Recently, Konstantin Pahalyuk, an expert in the Scientific Research Department of the Russian Military History Association, wrote an article that although chemical weapons are extremely lethal, they are affected by many factors and generally produce effects at the tactical level, without affecting the first time. The overall situation of the World War led to huge losses and endless harm to the personnel of the countries participating in the war. At the same time, Pahalyuk's article also introduced some of the Russian military's defense against chemical weapons attacks.
In January 1915, the Russian army was attacked by the enemy's first large-scale chemical weapons during the Battle of Polymov. The Germans fired 18,000 methyl bromide shells at the Russian positions. Although methyl bromide caused many Russian soldiers to lose consciousness and fell to the ground, and the diffuse methyl bromide smoke also made the Russian military positions "out of sight", the low temperature at that time weakened the killing effect, and the German army's first attack Still repelled by the Russian army. It was not until the evening that the Russian army was forced to retreat due to the superior German forces. On August 6th of that year, the German army launched a chemical weapon attack on the Russian fortress Osowitz. Its effect was also greatly reduced due to the dense terrain of the local swamp.
Pahalyuk stated in the article that the above two war cases show that the use and effects of chemical weapons are subject to many restrictions. The nature of chemical weapons is unstable. In addition to low temperature and humidity, weather conditions will also weaken the role of chemical weapons. If the direction of the wind fluctuates, chemical weapons may also harm the caster. The effective protective measures of
also greatly reduce the killing effect of chemical weapons. After being attacked by chemical weapons in early 1915, Russia began to develop protective equipment for chemical weapons. The earliest protective equipment was very simple, it was gauze or rag soaked in a special solution. In order to improve the protective effect, Russian engineers later developed a cloth mask that can be close to the face, but the improvement in protective performance is limited.
The famous Russian chemist Nikolai Zelensky personally went to the front line to investigate in order to find effective ways to protect against chemical weapons attacks. He noticed that when the chlorine came, all soldiers who covered their heads with military coats or burrowed their heads into the soft soil were spared. After research and analysis, Zelensky found that military coat wool and soil particles can effectively adsorb toxic substances, which helped Zelensky find a research direction. After further research and experiments, Zelensky found that charcoal can not only adsorb toxic substances, but also ensure unblocked breathing, and the effect of filtering toxic substances is very good. Subsequently, Zelensky successfully developed a special gas mask in August 1915 using activated carbon, which is easy to produce, low cost, and better in filtering. This gas mask is made of high-quality rubber and can wrap the entire face to form a sealed environment, which not only protects the respiratory tract, but also protects the eyes and facial skin. In addition to gas masks, since the second half of 1915, the Russian army has popularized the practice of avoiding chemical weapons attacks in its troops. The Russian army set up a special place in the rear to simulate chemical weapons with smoke to train soldiers how to choose and use suitable wind directions and terrain to avoid chemical weapons attacks.
In the spring of 1916, the Russian army began to fight with chemical weapons. In the summer of that year, chemical weapons played a role in the famous Brusilov Breakthrough Campaign, which was also the first chemical weapon attack launched by the Russian army.
Pahalyuk believes that by the end of World War I, chemical weapons only helped the participating countries complete some tactical tasks. There were very few large-scale chemical weapons attacks. Chemical weapons shells were often launched together with ordinary shells to bombard enemy positions. Plays a role as an auxiliary attack method.
(Fourth edition of China National Defense News, November 12, 2020)
Contribution email: zggfbxmt@163.com
Responsible Editor/Liu Dong曈
Network Editor/Sun Chen姌
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