Battles for Kryukovo. The main line of the Panfilov division
Zelenograd land is a place of fighting
autumn - winter 1941
Zelenograd is the only administrative district of Moscow through which the front line passed - the last line of defense of the capital.
Our land preserves the memory of the past. To this day, lines of fortifications are visible in the surrounding forests - trenches, dugouts, and observation post sites. I can’t even believe that many years ago it was here that the fate of not only Moscow, but also our entire vast Motherland was decided.
Thousands of people donated their money to the defense fund, signed up for a loan, and became donors.
The residents of our region, like all Soviet people, were bringing victory closer.
Monuments to the military glory of Zelenograd
The hard winter of the year is over. Local residents buried Soviet soldiers, whose life was cut short during the brutal battles of 1941. They buried them where they were found: in the forest, on the outskirts outside the village, at the end of the field. It was especially hard for the residents of the villages: Matushkino, Rzhavki, as well as Kamenka. They collected soldiers who had melted from under the snow and found “death medallions.” This is how many mass graves arose; modest pyramids were installed on them - a symbol of the soldier’s eternal rest. There is such a burial place on the territory of the tenth microdistrict. This collective grave consists of the remains of 17 Soviet soldiers, one of them is an officer. The monument was opened in December 1981. There is also a single burial on the territory of our 11th microdistrict. The burial was carried out by residents of the village of Kryukovo in December 1941. The grave is unmarked. The students of our school watch over her and lay flowers on holidays. At the same time, a mass grave appeared on the station square of Kryukovo station. In 1947, a sculptural image of a warrior with a lowered machine gun and a memorial granite plaque with 38 names were installed on it.
In 1954 and 1958, government decrees appeared on the reburials of Soviet soldiers and bringing mass graves closer to more accessible places - to populated areas and roads. Obviously, at this time mass graves appeared in Aleksandrovka, near the pioneer camp “Sputnik” (Medvedki) and 40 km. Leningradskoe highway. In 1953, the remains of soldiers were brought from mass graves in the vicinity of the village of Matushkino, 40 km of the Leningrad highway. This place was not chosen by chance. During the war, there was a well-equipped anti-aircraft installation site on this site. This place was deepened and it became the last refuge for soldiers. The Matushkinites remember that on the pyramid there was a list of buried soldiers. This is how this modest soldier’s obelisk existed until the construction of a grandiose monument began. In 1966, for the construction of the monument “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” at the Kremlin wall in the Alexander Garden, 40 km. The ashes of one of the heroes who died in the harsh days of December 1941 on the outskirts of the heart of the Motherland were taken from the Leningrad Highway. The Izvestia newspaper wrote: “... he was fought for the Fatherland, for his native Moscow. That's all we know about him." The Marshal of the Soviet Union, as the commander of the 16th Army, in which the Unknown Soldier served, said: “This tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the ancient walls of the Moscow Kremlin will become a monument to eternal glory to the heroes who died on the battlefield for their native Soviet land, here from now on rests the ashes of one of those , who obscured Moscow with his chest.”
A few months later - on May 8, 1967 - on the eve of Victory Day, the opening of the monument “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” took place and the Eternal Flame was lit. Years pass, generations change, and many still do not know that it was from here, from our land, that the ashes of the Unknown Soldier were taken.
On June 24, 1974, at the 40th kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway, at the entrance to Zelenograd, a monument was unveiled - a monument to the defenders of Moscow. IN Slavic traditions a 16-meter hill was built, a mass grave (more than 760 Soviet soldiers) is located under a bronze wreath. Three pointed ledges stood as a symbolic barrier towards Moscow. On one of the ledges there is a symbolic image of a warrior-liberator, on the other there is a symbol of soldier’s valor - an asterisk and on the third the words: “1941. Here the defenders of Moscow, who died for their Motherland, remained immortal forever.” On the very hill of the triangular bayonet there are three closed edges. This is a symbolic image of the main types of troops: infantry, artillery, tank crews. Or maybe this is a symbol of three neighboring armies: the 16th, 20th and 1st Shock? In any case, it is a symbol of unity; the unity of all those who joined forces to repel the enemy.
One of the last monuments to appear on Zelenograd land is the “Soldier’s Stars” monument at the entrance to the city cemetery. In 1978, while laying a sewer in the eighth microdistrict, the remains of two Soviet soldiers were found and were reburied in the city cemetery. Considering that during the development of the city territory, more remains of the defenders of Moscow in 1941 could be found, it was decided to create a memorial complex at the city cemetery. A citywide competition was announced to create a monument. He became the winner and author of the project.
Zelenograd land is an eternal feat of those who defended Moscow. The memory of them lives in scarlet carnations on the graves of soldiers, sparkling fireworks and in poems dedicated to their hometown:
“There were battles here in '41,
Our fellow countrymen fought.
Fascist tanks evil muzzles
We ran into Russian bayonets.
And Rokossovsky's alarm
The soldier rose to the right fight.
Now on the outskirts of Moscow
The bayonets are granite."
Conclusion
The first sparks of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany sparkled in the battle of Moscow in December 1941. Then the Red Army launched a counter-offensive and defeated the fascist units rushing to the capital of our Motherland, Moscow.
The Battle of Moscow is a “great battle,” - this is how Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov defined its significance. And indeed, in importance it was not surpassed by any battles or battles.
The most difficult defensive period lasted more than two months, during which the whole country gave all its strength to prevent the enemy from approaching Moscow.
Large forces of our army from Siberia, Central Asia and other regions of the country were sent to defend the capital. Muscovites accepted the most Active participation in organizing the defense of his hometown. Georgy Zhukov, then commander of the Western Front, which was in charge of the defense of Moscow, wrote that hundreds of thousands of Muscovites worked around the clock to build defensive lines surrounding the capital. In October and November alone, up to 250 thousand people worked in the internal defense belt, three quarters of whom were women and teenagers. They built 72 thousand linear meters anti-tank ditches, about 80 thousand meters of scarps and counter-scarps, dug almost 128 thousand linear meters of trenches and communication passages. With their own hands, these people removed more than 3 million cubic meters of earth!
The situation around the capital in October-November was extremely difficult and dangerous. In such critical days of the defense of Moscow, on November 7, a traditional military parade took place on Red Square. Participants in the parade - soldiers of the Red Army, with weapons in their hands, headed straight from Red Square to the front.
In bloody battles with a technically equipped and dangerous enemy who was trying to break through to Moscow at any cost, our soldiers stopped the enemy’s advance, exhausted his forces, and on December 5-7, 1941 launched a counteroffensive. In December 1941 and early January 1942, they pushed back the fascist troops 100-250 kilometers. The offensive ended on April 20, 1942. As a result, the enemy lost more than 500 thousand people, 1,300 tanks, 2,500 thousand guns, and more than 15 thousand vehicles.
The victory near Moscow had enormous international significance. It improved the military-political position of the Soviet Union. This was our first major victory, which made a turning point in the entire war. The Battle of Moscow dispelled the myth of the invincibility of Hitler's troops. This was the first major defeat of the Nazi forces in World War II since 1939.
Marshal Zhukov, who throughout the war was Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief and signed the act of unconditional surrender of Germany, said: “When people ask me what I remember most from last war, I always answer: the battle for Moscow.”
1941 turned out to be the year of greatest trials for our people. It was this year, especially in the battle of Moscow, that his spiritual strength and greatness were revealed. The people, as in 1812, turned out to be the bearer and exponent of that simplicity and greatness of spirit, which Goering said after the war, that German strategists were able to calculate everything - both tanks and planes - but did not take into account the most important thing - the spirit of the Russian people, which turned war in the Patriotic, people's war. This war became a liberation and holy war, as the people defended their Fatherland from the enemy - the aggressor, who by this time had captured almost all of Europe. The Battle of Moscow became a moral Victory for the Soviet troops.
More than a hundred years ago, while still a young man, Alexander Pushkin in his memoirs in Tsarskoe Selo, mentioning the defeat of Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812, wrote:
Be comforted, mother of Russian cities,
Look at the death of the alien...
Look: they are running, they don’t dare to look up,
Their blood never stops flowing like rivers in the snow...
These same words can be dedicated to the battles for Moscow in the years.
Bodrova Anna, GOU Secondary School No. 000, Zelenograd
Very little remains until the 75th anniversary of the start of the counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow during the Great Patriotic War. This is a special date for the place where I live. After all, the last line of defense of the capital passed through the territory of modern Zelenograd. The current Panfilovsky Avenue (then Kryukovskoe Highway) was not just a road, but also a front line. The Museum of Zelenograd has a permanent exhibition “Where the Unknown Soldier Died” (it was from the mass grave in Zelenograd that the remains buried near the Kremlin wall were taken), but for the upcoming date the museum has also organized the exhibition “75th Anniversary of the Battle of Moscow.” And he did the right thing!
The exhibition is not taking place in the main premises of the museum on Gogol Street, but in the exhibition hall in the 14th microdistrict. The “chapter” of the exhibition includes portraits of Rokossovsky and Zhukov.
The opening of the exhibition was attended by members of the regional veterans' organization, local old-timers and schoolchildren.
There was a bit of officialdom. In particular, the former director of the museum, Tatyana Vizbul, spoke.
Then everyone was given a tour of the exhibition. The exhibition begins with objects illustrating the events that preceded the battles on the territory of modern Zelenograd. On this stand, in particular, there are photographs of work on the construction of defensive structures on the approaches to Moscow. Residents of local villages went on foot to build them in the Novopodrezkovo area and even Khimki.
Samples of German printed propaganda. Such leaflets were scattered from the air at the locations of Soviet troops. By the way, a couple of years ago in this exhibition hall there was an excellent exhibition dedicated to our and German propaganda during the war.
A corner of the exhibition illustrating the mass migration of residents of the western regions to the center of the country.
Portrait legendary division commander Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov. It was the soldiers of his division who defended the Kryukovo station. The general himself did not reach our place - November 18 died during mortar shelling in the village of Gusenevo, Volokolamsk region. A few days before this, a legendary battle took place at the Dubosekovo crossing near Volokolamsk. There is now a lot of controversy around this event due to the fact that last year the State Archive published documents , from which it follows that the feat of 28 Panfilov heroes in the form in which it entered the mass consciousness was an invention of the journalist. However, the very fact of stubborn fighting and heroic defense waged by the division in this place is not disputed by the documents.
Another legendary military leader is Konstantin Rokossovsky. He commanded the 16th Army, which defended Moscow in our direction (Panfilov was his subordinate). Rokossovsky himself was almost captured in November 1941 in Peshki, a village on the Leningradskoye Highway, 15 kilometers from Zelenograd.
At the exhibition, of course, every exhibit is important. For example, the stirrups are a reference to the cavalry of Lev Dovator, who took part in battles in the area of modern Zelenograd. Light, maneuverable cavalry in snowy, cold winter conditions often turned out to be more reliable and efficient than equipment.
By the end of November, the front line came close to present-day Zelenograd. In this picture it is easy to recognize the St. Nicholas Church, which has survived to this day. However, most likely, the plot of this picture is a work of fiction. The church is located 3 kilometers “deeper” than Panfilovsky Avenue, along which the front line passed, and, of course, it looked different during the war.
But this painting - “The Battle for Kryukovo Station” - was painted in 1945 by the artist Gorpenko, a direct participant in the events depicted in it. And Pyotr Vasilyevich Logvinenko advised him. We will return to this name later.
This painting is a copy. Former director of the Zelenograd Museum Tatyana Vladimirovna Vizbul said that she had been chasing this painting since the 60s, when she first saw it. But we managed to get a copy only 40 years later, when in our time printing technology had reached a new level.
Here is another reading of the same scene from the artist Kuznetsov (the painting was painted in 2000). In general, the battle for Kryukovo station is a popular subject for battle writers. I saw at least two more similar paintings - in the main exhibition of the museum and in a diorama in one of the Zelenograd schools. This is not surprising - the fighting was fierce, the village of Kryukovo changed hands several times.
Most of the canvases depict recognizable twin buildings standing on either side of railway. They were destroyed during the war, but, as far as I understand, no one knows exactly under what circumstances: either this happened during the fighting, or they were specially blown up by our troops. Let me remind you that these buildings were the same age as the railway - they were built in 1841, for the launch of the “cast iron” between Moscow and St. Petersburg (see
). They served to supply locomotives with water. Such towers were at all stations of III and IV classes. To this day they have survived only in Solnechnogorsk.
The exhibition includes a lot of ammunition found in Zelenograd and its environs. We continue to make such discoveries to this day. This year, pyrotechnicians from the Ministry of Emergency Situations held a training camp in our area (read) and literally within a week they discovered 15 explosive objects within the city.
The exhibition also presents items from the field life of Soviet and German soldiers. There's a lot to see there. For example, you can compare what the personalized medallions of the Wehrmacht and Red Army soldiers looked like. In addition, there are many interesting archival photographs.
Another feature of the exhibition is numerous copies of documents (award lists, reports on the progress of battles, lists of the dead, etc.). They were provided by the archives of the FSB, the Ministry of Defense, and the State Military Archive. They say many of these documents were previously secret. Now you can freely study them - they lie right on top of the display cases. The photo, if I'm not mistaken, shows a list of soldiers buried in a mass grave near Kryukovo station. For a long time, the names of only 38 people were engraved on the monument, but then It revealed that there is another list in the archives - with 473 names. Five years ago, for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow, the monument was renewed, opening additional memorial plaques. Now there are 511 names on them.
In the center of this photo is a portrait of Mikhail Efimovich Katukov, commander of a tank brigade that played a large role in the defense of Moscow. This portrait was painted by Katukov’s personal driver, who went through the entire war with him. And the painting was presented to the Zelenograd Museum by the widow of the military leader Ekaterina Sergeevna, who, by the way, lived to be 101 years old and passed away only in January 2015.
And this portrait will be especially interesting to Zelenograd residents. It depicts Pyotr Vasilyevich Logvinenko, after whom a street in the new part of the city is named. This is no coincidence - Logvinenko was the commissar of the Talgar regiment of the Panfilov division, which was just fighting for the village at Kryukovo station. In one of these battles, after the commander was wounded, Logvinenko took command of the regiment. And even earlier, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star for personal heroism shown in battles. From 1963 until his death in the 90s, Pyotr Vasilyevich lived in Zelenograd.
The overcoat next to the picture also belonged to Logvinenko. True, this is already a post-war overcoat.
Monument “Tank T-34” at the 41st kilometer of Leningradskoye Highway.
And this is what the monument at first looked like at the 40th kilometer of the Leningradskoe Highway on the site of modern “Bayonets”.
And below, in my opinion, is a completely unique shot. It contains an old pyramid and almost completed Bayonets. Photo from 1973. A new memorial was opened in 1974.
Well, this is almost its modern appearance. With one amendment - recently next to the "Bayonets", so now there is also a road behind the Mound of Glory.
The exhibition ends with a wall on which everyone can post photographs of their relatives who went through the war. A sort of wall-mounted “Immortal Regiment”. The museum staff were the first to take advantage of this opportunity.
And in a separate zone you can listen to the memories of residents of the village of Kryukovo and other local villages who survived the events of 1941. It’s a pity that I didn’t have time for this on the opening day.
In addition, as I understand it, radio messages from the war times are usually played in the background at the exhibition (due to the event, the soundtrack was turned off). In general, the organizers tried to provide visitors with the opportunity for maximum immersion.
The exhibition, in my opinion, turned out great. Of course, the exhibition about the Battle of Moscow, now unfolding in the Manege, is probably larger, more interactive and unique, but it is stupid to compare them. This exhibition is located in a residential area, practically within walking distance for residents of the new part of Zelenograd. And besides, it is organized exactly in the place where the events it tells about took place. In general, not coming here with children to tell them a little about our history, in my opinion, is a sin.
And by the way, do not think that viewing this report will replace your visit to the exhibition. There are many more small details, including archival photographs and newspapers. Plus copies of documents, memories of old-timers - in general, there is something to look at and listen to.
The exhibition hall is located on Mikhailovka Street in building 1410. The opening hours can be viewed. Ticket price: 100 rubles for adult visitors, 40 rubles for representatives of preferential categories, 30 rubles for children. And on November 20 (on the occasion of the third Sunday of the month) the exhibition can be visited for free. The exhibition runs until December 18.
Exit of the Panfilov Division from the semi-encirclement
(November 28, 1941, 14.00-24.00)
On November 28, 1941, two attacks by German units accompanied by tanks created a threat of encirclement of the 8th Guards Rifle Division.
One blow - from Solnechnogorsk along the Leningradskoye Highway: here the enemy captured the Povorovo station in the second half of November 28, 1941. Another blow was the above-described breakthrough of German tanks along the Trusovo-Sokolovo-Lytkino-Maryino highway. Both attacks were aimed at the Kryukovo station.
The 8th Guards SD found itself in a “bag”: in order to turn this semi-encirclement into a complete encirclement, the enemy had only to block the neck of the “bag” 5 km wide - from Povorovo to Maryino. The situation for the 8th Guards SD was aggravated by the fact that the rifle units were cut off from the division headquarters, divisional artillery and rear services and lost contact with the division headquarters.
The exit of the 8th Guards SD from the “sack” is described by B. Momysh-uly in his book “Psychology of War”:
“I still remember a tragic moment. After the Germans drove us out of Sokolovo, they rushed to the Leningradskoye Highway. We ended up in the Tebenka area <на нынешних картах - «урочище Тебеньки» - И.Б.> and Paladino <Повадино, в 2.5 км восточнее Соколово - И.Б.>. I recalled my soldiers and decided to withdraw them. Here is the road through Paladino<Повадино - И.Б.> went to the Dedeshino state farm <вспомним, что последний приказ командира дивизии перед потерей связи был: выходить в район Дедешино - И.Б.>. If the Germans get ahead of us and occupy Dedeshino, we will find ourselves surrounded.
I'm leading my regiment into the forest. We meet the 1075th regiment under the command of Major Starikov. The commander of a separate mortar battalion with 27 mortars is joining us<вероятно, здесь ошибка в воспоминаниях Момыш-улы; в другом источнике (книга «За нами Москва», он указывает точнее: «сапёрный батальон» - И.Б.>, foot squadron <20 кд - И.Б.>, that is, cavalrymen who lost their horses, about 120 people under the command of one captain. In total, about two to three thousand people gathered.
I left the encirclement five times, I already have experience. Here I’m looking to make sure I don’t get surrounded again. But in this situation - different parts, different divisions, there is no single boss - it is very difficult to find a way out. Can you imagine what a mess this has become!
This is where Logvinenko did a great job. At this serious moment he did not lose his head. He proposed to entrust command to one person. But to whom?
Logvinenko suggested: there are three colonels, three majors, captains, let’s gather the command staff, let them decide what to do, how to command this crowd.
He gathered all the senior command staff, outlined our difficult situation and said:
There is no senior commander. I gathered you to ask: who will take command of the entire group and undertake to lead the fighters out of this semi-ring.
Everyone is silent.
- What do you think, Comrade Senior Lieutenant? - he turned to me.
I speak:
- I take command of the entire group.
While they were all thinking and silent, he said:
- Choose a commissioner.
Without hesitation I answer:
- I ask Logvinenko to be the commissioner.
He agreed.
This was an extremely correct and smart decision, and we owe the salvation of this group to Logvinenko. For this he receives glory and honor. Justice requires this to be noted.
When I took command of the group there were about 4,000 people. I gathered the commanders and announced:
Comrades, we are in danger of being surrounded here. It is possible that the road we wanted to take will have to be fought through. Based on this, I decided to take command and take over the withdrawal of the group from encirclement.
I introduce myself: commander of the 1073rd Guards Rifle Regiment, senior lieutenant Momysh-uly.”
At 16 o'clock it got dark, we moved to the east: on the right - 1075 infantry regiment Momysh-uly, on the left - 1075 infantry regiment Starikov, sappers and cavalrymen - behind, sent close reconnaissance, chose the direction - to Maryino, and there were the Germans.
It has not yet been possible to find documents about leaving the semi-encirclement; there are only fragmentary memories of the participants.
From the book by A.S. Trefilov “At the Gates of Moscow” (notes of an officer), Alma-Ata, “Kazakhstan”, 1982, p. 99-100:
“...We lost half the personnel of the 2nd battalion <1073 сп - И.Б.>. On this day - November 28 - the regiment left Sokolovo. The enemy captured the village, suffering heavy losses. During these days, up to two hundred were exterminated enemy soldiers and officers, four tanks and six trucks were shot down, an ammunition depot was blown up, and nine guns were destroyed. The enemy was detained here for three days...
...Under the cover of fire from the 1st battalion, the regiments broke away from the enemy. By order of Commissar Logvinenko, Lieutenant Vershinin, already wounded, went on reconnaissance missions to Polezhaiki twice. His data was comprehensive and reliable. This helped the command make the right decisions.
The village of Polezhaiki was on fire and therefore lost its defensive significance: we bypassed it. At about 5 p.m., as per the route, we headed to Maryino, but the Nazis were already there. After a heavy battle, we retreated to Lytkino, but we had to retreat from here too...”
Momysh-uly (“Psychology of War”: “In the intermediate battles from Sokolovo in the area of the villages of Demyanskoye<мной такая деревня не обнаружена - И.Б.>, Krasnaya Gorushka<Красная Горка, рядом с Марьино - И.Б.>I won’t go into detail. Details are given in Beck's story<повесть не была опубликована; сведения остались, вероятно, в черновиках писателя А. Бека - И.Б.>.
By midnight we arrived in the area of the Dedeshino state farm.
Having finally contacted the division headquarters, the units that emerged from the “bag” were ordered to position themselves: 1075 rifle regiments - in the area of the Dedeshino state farm, 1073 rifle regiments - to the north and northeast, bending the division’s defense line from east to north, 3rd battalion 1077 joint venture - to the village of Alabushevo, to the second echelon.
Return of the 1077th Regiment
In the early morning of November 29, 1941, even before dawn, the 1077th rifle regiment, or rather two battalions of this regiment, returned to the Panfilov division. Let me remind you that on November 21 they were assigned to Dovator’s cavalry group and, having marched to Solnechnogorsk, stood on the line of defense. I described these events in detail earlier (see the chapters “Special task of the 1077th Infantry Regiment” and “1077th Infantry Regiment marches to Solnechnogorsk”).
On November 28, 1941, the 1077th Regiment transferred its combat positions in Krasnaya Gorka to the 159th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Guards Infantry Division and began a march to join its division. A meeting with her was planned at Alabushevo station. The march took place not only under the continuous influence of German aviation, but also in direct contact with the enemy. The day before, on November 26, in a heavy battle near Peshki, the regiment commander, Major Zinovy Samoilovich Shekhtman, was wounded; he was temporarily replaced by the military commissar of the regiment, senior political instructor Alexander Mikhailovich Korsakov.
In a difficult situation, the regiment had its first battle on the march on November 28, fighting off, together with units of the 50th Cavalry Division (from Dovator’s cavalry group), the enemy’s attack on Mikhailovka, Zhukovo, and Berezki.
We reached Povorovo station and immediately went into battle again. At the Povorovka platform we crossed the railway, turned east and reached the Leningradskoye Highway near the village of Durykino.
When the regiment reached the highway, the 7th Guards SD was fighting with the enemy on the left. Under cover of darkness, the regiment bypassed the area and moved south along the highway. Near the village of Chashnikovo there are Germans again. We had to allocate one company from each battalion to repel the attacks of the German machine gunners who broke through here.
Between Chashnikovo and Matushkino, early in the morning of November 29, 1941, we reached the right flank to the rear of our division and headed to Alabushevo.
Transition of the headquarters of the 16th Army from Kryukovo to Skhodnya
From November 26 to 28, 1941, the headquarters of Rokossovsky's 16th Army was located in Kryukovo (Skripitsyno). Here Rokossovsky negotiated with the General Staff, and Stalin personally called him here twice. Several times Rokossovsky traveled from Kryukovo to Chernaya Gryaz, where he had a temporary command post set up, designed to organize counterattacks against German troops that had broken through to Krasnaya Polyana.
But on November 28, the situation became more complicated: the enemy was already several kilometers from Kryukovo, aerial bombing became more frequent, and German reconnaissance began to penetrate the outskirts of Kryukovo.
Rokossovsky ordered the construction of a new location for the headquarters in the area of the holiday village Skhodnya. The headquarters was located in the house kindergarten, in the forest opposite the glass factory.
Member of Military Council 16A Alexey Andreevich Lobachev recalls:
“The 16th Army was melting before our eyes. Replenishments were rare. We were glad to see every new hundred soldiers, even the policemen, whose detachments were sent by the head of the Moscow police, Romanchenko.
The army headquarters was empty. Almost everyone was in units. At the command post it was invariably possible to find only M. S. Malinin with a small group of officers.
During the month and a half of fighting for Moscow, our army’s defense line was reduced three times. On October 14 it was 110 kilometers, on November 16 - about 80 kilometers, in the Skhodnya area - 40 kilometers. Despite significant losses, our soldiers and commanders were able to hold back the onslaught of powerful enemy mechanized groups and prevent them from breaking through into the operational depths.
Management has become very complicated. A large water line - the Istra River - actually divided the army's front into two isolated sections. At the new command post they received an order from the Military Council of the front. “Kryukovo is the last point of retreat, and we cannot retreat further,” it said. - There is nowhere else to retreat. Using any, the most extreme measures, immediately achieve a turning point and stop retreating. Every further step you take is a breakdown in Moscow’s defense. All command staff from top to bottom should be in units, on the battlefield...”
Harsh, harsh, but correct words!
Some local history materials claim that Rokossovsky’s headquarters moved from Kryukovo to Skhodnya on December 1, 1941. I will try to show the fallacy of this point of view.
According to the regulations (not to mention moral considerations), the headquarters of subordinate units should be closer to their units (and to the front line) than the main headquarters. Where were the headquarters of the Panfilov division and Dovator’s cavalry group defending Kryukovo before November 29?
From Dovator's reports: “November 27, 1941. …12.40. KP Cav. group in Zhukov has been under fire for three days. Transferred to Dudkino". Where is Dudkino? Near Povarovo, 12 km north of Dedeshin and Alabushev, almost behind German lines. It can be assumed that on November 28, Dovator’s headquarters was located in the same place. This is indirectly reported by the desperate journalist Evgeniy Krieger, who visited Dovator on November 28 (see his report “At Dovator’s Guardsmen” in the book: Wreath of Glory. Vol. 2. Battle for Moscow. M., Sovremennik, 1984, pp. 362-366) .
And the headquarters of the Panfilov 8th Guards SD on November 29, 1941 was located immediately behind the battle formations of the 1075th regiment (see: “Kryukovskie Gazette” No. 23, article “Battles at Kryukovo”, section 6 “Battle for Alabushevo”). The headquarters was almost captured by the advancing enemy; its irrational placement is evident. Why?
Because the headquarters of 16A is located too close to the front line, in Kryukov. This means that subordinate (divisional and, especially, regimental) headquarters should be practically at the forefront.
The situation changes dramatically at 17:00: both headquarters - Dovator's cavalry group and the 8th Guards SD were transferred to Nazaryevo (5 km east of Kryukovo). This can only mean one thing: earlier than 17.00, the headquarters of Army Commander-16 Rokossovsky left Kryukovo (relocated to the Skhodnya area). Local historians were apparently confused by the following lines from the above-mentioned book by K.K. Rokossovsky (pp. 93-94), which, according to the context, can be attributed (or may not be attributed) to December 1, 1941: “The enemy pushed our troops back to the line of Klushino, Matushkino, Kryukovo, Barantsevo. We have introduced everything that is possible in this area. However, it was no longer possible to leave the army command post in Kryukovo. Shells and mines exploded in the streets. On the northern outskirts, ours fought off German tanks.". This text can also be applied to the situation on November 28-29.
Hence the estimate of the time of the transition of headquarters 16A from Kryukovo to Skhodnya: before the evening of November 29, 1941, most likely, for security reasons, on the night of November 28-29, 1941.
The spring is compressed...
By the end of November, the defensive battle on the right flank Western Front reached its highest intensity. After fierce three-day battles in the Rogachevsko-Dmitrovsky, Solnechnogorsk and Istra directions, the enemy again pushed back our troops and reached areas only 23-35 km away from the outskirts of the capital.
The situation in the 16th Army zone in the Kryukov area continued to remain especially dangerous, where the 8th, 9th Guards and 18th Rifle Divisions, greatly weakened by bloody battles, with the support of tankers of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of Major General M.E. Katukov waged a truly heroic fight against the main forces of the enemy’s 4th Tank Group.
The advance that the enemy managed to achieve in the November battles north-west of Moscow cost him extreme effort and enormous casualties. By the end of November, the fascist German troops were exhausted and bleeding, but, having gathered their last forces, they still stubbornly sought to break through to the capital at any cost.
Many of the enemy divisions suffered heavy losses (from 50 to 60%) in twenty days of fierce battles on the outskirts of Moscow. According to a number of documents and from the testimony of prisoners, it was established that in many companies there were from 30 to 60 people left (out of 100-120). Our troops suffered no less losses.
During this exceptionally fierce battle, the commander of the Western Front, Army General G.K. Zhukov was looking for reserves, literally “scraping” them to strengthen particularly dangerous areas. For example, on the morning of November 29, he gave the order:
“From each rifle division of the 5th, 33rd, 43rd and 49th armies, urgently allocate one rifle platoon with the required weapons, ammunition and dry rations for two days. "Select platoons from those already participating in the battles and, no later than 5 p.m., send them by motor transport to the disposal of Army Commander 16 to staff the 8th, 9th Guards and 18th Rifle Divisions."
There was a fundamental difference in this extreme tension of opposing forces. The strength of the German troops was running out, all reserves were used up. The Soviet troops fought intense defensive battles, accumulating (in strict secrecy from the enemy) reserves for delivering a decisive blow. To illustrate, I will cite two “dialogues”: Field Marshal von Bock with Hitler and Army General Zhukov with Stalin.
Two dialogues November 29-30, 1941
(Hitler - von Bock and Stalin - Zhukov)
"Dialogue" Hitler - von Bock . I quote from the book: L.A. Bezymensky. Taming the “Typhoon” (Moscow Worker, 1987, p. 167):
“On November 30, 1941, the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Bock, heard a phone call. The chief of the operations department of the General Staff, Heusinger, called from Berlin.
He asked: “The Fuhrer wants to know when it will be possible to announce the encirclement of Moscow?”
Without entering into an explanation with him, Bock asked Brauchitsch to speak to the phone.
During a conversation with the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Bock admitted:
“The situation is critical. I'm throwing everything I have into battle, but I don't have the troops to surround Moscow. The enemy understood our plan, and he is concentrating fresh forces north and south of Moscow. My only hope is to continue the frontal attack. But if you do this, then there is a danger of a grueling battle - such as what happened at Verdun 25 years ago. I have no desire to take part in such a battle. I declare that Army Group Center's strength has come to an end."
A nervous dialogue took place between the German commanders. They did not finish speaking, did not utter the word “defeat”, and the conversation slipped into secondary issues...
Brauchitsch : The Fuhrer is confident that the Russians are on the verge of collapse. Does he expect an accurate report from you when this collapse becomes a reality?
Side: The command of the ground forces incorrectly assesses the situation. I reported ten times for last days that the group of troops does not have the strength to succeed.
Brauchitsch: But you are responsible for the outcome of the operation!
Side: I don’t have winter clothing!
Brauchitsch: Nothing of the kind, the uniform was allocated!
Side: I assure you that it has not been received... The OKH and the Fuhrer misjudged the situation. The fact that it was not received is for me the best confirmation that the headquarters does not know the real situation... I repeat, Mr. Field Marshal, that a huge miscalculation has occurred. The command of the ground forces and the Fuhrer himself, unfortunately, overestimated our strength... Please report to the Fuhrer that the group cannot reach the intended targets. I have no strength."
Brauchitsch: ...But the Fuhrer wants to know when Moscow will fall?
Side: What are you asking? Don't you know what's going on here?
Brauchitsch: Bok, have you given the order for a new offensive? When will it start?..”
Analyzing the battle results of the day, von Bock recalled this conversation. He already understood that it would not be possible to encircle Moscow. If you at least cut the main road arteries, then you will be able to blockade the capital, like Leningrad, and, after waiting for spring and reinforcements, begin the final and decisive assault on Moscow.
But Hitler gave the order to encircle Moscow, and this order must be carried out.
A message has just arrived that it was not possible to hold the bridgehead across the canal at Dmitrov: the 7th Panzer Division of General Funk was thrown back beyond the canal, stubborn battles began for Yakhroma...
Although we managed to take Krasnaya Polyana from the Russians, there was nothing to back up the success: the last reserve, the 1st Tank Division, was thrown into the raging furnace of battles - there, to Yakhroma... Well, it’s time to create a bastion for the spring offensive...
It was from this moment that the headquarters of Field Marshal von Bock marked the Kryukovo railway station on their maps as an important strategic point where it was convenient to accumulate forces for a subsequent attack. Of course, the official orders still contained demands: advance, advance! And in Berlin, medals “For the Capture of Moscow” were already prepared...
"Dialogue" Stalin - Zhukov . From the memoirs of G.K. Zhukova:
“On November 29, I called the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and, having reported the situation, asked him to give the order to launch a counteroffensive.
I.V. Stalin listened attentively and then asked:
Are you sure that the enemy has reached a crisis point and does not have the opportunity to introduce some new large group into action?
The enemy is exhausted. But if we do not eliminate dangerous enemy penetrations now, the Germans will be able to reinforce their troops in the Moscow area with large reserves at the expense of the northern and southern groupings of their troops, and then the situation may become seriously complicated.
I.V. Stalin said that he would consult with the General Staff.
I asked the chief of staff of the front V.D. Sokolovsky, who also believed that it was time to put our reserve armies into action, contact the General Staff and support our proposal on the advisability of launching an immediate counter-offensive.
Late in the evening of November 29, we were informed that the Headquarters had decided to launch a counteroffensive and was proposing to present our plan for a counteroffensive operation.
On the morning of November 30, we presented to Headquarters the considerations of the Front Military Council on the counteroffensive plan, executed graphically on a map with the most necessary explanations. No details were required from us, since everything basic was agreed upon in advance personally with I.V. Stalin, B.M. Shaposhnikov and A.M. Vasilevsky."
Simultaneously with the plan, Zhukov sent an encrypted telegram to the General Headquarters:
DEPUTY START GENE. HQ
Lieutenant General Comrade VASILEVSKY
Please report urgently To the People's Commissar Comrade Stalin's defense plan for counter-offensive Western. front and give a directive so that the operation can begin, otherwise you may be late with preparations
Zhukov 11/30/41."
An explanatory note was attached to the encrypted telegram (here is a fragment):
" TO THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSIONER FOR DEFENSE
Comrade STALIN
EXPLANATORY NOTE TO THE PLAN-MAP OF THE COUNTEROFFENSE OF THE ARMIES OF THE WESTERN FRONT
1. The beginning of the offensive, based on the timing of the unloading and concentration of troops and their pre-armament: 1 shock, 20 and 16 armies and Golikov’s army on the morning of December 3-4...
2. The composition of the armies in accordance with the directives of Headquarters and individual units and formations fighting at the front in the offensive zones of the armies, as indicated on the map.
3. Immediate task: with a strike on Klin, Solnechnogorsk and in the Istra direction, defeat the main enemy group on the right wing...
5. The main aviation group (3/4) will be sent to interact with the right strike group...
Zhukov Bulganin Sokolovsky
30.11.41."
On this plan, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief put forward a resolution:
"AGREE. I. STALIN."
Battle for Alabushevo
Commander of the Western Front, Army General G.K. Zhukov has already developed and proposed to Stalin and the General Staff a plan for an early counter-offensive, the Chief of Staff of the Western Front, Lieutenant General Sokolovsky, is already summarizing intelligence data and drawing on the map the lines and arrows of future directions of military strikes...
And units of the 16th Army are still fighting heavy rearguard battles. The enemy, with two strikes in the direction of Kryukovo station (from the side of Povarovo and from the side of Sokolovo), began on November 28, 1941 an operation to encircle the 8th Guards Rifle Division. Having fought out of the “sack”, the 8th Guards SD by the end of the day stood on the defensive at the Dedeshino state farm, having 1073, 1075 rifle regiments in the first line of defense and 1077 rifle regiments in the second echelon (near Alabushevo).
“11/29/41 Units of the division and attached units receive combat order No. 23 to take up defense: mark. 224.0, eastern outskirts of Alabushevo, level 216.1, Kamenka, Savelki, Rzhavki.
In the morning, despite the bad weather, the enemy was again launching an offensive. He chooses Alabushevo as his main direction. Having fought stubborn battles since the morning, units of the 1075th and 1077th rifle regiments abandoned the temporary storage facility by the end of the day. Dedeshino, workers' village, Alabushevo."
This extract does not follow the chronology: first it talks about the position of the division at the end of the day, and then about the battles in the morning of the same day. Apparently, the chronicler wanted to smooth out the confusion that happened on November 29, 1941. I will arrange the events in a chronological order and describe them in more detail...
On the morning of November 29, the enemy, having concentrated up to an infantry regiment and a large number of tanks, simultaneously launched an attack on Zhilino and the Dedeshino state farm. These directions were chosen by the enemy because his main striking force was tanks (the infantry was already completely exhausted), and tanks could only move along two highways: Istra-Eremeevo-Zhilino-Kryukovo and Sokolovo-Maryino-Dedeshino-Alabushevo.
1075 joint venture, despite stubborn resistance, was forced to leave Dedeshino, and then the workers’ village. The mentioned “worker village” is the current village of Alabushevo, located to the west of the railway and not included within the boundaries of Zelenograd. Most of the residents of the village, formed in 1937, went to work in Moscow, and here they were assigned a place of residence. The village in 1941 did not have a name and was not even marked on maps.
Due to the fact that behind the railway, in Alubeshevo, in the second echelon the 1077th rifle regiment held the defense, the 1075th rifle regiment was withdrawn in the afternoon two kilometers southeast, to Aleksandrovka.
The 1073rd rifle regiment, defending along the edge of the forest to the northeast of the Dedeshino state farm, due to the abandonment of the 1075th rifle regiment line, was also forced to retreat in a southeast direction in order not to be surrounded by motorized enemy units.
The 1077th cavalry regiment occupied the defense in the second echelon of the division. The heavy battle of the 1077th infantry regiment on November 29, 1941 is reported in his memoirs by the military commissar of the 1st battalion of the 1077th infantry regiment Vasily Maksimovich Malkin (V.M. Malkin. Documentary essay “How the enemy attack from Solnechnogorsk towards Moscow was thwarted.” In the “Book of Memory” Solnechnogorsk region. Third book. Solnechnogorsk, 2000, p. 53"):
“In Alabushevo, the regiment received reinforcements - 237 soldiers and commanders, among them more than 50 communists and Komsomol members. The newcomers were immediately distributed among battalions. Personnel The regiment was fed hot food from the field kitchens, and the units went to their new defense areas. 1st battalion, command of which was taken by Lieutenant I.M. Baranov remained in Alabushevo, the 2nd went to the village of Aleksandrovka, the 3rd even further south, closer to Kryukovo.
Events developed rapidly. The enemy was in a hurry, rushing towards Moscow, regardless of losses. Before Ivan Baranov’s fighters had time to dig in, the enemy, who had broken through to Alabushevo, attacked them. It was impossible to resist two infantry battalions and twelve tanks. I had to leave Alabushevo.”
And here is how the commander of the 857th artillery regiment of the 8th Guards SD, Colonel G.F., emotionally describes the battle of the 1077th Regiment. Kurganov:
“...Under the pressure of superior enemy forces, the division took up defense in the Alabushevo area, a workers’ village, northwest of Kryukovo. The enemy repeated attack after attack.
In the afternoon, help approached the Nazis - an SS unit. The drunken Germans went on a psychic attack. The enemy pressure was strong and swift. Our units, holding back enemy attacks, retreated step by step, clinging to every bush and mound.
Our “dared men”, backing away with rifles at the ready, retreated to the division command post. Another moment and the Nazis will seize the headquarters, the Red Banner of battle. It seems the end of the division is imminent.
At this critical moment, the 2nd Battery opened direct fire on the attacking tanks. Chief of Staff Colonel Serebryakov I.I. grabbed the banner, raising it high above his head, rushed to attack the enemy shouting “Hurray! Hurray!” Behind him, Commissar Egorov and the division commander, Colonel Sheludko, and the entire personnel of the division headquarters and control jumped up to the right and left. Everyone who was in the area of the command post and headquarters, including the artillerymen, rushed after them to attack. The retreating fighters turned around and also rushed to attack. The third division of the artillery regiment under the command of D.F. Potseluev. (Division Commissioner S.I. Usachev) opened barrage fire on the retreating fascists. The Germans took to their heels, leaving many corpses of machine gunners in the snow. It was November 29, 1941."
By 17:00 (i.e., with the onset of night), the enemy ceased active operations. By the end of the day, the enemy managed to capture the workers' village and, having crossed the railway, the village of Alabushevo. 1077sp took up defense along the edge of the forest east of Alabushevo.
The results of the day were summed up in the combat order for defense No. 023 of the commander of the 8th Guards SD [Sb. Proceedings of GZIKM, vol. 6. M. - Zelenograd, 2005, pp. 143-144]):
"1. Since the morning of November 29, the enemy developed an offensive to the east, pushed back 1075 regiments and by 17.00 successively captured a rest house, a workers' village and the outskirts of Alabushevo.
3. 8 gksd with attached 44 cd, 23 brigade, 18 brigade, 139 brigade occupies and stubbornly defends the strip at elevation. 224.0 east. env. Alabushevo, elev. 216.1 Kamenka, Savelki, Rzhavki.
4. 1077 SP occupy and stubbornly defend the area: mark. 224.0 zap. the edge of the forest ¾ km east of Alabushevo, Matushkino.
PP - 3/857 ap. KP - Matushkino.
Left border: claim. Rzhavki, Alabushevo, Maryino.
5. 1075 joint venture - occupy and stubbornly defend the claim area. mark 216.1, Red October.
Border - Savelki, elev. 216.1, claim. Kryukovo, Goluboe.
6. 1073 joint venture - occupy and stubbornly defend the claim area. Elevation 216.1 zap. env. Kryukovo, lawsuit. Kamenka, Dacha.
7. 23rd Tank Brigade - organize tank ambushes in the Kryukovo area with the task of preventing the advance of enemy tanks and infantry from the direction of Zhilino and Barantsevo.
8. 19th Tank Brigade organize tank ambushes in the area of the western edge of the forest, eastern. Alabushevo with the task of preventing the advance of enemy tanks and infantry from the direction of Alabushevo and Kryukovo.
9. 139th brigade organize tank ambushes in the KIRP region. with the task of preventing the breakthrough of tanks and infantry from the districts of ALABUSHEVO, ANDREEVKA, ZHILINO.
10. 44 cd occupy and prepare the area for defense at elevation. 217.3, h. 221.6 SAVELKI, RZHAVKI.
Prepare counterattacks in the following directions:
A) RZHAVKI, MATUSHKINO, ALABUSHEVO.
B) SAVELKI, RED OCTOBER, ALEXANDROVKA.
B) SAVELKI, KRYUKOVO.
14. CP - NAZAREVO
Division commander Colonel SHELUDKO"
Let me comment on this order...
First, I note that by the end of the day on November 29, 1941, the headquarters of the Panfilov division was located in the village of Nazaryevo, 5 km east of the Kryukovo station. A few hours earlier, the headquarters was located east of Alabushevo, immediately behind the battle formations of the 1077th rifle regiment, and was almost captured by the advancing enemy. We know the reason for the proximity of the headquarters of the 8th Guards SD to the front line: the headquarters of the higher authority - the 16th Army - was located in Kryukovo (Skripitsyno), also close to the front line.
Further... Order No. 023 does not indicate the location of the regiments at the time the order was written (the evening of November 29, 1941, after 17.00), but the requirement for their deployment, i.e., only in fulfillment of this order did the units begin to move and deploy accordingly.
Where were the regiments of the 8th Guards SD located at the time the order was written? The 1073rd cavalry regiment occupied defense on the right flank of the division, from the northern outskirts of Alabushevo to the Leningradskoe highway near Chashnikovo (exclusively). The 1077th rifle regiment was dispersed (initially it was in the second echelon): the 1st battalion remained in Alabushevo, the 2nd moved to the village of Aleksandrovka, the 3rd even further south, closer to Kryukovo. The 1075th cavalry regiment took up defense in the Aleksandrovka area.
The order of division commander Sheludko required the movement of the 1073rd rifle regiment from the right flank of the division to the left flank: from the Chashnikovo - Alabushevo - Matushkino area to the Kryukovo - Kamenka - Malino (Dachi) area.
Enemy breakthrough to Matushkino and Savelky (November 30, 1941)
Note that all the commanders of the rifle regiments of the 8th Guards SD were just appointed and had no experience of management at the regiment level: Major Starikov, who replaced the commander of the 1075th rifle regiment, Colonel Kaprov, was previously the head of the intelligence department of the 8th Guards SD, and Commissar Korsakov, who replaced the wounded near the village of Peshki on November 26, 1941, the commander of the 1077th rifle regiment, Major Shekhtman, was the regimental commissar of this regiment.
The youngest, both in rank, position, and age, had the greatest combat experience - the commander of the 1st battalion of the 1073rd infantry regiment, senior lieutenant B. Momysh-uly, who replaced Major Elin as commander of the 1073rd infantry regiment on November 26, 1941.
It was based on this experience (let us remember the recent - just three days ago - night raid on Lopotovo), Momysh-uly on the evening of November 29, 1941 sent the 1st Infantry Battalion (commander Lieutenant Islamkulov) to the Dedeshino state farm, which had just been occupied by the Germans, with a mission - with a surprise attack, cause damage to an enemy camped for the night.
The 1st Sat barely had time to set off to carry out the task when the 1073rd Regiment received order No. 23 (it was mentioned earlier) for the regiment to move to Kryukovo.
First, I will give an extract from “ Brief essay combat operations of the 8th Guards SD":
“11/30/41 Units of the division with attached units occupy a position in accordance with combat order No. 23.
The 1077th cavalry regiment launched an attack on Alabushevo. Without the support of fire weapons or tanks, by 12.30 he destroyed up to two companies of enemy infantry, 1 tank and 1 75-mm gun, and occupied Alabushevo.
The enemy, concentrating 12 tanks, up to 100 machine gunners and two companies of infantry, pushed the regiment to the eastern outskirts of Kryukovo.
The regiment went on the defensive: mark 186.5<западнее пруда Водокачка и севернее Крюково и кирпичного завода - И.Б.>- Kryukovo.
1075 joint venture, under the influence of 15 tanks and up to an infantry regiment, was pushed back from the occupied line to the dachas - Malino - MTS station, where it took up defensive positions.
The 1073rd infantry regiment took up defense on the western outskirts of Kryukovo - Kamenka, together with the 51st kp of the 44th cd. During the transition, he was subjected to heavy mortar fire from the Matushkino area.”
First, about the combat operations of the 1077th Regiment.
1077 joint venture at 11 hours 30 minutes on November 30, together with 15 cavalrymen of the 20 cavalry division, without the support of artillery and tanks, launched an attack on Alabushevo. Having destroyed up to two enemy infantry companies, one tank and one 75-mm gun, the regiment occupied Alabushevo at 12.30. However, the enemy soon recovered from the blow and, having concentrated up to 100 machine gunners and two companies of infantry, with the support of 8 tanks, launched a counterattack against the right flank of the regiment, where the 1st battalion was defending. The regiment was forced, under the blows of superior enemy forces, to retreat along the railway, taking up defenses by the end of the day on the northeastern outskirts of Kryukovo, along the line: mark 186.5 - Kryukovo.
It is difficult to explain such an unprepared attack by 1077 sp. We have encountered this kind of counterattack before: for example, the counterattack of the Dovator group on November 24, 1941 near Solnechnogorsk. Then it was possible to somewhat slow down the rapid advance of the German troops. Perhaps this was the intention here too. Or something else is possible: “You surrendered Alabushevo without an order, I order you to occupy it again!”
Meanwhile, the attack of the German units, aimed at access to the Leningradskoe highway, threw 1077 rifle regiments towards Kryukovo, and enemy tanks from Alabushevo reached the intersection of the Leningradskoe and Lyalovskoe highways at the 41st kilometer, capturing (at about 14.00 on November 30, 1941 the village of Matushkino) . This blow created a threat of encirclement by the 7th Guards SD, which was defending the strip from the Leningradskoye Highway to the village of Lyalovo.
At 2 p.m., the 1075th Regiment repelled another enemy attack with a force of up to an infantry regiment supported by 15 tanks. However, at 16 hours before the enemy infantry battalion, with the support of 8 tanks, went on the offensive in the defense sector of the 2nd battalion of the regiment, 5 tanks with infantry attacked the 3rd battalion. As a result of the battle, the battalions were forced to leave their occupied lines and retreat. The 2nd battalion occupied a line along the edge of the forest northeast of Aleksandrovka; 3rd battalion - along the edge of the forest east and southeast of Aleksandrovka. The 1st battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment, attacked up to the enemy infantry battalion with the support of 2 tanks, retreated to the brick factory area, 1 km. north of Kryukovo. During the battle, the regiment's units, according to the headquarters report, lost 5 people killed and 10 wounded.
The final combat report of the commander of the 1075th rifle regiment, Major Starikov, for November 30, 1941, clarifies the picture of the battle:
“The 1077th rifle regiment, going on the offensive, captured Alabushevo, but the counterattacked pr-com retreated to an unknown location, as a result of which 1/1075th rifle regiment<1-й батальон 1075 сп>was forced to take the line (claim) Ave., KIRP<Пр - пруд Водокачка (у пруда расположен завод Красный Октябрь), КИРП - кирпичный завод в 1 км севернее станции Крюково - И.Б.>.
To the left of 1073 joint venture it moves into the Kryukovo district, communication with it has been established.
124 kp<124-й кавполк 20-й кавдивизии>and 14 cad<14-й кавалерийский артиллерийский дивизион 20-й кавдивизии>, defending the grove southeast. ALEXANDROVKA, go to the B. RZHAVKA area<т. е. выводятся во второй эшелон - И.Б.>.
2/1075 sp<2-й батальон 1075 сп>defends the line: railway, north-west. outskirts of ALEXANDROVKA.
3/1075 sp<3-й батальон 1075 сп>defends the west outskirts of ALEXANDROVKA.
5. The mortar battalion occupies firing positions in a grove southeast of ALEXANDROVKA.
6. I decided to firmly hold the occupied line of defense, preventing the advance of the project to the southeast.”
From the above it can be seen that the main blow of the enemy fell on the 1077th infantry regiment and on the 1st battalion of the 1075th infantry regiment. Probably, the advance detachment of German troops, in addition to Matushkino, also captured the village of Savelki, but soon abandoned it, returning to their main positions.
Where Zelenograd grew up, during the Great Patriotic War, fierce fighting took place in the Battle of Moscow. The troops of the 16th Army of the Western Front fought here under the command of Lieutenant General Rokossovsky K.K.
In the area between the Moscow-Leningrad railway and the Leningradskoe highway near Kryukovo there were battles.
Back in October, in the Volokolamsk region, army troops fought stubborn defensive battles with superior enemy forces, who persistently sought to advance to the capital of our homeland, Moscow, at any cost.
The resistance of the capital's defenders, especially the 316th Infantry Division under the command of Major General I.V. Panfilov, did not allow the enemy to achieve any success. In fierce battles in this area, the division's soldiers destroyed dozens of tanks and several enemy battalions and stopped their advance for 20 days.
“Waging continuous battles on the outskirts of Moscow for a month, units of the division not only held their positions, but also, with swift counterattacks, defeated the enemy’s 20th tank, 29th motorized rifle, 11th and 110th infantry divisions, and destroyed 9,000 German soldiers and officers, more than 80 tanks and many guns, mortars and other weapons” (from the award list for Major General I.V. Panfilov, approved by the Military Council of the Western Front).
On November 18, Major General I.V. Panfilov, while at his observation post, tragically died in battle. He was posthumously awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the 316th division began to be called the 8th Panfilov Guards Division.
On November 23, the enemy occupied Solnechnogorsk and Klin.
The troops of the 16th Army, suffering significant losses, but offering strong resistance to the Nazi invaders, were forced to fight back along the Leningradskoye Highway. On November 24, army formations found themselves in the area of the village of Peshki. The division's command post was located in the village of Lyalovo.
In the village of Peshki, when intense fighting was going on on its outskirts, Captain Troyanovsky, a correspondent for the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, approached Commander Rokossovsky with a question about what could be written in the newspaper about the fighting at the front. Rokossovsky K.K. replied: “When fighting here, near Moscow, we must think about Berlin. We will definitely be in Berlin."
This was said on November 24, 1941, when Hitler’s troops, using their superiority in manpower and military equipment, rushed towards Moscow. These words of the army commander were destined to come true.
Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky writes in his book “A Soldier’s Duty”: “Remembering those days, in my thoughts I imagined the image of the 16th Army. Exsanguinated and bleeding from numerous wounds, she clung to every inch of her native land, giving the enemy a brutal rebuff; having taken a step back, she was again ready to respond blow to blow, and she did this, weakening the enemy’s forces. They couldn't stop it completely yet. But the enemy could not break through the continuous front of the army.”
By the end of November 1941, both warring sides were in the highest tension. According to available information, the Soviet command knew that all the reserves at the disposal of the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Bock, had been used and drawn into battle.
The troops of the 16th Army and the entire Western Front, defending Moscow, needed to hold out at all costs, and then move on to active offensive combat operations.
Based on this situation, the troops of the 16th Army were tasked with taking decisive offensive actions.
By this time, the front line ran between Lyalovo and Kryukovo. At the same time, the 7th Guards Rifle Division of Colonel A. S. Gryaznov, “riding” the Leningradskoye Highway, was supposed to capture Chashnikovo. To the left of the 7th Guards Rifle Division, the line from the Leningradskoye Highway to Kryukovo was occupied by the 354th Rifle Division under the command of Colonel D. F. Alekseev, which was formed in the Penza region and first entered the battle here on December 2.
The division had the task, in cooperation with the 7th Guards Division, to capture Chashnikovo, as well as Alabushev and Aleksandrovka.
The 8th Guards Panfilov Rifle Division under the command of Major General V.A. Revyakin (former commandant of Moscow) conducted persistent military operations in the Kryukovo area and had a task together with those attached to the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, Colonel M.E. Katukov, The 44th Division and the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps of General L.M. Dovator, the 17th Rifle Brigade, advancing in the direction of Zhilino, capture the settlements of Andreevka and Goretovka. To the left of the 8th Infantry Division, units of the 18th Infantry Division were advancing. The most stubborn fighting during December 5 and 7 took place in the Kryukovo area, certain areas of which changed hands several times.
The battles directly in Kryukovo itself were fought by the 1077th, 1073rd and 1075th Guards Rifle Regiments of the 8th Guards Division. The commissar of the 1073rd regiment, Logvinenko P.V., who acted as commander of this regiment, showed personal heroism, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. And the former commander of the same regiment, Baurdzhan Momysh-uly, in the book “Moscow is Behind Us” writes: “Kryukovo was the last frontier on the approaches to the capital. Our regiment was in the center with the task of not letting the Nazis into Kryukovo.” And further: “They fought for every house; 18 hours of continuous combat in the bitter cold! I must admit that due to my injury, the main burden of practical command of the regiment fell on the shoulders of our commissar P.V. Logvinenko. This heroic, brave man knew how to not feel sorry for himself at the right moment. He literally rushed along the front line and miraculously survived the crucible of battles.”
After retiring, Colonel P.V. Logvinenko lived in Zelenograd from 1963 to 1993.
On the 53rd anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow in the Zelenograd newspaper “Forty One” No. 95 dated December 5, 1994, I. Lysenko in the article “Panfilovets Pyotr Logvinenko” writes: “The order of the Military Council of the front was categorical: “Kryukovo - the last point from which you cannot retreat further. There is nowhere else to retreat. Every further step back is a breakdown in Moscow’s defense.”
When the commander of the 16th Army, Rokossovsky, was asked how he assessed the battles for Kryukovo, he replied: “Perhaps, in terms of the fierceness of the battles, this was the second Borodino.”
As a result of active hostilities, by December 9, the formations of the 16th Army reached the line: Lyalovo, Chashnikovo, Alabushevo, Andreevka, Goretovka.
To the right of the 16th Army were advancing the troops of the 30th Army under the command of General D. D. Lelyushenko, on the left - the 5th Army of General L. A. Govorov.
The offensive of all the troops defending Moscow turned into a general counteroffensive, and in December 1941 - early January 1942 they threw back the Nazi invaders 100 - 250 km, inflicting a heavy defeat on 38 divisions, including 15 tank and motorized divisions. The Battle of Moscow ended on April 20, 1942. The enemy was thrown far to the west, while he lost more than 500 thousand people, 1,300 tanks, 2,500 guns and mortars, and more than 15 thousand vehicles.”
The fighting of the 16th Army in the Kryukovo region, where Zelenograd now rises, is of great importance in Great Battle near Moscow. The victory of our troops at the end of 1941 - beginning of 1942 in the battle of Moscow was the first major victory that marked the beginning of a turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. This was the first major defeat Hitler's Germany throughout the Second World War.
This victory had enormous international significance for our country.
It is no coincidence that Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who signed the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany in Berlin, said: “When people ask me what I remember most from the last war, I always say the battle for Moscow.”
Newspaper “Soviet Russia” No. 145 dated 16.12. 97 writes: “...near the village of Kryukovo...in 1941 the defeat of the Nazis began near Moscow. The first victorious line of that war is called Zelenograd today.”
Footnotes (returns to text)
1941 came, the same work. I worked as a car mechanic - a first class driver. We got through the spring campaign, preparations for harvesting began, and the year turned out to be fruitful. In those distant years, there was a tradition, before harvesting grain, to conclude a socialist competition with the neighboring collective farm. better cleaning harvest. On Saturday, June 21st, I took the chairman of the collective farm, Dyachenko, and the chairman of the village council, Radchenko, to the neighboring Nesterkinsky collective farm to conclude such an agreement. In Nesterkino, collective farmers gathered for a meeting to make commitments, which lasted until late in the evening. By the time we wrote the contract it was already midnight, so we had to spend the night there. We arrived home in the morning and saw that people had gathered around the radio horn. And here we were informed that Germany had treacherously attacked our country. A cruel and bloody war began.
The next day, an order came from the military registration and enlistment office to hand over the Pickup, ZIS and lorry to them. I hoped that I would be called up along with the cars. After all, I have served in the army as a commander of a machine gun squad, then in April 1940 I completed a six-month advanced training course for command personnel, where I learned to become a wartime company commander and was awarded the rank of junior lieutenant. But they only took a written notice from me not to leave. Then they called all our drivers and took the last car. Only in July did I receive a summons from the military registration and enlistment office and was sent to Rostov, and then to Moscow. And on July 7th I was already at the Shot course in Solnechnogorsk, military training began.
In courses from early morning until late evening, every day, seven days a week, we were trained as commanders capable of fighting the well-groomed fascist hordes. Wear down the fascists on the outskirts of Moscow and drive them away from our Russian land. Colonel Dmitriev gave us classes in tactics and Colonel Gryzlov in fire training. Experienced teachers of military affairs, officers devoted to the Motherland. Along with teaching military science, they kept us informed of events at the fronts.
While hastily studying and mastering military affairs, we had to vigilantly monitor the surrounding territory. So already on July 22, the Germans began to bomb Moscow and one day we detained a suspicious girl who turned out to be a gunner for fascist planes and had a transmitter with her.
At the end of September we were loaded into cars and taken to Moscow. Here we passed the exams, I was awarded the rank of lieutenant, commander of a machine gun company. And he was sent to the active army, where he was appointed commander of the 2nd rifle company, 1st rifle battalion, 449th rifle regiment, 144th rifle division. The regiment in which I ended up in the last battles near Vyazma suffered heavy losses in manpower and was withdrawn to the Alabino camps to be replenished and brought into combat readiness. The division, after leaving Vyazma, occupied the defense line Terehovo - Lokotnya - Vasilyevskoye in the Mozhaisk direction and fought fierce defensive battles. When I arrived in Alabino, practically the 2nd rifle company did not yet exist. It was formed in two days from soldiers emerging from encirclement near Vyazma. The company consisted of three rifle platoons, reconnaissance and control sections. Lieutenant Karitsky was appointed commander of the first platoon, Lieutenant Artemov was appointed commander of the second, and Junior Lieutenant Tantsura was appointed commander of the third. Senior Lieutenant Milko was appointed commissar of the company, Sergeant Frolov was appointed Komsomol organizer of the company, and company sergeant major Matyushchenko. Hard work began with the personnel. It was necessary to unite the tattered and battle-worn soldiers and sergeants, who had lost faith, into a single combat unit, to instill in them the spirit of a victorious warrior. Stubborn military, fire and tactical training began. The company was given a site to build defenses at the junction of two neighboring units building defenses in the second echelon. We also had to take care of food. To do this, I had to go to the collective farm, find the chairman, and negotiate with him. The chairman gave us a bull to feed the company. Subsequently, care for food fell on Sergeant Major Matyushenko. The second rifle company was persistently preparing for battle. The personnel of the units has changed.
At the end of October, at night, due to an alarm, the company loaded into vehicles and set off. Letting oncoming traffic pass, the convoy slowly moved west. Ahead, the dark autumn sky was illuminated by flashes of artillery shots and shell explosions. It seemed to us that somewhere in the distance a thunderstorm was raging and strong peals of thunder followed one after another. Morning found the convoy in an open area, 5-6 km away. before reaching the village of Karinskoye. And at that time, an enemy plane, a two-fuselage reconnaissance spotter, hung in the sky overhead. Without risking being bombed, the unit unloaded and continued the rest of the way in a marching column at an accelerated march.
Upon entering the village of Karinskoye, it was clear that there was a front here. There were still fresh craters from shell explosions gaping everywhere. The smell suggested that there had been shelling recently. And in the west, very close, strong artillery, machine gun and machine gun fire could be heard. There was no local population visible in the village. Occasionally we encountered military personnel hastily completing their tasks. Folded military equipment could be seen everywhere, camouflaged from air surveillance. The headquarters of the 144th Infantry Division was located here.
Having found the desired house and entering the premises, I saw the division commander, Major General M.A. Pronin. and Commissioner Movshev G.S. He reported that Lieutenant Lupinos, commander of the 2nd Infantry Company of the 449th Infantry Regiment, had arrived, consisting of 180 active bayonets at his disposal. Their exhausted and tired faces indicated that they had not rested for several days. It was clear that my message about the arrival of the company pleased the general. He called a staff officer and ordered to find a map of the area. And he began to introduce me to the current situation. He reported that the enemy had recently driven our unit out of the village of Lokotnya, that the division’s soldiers were fighting for the village of Kolyubakino, and that this morning, the 32nd Rifle Division had withdrawn from the Borodino field. As a result of the current situation, a gap was formed in the area of the village of Kryukovo, which the second company had to close. They brought a map, the general took a pencil in his hands and drew an arcuate line from the village of Karinskoye to the village of Kryukovo, and gave me a verbal order: “The company, by forced march, reach the indicated settlement, go northwest of the village of Kryukovo and take up defense, riding the highway going from Kolyubakino. Do not allow the enemy to move along it towards Moscow.” And he added that this was an order from the commander of the 5th Army.
Having repeated the order and understood the situation, I dared to turn to the division commander with a request to allow the unit’s soldiers to change their underwear, since the soldiers who had escaped from the encirclement had not yet done this. The division commander allowed it. There was a whole stack of linen in the yard and the war companies quickly changed clothes, some even took them into reserve. Without wasting time, the company set out from Karinsky along the indicated route. We had to move without a road through the forest. They walked quickly without noise and suddenly on the way there was a horse-drawn cart, and on the cart there was a Maxim machine gun. There were no people close, I gave the command to machine gunner Boldyrev to take a machine gun, since there was not a single machine gun in the company yet. Having passed about two hundred meters, the cart with the machine gun again, I give the command: “remove the machine gun.” But here the soldiers soon caught up with us and took away the machine gun. No conversation or laughter could be heard in the marching column. Everyone was busy with their thoughts about the upcoming battles. In those days, Goebbels propaganda attacked us from all sides, the entire area was bombarded with fascist leaflets. On the leaflets, Stalin was depicted in all forms, even in the form of a dog, squeezed into a corner and howling about the last “new” day, and Hitler was depicted with a button accordion, playing and singing: “My native country is wide.” In the leaflets, here, they promised all the benefits to those who surrendered, and a pass was written, a bayonet in the ground. But we already knew what benefits the Nazis promised and how these benefits would turn out, although there were those in the company who believed their propaganda.
By noon, the unit reached the southern edge of the forest. Artillery cannonade now reached us from the northwest. Ahead stretched a large clearing in the lowlands of which stood the village of Kryukovo. The sent reconnaissance reached the village and after some time gave a signal, the company entered Kryukovo. The village seemed empty. Not a single living creature was visible on the streets or in the courtyards. The approach of the front forced the residents to hide all their property and take refuge in prepared shelters. There are about a hundred courtyards in the settlement; it is cut into two parts by a deep beam running from east to west. A small, nameless stream flows along the ravine. In the western part of the village there was a wooden bridge across the ravine, along which the highway from Kolyubakino passed. This highway was what our unit had to close and prevent the enemy from entering. According to residents, the bridge was blown up in the morning of that day by retreating Soviet units, and the banks of the stream were mined. Later, after our troops left, fascist machine gunners on motorcycles rolled into the village, stood by the blown-up bridge and drove off along the highway back towards Kolyubakino. The day was drawing to a close and we had to hurry to choose advantageous places for positioning before darkness fell. The main, main and dangerous direction is the north-west from Kolyubakino and the west, where the forest came close to our village. In the main direction, the 1st platoon took up defensive positions, cutting off the highway. To timely detect the approach of the enemy, military guards were moved forward and secrets were placed. The second platoon took up defensive positions in the forest to the west of the village and also set up a military outpost ahead, towards the village of Vysokovo. The third platoon covered the northeast, the rest were located in the village.
In the first months of the war, the defense was built in a circular manner, with battalion strongholds. The defense of the second company covered only the northern part of the village and the front line of defense was mainly forested.
In the evening I returned to the company command post, which was located in the house of my old grandmother Natalya Efimovna Abramova. It was already dark outside, my soul was dreary and heavy, but worries about organizing meals and other urgent matters distracted me from heavy thoughts. Suddenly, we heard the hum of tank engines from the southern side of the village. Suddenly everything became quiet. I urgently sent reconnaissance to determine whose tanks these were, ours or the enemy. Lightning flashes flashed in the darkness of the night and the muffled explosions of shells were heard, indicating that the battle was not abating in the Kolyubakino area. The silence of the night settled in our village. And suddenly this silence was broken by the loud voices of the sentries standing at the gates of the courtyard and house, they were arguing with someone. Opened Entrance door and on the threshold, accompanied by a sentry, a large red-haired senior lieutenant in a tanker’s uniform appeared. The guards mistook him for a German in disguise, and he curses noisily, mentions the 2nd Rifle Company, asks Lieutenant Lupinos. It turned out that he was the commander of a tank company consisting of three KV tanks, he had arrived to reinforce us and had been looking for us since morning and early in the morning. The arrival of the tanks raised the morale of all the soldiers of the unit. According to the tanker, it was General Zhukov himself who sent the tanks, since this direction and especially this highway were very important and caused concern to the front command.
Company Commissioner Art. Lieutenant Milko and Komsomol organizer Sergeant Frolov immediately went to the platoons that were busy equipping firing points and trenches to report the good news about the arrival of tanks and the latest news from SOVINFORMBURO. The tank company commander and I began choosing positions for the tanks. Then they went through the platoons, identified sappers and miners, and from them they recruited a team that, together with the tankers, would dig shelters for the tanks and camouflage them overnight. And at dawn, make a passage through the minefields and drive the tanks into these shelters to the company’s defense area.
Before the morning, an emergency happened in the company. They began to check how the military guards were performing their duty. We checked the one facing Kolyubakino, here all the soldiers are in place and serving vigilantly. In the second platoon, with Lieutenant Artemov and a liaison officer, we headed to the combat outpost, which was located 100 - 150 meters from the trenches. We are carefully approaching the place where yesterday evening a squad of 12 people was stationed with orders to dig in. Silence, no one stops us, no one asks for a password or pass. There is no one on site, instead of trenches there are all weapons and military ammunition and footprints in the freshly fallen snow towards the enemy. We started calling, thinking it was some kind of joke. When it began to dawn, we saw a group of people approaching from the direction of the village of Vysokovo, and thought that our fugitives were returning, but they were Germans. There was a battle, losing several people, the Nazis retreated.
As the sun rose, a reconnaissance plane appeared over the village. took off and flew south. Soon, in the defense sector of the 1st platoon, a battle took place with machine gunners - motorcyclists who ran into his military guard. By the end of the day, two 76 mm regimental guns had arrived at the company's location. Now the company had sufficient fire support. The soldiers of the unit, seeing all this, understood that difficult battles were coming and, sparing no effort and effort, improved their positions. On the third day, towards nightfall, the battalion commander, Captain Arkhipov, the adjutant, Senior Lieutenant Vishnevsky, and the battalion command arrived. With him came: - 1st rifle company of Lieutenant Melnikov; - 3rd rifle company of Lieutenant Lazarev, machine gun and mortar companies. The arriving units and battalion headquarters settled down and took up defensive positions in the southern part of the village of Kryukovo. From that day on, a perimeter defense was organized. The headquarters of the 449th Infantry Regiment was located in the village of Khotzhi. With the arrival of the battalion commander, the units were supplied with food, weapons, necessary equipment and ammunition. The defense sector of the 2nd Rifle Company was very active; not a single day passed without the Nazis carrying out a fire raid, but the soldiers of the unit vigilantly served on the front line. They detected the approaching enemy in a timely manner and met him with organized fire. When repelling the enemy in the forest, “pocket artillery” F-1 “limonka” hand grenades especially helped us out. Each warrior in the trench had a box in the niches, and some had more grenades. In moments of calm, the defense continued to improve. Bunkers and dugouts with reinforced ceilings were built. All firing points, dugouts and rear areas were connected by trenches, everything was skillfully camouflaged. We organized classes, studying the regulations and the material part of the weapon. Much attention was paid to political activities. Regular mail delivery has been established. The newspaper "Pravda" was especially desirable, it covered all the events on the fronts and in the rear of the country.
Day and night we all prepared for the upcoming battles. We knew that the enemy was strong and was bringing up new forces to attack Moscow, but we were confident that we would not let the fascists through in our direction.
In the defense sector of the 1st platoon in the highway area, hot battles take place every day, and the company commissar and I decided to let all the soldiers of the second, third platoons and other small units pass through this area. This event brought together soldiers in squads and platoons. People took fire, stopped shying from side to side when shells exploded, and most importantly, they realized that skillful use of their personal weapons and trenches makes them invincible. People saw that with organized fire the enemy could not stand it and hastily retreated to the starting lines. This hardening played an important role in the upcoming battles. Successful battles to repel the Nazi attacks yielded positive results. The unit's wars became more energetic, bold, and it was no longer enough to limit them to defensive battles only.
The second company firmly held its line and, with the consent of the battalion commander, without compromising the defense of the front line, a group of volunteers was created, which began to make forays into the enemy camp. Subsequently, they began to attract volunteers from other companies of the battalion. The nearby village of Vysokovo was especially often raided. By this time, two groups had been created in the battalion. They had to approach the village from both sides in the dead of night and open heavy fire. The Fritz created panic, nervousness, and heavy losses, which forced them to sit in trenches and crevices all night.
On the eve of the 24th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, the command of the 449th Infantry Regiment set us the task of driving the Germans out of this village in honor of the holiday. On the night of November 5th, we raided the village, decisively pushed back the enemy, inflicted significant damage on him in manpower, but the tanks that came to their rescue prevented us from gaining a foothold.
Such raids on the enemy were necessary and useful. Wars gained combat experience in offensive combat and hardening, developed courage, showed cunning and ingenuity. We saw how the invincible conquerors - fascist thugs, rushed about in panic under our organized fire, not feeling calm and in cover. We saw that the initiative in defensive battles and such sorties was passing to our side.
When returning from such trips to our village at the company command post, we were always, even at the very latest, greeted by grandmother Natalya Efimovna and her granddaughter Shura, a girl of about fourteen. They were very happy that we all returned safe and sound.
On November 6, before the holiday, the battalion's units were in combat readiness, awaiting an attack or attacks by the Nazis. During the night, we vigilantly watched the front line, and also listened to the continuous roar of fascist bombers, going in large groups high in the night sky to bomb Moscow. In that direction, the beams of searchlights pierced the dark sky. They took the fascist vulture into the intersection of beams and at the same moment white bursts of explosions appeared around the plane. With a successful hit, the plane fell and there was no limit to our jubilation.
On the evening of November 7, they brought a radio from the tank crews, gathered all the soldiers free from their outfits, and listened to a broadcast about the festive parade that took place in honor of the 24th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution on Red Square in Moscow. After the end of the program, a short rally took place. At the war meeting, we swore an oath to the Motherland that we would hold the defense line we were guarding and would not allow a single Nazi to pass in our direction. They intensified surveillance of the enemy; the Fritz were no longer the same as in the first months of the war. Although they were well-fed and well-groomed, they no longer marched, but cowardly ran across open spaces and sat mostly in shelters. The movement of enemy troops and mechanized groups was observed. It was clear that they were preparing for an attack.
On November 16, early in the morning, the military guards noticed the approaching Nazis and opened rifle and machine-gun fire on them. Shooting in a combat outpost was a signal for all soldiers to occupy combat positions and be ready to repel the enemy. By this time the company had twelve heavy and light machine guns. The area in front of the front line was targeted with artillery. But the communication was only by messengers. The combat guard, having lost two people, retreated to the main positions under the cover of machine guns and artillery. The dead were carried out. A fierce battle broke out in front of the front line of defense. The fascists moved in short bursts and loudly shouted “Goh” in their guttural language. “They’re already groaning,” said one of the Red Army soldiers, “and what will happen next.” “Now we’ll see,” I answered and warned Ivan Boldyrev’s machine-gun crew to let him get closer and then open fire. The Nazis attacked in large forces, but were met with well-organized fire, lay down and began to roll back. A little time passed, the Nazis reorganized, opened hurricane artillery and mortar fire on the forest and forest edge where our defense took place, and began to attack. Lieutenant Karitsky's soldiers boldly met the enemy with rifle and machine-gun fire, and destroyed the fascists who approached closely with grenades. The enemy suffered heavy losses and was forced to roll back to their original positions. Having reformed, he again opened hurricane fire on our defense. This fire did not cause us much harm, since all the trenches were covered and well camouflaged with forest, so the enemy attacks were successfully repulsed. The Nazis went on a rampage, firing continuously at our defenses and changing their attack tactics. They tried to advance, sometimes along the highway, sometimes from the flanks. But the enemy was unable to break through the gap in the company’s defense. Only three frontal attacks were repulsed, but the enemy did not let up. It was clear that the advancing fascist unit had orders to make a hole along the road at all costs.
The second half of the day has arrived. The enemy's onslaught did not weaken, and even seemed to intensify. Explosions from enemy artillery shells came at us like a stream. Suddenly, an observer watching the battalion command post and the defense in the southern part of the village reported that the Nazis were attacking from the south against the defenses of the first, third and machine gun companies. It turns out that the enemy bypassed our defense along the southern edge from Vysokovo, accumulated behind the standing haystacks and came out from behind them, turning around in a chain. The observation post of the 2nd company was located on a hill from which the battalion’s defenses were clearly visible from the south. I ordered the machine gun platoon commander, without wasting a single minute, to transfer four heavy machine guns to reserve positions, which were previously equipped for firing to the rear. The advancing Nazis had not yet gone half way from the haystacks to the defense of our companies when the heavy machine guns started working in unison. From the observation post it was clearly visible how the Krauts were falling and the chains of the advancing enemy were noticeably thinning. There was a hitch in the enemy ranks, the German chains lay down, then began to carefully crawl away behind the stacks. The machine gunners began to save ammunition and fire accurately in short but accurate bursts.
The enemy brought up artillery to the southern edge of the forest. He began to fire at the company’s defenses from the south. But he was unable to detect the machine gun firing positions. Some time later, with the support of artillery, the Germans again launched an attack. But they were also stopped by the fire of our machine guns and retreated to their original positions. Having regrouped, the enemy again went on the attack, machine guns again opened fire on the attackers. But something unexpected happened. The enemy began hitting our high-rise building and the edges of the forest with smoke shells. Visibility completely disappeared, the machine gunners were blinded and the effectiveness of machine gun fire weakened. We heard that the battle in the defense area of the first and third companies was becoming fiercer every minute, but we could not see what was happening there. In the defense sector of our company, the enemy weakened the attack, but continued strong mortar and artillery shelling, including smoke shells. The soldiers of our unit, straining their eyes, carefully scanned the terrain ahead. No more than an hour passed before visibility disappeared, and the battle on the other side still did not subside. Suddenly we heard and then saw that people were moving on the right flank in the area of the bridge. It was to the location of the 2nd company that the battalion units, which occupied defenses south of the village, retreated. They reported that the battalion commander, Captain Arkhipov, had been killed, there were still casualties, and the village had been occupied by the Germans.
An unexpectedly difficult situation developed. The withdrawn units settled in the trenches of the 2nd company. The entire command staff of the withdrawn units was urgently convened at the company command post. At a short meeting, it was decided to counterattack and drive the Nazis out of the village. I was assigned to lead the battle; it was dictated by the situation. Evening was approaching, it was necessary to act immediately. The terrain was advantageous on both the western and eastern sides; the forest came close to the village. At the edges of the forest there were already two heavy machine guns, and two more were installed. It was decided to attack from three directions. From the northwest is the 1st company, from the north is a company of machine gunners, and from the northeast is the 3rd rifle company. The battle for the capture of Kryukov lasted a long time, the Germans stubbornly did not want to leave, and we cannot leave the village without orders from above.
Just two days ago we read the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, which stated that with Moscow behind us, we must prevent the Germans from advancing to the east. Kryukovo changed hands twice. The soldiers of the first and third companies did not lose heart, supported by powerful machine-gun fire, boldly attacked the enemy from the flanks and, before the onset of darkness, completely expelled the Nazis from the village, moved forward and took up their former defenses, southwest of the village.
The battle died down. We collected warriors and activists who were free from their outfits. The battalion commissar held a short meeting. Introducing the situation, he said: “A large enemy group is concentrated in our direction. Which, soon it will be a month, as the soldiers of the 5th Army, including our 144th Infantry Division, fighting fierce battles, have been detained at this defensive line and have not been allowed to advance a single step to the east. Our battalion was ordered not to let the enemy pass in this direction. The 1st battalion complied with the command order. Today's battle showed that the enemy went on the offensive. The second rifle company defending Kryukovo in the main direction of the attack did not flinch, repelled all attacks and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. The units defending the village from the southwest did not show themselves and were pushed back by the enemy. As a result, the Nazis broke into the village. Fortunately for us, we managed to knock out the enemy and take up our previous defense. But the enemy did not leave, he was hiding somewhere nearby, and with the onset of day we must expect new attacks. Therefore, our task is to strengthen our defense. Prepare to meet the enemy with dignity."
Senior Lieutenant Milko also spoke, who from the beginning to the end of the battle was in the combat formations of the unit and himself repeatedly showed courage. By personal example, he encouraged soldiers to counterattack to repel the fascists who approached the trenches closely. He said: “The soldiers of the second company boldly met the enemy with organized rifle and machine-gun fire and repeated counterattacks. They skillfully repulsed the attacking enemy, forced him to panic and inflicted great damage. Noted the selfless, heroic actions of the Boldyrev and Makarychev heavy machine gun crews.” Sergeant Frolov and others spoke from the Komsomol. There were also unhealthy statements that the enemy had gone ahead, we remained in his rear and we must act as a partisan detachment. It was impossible to allow such a mood to spread even when they gave me the floor. In my speech, I emphasized that our battalion is a unit included in the active Army. While holding the village of Kryukovo, we fulfilled the order of the higher command. We must assume that the division command knows the position of our battalion and has already made a decision about it further actions. Our task, before receiving the order, is to put the defense in order and prepare to repel the enemy.
Here they took an oath that without an order, Kryukovo would not fight the fascists while the heart was beating in the chest.
Then they gathered and buried the heroically dead soldiers and the battalion commander, Captain Arkhipov, with full military honors. And without wasting any time, we began to strengthen the defense, which in many places was destroyed by shells. The wars calmed down and began their usual earthworks in an organized manner. At the forefront, military guards, secrets and sentries were posted, vigilant observation was carried out and they listened to every rustle. They knew that the enemy was hiding somewhere nearby and could attack at any moment. Everything seemed to be back to normal, but this was far from the case. There was no communication with either the regimental headquarters or the division. They didn't know where they were. The reconnaissance sent for communication has not yet returned. The second half of the night has arrived. There is silence all around, but no one is resting. Hard work continues in defense, with occasional short commands being heard.
At two o'clock in the morning, reconnaissance returned, along with a liaison officer with an order. The order gave the command for the first rifle battalion of the 449th rifle regiment to leave the defense of the village of Kryukovo and follow to the area of the city of Zvenigorod. The route of movement was as follows: before reaching the village of Khotzhi two kilometers, cross the Moscow River to the right bank. Then move in the direction of Zvenigorod.
The battalion units quickly gathered and moved along the indicated route. We had to hurry to cross the river before daylight. The second rifle company moved up the rear, covering the retreat. Security was placed in the rear and flanks. They moved in an accelerated march along the right bank of the Moscow River. The column walked without stopping for the rest of the night and half the day; we wanted to quickly reach the specified milestone. It was intended to take up defensive positions there.
The terrain was level on both sides of the river and in the gaps in the forests left-hand side could be seen far away. Sometimes it was clearly visible how the fascist armada was moving east along the road 4-5 kilometers from the coast. They rode in tanks, cars, carts, walked, and some crawled on all fours. From the outside it seemed to us that there was a dark mass of locusts crawling along the road in the distance. So the Nazis wanted to quickly get to the Moscow they had promised and desired.
Suddenly I was called to the head of the column. Arriving there, I saw among the command of the battalion the officer who had been with us at night. In his hands he held an order which stated that due to the fact that the enemy began to spread to the right bank of the Moscow River, the command was given to me, that is, the second rifle company, to change the route of movement, turn northeast, go to the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Vlasovo and keep her busy. It was verbally added that in case of failure, the company would move to the village of Troitskoye, where the battalion command post and all other units would be located.
Having received such an order, the company reorganized, sent reconnaissance along the indicated route, set up military guards from the rear and from the left, and moved to the northeast. It was already approaching evening when they reached the edge of the forest. In front, about eight hundred meters away, stood the village of Vlasovo. The terrain was flat with a slight downward slope towards the village. About three hundred meters from the village, from south to north, there was an inconspicuous ditch along which there were bushes. The houses of the village were scattered on both sides of the street leading to the banks of the Moscow River. Along the shore, the houses were already in the right order. The village was empty and there was no movement. The two outermost houses, closer to us, stood at a distance from the rest. Further to the southeast, about three kilometers away, stood the village of Troitskoye. From the southern outskirts of Troitsky a large forest began, the edge of which stretched to the west for two or three kilometers, and then turned sharply and went north in our direction. Reconnaissance was sent towards Vlasovo. It was clearly visible how the group was running towards the village. When no more than two hundred meters remained, the enemy’s machine guns started working. He ordered the machine gun platoon to open fire on them to cover the reconnaissance retreat. The scouts returned in full force, one was slightly wounded. Suddenly, an old grandfather with a beard comes out of the forest and says to me: “Ugh, warriors, I’ll go to the village now.” Well, go, I tell him. He went to the village, entered the village, and after a while he walked back towards us, with a rooster under his arm. Approaching us, he says: “You see that house over there, there is a barrel at an angle and behind this barrel there is a machine gun, and under that house there is also a barrel and also a machine gun.” I thanked my grandfather for this. At this time it was evening and darkness. I decided to go to the village of Troitskoye.
We walked along the edge of the forest, reaching its southern edge, we discovered a road running from the west through the forest straight to Troitskoye. Arrived at the place. I reported the situation to the command and that Vlasovo was occupied by the enemy. I was warned that the order to capture Vlasovo remained in force, with the onset of morning it must be carried out, but at the same time I would be supported by two Katyushas. Having left the battalion command post, the frontline task was to find food and feed the soldiers of the unit. I got company sergeant Matyushenko involved in this, and they found a member of the board of the collective farm of this village, who helped in organizing meals. The unit was fed. Before this, the company had not eaten food for more than a day.
I determined the location of the initial line for the attack in advance. In the second half of the night, even before morning, the units go straight out and occupy the line for the attack. Along the line of an inconspicuous ditch with bushes, three hundred meters from the village, which I noticed in the evening. All the soldiers were warned that the signal for the attack would be volleys of Katyushas fired into the village. The company's command post was located on the edge of the forest to the west of the village. As morning approaches, a Katyusha messenger comes running to the company command post and gives the command to fire a volley into the village. Katyushas "played" volleys. When the shells exploded, the unit’s soldiers attacked together and drove the Germans out of Vlasovo. We took up defensive positions along the right bank of the Moscow River. They also recaptured the food from the Germans, and they left us both fried and fried meats. At the same time, the commander of the third platoon, Lieutenant Tantsura, was wounded and dropped out of action. The company's soldiers became cheerful and began to build a defense.
The company command post was located on the outskirts of the village in a house. We expected that we would hold the defense here for a long time, so we began digging trenches and other defensive structures. During the first half of the day, the Germans tried to attack twice, but we gave them a good rebuff and they calmed down. At the battalion command post in Troitsk, a message was sent to the messengers that the company had fulfilled the order, the fascists had been expelled from the village, and the soldiers were building a defense.
Unexpectedly in the afternoon, along with the returning messengers, the battalion leadership also arrived. They thought they had arrived with something good. But first they asked to be fed. The company sergeant fulfilled their request. Then came the order for me and the unit to transfer the defense of Vlasovo to the third rifle company of Lieutenant Lazarev. The second company, with the onset of evening, make a march along the road to the northeast 3-4 kilometers and become available to the 50th motorized brigade. As part of a motorized brigade, knock out the Nazis from the village of Nikiforovo, located on the right bank of the Moscow River. It was already night when the company arrived at the indicated place. The 50th motorized brigade had several tankettes, armored cars and an infantry unit. The second company also became part of it. This combined group was commanded by a senior lieutenant, he gathered us under a tent and began to clarify the situation. Then I began to give orders to the unit commanders, but I asked to go out to the area, since I had just arrived and had not yet studied the area. We went out, it was deep dark night. It was approximately eight hundred meters to the village, and here and there buildings were burning. The Germans continuously illuminated the approaches to the village with rockets and fired machine guns. The line for the attack was determined approximately two hundred meters from the village. The signal for attack is a red rocket on the right flank. The infantry attack will be carried out in conjunction with tankettes and armored cars. The second rifle company advanced on the left flank towards the western part of the village. Due to the continuous shelling of the area by the Germans with machine guns, the company soldiers had to get to the attack line mainly on their bellies. My entire overcoat on my back was also torn by bullets. By the end of the night the attack line was occupied. And then a red rocket went up on the right flank, the soldiers of the unit rushed to the attack with loud cheers, firing at the village. After a short battle, the Nazis were knocked out. It was early morning, tankettes and armored cars entered the village along with the infantry. Our bank was higher than the left one and we had a good view of the enemy’s defenses on the other bank. The day came, the tank commander saw a dead German in the lowland and decided to climb up to him for trophies. I warned him not to do this, since the place was under fire from the enemy, but he did not listen and did not return. The Germans opened fire and he was killed.
The second company took up defensive positions and vigilantly monitored the enemy's behavior, expecting a counterattack. Residents of Nikiforovo came out of hiding and asked whether there would be a battle, although it had not stopped yet. The village was shelled and the residents took everything valuable and went into the forest. The Nazis twice tried to regain their positions, but we were well helped by tankettes and armored cars stationed behind the houses. By the end of the day, the 50th motorized brigade left the village, the remaining 2nd company began to set up defenses along the entire coast of the village. It was getting dark and new fresh units of Siberians came from the forest. Everyone is dressed in sheepskin coats and well armed. With an order to occupy the defense in the village of Nikiforovo. (This happened on November 22, 1941) The second company was ordered to surrender the village and go to Troitskoye. Having handed over Nikiforovo against receipt, we quickly got ready and headed to the indicated place at night.
We arrived in Troitskoye on November 23, the weather was cold, the ground was frozen. At the battalion command post he reported that the company had arrived in full force, but while carrying out the mission, one person, junior lieutenant Karitsky, was wounded. Having received a new assignment, the company settled in a church and school on the southeastern outskirts of the village.
They began to build the defense of the village along the right bank of the Moscow River from the east. The ground was frozen, and there was no suitable entrenching tool in the company. I had to remember blacksmithing. I found a forge and began making crowbars and other equipment. The company command post was located in the village school, and Commissar Milko and I again had concerns. prepare the unit for the upcoming battles. The soldiers were always aware of events on the country's fronts.
And then came November 30th, the hard day. The battalion commissar organized a fundraiser for the construction of a tank column, and the day passed, as always, in worries. Suddenly, at 22 o'clock in the morning, the command at the battalion command post called me. Arriving, he saw an unfamiliar colonel among his officers. The colonel gives me the command to, without wasting time, remove the second company from the defense of the village and with an accelerated march reach the village of Ryazan, three kilometers east of Troitsk. Find sappers there, they will clear the banks of the Moscow River, we should go to the left bank and follow north, along the eastern edge of the forest. 6 kilometers away is the village of Ulitino, where, according to intelligence data, the headquarters of a large group of Nazis is located. He ordered me to take possession of this headquarters, and at the same time advised the company soldiers to leave their documents in Troitsk. Having repeated the order, I left the command post. We had to hurry, I ordered all the soldiers to be lined up near the school. At the beginning of the second half of the night, the unit was ready to move. He briefly reported on the task and that the battalion command hoped that we would complete it with honor. He gave the command to move at an accelerated pace. Upon arrival in Ryazan, they found sappers who made passages in the minefields. When the company reached the left bank, it was steep and high, and it was beginning to get light in the east. Having posted security to the left and rear, the unit moved north towards the village of Ulitino. When we had walked about half the way, a messenger from the side guard came running and reported that the Germans were moving along the edge of the forest towards the river and that they were already approaching our rear. I gave the signal - “Red rocket”, which meant retreat to the right bank of the river. A fierce oncoming battle ensued. And only the unit managed to cross when the silhouettes of four tanks appeared on the cliff of the left bank and began firing at us with cannons and machine guns. The unit began to retreat south along the edge of the forest. The road along which we arrived at night was occupied by the Nazis who were attacking Troitskoye. We departed from the village of Ryazan to the southwest and came to a road three kilometers from Troitsky, which led into the forest. Here we met the battalion commissar and several dozen soldiers. They told us that when the second company withdrew from the eastern side of Trinity, a gap opened in the defense. The battalion command did not bother to close this gap with other units, as a result of which the flank remained open. When morning came, the Nazis arrived and took possession of the village without a fight. At this time, the battalion command is located on the edge of the forest south of the village of Vlasovo, three kilometers from here. Having positioned the company soldiers in the forest along the road on both sides and having warned the platoon commanders about their readiness for battle, the orderly and I went to the battalion command post.
From the command post, the area was clearly visible both to Troitsky and to the edge of the forest, where the second company was located. I began to report to the colonel, who gave me the order at night, about the actions of the company and where it was currently located. And suddenly we see how two armored cars and up to two companies of the Nazis come out of Troitsky one after another and head along the road towards the location of the second company. Seeing this, it seemed to me that the colonel was even frightened. He tells me that I would rather take his horse and “jump” into the location of my unit, so that I could organize a meeting for them, but let him be drawn into the forest and then attacked.
Riding a horse to the company took no more than three minutes. In the forest along the road on the right and left, machine guns were installed, the soldiers skillfully camouflaged themselves. From the outside it was not immediately possible to notice the ambush. Everyone was warned not to open fire without a command. The warriors hid in the forest, patiently awaiting the approach of the enemy. They felt confident and did not show any anxiety. We have already learned to fight and beat the enemy in any conditions. We saw that the myth of the invincibility of the Nazis had long been dispelled.
The Germans were in no hurry. Having approached about one hundred fifty meters to the forest, the armored cars stopped and opened continuous fire. After shooting for about two minutes, without stopping fire, they began to slowly approach the forest. The Nazis followed them closely.
The enemy was almost completely drawn into the forest and here I commanded “Fire”. Machine guns and aimed rifle fire brought death to the Fritz. Grenades and grenades were launched into the entrance; the front armored car immediately caught fire, then the second one. Many fascists were killed in this forest; they, firing back, began to retreat through the forest to Troitsky. The soldiers of the second rifle company bravely pursued the retreating enemy. The day of December 1 was already drawing to a close, dusk was falling in the forest, we were approaching the northeastern edge of the forest, which came close to the village. We reached the edge, we only had to overcome two hundred meters and we would be on the outskirts of Troitsky. And suddenly I received a strong blunt blow to the thigh of my right leg. I thought that while running, I bumped into something. But just a moment later I felt that my leg had given up and my boot was filled with hot blood. Almost simultaneously with me, the Komsomol organizer of the company, Sergeant Frolov, was wounded. And my front-line combat life is over for now. They took us to the southern edge of the forest, from here by cart to the regiment's ambulance company. Already at night, without delay, we were loaded onto a car and by morning we were in Moscow in the hospital. For some reason they didn't let me sleep. They kept watch next to me all the time, distracting me from sleep with questions. At the hospital they washed me, disinfected my clothes, fed me, but didn’t let me sleep. They made a dressing. It turns out I was wounded by an explosive bullet. After dressing I fell asleep. And he woke up in the ambulance car. I heard from someone that Murom doesn’t accept us.
These memories are not fiction or fantasy, but actually the combat path taken by Red Army officer Nikolai Efimovich Lupinos during the defense of Moscow from October to December 1941.