In 1963, an interview with the leader of the Cuban revolution, and at the same time one of the most famous people of our time, Fidel Castro, was published in Spanish-language newspapers. Among many fairly traditional and familiar questions, one stood out: "Which of the heroes of the Second World War could you call your idol?" Apparently journalists hear the name of someone famous, but the commandant was not so easy.
As an educated man, he, like the legendary Che Guevara, had a great passion for books. Once he came across the story of Alexander Bek "Volokolamskoe Highway" about the feat of the 8th Panfilov Guards Division. One of the main characters of the book is now a little-known Soviet officer from Kazakhstan, Baurzhan Momysh-uly, who he called his hero. But what is this hero of heroes famous for?
A stately and handsome young officer went to serve in the Red Army a few years before the Great Patriotic War. During this time, he managed to unlearn the skills of an artillery officer, took part in the battles in the Far East with the Japanese army, and took part in the campaign to Bessarabia. Then he went to serve in Alma-Ata, where he was found by the war.
In the fall of 1941, he asked to volunteer for the front, just at that time a 316-rifle division was being formed in the city. Already at the stage of creation, it was assumed that this unit would be one of the most combat-ready - adult men who had an idea of the war were sent to it, all of them were volunteers. In the part of Momysh-uly, they were appointed battalion commander.
The very first appointment of the division threatened to become the last - the military unit was sent to defend the approaches to Moscow. The command understood that the advancing Wehrmacht units would simply sweep away the 316th, but it was necessary to hold the capital until the Far Eastern armies approached. The matter was complicated by the fact that the Soviet command literally forbade the study of defensive concepts in the army, it was assumed that the Red Army should win with offensive operations on foreign soil. For a different point of view, one could lose his position.
But Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, who happened to command the 316th division, went to the trick. He developed tactics for conducting spiral warfare. In his opinion, given a numerically superior enemy, it was suicide to act with the usual methods. So, his division had to keep a front with a length of more than 40 kilometers, although according to all wartime standards, they could only defend 12 kilometers. In such a situation, any concentrated blow of the enemy would break through the defense. And then Panfilov propose to act as follows.
The unit did not need to set up an entire defensive front. Instead, it was necessary to strike at a moving enemy column, and, after a short battle, move away from the advancing enemy. Along the way, small ambushes and pockets of resistance were organized behind the retreating division, which lured the enemy towards the retreating ones, at the same time holding them back. After the enemy stretched out, the division abruptly changed direction and returned again to strike at the main forces. Such harassing blows greatly stretched the forces of the enemy, which greatly slowed down his advance. As a result, the division not only survived, contrary to all forecasts, but also did it heroically, for which it was renamed the 8th Guards Panfilov.
It is noteworthy that Panfilov developed only a theory, but it was the battalion commander Momysh-uly who brought it to life best of all. Having entered the battle in mid-October 1941 as a battalion commander, in November he had already led the regiment, although he remained a "senior". The significance of his merits can be judged by the fact that Panfilov's defensive theory was called "Momyshuly's spiral"
Colonel-General Erich Göpner commanded the 4th Panzer Group, and it was he who had a chance to face the tactics of a young Kazakh. During the offensive, he will write in his reports to Hitler: "A savage division, fighting in violation of all regulations and rules of engagement, whose soldiers do not surrender, are extremely fanatical and are not afraid of death."
The only savagery of the International Volunteer Division was that they were not familiar with the German plans. Instead of heroically dying under the tracks of the German tank armada, Momysh-uly's regiment chose life and victory.
The tactics of the "wild" Kazakh can be judged by several episodes. On his very first day at the front, the lieutenant suggested that the regiment commander create a detachment of one hundred volunteers and make a night sortie with them. He took with him only the most experienced, and at night he crept up to one of the villages occupied by the enemy. In less than an hour of battle, three hundred enemies were destroyed.
At the Demyansk regiment of the senior lieutenant had a chance to meet with the SS division "Dead's Head". Here he again had to fight with a numerically superior enemy. He chose six villages occupied by the enemy as a target. Twenty detachments into which the regiment was divided, under cover of night, alternately attacked all targets at once. As soon as the enemy organized a defense, the detachment retreated, and a few minutes later another squad attacked the village from the other side. And such hell was going on in all six directions for several hours. The famous division with a loud name held out as best it could, but was sure that it was holding back the main offensive of the Soviet army. They did not even imagine that they were fighting with one battered regiment. During the night, the losses of Momysh-uly fighters amounted to 157 fighters, the SS division lost 1200 soldiers.
As we can see, the starley adhered to the tactics of Alexander Suvorov - to always hold the initiative in the offensive. However, modern realities also had to be taken into account. The Panfilovites could not give one general battle. After they defeated one German unit, several others attacked them. Momysh-uly was repeatedly surrounded, but each time he broke through, while keeping his battalion, regiment and division in full combat readiness.
The 30-year-old lieutenant began his legendary path in October 1941 as a battalion commander, a month later he already commanded a regiment, in February he led his own division, while remaining a senior lieutenant. Only a few months later, one by one, he was awarded extraordinary titles up to colonel. Then he was nominated for the title of Hero of the USSR, but was refused.
The delays in awards were influenced by its peculiar nature. Co-workers described him as a cheerful, cheerful person who always spoke the truth. This became the cause of many frictions with the authorities.
This became the reason for a rather comical situation in the future. According to the stories of Momysh-ula's stepdaughter, her adoptive father rarely used his connections and influence, but he loved to read about himself in the newspapers. He found out how highly Fidel Castro and Che Guevara appreciated his exploits and immediately sent them an invitation to visit. The Cuban guests, during their visit to the USSR, immediately announced that they would like to meet with the legendary "wild" Kazakh.
The authorities started organizing the meeting. But there was one snag - the apartment building where the legendary Panfilov resident lived was in a terrible state. Local authorities immediately offered the family to move to a new apartment, but Momysh-uly flatly refused. He stated that he was not ashamed to receive guests in such a house, and if anyone was ashamed of his home, then let him live with it.
After long negotiations, all parties came to a compromise - the hero's house was repaired, and he settled with his family in a hotel for the duration of the renovation. A whole delegation came to visit the commander, it turned out that Castro practically never parted with Momysh-ula's books, but it was impossible to discuss all the topics in one short visit, so the war hero was invited to return to Cuba. In 1963, this invitation was successfully carried out.
The meeting of the Kazakh legend could only be compared with the celebrations in honor of Yuri Gagarin. The Cubans hoped that their idol would conduct lectures on the conduct of the war for a month, but Momysh-uly refused, saying that he would manage in 10 days, but he could not stay - the cadets were waiting for him. The hero taught at the military school the courses "getting out of the encirclement without losses" and "conducting night battles in the offensive."
