There are many fierce battle scenes in the classic movie "Bridge" in the hearts of a generation of Chinese people, and the "tiger" and other characters in the film are amazingly effective, all types of light weapons can be skillfully used, and the combat scenes in the film also adopt certain artistic techniques, which inevitably makes people have such a powerful question as the Yugoslav partisans? According to the weapon configuration of that era, were the weapons and equipment of the guerrillas so advanced?
Stills from the Yugoslav film The Bridge
In 1941, Germany and Italy invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the Yugoslav king quickly surrendered in the face of the disparity in strength, and a large number of Yugoslav people who did not want to become slaves spontaneously began to resist, and Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav Communist Party at the time, actively called on the Yugoslavs of all nationalities to resist the invasion. Whether Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Montenegrins, as long as they fight against fascism, they are common comrades-in-arms, and it is precisely under this revolutionary program that in just one year Tito has formed 5 brigades of guerrillas, and fought back and forth with the elite mountain troops of Germany and Italy, and at the same time established a large number of liberated areas.
The yugoslav communist guerrillas were able to form quickly and had a strong cohesion, which was not unrelated to Tito's policy at that time, regardless of the clan, as long as they resisted the invaders, they were common comrades-in-arms, and a large number of former regular troops also surrendered to Tito. In order to combat the heat of guerrilla warfare, the German invaders used bloody and barbaric means to slaughter a large number of villages, and Germany wanted to use this way to conquer the guerrillas. Far from hitting the resolve of the Yugoslav people to resist, the Yugoslav people's determination to resist in the face of such adversity has become stronger.
Female partisans of Yugoslavia
In 1943, Germany's siege did not eliminate the Yugoslav Partisans, and Tito also boldly launched the Battle of Sudeshka and won, and then Yugoslavia was further strengthened, in order to effectively counter the German armored forces, the Yugoslav Partisans also began to form tank units, in the previous operations The Yugoslav Partisans captured a lot of German and Italian tanks (Hatchkays H35, Soma S35, Italy L3) The United States and Great Britain also supported the Partisans of Yugoslavia with 59 Stuart light tanks, and in 1944 the First Yugoslav Tank Brigade was formed. The size of the motor vehicles captured in the Partisans or supported by the Allies was also considerable.
Stuart light tanks equipped by the Partisans
Since these tanks equipped by the Partisans were generally equipment produced in the early days of World War II, there were obvious deficiencies in protection and firepower, in order to enhance the performance of these tanks, the Yugoslav Partisans began to modify themselves, adding the captured German Park40 anti-tank gun to the Stuart light tank, because the size of the Park40 anti-tank gun was not able to accommodate the original turret, these Stuart light tanks equipped with Park40 anti-tank guns did not have turrets. It could be used as a simple tank destroyer (the Partisans had destroyed German Panther tanks with this modified vehicle), and the PartisanS had a partially modified Stuart light tank equipped with the Flak38 quad flamboyant machine gun as a fire support weapon. Although these weapons are not original, they are temporarily modified anti-tank equipment, but they also have a certain effect, and will also form a certain blow to the German armored forces.
By the end of the war, the Partisans had grown to 900,000 men, controlling more than half of Yugoslavia and constantly taking the initiative to attack. During World War II, the Size of the German Army held back by the Partisans of Yugoslavia was nearly 500,000 people, and these German troops were all elite units, including the SS, mountain troops, and airborne hunting troops, which showed the strength of the Partisans at that time, and in the movie "Bridge", there were some elite guerrilla fighters, and it was very normal that the combat level was outstanding, which was not in conflict with the true portrayal in history.
The First Yugoslav Tank Brigade on the march, the second Stuart tank in the picture was modified, and a German Park40 anti-tank gun was added. Therefore, although the film uses some props at night and for several years, from the perspective of weapons and equipment, the degree of reduction is very high, and it is an excellent military film work.