THE RED ARMY

Evening Star, Issue 22880, 11 February 1938, Page 11

THE RED ARMY

STRENGTH IN FAR EAST A SELF-SUPPORTING FORGE OFFICER PROBLEM It is hardly probable that the. Red Army will intervene in the events now developing in the Far East (says a writer in the ‘ Manchester Guardian’). Whatever happens, Soviet Russia will try to order its policy so as not to be drawn openly into a war between other States. Nevertheless, as a political factor, this army plays a great potential part. The organisation of the Red Army is far from being completed to plan, but for some years past it has been carried so far that we may take it that militarv preparedness on the Asiatic frontier has been attained. The so-called Far Eastern province has now a self-supporting army, with its own technical and victualling bases (the last in the form of militarised collective farms); it is really three armies, with headquarters at Khabarovsk, Chita, and Ulan Bator. The great Siberian railway has been doubletracked, and a geographically less exposed parallel line running north of the main one is nearing completion. More than this, the necessary organisation has been already completed to enable war to be waged on the Asiatic front virtually without drawing on the resources of European Russia. (Besides the industrial plans in the territory there are to-day enough industrial centres in Siberia and the Urals to provide for the army and navy fighting on the Far Eastern frontier. ; COMPLETION OF TURKSIB. Still more important is the completion of the Turksib, the line which connects Russian Central Asia with Siberia and so with the Far East. This not only makes it possible to carry on an Asiatic war almost entirely jvith forces drawn from Asiatic Russia, but creates an additional supply base in the great republic of Kazakstan. The estimates made of the military strength and armaments of the (Red Army are not all authentic, if only because each day brings an increase in men and material. About two years ago the active strength of the Soviet army was officially given as 1,300,000. Even this does not exhaust the units on active service. There are the troops of the Commissariat of the Interior (G.P.U.), in two main divisions, one distinguished by light blue caps and the other by green. The light blue uniformed troops are the so-called Interior Guards, largely made up of infantry units, strongly armed for close fighting—an infantry elite, with relatively little cavalry but a strong artillery arm. The troops with green caps are the frontier guards; they are specially selected troops, and are carefully instructed. They form frontier

brigades, armed with every kind of weapon, and in the event of war they would be a valuable advance guard. The number of troops in the Commissariat of the Interior is difficult to estimate, but it must be at least from 300,000 to 500,000 men. GUARDS OF.„SERVICES, The men of the G.P.U. are mainly conscripted; there are also large numbers, again difficult to estimate, of professional troops. To these troops belong the railway protection companies. They consist of experienced men,_ specially well trained, and live in barracks. Most of them would, of course, be relieved in the event of war by inferior formations so as to fight as crack troops at the front. The post and telegraph guards, and the great numbers of industrial guards, are organised in the same way, but the police, as a rule, are not militarised; it is probably assumed that in time of emergency they would be needed at their posts. Beyond this the number of retired recruits grows greater every year. The old Russian social democracy believed in the principle of the Swiss militia, and the Red army was accordingly given a double character by the lata People’s Commissar Frunze. Only a small proportion of the recruits were enrolled for the two years’ service in the regular army. By far the greater number entered territorial units, made up on the militia principle, whose composition changed every few weeks. This principle of army building has been given up in recent years. There are virtually no territorial units left; they have almost all been merged with the regular army. The military training of the soldiers of the Red army is extremely good, and all boys and an increasing number of girls from 16 years of age are given preliminary training for their coming military service. The defence society Osoaviakhim maintains shooting ranges and wooden towers for parachute practice in almost every village, and the society also covers almost every field of military studies. At IS years the obligatory military training begins. SHORTAGE OF OFFICERS. The officer problem, still unsolved, is one of the most important. The rise of ex-workers and peasants to positions of command was encouraged from the beginning for reasons of Eolitical expediency; thus there is no omogeneity in the cultural and social content of the officers’ _ corps of the Red army, for it contains also, especially in the higher ranks, many officers of middle-class extraction and a considerable group of officers from the old Imperial army. The standard of education of a great part of the corps of officers, particularly in the ranks from captain to colonel, is extremely low; but now an intermediate school educatoin is normally required for a career as an officer. Only a small number of non-commissioned officers of long service who have passed the necessary examinations are now considered for officer’s rank. All officers’ training schools are uniformly organised and have three or four-year courses, according to the arm of the service. “ Passing out ” from one of the military academies is essential now as qualification for the higher commands. THE GENERAL STAFF. The founding of the General Staff as a separate institution (formerly it was a section of the so-called Supreme Staff) was part of the great reorganisation of two years ago, and another new institution was also created—the General Staff Academy. This is not so much an institute for study as for military research, though recently officers have been appointed to the academy for training. The generals and officers and this General Staff Academy wear especially fine uniforms, with black velvet collars and other distinguishing marks recalling the uniforms of the old Imperial General Staff. To raise the authority of the officers in the eyes of the troops and the people, titles, parades, uniforms, great banquets, and many .decorations have been instituted. The Red army is badly off for officers of the reserve. A year’s service after leaving the intermediate school makes a reserve officer, and this cannot be considered sufficient military training. In the reserve, too, are many whom chance brought to positions of command in the Civil War.