By the time of Operation Barbarossa, hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops were available to fight the Axis invaders, though their tactics and organization left much to be desired, as evidence with the Axis push through the Soviet Union, almost reaching Moscow. The standard Soviet infantry squad consisted of eleven men, one being the squad leader, two being part of the light machine gun team, two more being submachine-gunners, and the last six being riflemen.The most common weapon in this squad being the Mosin-Nagant M1891/30 Rifle, affixed with a bayonet for close combat. However, if available, SVT-40 semi-automatic rifles were also sometimes issued, though they were hardly favorites among troops. Even with its higher rate of fire, the SVT-40 suffered from numerous mechanical issues that