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Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 23 [508]
Regular infantry (45+ or unfit)
This is
regular infantry? OK, it has been a problem with nomenclature then.
Assault has always been preserved for "elite" formations
Not in
Wojsko Polskie. All the units, no matter which branch - anti-aircraft defense, logistics, whatever - go through basic infantry training. Hm... or at least it used to be like this in the days of conscription. Maybe these days, with specialised professional armies, it is different.
You can't ask Average Joe to get out of his hole and run 500 meters across an open field.
You must surely be joking! Getting out of their holes and running towards enemy positions is exactly what average Joes from regular infantry units have been doing ever since mass conscription has been introduced. Whether they were very successful at it is a different matter. When 1st Infantry Division (
1. Dywizja Piechoty Legionów)- so-called 'iron division',
definitely elite - was surrounded by the Germans in 1939, general Wincenty Kowalski said "we may be surrounded but we will exit the encirclement wherever we want, walking on German stomachs",
and they did! Regular infantry divisions in such situation would fight but eventually be destroyed. That's the difference between elite and regular infantry.
Were those Koreans successful? I mean, did they actually manage to take several Ukrainian positions or did they only manage to die while trying? This might help establish whether they were elite or regular.
By the way, I'm 46 and I will run 500 metres with a backpack and a gun with a finger up my ass (if it's not idiomatic English - it means effortlessly, with ease). :)