RUSSIAN ARMY ASSAULT INFANTRY No. 35207

Description

During World War II, the Russian Armed Forces consisted of five main elements; the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, National Air Defense and Armed Forces Support. The Ground Forces represented about 80 percent of the total manpower, being the largest in strength. It had approximately 5,300,000 military effectives at the outbreak of the Russo-German War in June 1941. However, devastating damage brought by the German Mechanized Forces resulted in more than 70 percent losses of its entire troop strength within five months. This led to rapid reorganization of the Ground Forces, and with a help of the harsh winter climate of Russia, they managed to repel German"s advance just in front of Moscow. Due to the heavy losses, reorganized units became much smaller than before. Rifle Forces (infantry) reduced their divisional strength from 14,483 to 10,859.