in e se C i v i l W ar .31

The S o v i e t s t h u s w er e w e l l - v e rs e d i n i r r e g u l a r w a r fa r ep r i o r t o Q p e ra t i on Barharossa i n 1 9 4 1. T he y h ad s t u d i e d t h ew r i t i n g s o f C l a u s e w i t z , Mao, a nd ha d t e s t e d t h e medium i nS p a i n . T he y had s e e n i t s u s e i n t h e i r c i v i l war a s a d ee p

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a t t a c k a s s e r which c o ul d a s s i s t i n u n ba l a nc i n g t h e enemyc e n t e r of g r a v i t y . They r e c og n i ze d t h e a b s o l u t e n ee d f o rf i r m m i l i t a r y and p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l o v er p a r t i s a n f o r c e s .T h e y a l s o saw p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e a s more t h an a m i l i t a r y t o o l .I t s i n f l u e n c e was p o t e n t f o r pr op ag an da u s e and f o r a s s u r i n gc o nt i nu e d s u p p o r t o f c i t i z e n s i n enemy h e ld t e r r i t o r y .Whi le i t was an e f f e c t i v e f o r c e , i t was n o t of i t s e l f ad e c i s i v e o n e. P a r t i s a n w a r f a r e was, h o we ver , o r g a n i c t o t h ewaging of war .

S o v i e t P a r t i s a n W a r f m i n W o U War I.I.A l th o ug h p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e ha d b ee n e n v i s i o n e d by S o v i e t

l e a d e r s h i p p r i o r t o t h e German i n v a s i o n o f J u n e 2 2 , 1941 ,t h e y had n o t c o n s i d e r e d i t s u s e a t t h e ma gn it ud e r e a l i z e d byt h e co nc lu s i on o f World War 11.32 The p a r t i s a n movement int h e Second Wor ld War began h a l t i n g l y and o n l y by 1943-1944d i d i t b e gi n t o a c h i e v e i t s f u l l p o t e n t i a l a s a m i l i t a r y andp o l i t i c a l imp lem en t o f t h e S o v i e t r e gi me . C o n t r a r y t op r o p ag a n d a, t h e p a r t i s a n movement was n o t t h e c h i l d of ap o p u l a r u p r i s i n g , b u t r a t h e r was a w e l l - c o n t r o l l e d andd i r e c t e d e n t i t y i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e whole of w a r fa r e .

P a r t i s a n w a rf a r e grew from v i r t u a l l y no f o r c e a t a l l i n

t h e s ummer o f 1 9 4 1 t o t h e s t r e n g t h s shown i n T a b l e 1 . Thet o t a l number o f i n d i v i d u a l s i n v ol v e d i n t h e p a r t i s a n f o r c eo v e r t h e d u r a t i o n o f t h e war t o t a l s an e s t i m a t e d4 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 .

P a g e 1 3


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Time Pe r iod I E s ti ma te d S o v i e t P a r t i s a n S t r e n g t h IIIII1

J a n u a r v ,.Summer,Summer,J u n e ,

1942194219431944

1111

30.000150 ] 000200,000

150,000 - ZOO , OOO *II * T he n um ber o f a c t i v e p a r t i s a n s was r e du c e d asI S o v i e t f o r c e s r eg a i ne d o c cu pi ed t e r r i t o r y .I

W e 1: E s t h t e d S o v i e t Pa r t is a r i S t r e n g t h D WWU33

The g r ow t h o f S o v i e t p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e p a s se d t h r o u g ht h r e e s t a g e s . 3 4 The f i r s t p h a s e b eg an w i t h t h e Germani n v a s io n i n J u n e , 1941 and ended i n December o f t h a t y e a r .Most e f f e c t i v e p a r t i s a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s w er e fo rm ed f ro m RedArmy s t r a g g l e r s whose u n i t s h ad b ee n b y pa s se d i n e a r l yf i g h t i n g . Many o f t h e s o l d i e r s w er e n a t i v e s o f t h e a r e a s i nwhich t h e y had f o u g h t ; t h e i r a b i l i t y t o s u r v i v e and t a k ea d va nt ag e of t h e t e r r a i n was t h e r e f o r e f a c i l i t a t e d byp r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e . = =

P a r t i s a n a c t i o n s i n p h a s e o ne we re i n d e p en d en t o fr e g u l a r army an d o t h e r i r r e g u l a r o p e r a t i o n s . 3 e Many g r o u p swere f i g h t i n g f o r l i t t l e o t h e r t ha n s u r v i v a l ; t h e y werep o o r l y e q u ip p ed , p o o r l y l e d , and a t t e m p te d t o a v o id c o n t a c tw i t h G er ma ns . T he p o p u l a t i o n was u n s y m p a t h e t i c t o t h ep a r t i s a n c a u s e , t h e more s o when p a r t i s a n s a t t e m p t ed t od e p r i v e them o f l i m i t e d f o o d s t u f f s . A s s uc h , i r r e g u l a rw a r f a r e was i n e f f e c t i v e a s a com pon en t of S o v i e t w a r f a r e .

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P a r t i s a n a c e i o n s were l i t t l e more t ha n t h e p i n p r i c k s G e ne r a lD avidov had sco rne d i n 1812 .

Pha se two began i n December of 1941 and ended i n t h e

summer o f t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r . T he s u c c e s s o f S o v i e to f f e n s i v e s l a t e i n 19 41 and t h e German p o l i c y o f a t r o c i t ya g a i n s t c i v i l i a n s p r e c i p i t a t e d r a p i d g r ow t h i n p a r t i s a nn umb er s and s u p p o r t f ro m t h e p o p u l a t i o n . P a r t i s a n u n i t s nowf r e q u e n t l y c o n t r o l l e d t h e p o pu l a t i on i n l a r g e a r e a s4 3t h r o u g h a c om bi na t io n of a s s i s t a n c e and s e v e r e r e t r i b u t i o na g a i n s t t h o s e c o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h t h e enemy o r f a i l i n g t os u p po r t t h e c a us e . V i ol e n t p a r t i s a n a c t i o n s were d i r e c t e da g a i n s t t h e Germans a s p a r t o f a s y s t e m a t i c p ro gr am ofp r ov o ca t io n t o i n c i t e German r e a c t i o n s a g a i n s t t h e c i v i l i a np o p u l a t i o n and d r i v e t h e p eo p le t o a p r o - p a r t i s a n s t a n c e . 3 7

With t h e g r ow th o f p a r t i s a n s t r e n g t h came t h e nee d t os e c u r e f i r m c o n t r o l o v e r i t s a c t i o n s . On May 30 , 1 9 4 2 t h eC e n t r a l Commit tee c r e a t e d t h e C e n t r a l S t a f f of t h e P a r t i s a nMovementae and appointed P . K . Ponomarenko a s i t s c h i e f o fs t a f f . The same d i r e c t i v e o r de r ed o r g a n i z a t i o n o f s i xr e g i o n a l p a r t i s a n movement s t a f f s s u b o r d i n a t e t o t h e C e n t r a lS t a f f . 3 9 E f f i c i e n c y and o r g a n i z a t i on of p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e sim proved im m edia te ly .

The i mp o rt an ce of t h i s c o n t r o l i n l i g h t of L e n i n ' se x p e r i e n c e s c an n o t b e o v e r s t a t e d . "The i m p o r ta n ti n n o v a t i o n i n S o v i e t p a r t i s a n w a r f a r e i n t h e S ov ie t- Ge rm anwar was t h e s t r i c t d e g r e e o f c e n t r a l i z e d command and

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c o n t r o l . " 4 0 To s t r e n g t h e n t h e l e a d e r b a s e , Red Armyo f f i c e r s w er e f r e q u e n t l y f l ow n i n t o a ss um e command o f t h eu n i t s o r t o s e r v e i n o t h e r key p o s i t i o n s . 4 1 E a r l y g ro up s

h ad b e e n v e ry d e p e n d e n t on t h e i r c omma nd ers o r c o mmissa r s ;l o s s of t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s had o f t e n l e d t o co m pl et e l o s s ofu n i t c o he si on and t h e d i s i n t e g r a t i o n of t h e u n i t d u r i n g t h ew i n t e r o f 1 9 41 - 42 .

The n a t u r e o f p a r t i s a n c o n t r o l t o ok on a t r i p a r t i t ec h a r a c t e r . F i r s t , m i l i t a r y o f f i c e r s s e r ve d down t o s quadl e v e l . S ec on d, p o l i t i c a l c om mi ss ar s s e r v e d i n company s i z eand l a r g e r u n i t s . T h i r d , t h e P e o p l e ' s C om mi ss ar ia t ofI n t e r n a l A f f a i r s ( N K V D ) had r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a t r e g i m e nt a land h i gh e r l e v e l , and a t t i m es i t s p e r s o n ne l s e r ve d a tb a t t a l i o n l e v e l . I n a l l t h r e e c a s e s , t h e i n d i v i d u a l sr e p o r t ed t o and r e c e i v e d i n s t r u c t i o n s from t h e i r h i g h e rh e a d q u a r t e r s . 4 2

W hi le c o n t r o l o f p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n s an d en ha nc ede f f e c t i v e n e s s w er e t h e l e g a c y o f p h a s e tw o, p h a s e t h r e e wast h e p e r i o d of ma tu re p a r t i s a n a c t i o n . B eg in ni ng i n t h eautumn of 1 94 2 a nd c o n t i n u i n g u n t i l t h e en d o f t h e w a r, t h i sp h a s e was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an i n c r e a s e d number of c i v i l i a n si n t h e p a r t i s a n r a n k s ( a s German c o u n t e r a c t i o n s a g a i n s t

p a r t i s a n s t o ok t h e i r t o l l on t h e o r i g i n a l gr o u p s of Red Armys t r a g g l e r s ) , an even g r e a t e r l e v e l of p o p ul a r s up p or t ( a sc i t i z e n s r e a l i z e d t h e i n e v i t a b l e r e t u r n of S o v i e t r u l e andt h e Germans began f o r c e d e x p o r t a t i o n o f c i v i l i a n s t o t h e

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w e st f o r i n d u s t r i a l l a b o r ) , and b e t t e r c o n t r o l of p a r t i s a no p e r a t i o n s . 4 3 By l a t e summer o f 1942 t h e r e w e re f e w b a n d sof s t r e n g t h l e s s th a n 35 0; a ny s m a l l e r gr o u p s were l i k e l y t ob e s p e c i a l i z e d . V er y f ew b r i g a d e s w er e o v e r 2 000 i ns t r e n g t h d ue t o t h e v u l n e r a b i l i t y o f l a rge g ro up s t o a t t a c k :and t h e d e a r t h o f c a p a b l e commanders. The r e s t r i c t i o n ons i z e was a l s o a c o n s c i ou s d e c i s i o n by S o v i e t 1 e a d e r s h i p . d eToo l a r g e a p a r t i s a n u n i t g a v e i t s l e a d e r s t o o g r e a t ani m pl em e nt o f i n f l u e n c e .

L ar ge r u n i t s t en de d t o ab s or b o t h e r s . S t a f f s i nc lu de dl o g i s t i c , i n t e l l i g e n c e , and NKVD s e c t i o n s . B r i g ad e s had ac h i e f o f s t a f f , o f t e n a Red Army o f f i c e r who p l a n n edo p e r a t i o n s a nd i n f l u e n c e d t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n . 4 5 A g e n e r a l i z e ds t r u c t u r e of a p a r t i s a n b r i g a d e w i t h o t r v a ( d et a ch m en ts ,t h e b a s i c u n i t l e v e l ) i s shown a t E i g u r e 1.48 L a t e r i n t h ew ar , s e p a r a t e d e t a ch m e n ts , b a t t a l i o n s , and b r i g a d e s we reo f t e n l o o s e l y o r g a n i z e d i n t o "c om pl ex es " of u p t o 1 5 , 0 0 0p a r t i s a n s .

The C e n t r a l S t a f f i n Moscow, r e p u b l i c a nd oblast( c o u n t y ) s t a f f s o f t h e p a r t i s a n movement r e t a i n e dr e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r u n i t o r g a n i z a t i o n , s u p e r v i s i o n of u n i tl e a d e r s h i p , and co o p e ra t i o n of p a r t i s a n u n i t s w i t h r e g u l a rarmy u n i t s . 4 7 I mp ro ve me nt s i n t h i s l a s t a r e a w er ee s p e c i a l l y n o t a b l e i n p h as e t h r e e . The same c o n t r o l wh iche ns ur ed p o l i t i c a l c o m pl ia nc e f a c i l i t a t e d c e n t r a l d i r e c t i o no f p a r t i s a n - R e d Army o p e r a t i o n s . T he n um be r o f p a r t i s a n

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S k e t c h 1: L:er,eral izod :5.t i , .ucture of a I 3 a r t i s a n BrigadeCLOLIT (5e Doc: urnr3n.t: w i c t r s i r J , . Ed .tJml-tn A,. Au-m!- ,t~ -onq . P iad ison, , W is co i i s i n : U n i v w -s : i t y 0 .fWih ;cons in Press, 15'64, p . 9 9 .


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u n i t s h a v i n g r a d i o c o mm un ic at io n w i t h h i g h e r h e a d q u a r t e r sr e a c h ed 90 % . E xc ha ng e o f i n t e l l i g e n c e was r o u t i n e .I mp ro ve d s u p p l y f r om S o v i e t s o u r c e s a l l o w e d a s s i g n m e n t o fmore c om pl ex m i s s i o n s . C o o r d i n a t i o n of p a r t i s a n a nd r e g u l a rarmy o p e r a t i o n s became more s o p h i s t i c a t e d . 4 8 P a r t i s a n sc ou ld now s t r i k e German v u l n e r a b i l i t i e s and c r i t i c a l p o i n t sa s a t r u l y e f f e c t i v e imp lemen t o f w a r f a r e .

While t h e most d r a m a t i c s h o r t t er m e f f e c t o f t h ep a r t i s a n a c t i o n s was m i l i t a r y , t h e l o n g t er m im p ac t wasp r ed o mi n an t ly p o l i t i c a l . N e a rl y 4 0 %, o r 70 m i l l i o n , ofS o v i e t c i t i z e n s l i v e d i n a r e a s o cc up ie d by t h e Germansd u r i n g World War 1 1 . 4 8 P a r t i s a n s were d i r e c t e d t o e n s u ret h e s e p e op l e d i d n o t c o l l a b o r a t e w i t h t h e enemy and t h a tt h e y w ere c o n s t a n t l y r em in de d t h a t S o v i e t i n f l u e n c e s t i l le x t e n de d t o t h e i r ho m el an ds . 60 C a d re w er e c a r e f u l l ys e l e c t e d f o r p o l i t i c a l r e l i a b i l i t y and p a r t i s a n ban dst h e m s el v e s w er e s u b j e c t e d t o i n t e n s e p r o -S o v i e t p r o pa g an d a .The r i s k s i nv ol ve d i n u s i n g t h e p a r t i s a n s w ere n e v erf o r g o t t e n by Moscow, however. Un i t s were q u ic k ly d i s ban dedo r a bs or be d by r e g u l a r army u n i t s a s p a r t i s a n o r g a n i z a t i o n swere ove r r un by t h e r e t u r n in g Red Army.51

C o o p e r at i o n be tw ee n p a r t i s a n u n i t s and t h o s e o f t h er e g u l a r army d u r i n g ma jo r o p e r a t i o n s e f f e c t i v e l y bega n w i t ht h e K ur sk o p e r a t i o n ( J u l y- A u g u s t, 1 9 4 3 ) . S e l e c t e d p o r t i o n so f r a i l r o a d t r a c k b eh in d enemy l i n e s w ere d e s i g n a t e d f o rd e m o l i t i o n w i t h D i r e c t i v e #0 06 of J u l y 17, 1 9 4 3 . Demol i t i on

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o p e r a t i o n s w e re t o c ommence a t t h e command o f t h e C e n t r a lS t a f f w i t h t h e o b j e c t i v e of f i x i n g t h e S econd P an z er a ndN i n t h A rm ie s f o r w a rd i n t h e Or e 1 b u l g e ( s e e c e n t e r o f Map1). L ar ge q u a n t i t i e s of e x p l o s i v e s wer e f lo wn i n f o re x e cu t i on of r a i l t a r g e t s , and o r d e r s were g i v en f o rc on t i nu ed o p e r a t i o n s a f t e r t h e o r i g i n a l s e r i e s o fd e m o l i t i o n s . I n l a t e J u l y , 1943 , p a r t i s a n s c om pl et ed 1 0 , 0 0 0d e m o l i t i o n s on r a i l l i n e s . However, t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s of" t h e r a i l w ar" was l i m i t e d . R a i l r o a d s we re n o t c o m p l et e l yc u t . P a r t i s a n e f f o r t s were t o o w id el y d i s p e r s e d andf o ll o w- u p o p e r a t i o n s w er e n e v e r e x e c u t e d . Many l i n e s t h a tw er e d i s r u p t e d we re s e c o n da r y r o u t e s w h i le p r i ma r y r o u t e sd i d n o t s u s t a i n enough damage t o h a l t t r a n s i t . 5 2

Y et t h e p a r t i s a n s ' t a s k s en co mp as se d more t h a n s i m p l yr oa d and r a i l d i s r u p t i o n . P a r t i s a n s s ec ur ed a t o t a l of 25c r o s s i n g s o ve r t h e D es na , D ni e p er , and P r i p y a t ( s p e l l e dP r i p e t on Map 1 ) R i v e r s f o r Red Army u s e d u r i n g t h e S o v i e tc o u n t e r o f f e n s i v e a t K ur sk . A c t io n s a t t i m e s we re d i r e c t l yc o o r d i n a t e d be tw ee n p a r t i s a n s a nd Xed Army u n i t s a t r e g i m e n tand h i gh e r l e v e l s . P a r t i s a n s le d u n i t s t o t h e c r o s s i n gs i t e s and p o i n t e d o u t enemy g u n p o s i t i o n s . E ac h company i nsome l o c a t i o n s h ad a p a r t i s a n g r o u p a cc om pa ny in g i t . 6 3

Thus w h i le t h e r a i l d e m o l i t io n s were n o t a s s u c c e s s f u la s had be en h op ed , t h e p a r t i s a n s had p r o v i d e d ke y a s s i s t a n c et o r e g u l a r u n i t s i n t h e K u r s k o p e r a t i o n . T he y had s e c u r e dr i v e r c r o s s i n g s i t e s b e f o r e t h e Germans c o ul d s t r e n g t h e n

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r i v e r d e f e n s e s and had t h en g u id e d a r r i v i n g S o v i e t u n i t so v e r t h e r i v e r s t o h a s t e n t h e i r a dv an ce . They t h u s ha s te n edt h e c o l l a p s e o f t h e German d e f e n s e s w h i l e r e d u c i n g S o v i e t

l o s s e s du e t o un n ec e ss a r y c o n t a c t . The p a r t i s a n s a b e t t e dt h e s h a t t e r i n g o f t h e German c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y a nd p os t po n edt h e S o v i e t c u l m i n a t i n g p o i n t b y r e d u c in g u nn e c es s a ry c o n t a c tw i t h enemy f o r c e s .

The r e ma i nd e r of t h i s a n a l y s i s f o c u s e s on p a r t i s a no p e r a t i o n s i n B e l o r u s s i a , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h o se i n s u p p or t ofO p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n ( J u n e- A u gu s t , 1 9 4 4 ) . T he o p e r a t i o ni t s e l f i s d e s c r i b e d f o l l o w i n g a r e vi e w o f t h e s t r a t e g i c ando p e r a t i o n a l s i t u a t i o n . P a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n i s p a id t o t h ea c t i o n s of t h e 6 5 t h Army i n t h e s o u t h ' a s t h e a n a l y s i si n c or p o ra t e s a d e t a i l e d l oo k a t t h e i n t e g r a t i o n o f p a r t i s a na nd 6 5 t h Army o p e r a t i o n s . 5 4

The S o v i e t s p r i n g , 1944 o f f e n s i v e s e c u r e d t h el i b e r a t i o n of m os t o f t h e U k r ai n e . The l s t , 2nd, and 3rdU k r a i n i a n F r o n t s w er e on t h e R omanian b o r d e r b y l a t e A p r i land e a r l y May, b u t t h e r e t h e o f f e n s i v e s lo we d t o a h a l t . 5 5S o v i e t u n i t s wer e po se d w i t h i n s t r i k i n g d i s t a n c e of Lvov( s p e l l e d Lwow on Map 2 ) and Lub l inSe ( s e e l e f t c e n t e r o f Map2 ) . A t t h i s p o i n t t h e S o v i e t h i g h command c o n s i d e r e d t h r e e

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p r i m a r y o p t i o n s f o r t h e m a j o r e f f o r t i n t h e s u m m e r o f t h a ty e a r . 57

F i r s t , t h e o f f e n s i v e i n t h e U k r a i n e c o u l d c o n t i n u e i n t ot h e B a l k a n s . T h e Red Army h a d a l l f i v e o f i t s t a n k armiesi n t h e v i c i n i t y , b u t s u c h a n o f f e n s i v e w o u l d l e a v e a l a r g en u m be r o f G e rm a n u n i t s o n t h e s t r a t e g i c f l a n k t o t h e n o r t h .A d d i t i o n a l l y , t h e S o v i e t a n d G e rm a n f o r c e s i n t h e r e g i o nwere r o u g h l y e q u i v a l e n t a n d t h e r e f o r e t h e f o r c e r a t i o wasn o t c o n d u c i v e t o f u r t h e r o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s . 5 8

T h e s e c o n d o p t i o n was e x t r e m e l y b o l d i n c o n c e p t . L a r g et a n k f o r m a t i o n s i n t h e n o r t h e r n U k r a i n e w o u l d s t r i k e d e e p t ot h e V i s t u l a a n d n o r t h t o t h e B a l t i c S e a , e n c i r c l i n g b o t hArmy G r o u p s C e n t e r a n d N o r t h . T h i s was a m a j o r s t r a t e g i cm a n e u v e r . STAVKA, h o w e v e r , b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e R ed Army w a sj u s t r e a c h i n g t h e p o i n t w h e r e i t c o u l d c o n d u c t s u c c e s s f u lo p e r a t i o n a l m a n e u v e r . Here a g a i n t h e r e w o u l d a l s o b e al a r g e f o r c e o n t h e e a s t e r n f l a n k w h i c h c o u l d s t r i k e t h ea t t a c k i n g f o r c e , e v e n w i t h t h e P r p y a t m a r s h e s p r o t e c t i n g al a r g e p a r t o f t h a t E l a n k . s s

T h e t h i r d o p t i o n , t h a t w h i c h was a d o p t e d , was aB e l o r u s s i a n o p e r a t i o n w h ic h w o u ld d e s t r o y Arm y G ro u p C e n t e r .W h i l e m or e c o n s e r v a t i v e t h a n t h e s e c o n d a l t e r n a t i v e , t h i so f f e n s i v e w o u l d p r o v i d e a s p r i n g b o a r d i n t o E a s t P r u s s i a e o o ri n t o t h e f l a n k s a n d r e a r o f t h o s e f o r c e s now b l o c k i n g t h ew ay t o L v ov a n d H u n g a r y . S u c c e s s b y t h e Red Army w o u ld a l s om ove S o v i e t f o r c e s t o w a r d t h e b o r d e r s o f G e rm a n y b y t h e m o s t

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d i r e c t r o u t e . e L A d d i t i o n a l l y , Moscow was s t i l l w i t h i n r a n g eo f German b om be rs b a s e d i n B e l o r u s s i a . T he r o a d an d r a i ln e t wo r k had b ee n we l l -d e v e lo p e d by S o v i e t u n i t s i n t h e a r e ad u r i n g t h e p r e v i o u s w i n t e r and s p r i n g . 6 2 F i n a l l y , t h ep a r t i s a n s t r e n g t h of a p p r o x i m a t el y 1 4 0, 00 0 b e h in d t h e Germanl i n e s , w i t h whole d i s t r i c t s c o n t r o l l e d by t h e s e f o r c e s ,f a vo re d o p e r a t i o n s i n t h e a r e a . 6 3

The German l i n e s of communica t ions (LOCs) werew e l l- d e ve l o pe d b et we en t h e c i t i e s o f Mi nsk , V i l n i u s , andB r e s t , a nd g oo d n o r t h - s o u t h LOCs ran be tween Molodechno,M insk , and B ara nov ich i ( s e e Map 3 ) . T h e a r e a was h e a v i l ywooded w h i ch h ad c a u s e d p r o b l e ms f o r t h e S o v i e t s d u r i n ge a r l i e r f i g h t i n g f ro m Moscow t o S mo le ns k i n l a t e 1 94 2 t ol a t e t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r . STAVKA t h e r e f o r e d e c i d e d t o u s eo n l y o n e t a n k a rmy ( t h e 5 t h G u a rd s ) i n B a g r a t i o n . 6 6 Twoa r m i e s wer e a l s o moved f ro m t h e Cr im ea a s s t r a t e g i cr e s e r v e s , t h e 5 1 s t Army t o Gomel ( i n t h e l o we r r i g h t o f Map3 ) a nd t h e 2nd G u ar d s Army t o Y a r t s e v o ( o f f t h e map t o t h er i g h t of O r s h a ) . e6

Ge og ra ph y i n f l u e n c e d t h e p l a n n i n g o f o p e r a t i o n a lo b j e c t i v e s . The p h a s e s of t h e o p e r a t i o n were g e n e r a l l yo u t l i n e d by t h e ac hi ev em en t of t h e f o l l o w i n g o b j e c t i v el i n e s :

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. . O p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n : F r o n t L i n e T r ac e s , 112 J une,and 16 J u l y :I944 !NOTE: S p e l: i i np c , o f r i v e r s andt o w n s :in t h e t e x t may d i f f e r t r a m t h o s e on I T I Z P S ~Locxt: i ims not: -Cound an ei ther - I ' laps 3 o r 4 a r e ont i - i f ? m a p i n Anne:.: A w i i e s s o t h er u r i s e n n t ~ d . )

I


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Phase 1 V i t e b s k , O r s h a , Mo g i l ev , B o b r u i s kPhase 2 B e r e z i n a R i v e rPhase 3 Minskm s e 4 : Key c o r r i d o r s f o r r o a ds and r a i l s , t oi n c l u d e Ho l od e ch n o an d t h e H o l od e ch n o g a p a n d t h eB a r a n o v i c h i g a p w i t h t h e c i t y of S t o l b t s y . ~ ~The t o t a l f r o n t a g e was a p p r ox i m at e l y 1000 k i l o m e t e r s .

The s o u t h e r n p o r t i o n p a s s e d t h r o u g h t h e P r i p y a t m ar s h e s,w hi ch we re u n s u i t a b l e f o r l a r g e s c a l e a rmo r o r me ch an iz edo p e r a t i o n s . 8 7 Moving n o r t h a lo n g t h e f r o n t , t h e t e r r a i nf rom t h e B e re z i na R ive r n o r t h t o Bykhov ( no t shown on Map 3 ;see Map 4 f o l l o w i n g p a g e 25 ) was h e a v i l y wooded w i t h t h ee x c ep t i on of n a rr ow s t r i p s d i r e c t l y s o u t h of t h e B e re z in aa nd a l o n g t h e Zh l ob i n -Roga t chev -Bob r u i sk l i n e w he re a r mo rc o u l d o p e r a t e . On ly t h e P r u t R i v e r was a s e r i o u s o b s t a c l ei n t h i s a r e a . Prom Bykhov t o O rs h a t h e gr ou nd was s o l i d ,h i l l y , p a r t i a l l y wooded and e a s i l y p a s s a b l e . Between O rs haa nd V i t e b s k t h e t e r r a i n was op en an d t h e g r ou n d f i r m , go od o r i a r g e s c a l e o p e r a t i o n s a i t h t a n k a nd me ch an iz edf o r c e s . a 8

T he German f r o n t l i n e s i n J u n e , 1944 were l e s s a m a t t e ro f c h o i c e t h a n t h e r e s u l t o f w h e re Army G ro up C e n t e rf i g h t i n g had s to p pe d d u r i n g b a t t l e s t h e p r e v i o u s w i n t e r ands p r i n g . F i e l d p o s i t i o n s were p o o r , o f t e n l i t t l e more thanf u n d a m e n t a l e n t r e n c h m e n t s . T h e r e was a g e n e r a l l a c k ofb u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s , m in es , and no t a c t i c a l w i r e . 8 9 T he re

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were no alternative o r s e co n da r y p o s i t i o n s ; d e f e n s e s 7 0t h e r e f o r e s u f f e r e d a l a c k of d e p t h . The d e a r t h o f s uc hi m pr o ve m en t s when t h e Ge rma ns h ad b e e n i n t h e a r e a f o r t h eb e t t e r p a r t of a y e a r i s d i f f i c u l t t o e x p l a i n . I n p a r t i twas d u e t o manpower s h o r t a g e s . S o l d i e r s : no t i n f or w a rdp o s i t i o n s were o f t e n e ngaged i n a n t i - p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n sr a t h e r t ha n b u i l d i n g p o s i t i o n s . 7 1

The S o v i e t s had g one o ve r t o t h e t a c t i c a l d e f e n s e a tt h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e STAVKA on A p r i l 17, 1944 i n p r e p a r a t i o nf o r t h e coming o f f e n s i v e . 7 2 T h e i r o b j e c t i v e s f o r t h e summero f f e n s i v e w er e

1 . t h e l i b e r a t i o n of B e l o r u s s i a ,2 . t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f Army G ro up C e n t e r ,3 , t h e l i b e r a t i o n o f o t h e r E ur op ea n n a t i o n s , and4 . t o c on du ct o p e r a t i o n s s e q u e n t i a l l y r a t h e r t h ans i m u l t a n e o u s l y .

The German o b j e c t i v e s f o r t h i s p e r i o d w er e1 . t h e d e f e a t of A l l i e d l a n d i n g s i n Fr a n ce ,2 . t o win t i me f o r t h e A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n t o d i s i n t e g r a t e , 3 . s u c c e s s f u l d e f e n s e i n t h e e a s t w i t h t h e f o r c e si n t n a t t h e a t a r ,4 . d e f e a t o f t h e e x pe c t ed S o v i e t summer o f f e n s i v ei n t h e U kr a in e w i t h m o bi le r e s e r v e s ,and5 . t h e h o ld i ng of t h e I t a l i a n f r o n t . 7 3

I n s p i t e of e x t e n s i v e S o v i e t d e c e p t i on m ea su re s , t h eG ermans knew an o f f e n s i v e a g a i n s t Army Group C en te r w asp e n d i n g . 7 4 H ow ev er , t h e y d i d n o t know i t s m a g n i t u d e , t h el o c a t i o n of i t s main e f f o r t , n o r i t s e x a c t t i m i n g . The

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S o v i e t s were p l a n n i n g n e a r s i m u l t a ne o u s bl ow s t o c r u s hf o r c e s a ro u nd V i t e b s k a nd B o b r u i s k a nd t o d e s t r o y Germans i nt h e v i c i n i t y of Mo gi le v. The e a r l y a t t a i n m e n t of t h e s e

o b j e c t i v e s wo ul d g i v e t h e Red Army t h e r o a d t o M i ns k . T he yc o u l d t h e n s e v e r t h e German e s c a p e r o u t e w e s t o f M in sk ,e n t r a p Army G ro up C e n t e r , a n d d e s t r o y i t s r e m n a n t s p i e c e m e a lw i t h a i r , p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i on s , and a c t i o n s by t h r e e Red Armyf r o n t s . The 2nd B e l o r u s s i a n F r o n t was ma ki ng a s u p p o r t i n ga t t a c k t o p i n f o r c e s which c ou ld i n t e r f e r e w i th t h e e f f o r t so f t h e 1st and 3 r d B e l o r u s s i a n F r o n t s . The 3 r d B e l o r u s s i a nF r o n t w as g i v e n t h e 5 t h Gu a r d s Ta nk A rm y. 75

F r o n t o b j e c t i v e s we re k e p t s h a l l o w e r t h a n i n p r e v i o u so p e r a t io n s s o a s n o t t o o v er ex te nd u n i t s a s had o c cu r re d a tK h ar k ov . 78 T he i mm ed ia te o b j e c t i v e s o f t h e 4 f r o n t s weret h e s e i z u r e o f V i t e b s k , O r s h a , M o g i le v a nd B o b r u i s k ( s e e Map4 ) . Based on p r e v i o u s o p e r a t i o n s , t h e S o v i e t s b e l i e v e d t h emain German s t r e n g t h was i n t h e t a c t i c a l z o n e . 7 7 Ane f f e c t i v e s t r i k e t o t a k e t h e s e o r i g i n a l o b j e c t i v e s wouldi e a d t o d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e main p o r t i o n o f German co mb atp ow er . S u bs e qu e nt o b j e c t i v e s r a n a l o n g a l i n ePo l o t s k - L e p e l - Bo r i s o v - S l u t s k -B a r a n o v i c h i F u r t h e ro b j e c t i v e s w er e n o t s p e c i f i e d . I n f a c t , STAVKA p l a n n e d much

o f t h e o p e r a t i o n a f t e r h a v i n g s e e n how t h e o p e n i n g p h a s e sp r o g r e s s e d . 7 8

P a r t i s a n a c t i v i t y i n B e l o r u s s i a had been e v i d e n t a se a r l y a s J u l y 5 , 1941 . A s i n t h e r e m ai n de r o f t h e o c c u p i e d

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SECOND BAl HCfRONr

o 'eMEI MOlY' II,M.dl C J .,. ~ -4'h dl o.. C

f lRsr BYELOflUS;'AN ~ O N J . Sis,,,, .p"i o{1u . 2 Chemigo\l .

1 ~ ' l a p 4 : Opera t ion Bagra t ionEiourc:e DOCUm0?r,t: ~ ; h t ( - ? m E ' n k ( J S . I"1.. T . h . ~ .. g.!.?,Y..!..t._.-.E..[!.s;r.f#.t._..1=J.tEt.f...:f.:.t.__.. f . l i ~ . C . , ~ . _ .._J.. 2 ~ . : t l . : : : . J ~ { : J . ~ ~ , B O D k 1 . '1'1'" i;lr- .s. . Finb :01" t Da;J 1 i sh . . 1"1oscerw:Progr 'ess Publ i s l1ers , 1 9 8 1 , PM 308-309 .


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S o v i e t Union, p re -1 94 2 p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e s were of l i t t l ec on se qu en ce . P r i o r t o t h e S o v i e t i n i t i a t i o n of t h e i r summero f f e n s i v e on J u n e 23 , 19 44 , p a r t i s a n s t r e n g t h i n B e l o r us s i awas a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 4 0 , 00 0 i n 1 50 b r i g a d e s an d 4 9 s e p a r a t ed e t a c h m e n t s ; 7 9 i t " i n e s s e n c e was a f i f t h c o o p e r a t i n g f r o n tt h e e f f o r t s of w hich to g e t h e r w i t h t h e t ro o p s o f t h e F i r s t ,S ec on d, an d Th i rd B e l o r u s s i a n an d F i r s t B a l t i c F r o n t s w ereaimed a t a c h i e v i n g a s i n g l e g o a l . " a o The B e l o r u s s i a np a r t i s a n s t r e n g t h o f 1 40 ,0 00 was a p p r o x i m a t e l y 90% o f a l lp a r t i s a n s i n t h e S o v i e t Un io n. 81

The Germans d i d n o t a l l o w t h e s e p a r t i s a n s f r e e r e i g n .Army G ro up C e n t e r had i n i t i a t e d t h e f i r s t of w ha t would b en i n e t e e n a n t i - p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n s i n A ug us t, 1 94 2.O p e r a t i o n s ' and t iab!ewi t te r i n t h e summer of 1943had c a p t u r e d p a r t i s a n f o od s u p p l i e s and had l e d t o s u c hh u n g e r t h a t M a r s h a l Po no ma re nk o ha d f o o d f l o w n t o t h es u f f e r i n g u n i t s . e 3 O p er a t i o ns of t h i s n a t u r e i n 1944

and Kormoran, t h el a s t of w hi ch was i n t e r r u p t e d by O p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n . Theo b j e c t i v e s of t h e s e o p e r a t i o n s were t h e s e c u r i n g of LOC s andt h e w eakening of p a r t i s a n a b i l i t y t o a t t a c k r oa ds o ri n s t a l l a t i o n s . e 4 They were e f f e c t i v e i n t e m p o r a r i l yr e du c in g p a r t i s a n a c t i o n s and i n c a u s in g r e o r g a n i z a t i o nwhere u n i t s were e s p e c i a l l y h ar d h i t . I n p a r t i c u l a r ,O p e r a t i o n FruehlinBsf.est r e s u l t e d i n a s many F i r s tB e l o r u s s i a n B ri g a d e p a r t i s a n s b e i n g k i l l e d i n May, 1944 a s

-n c l u d e d

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i n t h e p r e v i o u s 13 m o n th s c o m b i n e d . 8 6 T h u s t h e p a r t i s a n sh a d s u f f e r e d s e r i o u s , a l t h o u g h n o t f a t a l , b l o w s j u s t p r i o rt o O p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n . G e rm a n e s t i m a t e s o fp a r t i s a n - c o n t r o l l e d l o c a t i o n s a n d t h e i r s t r e n g t h s i n J u n e ,1 9 4 4 a r e s h ow n i n M ap 5 .

I n J u n e , 1 9 4 4 t h e C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e o f t h e B e l o r u s s i a nC o m m un i s t P a r t y e s t a b l i s h e d t a r g e t s f o r p a r t i s a n e x e c u t i o ni n t h e e n e m y r e a r . T h e f i r s t a t t a c k s w e r e t o o c c u r o n t h en i g h t o f 1 9 - 2 0 J u n e a n d u n i t s were t h e r e a f t e r t o" s u b s e q u e n t l y c a r r y o u t c o n t i n u o u s s a b o t a g e o n t h e r a i l r o a d sa n d h i g h w a y s , a c h i e v i n g t h e c o m p l e t e s t o p p i n g o f e ne m ym o v e m e n t . " P a r t i s a n s t a f f s d e l i n e a t e d b r i g a d e a r e a s o fr e s p o n s i b i l i t y a n d b r i g a d e s s p e c i f i e d p o r t i o n s o f r o a d s o rr a i l f o r d e m o l i t i o n by d e t a c h m e n t s . T h e p a r t i s a n o p e r a t i o n s' f o r O p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n

were c a r e f u l l y p l a n n e d n o t as a s e r i e s o f i s o l a t e db l o w s b u t a s a n i n t e g r a t e d w h o le f i t t e d f a r m o r ec l o s e l y i n t o t h e o v e r - a l l b a t t l e p i c t u r e t h a n i np r e v i o u s c a m p a i g n s .T h i s w a s t h e p l a n . T h e y w e r e t o h o l d t i g h t l yt o t h e i r n e w l y a l i g n e d a r e a s i n t h e f a c e o f a l la t t a c k s , a l l t h e w h i l e s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e m , u n t i lt h e Red Army s t r u c k t h e D n i e p e r l i n e i n a g e n e r a lo f f e n s i v e . T h e n , a f t e r m a k i n g t h e G e r m a n s 'w i t h d r a w a l o n a b r o a d f r o n t s l o w a nd d i f f i c u l t ,t h e y were t o s p l i t t h e f r o n t a n d d r i v e t h e G e r m an si n t o t h e n a r r o w c o r r i d o r s a l o n g t h e r o a d s a n dr a i l r o a d s now d o m i n a t e d b y t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n a r e a sw h e re t h e y m i g h t b e b l o c k e d o r s u c c e s s i v e l yc h e c k e d u n t i l d e s t r o y e d f r o m t h e e a s t . 8 6

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s h a

- M a j o r R o a d s a n dH a i l R o u t e sC - --

' 1 0 0 0 \ - G e r m a n E s t i m a t eL, ,,A o f P a r t i s a n - H e lA r e a s a n d S t r e n

Map 5: German E s t i m a t e s of P a r t i s a n L o c a t i o n s a n dS t r e n g t h s i n J u n e , 1944 p r i o r t o O p e r a t i o nB a g r a t i o n

S o u r c e D o c ~ m e n t : Army G ro up C e n t e r I n t e l l i q e n c e R e p o r t .J u n e . 1 9 4 4 .


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On t h e n i g h t o f J u n e 1 9- 20 , 1 9 4 4 , p a r t i s a n s ex p l o de d1 0 , 0 0 0 d e m o l i t i o n c h a r g e s a l o n g LOC s behind Army GroupC e n t e r . I n t h e w or ds o f o ne German o f f i c e r ,

A s an i mm ed ia te r e s u l t BJJ d o u b l e - t ra c k l i n e s wereb l o ck e d f o r a p e r i o d of t w e n t y -f o u r h o u r s , w h i l et h e o p e r a t i o n o f s i n g l e - t r a c k l i n e s wasi n t e r r u p t e d f o r o ve r f o r t y - e i g h t h o ur s . T h i s wasa n o t h e r e xa mp le t h a t d e m o ns t r at e d t h e e x c e l l e n tc o - o r d i n a t i o n b et we en t h e R u s s i a n c om bat f o r c e sa nd p a r t i s a n h e a d q u a r t e r s b e h i n d t h e GermanL i n e s . a 7Damage t o t h e V i t e b s k - O r s h a a nd P o l o ts k - M ol o d e ch n o r a i ll i n e s was h e a v y. The M i n s k- B r e st - P i ns k l i n e , a p r i m a r yr o u t e f o r e x p e c t e d movement o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t s , was a l s obad Ly da ma ge d. 86

T he n o r t h e r n Red Army a t t a c k s we r e s t a r t e d on J u n e 2 2,1 94 4 by r e c o n n a i s s an c e u n i t s o f t h e 1st B a l t i c a nd 2nd a nd3 r d B e l o r u s s i an F r o n t s . T he se e f f o r t s were s o s u c c e s s f u lt h a t t h e y w er e e xp an de d i n t o t h e o f f e n s i v e pr o p e r i n t h e4 3 r d an d 6 t h G u a r ds Army s e c t o r s . s s The 1st B a l t i c a nd 3 r dB e l o r u s s i a n E r o n t s made two a t t a c k s a s t h e main e f f o r t i nt h e n o r t h , o ne n o r t h o f V i t e bs k , t h e o t h e r s o u t h of t h a tc i t y . T hes e n o r t h e r n f r o n t s a l s o a t t a c k e d a l o ng t h eO r s h a- T o l oc h i n -B o r i so v a x i s . 9 0 T he 2nd B e l o r u s s i a n F r o n te x e c u t e d a s e co n da r y a t t a c k f r o n t a l l y a t M ogilev on J u ne2 3 r d , w h i l e t h e s o u t h e r n p o r t i o n o f t h e main e f f o r t was

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l a u n c h e d b y t h e 1st B e l o r u s s i a n F r o n t i n t h e s o u t h . s l Thes o u t h e r n a t t a c k s we nt f o r w a r d on J u n e 2 4 t h w i t h t h e 3 r d Armyand 2 a d d i t i o n a l c o r p s o f t h e 4 8 t h Army a t t a c k i n g n o r t h o fR o ga t ch e v. S o u t h o f B o b ru i s k t h e o t h e r p i n c e r o f t h i sa t t a c k was e x e c u t e d b y t h e 6 5 t h a nd 2 8 t h A rmi es .B Z

On t h e n i g h t o f J u n e 19-20, p a r t i s a n s of t h e Minsk andP o l e s y e f o r m a t i o n s had s t r u c k i n t h e a r e a f or wa r d o f t h e6 5 t h Army. T a r g e t s i n c l u d e d t h e r oa d Bo b ru i sk - Gl u sk - Ly u ba nand t h e S l ut s k -O s ip o v ic h i r a i l r o a d , key r o u t e s f o rr e i n f o r c e m e n t o r w i t h d r a w a l o f German N i n t h Army u n i t s . A sO p o r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n commenced on J u n e 2 4 t h f o r t h e 6 5 t hArmy, i t s s t a f f r a di oe d a d d i t i o n a l t a s k s t o t h e p a r t i s a n s :c a p t u r e c r o s s i n g s o ve r t h e P t i c h and S l u c h R i v er s ( t h el a t t e r n o t on ma ps) , p r e v e n t t h e s h i f t i n g of r e s e r v e s anda c t t o o t h e r w i s e c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e Red Army o f f e n s i v e .P a r t i s a n s were t o s e c ur e de ep o b j e c t i v e s t o h a s t e n t h ea dv an ce of t h e s o u t h e r n p i n c e r w h i l e c l o s i n g e s ca p e r o u t e sf o r t h e Ge rma ns . Roads t o B o b ru i s k w er e c u t . The p a r t i s a n sc o n ti n u ed w i t h d e m o l i t i o n a c t i v i t i e s , e x ec u te d a mb ush es ,h i nd e re d t h e enemy r e t r e a t , s e i z e d as s i gn e d r i v e r c r o s s i n g s ,and a t t a c k e d s m a l l German u n i t s a nd s t a f f s . E l e me n t s o f 4b r i g a d e s f rom t h e Minsk f o r m a t io n s e c u r e d c r o s s i n g s i t e s

o v er t h e P t i c h R iv e r and c o l l e c t e d 40 b o a t s f o r u s e by t h e4 8 t h G u ar d s R i f l e D i v i s i o n . D e ta c hm e nt s o f two o t h e rp a r t i s a n b r i g a d e s s e c u re d c r o s s i n g s o v e r t h e S l uc h Ri v ern e a r S t a r o b i n a nd f o u g h t s u c c e s s f u l l y t o h ol d t hem f o r two

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d a y s b e f o r e t u r n i n g t h e m o v e r t o t h e 1 9 3 r d a n d 4 4 t h G u a r d sR i f l e D i v i s i o n s . P a r t i s a n s s e n t g u i d e s o u t t o t h e s e u n i t st o d i r e c t t he m t o t h e s e c u r e d c r o s s i n g s i t e s . O t h e rd e t a c h m e n t s w o r k e d d i r e c t l y w i t h r e g u l a r a r m y d i v i s i o n s t oc a p t u r e t h e t o w n s o f S t a r y e D o r o g i a n d O s i p o v i c h i .

By J u n e 2 4 t h , t h e e n c i r c l e m e n t o f V i t e b s k was a l r e a d ywe l l u n d e r w a y . M uch o f t h e a t t a c k n o r t h o f B o b r u i s k wasg o i n g s l o w l y , b u t t h a t t o t h e s o u t h o f t h e c i t y m a d es i g n i f i c a n t a d v a n c e s t h e f i r s t d a y . e 3 T h e m i s s i o n o f t h e6 5 t h Army i n t h e o p e n i n g d a y s o f O p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n was t oa t t a c k i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e 2 8 t h A r m y a l o n g t h e w e s t e r nb a n k o f t h e B e r e z i n a R i v e r . T h i s s o u t h e r n p i n c e r w a s t oe n c i r c l e B o b r u i s k a n d d e s t r o y t h e N i n t h G e r m an Army t h e r e .By t h e e nd o f J u n e 24 (D -D ay f o r t h e a t t a c k i n t h e s o u t h ) ,t h i s a t t a c k h a d a d v a n c e d f r o m 5 t o 1 0 k i l o m e t e r s i n d e p t ha l o n g 3 0 k i l o m e t e r s o f f r o n t ; a 4 b y t h e e n d o f t h e f o l l o w i n gd a y i t was m o v in g t o w a r d G l u s k on t h e P t i c h R i v e r .

T h e G e rm a n s w e r e d o o m ed b y t h e i r p o l i c y o f F e s t e r P l a t z .( c e n t e r o f r e s i s t a n c e ) x h i c h h a d b e e n s t a r t e d i n i 9 4 3 . S 5P o i n t s n e a r t h e f r o n t were d e s i g n a t e d a s l o c a t i o n s w h e r ef o r c e s were t o a l l o w t h e m s e l v e s t o b e s u r r o u n d e d a n d t h e nw e r e t o f i g h t u n t i l s u b s e q u e n t r e l i e f o r t h e y were o v e r r u n .T h e g o a l was t o b r e a k t h e m om entum o f t h e S o v i e t a t t a c k ,i n t e r f e r e w i t h L O C s, a n d t i e dow n e n e m y f o r c e s . T h e p r o b l e mwas t h a t t h e G e r m a n s r a r e l y h a d s u f f i c i e n t f o r c e s t o r e l i e v et h e s u r r o u n d e d u n i t s . A s t h e s e

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l o c a t i o n s w ere s t o r a g e p o i n t s f o r s u p p l i e s and m u n i t i o n sn ee de d t o w i t h st a n d l e n g t h y s i e g e , t h e i r l o s s was d o u bl yc a t a s t r o p h i c a s b o t h u n i t s and m a t e r i a l were s a c r i f i c e d . @ @

For Army G roup C e n t e r i n t h e s umme r o f 1 94 4, t h e f o l l o w i n gw er e among t h e d e s i g n a t e d c e n t e r s o f r e s i s t a n c e :

C l os e t o t h e f r o n t : B o b ru i s k, M o gi le v, O r s ha , V it e b s kF u r t h e r t o t h e r e a r : S l u t s k , Minsk, B a r a n ov i o hi ,V i l n i u s , P i n s k . 9 7

F i v e t o s i x d i v i s i o n s were l o s t i n t h e f o rw ar d c e n t e r s ofr e s i s t a n c e . Most u n i t s we re ev a c u at e d f ro m t h e r e a r t own si n c o n t r a d i c t i o n t o o r d e r s b u t w i t h " s i l e n t t o l e r a n c e" f romt h e High Command.se

T he f i r s t p h a s e o f t h e o p e r a t i o n was o v e r o ne weeka f t e r t h e i n i t i a t i o n of O p er a t i o n B a g ra t i on . V i t e bs k ,O r s h a , M o g i le v an d B o b r u i s k a n d f a l l e n a nd t h e German c e n t e rwas b r o k e n . T h r e e German a r m i e s had b ee n l o s t w i t h 1 3 0 , 0 0 0k i l l e d , 6 6 ,0 0 0 p r i s o n e r s t a ke n a nd 9 00 t a n k s and t h o u s an d so f o t h e r v e h i c l e s o u t o f a c t i o n . @ @ B o br u is k was n e a r l ye n c i r c l e d w i t h 7 0 ,0 0 0 Germans i n t h e s a c k . l o O BY J u n e 3 0 t h ,t h e Red Army was t r y i n g t o c u t t h e LOC s from V i l n i u s t oM insk and e n c i r c l e t h e 4 t h German Army a s i t w it hd re w t o t h eB e r e z i n a R i v e r . l ' J l T he 9 t h Army ha d o n l y 3 t o 4 b a t t e r e dd i v i s i o n s r e m a i n i n g .1 0 2 On J u l y 3 r d , 1 0 5 ,0 0 0 men o f t h e 4 t hGerman Army w ere e n c i r c l e d . Fo r t y thousand o f t h e s e w ouldd i e b e f o r e t h e r e d u c t i o n o f t h e p o c k e t s and t e r m i n a t i o n ofa t t e m p ts t o e s c a p e . l o 3

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A s German r e s i s t a n c e c o l l a p s e d , t h e p a r t i s a n s c o n t i n u edc l o s e l y i n t e g r a t e d o p e r a t i o n s w i t h t h e 6 5 t h Army. I n J u l yt h e 6 5 t h Army ad v an c ed w e s t w h i l e p a r t i s a n s f r om t h eB a ra n o vi c h i i n t e r d i c t e d t h e D z e rz h i ns k - St o l bt s y -M i r - K o r e l i c h i h ig hw ay , b l o c k i n g t h e e s c a p e of G er ma ns t oN ov og ru do k. T h e s e t r a p p e d enemy u n i t s w er e l a t e r d e f e a t e dby t h e 1 5 t h and 3 7 t h Gu ar ds R i f l e D i v i s i o n s . P a r t i s a n sr e b u i l t b r i d g e s a nd c l e a r e d r o u t e s o f r u b b l e and mi ne s a su n i t s of t h e 6 5 t h Army a d va n ce d t o w ar d B a r a n o v i c h i . D u r in gt h e s u b s e q u e n t a rm y movement t o w a rd B r e s t a nd B i a l y s t o k , t h earmy s t a f f r a di o ed i n s t r u c t i o n s ahead t o l o c a l p a r t i s a nu n i t s w i th s p e c i f i c a s s i g nm e nt s t o s u p p o r t t h e a d va nc e.T h i s s u p p o r t c o n t i n u e d a s f a r w e st a s t h e W es te rn Bug, w i t hp a r t i s a n s r o u t i n g h i d i n g Germans f ro m f o r e s t s 1 0 4 and g u i d i n gRed u n i t s t o t h e b e s t c r o s s i n g p o i n t s o ve r t h e r i v e r .

S ov i e t a rm ie s con t in ued t o move w e s t . German movementb ac k t o t h e G r od n o- B ia l ys t ok a r e a was " c o n t i n u o u s l yi n t e r r u p t e d by p a r t i s a n a c t i v i t i e s " a l on g t h e o n l y a v a i l a b l ee a s t - w e s t r o u t e s . L O 5 By J u l y 1 6 t h Red Army t a n k u n i t s s e r ee x h au s t ed and had t o b e p u l l e d o u t o f t h e a t t a c k . l o e Thes u b s e q u e n t p h a s e of t h e o p e r a t i o n w as c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y as l o w, b ro ad f r o n t , l o 7 i n f a n t r y a d va n ce . With a s e r i e s ofc o u n t e r a t t a c k s , some q u i t e s u c c e s s f u l , t h e Germans h a l t e dt h e B a g r a t i o n o f f e n s i v e i n l a t e A u gu s t. lO e The Germans hadb ee n pu sh ed b a c k t o t h e V i s t u l a a nd E a s t P r u s s i a nf r o n t i e r . 10s

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M os t p a r t i s a n s h a d b e e n i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e Red Armyb y t h e c o n c l u s i o n o f o p e r a t i o n s i n B e l o r u s s i a . O t h e r s h a db e e n a s s i g n e d t o p a r t y , e c o n o m i c , o r r e g i o n a l p o s i t i o n s .Som e c o n t i n u e d t o f u n c t i o n i n a p a r t i s a n r o l e d u r i n go p e r a t i o n s i n : P o l a n d . I n c o o r d i n a t i n g t h e i r a c t i o n s w i t ht h e 6 5 t h Arm y , p a r t i s a n s h a d h e l p e d u n b a l a n c e t h e e n e m yc e n t e r o f g r a v i t y t h r o u g h a t t a c k s o n h i s v u l n e r a b i l i t i e s a n dc r i t i c a l p o i n t s : h i s l i n e s o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t a n d s u p p l y a n dh i s com m and a n d c o n t r o l n o d e s . T h e y h a d f a c i l i t a t e d t h ec o l l a p s e o f Army G r o u p C e n t e r b y a t t a c k i n g m o r a l a n d s u p p l ym u c h a s h a d t h e i r p a r t i s a n p r e d e c e s s o r s i n S i b e r i a 30 y e a r sb e f o r e . T h e p a r t i s a n s h a d a l s o a c t e d t o e x t e n d t h e t i m eb e f o r e Red Army u n i t s r e a c h e d t h e i r o f f e n s i v e c u l m i n a t i n gp o i n t b y g u i d i n g t h e m a w a y f r o m s t r o n g d e f e n s i v e p o s i t i o n s ,b y s e c u r i n g r i v e r c r o s s i n g s t h e y o t h e r w i s e w ou l d h a v e h a d t ow in i n c o m b a t , a n d b y g u i d i n g t h e m o n t h e s h o r t e s t r o u t e s t oo b j e c t i v e s . T h e p a r t i s a n s i n O p e r a t i o n B a g r a t i o n w e r ei n t e g r a l t o t h e f o r c e t h a t c r u s h e d A rmy G r o u p C e n t e r .

C o n c l u s i o n sBy t h e s um m er o f 1944 , p a r t i s a n s were a n e f f e c t i v e

c om p o n en t o f S o v i e t w a r f a r e , I n t h e S o v i e t l o g i c o f t h ed i , a l e c t i c , t h e y c o m p l e m e n t e d o t h e r m e an s w h i c h w e r e u n i f i e dt o f a c i l i t a t e m i l i t a r y a n d p o l i t i c a l v i c t o r y . I r r e g u l a rw a r f a r e u n i t s a c t e d i n c o o r d i n a t i o n w i t h o t h e r f o r c e s t oe x e c u t e t a s k s w h i c h a s s i s t e d i n t h e u n b a l a n c i n g a n d

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s h a t t e r i n g o f t h e en e m y c e n t e r o f g r a v i t y . T h e p a r t i s a n sf a c i l i t a t e d t h i s u n b a l a n c i n g b y s t r i k i n g a t v u l n e r a b i l i t i e sa n d c r i t i c a l p o i n t s s u c h as t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i n f r a s t r u c t u r ea n d com mand a n d c o n t r o l n o d e s .

: P a r t i s a n s a b e t t e d s u c c e s s i n d i r e c t l y i n a d d i t i o n t ot h i s d i r e c t s u p p o r t o f r e g u l a r o p e r a t i o n s . G e rm a n a n di n d i g e n o u s s e c u r i t y u n i t s d e d i c a t e d t o r e a r a r e a p r o t e c t i o nd e p r i v e d t h e Axis i n d u s t r i a l b a s e o f t e n s o f t h o u s a n d s o fp o t e n t i a l l a b o r e r s . A c c u r a t e a n d d e t a i l e d i n t e l l i g e n c ef a c i l i t a t e d p l a n n i n g a n d e x e c u t i o n o f o p e r a t i o n s a n db a t t l e s . T he S o v i e t c u l m i n a t i n g p o i n t , r e a c h e d w i t hd e v

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Soviet Partisan Warfare Integral to the Whole

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