I got big mad when I started to realize what blatant propaganda Enemy is. Just a pile of shitty stereotypes. They were hard up at Stalingrad but it never got so bad they didn't have Mosins for everyone. "Human wace" attacks are bullshit. For one, in a real war infantry die a lot. For two it's western cope about "orientalis don't value human life the same way we, The West, do". For three - backing batallions, the rear area units designed to prevent disertion, didn't work like that. They were made up of hardened troops, and they had a bunch of jobs. They weren't shooting deserters left and right - if they found someone wandering around the rear they'd send them to a gathering point and from their they'd be sent back to their unit. People were executed but the number was tiny compared to what Westoids think. Mostly it was just "alright dude enough fucking around time to go back to your unit". They were also tasked with dealing with infiltrators and any other enemies that got in to the rear area, protecting important logistical stuff. And finally, if a part of the line was getting hit hard the blocking detachment would get sent to reinforce the line. These were guys who had been through it and were considered tough, skilled, and reliable, so they could plug gaps until hopefully the situation changed. The only time they sat behind another unit and forced them forward were in cases where penal units were ordered to clear minefields and the like. Then they'd have a blocking detachment behind them to make sure they didn't try to desert.
Also, all that aside, just the idea that they were wasting good machine guns shooting their own troops is absurd.
And of course the movie has the cool sauve aristocrat Nazi trope, because of course it does. And then the moral of the story is communism can't work because two guys are both in love with Rachel Weisz. I loved it at the time but now that I am cursed with knowledge I don't think I could watch it again without criticizing every little detail. It's such an ugly way to remember the defenders of Stalingrad.
People were executed but the number was tiny compared to what Westoids think.
People were executed in every army! It was a World War and the people in charge of the armies fighting that war were not fucking around. More people were shot in the Red Army because it was so much larger than the other armies - these are really simple concepts to understand but liberals only care to try and humanize the Nazis and never the Reds for some reason.
To build on that, the red army saw the worst of it. Whatever shit the western troops were in during the most horrific parts of their non-pacific fronts was a walk in the park compared to the eastern front. Of course more people tried to get out. I don’t think that reflects poorly on the red army.
It would be interesting to have an alt-history viewer and see what desertion rates would be if it were possible to desert during an island hopping campaign. Like, I think not wanting to miss the only way off the island did more to help morale than Americans woild be comfortable with.
There were plenty of German soldiers in the concentration camps. They had a different badge than all the other prisoners. Refusing an order would get you sent to one.
I don’t understand why, if it was even true, shooting deserters is bad. Is it more humane to imprison them for 5 months and then hang them anyway after you win, or let them be tortured and shot if you lost to the Nazis, or just shoot to the kill the potential problem in the middle of a fucking brutal battle?
Like I can’t think of any military that won’t kill deserters. Maybe the US doesn’t, but I know the law allows them to. And you know no matter how humane they champion themselves, they won’t change the law, “just in case” they need to execute you.
IIRC the movie shows the soldiers being forced into a suicidal charge with no real plan or weapons and then when it inevitably fails and the survivors try to run to regroup they're shot down by their own men. In that context it's pretty bad and also obviously unrealistic.
Blocking detachments were company-to-battalion sized ad-hoc units formed from Red Army personnel, subject directly to division commander. NKVD had rear-area security units, but they were mostly tasked with guarding railway stations, supply lines and rarely used close to the frontline.
They were security troops, not front-line infantry. They were armed differently and had different missions. For example, they had lots of submachine guns but little or no artillery. They could be pushed into the line, but only in an emergency. They were attached directly to armies and not subject to the same chain of command as soldiers. The blocking detachments were commanded by officers of higher rank than would usually command such small formations.
Have you seen "Brest Fortress"? It features an NKVD garrison pulled into front line fighting at the very beginning of world war 2, and they were awesome. I know what were talking about is not treated movies like actual historical accounts, but I'm making an exception for this one.
I got big mad when I started to realize what blatant propaganda Enemy is. Just a pile of shitty stereotypes. They were hard up at Stalingrad but it never got so bad they didn't have Mosins for everyone. "Human wace" attacks are bullshit. For one, in a real war infantry die a lot. For two it's western cope about "orientalis don't value human life the same way we, The West, do". For three - backing batallions, the rear area units designed to prevent disertion, didn't work like that. They were made up of hardened troops, and they had a bunch of jobs. They weren't shooting deserters left and right - if they found someone wandering around the rear they'd send them to a gathering point and from their they'd be sent back to their unit. People were executed but the number was tiny compared to what Westoids think. Mostly it was just "alright dude enough fucking around time to go back to your unit". They were also tasked with dealing with infiltrators and any other enemies that got in to the rear area, protecting important logistical stuff. And finally, if a part of the line was getting hit hard the blocking detachment would get sent to reinforce the line. These were guys who had been through it and were considered tough, skilled, and reliable, so they could plug gaps until hopefully the situation changed. The only time they sat behind another unit and forced them forward were in cases where penal units were ordered to clear minefields and the like. Then they'd have a blocking detachment behind them to make sure they didn't try to desert.
Also, all that aside, just the idea that they were wasting good machine guns shooting their own troops is absurd.
And of course the movie has the cool sauve aristocrat Nazi trope, because of course it does. And then the moral of the story is communism can't work because two guys are both in love with Rachel Weisz. I loved it at the time but now that I am cursed with knowledge I don't think I could watch it again without criticizing every little detail. It's such an ugly way to remember the defenders of Stalingrad.
People were executed in every army! It was a World War and the people in charge of the armies fighting that war were not fucking around. More people were shot in the Red Army because it was so much larger than the other armies - these are really simple concepts to understand but liberals only care to try and humanize the Nazis and never the Reds for some reason.
To build on that, the red army saw the worst of it. Whatever shit the western troops were in during the most horrific parts of their non-pacific fronts was a walk in the park compared to the eastern front. Of course more people tried to get out. I don’t think that reflects poorly on the red army.
It would be interesting to have an alt-history viewer and see what desertion rates would be if it were possible to desert during an island hopping campaign. Like, I think not wanting to miss the only way off the island did more to help morale than Americans woild be comfortable with.
There were plenty of German soldiers in the concentration camps. They had a different badge than all the other prisoners. Refusing an order would get you sent to one.
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What! No! Duh! The people in charge of the armies fighting that war were not fucking around.
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In the badge system, they got a triangle orange badge. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armed_forces_red_triangle.svg
I don’t understand why, if it was even true, shooting deserters is bad. Is it more humane to imprison them for 5 months and then hang them anyway after you win, or let them be tortured and shot if you lost to the Nazis, or just shoot to the kill the potential problem in the middle of a fucking brutal battle?
Like I can’t think of any military that won’t kill deserters. Maybe the US doesn’t, but I know the law allows them to. And you know no matter how humane they champion themselves, they won’t change the law, “just in case” they need to execute you.
IIRC the movie shows the soldiers being forced into a suicidal charge with no real plan or weapons and then when it inevitably fails and the survivors try to run to regroup they're shot down by their own men. In that context it's pretty bad and also obviously unrealistic.
They were NKVD.
Blocking detachments were company-to-battalion sized ad-hoc units formed from Red Army personnel, subject directly to division commander. NKVD had rear-area security units, but they were mostly tasked with guarding railway stations, supply lines and rarely used close to the frontline.
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They were security troops, not front-line infantry. They were armed differently and had different missions. For example, they had lots of submachine guns but little or no artillery. They could be pushed into the line, but only in an emergency. They were attached directly to armies and not subject to the same chain of command as soldiers. The blocking detachments were commanded by officers of higher rank than would usually command such small formations.
Have you seen "Brest Fortress"? It features an NKVD garrison pulled into front line fighting at the very beginning of world war 2, and they were awesome. I know what were talking about is not treated movies like actual historical accounts, but I'm making an exception for this one.