On the eve of the anniversary of the Great Victory, I would like to recall the miracles of the Great Patriotic War. Miracles performed by Soviet soldiers in the name of saving our Motherland. The heroism of the peoples of the Soviet Union, which TV channels and radio stations “forget” to tell or intentionally do not talk about, was a manifestation of the Russian soul, of the Russian character. As Vladimir Karpov, WWII veteran, hero of the Soviet Union, author of many books wrote: “We were raised to death not only by the calls“for the Motherland, for Stalin,”each of us was raised by the eternal Russian“We must!”Only a person who is aware of responsibility before millions fellow citizens, able to jump without a parachute, in the truest sense of the word.
Marshal Zhukov was sent by the Headquarters to the most dangerous sector of the front - near Moscow, where fierce battles were raging. The Germans were getting closer and closer to the Russian capital. Zhukov arrived in a small town where the army headquarters was temporarily located, which had lost contact and control over the troops. He saw that the guards were taking the pilot out of the headquarters building with his hands tied behind his back.
- What's the matter? he asked the well-groomed major of the NKVD who had accompanied the arrested man.
- The alarmist … Beria personally ordered the arrest and execution without trial.
- For what?
- I informed the headquarters that a column of German tanks was walking towards Moscow along the highway and that it was already beyond Mozhaisk.
- This is true? - Zhukov turned sharply to the pilot, who was walking with his head down.
- Truth. An hour ago I myself saw … Fifty-one tanks, vehicles with infantry.
- An alarmist, comrade General of the Army! - said the major angrily and pushed the pilot in the back.
- Set aside! - ordered Zhukov and immediately added, addressing the pilot:
- Get in the twin and check immediately. You will fly with him, Major!
- Comrade General, I am carrying out a special order of my superiors. He … He will take me to the Germans, - the Chekist himself fell into a panic.
- I will order you to be shot, immediately! - Zhukov said harshly and contemptuously. And turning to the pilot: - Get into my car and blow to the airfield. I'll be waiting. Return the belt and personal weapons to the pilot immediately. I believe him.
An hour later, Zhukov's car returned, and the same major flew into the headquarters, frightened and out of breath.
- The information was confirmed … fifty-four tanks, a column of armored vehicles and trucks with soldiers … They are going directly to Moscow … I thought I myself had been fired upon!
- Where is the pilot?
- Outside.
- Call here!
Zhukov ordered to give the pilot a keg of vodka …
- You will receive the order later. Thank you, brother, helped out! Be sure to take an oak barrel from the quartermaster and wash the Order of the Red Banner.
- I serve the Soviet Union! May I go?
- Go, - Zhukov smiled, seeing the joy on the face of the person he had saved.
When the pilot, accompanied by the amused soldiers, left, Zhukov sternly looked at the faces of the military commanders present:
- What do we do? The Germans are going to Moscow! How could you not strengthen the strategically important highway, the tank direction? Such a column is difficult to stop! It is impossible to throw their troops in front of them … They are almost in kings. Are there bombers at the airfield?
- Yes, but the bombs have been used up. Not a single one was left. You can send transport TB-3s to Moscow to warehouses,”one of the generals mumbled.
- Not to be in time … - Zhukov thought, walked around the room and ordered. - Prepare the landing!
“There are no parachutes,” one of the pilots said.
- Prepare the landing! - Zhukov repeated again.- When I was driving here, I saw a fresh regiment of Siberians on the march not far from the airfield, detain it, turn towards the planes. We're going there.
When the authorities arrived at the airfield, the Siberian regiment was already lined up on the airfield. Zhukov involuntarily admired, looking at healthy, ruddy guys and men in brand new white sheepskin coats. The regiment, seeing the approaching Zhukov, froze without a command.
- Brothers !!! - Zhukov shouted loudly to the recruits. - A column of German tanks broke through to Moscow and will soon be in the capital … There are no means to stop them, but this must be done so as not to sow panic and shed the innocent blood of civilians. I cannot order you to go for it … I ask you … Only volunteers are needed. There are anti-tank rifles, grenades and explosives collected in those cars … I set a task that has never been equal in the history of war. And there will probably not be … You see that nature itself stood up to defend the Holy Fatherland, the land near Moscow has not remembered such snow for a long time. On a low level flight, you must drop a landing in front of a tank column and stop it. It will be necessary to jump into the snow without parachutes - there are none … We have no other choice either. Volunteers! Three steps forward!
The whole regiment swayed and in a single monolith took three steps. Not a single person remained in place.
- With God! There are no such soldiers in any army in the world. And it never will! Zhukov bowed deeply to the soldiers and ordered:
- Distribute anti-tank weapons!
Transport planes were heavily off the ground and headed for Mozhaisk. Zhukov gazed motionless after them, clasping his hand behind his greatcoat. The worried orderly asked:
- With a bad heart, Comrade Army General?
- Everything is fine.
At this time, the last plane took off from the ground. Zhukov convulsively squeezed near his heart the icon of the Mother of God, which he had carried with him since the beginning of the war, and whispered a prayer. Then, not fearing anyone, he crossed himself sharply and walked with a heavy gait to the car. Sitting down, he said to the driver:
- I can't imagine an American, an Englishman, or even a German who voluntarily jumps from an airplane without a parachute!
Over the past month, Private Sergei Kravtsov has volunteered twice. The first time - when he managed to remove the reservation he was entitled to and left the defense plant in Omsk to the front, the second time - half an hour ago, when he heard Zhukov's words. No, he did not regret his decisions, but only now, sitting in the dark fuselage of a transport plane, he realized what he had to do and was frightened. He was frightened that he would not be able to jump out, would not be able to overcome his natural fear, or would break if he fell and would not help his comrades. He groped for a bunch of grenades - his main weapon against tanks, gripped his machine gun and tried to imagine a future jump.
They said that it was better to jump sideways, so as not to break your legs, to group, on the ground - to roll over several times and join the battle. In theory, it seemed like it was okay, but how will it be in reality? Sergei tried to distract himself. He remembered how his mother and Alyonka saw him off, how they cried and asked them to come back. During his short life, Sergei managed a little: he finished school, worked at a factory for several months, met Alyonka, whom he already considered his fiancée. Now Sergei even felt embarrassed in front of his mother, whom he asked to leave them with Alyonka for a few minutes before being sent to the front. But Alyonka promised to wait, and this filled Sergei's heart with hope. The doors of the freight car were not immediately closed, and for a long time he saw how they stood together on the platform, crying and waving their hands to him …
The command "Prepare to jump!" sounded completely unexpected. Sergei jumped up, checked the grenades and the machine gun again. The plane flew over the ground so quickly that the fighters, one after the other disappearing in a blizzard, were left so far behind that it seemed they would never gather into a single combat unit. Sergei went to the hatch, closed his eyes and, slightly pushed from behind, rushed down. In the first moment, unbearable pain pierced him, and he, having turned over ten times, lost consciousness.
The German column was speeding along the snow-covered highway. Suddenly, low-flying Russian planes appeared ahead, as if they were about to land, creeping over the ground. At a height of four to ten meters from the ground, people fell from the planes like clusters. From their falls, the snow heaved, like the earth after the explosions of shells, people tumbled in snow whirlwinds, and immediately these white snow explosions turned into fiery explosions of grenades and automatic bursts, sowing panic and death in the German columns. Ghosts in white sheepskin coats threw themselves under tanks with bundles of grenades, fired anti-tank rifles, the attack was so swift that the Germans could not come to their senses for a long time. Furious, fearless in their retribution, the Russians bore death. Burned by anti-tank rifles, exploded with grenades, tanks were on fire.
Sergei, all buried in loose snow, lay in a ditch near the highway itself twenty meters from the place where he landed. He woke up from terrible pain and tried to get up, but from just trying to do it, the pain became so unbearable that he only with a huge effort of will forced himself to regain consciousness. The machine gun was nowhere to be found, nor was there any hope of finding it. By some miracle, a bunch of grenades was nearby, and he groped for it immediately.
The battle was in full swing near the highway, and if a French, American or British army had been in the place of the German army, the white tornado of the Russian landing would have crushed them immediately, but the disciplined Germans managed to recover after the first shock, organized defense and, having great superiority in manpower and equipment, managed to take the battle and, with the help of tanks, infantry and armored vehicles, repel the Russian attack, shooting almost all the paratroopers. The Germans rejoiced at the victory, especially since a new column of tanks, motorcycles, armored vehicles and vehicles with infantry approached from the west and entered the battle.
Sergei realized that his legs were broken. It was difficult to imagine a greater failure. Overcoming the pain, he cleared the snow and looked around. Several German cars were burning in the distance, but, suppressing the Russian landing and roaring powerful engines, the rest lined up in a marching column, intending to move back to Moscow. Some of ours continued automatic fire, but it became less and less frequent. The engines roared deafeningly, the German tank, having stopped pouring machine-gun fire on the Siberians, turned almost over the head of Private Kravtsov. Sergei carefully took a bunch of grenades in his right hand and began to crawl out onto the road, slowly approaching the enemy combat vehicle rumbling at idle. Unnoticed, Sergei crawled almost close to the iron hulk, prepared a bunch of grenades. He could crawl somehow, but he had no strength to throw grenades to the tank. He made a few more movements in the direction of the tank, with difficulty pulled the pin on one of the grenades and managed to slightly push the bundle closer to the tank. A moment later, there was a deafening explosion. The tank, having lost its tracks, stood firmly, blocking the way for others.
The Germans did not immediately notice that Russian planes emerged from behind the forest again, and a new wave of paratroopers, like a tsunami, literally fell on the heads of German soldiers. The Russians entered the battle immediately, without wasting a second, it seemed that they began to shoot before reaching the ground. This time the Germans failed to do anything. The exploded armored vehicles and tanks that blocked the retreat paths for the rest of the convoy turned it into a good target. Only a few tanks and armored vehicles managed to escape from the fiery hell and rushed back at top speed. It seemed that not only the crews, but also the combat vehicles themselves were seized by animal horror, that not only people, but also tanks with cars were announcing the surroundings of the nightmare they had just got out of. When the euphoria of the battle passed, ours began to count the losses … It turned out that only in the fall, out of every hundred people, twelve died. How many people were left crippled, what terrible injuries people received when jumping from a height of five to ten meters at great speed … Who will calculate this now?
Eternal glory to the Russian soldiers who died in this unprecedented mass feat! Eternal glory to those who survived and continued to fight! Remember, Orthodox Christians, in your prayers the Russian soldiers who died for the Fatherland!
