Nayakshina. War diary of K. Ya.Nayakshin 346th rifle division in courland
War diary of K. Ya. Nayakshin
It seems that the fate of Professor Nayakshin was predetermined in advance by some higher powers. He was born in 1900 in Tatarstan. The same age as the 20th century, he went through all the cataclysms of history with him. Moreover, K. Ya. Nayakshin, an honorary citizen of the city of Samara, was born on October 25 according to the old style. His whole life was connected with the October events. After graduating from the parochial school, he worked as an upholsterer in the craft workshop of Naberezhnye Chelny, and also sang in the church choir. He supported the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and joined the Red Army. In the 20s he continued his studies, received a university education. Was at party and Soviet work, gave lectures at the Samara Pedagogical Institute, as well as at the Agricultural Institute. He became interested in antiquity and wrote a dissertation on the history of Ancient Rome. For this I read the primary sources in Latin.
During collectivization, he was sent by party bodies to the Volga villages as an agitator. Participated in suppressing the unrest of the peasants. The family several times considered him murdered. In one of the villages there is a monument, where on a plate among those killed at the hands of kulaks you can read his name. But he did not die, as the fate of Kuzma Nayakshin was different.
Since 1937 he was suspended from work. Like many other potential victims of Stalinism, he fished under the Vilonovsky Spusk. There were many people like him, unemployed, at first - hundreds, but every month their number was melting. Article 58 worked and found new victims. K. Ya. Nayakshin was in demand by the Soviet authorities only after the invasion of Hitler's troops into the territory of the USSR.
War notes 1941-1943 We have recently discovered Kuzma Yakovlevich Nayakshin:
History lover Stanislav Shanko helped to read and decipher them. The diaries are published for the first time.
So, the diary of Major K. Nayakshin. The beginning of a brutal war. The entries are laconic. No time to write. And only in moments of calm was it easier and more to write. He did not embellish the war, death and machine-gun bursts were just everyday details. Someone behaved with dignity. Someone could not stand it. But the strong went ahead, such as Nayakshin. And there were many of them. It was they who led the country to Victory.
June 22, 1941 Sunday. We were going to the dacha. We walked with Vasily Zakharovich Smirnov and heard VM Molotov's speech on the radio. The war with the Germans has become a fact. I decided to immediately join in active defensive work.
June 1941 I wrote articles “ Patriotic War 1812 "," Partisans of 1812 ". He joined the lecturer bureau of the regional committee of the CPSU (b).
July 1941 I wrote articles. I went to Privolzhsky, Radishchevsky, Syzransky, Novo-Buyansky and other districts with lectures on the Patriotic War.
August 17, 1941 Summoned to the regional committee. Just returned from a trip to the Syzran region. He lectured at the Batraki station. August 19 to the military registration and enlistment office.
August 21, 1941 We are going to Volsk. Meeting with a friend I.F.Savich - to form a division. Meeting with Abush. I got to know Polienko, Meshcheryakov and others.
August 23, 1941 Volsk. Cold barracks. - We sleep side by side. We are the first and main group of political workers. We go swimming, ate watermelons before being sent to the troops. We will form the 346th rifle division. I have been appointed senior instructor for radio propaganda of the enemy troops.
September 1941 The troops were received. People from the Saratov region; from Tataria - political fighters; from Donbass - junior commanders.
September 14, 1941. Artillerymen had 915 artillery regiments, 1166 and 1164 rifle regiments. We took the oath. Solemnly. He got to know the divisional commander Davydovsky and the commissar Kotov better. The division commander is a wonderful person, the commissar is petty. Shchepkin, the chief of food, is dry, it seems, is a careerist.
End of September 1941. Daily trips to the unit. Started to study German... We drank with Aleksandrov. Starley Mironov is tired. We got rid of him. Savich is with us. Good conversation with Abush.
October 1941 Heavy campaigns - mud, cold, rain and did not sleep or eat for three days.
November 7, 1941 Blizzard. He celebrated the holiday in the 1166 rifle regiment. Wonderful Party organizer Afanasyev and Commissar Trifonov. We drank. Peskishev was there, went to visit the telephone operators. We walked through the dugouts, talked with the soldiers.
November 21, 1941 They raised the alarm at 4 o'clock in the morning. The order is to speak. Afternoon loading. The division commander wanted to scold me for not loading the stoves, but did not. I went with the first echelon of the 1164th rifle regiment (commissar Shakurov). Up to 26 on the road.
November 26, 1941 Alexander Nevsky station. Broken, there was a raid, there are victims. In the evening the city of Ryazhsk, unloading. We went on a hike. We took up the defense. We dug trenches. I walked, talked, swore, hurried.
November 27, 1941 We moved forward.
November 28, 1941 Combat order to go to Askol. The 1st battalion of the 1164th rifle regiment left ... I went there. He arrested the scout platoon commander - he was drunk and threatened the commissioner. We took up defense in the city.
November 29, 1941 Battle order - with the second battalion of the 1164th rifle regiment with Captain Sorokin to occupy Paveletsk. First losses. The Germans literally shit ... the station is destroyed.
November 30, 1941 We go to Gorchivo. The Germans are burning everything. They were shooting from the cannons. We occupied the settlement. The Germans managed to escape in 30 minutes, took 230 cars and other property. Captain Sorokin was replaced, he arrived drunk, a quarrel. Together with the 1166 rifle regiment, they captured scouts, a car, killed six, and four were taken prisoner. I tried to talk to the prisoners: Czechs and Germans are different people.
December 5, 1941 Moving forward. Were in Cernava. The night of December 5 is a terrible night. They cheated with Captain Zaitsev - they almost got to the Germans. How many times have you fallen. The car drove into a ravine.
December 6, 1941 The offensive began on Novo-Mikhailovskoye. I with 1166 rifle regiment, occupied the burning village. The village of Semyonovka and its surroundings - everything was burnt. Troops are drawn into powder smoke zones. Fire, rain, slush, ice.
December 1941 We occupied a number of villages and villages. We went with Abush to rest. Shchepkin followed.
December 16, 1941 The battle for Volovo - the Germans managed to escape. They seized a car with the Germans, a lot of trophies. The commissar of the 1168th rifle regiment, Terekhov, is a hoarder.
December 17, 1941 In the "commissarovka" the commander of the 1166 rifle regiment beat the supply platoon commander, I arrested this supply officer. People are hungry, and he is drunk. Let's go ahead.
On December 20, 1941, the Tula-Moscow, Meshcheryaki, and Baburine highways were occupied at Molochny Dvorikov.
December 21, 1941 Battle for Teploe. I am again with the 1168 rifle regiment. We took this station.
December 23, 1941 The battle for Gorbachevo. We occupied this large junction station. Restored Soviet power... As in Tepliy, he himself appointed the managers and the chairman. The villages are on fire, the elevator is on fire. We go forward to the Oka.
December 30, 1941 Battle on the Oka. The Germans dug in deeply. Big sacrifices. The wounded in the barn. Unloading, mobilization of people and supply.
December 31, 1941 In the 1166 rifle regiment. Peskishev, Dyadin - in the forest, met New Year... We congratulated each other. Volley "Katyusha". Blizzard. The battle for the village of Fedyashevo began. They took it. At 4 o'clock - to the apartment. We drank for the New Year. There were Kravchenko, Lukin.
On January 1, 1942, Shchepkin came to fetch me. Peskishev asked to leave. A good conversation with the regiment commander by the straw stove about the nature of the battles.
January 2, 1942 Heavy battles near Typichevo, Khmelevets, Bedrishchevo, Fedyashevo .. Late at night - one came to the political department across an open field by the moon. Sasha Izyumov told the terrible news - Abush died. On the straw in the corner, I turned away from everyone and cried. Abush was a rare person, an intelligent, stern, loyal comrade, a Bolshevik.
January 3, 1942 Again, unsuccessful battles. The foreman was killed. Savich behaved well in battle. He mobilized people to attack. They took Tolkachevo, but got caught in the crossfire. Tanks. Forced to retreat. Victims.
January 4, 1942 Heavy fighting again in the morning. He walked in a chain with soldiers under fire from artillery and machine guns. Night. The young battalion commander lost control. I had to play the role of a liaison. Corrected the connection. Political instructor Gorbachev fought heroically hand-to-hand. We went back to their original positions.
5, 6 January 1942 Again fighting, but unsuccessful.
January 7, 1942 Moving through Belyaev. Bath. Colonel Zinoviev - Chief of Staff, from drunken eyes led to the front line, almost to the Germans.
January 8, 1942 To Gryn. Terrible battles near the village of Gryn. Krotov and his battalion were killed. The whole village was burned down. Kapustin behaved firmly. The signalman in the hut kept repeating: "Saturn". There is no connection. Piles of the dead, Fire, blizzard. We visited the divisional commander and the army commander - a request to go to him, since the Germans are two kilometers away, and I have 7 people in the guard of the headquarters, seated under apple trees in the snow. The Germans are firing mortar fire. Tough day.
January 9-11, 1942 Days of battles for Gryn. They took the territory where the village was - not a single house. The barn is half-broken. Night. There are corpses all around. The signalman in the corner breaks down, shouts: "Saturn 2nd!" "Saturn 2nd!" ... But "Saturn" is silent. Krotov's battalion is destroyed. Krotov himself died. Kapustin behaved heroically: he, hiding behind corpses, fired. Shot through his overcoat in several places and the holster too. Dry, tall, weathered - he is somehow extraordinary at these moments. Savich with me. On the troubled night of January 10, he suggested, at my request, to the division commander Davydovsky and the army commander Popov to immediately leave the village, since there were Germans nearby.
11 January 1942 They brought a captured German - his head is tied with a woman's scarf, the chief corporal, no greatcoat, the machine gun is broken. He stretches to the string. Thug. They sent me to the headquarters. They fell into the hands of the "entourage" ... It is clear from everything that the unscrupulous, cowardly, lie. I beat one, he was lying too brazenly, and besides, he was confusing. We moved towards Zheleznitsa.
January 12, 1942 Battle of Zheleznitsa. Shchepkin gathered political workers. I am extremely dissatisfied that political workers are killed and injured a little, arguing that they do not go to the front lines. Fool and bastard! With the group of Belovodov went Pakhomov - a nice dapper guy - killed. An hour later, the commissar of the 1164th rifle regiment, Shakurov, was killed. They took the iron-box, but gave it back. There is no one to keep.
January 13, 1942 Battle for Zheleznitsa.
January 14, 1942 I am leaving for the regiment to Peskishev, Vinogradov's battalion. He goes to Leonovo, I stay in Ozerinskoye with Peskishev.
January 15, 1942 In the morning, Vinogradov's battalion was defeated, he himself was wounded, the remnants of the battalion in Ozerinskoye. An hour and a half later, 4 German tanks near Ozerinsky were firing at houses and a square. The wagon train started to run. I had to stop with a revolver. Concentrated in a ravine. Heavy mortar fire, then from tanks, German infantry breaks through. We lie in the snow - a tank 200 meters away. The explosion was deafened, the soldiers pulled out, put in a sleigh, woke up in the village. Trivia. The shard touched the arm and side. Bandaged in 1168 rifle regiment. After many sleepless nights, he fell asleep dead in Shchepkin's apartment. He took over the regiment after the deaths of Shakurov, Afanasyev, Abush and many others. He began to understand, and, most importantly, to be afraid that nothing would be easy and simple.
January 16, 1942 Germans attack Ozerinskoe. Tanks again in the village set fire to houses, shoot at point-blank range. Peskishev went out against them with bottles, struck by four bullets. How I loved this simple, rough, abrupt soul. The regiment commander was wounded. Ozerinsky was defended.
January 17, 1942 Peskishev was buried in the village of Gostkovo.
January 18-25, 1942 We moved with our belongings closer to Sorochinsk. An attack on the village of Teplye with the remnants of the division's forces. Lieutenant Glinkov, deputy. political instructor Khadzhimuratov fought desperately with 18 fighters, all were killed, but the Germans were not allowed a step. Heroic feat. The fearless medical instructor became the squad leader. 7 people held back the enemy, repelling attacks from entire companies. Terrible nights in the village of Nogaya. Around the dense forests and in them the Germans. There are not many of us. The shelves are already depleted. We must go to Volkhov. We are moving. Together with Zaitsev, they organized defense throughout the village. I organize everything myself - I pull those who climbed onto the stove to warm up. I swear, although I know that people are immensely tired. But here's the order - to leave. Unfortunately, he parted with Zaitsev forever - wonderful, kind, reliable.
On January 25-31, 1942, they attacked the village of Ivanovka 18 times, but could not take it. We have little artillery fire, the Divisional Commander swore - why do I and Savich here, under fire.
February 1-6, 1942 In Sorokino we receive replenishment from the collective farmers of the Smolensk and Tulsk regions. They are not prepared, but must be thrown into battle immediately. Many die because of poor training. I am going for replenishment to Belets, the scandal with the 387th Infantry Division, I get 700 people at once, I line them up on the outskirts of the streets. German planes are firing. There is no mercy. I leave 20 people in cars, the rest on foot. They are collected slowly. Polienko sends them to the shelves in batches.
February 7, 1942 Night at Polienko's. Popov intervened, said - Schepkin was recalled. Kapustin will be the boss. - I will be his deputy. Even so, I'm not chasing ranks.
February 8, 1942 In Ukolitsa I am taking on a new position. Essentially the same, although there is more responsibility. I look through directives and other papers.
February 9-28, 1942 Belovodov with 70 soldiers heroically defended the lines. 7 days and 7 nights. Continuous battles - during the day they will move 100 meters - at night again forward. We fought well. Andrusenko (nachkhim) began to fight. He's not a bad commander, not a chhim. Polienko drinks. Alexandrov was wounded. Savich caught a cold. Now Kapustin took a deep breath. We live three together. Volodya cooks wonderfully. We cannot share the horses in any way. Finally, we agreed: Kapustin - bay, Savich - black, and me - mine. We go to Bolkhov. 7 kilometers left. We were tired and could not take the city. In essence, this is active defense. On February 22, he received a medal "For Courage". The workers of the political department handed over.
March 1942 Trips to the unit, meetings, reports. Karpenko and Yevtushenko live side by side and drink at lunchtime.
April 1942 Evicted residents of Ukolitsa in 24 hours himself. It is raining heavily. Kapustin fell from Pulka's horse, she broke her leg. They ordered to cut, we defended. Survived. Difficulty with food, going to the army. People's Commissar Pavlov brought in something worthless. Dirt, no roads. Polienko received a severe reprimand. They were going to judge - I defended. "Units in defense. Nutrition began to improve.
May 1942 We traveled well with Lubyanov. He set up a bathhouse in the forest. The Germans, three hundred meters away, play Vadim Kozin's gramophone every day: "Let's shake hands, and on a long journey for many years ..."
June 1942 We left for the forest. The dugouts are landscaped. Savich and I are in our hut. Does not spill. Kapustin is nearby. You can live, only your soul is restless. German planes bomb a little every night. Artillery fire daily.
July 1942 Preparing to celebrate the division. They wrote her story with Alexandrov. It turned out nothing. The division commander and Popov approved. I'm on my way to see Lieutenant General Belov and Dubrovsky to sign documents on awarding the regiments. They received it well. I'm going to the headquarters of Zhukov, Bulganin, Makarov. Accepts Makarov, although he is ill. We contact Bulganin. They promise support, I leave the documents. I spend the night in Maly Yaroslavets and drive back. In Tula, the fuel is running out, I got it with great difficulty. It's hard on the fronts in the south.
August 1942 The first days are ordinary. The command post is now in the ravine - in the field. I go there every day. They shoot all around. The whole Prick is on fire. So it has come. 4 hours 55 minutes on August 11, the Germans launched an artillery offensive - devilish fire. Tanks went to Belovodov up to 200. Junkers - up to 80. Bombing, hell all around. Belovodov's regiment was crushed. The Germans are walking, you can see how everything is burning around. I'm at the command post, next to Popov, Kapustin (Savich at a meeting in the army). Aleksandrov went off to watch the Germans go. The earth trembles. Order to retreat. The Germans are approaching the village of Sorokino. There is no connection with Lubtsov and Lukin. They are already surrounded. The Junkers smashed all our artillery, only one howitzer remained, with 14 rounds for it. That's all. Popov ordered to immediately take all the staff documents and files. I sit in passenger car... The mail hesitated and remained with the Germans. Through the ring of gaps I got to the rear. There is complacency. They give the order - to load, to go, what cannot be captured - to burn. Polienko arrived. German tanks are already nearby. I headed out onto a forest road. The gap. The car is hit - the driver is in one direction, I am running in the other direction. At the turn, our horses are on them. Planes are being bombed. The horses were killed. I run out onto another road. Our howitzer is being dragged there. I ran half a kilometer. A previously stuck editorial car is catching up - I'm in it. Oh hell, the whole train drove into the forest and got stuck. I saw the "wounded". A tribunal awaits them (for cross-fire - ed.). The division commander drove onto the road by car. The German is bombing at the tail of the retreating column. There is impassable mud in the forest, carts and cars are dragging on themselves. When leaving the forest, I give the order to stop, set up a defensive detachment, the young Uchbazites run away in panic anyway. I drive up to Karpenko and Yevtushenko. We decided to keep the defense near the village of Kulikovo, to expose all the living. There were up to 300 people. I appointed Karpenko as commander, Yevtushenko as commissar. He ordered the rear to be withdrawn into the forest for 4 kilometers. We did not sleep at night. It was restless.
August 12, 1942 Savich returned easier. Terekhov came, but without people - suspicious. Some of the entourage got there one by one. They formed detachments - three battalions, appointed commanders and political workers. Karpenko - in Kulikovo. Yevtushenko is in a ravine, I'm with him. Visited the rear. The Germans are advancing all over the site. The villages are burning. The Germans entered the Sukhinichi - Kaluga railway line. Delay at any cost! Kulikovo holds on, but we are in a semi-circle. Across the river, the Germans are in our rear, bypassing the forest. Difficult. I spoke to the headquarters. They do not know the details, and they are generally not in the know. General Samfin arrived. They reported. He looked and left. Belov promised a tank brigade. The situation is more and more critical with each passing hour. And then they came from the chefs, brought in everything. The secretary of the district committee arrived, the workers are wonderful people, but at the wrong time. We thanked them for their gifts. They understand our position without words. Pale, alarmed, they somehow spent the night, and we asked them to leave, thanking them. Karpenko fights desperately near Kulikovo. Sent to his aid the former commander of the 66th Infantry Regiment. The Germans surrounded his headquarters. Fought back. Tanks are buzzing. We are a bunch of people, and the direction is very important. Hold!
August 1942 Petrov's tank brigade arrived. Petrov took command of the site. He boasted - I'll show you how to fight. The tanks were pulled into a forest road, into impassable mud. At night, the Germans set fire to 27 tanks. Petrov was wounded - confused. We are alone again. With Yevtushenko we go to the approached rifle regiment(1151). We inform. It got easier as they covered our left flank.
August 17, 1942 At last I felt better. Oh, those nights in the woods, on the roads, in a semi-circle, without serious forces, and German tanks are nearby. We did not sleep with Savich for four nights. The 3rd Panzer Corps and the 251st Rifle Division arrived. We handed over the site. We are going with the whole division. There were 1918 people out of 10,000 left. 4,600 soldiers were killed, the rest is unknown where, possibly surrounded. The division commander Popov died, the wonderful Kapustin died, the fate of the entire staff is not known. Attributed to the 16th Army of Rokossovsky. From there they were redirected to the 50th Army. Lubyanov returned. Wonderful. He behaved heroically. Aleksandrov, again wounded, arrived. He is not afraid, perhaps even has no fear! The wonderful Fishko and a number of others, almost all political instructors and party organizers, perished. Belovodov returned. All are brought together in one detachment. Commissioner of a hundred Lubyans. We saved the regiment number. We are in the village, the regiment is fighting. Bad fame has gone. As if we retreated from the area, allegedly abandoned the Ukolitsa. Yes, the fate is unenviable. We could not resist when half of the people died, there were no cannons and machine guns, they were defeated. There is no ammunition, but the Germans have hundreds of tanks, dozens of aircraft and motorized infantry. But our people did not leave, they remained surrounded and heroically, making their way, almost everyone died. Is it possible to scold people for the fact that they remained alive, having done everything possible and impossible? I come to Lubyanov's. Forest. There is a battle, the killed Germans are lying around. No, Lubyanov and the soldiers did not disappoint. When our fighters were seen in action, they began to say differently. The cavalrymen themselves drifted, and the corps commander declared gratitude to ours, set them up as an example for his units. A new order is again sent to the 61st regiment, we are going under Belev. Anchishkin arrived. An intelligent man with erudition, with vast experience in party work. We quickly agreed, even Savich obeyed. We live in the village, we put ourselves in order. We calculate what is and what is not. I have left - in what I jumped out of the wrecked car - a uniform, an overcoat and a cap. Even before Anchishkin's arrival, Polienko and I gathered all the officers, we set tasks - to comprehend what happened. We suppress rumors. At this moment Skalovsky was like snow on his head. I am glad, because he is a serious commander, an artilleryman, knowledgeable. He was given the command of a division, or rather, I instructed him as a senior. Karpenko and Yevtushenko are offended, since they again remained in the same positions with their regiment.
September 1942 An unexpected order - to the location of the main headquarters. We are loading, we are going to Tula, we are looking - Michurinsk. Sent to the Tishinskie camps, essentially a rest. Meetings, meetings. Colonel Komiluchovsky was warmed up. For cowardice they sent me to the penal battalion.
September 15, 1942 Again to Plavsk. They settled in the villages. We receive replenishment. Unfolded the work. A new divisional commander arrived - fat, I don't like it. A new commissar has arrived - an uncivilized man. It got bored. We are part of the 5th Panzer Army,
October 1942 I went to see Ushakov, the head of the Fifth Tank Army. Telegram from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. They are withdrawing. I'm going.
October 26, 1942 From Shipov, near the town of Efremov, I am going and going to the 15th Air Force. I have no idea about aviation. The furnishings are quarrelsome and dirty. Oh, it's worse here than here. But nothing. I am going on a business trip to the 71st Aviation Battalion, on the way I took my things from the former duty station in Plavsk. I saw Belovodov - they said goodbye warmly. And here's the joy - Savich is here. We had lunch. We talked. It became sad. Goodbye. Now that's it - I'm not in the 346th Rifle Division. I am going to new places, to a new environment, to new strangers - to the aviators.
November 1942 The terrible month of Stalingrad. Additional payment in the aviation regiments of the 176th Aviation Division - one motive - to survive. At first, the pilots treat the surcharge with coolness, and then refuse, as do the infantry. This is unusual.
December 1942 I am going home on a business trip. Here it is, a military country. They live hard at home, as expected, but cheerfully, and this is the main thing. I visited the Kruglovs, Gavrilov - they are holding on well. Young people feel uncomfortable. They are cowardly before the war and are ashamed to be at home, they work badly, since everyone is absorbed in the production of food. In the bakery store (corner of L. Tolstoy and Chapaevskaya) the line starts from Krasnoarmeiskaya. They have been standing since 4 in the morning, writing numbers on their palms. Many do not get bread anyway. Oh, and I don't want to go back to the front, but I have to. I'll get there in January 1943.
Further, as part of the units of the 1st Belorussian Front, K. Ya. Nayakshin took part in the Battle of Kursk. He fought to the western border of the USSR, liberated Poland. He ended the war in Berlin and was sent to the responsible post of commandant of the city of Magdeburg. Having given four years of his life to fight against German troops, he became at the origins of the formation of a new peaceful Germany. After demobilization, Kuzma Yakovlevich was engaged in teaching in Samara, wrote many books on the history of the region, until the end of his days he retained his love for nature, for fishing. In 1982, he was accidentally pushed on an iron staircase, ultimately causing his death. The country began to prepare for renewal and restructuring. The old cadres, saturated with Bolshevism and Leninism, turned out to be like a bone in the throat. The fate of many was sealed.
Sidorov Petr Maksimovich, regiment commander (1944), lieutenant colonel
Kiselev Andrey Vasilievich, regiment commander (1945), lieutenant colonel
Kiselev Alexander Dmitrievich, Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel
Kozlinsky Stepan Dmitrievich, deputy for combatant, lieutenant colonel
Andreev Vladimir Alexandrovich. political officer (1944-1945), Art. lieutenant
Muratov Stefan Andreevich, political officer (1945), major
The Tikhookeanskaya Zvezda newspaper published an article by A. Chernyavsky "Defeat: from Konigsberg to Mudanjiang". It tells about combat path veteran of the 346th Rifle Regiment of Khantsevich Vladimir Iosifovich. Here are excerpts from the article:
On May 2, 1945, our 346th Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky Rifle Regiment (commander - Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Vasilyevich Kiselev), which is part of the 63rd Rifle Vitebsk Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Division, plunged into a train at Norkiten station and moved in an unknown direction.
On June 6, the train arrived at the Manzovka station (Primorsky Territory) and, after unloading, moved to the deployment area - to the field, where the arrangement of the summer tent camp began. Replenishment soon arrived. These were soldiers of the spring draft, born in 1927, who had completed a 2-month course for a young soldier in training units. All of them were from the North Kazakhstan region. The daily, painstaking study began. On July 15, the regiment left the camp and moved to the Grodekovo area. The movement took place at night, during the day we rested, observing all camouflage measures. A few nights later, we arrived in the area of the forthcoming battles, taking up positions in the area of the "Pear" height, located on the opposite side of the border, which ran along the creek. After the rains, it turned into a stormy river. We equipped trenches, dug dugouts.
Our 63rd division was to break through the defenses in one of 17 fortified areas that were built by the Japanese near our borders. Each fortified area is 50-100 km along the front and up to 50 km deep in the territory saturated with various defensive structures.
Height "Pear" was the center of one of the most powerful fortified areas, pillboxes (long-term firing points) were built on it, capable of withstanding shelling from large-caliber guns. The pillboxes were connected by underground passages to neighboring heights. An observation post was set up at the top of the height, which made it possible to survey our territory far into the depths. A road was laid to the height, connecting with the central regions of Manchuria.
In early August, the regiment arrived in the area where the regiment was located. large group officers from the headquarters of the division, led by the commander of the division, Major General B.B. Gorodovikov. He was in a field uniform with a foreman's shoulder straps. After inspecting the border, the regiment commander was ordered, together with the engineer battalion of the division, to connect our dirt road with the Japanese one, which runs near the Grusha hill.
The next day, sappers arrived, two T-34 tanks came, with their help they pierced the highway that connected the two sections into one road. The tanks caused a stir on the Japanese side. The head of the Japanese border post appeared and demanded a meeting with the senior commander. After the "negotiations", the work continued. Our company was instructed to ensure the safety of the sappers. The order was short: "Do not use weapons." By the end of the day, the sappers had done their job, made some of the timber harvested on the Japanese side, and connected our dirt road with the Japanese. Later, this road played a large role in the offensive operation of the 5th Army.
The beginning of the war was approaching. On the basis of our battalion, an advanced detachment was created, reinforced by a platoon of sappers by a group of signalmen with a radio station. The task of the detachment was to move forward as quickly as possible, without getting involved in protracted battles. The company commander received a map.
On August 8, dinner was two hours earlier than usual. After supper there was a formation of the battalion, which was informed that the Soviet government had declared war on Japan. Everyone was given cartridges, grenades, dressing bags, dry rations. Clouds appeared in the sky, rain froze. At this time, the border guards came. These were our guides. After some time, a group of soldiers with border guards left in the direction of the Japanese border post. Soon a messenger from this group appeared and informed the battalion commander that it was possible to move - the personnel of the Japanese outpost had been destroyed. In the pouring rain, with continuous flashes of lightning discharges, our vanguard crossed the border.
The offensive began without artillery preparation, using the night and the downpour for a surprise attack. After crossing the border, it was necessary to quickly go to the area of the location of object No. 1 (as it was marked on the map). It was a large garrison with a large communications center, a combat supply point and the headquarters of an army grouping.
Our first battle was so swift that the enemy did not have time to offer organized resistance. Having violated the system of defense and communications, our detachment created favorable conditions for the action of the main forces in breaking through the fortified area. Soon from the area of the height "Pear" began to hear the cannonade of a strong battle. It was the main forces of the division that entered the battle.
The detachment moved further, inland. Towards evening, groups of Japanese began to overtake us - these were border guards and soldiers from the defeated garrisons. They were aggressive, we had to use force, which caused losses on our side.
Night was approaching. We turned onto a country road, put up security, settled down to rest. Judging by the map, we have gone 20-25 km from the border. We went to the object number 32 - it was a railway station. Before our arrival, the main forces of the garrison withdrew towards the city of Mudanjiang, leaving a small detachment, which entered into battle with our scouts and was completely destroyed. We received an order to secure the railway bridge and wait for the regiment's approach. The next day regiment units approached. Our detachment for "rest" was assigned a place at the end of the column, and the regiment moved forward to Mudanjiang. On the main direction of the 5th Army's offensive, the Japanese retreated further and further. On August 13, fighting broke out on the outskirts of the city of Mudanjiang. Here fierce battles broke out.
The neighbors of our army, units of the 1st Red Banner, advancing on the cities from the north, broke into the outskirts of the city, and heavy street battles began. Parts of the Fifth Army, advancing on the city from the east, lingered on the heights in front of the Mudanjiang River. The Japanese, firmly entrenched in the heights, blocked the advance of our artillery and tank units along the road. There were no other ways to get around. By this time, a critical situation was created among our neighbors who entered the city. Under the onslaught of the superior forces of the enemy, they were forced to leave the city. The situation demanded an increase in the onslaught in order to provide assistance to a neighbor. In the morning, our forward detachment was brought into battle with the task of knocking out the enemy from the commanding height and ensuring the passage of the pontoon unit to the Mudanjiang River and establishing a crossing.
They went on the attack, but when they reached the barbed wire, not destroyed by the artillery, there was confusion. At this time, a storm of fire fell from the surviving bunker. The detachment lay on an open slope among the numerous corpses of the participants in yesterday's battle. There was a heavy, cadaverous smell, which had a depressing effect on the soldiers. It was necessary to urgently take action. The squad leader decides to blow up the bunker with grenades. We sent two soldiers from our platoon. Enough time passed, there was no explosion. Then the company commander orders me: take two soldiers and go ahead. Crawling to the bunker, they soon stumbled upon the fighters sent earlier - they both died not far from it. We took the grenades from them and crawled on. They managed to get relatively close, it was clear how a stream of deadly fire was spewing out from the embrasure. They threw grenades. The explosion covered the bunker, the machine gun stopped firing.
The squad rose and rushed forward. We quickly jumped into a trench that went from the bunker deep into the defense. At that moment I was wounded. The soldiers provided first aid, took off their tunic - the wound was large, covering the shoulder and forearm. Bandaged. I was left in the trench. The shooting soon stopped. The height was taken and a column with pontoons and other equipment moved along the road to the river. The way to the city of Mudanjiang was opened. The next day, August 16, the city was taken. Later in the hospital, when dressing, the doctor said that such an injury occurs from an explosive dum-dum bullet.
For us, who fought, the memory of the war is still alive. We will remember her until the end of our days. I will never forget all 25 young guys from the platoon, with whom I had to fight in Manchuria with Japan. Five of them died in the fields of Manchuria, thirteen were wounded, seven remained in the ranks. All of them are still in my army memory today.
From the memoirs of the veteran of the regiment, foreman Aleksey Aleksandrovich Henov, provided by his granddaughter - Elena Koretko, Perm:
The formation of the 63rd rifle division began in the village of Navoloki. 45th and 86th rifle brigades from the North-Western Front also arrived here for formation. From two brigades and reserve regiments, the 63rd rifle division was formed, which became part of the 3rd reserve army. The 346th Infantry Regiment was formed in the village of Selivanovo under the command of the regiment commander Major Ivanov Nikolai Alexandrovich and Chief of Staff Senior Lieutenant Voskresensky Petr Ivanovich. Khenov was assigned to a communications company, the commander of which was Captain Gultyaev, his deputy in the combat unit was Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Demyanovich Mocharny. After the work on putting together the units was completed, on May 4, 1943, the regiment entered the Baldasovsky forest, where the combat training of personnel began. On May 20-23, the regiment made a 100-km march and concentrated in the vicinity of the village of Trebushinki, Yukhnovsky district. The Germans burned the village back in 1941, only one house remained from it, in which the headquarters of the regiment was located, all units were located in the forest. The regiment was again engaged in combat training, regimental and divisional exercises were held, everything went to the fact that it was soon into battle.
On July 10, 1943, the third reserve army was named 21 active army and on July 12, 1943, it marched to the Western Front. The division received its baptism of fire in the Spas-Demensky direction.
In the area of the village of Semenovka (height 237.3), the Germans tried to push back our troops and take over the highway. 08/20/1943 under the onslaught of numerically superior enemy forces, our unit, defending it, began to retreat. The division entered the battle straight from the march.
Fierce battles lasted for three days, the Germans introduced fresh reserves into battle, let the "tigers" into battle, their aviation dominated the air. Our artillery and infantry fought off 12 attacks a day, the village of Semenovka changed hands several times. Convinced of the unsuccessfulness of their offensive, the attacks ceased on 08/24/1943. The regiment suffered heavy losses, but the highway remained in our hands. We were replaced by newly arrived units, the regiment went to rest. After a short rest and putting the units in order, on 08/29/1943 the regiment launched an offensive in the Smolensk direction.
On the very first day of the offensive, the regiment occupied the villages of Bushnya, Hotnizhets, Mikhailovka and the Korobets station. 08/30/1943 at 19.00, together with other units, the regiment broke into the city of Yelnya and occupied it. German aviation bombed the city with massive air raids for two days, but it remained in our hands. In the battles for Yelnya, the chief of staff of the regiment, Captain Voskresensky Petr Ivanovich, was killed, the commander of the regiment, Major Ivanov Nikolai Alexandrovich, and the deputy commander of the regiment for combat units, Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Nikolayevich Zolotov were seriously wounded. The regiment was temporarily commanded by the chief of the division's intelligence department, Major Alexey Ivanovich Pirogov, the chief of staff arrived from the personnel department of the guard division, Major Litvin. For the capture of Yelnya, the division was commended by the Supreme Command by Stalin.
5-6.09.1943 in the Smolensk direction, the regiment occupied the villages of Novo-Tishevo and Vys-Leonovo. In the vicinity of the villages of Maloye Tishevo, Buda and Lyakhovo, the Germans tried to stop our offensive. There the Germans had a prepared defense in advance: three lines of trenches and a natural obstacle - a deep ravine. Having pulled up reserves and artillery, in the afternoon of 09/15/1943 our offensive began again. In artillery preparation, the Katyushas provided a particularly high density of fire, and our aviation was active. The German defenses were broken, the Germans suffered colossal losses, their trenches and ravine were littered with corpses.
Retreating, the Germans burned down the Smolensk villages. When we entered settlements, ashes and burning coals remained in place of houses. As a rule, the Germans retreated at night and their retreat was accompanied by conflagrations. Flames blazed everywhere ahead of us, and every soldier knew when the Germans were retreating. Passing through the Smolensk region, instead of villages and villages, we saw plaques or, as they were called then "pointers" with the inscription that there was such and such a settlement. We often saw such "settlements" overgrown with weeds - a sure sign that the Germans burned them down in 1941. A new command arrived in the regiment: the regiment commander, Major Lysenko Anton Karpovich, the chief of staff, Major Grigory Vasilievich Belov, and the deputy regiment commander for combat units, Major Andrey Vasilyevich Kiselev. The regiment settled down to rest in a ravine 200 meters south of the village of Zverovichi and was preparing for new battles.
We were in the second echelon, 09/23/1943 went on the march. Darkness, rain, knee-deep mud, at dawn reached the crossing over a small river, but there were so many parts, and the crossing was weak, that we stayed in the pouring rain until evening. In the evening we reached the village of Ptakhovo, march again, stopping in the village of Laptevo. 09/26/1943 crossed the river Sozh and march again. In the area of the village of Novoye Selo on 10/10/1943, the Germans took up defensive positions. The regiment took the starting line in the area of the former village of Bayevo. A swampy swamp lay on the outskirts of the enemy's position. This was the border separating the Smolensk region from Belarus. The Smolensk region was already almost completely liberated.
10/12/1943 the regiment launched an offensive. On a narrow sector of the front, the Germans concentrated a large amount of artillery and brought up human reserves. On the approaches to their positions there was a swampy swamp, which did not have our success. To the right of us, the attack was led by a Polish division. The Germans fiercely resisted, their aviation dominated the air and bombed our battle formations from sunrise to sunset. We fought in this area for six days. Finally, on 10/19/1943 we were withdrawn from the battle. Having made a small march, we took up defensive positions near the village of Nikitino.
Being on the defensive, we exhausted the enemy, and did not give him rest day or night. Our snipers did well. The scouts with their daring night searches every now and then brought in German "languages".
01/27/1944 the regiment was taken to rest in the miraculously survived village of Suimishche. After a month's rest, 02/28/1944 the regiment made a march near Orsha, where it was again to lead an offensive on Novoye Selo. Early in the morning, 03/07/1944, artillery preparation began. Heavy, stubborn battles were fought for nine days. The swamp turned into a huge puddle, water and mud during the day, frost at night. It is impossible to dig in properly, water. The losses are big, no success. 03/10/1944 the regiment commander Major Lysenko Anton Karpovich and his adjutant Lieutenant Andrey Tikhonovich Levchenko were killed. The command of the regiment was taken by Major Basserov Semyon Vasilyevich (later, November 1944-September 1945, commander of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th SD, lieutenant colonel) from the 291st rifle regiment of the 63rd rifle division.
Finally, we were replaced by newly arrived units and we marched off to Vitebsk. Exhausted by such prolonged bloody battles, we could barely stay on our feet, everyone looked terrible. Near Vitebsk, in the area of the village of Sverchki, the regiment took up defensive positions, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Naumovich Vodovozov (later, July-September 1944, commander of the 297th rifle regiment of the 184th SD), who arrived from the personnel department of the division, took command of the regiment.
The defense we occupied was extremely unfavorable. We defended the Vitebsk-Orsha highway in a rather narrow section. This area was clearly visible by the enemy and, noticing the slightest movement, the enemy opened frantic artillery fire. Their reconnaissance aircraft "frame" now and then appeared over our defenses, and each time it was followed by artillery raids one after the other. The Germans did not spare shells and, as we saw later, their reserves were enormous. We were in a state of tension all the time, the enemy was still strong and he was here, next to him, you can expect anything. A new regiment commander arrived - Lieutenant Colonel Sidorov Peter Maksimovich, preparations for new battles began.
The western front was divided into three Belorussian ones. Our 63rd Rifle Division, commanded by Major General Laskin, was part of the 5th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Krylov, and the army was part of the 3rd Belorussian Front, commanded by Army General Chernyakhovsky.
On June 22, 1944, a massive offensive of our troops began along the entire front. With us it was like this: on the night of June 22, reconnaissance in force was carried out, the operation was a success. In the morning, artillery preparation began, which lasted two hours. The Germans offered little resistance, their long-term defenses were broken through, and the offensive began. The Germans hastily retreated, abandoning equipment, ammunition and various military equipment. On June 23, the city of Vitebsk was taken, the division moved in the direction of Minsk.
For the breakthrough of the deeply echeloned defense of the Germans and the capture of Vitebsk, the division was expressed gratitude to the Supreme Command, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR it was named "Vitebsk".
In four days of offensive battles from June 22 to June 25, 1944, the regiment liberated 37 settlements from the German invaders, among them: Zavoroty, Antovil, Starobylie, Horovatka, Aleksandrovo, Obol, Khodorovka, Teplyaki, Zhartsy, Ostrovshchina, Ryabtsy, Pistons, Kaplans, Perebrody other. They repulsed from the enemy 23 guns of different calibers, 7 machine guns, 3 ammunition depots and 2 engineering equipment depots and many other property and weapons. More than 10,000 people were freed from fascist slavery.
The offensive of our troops was so rapid that the retreating Germans did not have time to blow up the bridges. In pursuit of the retreating enemy, we marched 60-70 km a day. Inspired by our successes, we walked day and night without rest, slept on the move and on short halts, sweating on the sultry July days.
The division took part in the encirclement and destruction of the German garrison in Minsk, as well as scattered enemy groups that found themselves in the rear of our troops.
On July 1, 1944, at 14-00, they crossed the Berezina River, at noon on July 2, they crossed the former border with Poland, entered western Belarus. On July 3 at 4-00 we entered the town of Buclav. Belarus is almost completely liberated from the German invaders, we are marching across Lithuania. The Germans are trying to stop our advance, but in vain. Where our units faced resistance, artillery and aviation fell on the heads of the enemies.
In the town of Meishagola, the Germans held out for three days, but it was completely swept away, only the church miraculously survived. Everything else has been turned into heaps of bricks and debris.
The division took part in the encirclement and destruction of the German garrison in the capital of the Lithuanian SSR, the city of Vilno. On July 13, a gratitude from the Supreme Command was announced for the capture of the Vilna division.
On the night of July 13, 1944, the regiment ford crossed the fast river Viliya. The successful crossing of the river was facilitated by the fact that there was a light rain, the sky was clouded with clouds and there was no enemy aircraft. The Germans, in all likelihood, directed their efforts to preserve the Vilnius garrison, and the regiment did not encounter major obstacles at the crossing. But when crossing the Neman on the night of July 16, a lot of effort and ingenuity was required, since the German coast was heavily fortified, preparation was required to take a bridgehead. The crossing was facilitated by the fact that our coast was covered with forest, and the enemy's coast had absolutely no vegetation, not even bushes. The artillery was brought up and installed at the edge of the forest, for direct fire. When darkness fell, only one platoon of volunteers with improvised means began to cross the Neman. The Germans opened fire on them, finding their firing points in the darkness. For our artillery, which was in direct fire, this was and was necessary. To suppress the enemy's firing points, our artillery brought down all its power on the German position, the platoon safely moved to the opposite bank, captured all the enemy's ferry means and returned to their bank on them. The enemy's firing points were suppressed, and a massive crossing of the Neman began. The Germans fired only weak rifle fire and our units had no losses.
Two battalions had already crossed the Neman and occupied a bridgehead on the enemy's coast, when the regiment received a new task: to destroy a group of Germans who were trying to break through to help the garrison in Vilna, but found themselves caught in a ring by our units. Leaving the outposts of the conquered bridgehead beyond the Neman, the regiment began to perform a new mission. With the help of a tank unit that arrived in time, the encircled group was eliminated, after which the regiment moved to Kaunas.
Kaunas was a German fortress, its approaches were defended by reinforced concrete pillboxes and forts left over from the last World War and improved by the Nazis. But the Red Army already had enough experience and funds to destroy such fortifications, and this time it coped successfully. At about four o'clock in the morning on 08/01/1944, the regiment, together with other units, entered the city. Residents greeted us with flowers, treated us with fruit, wine, invited us to visit.
Retreating, the Germans blew up all the bridges across the Neman River, but this did not stop the advance of our troops. A pontoon crossing was quickly set up and units with military equipment crossed the Niemen, starting to pursue the retreating enemy.
Immediately after the liberation of Kaunas from the Nazi invaders, residents began to build a temporary bridge across the Neman. In a few days he was ready, the advance of military cargo and equipment had no delay.
On August 1, 1944, the division was commended by the Supreme Command for the capture of the fortress and the city of Kaunas; by the Decree of the USSR PVS, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Lithuania was liberated on August 17, 1944. Our regiment was the first to reach the border with East Prussia at 3-00 on 17 August. The company of senior lieutenant Ivan Evgenievich Korotitsky in the area east of the border tower No. 50 and north of tower No. 52 crossed the Sheshupa river and on its eastern bank occupied the Prussian villages of Glabele, Berzheningnen and Groskeninsbruch. But having received an order to withdraw to its territory, the company retreated and the regiment took up defensive positions. On this day, Korotitsky died in battle. For the first exit to the border with East Prussia, the Military Council of the front announced gratitude to the division.
On August 20, the regiment transferred its defense sector to the 558th rifle regiment and was transferred to a sector near the town of Syntovty. Here, being on the defensive, during the shelling of our positions by the enemy, the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Maksimovich Sidorov, and his political officer, Major Ankudovich Vadim Ivanovich, were wounded. Major Andrey Vasilyevich Kiselev, who had previously held the post of deputy regiment commander for drill training, was appointed commander of the regiment. Captain Petr Makarovich Korzhan arrived at the post of political commander.
Our division has already accumulated considerable experience in breaking through the German defense. Having rested well after the summer battles and campaigns, on October 16, 1944, the division again began to break through the German defenses on the border with East Prussia. But, taking advantage of our respite, the Germans further improved their defenses and considered them impregnable.
Our task was to break into the den of the fascist beast. The first two days of fighting had little success. On October 19, the resistance of the Germans was finally broken and in the area of the small town of Naumistes (now Vladislavov) we, having broken through the enemy's defenses, crossed the border and went deep into the territory of East Prussia for 30 km.
The German defense in this sector was really solid: several lines of trenches, barbed wire, gouges, anti-tank ditches and a minefield. In the depths of the defense, powerful reinforced concrete pillboxes were built. In addition, in the border strip, buildings that at first glance seemed harmless were in fact strongholds. There were no villages along the border, only a farmstead, mostly brick-built, with walls of extraordinary thickness, cellars were concreted and in them special windows - embrasures. Attic spaces are usually brick-built and contain living quarters. The Germans used them as observation posts, often there were machine-gun emplacements that fired at our infantry.
On October 28, our offensive ended, the regiment was taken to rest in the town of Abshruten on the territory of East Prussia. For the breakthrough of the powerful, deeply echeloned defense of the Germans in East Prussia, the division was commended by the Supreme Command.
Having gone to rest, we again engaged in combat training.
On January 13, 1945, an offensive began along the entire 3rd Belorussian Front. Later we learned that the offensive began everywhere, on all fronts at the same time.
For two and a half months of our respite, the Germans were strongly fortified and not only prepared to repel our offensive. They were preparing to attack themselves with the intention of ousting our troops from East Prussia. Good intentions, but they were not destined to come true.
The artillery preparation that lasted for two hours did not bring us success; for two days we could not move forward. The artillery had to work additionally in order to break the enemy's resistance. Finally he began to retreat, but retreating, every now and then tried to gain a foothold on the previously prepared defensive lines. In the first five days of fighting, we advanced only 40-45 km, and then the pace of the offensive began to increase every day. For participation in the breakthrough of the German defense of the division, gratitude of the Supreme Command was again announced.
We occupied the settlements of Pimkallen, Stalludenen, Gumbinnen and on January 21, 1945, captured the city of Insterburg, an important communications hub and a powerful fortified area of the Germans on the way to Konigsberg.
In Insterburg, our units captured large trophies, a lot of various foodstuffs and various military equipment. There were no inhabitants in the city, the haste of their flight was felt everywhere. In many apartments one could see a table set and an unfinished dinner. The merchants abandoned their shops and fled with the retreating Nazis. From long-range guns the Germans subjected the city to the strongest shelling, day and night the city burned and collapsed, filling the streets with bricks and rubble of buildings.
For the capture of the city of Insterburg, the division was commended by the Supreme Command. For breaking through the defense in East Prussia, the division was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree, and the 346th Infantry Regiment was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky (Decree of 02.19.1945).
The population of East Prussia left with the retreating Nazi armies, leaving behind livestock and property. Finally, they experienced the fate of our 1941 people.
Soon civilians began to come across. The Poles were walking towards us, returning to their homeland. There were Russians who fled from German slavery.
By the forces of two fronts - ours and the 2nd Byelorussian, the Germans were clamped in pincers and pressed against the Baltic Sea. We occupied settlements one after another. Finally, they occupied the city of Kreuzburg, the town of Tiefenthal. Despite the presence of spring mud and rains, the pace of the offensive did not decrease, we moved to Konigsberg.
In the area of the town of Tiefenthal, the front commander, General of the Army, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Chernyakhovsky, was killed. The front was commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasilevsky.
The Germans were pressed against the Frisches Gough. Their further retreat was possible only along the spit, the width of which in places was no more than 400 meters. This only route of escape from the coast was under fire from our artillery all the time. The ships of the Baltic Fleet fired on the spit from the sea, and the aviation of both fronts was not indifferent. The extermination of the fascist conquerors here was in the full sense of the word.
On April 10, 1945, the last German fortress in East Prussia collapsed - the city of Konigsberg. For several days, the division fought for the city in the southwest direction. Finally, on April 9, units of the 11th Army broke into the city and, with the help of units of the 5th Army, captured the city on April 10th. The Red Banner was developing over Konigsberg.
On April 17, the German grouping in East Prussia was completely defeated, the remnants of the German army surrendered. We came close to the Baltic Sea.
For his participation in the battles in East Prussia, Henov was awarded the second Order of the Red Star.
So, from Kaluga to the shores of the Baltic Sea, in campaigns with fierce battles with the Nazi invaders, our glorious 63rd rifle Vitebsk Red Banner Order of Suvorov passed through.
On the way back from Frisches Gough through Rinau, Mettkoim, Nauzken station, Kailin, Wangen, Bendizen manor yard, Legitten farm, Labiau town, Tatenberg, Lukischken, Povangen, Krakau, Dedave, Kleinflis, Shtrinland. Having stopped on April 20 in the courtyard of the master, they put themselves in order, really washed in the bathhouse, changed their uniforms into summer uniforms. Having celebrated May 1, on May 3 we marched to Narcitten station. Here wagons were handed over to us, their equipment began, then loading. Soon we set off and, having passed the Insterburg we had recently taken, we left East Prussia.
On May 9, 1945, at the Molodechnoye station - Western Belarus, the train was stopped and a rally was announced on the occasion of the victory over Nazi Germany. The head of the political department of the division, Colonel Kuzmin, spoke at the meeting. Joy knew no bounds. A party began in the train, residents of Molodechnoye station brought in moonshine. On this day, everything was forgiven to all of us, the day of the desired victory over fascism came, we drank to victory, the end of the war!
We drove through Minsk, in Moscow the echelon was taken to the Kazan road, the path is clear - we are going to the Far East.
We pass the cities of Kazan, Sverdlovsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk. Finally, on June 9, we arrived at the Manzovka station, where they unloaded. We were stationed 7 km from the Manzovka station, at the foot of large hills, in houses built from tents.
Replenishment arrived, combat training began. We were getting ready to settle scores with the Japanese samurai. The division was commanded by Major General Gorodovikov, Hero of the Soviet Union, and again in the 5th Army under the command of Colonel General Krylov.
In July, they made a march towards the border with Manchuria and concentrated in the area of Medvezhya Mountain, 30 kilometers from the border and 12 kilometers from Grodekovo station.
Our 5th Army was part of the 1st Far Eastern Front, commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Meretskov.
Preparations for the offensive were entering the last stage, some of our units were already at the border and were monitoring the enemy. On August 6, after a short march, we reached the border and concentrated in the area of the "Potatoelnaya" hill.
There was a swamp between the "Potato" hill and the hill occupied by the enemy. The enemy's hill was covered with forest, and we have only sparse bushes. A day before the offensive, one of the companies, having received an order from the regimental commander, crossed over to the enemy's hill, chopped up a forest and paved the above-mentioned swamp. At the same time, not a single shot was fired from the Japanese.
Early in the morning of August 8, without any artillery preparation, as was always the case in the war with the Germans, our units, together with the border guards, quietly crossed the border, destroyed the Japanese border posts and began to deepen into the territory of Manchuria. We walked several kilometers when the Japanese tried to detain our units. From the hills where pillboxes were built, they opened fire on us, but our self-propelled guns quickly cleared the way for the infantry, destroying them.
Climbing the hill and looking back, one could see what an avalanche of troops and equipment was moving deep into Manchuria and it was clear that no force was able to stop it.
The Japanese Kwantung Army, vaunted throughout the world, began to retreat on the very first day of our offensive, without offering resistance. But the roads from the border inland were bad. The Japanese, apparently, only thought to attack and did not build roads. The first days we advanced slowly, then the pace of the offensive began to increase every day, but the campaign was not easy: hills, swamps, mountain streams - this was the path of our troops.
On August 10 we occupied the Hobei station, on August 11 "Gold mine", on August 13 the city of Mulin, on August 15, the Madaoshi station. Already here, some parts of the Kwantung Army began to surrender. We see whole columns of samurai following to the collection points of prisoners. There are many Japanese women among the prisoners, apparently the wives of officers, walking in columns with the children behind their backs.
On the outskirts of the station and the city of Mudanjiang on August 18, the Japanese tried to resist. With the interaction of artillery and aviation, the resistance was broken and our units took possession of it. On August 20, they occupied the Dunhua station, and on August 21 they entered the city of Jirin, where they disarmed the Japanese garrison and settled in their military town on the outskirts of Jirin.
The Kwantung Army surrendered. Our regiment ended the hostilities on this, and soon they were finished everywhere. In 13 days, through the hills and swamps, in the unbearable heat, we covered almost 500 km.
On August 23, 1945, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Comrade Stalin, the division was commended for participating in the breakthrough of the Border Fortified Region, overcoming the hard-to-reach, mountainous taiga terrain stretching for 500 km and capturing the city of Jirin in Manchuria.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 19, 1945, the division was awarded the Order of Kutuzov of the 2nd degree, and our 346th Infantry Regiment was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner.
So, the 63rd Rifle Vitebsk Order of "Suvorov" 2 degrees, the Order of "Kutuzov" 2 degrees, and, consequently, the 346th Rifle Regiment twice Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky, for their combat path have 8 commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Comrade Stalin and 1 commendation from the Military Council of the front.
On October 23, we leave Manchuria and, having plunged into wagons, we follow in Soviet Union... On October 29, they arrived at the Hun-Chun station, 20 km from the state border, and on October 31, in the Soviet Union, they settled in a village with a Chinese name - Hun-Chun. On November 10, we arrived at the town of Barabash, and on November 11 at the designated point of Pogran-Petrovka, having settled in the Soviet military town, with our Soviet name.
But we did not stay long on Soviet soil. Less than two weeks later we were taken back to Manchuria, this time to the Yangtze city and back to our military town of Pogran-Petrovka, they returned on April 21, 1946. We returned here through Wangqing, Tumin. Soon we heard good news: on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the demobilization of older soldiers from the army was announced. I belonged to this category too.
In the first half of May 1946, the dispatch of demobilized soldiers began from Pogran-Petrovka. We were presented with diplomas, in which feats of arms and warm words of parting words were noted, signed by the division commander, Colonel Samarin, and the head of the political department, Colonel Deynega.
But not everyone waited for the Victory Day and those joyful days of returning to their homeland. Many, very many remained on the battlefields and I will never forget my well-known comrades, among them:
Senior sergeant, head of the radio station Nikolai Semenovich Lekomtsev, 1917, a merry fellow, a good accordion player, originally from Kirov, struck down on 08/05/1944 by a sniper bullet in Lithuania.
The battalion commander, Captain Garnaev Ivan Vasilievich, 1922, was killed on April 18, 1944 during an artillery raid on the regiment's command post in the Sverchkov area.
The chief of staff of the regiment, Captain Voskresensky Petr Ivanovich, 1902, who died on 08/30/1943 during an air raid by the Germans in Yelnya
Adjutant of the battalion Captain Viktor Nikolaevich Zolotov, 1910, died 06/23/1944
Regiment commander Major Lysenko Anton Karpovich, 1903, killed 03/10/1944
Chief of the chemical service, senior lieutenant Salnikov Pyotr Ivanovich, 1921, who died on 09/19/1945 in a car accident
Sergeant Klyauzov Aleksey Vasilyevich, 1904, escaped from Nazi captivity, fought in the West and died on 08/13/1945 in Manchuria in a battle at the Pelinskhe junction.
On the fields of Lithuania on October 17, 1944, the regiment's agitator, Captain Bayadilov Abulkhair, 1913, and many, many others, died.
Over the years, there have been many good friends and comrades in arms who have survived. Some are still in the ranks Soviet army, and the majority work for the glory of our Fatherland.
Good memories remain of Sergeant Major Vasily Chebotarev, we have known him since 1943, he comes from the Rostov Region. In 1965, 19 years after our parting in Pogran-Petrovka in 1946, I tracked him down through the Rostov address desk. He lives in Taganrog, worked as the city's communications chief. While at a resort in Kislovodsk, we agreed to meet on the way back, and on May 15, 1965, the meeting took place in Taganrog. How much joy and memories this unforgettable meeting brought.
Alexey Henov, 1966, Perm
