Convoy - what is it? Intuitively, almost everyone can pick up the answer to this question. But only in the most general terms. Let's figure out what it is, in what context this concept is used and what meaning, depending on the circumstances, can be put into it.
Definition
Start with the fact that this is a convoy. There are several interpretations of this word:
- A line of wagons, carts, sledges, vehicles and other similar objects that transport certain cargo and / or people.
- A set of vehicles assigned to military units. There may be an additional designation indicating the intended use. For example: artillery, sanitary, people's convoy.
- Several wagons, carts or other vehicles with luggage that follow the column.
- There may also be a figurative reference. For example, to stretch (to trail, to be) in a wagon train means to be behind everyone.
In military affairs
Perhaps this is the most famous use of the word. In the militaryIn fact, the convoy means not only directly attached vehicles, which are part of individual units, such as a regiment or division, but also a service specializing in performing specific tasks. For example, sanitary, artillery, engineering convoys. Before the mass introduction of motor transport, horse traction was used. In the Russian state, the senior boss, the head of this direction, was called the oboznichi. Although other designations were also popular. For example, the words kosh and arose were used.
Specialized units
So who could you meet? On a regular basis this applies to:
- Travel convoy. By this is meant artillery and engineering supplies, along with accompanying personnel. This also included camp cooking.
- Fire convoy. This is a special unit that has been equipped with many devices to extinguish fires and rescue people.
- To the sewage convoy. It means a set of transported devices that are necessary for organizing the removal of sewage from the location of the troops. Such, for example, were hermetically sealed barrels and other similar devices.
But only this list is not exhausted. Separate divisions with unique tasks were also formed. An example of this is the golden convoy. So, for example, they called the formations that were engaged in escorting when transporting precious reserves. The most famous example isthe situation with the Civil War and the so-called royal gold. Although precious metals are still being transported, they are simply not in such large quantities and are usually registered not as a convoy, but as a separate specialized unit.
Also, as a rather rare, if possible, contemplation, one can mention the dowry of transport supplies for higher officials. For example - the People's Commissariat convoy. That was the name of all the accompanying persons and services that moved along with the people's commissars.
Conclusion
Here we have considered what a wagon train is. This concept has changed depending on the conditions in which it was used. So, in the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, they put a slightly different meaning into them. Of course, the essence itself did not change, but the details that affected the overall picture were constantly in motion and the action of modification.
It should be noted that to a greater extent this applies to the emergence of new units. For example, the organization of military units in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 and during the conflict with the Japanese in 1904-1905 differs only in the presence of machine gun teams. It should also be remembered that the concept of convoy was used not only in military affairs, but also when equipping merchants, as well as during resettlement.
