I'mnot really sure how to word it.

So I'm watching Enemy at the Gate which if you haven't seen it is about a sniper in the Soviet forces during the battle of Stalingrad.

At the start of the film the soviet soldiers are rushed to the front any soldier deserting or taking a step back is shot by their superiors. Was is really that brutal? Anyone retreating was shot?

Also as they are limited in weaponry one soldier out of two was given a rifle. The other was ordered to follow the soldier with the rifle until he died then pick up the rifle and keep going.

Are any of these cases historically accurate? If so, how were the other armies treating their soldiers in comparison? Were they similarly as brutal with their own army?