Chapter 36 7.we are moving forward

On the night of December 6, none of us got an hour of sleep.Many staff officers remained in the divisions all night.We intended to send out an advance detachment at night before the main force began its attack—one battalion from each infantry regiment, and a reinforced company from each cavalry regiment.They should ascertain the composition and deployment of the enemy's troops in front of our army. In the early hours of the morning, the captured officers were escorted to the headquarters.Kostenko himself interrogated him. The German captain was so cold that he couldn't stop shivering even in the hot room.

His attire was very peculiar: chrome-tanned leather boots with suede holsters, and an officer's cap with a fleece turban. "What's the matter with you, Captain? Do you also look like this in front of your officer?" Kostenko asked with a barely visible sneer. After listening to the translation, the captain hurriedly began to take off his turban.He worked for a while to untie the tight knot.The captain finally tore off the turban and crumpled it up, apologizing that he couldn't wake up from being a prisoner so suddenly. "What is the task of your division?" asked Kostenko.

"You said so in the order you seized from me, Mr. General." "I want to hear from you." "Our division, Mr. General, will advance to the Russian-occupied Soldatskoe, Ulitskoe, and Upper Borishoe lines at the end of the day, where we will establish a winter position." "What does the German High Command know about the Soviet troops in front of your division?" "Our division commander, Mr. General von Almin, said that we had only small Russian covering detachments facing us, and that they would retreat without a fight if they came under a heavy onslaught. The task he gave yesterday to the division's reconnaissance department was to detect the Russians in advance. Any attack preparations by humans, but our reconnaissance department has found nothing so far, otherwise I would not be a prisoner..."

Everything said by the captured officer agrees with the information we have obtained from his captured combat orders of the 95th Infantry Division.There was nothing to doubt: the Germans did not notice our preparations.General Kostenko was delighted when he was finally convinced of this. There was one more thing that disturbed him.The configuration of the 95th Infantry Division in front of our cavalry units is very clear, but the enemy's strength in front of the 1st Guards Infantry Division can only be guessed at present.General Rusyanov reported that his scouts had captured several prisoners of the 134th Rifle Division.But is the whole division there, or just some detachments?It was impossible to tell from the confessions of the captured soldiers.The advance detachments were able to provide more reliable information, and we eagerly awaited reports of the results of their night sorties.At last the headquarters of Generals Kryuchonkin and Rusyanov sent brief reports that the fighting of the advance detachments was going well.Their attack was completely unexpected by the Germans and caused heavy losses to the enemy.

The staff officer of our department who returned at dawn reported in more detail.The advance detachment of the 85th Regiment on the left wing of the Guards Rifle Division fought particularly well.The captain of the detachment, Captain A. H. Krinecki, used the darkness of the night to covertly surrounded the village of Apukhtino, where an infantry battalion of the German army was entrenched, with two companies.The guard was removed without firing a single shot.The Hitlerites were sleeping peacefully in warm farmhouses when Krinecki sent a third company to force them out.Every farmhouse is surrounded by a group of warriors.A grenade flew through the window.When the farmhouse began to "heat", the fascists jumped out of the house one after another, trying to escape for their lives, but other companies of the detachment were waiting for them around the village.

The Hitlerites held out for a long time in the solid masonry building of the Kolkhoz Management Committee.Captain Krinecki arrived there.He climbed up the back steps of the building and threw an anti-tank grenade through the door.After the explosion, soldiers swarmed in.The last base of resistance is finished.The sound of fighting in the village of Apukhtino startled the Hitlerites in the neighboring villages.They rushed to the rescue, but it was too late. The prisoners captured by our advance detachments confirmed that the enemy facing our cavalry was the main force of the 95th German Infantry Division, but it was still unclear which troops the Guards were facing.Yesterday some prisoners from the 134th Infantry Division were captured here, but today soldiers from the 95th and 45th Infantry Divisions were captured.

After carefully analyzing all the information, Kaminsky made the following conclusions: In recent days, the 134th Division has been successively replaced by the 95th and 45th Divisions that have been deployed to the front.It is these forces that are defending against us now.Our army's reconnaissance has gradually uncovered the inside story of the enemy camp.Now we can attack with more confidence. At seven o'clock in the morning, General Rusyanov reported that the onslaught had begun.It was not long before the first news of success came. The most resolute advance was made by Colonel M. B. Vajtsechowski's 4th Guards Rifle Regiment on the right.The regiment has cleared several villages of Fascists.The Left Regiment was involved in heavy fighting a few kilometers north of the village of Apuhtino, and progress was slow.In general, we are also excited by the results of the Guards this time.The news from the cavalry was less comforting.General Kryuchonkin sent an ambiguous report: "The divisions have successfully attacked" and "the troops under the corps continue to attack."When Kostenko asked to report which settlements had been cleared of enemies, the reply was: "We are fighting for Zakharovka, Alekseevka, Bogdanovo." It turned out that the cavalry had made no progress at all.When Kostenko learned of this, he called Kryuchonkin:

"A few villages blocked you, and you didn't move a step. What kind of cavalry are you!" the commander said angrily. "Go around, don't step in front of the village." "How do you go around?" The cavalry who had been fighting for a long time argued. "Everywhere between the villages was shot. Got to drive the Fascists out of the masonry houses... If only I could meet them in the clearing! Then my cavalry could show them some color... and Tanks, the Germans have dozens of them. Not so easy to bypass." "Don't be ridiculous, Comrade Kryuchonkin," Kostenko interrupted him. "I've commanded cavalry as long as you have, and I know what it can do when commanded well. Maneuver boldly. The cavalry's main force is here. As for the German tanks, you'll have to deal with the artillery and your own tanks."

"We only have six tanks in total..." "This is also strength. In short, I will wait for you to report that your army has completed the mission of the day." While he was talking to Rusyanov and Kryuchunkin, the pilot reported that hundreds of carts and cars loaded with supplies and some infantry columns were heading towards Yerei from several settlements east of the direction of the Guards Division's attack. to move in the direction of z. "Where are they going?" asked Kostenko in surprise. "What does the enemy want?" I stated my conjecture: this is the logistics and second echelon of the enemy's attacking division south of Yelets moving closer to the main force.Kaminski agrees with me.

"That's better for us," Kostenko said. "Then we'll move out of their line of communication." At twelve o'clock, General Boggin asked me to call.After reading the telegrams about the fighting in our sector, he suggested keeping an eye on Kryuchonkin until he ceased his frontal assaults on the enemy occupying the settlements. "Push him forward even more resolutely!" Our first reports and the results of Bokin's conversation with us seemed to have disturbed the Commander in Chief.At three o'clock in the afternoon, he called General Kostenko and me to talk on the phone.

"You had a good chance of smashing the two regiments of the 95th Infantry Division you came across," the telegraph typed a note, "but you ran to the left of them. Don't dodge such groups, but try to encircle them, and destroy them. As for the 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade, I wonder why you keep it so far behind. Make it follow the attacking regiments so that it can be cast to the right or to the right at any time. The left develops victory." General Kostenko quickly finished reading the telegram and began to report in detail on the situation of the attacking army.The general said that the Rusyanov division captured the village of Gusinka with one regiment and the village of Dubovets with the other, and expressed confidence that the Guards would be able to accomplish their task today, but the fighting was very difficult , because the German Kou entrenched in the masonry building and fiercely resisted.He said that the situation for the cavalry was much worse for the time being, but he believed that the commander of the 5th Cavalry Corps would draw correct conclusions from the battle. It could be seen that, although the cavalry were a bit hesitant, the Commander-in-Chief was satisfied with the results of the first day of the offensive. "Continue to carry out the mission with the utmost determination," he telegraphed. "Your campaign started well, and hopefully it ends better... Do everything you can to push your left wing detachment into Livne, let it create more terror there, and capture Livne with cameras. We will go to you before the end of the day There, talk about everything on the ground." "I will go to Klyuchonkin myself," said Kostenko, "and speed up his attack." At nearly 7 o'clock in the evening, it was already known that the Rusyanov Division had eliminated the German troops in Bogatjeplot, Olshany, and Davydovo; four kilometers.This is a big win.But our joy was dampened by a report from General Rusyanov. "I beg for help. My medical staff are overwhelmed by the mass of wounded residents. The fascists went on a rampage and killed the residents as they left the village. Today, before the thugs evacuated the village of Dubovec, they fired submachine guns at the hiding women, the elderly Cellar shooting with children, many casualties. Among the wounded were very young children..." Yes, we should move forward as soon as possible.But the cavalry was still delaying.By the end of the day they had cleared only the village of Zakharovka, and in the rest of the villages they were fighting at night. The cavalry dismounted and fought for every house. General Kostenko decided to let the 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade enter the battle in the direction of Livny and ordered the commander of the brigade, Colonel A. A. Shamshin, to transfer his battalions to the field. At night, Bogin informed us that Marshal Timoshenko and Khrushchev, a member of the Military Council, had arrived in Kastornoe by special train.This is the most eloquent proof that the decisive stage in the development of the campaign has arrived. We greeted them early in the morning. H.C. Khrushchev immediately began to chat with Galajev, and the commander-in-chief began to ask about the progress of each attacking regiment, the deployment of enemy troops, and the course of combat operations.He was pleased that all our reports on the enemy's situation had been confirmed, and it was estimated that there would be no unexpected major events in the depth of the enemy's deployment.When the commander-in-chief learned of Kostenko's decision to send the 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade to attack Livny today, he said appreciatively: "You did the right thing, Fyodor Yakovlevich. Let it occupy Livny as soon as possible. That will be the best protection for your left wing." While we were talking to the Commander-in-Chief, the Front's signal corps had pulled the line of communication to his train.As usual, the Field Marshal was firmly in command.He is good at guiding people.In less than two hours, news of the liberation of one settlement after another was pouring in not only from the Guards but also from the Cavalry.The right-wing regiments of the Rusyanov division advanced more than twenty kilometers.After liberating several villages, they rushed into the village of Streletskoye on the march, where fierce fighting broke out. The Marshal noticed that the Guards regiments were moving more and more eastward, and asked Rusyanov for an explanation.Rusyanov replied: "We're chasing the enemy." "Don't chase, keep strictly to the north. As long as we encircle the Hitlerites, they won't be able to escape from you." The divisions of the cavalry corps advanced ten kilometers in one day and occupied Pikalovo, Gadishe and Yurskoye.Now the cavalry maneuvers beautifully.When the enemy resisted, they mounted their horses to outflank them, then dismounted and charged from behind. In the Yurskoye village area, the troops of the 14th Cavalry Division, temporarily commanded by the Chief of Staff, Major C. T. Shmuylo, due to the injury of Colonel A. A. Belogorsky, were attacked by the brave cavalry He hacked and killed a large group of enemy infantry, then dismounted and repelled the counterattack of two enemy infantry battalions, driving them across the Kershen River. Unforeseen situations often arise in war, so the commander's decisiveness and adaptability determine everything.Vajtsehovsky's Guards regiment was driving the Fascists out of Streletskoye when nearly two infantry battalions of the enemy broke into its rear.The battle approached the regimental command post.Captain A. T. Hudyakov, chief of staff of the regiment, and H. E. Ratshev, political commissar, rode on their horses and galloped towards the place where the sound of shooting became more and more intense.They took away the only gun in the command post. The soldiers retreated while shooting back.The political commissar flew up to them: "Yes! Lure the fascists into a trap!" People transmit this command in skirmish lines.The retreating battalion retreated in an organized manner.The trap has arrived.Everyone go down.As soon as the chasing fascists approached the cliff, they were bombarded by shrapnel.It turned out that Hudyakov led an artillery squad to set up the artillery in a favorable position and fired directly at it.The enemy infantry was in disarray.So the political commissar and chief of staff ordered the battalion to launch an attack.The enemy abandoned four artillery pieces and luggage, and fled towards the village of Bogatjeplot, where they encountered Major B.A. Kogan's 331st Wing Battalion.Rusyanov sent Lieutenant H. A. Lyaskovsky's destroyer detachment to meet the enemy infantry.The Hitlerites avoided it and fled towards the village of Krasotnovka, but here too a Guards detachment appeared.Abandoning the last vehicles, heavy weapons and wounded, the Hitlerites fled towards the Aurem River, where they were completely routed. When the threat from the rear was eliminated, Vajtsehovsky resumed the fight to capture Streletskoye.It was a large village, with three hundred and fifty houses, mostly of masonry.Fascists are entrenched in the village.Four machine guns were set up on the high bell tower, and there were more than 30 artillery pieces in the various basements.But the onslaught of the Guards was so swift that the Hitlerites hardly had time to exploit their full advantage, and the village was soon in our hands. On December 9, the cavalry army advanced twelve kilometers.The enemy knows that if the Soviet cavalry units advance to the rear of the Yelets group, the group is in danger of being destroyed.However, all attempts by the Hitlerites to block the advance of the cavalry failed.The cavalry advanced tenaciously, sometimes dismounted and advanced, and sometimes launched a brave cavalry charge.When the 60th Cavalry Regiment was stopped by artillery fire near the village of Navesnoye, a cavalry group led by Grachev and Kajayev circled to the enemy's rear, threw grenades at the battery, and then rushed into the firing position. Swinging a saber settled the fight.The regiment's way forward was finally cleared.