HILL ZHIRKOVSKY
Autumn has touched the fields of the Moscow region. The first leaf falls.
On September 30, 1941, fascist generals gave the order to attack Moscow.
“Typhoon” - the Nazis called their plan of attack. A typhoon is a strong wind, a fast-moving hurricane. The Nazis tried to break into Moscow like a hurricane.
Go around Moscow from the north, from the south. Grab the Soviet armies in a huge pincer. Compress. Crush. Destroy. This is the fascists' plan.
The fascists believe in quick success, in victory. They sent more than a million soldiers to Moscow. One thousand seven hundred tanks, almost a thousand planes, many guns, many other weapons. Two hundred fascist generals are leading the troops. The campaign is led by two field marshals.
The offensive has begun.
On one of the main sectors of the front, fascist tanks were moving towards the village of Kholm Zhirkovsky.
The Nazis approached the village. They are looking. What is he saying to the tanks - some kind of Hill Zhirkovsky. Like a pea to a lion.
Forverts! Forward! - the officer shouted. I took out my watch. I looked at the time: - Ten minutes for the assault.
The tanks went to Zhirkovsky.
Zhirkovsky Hill was defended by the 101st Motorized Rifle Division and the 128th tank brigade. Soldiers settled in the trenches. Unechin sits with everyone. Not better than others, not worse. A soldier is like a soldier. Cap. Rifle. Mask. On his feet are tarpaulin boots.
Tanks are crawling into the trenches. One goes straight to Unechina. Unechin took the grenade in his hand. Keeps a close eye on the tank. Closer, closer, the fascist tank.
Drop it, drop it,” whispers the neighbor in the trench.
Unechin is waiting.
Give it up, the devil will take you! - He no longer whispers - the neighbor shouts.
Unechin does not quit. I waited another minute. There's a fascist tank nearby. The neighbor had already closed his eyes. Prepared for certain death. However, he sees: Unechin stood up and threw a grenade. A fascist tank stumbled. The engine roared and froze.
Unechin grabbed a bottle with flammable liquid. He swung again. He threw it again. The tank caught fire from the flammable mixture.
Unechin smiled, turned to his neighbor, and straightened his cap on his forehead.
Someone said:
Wow, bro! It turns out that he gave the fascists a light.
The soldiers laughed and went back into battle.
There is a battle going on left and right. Heroes don't let tanks through.
The soldier pulled out a new grenade. He took out a bottle with the mixture. I placed a grenade and liquid nearby. Waiting.
The new tank rumbled with metal. And this one goes to Unechina. Someone said again:
The animal runs towards the catcher.
Unechin waited for a minute, a second, a third...
“Give it up, give it up!” - the neighbor wanted to shout again. However, he pressed his lips together and restrained himself.
Another minute, and again the grenade was thrown like a cat under the tank. And then a bottle with a flammable mixture. This tank also caught fire.
Unechin smiled. He adjusted the cap on his forehead. The third one took out a grenade. He took out a bottle with a flammable mixture. I placed it next to it.
Battle rumbles left and right. Heroes don't let tanks through.
Ten minutes have passed... thirty minutes have passed. The battle continues for an hour, two - the fight does not subside. Fascist officers look at their watches with alarm. It's long past time to pass Zhirkovsky. They got stuck in Zhirkovsky.
Soviet soldiers held out for more than a day near Zhirkovsky Hill. 59 fascist tanks were knocked out and set on fire. Four of them were destroyed by Unechin soldiers.
By the end of the day, the order came for the soldiers to retreat to a new line. The fighters change positions. Unechin goes with everyone. A soldier is like a soldier. Not better than others, not worse. Cap. Rifle. Mask. On his feet are tarpaulin boots.
The soldiers are coming. We climbed to a hillock, to a high place. Zhirkovsky Hill lies in full view in front of them. The soldiers are watching - father light! - the entire field is covered in damaged tanks: a complete mess of earth and metal.
Someone said:
The enemies had a hard time. Hot. The fascists will remember our Zhirkovsky Hill.
Not Zhirkovsky, consider Zharkovsky,” someone else corrected.
The soldiers looked again at the field:
Of course, Zharkovsky Hill!
There are battles going on left and right. Zharkovsky Hills are everywhere for the fascists.
FORCE
The Nazis are coming. From the south they go to Bryansk, to Orel. From the north they are moving towards Kalinin. They are going to Vyazma, Kaluga, Yukhnov.
City of Yukhnov. Ugra River. Here on the Ugra near Yukhnov soldiers defended a bridge.
The Nazis came out to the bridge. The tanks crowded together. The artillery massed. The infantry filled the entire right bank. A crossing is necessary for troops. The Nazis need a bridge.
The soldiers look at the fascist guns, at the tanks, at the right bank:
Brothers, look at the strength!
If you look at this strength, it really is like a hammer. There are few of our troops here. The bridge is defended by a very small detachment, little more than a rifle company. The bridge is also protected by the Garkusha soldier.
Garkusha is very young. The soldier has his first battle ahead. The soldiers settled down in the trenches. They promised help to the soldiers. The defenders are waiting for fresh strength.
The Nazis went to storm the bridge. They opened machine-gun fire on ours. The entire left bank was riddled. They are now rushing to attack. The bridge is about to be captured.
The soldiers fight bravely. Fascists are not allowed near the bridge. And yet Garkusha understands: they cannot resist without fresh strength. The soldiers are waiting for reinforcements.
Where is the help? - Garkusha began to worry. - We will not hold the left bank.
And suddenly a soldier looks - the Nazis are retreating back.
Garkusha is happy.
Hooray!
Apparently help has arrived.
Only “Hurray!” the soldier shouted as the Nazis opened mortar fire on ours. They storm the shore with a hail of mines. They go on the attack again. The bridge is about to be captured. Garkusha is in battle with everyone else. The young soldier took a closer look at the others. Garkusha is formidable in battle.
Come on, come on. Come on, come on! - This is Garkusha shouting to the fascists. The rifle in Garkusha’s hands shoots like a machine gun.
The soldiers fought steadfastly. Garkusha looks - the Nazis are leaving.
Fascist artillery hit our shore. They dug up the shells like plows. They plowed the bank with metal.
Again the Nazis attack the bridge. The stubborn bridge does not give up. The soldiers do not let the Nazis pass ahead. Garkusha became quite animated:
Hooray! Brothers, don't be afraid! Brothers, go ahead!
Our soldiers responded to the enemy attack with their own attack. Garkusha runs with others. The tip of the bayonet sparkles like a diamond.
Garkusha looks - the Nazis are leaving.
Soldier Garkusha is happy: it means that our strength has been added again, which means that help has arrived on time.
Garkusha turned back to look at the heroes, at those who had arrived. Behind the soldier is an empty field. Looked left, looked right. Replenishment is nowhere to be seen. All around are the same fighters - friends from the heroic company.
Where is the strength? Was there power? - the soldier looks at his neighbor. - Where is it, the replenishment?
The neighbor shrugs: what is the soldier talking about?
Garkusha was embarrassed and stood in surprise.
Where is the power? There was power! The soldier swears - there was!
For three days the soldiers held out near the Ugra. The fascists were not allowed forward.
MTSENSK
Our troops are retreating. They are leaving. The enemy is stronger.
From the south, a tank army under the command of General Heinz Guderian makes its way to Moscow.
The fascists are rushing forward. Nazi tanks broke through the Soviet front. Cars rush forward.
The road to Moscow is open! The road to Moscow is open!
The Nazis rushed into Oryol. They rush on, hurry to Tula.
Between Orel and Tula - Mtsensk.
Fascist tanks are approaching Mtsensk. Morning. Heinz Guderian stood up. I washed myself. Shaved. The general sat down to breakfast.
Heinz Guderian, Honored General. He is held in special esteem among the fascists. He is appreciated in Berlin.
“Who is our most exemplary general?”
"Heinz Guderian."
“Who is the most decisive among us?”
"Heinz Guderian."
“Who knows only victories?”
"Heinz Guderian. Heinz Guderian. Heinz Guderian!
Rewards are flowing to Guderian like a river. The general was accustomed to victories, to success, to awards, to honors. “Fleet-footed Heinz” - they call him in Germany.
Guderian is having breakfast, sitting at the table, reasoning:
Today we will be in Mtsensk. Tomorrow we will be in Plavsk. In Plavsk, in Plavsk... - the general began to hum.
General is glad for your success.
Tomorrow we will be in Plavsk, the day after tomorrow we will be in Tula. In Tula, in Tula,” said Guderian.
I thought about it and figured something out in my mind:
The day after tomorrow we will be in Tula. Another day, two more...
I had breakfast, got ready, and went to the general’s headquarters. I delved into the staff maps. Looks at the arrows, looks at the dates:
Another day, two more...
And now Guderian sees Moscow.
Moscow, Moscow... - the general began to hum.
Suddenly an adjutant runs up to him:
Tanks! Tanks, my general!
Heinz Guderian does not understand why the adjutant is shouting so much and what tanks are there.
Russian tanks! - the adjutant shouts.
Near the city of Mtsensk, the road to the Nazis was blocked by Soviet tanks.
There were few Soviet tanks. However, the blow is strong. The tankers acted smartly: they used ambushes, screens, direct fire, and attacked the Nazis on the side - where the armor on the tanks was weaker. The Nazis lost 133 tanks in the battles near Mtsensk.
The Nazis also stayed here. They put themselves in order. Even a special commission was convened. The commission is studying how this is so, why, how miraculously so many fascist tanks were knocked out here.
General Guderian is no longer humming. He doesn't sing. I don `t want. Not in the mood.
VYAZMA
The fields near Vyazma are free. The hills run towards the sky.
You can’t erase the words from there. Near the city of Vyazma, a large group of Soviet troops was surrounded by the enemy. The fascists are happy.
Hitler himself, the leader of the Nazis, calls to the front:
Surrounded?
“That’s right, our Fuhrer,” the fascist generals report.
Have you laid down your weapons?
The generals are silent.
Have you laid down your weapons?
Here is a brave one found.
No. I dare to report, my Fuhrer... - The General wanted to say something.
However, Hitler was distracted by something. The speech was interrupted mid-sentence.
For several days now, being surrounded, Soviet soldiers have been fighting stubbornly. They shackled the fascists. The fascist offensive breaks down. Enemies are stuck near Vyazma.
Again Hitler calls from Berlin:
Surrounded?
“That’s right, our Fuhrer,” the fascist generals report.
Have you laid down your weapons?
The generals are silent.
Have you laid down your weapons?
No.
A terrible curse came from the tube.
“I dare to report, my Fuhrer,” the brave one is trying to say something. - Our Frederick the Great also said...
Days pass again. The fighting near Vyazma continues. The enemies were stuck near Vyazma.
Vyazma knits them, knits them. She grabbed me by the throat!
The great Fuhrer is angry. Another call from Berlin.
Have you laid down your weapons?
The generals are silent.
Have you laid down your weapons?!
No, the brave man is responsible for everyone.
A stream of bad words poured out again. The membrane in the tube began to dance.
The general fell silent. I waited it out. I caught the moment:
I dare to report that my Fuhrer, our great, our wise King Frederick also said...
Hitler listens:
Well, well, what did our Friedrich say?
Frederick the Great said, the general repeated, the Russians must be shot twice. And then push, my Fuhrer, so that they fall.
The Fuhrer muttered something incomprehensible into the phone. The Berlin wire has become disconnected.
For a whole week the fighting continued near Vyazma. The week was invaluable for Moscow. During these days, the defenders of Moscow managed to gather their strength and prepared convenient lines for defense.
The fields near Vyazma are free. The hills run towards the sky. Here in the fields, on the hills near Vyazma, hundreds of heroes lie. Here, defending Moscow, the Soviet people performed a great military feat.
Know!
Remember!
Keep the bright memory of them!
GENERAL ZHUKOV
Commander Western Front- Army General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was appointed to the front, which included the majority of the troops defending Moscow.
Zhukov arrived on the Western Front. Staff officers report to him the combat situation.
Fighting is taking place near the city of Yukhnov, near Medyn, near Kaluga.
Officers find Yukhnov on the map.
Here, they report, at Yukhnov’s, west of the city... - and they report where and how the fascist troops are located near the city of Yukhnov.
No, no, they are not here, but here,” Zhukov corrects the officers and himself points out the places where the Nazis are at this time.
The officers looked at each other. They look at Zhukov in surprise.
Here, here, in this exact place. Don’t doubt it, says Zhukov.
Officers continue to report the situation.
Here, - they find the city of Medyn on the map, - to the north-west of the city, the enemy has concentrated large forces - and they list what forces: tanks, artillery, mechanized divisions ...
Yes, yes, right,” says Zhukov. “Only the forces are not here, but here,” Zhukov clarifies from the map.
Again the officers look at Zhukov in surprise. They forgot about the further report, about the map.
The staff officers bent over the map again. They report to Zhukov what the combat situation is near the city of Kaluga.
Here, the officers say, south of Kaluga, the enemy pulled up motorized mechanized units. This is where they are standing at this moment.
No, Zhukov objects. - They are not in this place now. This is where the parts have been moved, and shows the new location on the map.
The staff officers were dumbfounded. They look at the new commander with undisguised surprise. Zhukov sensed distrust in the eyes of the officers. He grinned.
Do not doubt. That's exactly how it is. “You guys are great - you know the situation,” Zhukov praised the staff officers. - But mine is more precise.
It turns out that General Zhukov had already visited Yukhnov, Medyn, and Kaluga. Before going to headquarters, I went straight to the battlefield. This is where the accurate information comes from.
The general and then the Marshal took part in many battles Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov - an outstanding Soviet commander, hero of the Great Patriotic War. This is under his leadership and under the leadership of other Soviet generals Soviet troops defended Moscow from enemies. And then, in stubborn battles, they defeated the Nazis in the Great Moscow Battle.
MOSCOW SKY
This happened even before the start of the Moscow Battle.
Hitler was daydreaming in Berlin. Wondering: what to do with Moscow? He suffers to make something so unusual and original. I thought and thought...
Hitler came up with this. I decided to flood Moscow with water. Build huge dams around Moscow. Fill the city and all living things with water.
Everything will perish immediately: people, houses and the Moscow Kremlin!
He closed his eyes. He sees: in place of Moscow, a bottomless sea splashes!
Descendants will remember me!
Then I thought: “Uh, until the water comes in...”
Wait?!
No, he doesn’t agree to wait long.
Destroy now! This very minute!
Hitler thought, and here is the order:
Bomb Moscow! Destroy! With shells! Bombs! Send squadrons! Send armadas! Leave no stone unturned! Raze it to the ground!
He threw his hand forward like a sword:
Destroy! Raze it to the ground!
That’s right, raze it to the ground,” the fascist generals froze in readiness.
On July 22, 1941, exactly a month after the start of the war, the Nazis carried out their first air raid on Moscow.
The Nazis immediately sent 200 planes on this raid. The engines hum impudently.
The pilots lounged in their seats. Moscow is getting closer, getting closer. The fascist pilots reached for the bomb levers.
But what is it?! Powerful searchlights crossed sword-knives in the sky. Red-star Soviet fighters rose to meet the air robbers.
The Nazis did not expect such a meeting. The enemy formation has become disordered. Only a few planes broke through to Moscow then. And they were in a hurry. They threw bombs wherever they had to, they would quickly drop them and run away from here.
The Moscow sky is harsh. The uninvited guest is severely punished. 22 planes were shot down.
Well... - the fascist generals drawled.
We thought about it. We now decided to send planes not all at once, not in a mass, but in small groups.
The Bolsheviks will be punished!
The next day, again 200 planes fly to Moscow. They fly in small groups - three or four cars in each.
And again they were met by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners, again they were driven away by red star fighters.
For the third time, the Nazis are sending planes to Moscow. Hitler's generals were intelligent and inventive. The generals came up with a new plan. They decided to send the planes in three tiers. Let one group of planes fly low from the ground. The second one is a little higher. And the third - both at a high altitude and a little late. The first two groups will distract the attention of the defenders of the Moscow sky, the generals reason, and at this time, at a high altitude, the third group will quietly approach the city, and the pilots will drop bombs exactly on the target.
And now there are fascist planes in the sky again. The pilots lounged in their seats. The engines are humming. The bombs froze in the hatches.
There's a group coming. The second one is behind her. And a little behind, at a high altitude, the third. The very last one to fly was a special plane, with cameras. He will take photographs of how fascist planes destroy Moscow and bring them for display to the generals...
The generals are waiting for news. The first plane is returning. The engines stalled. The screws stopped. The pilots came out. Pale, pale. They can barely stand on their feet.
The Nazis lost fifty aircraft that day. The photographer did not return either. They shot him down on the way.
The Moscow sky is inaccessible. It strictly punishes enemies. The insidious calculation of the fascists collapsed.
The fascists and their possessed Fuhrer dreamed of destroying Moscow to its foundations, to the stone. What happened?
The bits are fascists. Moscow stands and blooms as before. Getting better from year to year.
TULA GINGERBREAKERS
Tula gingerbread is delicious, delicious. Crust on top, crust on bottom, sweetness in the middle.
Having met heroic resistance from Soviet troops in the west and in other directions, the Nazis intensified their attempt to break through to Moscow from the south. Fascist tanks began to advance towards the city of Tula.
Here, together with the Soviet Army, workers' battalions rose up to defend the city.
Tula is a city of gunsmiths. Tula workers themselves established the production of the necessary weapons.
One of the city enterprises began to produce anti-tank mines. Workers from the former confectionery factory also helped this production prepare mines. Among the assistants was a student pastry chef, Vanya Kolosov. He is an inventive guy, resourceful, cheerful.
One day Vanya came to the workshop where mines were produced. There is a folder under the mouse. I opened the folder, there are stickers in the folder. The stickers were from the boxes in which Tula gingerbread cookies were packed at the confectionery factory. Vanya took the stickers. I approached the ready-made mines. Stickers for mines - slap, slap. The workers are reading, on each mine it is written: “Tula gingerbread”.
The workers laugh:
This is how the fascists get “sweetness”.
The Fritz are good at the “gift”.
The mines went to the front line of the city’s defenders. Sappers are building anti-tank fields on the approaches to Tula, laying mines, and reading the “Tula gingerbread” on the mines.
The soldiers laugh:
Oh yes, a “surprise” for the fascists!
Oh yes, a “gift” for the Fritz!
The soldiers write a letter to the workers: “Thank you for your work, for the mines. We wait new batch"Tula gingerbread"
At the end of October 1941, fascist tanks approached Tula. The assault on the city began. They didn't pass. Soviet soldiers and worker battalions did not let them through. Many cars were blown up by mines. The Nazis lost almost 100 tanks in the battles for Tula.
Soviet soldiers liked the expression “Tula gingerbread”. Everything that now came from Tula to the front - shells and cartridges, mortars and mines - they began to call Tula gingerbread.
The Nazis stormed Tula for a long time. It's all in vain. Armadas of tanks were thrown into the attack. To no avail. The Nazis never broke through to Tula.
Apparently, “Tula gingerbread” is good!
RED SQUARE
1941 November 7. Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
The enemy is nearby. Soviet troops abandoned Volokolamsk and Mozhaisk. In some sections of the front, the Nazis came even closer to Moscow. Fighting is taking place near Naro-Fominsk, Serpukhov and Tarusa.
But as always, on this day dear to all citizens of the Soviet Union, a military parade took place in Moscow, on Red Square, in honor of the great holiday.
When soldier Mitrokhin was told that the unit in which he serves would take part in the parade on Red Square, the soldier did not believe it at first. I decided that I had made a mistake, that I had misheard, that I had misunderstood something.
Parade! - the commander explains to him. - Solemn, on Red Square.
That’s right, a parade,” Mitrokhin answers. However, there is disbelief in the eyes.
And then Mitrokhin froze in the ranks. It stands on Red Square. And to his left are troops. And there are troops on the right. Party leaders and government members at the Lenin Mausoleum. Everything is exactly like in the old peacetime.
It’s just a rarity for this day - it’s white all around from the snow. The frost hit early today. Snow fell all night until morning. He whitewashed the Mausoleum, laid it on the walls of the Kremlin, on the square.
8 am. The clock hands on the Kremlin tower converged.
The chimes struck the time.
Minute. Everything was quiet. The parade commander gave the traditional report. The host parade congratulates the troops on the anniversary of the Great October Revolution. Everything was quiet again. One more minute. And so, at first, quietly, and then louder and louder, the words of the Chairman sound State Committee Defense, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Comrade Stalin.
Stalin says that this is not the first time that our enemies have attacked us. That there were more difficult times in the history of the young Soviet Republic. That we celebrated the first anniversary of the Great October Revolution surrounded on all sides by invaders. That 14 capitalist states fought against us then and we lost three-quarters of our territory. But the Soviet people believed in victory. And they won. They will win now.
“The whole world is looking at you,” the words reach Mitrokhin, “as a force capable of destroying the predatory hordes of German invaders.”
The soldiers stood frozen in line.
A great liberation mission has fallen to your lot,” the words fly through the frost. - Be worthy of this mission!
Mitrokhin pulled himself up. His face became more stern, more serious, more stern.
The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. - And after this, Stalin said: - Let the courageous image of our great ancestors - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov - inspire you in this war! Let the victorious banner of the great Lenin overshadow you!
WALKERS
The Soviet Army is advancing. The Nazis retreat, burn everything in their path, and mine.
The headquarters of General Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky was temporarily located in one of the surviving peasant houses. Rokossovsky's army became famous in the battles for Moscow. The Panfilov heroes fought in this army.
Sappers cleared the house of fascist mines. The headquarters began to work. Rokossovsky, the chief of staff of the army, General Malinin, and a member of the Military Council of the army, General Lobachev, bent over the map. It is necessary to prepare and transmit urgent orders to the troops.
However, various people enter the hut every now and then. Their own staff workers are happy to congratulate the generals on their success, thank local residents for their liberation, and officers from the front headquarters are happy to receive news reports.
Visitors of the generals are taken away from their urgent work. To top it all off, correspondents have arrived. Many and different. Just journalists, photojournalists and even one cameraman with a huge tripod and a clumsy camera. Correspondents pounced on the generals like falcons on prey. The photojournalist is especially zealous.
Come, come closer here, Comrade Commander! - commands Rokossovsky.
Sit down, Comrade General, sit down. - This is to the chief of staff, General Malinin.
Stand up, Comrade General, stand up. - This is to a member of the Military Council, General Lobachev.
He waves his arms and commands. As if they are not the generals here, but he is the general.
General Malinin looked at the correspondent. He is a sharp, hot-tempered person. Whispers to Rokossovsky:
Get them out of here, Comrade Commander!
Not delicate. No, no,” Rokossovsky whispers in response.
There is a clock hanging on the wall. Tick-tock, tick-tock... - they beat the time. The generals are losing valuable minutes. The clock is old, old. Dial with a chip. One arrow is slightly bent. Instead of weights, there are bags with some kind of weights.
Rokossovsky looked at the walkers, then at the correspondents and said:
Dear comrades, I just ask you very much, do not touch or come close to the clock, it is mined.
He said and looked slyly at General Malinin.
“How mined! Everything has been checked here,” Malinin wanted to say. However, Rokossovsky makes a sign to him: keep quiet, keep quiet.
General Malinin remained silent. I realized that Rokossovsky decided to intimidate the journalists.
Mined,” Rokossovsky repeated again.
Rokossovsky was counting on the journalists leaving. And they don’t even think.
The photojournalist still tries harder than others:
Stand here, stand here, Comrade Commander...
Move a little. To the left. To the left. Even further to the left. Great. Thank you. - This is for generals Malinin and Lobachev.
Then he came very close to the walkers. He contrived to take it so that there were both generals and walkers in one picture.
Be careful, they are mined,” Rokossovsky says again.
“Nothing, nothing,” the photojournalist answers. - This is even more interesting. It will be a rare photo.
I clicked the walkers separately. He turned again to the generals. And other journalists go on the attack. And these torment the military leaders.
Nothing happened with Rokossovsky’s invention. He spread his hands and looked at Malinin and Lobachev:
Not expected!
He turned to the reporters. He raised his hands:
Malinin had to “take on” the journalists.
The journalists left. Rokossovsky grins:
Look, fighting people.
I looked at the walkers.
Tick-tock, tick-tock... - the walkers count down the time.
Soviet troops were rapidly moving forward. The tank brigade of Major General Katukov operated in one of the sectors of the front. The tankers were catching up with the enemy.
And suddenly a stop. A blown-up bridge ahead of the tanks. This happened on the way to Volokolamsk in the village of Novopetrovskoye. The tankers turned down their engines. Before our eyes, the fascists are leaving them. Someone fired a cannon at the fascist column, only firing the shells into the wind.
Aufwiederseen! Farewell! - the fascists shout.
Ford, - someone suggested, - ford, Comrade General, across the river.
General Katukov looked - the Maglusha River meanders. The banks near Maglushi are steep. Tanks cannot climb the steep slopes.
The general thought.
Suddenly a woman appeared near the tanks. There's a boy with her.
It’s better there, near our house, comrade commander,” she turned to Katukov. - There is a river there already. Lift up position.
The tanks moved forward behind the woman. Here is a house in a ravine. Rise from the river. The place here is really better. And yet... The tankers are watching. General Katukov is looking. Without a bridge, tanks cannot get through here.
We need a bridge, say the tankers. - We need logs.
“There are logs,” the woman answered.
The tankers looked around - where were the logs?
“Yes, here they are,” says the woman and points to her house.
It's home! - the tankers burst out.
The woman looked at the house, at the soldiers.
Why, the house is made up of small pieces of wood. Either the people are losing... Should we be sad about the house now,” said the woman. - Really, Petya? - turned to the boy. Then again to the soldiers: - Take it apart, my dears.
The tankers do not dare touch the house. There is a cold in the yard. Winter is gaining strength. How can you be without a home at a time like this?
The woman understood:
Yes, we’re in the dugout somehow. - And again to the boy: - Really, Petya?
“True, mama,” Petya answered.
And yet the tankers are standing there, crumpled.
Then the woman took an ax and walked to the edge of the house. She was the first to hit the crown.
Well, thank you,” said General Katukov.
The tankers dismantled the house. We made a crossing. They rushed after the fascists. Tanks are passing along a new bridge. A boy and a woman are waving their hands at them.
What is your name? - the tankers shout. - Who should we remember with a kind word?
Petenka and I are Kuznetsovs,” the woman answers, blushing.
And by name, first name and patronymic?
Alexandra Grigorievna, Pyotr Ivanovich.
Low bow to you, Alexandra Grigorievna. Become a hero, Pyotr Ivanovich.
The tanks then caught up with the enemy column. They crushed the fascists. Then we went west.
The war has died down. Danced with death and misfortune. Her flashes subsided. But the memory of human exploits did not erase. The feat at the Maglushi River has not been forgotten either. Go to the village of Novopetrovskoye. In the same ravine, in the same place, a new house flaunts. The inscription on the house: “To Alexandra Grigorievna and Pyotr Ivanovich Kuznetsov for the feat accomplished during the Great Patriotic War.”
The Maglusha River meanders. There is a house above Maglusha. With a veranda, with a porch, in carved patterns. The windows look out onto the good world.
FRENCHWOMAN
“Frenchwoman” is what the soldiers called the gun.
When Sergeant Barabin was first handed it, the soldier looked and gasped. The gun was manufactured in 1897. It turns out that the grandfathers still fired from it.
Yes-ah... - the soldier drawled.
But she’s French,” they tell Barabin.
The gun was indeed French. It was made in France. Back in the first world war she ended up in Russia. It turned out to be a cannon on the battery in which Barabin served during the most difficult hours of the Moscow Battle. A lot of weapons were needed then. And then, by chance, several old cannons were discovered somewhere in artillery warehouses. There were Russian cannons here, there were English ones, and there were French ones. They were sent to the front. The French one went to Sergeant Barabin.
An artillery battery usually consists of four guns. Barabin's battery also consisted of four. Three guns are modern, new, just arrived from the factories. The fourth, Barabinskaya, is French.
The artilleryman muttered for a long time. I looked at the gun as if it were an unloved child. Everything irritated the soldier in the cannon. And it looks old, and it hits closer than others, and there’s a lot of fiddling around while you reload.
Scrap,” muttered the soldier. - Prehistoric age.
The soldiers laugh:
But she is French.
Barabin muttered and muttered, and then got used to the Frenchwoman. And when he knocked out the first fascist tank, he even kissed the gun.
Someone said:
Love begins.
And I was not mistaken.
Sergeant Barabin was an excellent artilleryman. The Frenchwoman also became an excellent weapon in his hands.
The cannon fought on the Minsk Highway in the army commanded by General Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov. Together with others, she held back the onslaught of the fascists. And now, together with everyone else, I went forward.
Once General Govorov drove past an artillery position. I saw an unusual gun. I asked the officer what kind of gun it was.
“French,” they answered the general.
The officers explained to the general where the gun came from and how it got to them.
Yes, those were not easy days,” said General Govorov.
And when he found out that the French woman had knocked out the tank, he even patted her on the barrel.
“Thank you,” he said, “French woman.”
The cannon did not remain in service for long after this. New guns arrived from the Urals. At that time, many new weapons arrived for the advancing armies near Moscow. There is no longer any need for a French girl. They also sent a new gun for Sergeant Barabin.
Barabin was stubborn. This and that. He's used to it, he won't give up his French girlfriend. However, an order is an order. The artilleryman had to part with the cannon.
He hugged her and kissed her:
Well, goodbye, darling.
The Frenchwoman drove to the warehouses again. It so happened that General Govorov met Barabin again a few days later. He recognized the sergeant. Asked:
How's the French girl?
Barabin pointed to the new gun. It was long-range, fast-firing, the latest, most advanced design.
Yes, the time is different, the force is different,” Govorov said.
SERGEANT-LIEUTENANT
Sergeant Pavel Biryukov served as an adjutant to the commander of the rifle battalion. This happened just before our attack. Biryukov received an order from the commander to go to the front line and establish contact with the companies.
Biryukov set off. He walks along the side of the forest and suddenly sees a column of fascists coming out of the forest. Biryukov grabbed the machine gun, rushed behind a pine tree, and opened fire on the enemies. The fascists ran. However, they quickly came to their senses. They realized that there was only one Russian fighter in front of them. They responded to Biryukov’s fire with their own fire. But his comrades also came to the aid of the Soviet soldier. A shootout ensued.
Biryukov shot accurately. He is no longer standing behind the pine tree, but lying down. Selects targets like a sniper. Take aim. He will say:
Let's go! - and fires bullets.
Aim again. And again:
Go ahead, lovelies.
The bullets do not make mistakes, they definitely fly at the fascists.
The Nazis could not resist. crawled away from dangerous place. They ran to their trenches.
Where are you going? - the comrades shout.
Apparently, the fighter didn’t hear. He rushes and shouts:
Give up!
There are many fascists, but he is alone.
Give up! - shouts. - Give up!
The Nazis ran up to their trenches. We took cover. But the trenches did not save them this time. Following them, Biryukov flew into the trench.
Rus! - the fascists shouted. - Rus!
Both those who jumped into the trenches just now and those who were already sitting in the trenches are screaming. In the heat of battle, the Nazis did not understand that they had only one Russian soldier in the trench. And Biryukov, in the same heat of battle, apparently also did not quite understand that he was alone. The soldier got carried away by the chase. He flew into the trench, slashed with a machine gun, and threw a grenade.
The fascists ran. Those who remained alive took refuge in other trenches.
At this time, our soldiers arrived to help Biryukov. They reached the trench. They see: Biryukov is alive and unharmed. Standing in an enemy trench, counting trophies. The soldiers picked up trophies: machine guns, a mortar, fascist machine guns - they got eight machine guns alone - and returned to their positions.
For his heroic feat, Sergeant Biryukov was awarded the order. At the same time, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant.
His comrades congratulated him. We rejoiced at the success. Soldiers are always soldiers. Soldiers love a joke. They hug Biryukov and make jokes:
He ran into the trenches as a sergeant and ran out as a lieutenant. You'll be a major for two more trenches.
A day later the offensive began. Pavel Biryukov went on the offensive as an officer.
DOVATOR
In the battles near Moscow, along with other troops, Cossacks also took part: Don, Kuban, Terek...
Dovator is dashing and sparkling in battle. He sits well in the saddle. Cup cap on the head.
General Dovator commands the Cossack cavalry corps. The villagers look at the general:
Our blood is Cossack!
The fighters argue where he comes from:
From Kuban!
He is Tersky, Tersky.
Ural Cossack, from the Urals.
Trans-Baikal, Daurian, consider it a Cossack.
The Cossacks did not agree on a single opinion. We turned to Dovator.
Comrade corps commander, tell me, what village are you from?
Dovator smiled:
Comrades, you are looking in the wrong place. In the Belarusian forests there is a village.
And rightly so. Not a Cossack Dovator at all. He is Belarusian. In the village of Khotino, in the north of Belarus, not far from the city of Polotsk, this is where the corps commander Dovator was born.
The Cossacks do not believe Dovator:
The corps commander makes jokes.
Tersky!
Orenburgsky.
Donskoy!
Kuban!
Ural!
Brothers, consider him a Trans-Baikal Cossack of Daurian blood.
Back in August - September, Dovator's equestrian group walked along the fascist rear. Destroyed warehouses, headquarters, and convoys. The Nazis suffered greatly back then. Rumors spread - 100 thousand Soviet cavalry broke through to the rear. Fascist generals reassure the soldiers. They even give special orders. And in this order: “Don’t believe the rumors! Rumors that 100,000 enemy cavalry broke through to the rear of our troops are exaggerated. Only 18,000 crossed the front line.” But in fact, there were only 3,000 people in Dovator’s cavalry group.
When Soviet troops near Moscow went on the offensive, Dovator’s Cossacks again broke through into the fascist rear.
The Nazis are afraid of Soviet horsemen. Behind every bush they see a Cossack...
The fascist generals set a reward for the capture of Dovator - 10 thousand German marks.
Lovers of money and fame are on the prowl. They catch Dovator in his dreams. Dovator disappears like smoke. The Nazis are raising the price. 20 thousand marks for the capture of a Soviet general. Lovers of money and fame are on the prowl, snatching Dovator in his dreams.
Like a thunderstorm, like spring thunder, Dovator moves through the fascist rear.
Gives fascists shivers. They will wake up hearing the whistle of the wind.
Dovator! - they shout. - Dovator!
They will hear the sound of hooves.
Dovator! Dovator!
The Nazis are raising the price. They assign 50 thousand marks to a skilled person. This money lies without an owner. Like a dream, like a myth, Dovator is for enemies.
Dovator rides on horseback. The legend follows him.
NATASHKA
Lost among the forests and fields of the Moscow region is the small village of Sergeevskoye. It costs okay, okay. The huts seem to have just been born into this world.
Natasha loves her Sergeevskoe. Carved shutters. Carved porches. The wells sing songs here. The gates sing songs here. The gates creak with bass. Vociferous roosters compete in crowing. Forests and groves are good. Raspberries in the forests, hazel. At least transport mushrooms on carts.
Natasha loves her Sergeevskoe. The river gurgles here Vorya. The banks of Vori are good. Grass. Sand. The willows bowed down. Fishy splash in the evening.
And the people in Sergeevsky are also special. Good, kind!
The sun is shining for Natasha. People shine for Natasha. Gives smiles to the world.
And suddenly everything ended, like a dream, like a path over a steep slope. Peaceful life in Sergeevskoye ended. The war scorched the area. Sergeevskoe fell to the enemies.
The Nazis entered the village. The Nazis settled in peasant huts. They kicked all the residents out onto the street.
People took refuge in cellars and dugouts. Everyone lives in fear, like dark night. Until the winter, until the snow, Sergeevskoe was in the hands of the enemies. But then the cannonade arrived here. Joy sparkled - they are coming!
Their!
They are waiting for deliverance in Sergeevskoye. Waiting Soviet Army. And suddenly the Nazis ran around the cellars and dugouts. They kicked people out onto the street again. They drove us into a barn that stood on the edge of Sergeevsky. All the bolts were locked.
Natasha looks: here is mother, here is grandmother, neighbors, neighbors. Full of people.
Why did they drive us into the barn, mother? - Natasha climbs.
The mother does not understand, does not know, cannot answer.
The cannonade can be heard louder behind the village. Everyone's joy:
Their!
And suddenly someone quietly, then with all their might:
We're on fire!
People looked. Smoke poured through the cracks. The fire ran along the logs.
We're on fire!
People rushed to the barn doors. The doors are all bolted shut. They were even propped up with something heavy from the outside.
There is more and more fire and smoke in the barn. People began to choke. Natasha lacks air. The flame creeps towards the fur coat. Natasha buried herself and pressed herself close to her mother. The girl weakened and forgot. He doesn’t know how much time has passed. Suddenly he hears:
Natasha! Natasha!
Natasha opened her eyes. She is not in a barn, in the snow, under a clear sky. It’s clear to Natasha - our people made it in time, salvation has come. Natasha smiled and forgot again.
They carried her into the house. I lay down and recovered by morning. And in the morning the girl ran through the village. Sergeevskoye stands as the birthday boy. The gates began to sing again. The wells began to sing again. The gate began to speak in a deep voice. Natasha is running. The snow underfoot crunches, sparkles, and sparkles mischievously with whiteness. I reached the Vori River. She flew up the steep slope. She suddenly stopped and froze. A hill of fresh earth above Vorey. The red star is buried at the top. A plaque under an asterisk. There are surnames on the board. Natasha looks at the hill. Two soldiers stand nearby with shovels.
Who are these guys here? - Natasha pointed to the hill.
The soldiers looked at the girl.
Your savior lies here.
There is no war without deaths. Freedom comes at a hard price.
TULUPIN
The rifle company entered the village. True, not the first. Others liberated the village. The Nazis fled from here this morning.
Soldiers are walking along the main street. The village has been preserved. The Nazis fled quickly. They didn’t manage to burn or destroy anything.
The soldiers approached the outermost house. House with five walls. Gate. Gates. There is something written on the gate. The soldiers became interested. They read: “Farewell, Moscow, we are leaving for Berlin. Corporal Beckers."
This is great,” the soldiers laughed. - So, goodbye, Moscow, goodbye, hopes.
Even though he is a fascist, he made the correct inscription.
The soldiers took a closer look, and below were more words. Someone made a postscript. The soldiers read the note: “Nothing, we’ll catch up. Private Tulupin."
The soldiers laughed:
This is our way!
Well done Tulupin!
A man with a head comes out.
The soldiers liked the addition of soldiers. They are interested in learning about the fate of Tulupin. Maybe Tulupin has already caught up with the fascist?
The soldiers are moving forward. Everywhere they make inquiries about Tulupin. Whoever they meet - infantrymen, tankers, artillerymen - will immediately ask:
Do you have Tulupin?
The surname is not very common. Rather, rare. They don't come across Tulupin.
There is, they say, Tulupin.
The soldiers rushed to the fighter:
Tulupin?
Tulupin.
Did you write on the gate?
The soldiers explain.
The soldiers were upset:
Not that Tulupin.
The army continues its military path. The soldiers are moving forward, liberating native land. Soldiers are advancing everywhere:
Do you have Tulupin?
Do you have Tulupin?
And so…
“There is,” they say, “Tulupin.”
The soldiers rushed to the fighter:
Tulupin?
Tulupin.
Did you write on the gate?
Which gates? - the fighter was amazed.
The soldiers explain.
No, I didn’t write,” Tulupin answers.
Eh, not the same again,” the soldiers were upset.
Bad luck.
The soldiers marched forward for many kilometers. They continue to look for Tulupin. The soldiers began to worry:
Maybe he was wounded and ended up in the medical battalion?
Maybe Tulupin was killed?
And suddenly:
- There is Tulupin!
Tulupin?
Tulupin.
The same one?
For rent, that one.
The soldiers met Tulupin and immediately told him about Bekkers.
Beckers... Beckers? - the soldier began to remember. - Oh, Beckers! We caught up, we caught up with him, my dears!
The soldiers perked up:
It's already been a month, I guess.
The soldiers are happy - Bekkers got caught. They climb up to Tulupin again:
It's great you're at the gate...
What's on the gate?
Great what you wrote.
What did you write? - the fighter was amazed. - Which gates?! - stands, looks at the soldiers in surprise.
That's how it goes. It is clear to the soldiers that Tulupin is not the same again.
We started talking about Bekkers again.
I remember Bekkers, I remember,” Tulupin repeats. - Of course, I remember Colonel Beckers. He was captured by our company.
Colonel? - the soldiers were embarrassed. (The corporal wrote on the gate.)
Colonel,” said Tulupin.
It is now clear to the soldiers that Bekkers is not the same at all.
The soldiers regret:
Eh, Bekkers is not the same and not the same Tulupin.
Sergeant Major Zadorozhny immediately walks with everyone. Zadorozhny looked at his friends:
That one is not the one! Is that really the point? Brothers, get to the point. Look what time it is. It is not the Bekkers who are now pushing back the Tulupins. Tulupins are beating fascists now.
The Soviet Army is advancing. It's a holiday on our street today. The number of victories increases.
PARTY WORK
Ivan Mikhailovich Skachkov was the first secretary of the Mozhaisk City Committee Communist Party. He was loved in the area. Skachkov is a businesslike, energetic man. And the party organization in Mozhaisk is strong and friendly. During the battles near Mozhaisk, the Mozhaisk communists provided considerable assistance to the Soviet Army.
The troops fought bravely then. However, the fascists had power. Our troops left Mozhaisk. Skachkov and his troops also left.
They remembered the party secretary in Mozhaisk. Where is he? Alive and unharmed? Did you die in battle? Or maybe in another area he is providing assistance to the troops. Or maybe so: at Skachkov’s important party work.
Hard, dark days have come in Mozhaisk. The Nazis set up a gallows in the city center. Prisons for disobedient people were set up near the station and in the market square. The gallows are rarely empty. Interrogations and torture do not stop.
But the people of Mozhaisk did not resign themselves. They joined the partisans. There is a Northern partisan detachment, and there is a Southern one. The detachments are headed by Comrade Mikhailov. There are rumors that he is an experienced commander.
Miracles are happening around Mozhaisk.
A fascist tank was walking through the forest along the Savvinskaya road. He was pulling a trailer with infantry behind him. He went into the forest, but didn’t come out. In the morning, the Nazis see that the tank has been blown up, and the infantry lies slaughtered.
A fascist detachment led by an officer was heading to the village of Oblyanishchevo. The soldiers went to rob the peasants: for butter, for bread, for hay for the horses. The Nazis did not reach the village. They sleep eternally in a forest clearing.
A traitor was found in Mozhaisk. The Nazis made him some kind of important boss. How the bosses were given an office. The Nazis once looked into his office. The traitor lies dead.
New fascist planes arrived at the Vatulino airfield near Mozhaisk. The pilots had just sat down and settled into the dugouts when there was an alarm. Soviet bombers arrived and destroyed the fascist planes.
Tanks, guns and powerful tractors came to join the fascist army. They gathered near the villages of Klementyevo and Gorbovo. As soon as the commanders began to decide who should be sent to which regiment and how much, Soviet pilots appeared in the sky again. They flew bombs at fascist technology. Mixed metal with earth.
Miracles do not stop near Mozhaisk. And not only here. Near Volokolamsk, near Ruza, near Istra, Maly Yaroslavets, Borovsk, Nara, everywhere the land is burning under the enemies. The avenger takes the enemy by the throat.
Mozhaisk spent 94 days under fascist captivity. But people believed in our victory. And the joyful hour has come. They drove the fascists out of here. Soviet Mozhaisk again.
Residents gathered for a rally.
The leader of the partisan movement in the Mozhaisk region, Comrade Mikhailov, gives the floor.
People looked and it was Skachkov. Ivan Mikhailovich Skachkov, their party secretary. Skachkov has a military medal on his chest. It’s clear to people: this is where he was. That's why he received the order as a reward.
The rally is over. Skachkov came down from the podium. The townspeople surrounded him. Old man Matvey Elizarovich Maslov also approached Skachkov. Looking at the order:
That's how it is. And we thought, Ivan Mikhalych, you were in important party work.
Skachkov smiled:
I was not mistaken, Matvey Elizarych. That’s right, I was at a party job. On the party side and very important.
THREE
Ostashevsky district is deep, distant in the Moscow region. The village of Butakovo in the Ostashevsky district is distant. The Nazis retreated through Butakovo. They lasted from morning until evening. We didn’t have time to get through everything before dark. One of the fascist detachments stayed in the village overnight. The huts here are burned. Residents took refuge in dugouts.
However, a large barn remains on the outskirts of the village. The Nazis stayed there for the night.
They feel good under a roof. The wind doesn't blow. It's not snowing. Only the cold is terrible in the barn.
The Nazis began to dream about warmth, about a fire. We circled around the barn: was there any firewood visible nearby? It's dangerous to go into the forest. We found some wood chips and collected some. They lit it. The fire smiled with warmth and froze. Only the smell of smoke and heat left. The smell teases the fascists.
The soldiers huddled closer to each other. The Nazis began to doze. Suddenly they hear a creaking sound in the snow behind the barn. The soldiers perked up. Machine guns in your hands immediately. It is clear to the enemies: “Partisans!” However, they see that the guys are coming. Pupils. Three. The boots on one are huge. The other one is wearing a good-quality hare's fur coat. The third will be tightened with a soldier's belt.
The boys came up and stopped. The fascists are looking at them. They don't lower the machine guns yet.
Partisans?! - one of the fascists screamed. He squealed and was embarrassed himself. He sees and others see - the guys are standing in front of them.
The one in the cloak was separated from the boys. He was a little taller. He stepped towards the barn. The Nazis looked at something behind the teenager’s back.
Tsuryuk! Back! - the fascists shouted.
The boy stopped. He dropped the burden to the ground. The Nazis look at an armful of firewood.
Take it,” said the boy.
Surprise burst out from the soldiers:
Ooo! Gut! Karasho!
They lowered their machine guns! The teenager gave a signal to his comrades. The two of them walked away for a minute. They left and immediately returned. And these have armfuls of firewood in their hands.
A fire broke out in the barn. There was warmth from the firewood. Soldiers warm their hands and backs. They almost climb into the fire with their feet.
They liked the guys. And the one wearing a hare's fur coat, and the one wearing huge boots, and the one wearing a soldier's belt.
The fire is burning. Firewood, like sugar in a hot glass, melts. The one in the three-hat pointed to the firewood and addressed the fascists:
Noh? More?
Noh! Noh! - the fascists shouted in response.
The guys left. We walked somewhere. We came back again. Firewood in hand again. The guys piled the wood aside. And the one in the three hat appeared with a bundle of brushwood. He threw off the brushwood and threw the whole bunch straight into the fire. The flames shot up even stronger.
Warmth flowed in streams. The fascists are happy:
Ooo! Gut! Karasho!
They look, where are the boys? They were blown away as if by the wind.
The soldiers looked at the darkness, at the gate. And at that same second there was a terrible explosion. He destroyed the barn, and with it the Nazis. Two anti-tank mines were laid in a bundle of brushwood.
The partisans performed many brave deeds near Moscow. Teenagers and children helped the adults in any way they could. Especially here, in the Ostashevsky district. There is now a monument to young Soviet patriots here. In Ostashevo. On the square. In the very center.
FOLDER
Filippka's father died. In the first days of the war. In the battles near the city of Minsk. Mal Filippka is four years old. The mother hid her grief from her son.
Filippka climbs up to her mother:
Is our folder at war? Is he protecting us? Beating fascists?
The woman hugs her son tightly to her chest:
He's fighting, son, he's fighting. That's right, Filipka, he hits.
Runs through the village of Filippka:
Our fascist folder is hitting! Our fascist folder is hitting!
Filippka lives in the Moscow region. Not far from the city of Rogachev.
The war summer has flared up. Autumn has come. Trouble has befallen the village and the surrounding area. The Nazis broke through here like a black pack. Tanks and guns entered the village.
Slavic cattle! - the fascists shout.
Partisans! - the fascists shout.
Filippka is scared, she clings to her mother:
Where's the folder? Will the folder save us?
“He will save you,” the woman answers.
Philip whispers to friends and neighbors:
The folder will save us, beat the fascists...
The collective farmers can't wait to be delivered. And then joy rushed into the village like the wind. The Nazis are defeated. They are driving our enemies away from Moscow to the west.
Soon here, near Rogachev, the sound of cannonade was heard.
The folder is coming! The folder is coming! - Filippka shouted.
The collective farmers waited for daylight. Filippka woke up one day and found out: the Nazis had fled, the village was free.
The boy rushed to his mother:
Has the folder arrived? Has the folder arrived?
“He has come,” the mother said somehow quietly.
Where is the folder?! - Filippka shouts.
Filippka ran along a rural street:
The folder freed us! The folder freed us!
Met Filippka Grishka. Grishka is twice as old as Filippka. Grishka whistled:
- “Freed”! Yes, he was still killed near Minsk.
Filippka frowned. Little hands gathered into fists. He looks at Grishka like a wolf cub. What a kill! This Grishka will say!
Freed! Freed! - Filippka shouted again.
Old man Timofey Danilych passed here. The boy rushed to his grandfather. He’s in a hurry, telling him about his father, about Grishka.
Is it true that the folder beat the Nazis?
The grandfather looked at Filippka and remembered Minsk, where Filippka’s father stood in the way of the Nazis, and other places where other fighters stood like stones with their chests.
True,” said Timofey Danilych. He pressed Philippka to him. - Without him, without your father, there would be no victory for us, son.
The boy ran through the village:
The folder brought victory! The folder brought victory!
Who will say: Philip is wrong?
Not everyone had the chance to live to see the great Victory Day in that terrible war. But everyone who fought the enemy at that time near Brest, near Minsk, near Leningrad, Odessa, near Sevastopol, Kiev, Smolensk, Vyazma, across all the expanses of Soviet land, was part of our great victory. Everyone is alive and dead.
Filippka shouted correctly. When the boy grows up, he will rightfully say: “The folder brought victory to our Motherland. Folder saved our homeland from slavery.”
Glory to you, our fathers and grandfathers. Filial bow to heroes.
One hundred stories about war
Sergey Petrovich Alekseev
Chapter first
THE END OF THE BLITZKRIEG
BREST FORTRESS
The Brest Fortress stands on the border. The Nazis attacked it on the very first day of the war.
The Nazis were unable to take the Brest Fortress by storm. We walked around her left and right. She remained behind enemy lines.
The Nazis are coming. Fights are taking place near Minsk, near Riga, near Lvov, near Lutsk. And there, in the rear of the Nazis, the Brest Fortress is fighting, not giving up.
It's hard for heroes. It’s bad with ammunition, bad with food, and especially bad with water for the defenders of the fortress.
There is water all around - the Bug River, the Mukhovets River, branches, channels. There is water all around, but there is no water in the fortress. Water is under fire. A sip of water here is more valuable than life.
- Water! - rushes over the fortress.
A daredevil was found and rushed to the river. He rushed and immediately collapsed. The soldier's enemies defeated him. Time passed, another brave one rushed forward. And he died. The third replaced the second. The third one also died.
A machine gunner was lying not far from this place. He was scribbling and scribbling the machine gun, and suddenly the line stopped. The machine gun overheated in battle. And the machine gun needs water.
The machine gunner looked - the water had evaporated from the hot battle, and the machine gun casing was empty. I looked to where the Bug is, where the channels are. Looked left, right.
- Eh, it was not.
He crawled towards the water. He crawled on his bellies, pressing himself to the ground like a snake. He is getting closer and closer to the water. It's right next to the shore. The machine gunner grabbed his helmet. He scooped up water like a bucket. Again it crawls back like a snake. Getting closer to our people, closer. It's very close. His friends picked him up.
- I brought some water! Hero!
The soldiers look at their helmets and at the water. His eyes are blurred from thirst. They don’t know that the machine gunner brought water for the machine gun. They are waiting, and suddenly a soldier will treat them now - at least a sip.
The machine gunner looked at the soldiers, at the dry lips, at the heat in his eyes.
“Come closer,” said the machine gunner.
The soldiers stepped forward, but suddenly...
“Brothers, it wouldn’t be for us, but for the wounded,” someone’s voice rang out.
The fighters stopped.
- Of course, wounded!
- That's right, take it to the basement!
The soldiers sent the fighter to the basement. He brought water to the basement where the wounded lay.
“Brothers,” he said, “water...
“Here,” he handed the mug to the soldier.
The soldier reached out to the water. I already took the mug, but suddenly:
“No, not for me,” said the soldier. - Not for me. Bring it to the children, dear.
The soldier brought water to the children. But it must be said that in the Brest Fortress, along with adult fighters, there were also women and children - the wives and children of military personnel.
The soldier went down to the basement where the children were.
“Come on,” the fighter turned to the guys. “Come and stand,” and, like a magician, he takes out his helmet from behind his back.
The guys look - there is water in the helmet.
The children rushed to the water, to the soldier.
The fighter took the mug and carefully poured it to the bottom. He's looking to see who he can give it to. He sees a baby about the size of a pea nearby.
“Here,” he handed to the baby.
The kid looked at the fighter and at the water.
“To daddy,” said the kid. - He's there, he's shooting.
“Yes, drink, drink,” the fighter smiled.
“No,” the boy shook his head. - Folder. “I never took a sip of water.”
And others refused to follow him.
The fighter returned to his own people. He told about the children, about the wounded. He gave the helmet with water to the machine gunner.
The machine gunner looked at the water, then at the soldiers, at the fighters, at his friends. He took the helmet and poured water into the metal casing. It came to life, started working, and built a machine gun.
The machine gunner covered the fighters with fire. There were brave souls again. They crawled towards the Bug, towards death. The heroes returned with water. They gave water to the children and the wounded.
The defenders of the Brest Fortress fought bravely. But there were fewer and fewer of them. They were bombed from the sky. The cannons were fired directly. From flamethrowers.
The fascists are waiting, and people are about to ask for mercy. The white flag is about to appear.
We waited and waited, but the flag was not visible. Nobody asks for mercy.
For thirty-two days the battles for the fortress did not cease. “I am dying, but I am not giving up. Farewell, Motherland! – one of its last defenders wrote on the wall with a bayonet.
These were words of farewell. But it was also an oath. The soldiers kept their oath. They did not surrender to the enemy.
The country bowed to its heroes for this. And you stop for a minute, reader. And you bow low to the heroes.
The war is marching with fire. The earth is burning with disaster. A grandiose battle with the Nazis unfolded over a vast area from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
The Nazis advanced in three directions at once: towards Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. They released a deadly fan.
The city of Liepaja is a port of the Latvian Soviet Republic. One of the fascist attacks was directed here, on Liepaja. Enemies believe in easy success:
– Liepaja is in our hands!
The Nazis are advancing from the south. They walk along the sea - a straight road. The Nazis are coming. Here is the village of Rutsava. Here is Lake Papes. Here is the Barta River. The city is getting closer and closer.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
They're coming. Suddenly a terrible fire blocked the road. The Nazis stopped. The Nazis entered the battle.
They fight and fight, but they can’t get through. Enemies from the south cannot break through to Liepaja.
The Nazis then changed direction. They are now going around the city from the east. We went around. The city is smoking in the distance.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
As soon as we went on the attack, Liepaja again bristled with a flurry of fire. Sailors came to the aid of the soldiers. Workers came to the aid of the military. They took up arms. Together with the fighters in the same row.
The Nazis stopped. The Nazis entered the battle.
They fight and fight, but they can’t get through. The Nazis will not advance here, from the east either.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
However, even here, in the north, the brave defenders of Liepaja blocked the way for the fascists. Fights with the enemy Liepaja.
Days pass.
The second ones pass.
Third. The fourth ones are running out.
Liepāja does not give up, it holds on!
Only when the shells ran out and there were no cartridges did the defenders of Liepaja retreat.
The Nazis entered the city.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
But the Soviet people did not resign themselves. They went underground. They joined the partisans. A bullet awaits the Nazis at every step. The Nazis have an entire division in the city.
Liepāja is fighting.
The enemies of Liepaja commemorated it for a long time. If they failed in something, they said:
- Liepaja!
We haven't forgotten Liepaja either. If someone stood steadfastly in battle, if someone fought their enemies with extreme courage, and the fighters wanted to note this, they said:
- Liepaja!
Even after being enslaved by the Nazis, she remained in the fighting ranks - our Soviet Liepaja.
CAPTAIN GASTELLO
It was the fifth day of the war. Pilot Captain Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello and his crew flew the plane on a combat mission. The plane was large, twin-engine. Bomber.
The plane left for the intended target. Bombed out. Completed the combat mission. Turned around. I started to go home.
And suddenly a shell exploded from behind. It was the Nazis who opened fire on the Soviet pilot. The worst thing happened: a shell pierced a gasoline tank. The bomber caught fire. Flames ran along the wings and along the fuselage.
Captain Gastello tried to put out the fire. He sharply tilted the plane onto the wing. Made the car seem to fall on its side. This position of the aircraft is called sliding. The pilot thought he would go astray and the flames would subside. However, the car continued to burn. Gastello dropped the bomber onto the second wing. The fire doesn't go away. The plane is on fire and is losing altitude.
At this time, a fascist convoy was moving below the plane: tanks with fuel in the convoy, cars. The Nazis raised their heads and were watching the Soviet bomber.
The Nazis saw how a shell hit the plane and how the flame immediately broke out. How the pilot began to fight the fire, throwing the car from side to side.
The fascists are triumphant.
– There is one less communist!
The fascists laugh. And suddenly…
Captain Gastello tried and tried to knock down the flames from the plane. He threw the car from wing to wing. It’s clear – don’t put out the fire. The ground is running towards the plane with terrible speed. Gastello looked at the ground. I saw fascists below, a convoy, fuel tanks, and trucks.
And this means: tanks will arrive at the target - fascist planes will be refueled with gasoline, tanks and cars will be refueled; Fascist planes will rush to our cities and villages, fascist tanks will attack our soldiers, cars will rush, carrying fascist soldiers and military cargo.
Captain Gastello could have left the burning plane and bailed out.
But Captain Gastello did not use the parachute. He gripped the steering wheel more firmly in his hands. The bomber aimed at a fascist convoy.
The Nazis are standing, looking at the Soviet plane. The fascists are happy. We are happy that their anti-aircraft gunners shot down our plane. And suddenly they realize: a plane is rushing right at them, towards the tanks.
The Nazis rushed into different sides. Not everyone managed to escape. A plane crashed into a fascist convoy. There was a terrible explosion. Dozens of fascist vehicles with fuel took off into the air.
Soviet soldiers performed many glorious feats during the Great Patriotic War - pilots, tank crews, infantrymen, and artillerymen. Many unforgettable feats. One of the first in this series of immortals was the feat of Captain Gastello.
Captain Gastello died. But the memory remains. Everlasting memory. Eternal glory.
Audacity
This happened in Ukraine. Not far from the city of Lutsk.
In these places, near Lutsk, near Lvov, near Brody, Dubno, large tank battles broke out with the Nazis.
Night. The column of fascist tanks changed their positions. The cars are coming one after another. They fill the area with motor noise.
The commander of one of the fascist tanks, Lieutenant Kurt Wieder, threw away the turret hatch, climbed out of the tank waist-deep, and admired the night view.
Summer stars look calmly from the sky. To the right is a narrow strip of forest. On the left the field runs into a lowland. The stream rushed like a silver ribbon. The road twisted and went slightly uphill. Night. The cars are coming one after another.
And suddenly. Veeder doesn't believe his eyes. A shot rang out in front of the tank. Vider sees: the tank that was walking in front of Vider fired. But what is it? A tank hit its own tank! The damaged one burst into flames and was enveloped in flames.
Vider's thoughts flashed and rushed one after another:
- Accident?!
- An oversight?!
-Are you crazy?!
- Are you crazy?!
But at that second there was a shot from behind. Then the third, fourth, fifth. Veeder turned around. Tanks are firing at tanks. Those who walk behind follow those who go ahead.
Veeder descended quickly into the hatch. He doesn’t know what command to give to the tankers. He looks left, looks right, and right: what command to give?
While he was thinking, a shot rang out again. It was heard nearby, and the tank in which Veeder was immediately shuddered. It shuddered, clanged and burst into flames like a candle.
Veeder jumped to the ground. He threw himself like an arrow into the ditch.
What happened?
The day before, in one of the battles, Soviet soldiers recaptured fifteen tanks from the Nazis. Thirteen of them turned out to be completely serviceable.
This is where our people decided to use fascist tanks against the fascists themselves. Soviet tank crews got into enemy vehicles, went out to the road and waylaid one of the fascist tank columns. When the column approached, the tankers quietly joined it. Then we slowly reformed so that each fascist tank was followed by a tank with our tank crews.
There is a column coming. The fascists are calm. All tanks have black crosses. We approached the slope. And here they shot our column of fascist tanks.
Veeder rose from the ground to his feet. I looked at the tanks. They burn out like coals. He turned his gaze to the sky. The stars from the sky are pricking like needles.
Our people returned home with victory and trophies.
- Well, is everything in order?
- Consider it full!
The tankers are standing.
Smiles glow. There is courage in the eyes. There is insolence on their faces.
THOROUGH WORD
There is a war going on across Belarusian soil. Conflagration fires rise from behind.
The fascists are marching. And here in front of them is the Berezina - the beauty of the Belarusian fields.
Berezina is running. Either it will spread into a wide floodplain, then suddenly it will narrow to a channel, it will make its way through the swamps, through the swells, it will gurgle along the forest, along the forest, along the field, it will rush to the feet of good-quality huts, it will smile at bridges, cities and villages.
The Nazis came to the Berezina. One of the detachments to the village of Studyanka. Battles rumbled near Studyanka. The fascists are happy. Another new frontier has been captured.
Studyanka has hilly areas. Both the right and left banks are humped here. The Berezina flows in the lowlands here. The Nazis climbed the hill. The district lies in the palm of your hand. Goes through the fields and forest to the sky. The fascists are marching.
- A song! - the officer commands.
The soldiers sang a song.
The Nazis are walking, and suddenly they see a monument. At the top of the hill, near the road, there is an obelisk. The inscription is at the bottom of the monument.
The fascists stopped, stopped chanting the song. They look at the obelisk and the inscription. They don't understand Russian. However, I wonder what is written here. Address one to another:
- What's it about, Kurt?
– What is this about, Karl?
The Kurts, Karls, Fritzes, Frantzes, Adolfs, Hanses are standing, looking at the inscription.
And then there was one who read Russian.
“Here, in this place...” the soldier began to read. And further that here, on the Berezina, near the village of Studyanka, in 1812, the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov finally defeated the hordes of the French Emperor Napoleon I, who dreamed of conquering our country, and expelled the invaders from Russia.
Yes, it was in this exact place. Here, on the Berezina, near the village of Studyanka.
The soldier read the inscription on the monument to the end. He looked at his neighbors. Kurt whistled. Karl whistled. Fritz grinned. Franz smiled. The other soldiers made noise:
- So when did this happen?
– Napoleon didn’t have the same strength then!
Just what is it? The song is no longer a song. The song is getting quieter and quieter.
- Louder, louder! - the officer commands.
Can't get anything louder. So the song stopped altogether.
The soldiers are walking, remembering about 1812, about the obelisk, about the inscription on the monument. Although this was a long time ago, it’s true, although Napoleon’s strength was not the same, but somehow the mood of the fascist soldiers suddenly deteriorated. They go and repeat:
- Berezina!
The word suddenly turned out to be prickly.
Enemies are marching across Ukraine. The fascists are rushing forward.
Ukraine is good. The air is fragrant like grass. The lands are as fat as butter. The generous sun is shining.
Hitler promised the soldiers that after the war, after victory, they would receive estates in Ukraine.
Soldier Hans Mutterfather walks, selects an estate for himself.
He liked the place. The river is murmuring. Rockets. Meadow next to the river. Stork.
- Fine. Grace! This is where I’ll probably stay after the war. I’ll build a house here by the river.
He closed his eyes. A beautiful house has grown. And next to the house there are stables, barns, sheds, a cowshed, a pigsty.
Soldier Mutterfather broke into a smile.
- Great! Wonderful! Let's remember the place.
- Perfect place!
I fell in love with it.
This is where I’ll probably stay after the war. Here, on the hill, I will build a house. He closed his eyes. A beautiful house has grown. And next to the house there are other services: stables, barns, barns, cowshed, pigsty.
Stop again.
The open spaces lay like a steppe. There is no end to them. The field lies like velvet. Rooks walk across the field like princes.
The soldier is captured by the boundless expanse. He looks at the steppes, at the earth - his soul plays.
“This is where I am, this is where I’ll stay forever.”
He closed his eyes: the field was earing wheat. There are mowers nearby. It's his field that's making ears. These are his mowing fields. And there are cows grazing nearby. These are his cows. And turkeys are pecking nearby. These are his turkeys. And his pigs and chickens. And his geese and ducks. And his sheep and goats. And here is a beautiful house.
Mutterfather firmly decided. Here he will take the estate. No other place needed.
- Zehr gut! - said the fascist. - I will stay here forever.
Ukraine is good. Generous Ukraine. What Mutterfather had so dreamed about came true. Hans Mutterfather remained here forever when the partisans opened battle. And right there, right on his estate.
Mutterfather lies on his estate. And others are walking past. They also choose these estates for themselves. Some are on the hill, and some are under the hill. Some are near the forest, and some are near the fields. Some are by the pond, and some are by the river.
The partisans look at them:
- Don't crowd. Take your time. Great Ukraine. Generous Ukraine. There's enough room for everyone.
TWO TANKS
In one of the battles, a Soviet KB tank (KB is a brand of tank) rammed a fascist one. The fascist tank was destroyed. However, ours also suffered. The engine stalled due to the impact.
Driver-mechanic Ustinov leaned over to the engine and tried to start it. The engine is silent.
The tank stopped. However, the tankers did not stop the battle. They opened fire on the Nazis with cannon and machine guns.
The tankers are shooting, listening to see if the engine starts working. Ustinov is fiddling with the engine. The engine is silent.
The battle was long and stubborn. And then our tank ran out of ammunition. The tank now turned out to be completely helpless. Lonely, silently standing on the field.
The Nazis became interested in the lonely tank. Come over. We looked and the car was apparently intact. We climbed onto the tank. They hit the manhole cover with forged boots.
- Hey, Russian!
- Come out, Russian!
We listened. No answer.
- Hey, Russian!
No answer.
“The tank crews were killed,” thought the Nazis. They decided to steal the tank as a trophy. We drove our tank to the Soviet tank. We got the cable. Attached. The cable was stretched. The colossus pulled the colossus.
“Things are bad,” our tankers understand. They leaned towards the engine, towards Ustinov:
- Well, look here.
- Well, pick around here.
– Where did the spark go?!
Ustinov puffs at the engine.
- Oh, you stubborn one!
- Oh, you, your soul of steel!
And suddenly he snorted and the tank’s engine started working. Ustinov grabbed the levers. He quickly engaged the clutch. I stepped on the gas harder. The tank's tracks were moving. The Soviet tank stopped.
The Nazis see that a Soviet tank has stopped. They are amazed: he was motionless - and came to life. Turned on the strongest power. They cannot budge a Soviet tank. Engines roar. The tanks are pulling each other in different directions. Caterpillars bite into the ground. The earth flies from under the caterpillars.
- Vasya, press! - the tankers shout to Ustinov. - Vasya!
Ustinov pushed to the limit. And then he overpowered the Soviet tank. He pulled the fascist along with him. The fascists and ours have now switched roles. Not ours, but the fascist tank is now among the trophies.
The Nazis rushed about and opened the hatches. They started jumping out of the tank.
The heroes dragged the enemy tank to their own. The soldiers are watching:
- Fascist!
- Completely intact!
The tankers spoke about the last battle and what happened.
“They overpowered me, then,” the soldiers laugh.
- They pulled it!
“Ours, it turns out, is stronger in the shoulders.”
“Stronger, stronger,” the soldiers laugh. - Give it time - or it will happen, brothers, to the Krauts.
What can I say?
- Shall we drag it?
- We'll pull it over!
There will be battles. To be victorious. But not all of this at once. These battles are ahead.
FULL-FULL
The battle with the Nazis took place on the banks of the Dnieper. The Nazis came to the Dnieper. Among others, the village of Buchak was captured. The Nazis settled there. There are many of them - about a thousand. We installed a mortar battery. The shore is high. The Nazis can see far from the slope. The fascist battery is hitting our people.
The defense on the left, opposite bank of the Dnieper was held by a regiment commanded by Major Muzagik Khairetdinov. Khairetdinov decided to teach the fascists and the fascist battery a lesson. He gave the order to conduct a night attack on the right bank.
Soviet soldiers began to prepare for the crossing. We got boats from the residents. We got the oars and poles. We immersed ourselves. We pushed off from the left bank. The soldiers went into the darkness.
The Nazis did not expect an attack from the left bank. The village on a steep slope is covered from ours by the Dnieper water. The fascists are calm. And suddenly the Soviet soldiers fell upon their enemies like a fiery shooting star. They crushed it. Squeezed. They threw me off the Dnieper steep. They destroyed both the fascist soldiers and the fascist battery.
The soldiers returned victoriously to the left bank.
In the morning, new fascist forces approached the village of Buchak. A young lieutenant accompanied the Nazis. The lieutenant tells the soldiers about the Dnieper, about the Dnieper steeps, about the village of Buchak.
- There are plenty of us there!
He clarifies that the mortar battery is located on a steep slope, the entire left bank is visible from the steep slope, the Nazis are covered from the Russians by the Dnieper water like a wall, and the soldiers in Buchak are positioned like in Christ’s bosom.
The Nazis are approaching the village. Something is quiet all around, soundless. Empty all around, deserted.
The lieutenant is surprised:
- Yes, there were plenty of ours!
The Nazis entered the village. We went to the Dnieper steep. They see the dead lying on the steep slope. We looked to the left, looked to the right - and sure enough, it was complete.
Not only for the village of Buchak - stubborn battles with the fascists broke out in many places on the Dnieper at that time. The 21st Soviet Army dealt a strong blow to the Nazis here. The army crossed the Dnieper, attacked the Nazis, Soviet soldiers liberated the cities of Rogachev and Zhlobin, and headed for Bobruisk.
The fascists were alarmed:
- Rogachev is lost!
- Zhlobin is lost!
– The enemy is coming to Bobruisk!
The Nazis had to urgently withdraw their troops from other areas. They drove huge forces to Bobruisk. The Nazis barely held Bobruisk.
The blow of the 21st Army was not the only one. And in other places on the Dnieper the fascists suffered a lot then.
FOREST ROAD
There were battles in Belarus south of the city of Mogilev. The fascist tank battalion moved forward along a forest road.
The fascists are moving carefully. The road is narrow. The forest comes close. There is a swamp to the right and left. If you turn a little to the right, turn a little to the left, you will end up in a quagmire, like a stone in water.
The tanks are advancing in single file, one after another. An armored vehicle closes the column. It's scary to walk down this road. The Nazis glance at the forest with alarm.
The premonition did not deceive the enemies.
A cannon shot rang out from the forest. The front tank shuddered, clanged its armor and burst into flames.
The column stopped.
- Go around, go around! Rechts! Linke! - the officer commands.
The Nazis wanted to drive around the stuck tank. I took the second tank a little to the right. As soon as he poked his head into the swamp, he immediately fell into a quagmire up to his chest.
The other one tried to turn slightly to the left. As soon as he moved from the road, he immediately plunged into the swamp up to his neck.
The road ahead was blocked.
- Tsuryuk! Tsuryuk! - the officer is now in command.
The tanks were put into reverse gear. We were just about to retreat back. But at this time a shot was heard again. The shell hit the armored vehicle, the one that brought up the rear of the column. The armored vehicle caught fire.
The road back was blocked.
The Nazis found themselves trapped like a mouse. Neither left nor right. Neither forward nor backward. Tanks stand on the forest road like targets at a shooting range.
The shot rang out again. The third tank failed. Another shot. The fourth one is on fire.
The Nazis turned their tank turrets towards the side of the forest from where the cannon was firing, and they themselves opened fire.
But the gun does not stop firing.
The fifth tank failed, the sixth.
The Nazis looked at it - the Russian cannon had only one soldier.
The enemies grabbed machine guns. They are trying to get through the swamp to the cannon. While they were making their way, a brave artilleryman shot the entire column of fascist tanks.
He was shot, but he himself died in an unequal battle with the Nazis.
The Nazis are looking at the Soviet soldier. The general has arrived here. He also looks at the dead man, at the destroyed tank battalion. Looks. Silent.
“No, yes,” he said thoughtfully. Then he turned to his soldiers: “This is how you should love the Fatherland - your homeland!”
He said, looked again at the Soviet artilleryman, and silently walked away.
What to call and dignify the hero?
History has preserved his name. Senior Sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin.
EVAPORATED
The Nazis were advancing on Leningrad. Stubborn fighting broke out near the city of Luga.
One of the lines of Soviet defense passed here. The fighters reliably held the battle line.
The fascists rushed to attack, rushed, knocked on the gates of Luga, but could not break in.
The Nazis had one lieutenant. He liked to report in a peculiar way.
Major to Lieutenant:
- How are things going?
- They are decreasing.
- What are they decreasing?
- Like days.
- How are the days?
- What in winter?
“Our strength is fading like the days in winter.
The Nazis did not take Luga. Let's go. They hit further south now.
The fascists pushed and pushed to the south of Luga, they knocked on the defense of the Soviet units, and they cannot break through here either.
The lieutenant arrived to report to the major.
- Well, how are things going?
- What are they melting?
- Like snow.
- What, like snow?
- In the spring.
- What in the spring?
– Our strength is melting like snow in spring.
The Nazis did not break through south of Luga. Let's go. We rebuilt. They strike in a new place. Luga is now bypassed from the north.
The fascists rushed to attack, rushed, knocked with fire, knocked, but they couldn’t advance here either.
The lieutenant arrived to report to the major.
- How are things going?
- They evaporate.
- What do they evaporate?
-Like dew.
- What, like dew?
- In July.
– What in July?
“Our strength is evaporating like dew in July.”
There are battles for every city, every village, every ledge. The fascists are throwing new forces into battle. These forces diminish, melt, evaporate.
NOT ALLOWED
Baltic Sea. Straits. Bays. The waves flow like a flock of swans. Together with infantrymen, pilots, tank crews, and artillerymen, Soviet sailors also stood up to defend the Motherland.
The Nazis tried to deliver the main blow at sea to the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Destroy Soviet ships in the Baltic, capture sea fortress Kronstadt, approach Leningrad from the sea - these are the intentions of the fascists.
To prevent the fascists from reaching Leningrad, to cut off sea routes and roads, to defeat the fascists in the Baltic Sea - this is the task of our soldiers.
A stubborn struggle at sea began.
Captain II rank Grishchenko commanded a Soviet submarine. In the very first days of the war, the boat distinguished itself. She received the task of installing mines on the tracks near the Nazis. The submariners laid mines. The Soviet sailors calculated exactly. Three fascist ships were blown up by these mines at once.
“Mine specialist,” they said jokingly about Captain Grishchenko.
Comrades, they were not mistaken.
Soon, Captain Grishchenko’s submarine was again on a combat mission. Again the task is to lay mines.
It is not an easy job to lay mines. Fascist ships are roaming around. Fascist reconnaissance planes are watching the sea from the sky. Enemy submarines have raised their periscopes from under the water and are watching the sea.
But even if he laid mines, that’s not all. There were fascist minesweepers at sea. These are special ships that, using a special device - a trawl, catch mines and clear passages in minefields.
A minesweeper passed by, caught and secured the mines - your job was gone.
Captain Grishchenko left for a military campaign. He began the fight against fascist minesweepers. The Soviet sailors acted smartly. The submariners came to the sea to the fascists sea routes, reached the places where our mines were placed. They are waiting and waiting for the fascist minesweepers to appear. Then the fascists appeared. The trawls were abandoned. They go, clear the way. The fascists are working, and behind the fascist minesweepers comes the submarine of Captain Grishchenko and again lays mines in the same places.
The fascist minesweepers finished their work, cleared passages in the minefields, and report:
- Everything is in order, the way for ships is open.
Fascist ships are moving along the aisles.
And suddenly an explosion!
And another explosion!
Fascist ships take off into the air.
– Whose job?
– Grishchenko’s work!
And after this incident, the resourceful captain distinguished himself more than once. Captain Grishchenko and his combat submariners were awarded high Soviet orders.
The Nazis did not break through to Kronstadt during the war. They didn’t break through to Leningrad by sea either. The Baltic people did not let the enemies in.
SMOLENSKY GRADOBOY
On July 10, 1941, a grandiose battle began near Smolensk. The enemy is coming from the west, from the north, from the south. The Smolensk region is blazing with fire. Either the fascists attack, then ours go on the attack, then the fascists press again, then we respond with fire and steel.
The Nazis called the battles near Smolensk near the village of Gradoboi the stage of hell. It was not easy for the Nazis here. The village turned out to be extremely stubborn. It was hammered into the memory of the fascists like a wedge.
Even on the distant approaches to the village, mortar fire from the Nazis covered it. They hit the Nazis with a hail of iron mines. The fragments sewed them to the ground like nails.
The Nazis looked at the battlefield. This is the last milestone for many. They counted their dead. A third died on the field. Every third person said goodbye to life.
- Hell! – the fascists said for the first time then.
Then, near the village, almost at its very outskirts, machine-gun fire rained down on the fascists. Bullets rained down like an iron shower. They blocked the path of the Nazis.
The Nazis looked at the battlefield. Here it is again, the deadly line. They counted their dead. Again, a third said goodbye to life. Every third remained in the field.
- Hell! – the fascists shouted again. - This is not a battle, but hell!
The fascists burst into the village. They are about to overpower ours. Victory is in our hands. But then our people rose with hostility and went on the attack. Faceted steel flashed in the sun. The bayonets flew up like pikes. They stabbed the Nazis with an iron sting.
Ours overthrew the fascists in battle.
Only a few days later, when tanks and guns arrived here, the Nazis took the village of Gradoboy.
The fascists will find out: what kind of village is this?
They answer the fascists:
– Gradoboy village.
- How how?
- Hailbreaker! - they say to the fascists.
- Grado-fight?! - the fascists repeat in surprise.
For two months the fighting in the fields near Smolensk did not subside. The Nazis suffer losses in battles. Ours are attacking the fascists.
- Breakthrough to Smolensk!
- Breakthrough to Yelnya!
They beat the fascist invaders near the city of Yartsev. Dukhovshchina's bones are broken.
The earth around is flaming and blazing. The battles are coming and going like rain. The Soviet Army is fighting heroically. Destroys the fascist formidable force. There is no mercy for enemies. It’s not easy for the fascists under the Smolensk fiery hailstorm.
HOW THE HUNDREDTH BECAME THE FIRST
Her fame began near Minsk. North of the city of Minsk, a division fought that wore the hundredth number.
Brave, stubborn fighters approached Sotoya. Skillful commanders.
The Nazis attacked Sotaya near Minsk. The division stands impregnable. And once, and twice, and three, and four the fascists rushed to attack. All attacks break like waves on a pier.
The fascist generals are angry:
– Who is so persistent there?!
They answer the fascists:
Not only did the division prove stubborn on the defensive, holding off the fascists near Minsk, but it itself went on the offensive. I chased the Nazis for an hour, two, and three. It drove the enemies back fourteen kilometers from Minsk.
The fascist generals are angry:
– Who is so assertive there?!
They answer the fascists:
- The same one?
Then, in the battles on the Berezina River, Sotaya again distinguished herself. There was a wall again. The Nazis fought against this wall for a day, and a second, and a third.
And again the generals are angry:
– Who is this concrete guy?!
They answer the fascists:
- The same one?
The Nazis suffered heavy losses from Sotoya. Especially tanks. The trouble they have is from meetings with the division. The Nazis lost 150 vehicles fighting Sota.
When the Battle of Smolensk flared up, Sotai is again among the heroes. Then our troops broke through near Yelnya. And Hundredth was here again. Again she beat the fascists.
Along the entire front, the glory of the brave division is spreading.
September 18, 1941 was a significant day for the Soviet Army. On this day, the four most distinguished divisions were given the name Guards. The Soviet Guard was born. Among these first was the 100th Infantry Division.
Then there were many guards: regiments, divisions and even armies. However, Hundredth was the first.
That’s what it was called now – the 1st Guards Rifle Division.
Glory to the Infantry Sota! Glory to the Guards First!
HOW KATYUSHA BECAME KATYUSHA
“Katyushas” are rocket-propelled mortar launchers that appeared in the Soviet Army in the first days of the war. Katyusha shells had enormous destructive power. In addition, flying across the sky, they left a threatening trail of fire.
The Nazis are coming. Orsha is nearby. Orsha is ours, the fascists already believe. One more step, two more - and they will grab the city by the throat.
The Nazis are coming, and suddenly... It’s as if the sky was torn apart. It was as if it had reared up. It was as if arrows of fire and lava were thrown from the sky onto the earth here. It was Katyusha rockets that opened fire on the Nazis.
- Teufel!
- Teufel!
- The devil is in the sky! - the fascists shout.
Few fascists survived then. Those who survived ran like a hare to their rear.
- Devil, devil in the sky! - the fascists shout. And they dance with their teeth.
The next, even stronger blow to the Nazis was made by the Katyusha during the Battle of Smolensk. Then the Katyushas took part in the great Battle of Moscow, in the battles of Stalingrad, then they crushed enemies near Orel and Kursk, near Kiev and near Minsk and in many other places.
“Katyusha” did not immediately become “Katyusha”. At first the soldiers called her "Raisa".
“Raisa” has arrived.
- “Raisa” sent gifts to the Fritz.
Then they began to call him “Maria Ivanovna” more respectfully.
“Maria Ivanovna” came to us.
“Maria Ivanovna,” brothers, has arrived.
And only then did someone say “Katyusha”! The soldiers liked this simple name. There was warmth and tenderness in him.
The soldiers even composed a song about the Katyusha. Here are two verses from this song:
There were battles at sea and on land,
The howl of shells roared above the ground.
A Katyusha was leaving the forest
At the line, a familiar one, a fire one.
She went out, loaded mines,
Crushed the monster enemy.
One gasp and the company was gone.
Two gasps - and the regiment is no longer there!
There is now a monument to the famous Katyusha. It stands where the Katyusha first opened fire on the Nazis. In the city of Orsha, on the banks of the Dnieper.
SOLDIER'S NAME
On July 11, 1941, the Nazis approached the city of Kyiv. Heavy fighting began for the capital of Soviet Ukraine.
Among the defenders of Kyiv was a fighter - an anti-tank gunner, Private Georgy Nikitin.
Even before the battle, one elderly soldier, looking at Nikitin, suddenly said:
- You can distinguish yourself, Nikitin, in battles.
The soldier broke into a smile. Nice to hear that. Nikitin became interested and turned to the elderly soldier with the question of why he thought so.
– Your name such,” the soldier answered him.
Nikitin was confused: what does the name have to do with it? A name is like a name. Simple Russian: Georgy.
The battle has begun. Fascist tanks were rushing towards Kyiv. Nikitin stood up to his gun. He fell to the sight. The soldier operates quickly and deftly.
One of the fascist tanks tripped. The iron clanged. The motor snorted. Freeze.
Nikitin continues shooting.
The second fascist tank froze. This is followed by a third, then a fourth.
But then Private Nikitin’s gun was also knocked out. He then ran up to the neighbors. He began to shoot from a nearby cannon.
The shell hit the enemy again.
And again Nikitin shot without missing a beat. But suddenly this weapon also failed. Nikitin began firing guns from the third. Nikitin knocked out nine tanks in that battle.
The battle is over. An elderly soldier approaches Nikitin - the same one.
Pat on the shoulder:
- You are a hero. Victorious! It turns out you justified your name.
A young soldier looks at an old one.
- Name, tell me, what does it have to do with it?
Then the old man said that the name George has an addition - Victorious. There was a mythical hero George. In a formidable battle he defeated the terrible dragon. So he was called the Victorious.
- Hence St. George's Cross, and the St. George Medal,” the elderly soldier began to list the awards that celebrated the military exploits of officers and soldiers in the old Russian army.
“I see,” said the young soldier. - Only in our army there is more than one George in the Victorious. This addition can safely be applied to Peters, and to Ivans, and to Fedors.
“That’s right,” said the elderly soldier. “You’re not the only one with a soldier’s victorious name.”
- So, father, we will beat the fascists?
- We'll beat you! We'll definitely beat you! - said the soldier.
That's what happened later. Soviet soldiers defeated the Nazis and ended the war with victory. Our banner was hoisted over Berlin, over the Reichstag. But not all of this at once. This valor is ahead.
The heroes defended Kyiv for more than two months. They stood like a wall in the way of the Nazis.
WE'VE BEEN
The Nazis continued to move towards Leningrad. After persistent, bloody battles on September 8, 1941, they reached Lake Ladoga, the Neva River. The enemies found themselves at the very borders of the great city.
The Nazis are looking through binoculars. They can see the houses and streets of the city. The spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress is being examined. The Admiralty needle is being examined. They dream of walking along Leningrad avenues - along Nevsky, along Liteiny, along the Neva, along the Moika, Fontanka, past Summer Garden, Palace Square. Fascists believe in success, in victory.
The Nazis moved to Leningrad. They fought, fought, and rushed into attacks like a lead wave. Leningrad withstood the attacks. The Nazis did not break through.
The Nazis stormed the city more than once. But during the entire war, not a single fascist soldier ever walked through Leningrad. Everyone knows this. This is historical truth.
And suddenly there was one among the Soviet soldiers.
“No, we visited,” said the fighter. - We visited! Of course. There was such a thing.
Yes, indeed, there was such a case. Without taking the city head-on, the Nazis decided to bypass Leningrad from the east. The fascists have this plan. East of Leningrad they will break through from the left southern bank and rush into the city. The fascists are sure that there are few Soviet troops here, on the right bank of the Neva, and that here the path to Leningrad will open.
The Nazis began crossing the Neva at night. We decided to be in Leningrad by dawn.
The Nazis boarded the rafts. We sailed away from the shore. The Neva River is not long. It is only seventy-four kilometers long. Not long, but wide. Wide and deep. It flows out of Lake Ladoga, flows towards Leningrad and, where Leningrad stands on its banks, flows into the Baltic Sea.
The Nazis are crossing the Neva, they have already reached the halfway point. And suddenly from there, from the right bank, hurricane fire fell on the Nazis. It was our artillery that began to fire. It was the Soviet machine guns that struck. The Soviet soldiers shot accurately. They defeated the fascists and did not allow them to enter the right bank. The Nazis are dying, falling off the rafts into the water. The Neva picks up the corpses of fascist soldiers, carries them on the waves, carries them on rafts downstream.
And now the dreams of the fascists came true. They ended up in Leningrad. Exactly as we wanted, just in time for dawn. The Nazis are sailing past the Summer Garden, past the Fontanka, Moika, past Palace Square. And here is the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress. And here the Admiralty needle still pierces the sky like a sword. Everything is exactly as the Nazis dreamed of it. There is only one difference. The Nazis dreamed of entering Leningrad alive. Alive. And here... the Neva River carries its waters. The Nazis are sailing on their final route.
For 900 days Leningrad was under the fascist blockade, and for 900 days the fighting on the outskirts of the city did not subside. But the Nazis were never able to overcome Leningrad and the Leningraders. It is not for nothing that the famous Soviet poet Nikolai Tikhonov, speaking about Leningraders, then exclaimed:
I would make nails out of these people:
There couldn't be any stronger nails in the world.
Breus is a surname. Lieutenant Yakov Breus commanded the rifle battalion. The Nazis made their way forward in the south and stormed the city of Odessa. Here, on one of the sectors of the front, the battalion of Lieutenant Breus fought.
The Nazis tried to break through to Odessa “on the move,” that is, with one attack, to capture the city in one go. The Nazis assembled tanks, concentrated artillery, and brought up infantry divisions. They gathered all their forces into one powerful fist and attacked Odessa.
The Nazis are confident that tanks will break through to Odessa.
The tanks did not break through to Odessa. They were detained, stopped, and then blown up and destroyed by Soviet soldiers.
The fascists are confident that the fascist artillery will cut a path for the fascist infantry.
The fascist artillery did not penetrate the road. And here ours stood.
The fascists have no doubt that the fascist infantry will make its way to Odessa.
The infantry did not get through. The regiments choked in the attacks. The Nazis rolled back.
The soldiers stood firm in battle. The battalion of Lieutenant Breus repulsed several fascist attacks that day. Here's another one.
The soldiers are lying down and fascist tanks are waiting. And suddenly! What's happened? It was not the roar of engines, not the clanging of armor that our soldiers heard, but from there, from the side of the fascists, cheerful music hit the march, like a gulp. And at that very moment the Soviet soldiers saw the fascists themselves. They went at our fighters in full height, without taking cover, without bending down. They walk and shoot from machine guns. And nearby the music plays, rages.
The soldiers are watching:
- Attack?!
- Mental! - went from soldier to soldier.
- Mental!
- Mental!
Ours opened fire.
The Nazis continue to march.
We increased our fire.
The Nazis continue to march. The pipes are still exploding the sky with copper.
Yes, it was a psychic attack. It’s scary to look at such daring.
But the fascists didn’t succeed with the “psychic” either. Our soldiers did not flinch.
“We will respond to the mental one with a classical one,” said the battalion commander.
Together we went on the attack, crushed and swept away the fascists.
“Breus gave them a real “breus,” the soldiers joked later.
The Nazis did not take Odessa “on the run” then. They were stuck near the city for many days and weeks.
SPECIALTY OF THE HOUSE
Igor Vozdvizhensky is a cook in a rifle company. He is a master cook. Once served in a factory canteen. The cook is now at the front.
It serves in a camp kitchen. Horse Pirate is his assistant.
No matter what battles the company was in, no matter what the difficult hour, Vozdvizhensky was always accurate. The cabbage soup and porridge were cooked on time.
The soldiers will gather at the camp kitchen. Spoons, like guns, are ready for battle. The pots fill the area with ringing sounds.
The soldiers are now resting.
Soldiers praise the food:
- Excellent cabbage soup!
- Excellent porridge!
The company fought in the western direction. These were difficult days for the company. The fascists are rushing forward and pushing forward.
The company from the battle enters the battle.
The company knows no rest.
It was just before lunch. Vozdvizhensky is pottering around in the woods near the kitchen. The chef has cabbage soup and porridge ready.
Touched the Pirate soldier. Vozdvizhensky is sitting on the front end, in the kitchen. Lunch is coming to the heroes.
Vozdvizhensky left the forest. At the edge of the forest I turned towards a ravine. Here a company fought near a ravine. Arrived at the ravine. The rifle company is not there. I took it to the left, then to the right. No. The soldiers are nowhere to be seen. This happened often then. The troops changed their place in the battle. So, apparently, it happened this time too.
And rightly so. A soldier behind a nearby grove hears the roar of gunfire. This is where the company fights with the enemies.
The Pirate soldier directed him to the grove. Here it is nearby, the grove. And suddenly the fascists are running towards us.
- Rus! - they shout. - Rus!
- Rus, kaput!
The fascists run to half a platoon.
- Kühe! Kühe! - the fascists shout.
The Nazis rushed to the camp kitchen:
- That's a trophy for lunch!
- Let's try Russian porridge!
Vozdvizhensky was confused - he was not expecting to see those. But not for long. Vozdvyzhensky grabbed the machine gun:
- Come on, come on! Come on, come on!
The soldier slashed at the enemies.
He grabbed a grenade and threw the grenade. Then the second one. And then the third.
Vozdvizhensky repelled the enemy attack. He looked at the fascist soldiers, at the beaten enemy half-platoon. He wiped his sweaty forehead. The pirate was lovingly slapped on the rump. I set off further on my journey.
He found his native company. Reported to the commander. Explained the delay.
The commander looked at the soldier slyly:
“It turns out he fed his enemies lunch.”
Vozdvyzhensky did not understand:
- No…
The commander smiles.
- He fed, he fed! – and clarifies: – Our Russian, soldier’s, lead porridge.
The fighting goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on around us. In the north, south, and west, our fighters are fighting with enemies. They fight and defeat the fascists. They treat you to lead porridge.
THE END OF THE BLITZKRIEG
Starting the war against the Soviet Union, the Nazis boastfully declared that they would quickly deal with our army. The Nazis appointed exact dates capture of Soviet cities. In the very first month of the war, they hoped to take Odessa, Kyiv, Leningrad, and Moscow. The Nazis called their attack on our Motherland Blitzkrieg, that is, a lightning fast war.
– We will quickly reach Moscow!
- To Leningrad!
- To Kyiv!
– We will quickly reach Arkhangelsk! To Vologda! To Saratov!
A month has passed.
Moscow has not yet been taken.
Leningrad was not taken.
Kyiv was not captured.
And of course, Saratov, Arkhangelsk, Vologda are very far away.
The second month has passed.
Moscow has not yet been taken.
Leningrad was not taken.
Kyiv was not captured.
And of course, Saratov, Arkhangelsk, Vologda are very, very far away.
The third month is coming to an end.
Everything is the same - somewhere there, behind the hills, behind the fields, there is still Moscow.
Everything is the same - Leningrad remains in my dreams!
Everything is the same - Kyiv is not broken.
September has arrived. Autumn knocked on the window. The menacing fascist step is becoming quieter and quieter. They remember less and less about their vaunted blitzkrieg.
Soviet soldiers laugh:
– We buried the fascist blitz.
“They drove an aspen stake over the blitz.
Fascist plans failed. The Soviet people survived the mortal battle with the enemy. The war is not over. The war was gaining momentum.
Chapter two
"KNOW OURS!"
HILL ZHARKOVSKY
Autumn has touched the fields of the Moscow region. The first leaf falls.
“Typhoon” – the Nazis called their plan of attack. The Nazis tried to break into Moscow like a hurricane.
Go around Moscow from the north, from the south. Grab the Soviet armies in a huge pincer. Compress. Crush. Destroy. This is the fascists' plan.
The fascists believe in quick success, in victory. They sent more than a million soldiers to Moscow. One thousand seven hundred tanks, almost a thousand aircraft, many guns, many other weapons. Two hundred fascist generals are leading the troops. The campaign is led by two field marshals.
On one of the main sectors of the front, fascist tanks were moving towards the village of Kholm Zhirkovsky.
The Nazis approached the village. They are looking. What is he saying to the tanks - some kind of Hill Zhirkovsky. Like a pea to a lion.
- Forverts! Forward! – the officer shouted. I took out my watch. I looked at the time: “Ten minutes for the assault.”
The tanks went to Zhirkovsky.
Zhirkovsky Hill was defended by the 101st Motorized Rifle Division and the 128th Tank Brigade. Soldiers settled in the trenches. Unechin sits with everyone. Not better than others, not worse. A soldier is like a soldier. Cap. Rifle. Mask. On his feet are tarpaulin boots.
Tanks are crawling into the trenches. One goes straight to Unechina. Unechin took the grenade in his hand. Keeps a close eye on the tank. Closer, closer, the fascist tank.
- Drop it, drop it! - the neighbor in the trench shouts.
Unechin does not quit. I waited another minute. There's a fascist tank nearby. Unechin stood up and threw a grenade. A fascist tank stumbled. The engine roared and froze.
Unechin grabbed a bottle with flammable liquid. He swung again. He threw it again. The tank caught fire from the flammable mixture.
Unechin smiled, turned to his neighbor, and straightened his cap on his forehead.
There is a battle going on left and right. Heroes don't let tanks through.
The soldier pulled out a new grenade. He took out a bottle with the mixture. I placed a grenade and liquid nearby. Waiting.
The new tank rumbled with metal. And this one goes to Unechina.
Unechin waited for a minute, a second, a third... He threw a grenade. And then a bottle with a flammable mixture. This tank also caught fire.
Unechin smiled. He adjusted the cap on his forehead. The third one took out a grenade. He took out a bottle with a flammable mixture. He placed it next to it.
Battle rumbles left and right. Heroes don't let tanks through.
Ten minutes have passed... Thirty minutes have passed. The battle continues for an hour, two - the fight does not subside. Fascist officers look at their watches with alarm. It's long past time to pass Zhirkovsky. They got stuck in Zhirkovsky.
Soviet soldiers held out for more than a day near Zhirkovsky Hill. 59 fascist tanks were knocked out and set on fire. Four of them were destroyed by Unechin soldiers.
By the end of the day, the order came for the soldiers to retreat to a new line. The fighters change positions. Unechin goes along with everyone. A soldier is like a soldier. Not better than others, not worse. Cap. Rifle. Mask. On his feet are tarpaulin boots.
The soldiers are coming. We climbed to a hillock, to a high place. Zhirkovsky Hill lies in full view in front of them. The soldiers look - the whole field is covered in damaged tanks: a continuous mess of earth and metal.
Someone said:
“The enemies had a hard time.” Hot. The fascists will remember our Zhirkovsky Hill.
“Not Zhirkovsky, consider Zharkovsky,” someone else corrected. The soldiers looked again at the field:
– Of course, Kholm Zharkovsky!
There are battles going on left and right. Zharkovsky Hills are everywhere for the fascists.
The Nazis are coming. From the south they go to Bryansk, to Orel. From the north they are moving towards Kalinin. They are going to Vyazma, Kaluga, Yukhnov.
City of Yukhnov. Ugra River. Here, on the Ugra near Yukhnov, soldiers defended the bridge.
The Nazis came out to the bridge. The tanks crowded together. The artillery massed. The infantry filled the entire right bank. A crossing is necessary for troops. The Nazis need a bridge.
The bridge is defended by a very small detachment, little more than a rifle company. The bridge is also protected by the Garkusha soldier.
Garkusha is very young. The soldier has his first battle ahead. The soldiers settled down in the trenches. They promised help to the soldiers. The defenders are waiting for reinforcements.
The Nazis went to storm the bridge. They opened machine-gun fire on ours. The entire left bank was riddled.
The soldiers fight bravely. Fascists are not allowed near the bridge. And yet Garkusha understands: they cannot resist without fresh strength. The soldiers are waiting for reinforcements.
And suddenly a soldier looks - the Nazis are retreating.
Soldier Garkusha is happy. Apparently, help, help has arrived.
Only “hurray!” the soldier shouted as the Nazis opened mortar fire on ours. They storm the shore with a hail of mines. They go on the attack again.
Garkusha is in battle with everyone else. A young soldier is formidable in battle.
- Well, come on over. Come on, come on! - Garkusha shouts to the fascists.
The soldiers fought steadfastly. Garkusha looks - the Nazis are leaving. This means that our strength has been added, which means that help has really arrived.
Fascist artillery hit our shore. The shells tore up the ground. They plowed the bank with metal. Again the Nazis attack the bridge.
Our soldiers responded to the enemy attack with their own attack. Garkusha runs with others. The tip of the bayonet sparkles like a diamond.
Garkusha looks - the Nazis are leaving. This means that our strength has been added again, which means that help has arrived on time.
Garkusha turned and looked back. Behind the soldier is an empty field. Looked left, looked right. Replenishment is nowhere to be seen. All the same fighters around are friends from the heroic company.
– Where is the strength? - the soldier looks at his neighbor. - Where is it, the replenishment?
The neighbor shrugs: what is the soldier talking about?
Garkusha was embarrassed and stood in surprise.
So what a force they are!
For three days the soldiers held out near the Ugra. They didn’t let the Nazis go ahead.
Heinz Guderian, Honored General. He is held in special esteem among the fascists. He is appreciated in Berlin.
“Who is our most exemplary general?”
"Heinz Guderian."
“Who is the most decisive among us?”
"Heinz Guderian."
“Who knows only victories?”
"Heinz Guderian. Heinz Guderian. Heinz Guderian!
Rewards are flowing to Guderian like a river. The general was accustomed to victories, to success, to honors. “Fleet-footed Heinz” - they call him in Germany.
Guderian is having breakfast, sitting at the table, reasoning:
– Today we will be in Mtsensk. Tomorrow we will be in Plavsk. In Plavsk, in Plavsk... - the general began to hum.
– Tomorrow we will be in Plavsk, the day after tomorrow we will be in Tula. In Tula, in Tula...
I thought about it and figured something out in my mind:
– The day after tomorrow we will be in Tula. Another day, two more...
And now Guderian sees Moscow.
“Moscow, Moscow...” the general began to hum.
Suddenly an adjutant runs up to him:
- Tanks! Tanks, my general!
Heinz Guderian does not understand why the adjutant is so alarmed and what kind of tanks.
- Russian tanks! - the adjutant shouts.
Near the city of Mtsensk, the road to the Nazis was blocked by Soviet tanks.
There were few Soviet tanks. However, the blow was strong. The tankers used ambushes, barriers, and attacked the Nazis on the side - where the armor on the tanks was weaker. The Nazis lost 133 tanks in the battles near Mtsensk.
General Guderian is no longer humming. It is not sung to him. I don `t want. Wrong tune.
The fields near Vyazma are free. The hills run towards the sky. You can’t erase the words from there. Near the city of Vyazma, a large group of Soviet troops was surrounded by the enemy. The fascists are triumphant. Hitler himself, the fascist Fuhrer, calls to the front:
- Surrounded?
“That’s right, our Fuhrer,” the fascist generals report.
-Have you laid down your weapons?
The generals are silent.
For several days now, being surrounded, Soviet soldiers have been fighting stubbornly. They shackled the fascists. The fascist offensive breaks down. Enemies are stuck near Vyazma.
Again Hitler calls from Berlin:
- Surrounded?
“That’s right, our Fuhrer,” the fascist generals report.
-Have you laid down your weapons?
The generals are silent.
The Fuhrer hung up the phone in annoyance.
Days pass again. The fighting near Vyazma continues. The enemies were stuck near Vyazma.
The great Fuhrer is angry. Another call from Berlin.
-Have you laid down your weapons?
The generals are silent.
Here is a brave one found.
“No,” the brave man answers for everyone.
Hitler is furious and swears. The membrane in the tube began to dance.
The general fell silent. I waited it out. I caught the moment:
“I dare to report that my Fuhrer, our great, our wise King Frederick also said...
Hitler listens:
- Well, well, what did our Friedrich say?
“Frederick the Great said,” the general repeated, “the Russians must be shot twice.” And then push, my Fuhrer, so that they fall.
For a whole week the fighting continued near Vyazma. The week was invaluable for Moscow. During these days, the defenders of Moscow managed to gather their strength and prepared convenient lines for defense.
The fields near Vyazma are free. The hills run towards the sky. Here, in the fields, on the hills near Vyazma, hundreds of heroes lie. Here, defending Moscow, the Soviet people performed a great military feat.
GENERAL ZHUKOV
Army General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was appointed commander of the Western Front, the front that included most of the troops defending Moscow.
Zhukov arrived on the Western Front. Staff officers report to him the combat situation.
Fighting is taking place near the city of Yukhnov, near Medyn, near Kaluga.
Officers find Yukhnov on the map.
“Here,” they report, “near Yukhnov, to the west of the city...” and they report where and how the fascist troops are located near the city of Yukhnov.
“No, no, they are not here, but here,” Zhukov corrects the officers and himself points out the places where the Nazis are at this time.
The officers looked at each other. They look at Zhukov in surprise.
- Here, here, in this exact place. Don’t doubt it, says Zhukov.
Officers continue to report the situation.
“Here,” they find the city of Medyn on the map, “to the northwest of the city, the enemy concentrated large forces.” – And they list what forces: tanks, artillery, mechanized divisions...
“Yes, yes, that’s right,” says Zhukov. “Only these forces are here,” Zhukov clarifies from the map.
Again the officers looked at Zhukov in surprise.
The staff officers bent over the map again. They report to Zhukov what the combat situation is near the city of Kaluga.
“Here,” the officers say, “south of Kaluga, the enemy pulled up motorized mechanized units.” This is where they are standing at this moment.
“No,” Zhukov objects. - They are not in this place now. This is where the parts have been moved, and shows the new location on the map.
Zhukov sensed distrust in the eyes of the officers. He grinned.
- Do not doubt. Everything is exactly like that. Mine is more precise.
It turns out that General Zhukov had already visited Yukhnov, Medyn, and Kaluga. Before going to headquarters, I went straight to the battlefield. This is where the accurate information comes from.
General and then Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, an outstanding Soviet commander, hero of the Great Patriotic War, took part in many battles. It was under his leadership and under the leadership of other Soviet generals that Soviet troops defended Moscow from its enemies. And then, in stubborn battles, they defeated the Nazis in the Great Moscow Battle.
MOSCOW SKY
This happened even before the start of the Moscow Battle.
Hitler was deciding in Berlin: what to do with Moscow? I thought and thought...
Hitler came up with this. I decided to flood Moscow with water. Build huge dams around Moscow. Fill the city and all living things with water.
“Everything will perish at once: people, houses and the Moscow Kremlin!”
He closed his eyes. He sees: in place of Moscow, a bottomless sea splashes!
“Descendents will remember me!”
Then I thought: “Uh, until the water comes in...”
- Wait?!
No, he doesn’t agree to wait long.
– Destroy now! This very minute!
Hitler thought, and here is the order:
- Bomb Moscow! Destroy! With shells! Bombs! Send squadrons! Send armadas! Leave no stone unturned! Raze it to the ground!
He threw his hand forward like a sword:
- Destroy! Raze it to the ground!
“That’s right, raze it to the ground,” the fascist generals froze in readiness.
On July 22, 1941, exactly a month after the start of the war, the Nazis carried out their first air raid on Moscow.
The Nazis immediately sent 200 planes on this raid. The engines hum impudently.
The pilots lounged in their seats. Moscow is getting closer, getting closer. The fascist pilots reached for the bomb levers.
But what is it?! Powerful searchlights crossed their beams in the sky. Red-star Soviet fighters rose to meet the air robbers.
The Nazis did not expect such a meeting. The enemy formation has become disordered. Only a few planes broke through to Moscow at that time. And they were in a hurry. They threw bombs wherever they could, they would quickly drop them and run away from here.
The Moscow sky is harsh. The uninvited guest is severely punished.
22 planes shot down.
“Yes...,” the fascist generals drawled.
We thought about it. We decided to send planes not all at once, but in small groups.
Once again, 200 planes are flying to Moscow. They fly in small groups - three or four cars in each.
And again they were met by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners, again they were driven off by red star fighters.
For the third time, the Nazis are sending planes to Moscow. Hitler's generals came up with a new plan. They decided to send the planes in three tiers.
Let one group of planes fly low from the ground. The second one is a little higher. And the third - both at a high altitude and a little late. The first two groups will distract the attention of the defenders of the Moscow sky, the generals reason, and at this time, at a high altitude, the third group will quietly approach the city, and the pilots will drop bombs exactly on the target.
And now there are fascist planes in the sky again. The engines are humming. The bombs froze in the hatches.
There's a group coming. The second one is behind her. And a little behind, at a high altitude, - the third. The very last one to fly was a special plane, with cameras. He will take photographs of how fascist planes destroy Moscow, and bring the pictures to the generals...
The generals are waiting for news. The first plane is returning. The engines stalled. The screws stopped. The pilots came out. They can barely stand on their feet.
The Nazis lost fifty aircraft that day. The photographer did not return either. They shot him down on the way.
The Moscow sky is inaccessible. It strictly punishes enemies. The insidious calculation of the fascists collapsed.
The Fuhrer dreamed of destroying Moscow to its foundations, to the stone. What happened?
The bits are fascists. Moscow stands and blooms as before. Getting better from year to year.
TULA GINGERBREAKERS
Tula gingerbread is delicious, delicious. Crust on top, crust on bottom, sweetness in the middle...
Having met heroic resistance from Soviet troops in the west and in other directions, the Nazis intensified their attempt to break through to Moscow from the south. Fascist tanks began to advance towards the city of Tula.
Here, together with the Soviet Army, workers' battalions rose up to defend the city. Tula is a city of gunsmiths. Tula workers themselves established the production of weapons.
One of the city enterprises began to produce anti-tank mines. Workers from the former confectionery factory also helped this production prepare mines. Among the assistants was a student pastry chef, Vanya Kolosov. He is an inventive guy, resourceful, cheerful.
One day Vanya came to the workshop where mines were produced. There is a folder under the mouse. I opened the folder, there are stickers in the folder. Stickers from the boxes in which Tula gingerbread cookies were packaged at the confectionery factory. Vanya approached the ready-made mines. Stickers on mines - slap, slap. The workers are reading, on each mine it is written: “Tula gingerbread”.
The workers smile:
- This is how the fascists get their “sweetness.”
“The Fritz is good at the gift.”
The mines went to the front line of the city’s defenders. Sappers are building anti-tank fields on the approaches to Tula, laying mines, and reading “Tula gingerbread” on the mines.
The soldiers smile:
- Oh yes, a “surprise” for the fascists!
- Oh yes, a “gift” for the Fritz!
The soldiers write a letter to the workers: “Thank you for your work, for the mines. We are waiting for a new batch of “Tula gingerbreads”.
At the end of October 1941, fascist tanks approached Tula. The assault on the city began. They didn't pass. Soviet soldiers and worker battalions did not let them through. Many cars were blown up by mines. The Nazis lost almost 100 tanks in the battles for Tula.
And everything that now came from Tula to the front - shells and cartridges, mortars and mines - the soldiers began to call Tula gingerbread.
The Nazis stormed Tula for a long time. It's all in vain. The Nazis never broke through to Tula.
Apparently, “Tula gingerbread” is good!
RED SQUARE
The enemy is nearby. Soviet troops abandoned Volokolamsk and Mozhaisk. In some sections of the front, the Nazis came even closer to Moscow. Fighting is taking place near Naro-Fominsk, Serpukhov and Tarusa.
But as always, on this day, dear to all citizens of the Soviet Union, a military parade took place in Moscow, on Red Square, in honor of the great holiday.
Soldier Mitrokhin froze in the ranks. It stands on Red Square. And to his left are troops. And there are troops on the right. Party leaders and government members at the Lenin Mausoleum. Everything is exactly like in the old peacetime.
It’s just a rarity for this day – it’s white all around from the snow. The frost hit early today. Snow fell all night until morning. He whitewashed the Mausoleum, laid it on the walls of the Kremlin, on the square.
8 am. The clock hands on the Kremlin tower froze for a minute.
The chimes struck the time.
Everything was quiet. The parade commander gave the traditional report. The host parade congratulates the troops on the anniversary of the Great October Revolution. Everything was quiet again. One more minute. And so, at first, quietly, and then louder and louder, the words of the Chairman of the State Defense Committee, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Comrade Stalin, sound.
Stalin says that this is not the first time that our enemies have attacked us. That there were more difficult times in the history of the young Soviet Republic. That we celebrated the first anniversary of the Great October Revolution surrounded on all sides. That 14 capitalist states fought against us then and we lost three-quarters of our territory. But the Soviet people believed in victory. And they won. They will win now.
“The whole world is looking at you,” the words reach Mitrokhin, “as a force capable of destroying the predatory hordes of German invaders.”
The soldiers stood frozen in line.
“The great liberation mission fell to your lot,” the words fly through the frost. – Be worthy of this mission!
Mitrokhin pulled himself up. His face became more stern, more serious, more stern.
“The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war,” said Stalin. - Let the courageous image of our great ancestors - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov - inspire you in this war! Let the victorious banner of the great Lenin overshadow you!
And immediately after the speech of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, troops marched solemnly across Red Square. Infantry marched, artillery and cavalry units marched, tanks thundered with metal.
All this here, on Red Square, at such an alarming hour, seemed like a miracle. And so the troops, as in a fairy tale, having arisen here in the center of Moscow, were again sent to the front, to where the fate of both Moscow and the entire Soviet Union was being decided very close by.
The soldiers were walking. Private Mitrokhin was walking. And the song went with him:
May the rage be noble
Boils like a wave -
There is a people's war going on,
Holy war!
DUBOSEKOV'S FEAT
In mid-November 1941, the Nazis resumed their attack on Moscow. One of the main enemy tank attacks hit General Panfilov's division.
Dubosekovo crossing. 118th kilometer from Moscow. Field. Hills. Coppices. Lama meanders a little further away. Here on the hill, on open field, heroes from General Panfilov’s division blocked the Nazis’ path.
There were 28 of them. The fighters were led by political instructor Klochkov.
The soldiers dug into the ground. They clung to the edges of the trenches.
The tanks rushed forward, their engines humming. The soldiers counted:
- Twenty pieces.
Klochkov grinned:
- Twenty tanks. So this turns out to be less than one per person.
“Less,” said Private Yemtsov.
“Of course, less,” said Petrenko.
Field. Hills. Coppices. Lama meanders a little further away.
The heroes entered the battle.
- Hooray! - echoed over the trenches.
It was the soldiers who first knocked out the tank.
“Hurray!” thunders again. It was the second one who stumbled, snorted with his engine, clanged his armor and froze. And again “hurray!” And again. Fourteen out of twenty tanks were knocked out by the heroes. The six survivors retreated and crawled away.
“The robber apparently choked,” said Sergeant Petrenko.
- Hey, he has his tail between his legs.
The soldiers took a breath. They see that there is an avalanche again. They counted - thirty fascist tanks.
Political instructor Klochkov looked at the soldiers. Everyone froze. They became quiet. All you can hear is the clang of iron. All the tanks are getting closer, closer.
“Friends,” said Klochkov, “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat.” Moscow is behind.
The soldiers entered the battle. There are fewer and fewer living heroes. Yemtsov and Petrenko fell. Bondarenko died. Trofimov died, Narsunbai Yesebulatov was killed. Shopokov. There are fewer and fewer soldiers and grenades.
Klochkov himself was wounded. He rose towards the tank. Threw a grenade. A fascist tank was blown up. The joy of victory lit up Klochkov’s face. And at that very second the hero was struck down by a bullet. Political instructor Klochkov fell.
Panfilov's heroes fought steadfastly. They proved that courage has no limits. They did not let the Nazis through.
Dubosekovo crossing. Field. Hills. Coppices. Somewhere nearby a Lama is meandering. The Dubosekovo crossing is a dear, holy place for every Russian heart.
"KNOW OURS!"
She appeared like a bird. As if from the sky, as if from the snow, as if from a wonderful fairy tale.
Severe fighting is taking place in the north-west of Moscow on the Leningradskoye Highway. The Nazis broke through to the city of Klin. Soviet companies are leaving. The soldiers climbed up the hill, up the steep slope. There is a lowland on the left. In the lowland there is an ice-covered river. The fascists gathered here. There are many of them – hundreds, or even a thousand.
The soldiers look at the fascists. Someone said:
- Eh, buckshot.
“That’s right – with buckshot,” confirms the second one.
“Yes, buckshot would be just right,” someone else agrees.
“Oh, I wish there was a gun here,” said one.
The second one adds:
- And shells for it.
“But there will be brave guys,” the third one chimes in.
Soldiers dream. And suddenly, on the other side of the ravine, on a steep slope as high as this one, an artillery team appeared.
The soldiers rubbed their eyes - it was like imagining things. No! Everything is real. Horses. A gun. Two soldiers. Officer at the gun.
The artillerymen looked down into the lowland. We also saw fascists there. The soldiers deployed the cannon. A shell with buckshot was inserted into the barrel.
- Well, know ours! – the officer shouted. - Fire!
The cannon sneezed with buckshot. A shot followed by a second.
- Know ours! Know ours!
Many fascists remained in the lowlands. And those who were alive rushed up the steep slope, just where the soldier companies stood. The soldiers met them with machine-gun fire. They completed a brave task.
Our soldiers look: where is the team? She disappeared from sight. Just as she came, she left, as if she had returned to a fairy tale.
The soldiers stood over the cliff for a long time.
Who are the heroes? Who are these daring gunners? The soldiers never found out about it.
“Know ours!” - that’s all that remains as a memory of the brave fighters.
ORLOVICH-VORONOVICH
The fighting near Moscow continues unabated. The fascists are rushing forward and pushing forward. In mid-November 1941, particularly heavy fighting broke out on the approaches to the city of Istra. Soldiers are dying. Bravely defeat the enemy. There are many heroes here too. The soldiers are proud of junior lieutenant Kulchinsky, proud of deputy political instructor Filimonov, proud of others.
Once, after a hard day, the soldiers gathered in the dugout and started talking about their exploits. We're talking about pilots, tank crews - that's who the heroic people are!
Soldier Voronovich sits on the sidelines and listens. Just not the tanker Voronovich, not the pilot. He has a modest role in the war. Signalman Voronovich. And the soldier is quiet in character, even timid.
And suddenly a message: the fascist mines had broken the connection somewhere. Soldier Voronovich was sent to look for damage.
Voronovich walks and walks, makes his way through the forest, through the field, and then near a ravine, next to last year’s haystack, there are four tanks. The soldier looked closely. Crosses on the sides. The muzzles of the guns look at him, at Voronovich, with snake eyes.
The soldier felt uneasy. A chill ran through my body. Voronovich lay down on the ground. He looked more closely. He sees the Nazis gathered in a circle near the tanks. The soldier thinks - a halt has been arranged.
Voronovich is lying down. The heart is beating loudly. Leave? Retreat? Crawl away? Take cover?
My heart beat even louder, my temples began to pound like a hammer.
Voronovich is lying: “Four tanks! A squad of fascists! And thoughts one after another: “Bolder, soldier, bolder! Don’t waste your time, soldier!”
Voronovich crawled. Has stopped. Got up. He threw a grenade, followed by another...
Then the soldiers were amazed.
- One - and captured four fascist tanks. Eagle! Eagle! - the soldiers laughed. – You’re not Voronovich at all. No! Your name is Orlovich.
SEPARATE TANK BATTALION
The fierce battle with the Nazis continues. Heavy fighting is taking place near the village and Kryukovo station. The Nazis are pressing here with particular force. Our strength is lacking. The Soviet soldiers are about to leave.
Commanders call senior commanders. They ask for urgent help. Senior bosses have no help. All reserves have been in battle for a long time.
Things are getting more and more difficult under Kryukov. The commanders are calling their superiors again.
“Okay,” the bosses say. - Wait for the tank battalion.
And sure enough, soon a tank officer appeared at the command post of the regiment fighting here. Young, handsome tanker. In a leather jacket and a tank helmet. The eyes are blue-blue. It's like the blue sky in May.
The tankman approached the regiment commander, raised his hand to his helmet, and introduced himself:
– Comrade regiment commander, a separate tank battalion has arrived at your disposal. The battalion commander, Senior Lieutenant Logvinenko, reports.
The regiment commander is happy, simply happy. Hugged the officer:
- Thank you, brother, thank you. - And straight to the point: - How many tanks are there in the battalion?
“One car,” the tanker answers. And the heavenly azure shines in the eyes.
- How many? – the regiment commander cannot believe his ears.
“One car,” the tanker repeats. – There is only one left... Tank T-37.
The Nazis suffered heavy losses near Moscow. But even ours have a lot of them... All the joy on the regiment commander’s face instantly disappeared. The T-37 tank is the most outdated Soviet tank. The oldest and the smallest. One machine gun is all the weapons. Armor as thick as your little finger.
– What will be the combat mission? – asks the tanker.
“Head to the disposal of the first battalion,” said the regiment commander.
This battalion was now attacked the most by the Nazis.
The tankman arrived at the battalion and immediately rushed into battle. Either in one place it will support the infantrymen with armor, then it quickly changes positions. And now in a new place. Easier for soldiers in battle. Rumor goes from soldier to soldier - a tank battalion has arrived.
The heroes survived then. The fascists were not allowed forward.
And the soldiers repelled the second attack. And behind this one there are four more. Now not only the first battalion, but the entire regiment was helped by a tanker.
The battle is over. There is a tanker standing - young, handsome. The eyes are blue-blue. May burns with azure.
The regiment commander approached the tanker and hugged the hero tightly:
- Thank you, brother, thank you. I see that a tank battalion has indeed arrived.
It was one of the most difficult moments of the Moscow Battle.
The fighting took place north of Moscow, on Rogachevskoye Highway.
Fascist tanks struck end-to-end between two neighboring Soviet armies and rushed into a breakthrough towards Moscow. The villages of Bely Rast, Ozeretskoye, Myshetskoye, and the working village of Krasnaya Polyana fell. The enemies approached the Lobnya station, the Savelovskaya railway.
There were about 30 kilometers left to Moscow. This is the distance at which fascist long-range artillery could fire.
The Nazis brought a long-range cannon to Krasnaya Polyana. They began to install it. They gave the order to bring up shells.
Fascist soldiers are fiddling around the cannon. The site is being leveled. The carriage is strengthened. They look through the scope like through binoculars.
The soldiers cannot hide their celebrations:
– We will strike Moscow first!
- There will be a reward from the Fuhrer!
The artillery officer is fussing. And this one is thinking about the same thing: he will be rewarded - a knight's cross on his neck, fame throughout Germany. And at this time our units were moving towards the breakthrough enemies. Regiments and companies approached and entered the battle from the march.
The Nazis are fiddling around the cannon, hearing the sound of battle. But for some reason the battle is not moving further, not to Moscow, but here, closer to Krasnaya Polyana.
They looked at each other in fear:
Now the “Hurray!” is already coming. Here are the earflaps with the red star flashing. Soviet troops drove the fascists out of Krasnaya Polyana. The Soviet soldiers got the gun. Soldiers surrounded her. It's interesting to look at the gun.
- If only now - according to Hitler!
– We’ll take it with us to Berlin!
However, the order came to send the cannon to the rear. And yet the soldiers lingered a little.
They deployed a giant cannon. They inserted a shell. We took aim. The gun trembled with a hundredfold bass. The shell rushed to the west, carrying the news of our victory to the enemies.
Soviet companies pass by a fascist cannon:
- Well, if the Nazis abandoned such a thing, then it’s a good omen.
He's exhausted, you know, he's a fascist.
Our perseverance and strength are increasing. The pressure of the enemies is getting weaker.
The fighters understand that there will be changes, there will be changes. They feel it with a soldier's heart.
“WILL WRITE FROM MOSCOW”
The Nazis are unable to break through to Moscow either from the south or from the north.
- Take her by storm, take her head on! - the fascist generals give the order.
And here is the evening on the eve of a new offensive. Chief Lieutenant Albert Naimgan went down to his dugout. I took out ink and paper. He writes to his uncle, a retired general, in Berlin.
“Dear uncle! Ten minutes ago I returned from the headquarters of our grenadier division, where I carried the order of the corps commander on the last attack on Moscow...” Naimgan writes, in a hurry: “Moscow is ours! Russia is ours! Europe is ours! The chief of staff is calling. I’ll write from Moscow in the morning.”
The Nazis began their new attempt to take Moscow with the shortest possible Western direction. The enemy divisions broke through the front near the city of Naro-Fominsk and rushed forward.
The fascist generals are triumphant. They send a dispatch quickly to Berlin:
“The path to Moscow is open!”
Fascist tanks and motorcycle units are rushing towards Moscow. Five kilometers covered... ten... fifteen... Akulovo village. Here, near Akulov, the enemy met a barrier. A deadly battle broke out. The Nazis did not go further here.
The enemies are now trying to break through to the south of Naro-Fominsk. We walked five kilometers... ten... fifteen. Petrovskoe village. And here, at Petrovsky, our people blocked the way for the Nazis. A deadly battle broke out. The Nazis did not make it further.
The Nazis turned north. We rushed to Golitsyno station. We walked five kilometers... ten... fifteen. Near the villages of Burtsevo and Yushkovo - stop! Our people are standing guard here. A deadly battle broke out. And here the Nazis did not break through further. The attack here also fizzled out.
The Nazis crawled away and retreated. The fascist generals reassure themselves:
– Nothing, nothing – let’s rest, push ourselves, overcome it!
And at this time, fresh forces were approaching Moscow from the east, the troops received new tanks and new guns. The Soviet Army was preparing to deliver a crushing blow to the enemy.
The troops are ready. All we need is a signal to attack.
And he did.
On some sectors of the front, on December 5, and on others on December 6, 1941, troops launched a grand offensive. The Soviet Army began to crush the enemy and drove him to the west.
Well, what about Naimgan’s letter? Did the officer finish it?
No, I didn't have time. He remained with the letter in the snow near Moscow.
BROKEN
It broke. It's finished. It has moved. The Soviet Army is advancing. The troops rushed forward. The armies of generals Govorov, Rokossovsky, Lelyushenko, Kuznetsov, Golikov, the tankmen of Katukov, Getman, Rotmistrov, the horsemen of Dovator and Belov, the Panfilov heroes and many other units are crushing the fascists.
Many brave soldiers from different villages, cities, regions, and republics fought near Moscow. Reinforcements arrived for the troops - Siberians and Urals.
On the eve of the offensive, the commander of the Western Front, Army General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, headed to the troops. First I came to the Urals. The Urals are tall, beautiful people.
- How are you?
- Combat, comrade commander!
– Are you ready to go on the offensive?
- Ready, comrade commander!
- Well, good luck. See you on the battlefield!
Zhukov said goodbye to the Urals and went to the divisions to join the Siberians. Vigorous Siberian people, savvy.
- Hello, comrade soldiers!
- We wish you good health, Comrade Commander!
– Are you ready to go on the offensive?
- At least this minute, comrade commander!
- Well, good luck, comrades. See you on the battlefield!
Zhukov went to the regiments with the Muscovites.
- Hello, comrade soldiers!
- We wish you good health, Comrade Commander!
The Muscovites are a seasoned people. Stable in battles and defense.
Zhukov looks at Muscovites:
- Well, comrades, are you ready to go on the offensive?
- We've been waiting, Comrade Commander!
Zhukov toured other divisions. I met with Kazakhs and Belarusians, Latvians and Ukrainians. I visited the people of Ryazan, the people of Kashira, and the people of Tula. There is one answer everywhere. Rather, hit the fierce beast. Rather, strike the enemy.
Zhukov returned to the command post and reported to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command that he was ready.
Received the order to attack.
Soviet troops were rapidly moving forward. The tank brigade of Major General Katukov operated in one of the sectors of the front. The tankers were catching up with the enemy.
And suddenly a stop. A blown-up bridge ahead of the tanks. This happened on the way to Volokolamsk in the village of Novopetrovskoye. The tankers turned down their engines. Before our eyes, the fascists are leaving them. Someone fired a cannon at the fascist column, only firing the shells into the wind.
“Ford,” someone suggested, “ford, Comrade General, across the river.”
General Katukov looked - the Maglusha River was winding. The banks near Maglushi are steep. Tanks cannot climb the steep slopes.
The general thought.
Suddenly a woman appeared near the tanks. There's a boy with her.
“It’s better there, near our house, comrade commander,” she turned to Katukov. - There is a river there already. Lift up position.
The tanks moved forward behind the woman. Here is a house in a ravine. Ascent from the river. The place here is really better. And yet... Without a bridge, tanks cannot get through here.
“We need a bridge,” the tankers say. - We need logs.
“There are logs,” the woman answered.
The tankers looked around - where were the logs?
“Yes, here they are,” says the woman and points to her house.
- So the house is yours! - the tankers burst out.
The woman looked at the house, at the soldiers.
- Why, the house is made up of small pieces of wood. Either the people are losing... Should we be sad about the house now,” said the woman. - Really, Petya? – turned to the boy. Then again to the soldiers: “Take it apart, my dears.”
The tankers do not dare touch the house. There is a cold in the yard. Winter is gaining strength. How can you be without a home at a time like this?
The woman understood:
- Yes, we’re in the dugout somehow. - And again to the boy: - Really, Petya?
“It’s true, mama,” Petya answered.
And yet the tankers are standing there, crumpled.
Then the woman took an ax and walked to the edge of the house. She was the first to hit the crown.
“Well, thank you,” said General Katukov.
The tankers dismantled the house. We made a crossing. They rushed after the fascists. Tanks are passing along a new bridge. A boy and a woman are waving their hands at them.
- What is your name? - the tankers shout. – Who should we remember with a kind word?
“Petenka and I are Kuznetsovs,” the woman answers the tankers.
- And by name, first name and patronymic?
– Alexandra Grigorievna, Petr Ivanovich.
– Low bow to you, Alexandra Grigorievna. Become a hero, Pyotr Ivanovich.
The tanks then caught up with the enemy column. They crushed the fascists. Then we went west.
The war has died down. Danced with death and misfortune. Her flashes subsided. But the memory of human exploits did not erase. The feat at the Maglushi River has not been forgotten either. Go to the village of Novopetrovskoye. In the same ravine, in the same place, a new house flaunts. The inscription on the house: “To Alexandra Grigorievna and Pyotr Ivanovich Kuznetsov for the feat accomplished during the Great Patriotic War.”
The Maglusha River meanders. There is a house above Maglusha. With a veranda, with a porch, in carved patterns. The windows look out onto the good world.
"FRENCHWOMAN"
“Frenchwoman” is what the soldiers called the gun.
When Sergeant Barabin was first handed it, the soldier looked and gasped. Cannon manufactured in 1897. It turns out that the grandfathers still fired from it.
“Yes-ah...” the soldier drawled.
“But she’s French,” they say to Barabin.
The gun was indeed French. It was made in France. It came to Russia during the First World War. It turned out to be a cannon on the battery in which Barabin served during the most difficult hours of the Moscow Battle. A lot of weapons were needed then. And then, by chance, several old cannons were discovered somewhere in artillery warehouses. There were Russian cannons here, there were English ones, and there were French ones. They were sent to the front. The French one went to Sergeant Barabin.
An artillery battery usually consists of four guns. Barabin's battery also consisted of four. Three guns are modern, new, just arrived from the factories. The fourth Barabinskaya is French.
Everything irritated the soldier in the cannon. And it looks old, and it hits closer than others, and there’s a lot of fiddling around while you reload.
“Junk,” muttered the artilleryman. – Prehistoric age.
The soldiers laugh:
- But she’s French.
Barabin muttered and muttered, and then got used to the “French woman”. And when he knocked out the first fascist tank, he even kissed the gun.
Sergeant Barabin was an excellent artilleryman. The “French woman” also became an excellent weapon in his hands.
The cannon fought on the Minsk Highway in the army commanded by General Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov. Together with others, she held back the onslaught of the fascists. And now I went forward with everyone else.
Once General Govorov drove past an artillery position. I saw an unusual gun. I asked the officer what kind of gun it was.
“French,” they answered the general.
The officers explained to the general where the gun came from and how it got to them.
“Yes, those were not easy days,” said General Govorov.
And when he found out that the “French woman” had knocked out the tank, he even patted her on the barrel.
“Thank you,” he said, “French woman.”
Not long after this the cannon remained in service with the troops. New guns arrived from the Urals. A lot of weapons came to Moscow at that time. There is no longer any need for a “French girl”. They also sent a new gun for Sergeant Barabin.
Barabin resisted. He’s used to it, he won’t give up his “French girl”. However, an order is an order. The artilleryman had to part with the cannon.
- Well, goodbye, darling.
The “French woman” drove to the warehouses again. It so happened that General Govorov met Barabin again a few days later. He recognized the sergeant. I asked.
- Well, how is the “French girl”?
Barabin pointed to the new gun. It was long-range, fast-firing, the latest, most advanced design.
“Yes, another time is coming, another force,” Govorov said.
In the battles near Moscow, along with other troops, Cossacks also took part: Don, Kuban, Terek...
Dovator is dashing and sparkling in battle. He sits well in the saddle. Cup cap on the head.
General Dovator commands the Cossack cavalry corps. The villagers look at the general:
- Our blood - Cossack!
The fighters argue where he comes from:
- From the Don.
- From Kuban!
- He’s Tersky, Tersky.
- Ural Cossack, from the Urals.
- Transbaikalian, Daurian, consider it a Cossack.
The Cossacks did not agree on a single opinion. Contacted Dovator:
- Comrade corps commander, tell me, what village are you from?
Dovator smiled:
“You’re looking in the wrong place, comrades.” In the Belarusian forests there is a village.
And rightly so. Not a Cossack Dovator at all. He is Belarusian. In the village of Khotin, in the north of Belarus, not far from the city of Polotsk, this is where the corps commander Dovator was born.
Back in August–September, Dovator’s equestrian group walked along the fascist rear. Destroyed warehouses, headquarters, and convoys. The Nazis suffered greatly back then. Rumors spread among the fascist soldiers - 100 thousand Soviet cavalry broke through to the rear. But in fact, there were only 3,000 people in Dovator’s cavalry group.
When Soviet troops near Moscow went on the offensive, Dovator’s Cossacks again broke through into the fascist rear.
The Nazis are afraid of Soviet horsemen. Behind every bush they see a Cossack...
The fascist generals set a reward for the capture of Dovator - 10 thousand German marks.
Like a thunderstorm, like spring thunder, Dovator moves through the fascist rear.
Gives fascists shivers. They will wake up hearing the whistle of the wind.
- Dovator! - they shout. - Dovator!
They will hear the sound of hooves.
- Dovator! Dovator!
The Nazis are raising the price. They assign 50 thousand marks for the Dovator. Like a dream, a myth for Dovator’s enemies.
Dovator rides on horseback. The legend follows him.
The rifle company entered the village. True, not the first. Others liberated the village. The Nazis fled from here this morning.
Soldiers are walking along the main street. The village has been preserved. The Nazis fled quickly. They didn’t manage to burn or destroy anything.
The soldiers approached the outermost house. House with five walls. Gate. Gates. There is something written on the gate. The soldiers became interested. They read: “Farewell, Moscow, we are leaving for Berlin. Corporal Beckers."
“That’s great,” the soldiers laughed. - So, goodbye, Moscow, goodbye, hopes.
– Even though he is a fascist, he made the correct inscription.
The soldiers took a closer look, and below were more words. Someone made a postscript. The soldiers read the note: “Nothing, we’ll catch up. Private Tulupin."
The soldiers liked the addition of soldiers. They are interested in learning about the fate of Tulupin. Maybe Tulupin has already caught up with the fascist?
The soldiers are moving forward. Whoever they meet - infantrymen, tankers, artillerymen - will immediately ask:
- Do you have Tulupin?
The surname is not very common. Rather rare. They don't come across Tulupin. The soldiers went beyond Mozhaisk, beyond Medyn, and then they drove the fascists further. No and no, they don’t meet Tulupin. And suddenly in one place...
“There is,” they say, “Tulupin.”
The soldiers rushed to the fighter:
- Tulupin?
- Tulupin.
– Did you write on the gate?
- At what gate? – the fighter was amazed.
The soldiers explain.
“No, I didn’t write,” Tulupin answers.
The soldiers were upset.
- Not that Tulupin.
The soldiers marched forward for many kilometers. They continue to look for Tulupin.
- There is Tulupin!
- Tulupin?
- Tulupin.
- The same one?
- It seems like that one.
The soldiers met Tulupin and immediately told him about Bekkers.
- Beckers... Beckers? - the soldier began to remember. - Oh, Beckers! We caught up with him.
The soldiers perked up:
- About a month already, count it.
The soldiers are happy - Bekkers got caught. They turn again to Tulupin:
- It's great you're at the gate...
-What's on the gate?
- You wrote great.
- What did you write? – the fighter did not understand. - Which gates?! – stands, looking at the soldiers in surprise.
That's how it goes. It is clear to the soldiers that Tulupin is not the same again.
We started talking about Bekkers again.
“I remember Bekkers, I remember,” Tulupin repeats. - Of course, Colonel Beckers. He was captured by our company.
- Colonel? - The soldiers were embarrassed. (The corporal wrote on the gate.)
“Colonel,” said Tulupin.
It is now clear to the soldiers that Bekkers is not the same at all.
The soldiers regret:
- Eh, Bekkers is not the same and not the same Tulupin.
Sergeant Major Zadorozhny immediately walks with everyone. Zadorozhny looked at his friends:
- That one is not that one! Is that really the point? Look what time it is. It is not the Bekkers who are now pushing back the Tulupins. Tulupins are beating fascists now.
The Soviet Army is advancing. It's a holiday on our street today. The number of victories increases.
Ostashevsky district is deep, distant in the Moscow region. The village of Butakovo in the Ostashevsky district is remote. The Nazis retreated through Butakovo. They lasted from morning until evening. We didn’t have time to get through everything before dark. One of the fascist detachments stayed in the village overnight. The huts here are burned. Residents took refuge in dugouts.
However, a large barn remains on the outskirts of the village. The Nazis stayed there for the night. The wind doesn't blow. It's not snowing. Only the cold is terrible in the barn.
The Nazis circled around the barn: was there any firewood visible nearby? It's dangerous to go into the forest. We found some wood chips and collected some. They lit it. The fire flared up and froze. Only the smell of smoke and heat left. The smell teases the fascists.
The soldiers huddled closer to each other. The Nazis began to doze. Suddenly they hear a creaking sound in the snow behind the barn. Machine guns in your hands immediately. It is clear to the enemies: “Partisans!” However, they see the guys coming. Pupils. Three. The boots on one are huge. The other one is wearing a good-quality hare's fur coat. The third is tied with a soldier's belt.
The boys came up and stopped. The fascists are looking at them. They don't lower the machine guns.
- Partisans?! – one of the fascists screamed.
The one in the cloak was separated from the boys. He was a little taller. He stepped towards the barn. The Nazis looked at something behind the teenager’s back.
- Tsuryuk! Back! - the fascists shouted.
The boy stopped. He dropped the burden to the ground. The Nazis look - there is a bundle of firewood.
“Take it,” said the boy.
Surprise burst out from the soldiers:
- Ooo! Gut! Karasho!
They lowered their machine guns. The teenager gave a signal to his comrades. The two of them walked away for a minute. They left and immediately returned. And these are holding firewood in their hands.
A fire broke out in the barn. There was warmth from the firewood. The fascists are warming their hands and backs. They almost climb into the fire with their feet.
They liked the guys. And the one in the hare's fur coat, and the one in huge boots, and the one wearing a soldier's belt.
The fire is burning. Firewood, like sugar in a hot glass, melts. The one in the three-hat pointed to the firewood and addressed the fascists:
- Noh? More?
- Noh! Noh! – the fascists shouted in response.
The guys left. We walked somewhere. We came back again. Firewood in hand again. The guys piled the wood aside. And the one in the hat brought a bundle of brushwood. He threw off the brushwood and threw the whole bunch straight into the fire. The flames rose even stronger.
Warmth flowed in streams. The fascists are happy:
- Ooo! Gut! Karasho!
They look, where are the boys? They were blown away as if by the wind.
The soldiers looked at the darkness, at the gate. And at that same second there was a terrible explosion. He destroyed the barn, and with it the Nazis. Two anti-tank mines were laid in a bundle of brushwood.
The partisans performed many brave deeds near Moscow. Teenagers and children helped the adults in any way they could. Especially here, in the Ostashevsky district. There is now a monument to young Soviet patriots here. In Ostashevo. On the square. In the very center.
LEISURE
A rifle company was advancing. She walked and walked to the west. The soldiers were tired of the fighting and the thunder of war. They gave the soldiers a rest.
He sleeps under the ice, under the snow. Silence has now shackled the area. The soldiers arrived in the village in the evening. We settled in the surviving huts. We fell asleep, like in childhood, in a blissful sleep.
Just fell asleep: alarm! Anxiety!
The soldiers stood up at that moment. Short fur coats on the shoulders, rifles in the hands.
The soldiers are back in the ranks.
It turned out that some fascist unit was breaking through from our rear to their own in the Gzhati valley. The soldiers entered the battle and defeated the Nazis.
The soldiers returned to peace, to the huts.
In the morning we woke up and went outside. There are only a third of the houses in the village. The war licked the village with fire. When leaving, the Nazis burned down two thirds of the houses. Pipes stick out and stoves.
Fire victims live in dugouts, in pits, almost in holes. The soldiers look at the pipes, at the stoves, at the pits, holes. Someone said timidly:
- Come on, lads, let's help!
Work was in full swing. Axes, like woodpeckers, nose into logs. The saws grabbed the pines like a bulldog.
Huts rose from the ashes and snow. Chimneys, like guards, crown the roofs.
The soldiers finished their work in the village. Now we've looked around. We went out to the frozen Gzhati. Piles stick out from Gzhati. There was a bridge here recently.
The soldiers looked at the ice, at the piles:
- Come on, lads, let's fix it!
Work began again. The day had not passed when the boards again lay over Gzhat, the railings grabbed onto both banks.
The soldiers finished the bridge. They walk around again. They look - there is a school on the hill. Or rather, what is now left of the school.
- What is it like in a village without a school!
- Come on, lads, let’s prove it!
Work is in full swing here too. Soldiers are brave at work, at work. There are many skilled people in the rifle company. The school is in the same place again. The hillock is decorated again.
The soldiers are happy. They go to the village. We came to the village. The command thunders:
- Form up! Form up! Vacation is over!
The company formed a platoon line.
- Attention! Left! A song!
A rifle company stepped forward. A song soared over the company. The soldiers marched to their division.
They came to the division. Report to the general about the company:
– The company has arrived from vacation.
– How did you rest?
- Everything is in perfect order.
- Or more precisely?
The general learned about the battle with the Nazis, about the bridge, about the houses, about the school.
- Thank you. Well, active, it turns out, rest...
Chapter Three
EVIL SURNAME
"NO STEP BACK!"
The third month is stubborn, bloody battles on South. The steppe is burning. Through fire and smoke, the Nazis are rushing towards Stalingrad, towards the Volga.
There was a battle on the outskirts of Stalingrad. 16 guardsmen entered into an unequal battle.
- No step back! - the heroes swore.
The Nazis rushed to attack. The guards held the line. We bandaged each other's wounds, ready to fight again.
The Nazis are attacking for the second time. There are more of them now, and the fire is stronger. The guards stand steadfastly. We held the line again. They bandaged each other's wounds. Ready for battle again.
The soldiers repulsed four attacks.
The infantry did not take the brave men, fascist tanks crawled towards the heroes.
The battle with tanks is a brutal battle.
Out of sixteen, twelve fighters remain.
- No step back!
Here are ten, here are nine.
- No step back!
Here are eight, here are seven.
Remember their names - Kochetkov, Dokuchaev, Gushchin, Burdov, Stepanenko, Chirkov, Shuktomov.
And the tanks crawl and crawl. The soldiers have no guns, no anti-tank rifles, no mortars. Even the cartridges ran out.
Soldiers are fighting. No step back! And the tanks are getting closer and closer.
The heroes only had grenades left. Three per soldier.
Dokuchaev looked at the tanks, at his fighting friends, at his three grenades. I looked. He took the belt off his tunic. He tightened the grenades with a belt. For some reason I weighed it on my hand. He looked again at Gushchin, Burdov - at his neighbors in the trench. Dokuchaev smiled at his friends. And suddenly a soldier rose from the trench.
- For the Motherland! - the hero shouted. He rushed forward to meet the enemy. He pressed the grenades tighter to his chest. He rushed under the first tank.
The steppe shook from the explosion. The battle-scorched grass swayed. The fascist tank froze and burst into flames.
Gushchin and Burdov looked at each other. Bravery breeds courage. Feat gives birth to feat. Gushchin stood up. Burdov stood up. Bunches of grenades in hands.
- You won’t take us! - the soldiers shouted.
The heroes rushed forward. Two explosions rocked the ground. And the tanks come and go.
Then Kochetkov, Stepanenko, Chirkov, Shuktomov stood up:
– Freedom is more valuable than life!
Here are the four of them - on the line of fire. Heroes are coming towards the fascist tanks.
- Death to the Nazis! Death to the invaders!
The fascists are watching. People are walking under tanks. Explosion. Another explosion. Explosion again and again. Fear gripped the Nazis. The tanks backed away, turned around, and hastily left here.
The fighting died down with fire. Time flies like the wind. The years flow like rivers. But memory preserves the past. Look over there on the field. Heroes stand like cliffs, like rocks. Their glorious feat is immortal. Remember their names - Kochetkov, Dokuchaev, Gushchin, Burdov, Stepanenko, Chirkov, Shuktomov.
THIRTY-THREE BOGATYRS
There were 33 of them. Like in a fairy tale. 33 heroes. 33 brave Soviet soldiers. To the west of Stalingrad, soldiers defended an important height. The Nazis were unable to break through here. The Nazis walked around the height. The soldiers were surrounded.
The brave men did not flinch; the heroes knocked out 27 tanks in battle. 150 fascists were destroyed.
Out of ammunition. The soldiers broke through the encirclement. They returned to their troops. Everyone was safe, everyone was unharmed. Only one private, Zhezlov, was harmed by shrapnel.
Soldiers of heroes surrounded. Interesting to know the details. Here stands Semyon Kalita. Kalita distinguished himself in battle. The first to destroy a fascist tank.
“Well, tell me, tell me about heroism,” the soldiers ask him.
Semyon Kalita became embarrassed:
- Yes, I... Why, I... Here is Ivan Timofeev. Wow. This is a hero.
And this is true - Private Ivan Timofeev destroyed two enemy tanks.
The soldiers turned to Ivan Timofeev:
- Well, tell me, tell me about heroism.
Ivan Timofeev became embarrassed:
- Yes, I... Why, I... Vladimir Paschalny is the hero. That's who fought better than others.
And rightly so. Junior Sergeant Vladimir Paschalny disabled three fascist tanks. That's who the hero is, of course.
Vladimir Paschalny was embarrassed:
- Yes, I... Why, I... Here is comrade junior political instructor Evtifeev - that’s who the real hero is.
And rightly so. Junior political instructor Evtifeev knocked out four fascist tanks. The soldiers admire:
- What a shooter!
– Conducted, it turns out, a political conversation among the fascists!
The soldiers surrounded the political instructor:
- Comrade Evtifeev, tell me how it happened.
Evtifeev grinned and began to tell.
He told about the heroes: about junior sergeant Mikhail Mingalev, about soldier Nikolai Vlaskin, about foreman Dmitry Pukazov and about other soldiers. Only the soldiers are not enough:
- Why don’t you say a word about yourself?
Evtifeev became embarrassed.
“Yes, I...” I looked around and saw Semyon Kalita, the one who was the first to knock out an enemy tank: “Let Semyon Kalita tell you about himself.” He started it all...
Stalingrad. Headquarters of the Stalingrad Front. Front commander Colonel General Andrei Ivanovich Eremenko.
The feat of 33 brave men was reported to General Eremenko:
- Comrade commander, twenty-seven tanks were knocked out. We returned alive.
- Twenty seven?
- That's right, twenty-seven.
33 Soviet heroes - this is how the soldiers dubbed the heroes of illustrious heights. And soon the awards came to the heroes. Orders and medals sparkled on their chests.
A SOLDIER WOUNDED IN BATTLE
He lay there without groaning, without screaming, without crying. A soldier was wounded in battle. Blood seeps through my shirt onto the floor.
Outskirts of Stalingrad. Dilapidated house. Third floor. A soldier is lying on the floor.
The soldier fought as part of his native rifle platoon. They defended this house. Suddenly an order arrived for the soldiers in the neighborhood to take other positions. The warriors moved to a new place. A soldier covered the crossing. The fighting friends left the house. The soldier fired another shot. I wanted to rush after everyone. At that moment he was wounded. He screamed. Bent over. A soldier fell.
Current page: 1 (book has 19 pages total) [available reading passage: 13 pages]
One hundred stories about war
Sergey Petrovich Alekseev
Chapter first
THE END OF THE BLITZKRIEG
BREST FORTRESS
The Brest Fortress stands on the border. The Nazis attacked it on the very first day of the war.
The Nazis were unable to take the Brest Fortress by storm. We walked around her left and right. She remained behind enemy lines.
The Nazis are coming. Fights are taking place near Minsk, near Riga, near Lvov, near Lutsk. And there, in the rear of the Nazis, the Brest Fortress is fighting, not giving up.
It's hard for heroes. It’s bad with ammunition, bad with food, and especially bad with water for the defenders of the fortress.
There is water all around - the Bug River, the Mukhovets River, branches, channels. There is water all around, but there is no water in the fortress. Water is under fire. A sip of water here is more valuable than life.
- Water! - rushes over the fortress.
A daredevil was found and rushed to the river. He rushed and immediately collapsed. The soldier's enemies defeated him. Time passed, another brave one rushed forward. And he died. The third replaced the second. The third one also died.
A machine gunner was lying not far from this place. He was scribbling and scribbling the machine gun, and suddenly the line stopped. The machine gun overheated in battle. And the machine gun needs water.
The machine gunner looked - the water had evaporated from the hot battle, and the machine gun casing was empty. I looked to where the Bug is, where the channels are. Looked left, right.
- Eh, it was not.
He crawled towards the water. He crawled on his bellies, pressing himself to the ground like a snake. He is getting closer and closer to the water. It's right next to the shore. The machine gunner grabbed his helmet. He scooped up water like a bucket. Again it crawls back like a snake. Getting closer to our people, closer. It's very close. His friends picked him up.
- I brought some water! Hero!
The soldiers look at their helmets and at the water. His eyes are blurred from thirst. They don’t know that the machine gunner brought water for the machine gun. They are waiting, and suddenly a soldier will treat them now - at least a sip.
The machine gunner looked at the soldiers, at the dry lips, at the heat in his eyes.
“Come closer,” said the machine gunner.
The soldiers stepped forward, but suddenly...
“Brothers, it wouldn’t be for us, but for the wounded,” someone’s voice rang out.
The fighters stopped.
- Of course, wounded!
- That's right, take it to the basement!
The soldiers sent the fighter to the basement. He brought water to the basement where the wounded lay.
“Brothers,” he said, “water...
“Here,” he handed the mug to the soldier.
The soldier reached out to the water. I already took the mug, but suddenly:
“No, not for me,” said the soldier. - Not for me. Bring it to the children, dear.
The soldier brought water to the children. But it must be said that in the Brest Fortress, along with adult fighters, there were also women and children - the wives and children of military personnel.
The soldier went down to the basement where the children were.
“Come on,” the fighter turned to the guys. “Come and stand,” and, like a magician, he takes out his helmet from behind his back.
The guys look - there is water in the helmet.
The children rushed to the water, to the soldier.
The fighter took the mug and carefully poured it to the bottom. He's looking to see who he can give it to. He sees a baby about the size of a pea nearby.
“Here,” he handed to the baby.
The kid looked at the fighter and at the water.
“To daddy,” said the kid. - He's there, he's shooting.
“Yes, drink, drink,” the fighter smiled.
“No,” the boy shook his head. - Folder. “I never took a sip of water.”
And others refused to follow him.
The fighter returned to his own people. He told about the children, about the wounded. He gave the helmet with water to the machine gunner.
The machine gunner looked at the water, then at the soldiers, at the fighters, at his friends. He took the helmet and poured water into the metal casing. It came to life, started working, and built a machine gun.
The machine gunner covered the fighters with fire. There were brave souls again. They crawled towards the Bug, towards death. The heroes returned with water. They gave water to the children and the wounded.
The defenders of the Brest Fortress fought bravely. But there were fewer and fewer of them. They were bombed from the sky. The cannons were fired directly. From flamethrowers.
The fascists are waiting, and people are about to ask for mercy. The white flag is about to appear.
We waited and waited, but the flag was not visible. Nobody asks for mercy.
For thirty-two days the battles for the fortress did not cease. “I am dying, but I am not giving up. Farewell, Motherland! – one of its last defenders wrote on the wall with a bayonet.
These were words of farewell. But it was also an oath. The soldiers kept their oath. They did not surrender to the enemy.
The country bowed to its heroes for this. And you stop for a minute, reader. And you bow low to the heroes.
LIEPAJA
The war is marching with fire. The earth is burning with disaster. A grandiose battle with the Nazis unfolded over a vast area from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
The Nazis advanced in three directions at once: towards Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. They released a deadly fan.
The city of Liepaja is a port of the Latvian Soviet Republic. One of the fascist attacks was directed here, on Liepaja. Enemies believe in easy success:
– Liepaja is in our hands!
The Nazis are advancing from the south. They walk along the sea - a straight road. The Nazis are coming. Here is the village of Rutsava. Here is Lake Papes. Here is the Barta River. The city is getting closer and closer.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
They're coming. Suddenly a terrible fire blocked the road. The Nazis stopped. The Nazis entered the battle.
They fight and fight, but they can’t get through. Enemies from the south cannot break through to Liepaja.
The Nazis then changed direction. They are now going around the city from the east. We went around. The city is smoking in the distance.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
As soon as we went on the attack, Liepaja again bristled with a flurry of fire. Sailors came to the aid of the soldiers. Workers came to the aid of the military. They took up arms. Together with the fighters in the same row.
The Nazis stopped. The Nazis entered the battle.
They fight and fight, but they can’t get through. The Nazis will not advance here, from the east either.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
However, even here, in the north, the brave defenders of Liepaja blocked the way for the fascists. Fights with the enemy Liepaja.
Days pass.
The second ones pass.
Third. The fourth ones are running out.
Liepāja does not give up, it holds on!
Only when the shells ran out and there were no cartridges did the defenders of Liepaja retreat.
The Nazis entered the city.
– Liepaja is in our hands!
But the Soviet people did not resign themselves. They went underground. They joined the partisans. A bullet awaits the Nazis at every step. The Nazis have an entire division in the city.
Liepāja is fighting.
The enemies of Liepaja commemorated it for a long time. If they failed in something, they said:
- Liepaja!
We haven't forgotten Liepaja either. If someone stood steadfastly in battle, if someone fought their enemies with extreme courage, and the fighters wanted to note this, they said:
- Liepaja!
Even after being enslaved by the Nazis, she remained in the fighting ranks - our Soviet Liepaja.
CAPTAIN GASTELLO
It was the fifth day of the war. Pilot Captain Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello and his crew flew the plane on a combat mission. The plane was large, twin-engine. Bomber.
The plane left for the intended target. Bombed out. Completed the combat mission. Turned around. I started to go home.
And suddenly a shell exploded from behind. It was the Nazis who opened fire on the Soviet pilot. The worst thing happened: a shell pierced a gasoline tank. The bomber caught fire. Flames ran along the wings and along the fuselage.
Captain Gastello tried to put out the fire. He sharply tilted the plane onto the wing. Made the car seem to fall on its side. This position of the aircraft is called sliding. The pilot thought he would go astray and the flames would subside. However, the car continued to burn. Gastello dropped the bomber onto the second wing. The fire doesn't go away. The plane is on fire and is losing altitude.
At this time, a fascist convoy was moving below the plane: tanks with fuel in the convoy, cars. The Nazis raised their heads and were watching the Soviet bomber.
The Nazis saw how a shell hit the plane and how the flame immediately broke out. How the pilot began to fight the fire, throwing the car from side to side.
The fascists are triumphant.
– There is one less communist!
The fascists laugh. And suddenly…
Captain Gastello tried and tried to knock down the flames from the plane. He threw the car from wing to wing. It’s clear – don’t put out the fire. The ground is running towards the plane with terrible speed. Gastello looked at the ground. I saw fascists below, a convoy, fuel tanks, and trucks.
And this means: tanks will arrive at the target - fascist planes will be refueled with gasoline, tanks and cars will be refueled; Fascist planes will rush to our cities and villages, fascist tanks will attack our soldiers, cars will rush, carrying fascist soldiers and military cargo.
Captain Gastello could have left the burning plane and bailed out.
But Captain Gastello did not use the parachute. He gripped the steering wheel more firmly in his hands. The bomber aimed at a fascist convoy.
The Nazis are standing, looking at the Soviet plane. The fascists are happy. We are happy that their anti-aircraft gunners shot down our plane. And suddenly they realize: a plane is rushing right at them, towards the tanks.
The Nazis rushed in different directions. Not everyone managed to escape. A plane crashed into a fascist convoy. There was a terrible explosion. Dozens of fascist vehicles with fuel took off into the air.
Soviet soldiers performed many glorious feats during the Great Patriotic War - pilots, tank crews, infantrymen, and artillerymen. Many unforgettable feats. One of the first in this series of immortals was the feat of Captain Gastello.
Captain Gastello died. But the memory remains. Everlasting memory. Eternal glory.
Audacity
This happened in Ukraine. Not far from the city of Lutsk.
In these places, near Lutsk, near Lvov, near Brody, Dubno, large tank battles broke out with the Nazis.
Night. The column of fascist tanks changed their positions. The cars are coming one after another. They fill the area with motor noise.
The commander of one of the fascist tanks, Lieutenant Kurt Wieder, threw away the turret hatch, climbed out of the tank waist-deep, and admired the night view.
Summer stars look calmly from the sky. To the right is a narrow strip of forest. On the left the field runs into a lowland. The stream rushed like a silver ribbon. The road twisted and went slightly uphill. Night. The cars are coming one after another.
And suddenly. Veeder doesn't believe his eyes. A shot rang out in front of the tank. Vider sees: the tank that was walking in front of Vider fired. But what is it? A tank hit its own tank! The damaged one burst into flames and was enveloped in flames.
Vider's thoughts flashed and rushed one after another:
- Accident?!
- An oversight?!
-Are you crazy?!
- Are you crazy?!
But at that second there was a shot from behind. Then the third, fourth, fifth. Veeder turned around. Tanks are firing at tanks. Those who walk behind follow those who go ahead.
Veeder descended quickly into the hatch. He doesn’t know what command to give to the tankers. He looks left, looks right, and right: what command to give?
While he was thinking, a shot rang out again. It was heard nearby, and the tank in which Veeder was immediately shuddered. It shuddered, clanged and burst into flames like a candle.
Veeder jumped to the ground. He threw himself like an arrow into the ditch.
What happened?
The day before, in one of the battles, Soviet soldiers recaptured fifteen tanks from the Nazis. Thirteen of them turned out to be completely serviceable.
This is where our people decided to use fascist tanks against the fascists themselves. Soviet tank crews got into enemy vehicles, went out to the road and waylaid one of the fascist tank columns. When the column approached, the tankers quietly joined it. Then we slowly reformed so that each fascist tank was followed by a tank with our tank crews.
There is a column coming. The fascists are calm. All tanks have black crosses. We approached the slope. And here they shot our column of fascist tanks.
Veeder rose from the ground to his feet. I looked at the tanks. They burn out like coals. He turned his gaze to the sky. The stars from the sky are pricking like needles.
Our people returned home with victory and trophies.
- Well, is everything in order?
- Consider it full!
The tankers are standing.
Smiles glow. There is courage in the eyes. There is insolence on their faces.
THOROUGH WORD
There is a war going on across Belarusian soil. Conflagration fires rise from behind.
The fascists are marching. And here in front of them is the Berezina - the beauty of the Belarusian fields.
Berezina is running. Either it will spread into a wide floodplain, then suddenly it will narrow to a channel, it will make its way through the swamps, through the swells, it will gurgle along the forest, along the forest, along the field, it will rush to the feet of good-quality huts, it will smile at bridges, cities and villages.
The Nazis came to the Berezina. One of the detachments to the village of Studyanka. Battles rumbled near Studyanka. The fascists are happy. Another new frontier has been captured.
Studyanka has hilly areas. Both the right and left banks are humped here. The Berezina flows in the lowlands here. The Nazis climbed the hill. The district lies in the palm of your hand. Goes through the fields and forest to the sky. The fascists are marching.
- A song! - the officer commands.
The soldiers sang a song.
The Nazis are walking, and suddenly they see a monument. At the top of the hill, near the road, there is an obelisk. The inscription is at the bottom of the monument.
The fascists stopped, stopped chanting the song. They look at the obelisk and the inscription. They don't understand Russian. However, I wonder what is written here. Address one to another:
- What's it about, Kurt?
– What is this about, Karl?
The Kurts, Karls, Fritzes, Frantzes, Adolfs, Hanses are standing, looking at the inscription.
And then there was one who read Russian.
“Here, in this place...” the soldier began to read. And further that here, on the Berezina, near the village of Studyanka, in 1812, the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov finally defeated the hordes of the French Emperor Napoleon I, who dreamed of conquering our country, and expelled the invaders from Russia.
Yes, it was in this exact place. Here, on the Berezina, near the village of Studyanka.
The soldier read the inscription on the monument to the end. He looked at his neighbors. Kurt whistled. Karl whistled. Fritz grinned. Franz smiled. The other soldiers made noise:
- So when did this happen?
– Napoleon didn’t have the same strength then!
Just what is it? The song is no longer a song. The song is getting quieter and quieter.
- Louder, louder! - the officer commands.
Can't get anything louder. So the song stopped altogether.
The soldiers are walking, remembering about 1812, about the obelisk, about the inscription on the monument. Although this was a long time ago, it’s true, although Napoleon’s strength was not the same, but somehow the mood of the fascist soldiers suddenly deteriorated. They go and repeat:
- Berezina!
The word suddenly turned out to be prickly.
ESTATE
Enemies are marching across Ukraine. The fascists are rushing forward.
Ukraine is good. The air is fragrant like grass. The lands are as fat as butter. The generous sun is shining.
Hitler promised the soldiers that after the war, after victory, they would receive estates in Ukraine.
Soldier Hans Mutterfather walks, selects an estate for himself.
He liked the place. The river is murmuring. Rockets. Meadow next to the river. Stork.
- Fine. Grace! This is where I’ll probably stay after the war. I’ll build a house here by the river.
He closed his eyes. A beautiful house has grown. And next to the house there are stables, barns, sheds, a cowshed, a pigsty.
Soldier Mutterfather broke into a smile.
- Great! Wonderful! Let's remember the place.
- Perfect place!
I fell in love with it.
This is where I’ll probably stay after the war. Here, on the hill, I will build a house. He closed his eyes. A beautiful house has grown. And next to the house there are other services: stables, barns, barns, cowshed, pigsty.
Stop again.
The open spaces lay like a steppe. There is no end to them. The field lies like velvet. Rooks walk across the field like princes.
The soldier is captured by the boundless expanse. He looks at the steppes, at the earth - his soul plays.
“This is where I am, this is where I’ll stay forever.”
He closed his eyes: the field was earing wheat. There are mowers nearby. It's his field that's making ears. These are his mowing fields. And there are cows grazing nearby. These are his cows. And turkeys are pecking nearby. These are his turkeys. And his pigs and chickens. And his geese and ducks. And his sheep and goats. And here is a beautiful house.
Mutterfather firmly decided. Here he will take the estate. No other place needed.
- Zehr gut! - said the fascist. - I will stay here forever.
Ukraine is good. Generous Ukraine. What Mutterfather had so dreamed about came true. Hans Mutterfather remained here forever when the partisans opened battle. And right there, right on his estate.
Mutterfather lies on his estate. And others are walking past. They also choose these estates for themselves. Some are on the hill, and some are under the hill. Some are near the forest, and some are near the fields. Some are by the pond, and some are by the river.
The partisans look at them:
- Don't crowd. Take your time. Great Ukraine. Generous Ukraine. There's enough room for everyone.
TWO TANKS
In one of the battles, a Soviet KB tank (KB is a brand of tank) rammed a fascist one. The fascist tank was destroyed. However, ours also suffered. The engine stalled due to the impact.
Driver-mechanic Ustinov leaned over to the engine and tried to start it. The engine is silent.
The tank stopped. However, the tankers did not stop the battle. They opened fire on the Nazis with cannon and machine guns.
The tankers are shooting, listening to see if the engine starts working. Ustinov is fiddling with the engine. The engine is silent.
The battle was long and stubborn. And then our tank ran out of ammunition. The tank now turned out to be completely helpless. Lonely, silently standing on the field.
The Nazis became interested in the lonely tank. Come over. We looked and the car was apparently intact. We climbed onto the tank. They hit the manhole cover with forged boots.
- Hey, Russian!
- Come out, Russian!
We listened. No answer.
- Hey, Russian!
No answer.
“The tank crews were killed,” thought the Nazis. They decided to steal the tank as a trophy. We drove our tank to the Soviet tank. We got the cable. Attached. The cable was stretched. The colossus pulled the colossus.
“Things are bad,” our tankers understand. They leaned towards the engine, towards Ustinov:
- Well, look here.
- Well, pick around here.
– Where did the spark go?!
Ustinov puffs at the engine.
- Oh, you stubborn one!
- Oh, you, your soul of steel!
And suddenly he snorted and the tank’s engine started working. Ustinov grabbed the levers. He quickly engaged the clutch. I stepped on the gas harder. The tank's tracks were moving. The Soviet tank stopped.
The Nazis see that a Soviet tank has stopped. They are amazed: he was motionless - and came to life. Turned on the strongest power. They cannot budge a Soviet tank. Engines roar. The tanks are pulling each other in different directions. Caterpillars bite into the ground. The earth flies from under the caterpillars.
- Vasya, press! - the tankers shout to Ustinov. - Vasya!
Ustinov pushed to the limit. And then he overpowered the Soviet tank. He pulled the fascist along with him. The fascists and ours have now switched roles. Not ours, but the fascist tank is now among the trophies.
The Nazis rushed about and opened the hatches. They started jumping out of the tank.
The heroes dragged the enemy tank to their own. The soldiers are watching:
- Fascist!
- Completely intact!
The tankers spoke about the last battle and what happened.
“They overpowered me, then,” the soldiers laugh.
- They pulled it!
“Ours, it turns out, is stronger in the shoulders.”
“Stronger, stronger,” the soldiers laugh. - Give it time - or it will happen, brothers, to the Krauts.
What can I say?
- Shall we drag it?
- We'll pull it over!
There will be battles. To be victorious. But not all of this at once. These battles are ahead.
FULL-FULL
The battle with the Nazis took place on the banks of the Dnieper. The Nazis came to the Dnieper. Among others, the village of Buchak was captured. The Nazis settled there. There are many of them - about a thousand. We installed a mortar battery. The shore is high. The Nazis can see far from the slope. The fascist battery is hitting our people.
The defense on the left, opposite bank of the Dnieper was held by a regiment commanded by Major Muzagik Khairetdinov. Khairetdinov decided to teach the fascists and the fascist battery a lesson. He gave the order to conduct a night attack on the right bank.
Soviet soldiers began to prepare for the crossing. We got boats from the residents. We got the oars and poles. We immersed ourselves. We pushed off from the left bank. The soldiers went into the darkness.
The Nazis did not expect an attack from the left bank. The village on a steep slope is covered from ours by the Dnieper water. The fascists are calm. And suddenly the Soviet soldiers fell upon their enemies like a fiery shooting star. They crushed it. Squeezed. They threw me off the Dnieper steep. They destroyed both the fascist soldiers and the fascist battery.
The soldiers returned victoriously to the left bank.
In the morning, new fascist forces approached the village of Buchak. A young lieutenant accompanied the Nazis. The lieutenant tells the soldiers about the Dnieper, about the Dnieper steeps, about the village of Buchak.
- There are plenty of us there!
He clarifies that the mortar battery is located on a steep slope, the entire left bank is visible from the steep slope, the Nazis are covered from the Russians by the Dnieper water like a wall, and the soldiers in Buchak are positioned like in Christ’s bosom.
The Nazis are approaching the village. Something is quiet all around, soundless. Empty all around, deserted.
The lieutenant is surprised:
- Yes, there were plenty of ours!
The Nazis entered the village. We went to the Dnieper steep. They see the dead lying on the steep slope. We looked to the left, looked to the right - and sure enough, it was complete.
Not only for the village of Buchak - stubborn battles with the fascists broke out in many places on the Dnieper at that time. The 21st Soviet Army dealt a strong blow to the Nazis here. The army crossed the Dnieper, attacked the Nazis, Soviet soldiers liberated the cities of Rogachev and Zhlobin, and headed for Bobruisk.
The fascists were alarmed:
- Rogachev is lost!
- Zhlobin is lost!
– The enemy is coming to Bobruisk!
The Nazis had to urgently withdraw their troops from other areas. They drove huge forces to Bobruisk. The Nazis barely held Bobruisk.
The blow of the 21st Army was not the only one. And in other places on the Dnieper the fascists suffered a lot then.
Natasha (read with illustrations)
Sergey Alekseev
Natasha
Lost among the forests and fields of the Moscow region is the small village of Sergeevskoye. It costs okay, okay. The huts seem to have just been born into this world.
Natasha loves her Sergeevskoe. Carved shutters. Carved porches. The wells sing songs here. The gates sing songs here. The gates creak with bass. Vociferous roosters compete in crowing. Forests and groves are good. Raspberries in the forests, hazel. At least transport mushrooms on carts.
Natasha loves her Sergeevskoe. The river gurgles here Vorya. The banks of Vori are good. Grass. Sand. The willows bowed down. Fishy splash in the evening.
And the people in Sergeevsky are also special. Good, kind!
The sun is shining for Natasha. People shine for Natasha. Gives smiles to the world.
And suddenly everything ended, like a dream, like a path over a steep slope. Peaceful life in Sergeevskoye ended. The war scorched the area. Sergeevskoe fell to the enemies.
The Nazis entered the village. The Nazis were housed in peasant huts. They kicked all the residents out onto the street.
People took refuge in cellars and dugouts. Everyone lives in fear, like a dark night. Until the winter, until the snow, Sergeevskoe was in the hands of the enemies. But then the cannonade arrived here. Joy sparkled - they are coming!
They are waiting for deliverance in Sergeevskoye. They are waiting for the Soviet Army. And suddenly the Nazis ran around the cellars and dugouts. They kicked people out onto the street again. They drove us into a barn that stood on the edge of Sergeevsky. All the bolts were locked.
Natasha looks: here is mother, here is grandmother, neighbors, neighbors. Full of people.
Why did they drive us into the barn, mother? - Natasha climbs.
The mother does not understand, does not know, cannot answer.
The cannonade can be heard louder behind the village. Everyone's joy:
And suddenly someone quietly, then with all their might:
People looked. Smoke poured through the cracks. The fire ran along the logs.
People rushed to the barn doors. The doors are all bolted shut. They were even propped up with something heavy from the outside.
There is more and more fire and smoke in the barn. People began to choke. Natasha lacks air. The flame creeps towards the fur coat. Natasha buried herself and pressed herself close to her mother. The girl weakened and forgot. He doesn’t know how much time has passed. Suddenly he hears:
Natasha! Natasha!
Natasha opened her eyes. She is not in a barn, in the snow, under a clear sky. It’s clear to Natasha - our people made it in time, salvation has come. Natasha smiled and forgot again.
They carried her into the house. I lay down and recovered by morning. And in the morning the girl ran through the village. Sergeevskoye stands as the birthday boy. The gates began to sing again. The wells began to sing again. The gate began to speak in a deep voice. Natasha is running. The snow underfoot crunches, sparkles, and sparkles mischievously with whiteness. I reached the Vori River. She flew up the steep slope. She suddenly stopped and froze. A hill of fresh earth above Vorey. The red star is buried at the top. A plaque under an asterisk. There are surnames on the board. Natasha looks at the hill. Two soldiers stand nearby with shovels.
