Over 75% of Red Army divisions were listed as "rifle divisions" (as infantry divisions were known in the Red Army). In the Imperial Russian Army, the
strelkovye (rifle) divisions were considered more prestigious than
pekhotnye (infantry) divisions, and in the Red Army, all infantry divisions were labeled
strelkovye divisions. The
raions had assigned quotas specifying the number of men they had to produce for the Red Army every year. The vast majority of the
frontoviks had been born in the 1920s and had grown up knowing nothing other than the Soviet system. Every year, men received draft notices in the mail informing to report at a collection point, usually a local school, and customarily reported to duty with a bag or suitcase carrying some spare clothes, underwear, and tobacco. During training, conscripts woke up between 5 and 6 a.m.; training lasted for 10 to 12 hours—six days of the week. Much of the training was done by rote and consisted of instruction. Before 1941 training had lasted for six months, but after the war, training was shorted to a few weeks. Small-unit movements and how to build defensive positions were laid out in a manner that was easy to understand and memorize. The manuals had the force of law and violations of the manuals counted as legal offenses. The only complex formation was the diamond formation—with one section advancing, two behind and one in the rear. During the charge, the riflemen would fire with rifles and submachine guns while throwing grenades before closing in for
blizhnii boi (—close combat—close-quarter fighting with guns, bayonets, rifle butts, knives, digging tools and fists), a type of fighting at which the Red Army excelled. On the defensive, the
frontoviki had a reputation for their skill at camouflaging their positions and for their discipline in withholding fire until Axis forces came within close range. Most of the men were shaven bald to prevent lice and the few who did grow their hair kept it very short. The standard rifle, a
Mosin-Nagant 7.62 mm M 1891/30, although heavy, was an effective weapon that crucially was not affected by the cold. Every rifle section had one or two 7.62 mm
Degtyaryov DP light machine guns to provide fire support. By 1944, one of every four
frontoviki was armed with the 7.62 mm PPSh-41 (
Pistolet-pulemet Shapagina-Pistol Automatic Shpagin), a type of submachine gun known as a "rugged and reliable weapon", if somewhat underpowered. Most of the
frontoviki had a
perevyazochny paket (wound dressing packet), a razor, a shovel and would be very lucky to have a towel and toothbrush. Toothpaste, shampoo and soap were extremely rare. Soldiers frequently slept outdoors, even during the winter. The
frontovik lived on a diet of black rye bread; canned meats like fish and
tushonka (stewed pork);
shchi (cabbage soup) and
kasha (porridge).".
Makhorka, a type of cheap tobacco rolled into handmade cigarettes, was the standard for smoking. All soldiers were exempt from taxes. In the Imperial Russian Army, the elite had always been the
Imperial Guards regiments, and the title "Guards" when applied to a military unit in Russia still has elitist connotations. Discipline was harsh and men could be executed, for desertion and ordering a retreat without orders. The
balalaikaregarded as a Russian "national instrument"often featured as part of the entertainment. The "campaign wives" were often nurses, signalers and clerks who wore a black beret. Despite being forced to become the concubines of the officers, they were widely hated by the
frontoviki, who saw the "campaign wives" as trading sex for more favorable positions. The writer
Vasily Grossman recorded typical remarks about the "campaign wives" in 1942: "Where's the general?" [someone asks]. "Sleeping with his whore." And these girls had once wanted to be 'Tanya', or
Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. The
frontoviki had to live, fight and die in small circular foxholes dug into the earth with enough room for one or two men.
Slit trenches connected what the Germans called "Russian holes". Instead, the
frontoviki slept in their coats and shelter-capes, usually on pine, evergreen needles, fir boughs, piled leaves or straw. The Soviet Union encompassed over 150 different languages and dialects but Russians comprised the majority of the Red Army and Russian was the language of command. The experience of combat tended to bind the men together regardless of their language or ethnicity, with one Soviet veteran recalling: "We were all bleeding the same blood.". Despite a history of anti-Semitism in Russia, Jewish veterans serving in the
frontovik units described anti-Semitism as rare, instead recalling a sense of belonging. During the war, the Soviet authorities toned down pro-atheist propaganda, and
Eastern Orthodox priests blessed units going into battle, though chaplains were not allowed. Despite official Soviet atheism, many soldiers wore crosses around their necks and crossed themselves in the traditional Eastern Orthodox manner before going into battle, though the British historian Catherine Merridale interprets these actions as more "totemic" gestures meant to ensure good luck rather than expressions of "real"
faith. One of the most popular talismans was the poem
Wait for Me by
Konstantin Simonov, which he wrote in October 1941 for his fiancée
Valentina Serova. The term
Nazi was never used to describe the enemy, as the term was an acronym for
National-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (
National Socialist German Workers' Party) and the
politruks and
kommissars found explaining why the enemy called themselves "National Socialists" to be too confusing for the
frontoviki. The commissars had the duty of monitoring Red Army officers for any sign of disloyalty, and maintained a network of informers known as
seksots (—secret collaborators) within the ranks. Many commissars after the Stalin's Decree 307 of 9 October 1942 were shocked to find how much the officers and men hated them. The commissars now become the
politruks or deputy commanders for political affairs. Officers usually had only a high-school educationvery few had gone to universityand coming from the same social milieu as their men ensured that they could relate to them. The
frontoviki usually addressed their company commanders as
Batya (father). ==Soviet push to Germany==