Original taken from helg82 in Field Fortification. Part 1.

Single rifle trenches.

A trench for shooting from small arms lying down.

Torn off by a shooter with a small infantry shovel under enemy fire. The volume of excavated soil is 0.3 cubic meters. Time for an excerpt is 25-60 minutes. If possible, it develops into a trench for shooting from the knee.

Trench for shooting small arms from the knee.

Typically a development of a prone trench. Torn off by a small infantry shovel. The volume of excavated soil is 0.8 cubic meters. Time for an excerpt is 50-150 minutes. If possible, it develops into a trench for standing shooting.

A trench for shooting small arms while standing.

It can be a development of a trench for shooting from the knee, or it can come off immediately. The volume of the excavated soil is 1.4 cubic meters. Time for a fragment with a small infantry shovel 120-250 minutes, with a large sapper shovel 1.4 hours. In the future, from the right rear corner of the trench, a fragment of a trench section begins to the neighbor on the right.

A trench for shooting from a machine gun while standing.

It is usually torn off with a large sapper shovel immediately, or with a small infantry shovel, it develops from a trench for shooting from a knee. The volume of excavated soil is 2.3 cubic meters. Labor intensity with a large sapper shovel 2.5 persons / hour, a small infantry shovel 5.7 persons / hour.

94. For firing, observation and protection from means of destruction, each soldier in a position under enemy fire arranges for himself a single trench, first for prone shooting, then deepens the trench for shooting from his knee and then for standing shooting.

95. A single trench for prone shooting is a notch 170 cm long, 60 cm wide and 30 cm deep. The soil taken out during the passage is poured in front, forming a breastwork of the trench. In the trenches intended for frontal fire, the parapet is arranged at the same height.

96. A single trench for shooting from the knee, and then for shooting while standing, is obtained as a result of increasing the depth of the excavation, respectively, to 60 cm and 110 cm. fragments.

98. Trenches for light and company machine guns are arranged for prone, kneeling and standing shooting. The soil dug from the trench should be poured first in front, then from the sides and from the rear. The height of the parapet in the sector of firing from a machine gun should not exceed 20 cm, and in the remaining parts of the window it should be at least 60 cm. denia.

99. For firing from a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, you can use single trenches. In this case, the parapet from the side opposite to the firing sector from the grenade launcher is not arranged.

Note: The numbers at the beginning of the paragraphs are the numbers of the articles of the Manual for military fortifications that have legal force, i.e. binding.

The procedure for a soldier to work on an excerpt of a trench for shooting while prone in conditions of enemy fire

Trenches and communication trenches.

Full profile trench profile.

Depth 150cm. For 1 running meter of the trench, the volume of excavated soil is 1.1 cubic meters, labor input is 1.1 person / hour.

Trench profile of the main (normal) profile.

Depth 110cm. For 1 running meter of the trench, the volume of excavated soil is 0.8 cubic meters, labor input is 0.8 person / hour.

103. The trench is intended for firing, observation and concealed communication. Trenches are equipped with cells for shooters, platforms for machine guns and other fire weapons, as well as simple shelters for personnel. Trenching work must be carefully masked.

Trench in plan

104. Trenches are located on the ground depending on the combat mission assigned to the unit and the terrain conditions - the position of the trenches should ensure good overview and shelling in front of the lying terrain at a distance of at least 400 m.

Trenches can be placed on the forward and reverse slopes. The most convenient place for the location of the trench is the battle ridge (located below the line of the highest points of height by 10-20 m.). When the trench is located at the bottom of the slope, good flatness of the fire is ensured, but hidden communication with the rear becomes difficult. The location of the trench in the area of ​​the topographic ridge makes it easier to covert communication with the rear, but makes it difficult to observe and fire on close approaches due to the large number of dead spaces. When the trench is located on the reverse slope, it should be arranged at a distance of at least 200-300 m from the topographic ridge.

105. The trench of the main profile should have a depth of 110 cm. Such a trench makes it possible to fire from small arms while standing at the bottom of the ditch anywhere in the trench. Subsequently, if there is time and effort, the trench is deepened, bringing it to its full profile, while the depth of the trench should be equal to 150 cm. The trenches are torn off manually and with the help of trench machines.

106. The outline of the trenches in the plan is curvilinear or broken. A curvilinear trench in the plan should be torn off with a trench machine without lifting the working body (rotor). A straight section of a trench is called a trench face. Facade length should not exceed 10-15m. In one face, no more than 1-2 rifle cells should be located so that when a shell or grenade hits the trench, no more than one soldier is hit by shrapnel.

107. The trenches, after the excerpts, are equipped with machines by hand for the rifle subdivisions. Trench equipment includes:
deepening the ditch in areas occupied by units, up to 150 cm, cleaning the berm (berm is the gap between the edge of the trench ditch and the edge of the breastwork and serves to prevent the breastwork soil from falling into the trench), a fragment of cells for shooters and sites for weapons, arrangement of dead ends and widening for divergence during oncoming traffic, construction of shelters for personnel, ammunition for weapons.
In conditions when the subunit takes up the defensive position from the position of direct contact with the enemy, the trench is torn off manually after fragments of single trenches. Each soldier tears off a section of the trench from his single trench to the neighbor on the right, thus turning his trench into a rifle trench cell. Later, shelters for personnel, communication routes, etc. were equipped.

108. Cells for shooters, platforms for machine guns and other fire weapons must be arranged in the forward steepness of the trench, side by side or carried out. The remote cell differs from the adjoined cell in that a trench section usually up to 10 m long is torn off in the perpendicular direction in relation to the main trench. and a cell is arranged at its end. Remote cells are arranged if there are spaces ahead of them that cannot be penetrated from adjacent cells or for flanking or oblique aiming fire. The breastwork behind the cells for hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers is not made. In the front steepness of the cell, niches are equipped for ammunition and property.

113. For a covered communication between positions and the rear, cut-off trenches or communication trenches should be arranged. The communication route looks like a trench outwardly, but it is intended for the covered movement of personnel from the front edge to the rear or to neighboring units. In the communication passages, field latrines, niches for ammunition and other material means, widening for placing stretchers with the wounded, field water supply points are equipped. The communication route can also be equipped with rifle cells in the event that it is supposed to be used as a cut-off position, to destroy an enemy that has broken through, and to conduct an all-round defense.
For covered traffic, it is also recommended to use terrain irregularities - ravines, hollows, reverse slopes of ditch heights, ditches, forest and areas of open terrain behind the installed vertical masks. Modes of communication must be arranged to the nearest area of ​​the terrain sheltered from enemy observation, mainly with a depth of 110 cm and a width of 40-50 cm along the bottom.

114. In the most tactically important areas of the terrain, communication routes must be adapted to the defense by arranging cells for shooters, platforms for machine guns and other fire weapons. In addition, a latrine should be equipped in the communication route closest to the position.

Note: The numbers at the beginning of the paragraphs are the numbers of the articles of the Manual for military fortifications, which have legal force, i.e. binding. In total, the Guide has 526 articles that every military officer must know, and an officer of the engineering troops must know as the prosecutor knows the criminal code. The articles listed in this work must be firmly known to the commander of a motorized rifle squad (junior sergeant).

The trench of the motorized rifle squad.

The trench of a motorized rifle squad is in plan a section of a trench with a broken or curved outline of the main (110 cm) or full (150 cm) profile with a total length of about 100 m. with attached and removed main and spare cells for firing from a machine gun, a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, a light machine gun and other attached and supporting fire weapons (flamethrower, anti-personnel grenade launcher AGS-17, sniper rifle, easel machine gun, etc.). For each machine gun, you should have at least one cell, and for a machine gun, grenade launcher, flamethrower, at least 2 main and 1-2 spare cells.

In addition, the separation trench is equipped with an open or blocked slot for sheltering personnel, niches for ammunition and other property. To the left, right neighbors, a communication course opens, which can also be equipped with cells for firing. To the rear, a communication course also comes off, in which a field latrine, niches for the wounded, ammunition and property are equipped.

The passage of the message to the rear breaks off to the point from which the safe movement of personnel across open areas is possible. The communication course can also be equipped with cells for fire weapons (if it is supposed to be used as a cut-off position or a position for all-round defense).

At a distance of 50m. from the trench, at least one main and one spare trench for the BMP is equipped. The trenches for the BMP are located so that it can support its squad with its fire and cover one of its flanks or rear. In this case, the trenches for the BMP should be positioned so that it can move from trench to trench secretly from the enemy. If you have time, you should open the route of the message to the BMP trenches. Each trench for an infantry fighting vehicle can have an independent slot for sheltering the vehicle's crew (driver-mechanic, gunner-operator, anti-aircraft gunner).

At all stages of equipping the trench for the department, it is necessary to ensure the masking of the work performed and their results. In this case, special attention should be paid to camouflaging trenches for infantry fighting vehicles, slots, cells of heavy weapons. If possible, the trench should be disguised as unoccupied or under the route of communication (not having facilities for firing). Separate sections of the trench should be covered from above with a knurled trench and turf, and masked, thereby creating increased protection for personnel and giving the enemy the impression that he has an unfinished structure in front of him that is not ready for defense.

On average, the equipment of a trench (at a minimum) for a separation in medium soil when performing manual work requires 214-250 people / hour and 2.9 cubic meters. timber., and with the use of means of mechanization (extract of the ditch by machines) 148 people / hour.

The full-blooded department is able to perform priority work in one to one and a half days, all major work in three to five days.

The improvement of the trench for the squad is carried out continuously all the time while the squad takes this position. Secondly and subsequently, the trench and cells are completely overlapped from above by a knurled and turf, the gap develops into a dugout, a grating is laid along the bottom of the trench moat, and gutters are torn off, the steepness is reinforced with poles or a knurled, drainage wells and a drainage ditch are arranged; in the rear passage of the message, a water supply point is set up.

Literature:

glanders essentially

Alternative descriptions

Furrow for the unlikely seeds of war

Dugout without a roof

An inevitable attribute of defense

Firing position in the field

Field fortification

Shooting shelter in the form of a moat with an embankment

Shooting shelter and fire protection

Fortification building

Trench, glanders, shelter, trench

Pit "drafted into the army"

Rescue pit on the battlefield

Ditch in "military service"

What ditch are they shooting from?

What kind of trench is being dug with a sapper shovel?

What does the German word "schanze", from which the concept "entrenching tool" come from, mean?

... Fighter's rookery

Pit connecting redans

Special military ditch

Moat on the battlefield

Defense Attribute

He's behind the breastwork

Shelter from tanks

A soldier's result of a shovel

Warrior's hideout

Trench dug in the ground

Pit with a soldier

Moat for infantry

Combat shelter in the field

The soldiers dug

Shelter on the battlefield

Ditch military rank

... "Wrinkle" on the battlefield

Both the trench and the glanders

Infantry hideout

Modern trench

Shelter on the battlefield

Strategic ditch

A hole dug by a soldier

Military trench

Battle shelter

Shooting shelter

Pit on the battlefield

Rescue pit

Moat with embrasures

... "Wrinkle" on the battlefield

The work of a sapper shovel

Trench Defense Attribute

A soldier dug shelter

War Attribute

Battle pit

Quiet glanders per se

Earthwork

Footman's hideout

A trench dug by a soldier

Where is the infantry hiding?

... Mobilized ditch

Shelter pit

Full-length military amulet

... Soldier's pit

Shelter from enemy bullets

Military ditch

Infantry Fire Trench

Fighter's hideout

What are they digging with a sapper shovel?

Field Soldier's Trench

Rifle or gun

Frontline value ditch

Field military shelter

... "Pit" where the soldier is hiding

Soldier's trench

Soldier's Rescue Ditch

A ditch dug for himself by a soldier

Soldier's hideout

Soldier's hideout

... "Pit" for the shooter

Dug with a sapper shovel

Soldier's Field Shelter

Dug up by a soldier

Lice feeding area

... "Pit" for the fighter

Military "moat"

Soldier's hideout

An indispensable attribute of defense

... "Moat" for soldiers

Infantryman's crawl

Soldiers' hideout

Military "pit"

Shelter in the ground

Soldier pit

It is dug from the fence until lunchtime

Defensive ditch

What kind of trench is being dug with a shovel?

Military ditch

Field earthen shelter of personnel

Shooting shelter

Fortification, shooting shelter in the form of a shallow ditch with an embankment

An article about the Russian front of the First World War during the period of positional hostilities and the features of the defensive positions created on it.

Defense in positional warfare is based on the need to fight in the conditions of the so-called. Positional deadlock – that is, carrying out offensive measures in the presence of a stabilized front and echeloned enemy defense. The following facts will give an impression of the power of the positional defense.

1. During the period of trench warfare, the standard defensive positions on the Russian front included 2-3 fortified zones located at a distance of 3 – 4 km from one another - so that the enemy could not simultaneously destroy 2 lanes with artillery fire. Each strip included 2–3 lines of trenches (the distance between these lines was 100 – 300 steps). Great importance had strong points, which consisted of villages, groves, cemeteries, etc. adapted for defense, or from a whole system of trenches. Closed field fortifications were sometimes built between strongholds (either in the trench line itself or behind it).

Fortified positions of the Russian army with 3 rifle lines.

2. The basic element of the position was rifle trenches for standing shooting, so-called. full profile - that is, with a parapet, an internal ditch and dugouts ("ditches with a roof made of poles, on top of which the earth is poured"). Frontal shelling from the trench (no dead spaces) - at least 200 steps, and the view - at least 1000 steps.

Traditionally, standing trenches and communication trenches were called trenches, and trenches for prone or kneeling – lodgments.

Trench for shooting from the knee.

Standing trench (with steps).
Manual on self-entrenching infantry. SPb., 1909.

3. The trench was built according to a certain system.

A full-fledged trench had rear traverses (a kind of fence of two rows of boards or wattle fences, which covered the shooters from longitudinal fire and the scattering of fragments during frontal fire) and visors or loopholes to protect against shrapnel bullets. The loopholes were protected from rifle bullets (they were built from logs, bags of earth, sod, etc.; sometimes loopholes were replaced with rifle shields), and the visors – from shrapnel bullets and light shrapnel (2 – 2.5-inch boards). But they strongly unmasked the trenches. The instructions emphasized that in order for them not to unmask the trenches before the start of a fire fight, they should be kept covered with improvised material (earthen bags, grass, straw, leaves), and during shooting – curtains of tents curtained behind (so as not to show through).

In addition to firing through loopholes in case of an increase in the number of shooters or for conducting oblique fire, even a deep trench was adapted for firing over a breastwork or a canopy - for this it was equipped with steps or ladders. Steps and ladders were especially important in grenade combat and in the production of counterattacks.

To protect against shrapnel in the event of a direct hit by a projectile, the trench should be zigzag (with breaks or corners - break length 12 – 16 steps). From the inside, a long-term trench was sheathed with fences or poles.

In order to stop the spread of enemy soldiers who broke into the position, earthen bags, wooden bulkheads with barbed wire, slingshots, hedgehogs, frames with smooth wire netting against hand grenades, etc.

The breastwork (that is, the embankment in front of the trench) should have been constructed in such a way that the shooters, not even aiming, but putting the rifle in the place intended for it on the breastwork, could keep the nearest approaches to the position under fire. Given the specificity of the German shells, which give a large number of fragments, the Russian instructions recommended making trenches at the same (width along the bottom ¾ step) and deeper. Moreover, it was recommended to deepen the profile of the trench by reducing the parapet - at the same time, this improved camouflage.

Sandbag loopholes (plan).
Manual on military engineering. - SPb., 1910.

4. Given the fact that the leading edge was the object of close attention from the enemy's firepower, at a distance of about 100 – 300 steps behind the battle line, special shelters were created - in them there were soldiers who were free from service in the forward trenches. Between the battle line and the shelters, as well as towards trenches for reserves, communication trenches were laid - deep zigzag ditches, used to transfer units to the front line and for evacuation from the front line to the rear. The side of the communication passages facing the enemy was covered by a mound.

Message progress. Manual on self-entrenching infantry. SPb., 1909.

5. Dugouts - the most powerful structure in the trench, able to withstand even heavy artillery fire. The standard dugout was designed for 15 – 25 people, had 2 exits, anti-fragmentation and anti-gas bulkheads and was connected to the trench by communication trenches. The embankment above the dugout should not exceed the embankment of the breastwork of the trench.

There were shelters-slots in the trenches ("fox holes" – earthen caves at 10 – 12 people) and living quarters – dugouts.

In order for the shelter to be able to cover from heavy artillery fire, the thickness of the floors should be 3 rows of thick logs (each trunk - 18 – 27 cm thick) plus a 2.5-meter earthen embankment. For greater strength, a stone powder was made in the upper layer of the earth - it caused the explosion of the projectile before it penetrated deep into the pillow. In order to give the floor springing properties, 18 – 27 cm fascina.

Scheme of the device of the shelter.

6. The blockhouse was a solid wooden blockhouse, sprinkled with earth on the outside, with an elbow rest and loopholes for shooting. Often, well-camouflaged blockhouses and lunettes were brought forward and connected to the trenches by communication trenches. Well camouflaged and equipped with machine guns, they were very effective forward firing points that defended approaches to barbed wire and other artificial obstacles. At the same time, many blockhouses were located in the depths of the defense - behind the trenches of the 1st line, so that their fire would be a surprise to the enemy.

Blockhouse and its place in the defense system.
Instructions for strengthening positions. Ed. 2. Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
- Pg .: Military printing house of Empress Catherine the Great, 1916.

7. Created, etc. closures for reserves - special ditches that serve for covert concentration of troops. It was recommended to construct such closings behind the reverse slopes of heights, equip them with reliable communications and make them, if possible, covered. The communication routes for the accumulation of troops were often equipped with special extensions, and in order to avoid the rapid spread of the enemy along them - with special obstacles. The width of the standard passage of the message was supposed to allow the stretcher with the wounded to be carried, and the device was supposed to protect it from shedding and allow the placement of military equipment. According to the standards, one message move fell on every 100 – 150 m of trenches, was built in a zigzag or snake shape and, if possible, also adapted to the defense.

For the convenience of counter-attacks and the transition to the offensive, special crossings were built through the trenches. But for the production of sorties, searches and reconnaissance and for a surprise attack on the flank and rear of the attacking enemy units from the internal ditches of the trenches and closures for the reserves, covered communication passages (manholes) were created, which were well camouflaged and led into dead spaces, to the neutral zone, to wire fences. With a significant number of such manholes, it was possible to pursue the enemy shortly, cut off his retreating subunits and impede the approach of reserves.

Closures for reserves. Manual on self-entrenching infantry. SPb., 1909.

8. Often the key to the position was closed fortifications or redoubts. Redoubt – it is a closed polygonal defensive structure, the garrison of which, as a rule, did not exceed one company. Redoubts were created mainly at commanding heights with a close fire connection between them and had independent artificial obstacles and barriers. Such an autonomous reinforced defensive position in the most important tactical direction served as a significant obstacle to breaking through the positional defense.

Field fortification (redoubt).

9. In trench warfare, special attention was paid to camouflaging fortifications. In the event of unmasking the defensive positions, they were awaited by a hail of hand grenades, bombs and mines, bombs and mortars, and, of course, artillery shells.

Normative density of rifle defense in trench warfare – up to 3 steps per soldier. The strength of the fortifications, the effectiveness of fire due to the presence of a well-thought-out system and the long-term stay of the fighters in position contributed to such a thin formation.

Machine guns, which had such important properties for positional defense as accuracy and accuracy (in comparison with rifle fire) of fire, were installed in the tactically most dangerous positions (on the "paths of the enemy's probable offensive" and on the reverse slopes of heights) and on the flanks (this made it possible to concentrate cross machine gun fire). It was considered desirable to achieve fire coverage of the advancing enemy.

Machine guns were either interspersed in shooting positions, or installed separately – "Independently" (as a rule, platoon). In the latter case, special machine-gun trenches were built. It was recommended to place machine guns in armored shelters, and carefully camouflage those located on the very line of fire, connecting messages with rear positions.

It was recommended to place bombs and mortars behind the folds of the terrain and reverse slopes of heights, as far as possible away from the trenches, and, as often as possible, change positions for them. There were bombs and mortars in special trenches, about 50 paces or more behind the shooting position (so as not to incur return enemy fire on it for their actions). Such trenches were supplied with their own shelters and communication trenches with rifle trenches.

The key place was assigned to the actions of artillery. Part of the artillery was in the battle line, and the other – in the general reserve. Artillery in the positions was placed in special trenches, mainly in closed positions. Light batteries were within 2, and heavy batteries were within 3 – 5 km from the front line. Batteries were also provided with spare positions. Sometimes rails were brought up to the positions of heavy artillery, along which trolleys with ammunition approached. Special attention was paid to the massing of artillery fire, as well as the possibility of its concentration at any point in the area under fire - especially the most important approaches to the position. Whenever possible, they tried to disperse the artillery, guided by the rule: "Stand apart, and shoot together."

Machine gun nests and shelters. Plan.
Manual for the fight for the fortified zones. Ed. 4., Typo-Lithograph of the Headquarters of the Special Army, 1916.

10. The qualifying, "external" sign of the positional nature of the combat confrontation was the presence of fortifications in front and in the battle line of the so-called. artificial obstacles. They interfered with the advancement of the enemy's infantry, dismembered his combat formation - moreover, under the powerful fire of the defender. Even a slight delay under enemy fire led to large losses of the advancing units.

The main requirements for artificial obstacles are maximum "invisibility" for enemy artillery observers and difficult to destroy, as well as the ability to cover them with effective fire.

Ditches filled with water, at least 4.2 m wide and 2 m deep (especially when reinforced with underwater wire barriers) were considered to be especially strong artificial obstacles.

But the most widely used were standard wire fences up to 4.5 m wide. They were the strongest and most successful artificial obstacle that the defender could create. This is not surprising: the barbed wire was an effective obstacle preventing the movement of the main power of the armies of the First World War - manpower. But on the other hand, thanks to the presence of wooden stakes (the distance between the stakes is 3 steps), such barriers were not only perfectly visible from a distance, but also unmasked the rifle trenches located immediately behind them.

They tried to place wire fences at an appropriate distance from the trenches (exceeding the length of the grenade throw - that is, 60 – 80 steps) and, if possible, in several rows (this made it difficult for artillery to destroy the obstacle - each row required a separate zeroing). The distance between the rows was not supposed to allow the enemy to maneuver (the standard distance between the rows is 1.5 steps). Moreover, it was believed that it is better to have a larger number of narrow strips of wire fences than a smaller number of wide strips.

Barbed wire was wrapped around stakes driven in at the corners of equilateral triangles. The wire was not pulled tight. Each stake was wired to the six nearest stakes – and they tried to make the network as wrong as possible. For this, the height of the stakes above the ground was made unequal (the standards determined the existence of large and small stakes). The standard strip of wire fencing consisted of 3 – 6 rows of stakes and had a width of 4.2 to 8.5 m.

By 1917, wire fences appeared on the rows of slingshots, densely braided with wire in the form of "foot loops", foot loops, as well as wire snares.

Wire fence.
Manual on military engineering for all branches of the army. - SPb .: Military printing house, 1910.

11. Often wire nets were connected to wolf pits. This artificial obstacle was more than 2 m deep, and at the bottom of the pit there was a pointed stake driven into the ground. Such pits were arranged in several rows in a checkerboard pattern, and in the intervals between them, stakes were also driven in, onto which a wire net was stretched. Especially big fans of wolf pits were the Austrians who opposed the troops of the Southwestern Front. But, unlike wire obstacles and notches, it was the easiest thing to neutralize the wolf pits for the attacker - from the fire of heavy artillery, craters and pits merged into a single earthen mass.

Wolf pits reinforced with wire mesh.
Manual on military engineering for all branches of the army. - SPb .: Military printing house, 1910.

12. Servings were also among the artificial obstacles. They were made from three rows of trees – moreover, the tops of the rear ones covered the trunks of the front ones (if necessary, reinforced with poles). The pins were attached to the ground with flyers. This obstacle greatly impeded the advance of the attacker - it was difficult to destroy even by heavy artillery fire. Such incisions were arranged by the Germans on the Dvinsky, Riga and Mitavsky fronts.

Short tree lines.
Manual on military engineering for all branches of the army. - SPb .: Military printing house, 1910.

13. The palisade was made of sharpened logs, which were buried in the ground one next to the other and were tied together by horizontal boards nailed from the side of the defender. This obstacle looked like a fence and, as a rule, was placed in the moat in front of the positions.

The slingshots consisted of 2–3 pole crosses (about 107 cm high) and a crossbeam connecting them (1–1.5 m long). On the diagonals and edges, the slingshots were braided with barbed wire, and in order to make it difficult to pull them apart, they were fastened together with it. Such a slingshot was a mobile barrier (it blocked exits through wire barriers) and was used to repair stationary barriers.

Slingshots.
Manual on military engineering for all branches of the army. - SPb .: Military printing house, 1910.

14. Dry ditches were sometimes constructed, reinforced with a horizontal wire net, positioned at such a height from the bottom of the ditch that it could not be reached with the wire cutters worn on the rifle.

Moreover, trench warfare revived another vestige of the Middle Ages - the so-called. stone throwers. Stone throwers were boxes with a charge, covered with a thick wooden shield, on which stones were piled – and then all this was covered with earth. For ignition, the charge was connected to the position with a wire or a special ignition cord. As soon as the enemy approached such camouflaged rock throwers (located at 150 – 200 steps from their own positions), followed by an explosion.

Land mines were often laid (if at the stone thrower the box of gunpowder was laid with stones, then for the land mine it was covered with earth), and hedgehogs were scattered between the wire fences and the notches. The latter were made of 3 stakes (each 107 cm long) and tied together with a wire in such a way that they stuck out in three perpendicular directions.

Gooseberry.
Manual on military engineering for all branches of the army. - St. Petersburg: Military Printing House, 1910.

To make it difficult for the enemy to fight against artificial obstacles, they adapted to the terrain as much as possible and were placed in a checkerboard pattern or in waves. Reverse slopes of heights, lowlands, folds of the terrain were recognized as the best positions for their placement. Observation posts and special teams equipped with machine guns, mortars and bombers were on duty at the barbed wire.

Artificial obstacles were also erected in front of the rear defensive lines.

Thus, the assault on the positional defense was very difficult and possible only if the artificial obstacles were properly destroyed. On the whole, as noted by the Direction of the Russian Headquarters, the fortified zone represents “a force that is difficult to overcome under 3 conditions: the greatest vigilance<…>the ability to keep as many people as possible before last minute capable of hand-to-hand combat<…>when the number of troops corresponds to the length of the position. "