November 5, 1941. The Siberians have been waiting for a breakthrough for a long time. For the command of the German 2nd Panzer Army, a fresh Siberian division, fully equipped, with 40 tanks, transferred from the Far East, literally on the eve of the second general offensive on Moscow, was like a splinter firmly driven into a German tank wedge. The right-flank 52nd Army Corps (112th and 167th Infantry Divisions) had been marking time for a week near the Donskoy, which caused irritation, turning into indignation: the corps, which was supposed to cover the flank of the main strike group, regularly asked for support, pulling back the forces so needed now under Kashira!
As early as November 18, this Siberian 239th Infantry Division attacked the 112th Infantry so that, according to the recollections of the commander of the 2nd Tank Army, Colonel-General Guderian, "it came to panic that engulfed the front sector as far as Bogoroditsk." He noted that "this panic, which arose for the first time since the beginning of the Russian campaign, was a serious warning indicating that our infantry had exhausted its combat capability and was no longer capable of major efforts." And so it happened later: the 112th Infantry left the front and remained in Stalinogorsk to lick its wounds as a rear occupation force. And then, on November 18, the situation at the front of the 112th Infantry Division was corrected "by its own efforts of the 53rd Army Corps, which turned the 167th Infantry Division to Uzlovaya." In the 112th itself, we had to pull up to the front line all the rear personnel, sleds, cooks, clerks, everyone, everyone, everyone …
The offensive did not go according to plan. Instead of a rapid breakthrough to Venev and Kashira, the 4th tank unit of the forces moved much farther east - to Belokolodez, Ozerki, Savino, cutting off the rear and communications of Siberians from the north. From the east, the Stalinogorsk cauldron with the Siberians was sealed by Major General Max Fremerey's 29th Motorized Infantry Division, which, instead of an accelerated march to Serebryanye Prudy and Zaraisk, was now turning its front to the west, right in the back of the 239th Infantry Division. All rear communications were cut off, carts with evacuated wounded Soviet soldiers were captured. Colonel G. O. Martirosyan's Siberian division was left alone. In the ring. Against four German ones.
However, in operational reports the Germans will write about two surrounded Siberian divisions. After all, it somehow did not fit at all that the formations of three corps (24th, 47th and 53rd army) could not cope with only one division. Even if it was full-blooded, with the backbone of the reservists who passed Khasan and Khalkhin-Gol, fully armed, with 40 tanks, with the 125th separate tank battle attached. Even if these Siberians passed on November 7 in ceremonial boxes in front of foreign diplomatic representatives in Kuibyshev and swore to Kalinin and Voroshilov to defend their homeland! No, there are two Siberian divisions in the cauldron. Point.
On the morning of November 25, the command post of the 29th "Falcon" division moved to the Epifan station (now the city of Kimovsk), and the headquarters of the regiments were located directly in the village of Dudkino. Preparations for the encirclement and cleaning of the Stalinogorsk cauldron took place in the building of the Dudkin school - it was not advisable to teach these Russian children further. Even yesterday, the intelligence of the 4th Panzer Division reported that there was no enemy in the north (Holtobino, Shishlovo, Podhozhee), but reported on the destruction of two groups of partisans. The chairman of the Stalinogorsk city committee of the Osoaviakhim Grigory Mikhailovich Kholodov led a group of school teachers from the Zavodskoy district of Stalinogorsk from the combat zone to the east to the Ryazan region. But near Shishlovo they were overtaken by German intelligence. In a fleeting skirmish, Kholodov was killed. Women and men were separated, the latter were shot right in the field. "Each military unit is obliged, upon receipt of a report or rumors about the partisans, to immediately carry out reconnaissance and destroy the partisans […] No mercy is provided for the suspected subjects."
A familiar thing. German generals, officers and soldiers have seen many boilers in France and Poland; but the endless columns of Soviet prisoners of war along the dusty roads in the summer and autumn of 1941 were especially engraved in the memory. And in the last Bryansk cauldron, in October, Fremerey's "falcons" also prevented the Russians from breaking through. On November 25, at 11:15 am (13:15 Moscow time), the decision was meticulously recorded in the combat log again: “Based on the development of events, the division headquarters is approaching the moment when the encirclement ring will be tightly closed by the large forces of the 15th Infantry Regiment, and gives the order to take Ivankovo [6 km west of Dudkino] by the forces of the Jaeger Battalion on the move”.
The first bell rang in Ivankovo, the second in Shirino. The 3rd Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division was called "Jaeger" in memory of the Hessian 11th Jaeger Battalion of the Reichswehr in the 1920s. Its history dates back to the royal Prussian army. In a bloody oncoming battle in Ivankovo, the German rangers were attacked by Siberians from three sides and defeated. The second attempt to take Ivankovo brought the number of those killed to 34, and the number of wounded to 83. For the first time in the military campaign in Russia, there were missing persons in the division - the battalion that departed in the evening to Sokolniki did not count 15 rangers … However, military veterinary doctor of the 2nd rank Mikhail Tikhonovich Lyadov in his diary specifically explains what happened to them: “The enemy was surrounded by cross machine-gun fire on the northwestern outskirts of the village [Ivankovo]. Our mortar prepared an attack, and the company drove the enemy out of the village, inflicting 52 casualties on him; ours lost 31 people killed, 8 wounded."
On the same day, a German attempt to "clean up" the village of Shirino by the reconnaissance patrol of the 1st battalion of the 15th infantry regiment also failed. "Apparently we are talking about significant forces" - recorded in the log of military operations. A Soviet officer of the 817th Infantry Regiment of the 239th Infantry Division, who escaped to the location of the 2nd Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment in the village of Granki, reported that his regiment in Donskoy had been alerted last night at 24:00 and set out at 2:00 in the direction of Ivankovo. His testimony was urgently sent to the headquarters of the 15th Infantry Regiment in Dudkino that the enemy found in Ivankovo and Shirino was the forward units of the 239th Infantry Division. Akhtung, Siberians went for a breakthrough! Further, the head of the operational department transfers this information to the headquarters of the 47th Army Corps.
At the headquarters of the German 47th Army Corps, the Siberians had been waiting for a breakthrough for a long time. Well, finally, we will pull out this "splinter"! According to the intercepted order of the Russian 50th Army, the 239th Infantry Division is to break through on the night of November 26-27 or early November 27 to the north into Silver Ponds. And so, the 29th Motorized Infantry Division is making all the preparations to meet a possible night breakthrough attempt. Despite the severe frosts, even at night the German infantrymen occupied continuous defensive positions, as the headquarters believed. However, there were no continuous defensive lines: from frost and lack of winter uniforms, the German infantry sat basking in the village houses, and only the soldiers of the outpost with a shudder recalled: “We were on the street guarded at 30-32 degrees of cold. We thought we would die, as some of them froze toes and part of their legs. " Well, there was also hope that the Siberians would nevertheless go north through the positions of the neighboring 4th Panzer Division.
The offensive had not gone according to plan for a long time, but now the encirclement of the Siberians somehow did not go well. Ivankovo, Shirino, Spasskoe … Spasskoe? The 1st Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment in the afternoon of November 25 proceeded through Spasskoye to the south-west, but unexpectedly at about 17:00 (19:00 Moscow time) it was attacked by large enemy forces from both flanks and was temporarily cut off. The battalion suffered heavy losses. Among others, the battalion commander, Captain Lise, the adjutant of the 3rd battalion of the 29th artillery regiment, senior lieutenant Hübner, the commander of the 6th battery of the 29th artillery regiment, senior lieutenant Fettig, and many of their soldiers at the hands of Siberians …
However, the real break in the pattern occurred in the village of Novo-Yakovlevka. The scattered remnants of the 15th Infantry Regiment slipped out here and were included there in the 2nd Battalion of the 71st Infantry Regiment. But the Siberians burst here the next night. It is very difficult and. O. the commander of the 1st battalion of the 15th infantry regiment, senior lieutenant Betge, in his report described the picture of the complete defeat: “Suddenly, a skirmish began on the main line of defense. At the same time, a roar rose, more animal than human … The entire Siberian division attacked the right wing of the 2nd battalion of the 71st infantry regiment, and it was in the southeast direction, i.e. obliquely in relation to our front. We could not distinguish between the Russians, but only heard. Finally we saw the flashes of their machine guns and assault rifles. They fired on the run from the hip. Gradually the sounds of gunfire spread all the way to the left wing of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, from where I finally received a message that he was surrounded. At the same time, the adjutant returned and reported to me that he had not been able to reach the 2nd Battalion, 71st Infantry Regiment; in the northern part of Novo-Yakovlevka, he met only with the Russians. It was now clear that we were trapped. […] An order to withdraw from Novo-Yakovlevka was not required. […] Now it was only a matter of not turning the retreat from the village into a real flight … The situation with the collection and organization of units was already desperate. Only with the help of merciless measures was it possible to avoid a complete catastrophe. Good persuasion didn't help there anymore."
This means that only with the help of merciless measures it was possible to avoid a complete catastrophe - to escape from these Siberians, who were shooting on the run from the hip, with an animal roar. The frightened German officer very clearly describes his feelings from the Russian battle cry "Hurray", which later became a symbol of the Great Patriotic War.
During the heavy hand-to-hand combat on the night of November 27, with large losses for the Germans, the Siberians managed to break through with significant forces to the east … And yes, instead of the Silver Ponds, as indicated in the intercepted order of the 50th Army, the 239th Infantry Division also did not go according to plan, and to the east - to Pronsk (Ryazan region). One could guess that the Siberians simply did not receive it and acted independently according to the situation, maintaining contact with the higher headquarters of the front and General Headquarters.
The gap in the encirclement was soon sealed, and the subsequent cleansing of those remaining in the Stalinogorsk cauldron brought 1530 prisoners and large trophies: all his tanks, as well as heavy weapons, the commander of the 239th rifle division, Colonel G. O. Martirosyan was forced to leave in order to break through light … But the other 9000 people left!
"Nicht ordnung". To punish … the inspection of the night breakthrough of Siberians at 11:35 on November 27, the commander of the 2nd Panzer Army, Colonel-General Heinz Guderian, arrives at the command post of the 29th motorized infantry division. Then at 12:30 from there he went to Dudkino. One can imagine what selective German language was in the former class of Russian language and literature of the Dudkin school! battles ". With a satisfied face, after a short stay in Dudkino, the commander goes to Novo-Yakovlevka, where he receives a report from the surviving German infantrymen and addresses a short speech to the personnel. “Well, it's really a pity that the Russians broke through. But it can happen,”Guderian found himself. But instead of being dragged out, the battalion commander heard encouraging words: “Don't hang your head. Pass this on to your people as well. " And the "high-speed Heinz" himself rushed further north to the location of the 4th Panzer Division. He clearly had more important plans - somewhere near Moscow.
So, in order to save his battalion from destruction, Senior Lieutenant Betge temporarily left the village. The war log speaks of "our heavy losses" in the retreat to the north. When the next morning a joint counterattack with infantrymen from the 2nd Battalion of the 71st Infantry Regiment managed to capture Novo-Yakovlevka again, Betge's soldiers faced a "terrible sight." “Our dead comrades and the dead Russians lay mixed, partly on top of each other. The whole village was just a smoldering heap of ruins. Between them lay the skeletons of burnt cars […]"
73 killed, 89 wounded and 19 missing in one day, more precisely in one night on November 27, 1941. A total of 120 killed, 210 wounded and 34 missing for the period 20-29 November - in the bottom line of the division, which was at the forefront of the breakthrough of the Siberians.
Likewise, Lemelsen, the commander of the 47th Army Corps, from the very beginning by no means tried to somehow embellish the defeat. On this occasion, he noted in the history of the division: “The [1st] battalion [15th Infantry Regiment] suffered the heaviest losses [in Spasskoye]. Among others, the battalion commander, Captain Lise, the adjutant of the 3rd battalion of the 29th artillery regiment, senior lieutenant Hübner and the commander of the 6th battery of the 29th artillery regiment, senior lieutenant Fettig, as well as many of their brave fighters at the hands of the Siberians, a total of about 50 people; their bodies, brutally mutilated, were subsequently found and solemnly buried at the military cemetery in Dudkino. Only deliberate inflammatory propaganda could overshadow the minds of Siberians to commit such acts that despise all the laws of war. Immeasurable anger and indignation gripped all the comrades who witnessed this."
What a twist! Black suddenly turned white … He is echoed by the German Lieutenant Colonel Nietzsche, who once again describing the course of the battle in Novo-Yakovlevka and confirming the heavy losses, emphasizes: “It can be established from many bodies that the enemy with brutal cruelty mutilated and killed the wounded who fell to him into your hands."
This version does not stand up to criticism: in night battles, which grew into fierce hand-to-hand combat, Soviet fighters were not at all up to reprisals against the enemy. But in a bayonet attack, and even at night, the fighters do not choose where it is more accurate to thrust their bayonet or a small infantry shovel into the enemy. Military doctor of the 2nd rank Mikhail Tikhonovich Lyadov is extremely brief: “The enemy is constantly lighting missiles, judging by the missiles, we are in the ring. An order has been given - to break through the ring. […] The company commander Senior Lieutenant Skvortsov and Lieutenant Kazakov led the men into the attack. I walked in the third chain, in front of Bautin, Ivanov, Ruchkoseev, behind Petrov, Rodin. Everyone fought desperately. The Ruchkoseevs beat the Germans especially well - he stabbed 4 fascists with a bayonet, shot 3 and took 4 prisoners. In this attack, I destroyed 3 fascists. The ring was broken, we got out of the encirclement."
But not everyone left the encirclement. More than 1,500 prisoners were in the hands of the Germans, many were wounded. The reaction of the infantrymen of the 29th motorized infantry division turned out to be monstrous. A local resident of the village of Novo-Yakovlevka Vasily Timofeevich Kortukov, then a 15-year-old boy, still quite clearly remembers those events: “After the battle, the Germans literally went berserk. They went home, finished off the wounded Red Army soldiers. One soldier was killed in my house. Many of the wounded Red Army men were put in the house of the Korolevs, and they laid straw for them there. The Germans walked with a stake and they killed the wounded. One soldier, wounded in the arm, hid, changed into a raincoat and left for Solntsevo [now not existing 4 km south of Novo-Yakovlevka]. And the rest, about 12 people, were all beaten. I thought maybe who would survive, but no, he [the German] stabbed all the soldiers … They also gathered the hiding soldiers, who, perhaps, did not want to fight or were wounded - they took them out to the pond (in the northern part of the village) and about 30 people. 35 were shot. From the Altai Territory, they were healthy guys …”According to archival data (Archive Department of the Administration of the city of Kimovsk and Kimovsky District, f.3, op.1, item 3, l.74), 50 soldiers were shot at the Spassky Village Council. Red Army captured, including 20 wounded, 1 lieutenant and 1 captain. And the thin / weak German psyche has nothing to do with it.
German officers did their best to justify the atrocities of their own soldiers, but they have no excuse. As the German researcher Henning Stüring notes, “it is precisely on prisoners, whether they themselves are guilty or not, that the accumulated rage often spills out with unbridled cruelty. All the more so on the eastern front, hostile to life, ideologically charged from both sides [in the USSR]”. He especially emphasizes: “In all studies, this aspect is analyzed very briefly, often almost not mentioned at all. Instead, the Wehrmacht's undeniable involvement in the Holocaust is invariably shown. But the main storyline, namely the war and its countless battles, fades into the background. You have to hold before your eyes a long list of division losses to find out the truth. Ordinary soldiers of the 29th [Motorized Infantry Division] killed Red Army soldiers, not civilians. After five months on the eastern front, more than one in three soldiers of the division itself are killed, wounded or missing. On the eastern front, along with war crimes, above all, there was just an ordinary war. Of course, both sides fought with unrelenting brutality. However, not the shooting of commissars or even Jews, but the destruction of prisoners of war immediately after heavy fighting with heavy losses - the most numerous crimes of German infantrymen!"
But wait, who cares about these crimes now? In our country "Heinz" is ketchup, and the Holocaust is glue for wallpaper, while others have long renamed streets named after Soviet officers and erected monuments to the Bandera murderers. Black turned white, white turned black - keep it up! What the Germans did not succeed in during the Great Patriotic War, was perfectly realized in the 1990s - the historical memory of the people was erased. Or? … Wolfram Wette, professor of modern history at the University of Freiburg, co-founder of the working group for the study of the history of peacetime and adviser to the Association for relations with the countries of the former USSR, recalls:
“The Wehrmacht's criminal actions against Russian prisoners of war in 1941-1945 remain an indelible shame on the Wehrmacht and the German people. The third rule in the identity card of the German soldier read: "You cannot kill an enemy who has surrendered." This rule, which every German soldier was supposed to follow, was violated by the Wehrmacht three million three hundred thousand times! This knowledge must finally be extracted from the hidden corners of our memory. And let it be unpleasant for us - honesty in relation to history will only benefit the relationship between Germany and Russia."
Well, then let's continue our difficult story.
