Chapter Seven
Z E M L Z V O G N E

The man is amazingly arranged! Yesterday he lay on the ground and trembled, listening to the disgusting squeal of mines over his head, begging fate for mercy. He trembled like a defenseless hare, which hunters, walking in a chain through the autumn forest, must "lift" from the furrow.
Then the man jumped up and ran, hoping to escape from the clutches of death. But the mines overtook again. He fell again. And again he ran, panting, because his heart was torn from his chest.
And today he has found his normal appearance, although he is a little ashamed of his yesterday's weakness and, at the same time, it is pleasant: he outwitted the slanting, saved his life.
He has an extremely large number of words for conversation. But words do not come from the tongue - joy bound all its members: the division came out of the ring of fire.
Full of lofty feelings, he rode in the back of a car along a dusty country road, occasionally looking at the clear sky, since at any moment a fascist robber could appear from the horizon, and the area is open, not a bush anywhere - you cannot hide.
At the end of the body with bullet holes, empty barrels rattled. He was ordered to fully refuel them and immediately deliver gasoline to the divisional transport that stopped on the way.
Who he was is now difficult to remember. But he was a tall and thin motorist from the 196th Autobatalion. It was probably the spare driver V.E. Popov. from the city of Kopeisk ... Or the commander of the auto platoon BS Blinov. from Chelyabinsk. Or maybe not they at all, but Sidorenko I.K. Ivan Kuzmich, together with his future wife Nina Petrovna, a field hospital nurse, as well as B.S. Blinov. and Popov V.E. walked and rode on wheels from Polotsk to the Austrian city of Graz, and when he returned after the victory, he married and built new town- Novopolotsk.
But this, as they say, had to be done by the way. After all, in war, every hour of life is equal to the lived year! We, war veterans, did not often have to dream of future happiness.
I was driving on an errand to Velikie Luki.
As we passed, we looked at the roadside littered with broken and disfigured German motorcycles and cars - probably Soviet pilot I did a good job on the enemy column, because in some places there were deep craters on the cobblestone, and they had to go around.
And not a single corpse. We managed to remove it. On this score, the Nazis were accurate.
At the next village, outside the outskirts, slender rows of new German birch crosses gleamed white. And then, for wooden houses, on the crest of a high hill stood a strange tall machine with buckets frozen in the air. From the dumps of fresh clay along the hill, we guessed its purpose.
But the trenches were empty: the Nazis fled.
On July 20, Velikiye Luki was occupied by the Germans. But the next day the Germans were driven out of Velikiye Luki by our troops, who had come up from the reserve. Headquarters 22 appointed Major General Silkin as head of the city's garrison.
Having broken the encirclement, our division hurried to his aid.

“It was timely support to the 22nd Army's forces retreating to the area east of Nevel,” the researcher says. “By July 27, the army had established itself on the line of the upper course of the Lovat River - Velikiye Luki - Lake Dvinye and held this line until the end of August”.
(History of the Great Patriotic War, vol. 2, p. 71)

The battle for Velikiye Luki took place in open areas and was even more fierce than the battle for Polotsk. The events of those days developed so quickly that it was difficult to follow them. The battles for Velikie Luki were such that the earth burned in flames for more than a hundred kilometers in circumference.
Retreating under the blows of the troops from the reserve, the enemy fiercely snapped, set in motion tanks and aircraft. And his air strikes were several times greater than our strikes, as we were again convinced when we approached the Velikopolye station.
Only broken bricks and ash remained from the station building. All around lay a black field plowed by bombs with deep craters, at the bottom of which in the water protruding from the soil stood steel wheels from smashed carriages and Soviet people torn to pieces.
In the first days of the battles for Velikiye Luki, our neighbor, the 214th Rifle Division, had a particularly hard time. She broke through the encirclement ring like we did near Nevel, lost a lot of equipment and, having arrived in the area of ​​Porechye and the Old River, took battle from the march. The division fought bravely. Its fighters firmly held the line.
Before the 174th Shtarm 22 set another task: to gain a foothold on the Kunya River in the Skaltsovo - Podol - Bolshaya Niva strip, which is 25 km southeast of Velikiye Luki.
Our units also arrived here from a difficult march that lasted all day and all night. And again, chance led me to meet with the 494th Rifle Regiment and its commander, Ivan Trofimovich Kitaev.
Together with the soldiers and commanders, he spent three days without sleep, and he had a headache. Coming out of the "lorry" and covering his face from the rays of the morning sun, Kitaev V.T. I looked around sadly, probably thinking, how here, on a bare field without a single bush, it is possible to disguise equipment and people.
On reflection, he gave the order to hide the cars in the gully behind the Lobkovsky farm, and to the soldiers to proceed with the construction of dugouts and cracks. For several hours the infantrymen and artillerymen worked, dug the dry land of Velikie Luki with shovels, covered the machines with straw, wormwood and tumbleweed bushes. And when they finished the work, the most attentive eye could not find anything suspicious in the bulk.
Before the evening, as I recall, at least two enemy regiments, reinforced with tanks, with the support of bombers, attacked the regiment of I.T. Kitaev.
Suffered a bomb attack from planes. We withstood the attack of tanks. The anti-tank guns of the second division of the 598th artillery regiment supported the infantry well.
The regiment held the occupied line for four days. Not a single fighter flinched before the enemy. Do not count the heroes of these days!
On the approaches to Velikiye Luki, as well as near Polotsk, the battles did not subside for an hour. The fighting continued even at night. The Germans were in a hurry. The strategic junction was too dear for them railways... The enemy threw all his forces to take possession of it, gain a foothold in Velikiye Luki, make the city a stronghold and move further east.
Usually, the Nazis struck the regiments in narrow areas no more than two kilometers wide. After them, the ground was smoking, and it seemed that not a soul was left.
But guns and machine guns came to life, our infantry rose to its height. Hot contractions lasted for several hours. So it was in Dubovino. So it was in Bolshaya Niva. So it was throughout the Velikiye Luki land.
Severe trials fell on the shoulders of the 22nd Army at the end of August, when the enemy southwest of Velikiye Luki closed a circle of encirclement around it.
I remember how hard it was in the battle near the village of Boldino one of the batteries of the 598th artillery regiment. The commanders of the guns took care of the shells, hitting only targets visible to the naked eye, for sure. When the last shells were fired, and the enemy was going to the height to the guns, the battery commander Donetsk and the political instructor Safyanov raised everyone who could still move into a counterattack.
In this battle, both heroes were wounded, but they did not leave the ranks of the defenders, defended firing positions, saved the guns, took them out, and most importantly, helped all our infantry to break away from the enemy in order to take a new line.
In the battles near Velikie Luki, we once again experienced the inexorability and cruelty of the fascists. On this score, I would like to cite at least two cases, which I happened to witness.
On August 22 or 23, the commander of the artillery battalion, Linkov, covered the retreat of the 508th Infantry Regiment. In battle, the deputy political instructor Ivan Ivakh was seriously wounded. The car with the wounded, in which he was put, got stuck on the way and was surrounded by the Germans. Having found in it a young commissar with red stars on the sleeves of his tunic, the Nazis doused the car with gasoline and set it on fire.
I remember well how one day, at a halt somewhere in the Polotsk region, Ivan Ivakh told his comrades about the native steppes of Ukraine, about the city of Nizhyn, where he studied, dreaming of becoming a teacher. A brave political soldier, a young Komsomol member, was burnt in the fire.
Let Ivan Ivakh remember with a kind, gentle word his fellow countrymen, who will live and build communism!
After the death of Ivan Ivakh, one of the combat shock groups of the 508th Infantry Regiment witnessed the unusual cruelty of the Nazis. Having broken through the encirclement, the soldiers occupied the edge of the forest. Somewhere to the right of the forest, in a village whose name, unfortunately, has already been forgotten, a wooden church flared up with a huge torch. The Germans hit the streets with heavy shells. The flame spread to the thatched roofs of houses, unmown bread blazed around. Escaping as best they could, peasants poured out of the village.
In an instant, the steppe was littered with broken carts, killed by horses, corpses of men, women and children. We have never heard such a desperate cry from Soviet people perishing under shells and fire.
Frankly, in the first months of the war I had to face death more than once and say goodbye to my comrades who fell in battle. But to see so many murdered women, children, babies in an open field ... No, this will never be forgotten!
The Nazis apparently hoped that their atrocities would arouse our fear of them. But the atrocities were hateful. Each warrior knew that he had to fight hard until complete victory, while his eyes were looking and his hands were able to hold a rifle.
Combat in an environment is always more difficult and dangerous. It requires from a person special moral stamina, a fighter's devotion to his commander and military duty. Fight in the environment makes special demands on the chief of any rank, on which the outcome of the fight depends. The commander's confidence and his personal example help thousands of soldiers to overcome the natural fear of death for every person, which increases especially in difficult conditions of retreat.
I remember the horse scout from Shadrinsk Alexander Petrovich Volozhanin. He arrived at the front in mid-August. The son of a peasant from a poor family, a pupil of the Komsomol, a border guard with Of the Far East- Volozhanin immediately fell under a brutal bombing at the Velikopolye station. The first days at the front were hard for him.
It was strange to look at the young soldier when the commander of the cavalry platoon, Petrov, handed him, as if for a parade, a white horse, which could be seen at a glance from three kilometers away.
- With this handsome man you will not be lost! - the fighter Boris Sadovsky made fun of Volozhanin, sitting in the saddle on a low, but nimble cow mare.
But that was a real warhorse! In the very first battle, Volozhanin and Sadovsky hacked two fleeing motorcyclists to death with their blades when their engine failed. More than once the white horse saved the owner from both bullets and captivity, he remained faithful to him until last breath, which the dashing cavalryman himself will tell about below.
A rare warrior escaped encirclement. This word was firmly established for a long time, became an apothegma, a byword, although it is not new in the history of all wars. It burned the consciousness like a plague, caused many an unpleasant feeling of doom. A.P. Volozhanin also experienced this feeling, but he did not lose his head, he believed in his star.
You can't get away from the parable on horseback. The parable also breaks iron. This is what the Russian people used to say in the old days. And under Velikie Luki in 1941, not iron - steel melted. The gunners were beating the German until the shells ran out. Infantrymen fired machine guns while water was boiling in the casing. And yet they endured, survived, again got out of the encirclement!
The fighters and commanders of the 508th and 628th rifle regiments, headed by lieutenant colonels E.G. Ushakov, fought steadily and bravely near Velikie Luki. and Galayko P.S., nominated to high positions instead of the deceased commanders Colonels G.V. Pavlyuk and T.P. Miloradov. More than once, at critical moments, they stood in front and boldly led battalions into battle against the hated enemy.
During the war, they became division commanders and ended the war in Germany.
Fearless Komsomol organizer Vasily Chernyshov and his company commander Lieutenant Konstantin Korotkov covered themselves with glory in the battles surrounded. They rallied around themselves many fighters and commanders, instilled faith in a just cause. More than 100 people were taken out of the encirclement.
Having already finished work on the book, I received from the Urals a registered parcel - the handwritten story of A.P. Volozhanin "Memories and Reflections of a Soldier", which he dedicates to his four sons and five grandchildren.
“We, soldiers of the forty-first, rejoice in the happiness of the Soviet people,” writes Alexander Petrovich in his dedication. “But we paid dearly for it. Take care of this happiness! Learn and work great! Remember, my children, the struggle in the world is not over. Always be ready to defend your homeland! ”
Many pages of the story capture the frank truth, which is not always found in young writers about the war. Therefore, with the consent of A.P. Volozhanin, we decided to acquaint readers with his memories, and we include them after literary processing in this chapter.

“August 24, 1941
Today I saw our General Alexey Ivanovich Zygin. He spoke in command post with Major Ushakov, who replaced the regiment commander Suprun, who disappeared yesterday. The general held binoculars in his hand. Typical open Russian face. Excellent line bearing. They say that Zygin is strict. But you can follow him into fire and water!
All day our 508th rifle regiment bombed. There is nothing to breathe. The nerves are tense.
In the afternoon, submachine gunners broke through to the staff vehicles. Boris Sadovsky and I joined the headquarters security company, destroyed some of the Nazis, and drove the rest to the village. Our losses: one killed and two wounded.
Cars arrive at the grove all day. Battalions from a neighboring division are also being drawn here.
A “corridor” was left under Velikie Luki. Everyone is talking about it. At night we must move away and break free to our own.
Getting ready for the march: we check the sweat covers on the horses, tighten the girths, shake out unnecessary things from the saddlebags, fill them with cartridges. More than fifty sabers were gathered in the cavalry detachment.
Exactly 22 o'clock. Before us is our dear mother steppe. But it's a pity to look at her. Around the glow of conflagrations. Villages and villages are burning. My land is burning.
August 25, 1941
Dawn caught our column on its way. Heavy implements and tractors are on the road. All the servants around are sleeping deeply. Will the enemy get the guns?
We went into the village, in the houses - not a soul. We crossed the river. Someone in the convoy found a spy. He is wearing our uniform, and underneath is a German one. The spy started to run, but was killed.
We stopped in the woods. All day long there is a firefight on the edges. The German is afraid to enter the forest and hits at random from mortars. Bombs are hooting somewhere, probably in the area of ​​Kunya station. Everyone awaits the night with hope, dreaming that it will be the last one surrounded.
At the end of the day, the headquarters of the two divisions united and formed a single command. Now we have a lot of cars and three generals. But who is their senior, we do not know.
The generals decided to send one vehicle for ammunition. The choice fell on my fellow countryman, driver Alexei Bryukhanov. Alexey went to the car. But Dmitry caught up with him. “Listen, brother, let me go,” he said. Alexey didn't mind. The brothers embraced. Dmitry got behind the wheel, the "lorry" with five soldiers started off.
We saw from the edge of the road how the Germans set fire to the car. None of her returned. I feel sorry for Dmitry Bryukhanov, he was a good man.
When it got dark, our columns headed out again. We walked along field roads and copses. There was a skirmish on the flanks, but we deviated from the battle.
Boris Sadovsky and I took an oath not to leave each other in battle.
August 26, 1941
Eyes get used to the darkness, but you still can't see anything under your feet. Our column stood up. Probably expecting scouts.
Suddenly rockets rise into the sky ahead. It becomes as light as day. The command thunders:
- Battalion, to the right! Battalion, left! - And immediately the air was torn apart by fiery stripes running towards us from the front and from the sides.
- Forward! - the old voice thunders again. And numerous "hurray" covers the steppe.
The cavalry is being held back, apparently, the right hour... I lead my horse under the bridle to keep his strength. Bullets whistle above their heads, then at chest level, click on something, whistle around.
After a few minutes, everything falls silent. The Germans seemed to disappear underground.
The columns began to move. Our people have grown bolder: they light a cigarette on the go, talk loudly. Obviously, the guys thought: the path ahead is safe. How careless a Russian man is!
We go for an hour. Somewhere off to the side a plane is ringing. I noticed. I threw out flares flying over us on tiny parachutes. The enemy sees us. And we are blinded. Now not only machine guns are hitting the convoy, but also mortars.
- Checkers for battle! - the company commander gives the command.
Having spurred our horses, we overtake the chains, we break out into the open. We rush, not seeing anything in front of us but the night. Chase madly, the hand gets tired of the blade above his head. But who to cut? Where is the German?
The three of us in the excitement of the races broke away from our own and stopped only when the extreme hut of the village appeared in front of us.
I throw the horse's reins into Sadovsky's hands. I go into the house. I light a trophy lighter. Oh, marvel! On the table are bread, bottles of unfinished wine, and a full bowl of boiled chicken, and on the wall by the door are black German cloaks.
For three days we did not see bread crumbs. Sitting by the hut and refreshing ourselves with unusually tasty food, we hear at the other end of the village the voices of a team in German and the sound of the wheels of carts. What to do? Do not sit here until morning.
We are back in the saddle. We jump on the compass to the northeast. Boris Sadovsky points me with a blade at a narrow strip of the river. "Their!" He shouts, standing up in the saddle. But from the other side they bawl:
- Rus! Rus! Give up!
Wow! So much for “yours”. The wind is in my ears again, and bullets are behind my back. Help me out, my horse!
Suddenly the ground began to hum. Hundreds of fighters run across to us with rifles in their hands.
- Stop! Stop! We shout, stopping our horses. - The Germans are across the river. Back!
But nobody listens to us. The fighters run in lava, there is nothing to stop them.
The Germans are meeting the front ones with machine guns. People are rushing about the steppe. We rush about and we are on horses. Horses shy away from bursting mines, snore.
Where is Sadovsky? Where is my third friend? I direct my horse in the direction where the stream of people rushed. Hoping to catch up with your comrades. But how cruelly I was wrong! I rushed about the steppe for a long time, but found no friends.
The black bulk of the bridge stood in front of me when I, having overtaken the people, reined in my horse, dismounted and sat down by the tree.
- Barriers - on the flank! - someone gives a command.
And - again, red ribbons of tracer bullets escaped from the other bank and disappeared. A stream of people, like ghosts, poured into the bridge. Not a single cry, only a formidable continuous automatic roar.
The guard of the bridge is crushed. Now everything depends on the speed. Delay is like death. A pair of horses galloping down the wide street towards the bridge. And I jump out onto the road.
- Well, honey, help me out! I shout at the top of my lungs to my white giant.
Everything is like a nightmare. The horse jumps over the broken carts. One time, another, third ...
The bridge is behind. And suddenly, before my eyes, a column of fire, smoke and the roar of a rupture - I am flying as if into an abyss. But after a minute or two I hear again a loud “ah-ah! ”And the stomp of human feet rushing past.
I jump up. I feel - intact. Carabiner on the back. I grab the blade with the harness torn off. I frantically search for the horse's rein. Here it is. And then I realize what happened. The horse's belly was ripped open. I see a tear run from my friend's right eye.
- Goodbye and forgive! - I say through tears and, staggering from side to side, I merge into the living stream ... "

After reading the memoirs of A.P. Volozhanin, the reader may think that the breakthrough of our troops in the Velikiye Luki region took place spontaneously. But this is far from the case. Needless to say, our communications worked disgustingly in those days. But the headquarters of both armies and divisions constantly assigned specific combat missions to their units. How they were carried out is another matter.
Each commander in difficult situations was guided by the logic of the battle, the specific situation. And the situation, as you can see, was not in our favor. And it is not surprising that in a single impulse individual fighters broke away from their platoons, companies and battalions, created separate battle groups and left the encirclement on their own.
The strength of spirit, fortitude and dedication of the soldiers and commanders, multiplied by their exceptional devotion to the Fatherland, decided the common cause, albeit at the cost of great sacrifices.
The 174th Infantry Division and the 22nd Army as a whole inflicted significant losses on the Nazis in the course of fierce battles. The 22nd Army and its one of the best 174th division did not stop fighting, but more on that in the next chapter.
For 33 days, the troops of the 22nd Army fought with the Nazis on the Velikie Luki land. The soldiers of our division, like all other troops, did everything they could to defend Velikiye Luki. Their heroic struggle forced the German command to concentrate significant forces on the Velikie Luki direction, instead of transferring them to other sectors of the front, in particular to the Smolensk direction, where in those days there were decisive battles with the invaders rushing to Moscow.
These battles tempered soldiers, commanders and political workers, strengthened their faith in the strength and power of their weapons, confidence in the final victory over the enemy. The militia fighters acquired good training and combat hardening during the 33-day battles for further fighting behind enemy lines.

Reserve lieutenant colonel,
former divisional newspaper editor
"Battle Banner"
A.I.Tyagunov

174th Rifle Regiment of the NKVD troops of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises (military unit 6365)

Formed in October 1939 in the city of Moscow as part of the 26th separate rifle brigade troops of the NKVD of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises as the 123rd separate rifle battalion troops of the NKVD for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 001174 of October 3, 1939).
In November 1939, the 26th brigade was reorganized into the 11th rifle division of the NKVD troops of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 001364 of November 6, 1939 "On the reorganization of the management of the 26th brigade of the NKVD troops for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises" ). Source - GARF: f. R-9401, op. 1, d.527, l. 209.
In February 1940, it was reorganized into the 174th rifle regiment of the NKVD troops of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 00100 of January 26, 1940 "On increasing the number of NKVD troops").
In December 1940, the 82nd separate battalion of the NKVD troops of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises was included in the regiment as a line battalion (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 001505 of December 3, 1940 "On the dissolution of the 82nd battalion and the reorganization of the 174th regiment of industrial troops"). Source - GARF: f. R-9401, op. 1, d.564, ll. 397-399.
As of June 1, 1941, the plc had the following address: the city of Moscow, Mailbox No. 3365.
In the period 23-26 June 1941, it was reorganized according to the wartime staff number 070.
On October 13, 1941, a freelance operational battalion was formed (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 001495 of October 13, 1941 "On organizing the protection of the Moscow zone and ensuring uninterrupted operation of high-frequency communications", Resolution of the State Defense Committee of the USSR No. 765ss of October 12, 1941 "On the protection of the Moscow defense zone" ).
On October 24, 1941, as part of a division, it was transferred to operational subordination to the chief of the NKVD troops for the protection of the rear Western Front(Order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 0448 of October 24, 1941). Source - RGVA: f. 38621, op. 1, d.277, ll. 16-20.
On October 24, 1941, as part of a division, it was transferred into operational subordination to the military commandant of Moscow (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 0452 of October 24, 1941 "On the subordination of the 11 and 12 divisions of the NKVD Internal Troops and the OMSDON cavalry regiment to the military commandant of Moscow and assignment at his disposal operational workers "). Source - RGVA: f. 38652, op. 1, d.4, l. 33.
On the basis of the order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 0063 of January 10, 1942, issued in pursuance of the order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 0021 of January 5, 1942 "With the announcement of the decree of the State Defense Committee on the organization of garrisons in the cities liberated by the Red Army from the enemy" and Resolution of the State Defense Committee of the USSR No. 1099-ss dated January 4, 1942 "On the organization of garrisons of the NKVD troops in the cities liberated by the spacecraft", the regiment allocated part of the personnel for the formation of rifle regiments internal troops NKVD of the USSR (p. (206) Krivets V.D., Kholoden V.F., Shtutman S.M. History of the construction of internal troops (1917-1945) ( Brief outline). - Part 1. - Moscow: GUVV Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, 1978 - 334 pages)
On January 31, 1942, the 11th division was renamed into the 15th rifle division of the troops of the NKVD of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 00223 dated January 31, 1942). Source - p. (203) Krivets V.D., Kholoden V.F., Shtutman S.M. The history of the construction of the internal troops (1917-1945) (Brief sketch). - Part 1. - M .: GUVV Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, 1978
In August 1945 it was disbanded (order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 001004 dated August 3, 1945).
Combat, operational and service activities:
- protection of industrial facilities in Moscow;
- individual units and sniper teams took part in hostilities at the front;
- in November-December 1941, the freelance operational battalion took part in defensive and offensive battles near Moscow.
From October 15, 1941 to January 1, 1942, he was a member of the Red Army in the field.
Results of combat, operational and service activities: in 1941, the personnel of the guards of guarded objects during 21 enemy air raids on Moscow extinguished 700 dropped on objects incendiary bombs, prevented 18 fires, 4 accidents and explosions at protected facilities.