After the Great Patriotic War for another three or four decades, the people's memory of the past war was fresh. Veterans seemed to the boys to be elderly people, and they were only forty-fifty years old, and they could talk about the simple and easy-to-understand language experienced in those harsh years. Each student knew about the feat of Alexander Matrosov, who covered the embrasure of the machine gun with his body, and this made it possible for his comrades to overcome the enemy’s positions, which were covered by the bunker. This fortification was a serious obstacle for the advancing troops.
Types of Field Fortifications
Field fortifications are capital and temporary. For example, a trench or a bunker is built quickly, from improvised materials or with the addition of a certain amount of logs brought. Their advantage is that the appearance of these points is often a complete surprise to the advancing enemy, in the case, of course, that the work was carried out with a sufficient degree of secrecy. The second type of fortification is made up of powerful reinforced concrete and armored objects that can withstand the siege (in some cases circular) for a long time, fettering the enemy’s forces. In order to make it difficult to get around, the firing points are combined into a defensive system - a fortified area. Moreover, the unit of such a line is the bunker. This abbreviation stands for "long-term firing point." The mentioned bunker differs from it in that in the abbreviation, in addition to the letters “O” (fire) and “T” (dot), there is also “D” (wooden) and “Z” (earth), which mean materials of manufacture. Bunkers were built of armor and concrete.
Strategic defense concept
Long-term fortifications after the war of 1914-1918 were perceived by the generals of many countries as a guaranteed means of repelling aggression. The positional nature of the fighting, characteristic of the Western Front, gave reason to believe that the main strategy of future conflicts would be the economic exhaustion of the enemy. The exception was the Brusilovsky breakthrough, when the Russian army managed to break a deep and wide gap in the layered defense of the Austrians (1915). But this case was considered unique and was not taken into account, but in vain. The opinion turned out to be erroneous.
Already in 1939, the Red Army accomplished what seemed impossible - took the Mannerheim Line. Then our commanders and soldiers learned what the bunker is. In a war, everything is used for defense, for which the infantry can "catch" - a ravine, stream, house, or its ruins. In Finland, the equipment of fortified areas was thoroughly approached.
Lines and defensive areas
The Mannerheim Line was considered impregnable. She could not be circumvented, and it was also almost impossible to take her. Even now, not a single army in the world would be able to cope with this task (without using nuclear weapons). The Germans simply circumvented the Maginot Line in 1940, they would hardly have defeated it in the forehead. Each of these super-powerful fortified areas could theoretically defend for a very long time. Any bunker is not just a firing point, but a complex underground facility with all the infrastructure, including places for recreation, personal hygiene, food and its preparation, and, of course, large arsenals with ammunition depots. Such were built by the Japanese on southern Sakhalin, and the USSR throughout the entire Chinese border. The very meaning of the word bunker implies its long-term, and therefore sustainable, defense.
Modern bunkers
In conditions of maneuver warfare, similar to modern local conflicts, it may seem that long-term firing points as defensive structures are outdated. Indeed, with the advent of the possibility of landing massed landings, powerful and compact means of infantry fire support, neutralizing the classic bunker is not such a difficult task. However, the defense is also improving. Back in the early 60s, standard constructions of the Gorchak type were created, and later - the VZU-100, capable of maintaining combat effectiveness even in the event of a tactical nuclear strike against the area. This is facilitated by effective penetration into the ground, “back-up” ventilation and remote means of monitoring firing. Bunkers are still in service, and their resignation is not expected.