Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov (1916-2003) - Soviet sailor, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of separate reconnaissance detachments of the Northern and Pacific fleets.
Born on November 21, 1916 in the city of Zaraysk, Moscow Region, into a working-class family. Russian. From 1931 to 1933, he studied at the factory school at the Moscow Kalibr plant, after which he worked as a mechanic, combining work with social activities: member of the Komsomol factory committee, chairman of the workshop committee of inventors, leader of the youth brigade.
In the ranks of the Navy since 1937. He was drafted into the Northern Fleet, where he completed a training course in the underwater diving training squad named after S. M. Kirov in the city of Polyarny, Murmansk region, and was sent for further service to the submarine Shch-402.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, senior Red Navy man V.N. Leonov submitted a report on his enrollment in the 181st separate reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet, in which, from July 18, 1941, he carried out about 50 combat operations behind enemy lines. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1942. From December 1942, after being awarded the officer rank, he was deputy detachment commander for political affairs, and a year later, in December 1943, commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet. In April 1944 he was awarded the rank of lieutenant.
In October 1944, during the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation of the Soviet troops, reconnaissance officers under the command of V.N. Leonov landed on the enemy-occupied coast and spent two days making their way to the designated point in off-road conditions. On the morning of October 12, they suddenly attacked an enemy 88-mm battery at Cape Krestovy, captured it, and captured a large number of Nazis. When a boat with Nazi troops appeared, together with the detachment of Captain I.P. Barchenko-Emelyanov, they repelled enemy attacks, capturing about 60 Nazis. This battle ensured the success of the landing in Linahamari and the capture of the port and city.
Thus, Leonov’s detachment, through its actions, created favorable conditions for the landing of Soviet troops in the ice-free port of Linahamari and the subsequent liberation of Petsamo (Pechenga) and Kirkenes. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 5, 1944, Lieutenant V.N. Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 5058) with the wording: “for exemplary performance of combat missions of command behind enemy lines and demonstrated This is courage and heroism."
After the defeat of Nazi Germany was completed, for the front-line reconnaissance Leonov, the war continued in the Far East, where a separate reconnaissance detachment of the Pacific Fleet under his command was the first to land in the ports of Racine, Seishin and Genzan. One of the most “high-profile” cases of V.N. Leonov’s detachment was the capture of about three and a half thousand Japanese soldiers and officers in the Korean port of Wonsan. And in the port of Genzan, Leonov scouts disarmed and captured about two thousand soldiers and two hundred officers, capturing 3 artillery batteries, 5 aircraft, and several ammunition depots.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 14, 1945, Senior Lieutenant V.N. Leonov was awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the war, V. N. Leonov continued his military service in the Northern Fleet and in the Central Office of the USSR Navy. In 1950 he graduated from the Higher Naval School. In 1952 he was awarded the military rank of captain 2nd rank. He studied at the Naval Academy, completing two courses. Since July 1956 - in reserve.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Red Star, medals, as well as the Order of the DPRK. Awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Polyarny”.
V. N. Leonov died in Moscow on October 7, 2003 (on the day of the 59th anniversary of the start of the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation).
In 1998, a children's and youth sports school in the city of Polyarny was named after V.N. Leonov. One of the ships of the Northern Fleet bears his name.
Taken from Wikipedia
In 2003, on October 7, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, war veteran, legendary intelligence officer, Honorary Citizen of the city of Polyarny, Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov, the famous Polar Fox, died quietly and unnoticed....
Twice Hero, legendary scout
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, war veteran, legendary intelligence officer, Honorary Citizen of the city of Polyarny, Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov, died in Moscow... In October 1944, he defended the Arctic. In 1938, a 22-year-old guy came to Polyarny to serve in the Northern Fleet. After training in the scuba diving training squad named after. CM. Kirov, it was sent to the submarine “Shch-402”. But he did not have the chance to become a submariner; in the first days of the war, he voluntarily joined the Northern Fleet reconnaissance detachment, whose headquarters were in Polyarny.
Disease of “unconsciousness”
“Tell me, do you think our media works well? — K.A.’s voice boomed in the telephone receiver. Dobrovolsky, director of the city sports school named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union V.N. Leonova. - Where is our moral and patriotic education? I just found out that Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov died almost a month ago. Did you know? When a famous politician, actor, director or TV presenter dies, the country learns about it within 2-3 hours. For several days, we - viewers, listeners and readers - have been watching reports from the funeral, reading obituaries, condolences and “loud” articles “about the loss of one of the most worthy people of our country.” And at this time, the most worthy “leave”, accompanied by a handful of relatives and friends. Just as quietly and unnoticed, on October 12, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov Leonov was buried. Viktor Nikolaevich died on October 7. On this day 59 years ago, the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation began to defeat the Nazi-German troops in the Arctic, the success of which was credited to a detachment of reconnaissance officers led by V.N. Leonova played one of the main roles.
Scout from God
In 1938, a 22-year-old guy came to Polyarny to serve in the Northern Fleet. After training in the scuba diving training squad named after. CM. Kirov, it was sent to the submarine “Shch-402”. But he did not have the chance to become a submariner; in the first days of the war, he voluntarily joined the Northern Fleet reconnaissance detachment, whose headquarters were in Polyarny. Viktor Nikolaevich conducted about 50 combat missions of the detachment behind enemy lines, obtaining important information about the enemy. In October 1944, in front of the reconnaissance detachment V.N. Leonov was faced with a difficult, virtually impossible task: to land on the enemy’s coast, approach the batteries on Cape Krestovy from the rear, attack and destroy the enemy. Thanks to the successful actions of the scouts, the task was completed, although the Nazis offered stubborn resistance. In November 1944, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Lieutenant V.N. Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Victor was awarded the second Gold Star medal in September 1945 for heroism, courage and skillful leadership of the actions of a reconnaissance detachment in the Far East. Also during the hostilities V.N. Leonov was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Medal “For Courage”. Viktor Nikolaevich served in the Northern Fleet until 1956, and then was transferred to the reserve with the rank of captain 2nd rank and moved to Moscow, where he lived until October 7, 2003.
He is remembered here
“According to the daughter of V.N. Leonov, there were not many people at my father’s funeral, and the funeral service was quiet and quick,” sighs Konstantin Alekseevich Dobrovolsky. - Viktor Nikolaevich - Honorary citizen of the city of Polyarny, the children's and youth sports school bears his name, and we would definitely have seen him off on his last journey if... we knew that he died. Now we’ll go “to see him” in Moscow with a delay. We must honor the memory of a Real Hero at least 40 days after the funeral.” 6 years ago, the “Memory” search team discovered interesting information. As the director of the Youth Sports School and the head of the search team, K.A., said. Dobrovolsky, it turns out that during the war years, on the site of the current “Kansk” and the Youth Sports School, there was a sabotage reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet, commanded by V.N. Leonov. Surprisingly, all the intelligence officers were involved in sports: to survive in the war, they were required to master all sports - shooting, tourism, fist fighting, wrestling... Having learned about this in 1998, the administration of the city of Polyarny and the staff of the sports school turned to Viktor Nikolaevich with a request allow the Polarna sports school to be named after him. Since then, the Polyarnino children's and youth sports school has been named after twice Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov.
Anna Gridina, KSF.Ru
The name of the legendary naval reconnaissance officer, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov(1916 - 2003) is well known among intelligence professionals. In the West, Leonov is called “the luminary of the Soviet naval commandos” and is compared only with saboteur number one Otto Skorzeny.
LIBRARY OF A SOLDIER AND SAILOR
For our Soviet Motherland!
V. N. LEONOV,
twice Hero of the Soviet Union
Voenizdat
Moscow - 1973
The author of the brochure is Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov, a famous intelligence officer during the Great Patriotic War, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Based on front-line experience, he shares with soldiers and sailors thoughts about heroism, about ways to cultivate selfless devotion to the Motherland, will, courage and fearlessness, and high military skill.
The author of the brochure, Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov, is a famous front-line intelligence officer who became twice Hero of the Soviet Union at the age of 29. He was born in 1916 in the city of Zaraisk, Moscow region, into a working-class family and himself worked as a mechanic at the Moscow Kalibr plant. In 1937 he was called up to serve in the Navy. He served on a submarine and was secretary of the Komsomol organization. During the war with the Nazi occupiers, he was an ordinary reconnaissance officer, then commanded a group of reconnaissance officers of the Northern Fleet, and repeatedly landed deep behind enemy lines. In 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The second Gold Star medal was awarded for actions against Japanese militarists in the Far East. He ended the war as a captain-lieutenant - commander of a guards reconnaissance detachment of the Navy. Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov has many glorious exploits to his name. Several books have been written about them. Currently, V. N. Leonov is conducting a great deal of military-patriotic work, educating Soviet youth in the spirit of communism, readiness for heroism for the glory of the socialist Fatherland. Awarded a Certificate of Honor from the Komsomol Central Committee.
Hitler declared Viktor Leonov a personal enemy.
The war is long over. More than a quarter of a century separates us from the day of victory over Nazi Germany. But we, front-line veterans, remember everything: the fire of the battles that died down, and the friends who fell on the battlefields, and the titanic work of the rear workers, and the joy of the victories achieved... Our children do not let us forget the war either. They want to know how their fathers and grandfathers fought. This makes us happy. Every meeting with young people, with the generation we saved, is like a meeting with Komsomol youth scorched by fire, which makes us younger, more cheerful, more active.
The feat of our generation is highly appreciated by the Communist Party, the great Soviet people, and all progressive humanity. General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L. I. Brezhnev said in his report on the fiftieth anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: “The union and friendship of all nations and nationalities of our country withstood such a difficult test as the Great Patriotic War. In this war, the sons and daughters of the united Soviet Fatherland not only defended their socialist gains with honor, but also saved world civilization from fascist barbarism, thereby providing powerful support to the liberation struggle of peoples. The glory of these heroes, the glory of the valiant defenders of our Motherland will not fade for centuries.”
Like many of my peers, people of the generation of the October Revolution, the generation that defeated fascism, I want to talk to you, young warriors, as a front-line communist, a person in love with the Komsomol, with our youth, with the greatness of the work of the builders of communism. I want to talk as a veteran who wishes you happiness, deep and comprehensive enrichment with knowledge, so that you can fulfill your military duty with honor, deeply understand the meaning of the words “defender of the Motherland,” cultivate in yourself the best qualities of a Soviet soldier and bring maximum benefit to your beloved Fatherland with your work.
The party calls on us, front-line soldiers, to pass on to you our experience, the experience of the struggle of older generations, to cultivate in every young person, and especially military personnel, boundless loyalty to the Leninist cause, to our people, courage, bravery and heroism, the readiness to give all our strength, and if necessary, life in defense of the gains of the revolution.
And this is no coincidence. Our class enemies, bourgeois ideologists, claim that if a new world war begins, there will be only victims and no heroes. The emphasis on “deheroization”, intimidation by the horrors of war is aimed against patriotism and mass heroism, against the noble desire of our youth to follow the example of the heroes - Matrosov, Gastello, the Young Guard and millions of other glorious students of the party and Komsomol. Therefore, a wide display of the exploits of the defenders of our Motherland, their valor, dedication in the name of the triumph of the ideals of communism, instilling in young people the will and readiness to increase heroic traditions is the noblest cause.
We, front-line soldiers, are pleased with the patriotic aspirations of Soviet youth, their willingness to devote all their strength to the victory of communism. We are pleased with the Lenin tests, youth trips to places of military and labor glory of the Soviet people, the development of mentoring of conscripts, the patriotic movement “Let us continue and multiply the traditions of our fathers!”, born on the initiative of Komsomol soldiers of the company named after Hero of the Soviet Union, political instructor Vasily Klochkov.
And of course, in the struggle for the hero of our time, front-line soldiers play an important place. Meeting with young people, they tell them about human behavior in battle, about the psychology of feat, that the highest feat is fulfilling military duty, oath, order and at the same time preserving life.
I also often speak to soldiers, talking about how during the days of the Great Patriotic War, in a complex and difficult situation, people carried out tasks at any cost, showing courage, bravery and heroism. And I see how young warriors are deeply concerned about the exploits of those who, in a terrible time, not fearing danger, not sparing their lives, defended our Motherland in battles. And this is understandable, because there is nothing more natural than the desire of young people to be like those fearless, courageous people.
A burning thirst for bold deeds and actions is always inherent in our youth. But the desire to follow the example of heroes is not enough to truly prove to be their worthy successor in moments of severe trials. Young warriors understand this, so they seek meetings with veterans, delve into the essence of their stories, and expect frank conversations.
I would call a frank conversation with soldiers a man’s conversation, because in such a conversation everyone evaluates himself: is he able to be a real man, a man in the highest, most significant sense of the word. In his novel “The Path of Wrath,” the writer Yavdat Ilyasov says that “a man is not yet the one who can grow a mustache and beard, who is able to drink a skin of wine, and not the one who knows how to caress women, but the one who has closed his heart for everything petty, ordinary, vulgar, and set out on the path of achievement.” It is from these positions, from the positions of feat, that we will conduct our male soldier conversation.
ESSENCE OF THE FEAT
When telling young warriors about the exploits of their fathers, we, veterans, in order to more clearly show the images of heroes, involuntarily focus the attention of listeners on the fearlessness of these people, on their readiness for self-sacrifice. We necessarily associate each feat with an exceptionally courageous act of a person. Sometimes this leads to a misunderstanding of the essence of the feat, and the young warrior begins to think that a feat necessarily requires a fight with the enemy on the battlefield, where the hero, despising death, boldly rushes forward to destroy his enemy. What can you say to those who think this way?
Yes, every feat, including in days of peace, is necessarily associated with courage, courage and bravery. But can every brave act, even if done in battle, be considered a feat? On this occasion, the famous Czech patriotic writer Julius Fucik wrote: “A hero is a person who, at a decisive moment, does what needs to be done in the interests of human society.” This means that a feat is a courageous act that benefits the Motherland, society, the unit in which the warrior operates, and ultimately, the victory of communism.
Yes, a feat is everyday service to the Motherland, and not just a single military outburst. The greatest feat is to bring good to working people all your life, to make them even happier. A real feat is necessarily associated with communist conviction, revolutionary meaningfulness, courage, bravery and courage, and love for people.
In this regard, I would like to quote wonderful words from the Theses of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: “Lenin’s life is a feat. This is a life spent in the creative work of thought and tireless revolutionary action, in ideological and political battles. Lenin embodied the most outstanding features of a proletarian revolutionary: a powerful mind, an all-overcoming will, a sacred hatred of slavery and oppression, revolutionary passion, consistent internationalism, boundless faith in the creative powers of the masses, an enormous organizational genius. Lenin's life and work merged with the struggle of the working class and the Communist Party.
Lenin’s activities and his teaching had a huge influence on the Russian and international liberation movement, giving it ideological, revolutionary aspiration and organization.”
In today's life, every Soviet person, and especially young Leninists, is entrusted with the responsibility for the continuation of the great feat accomplished by the leader of the revolution, by all revolutionaries. And every soldier needs to be able to rise to the occasion of the tasks facing him, to be ready at any moment to stand up for our ideals, for the cause of the party, for the Soviet people. The most difficult thing in a person’s life is his first feat - the education of will. Then, already able to control himself, he takes any risk more boldly and confidently. But the basis of communist will, communist courage, communist determination and other qualities necessary for heroism are Soviet patriotism, loyalty to the behests of Lenin, the ideas of the party, love for the Motherland, and devotion to one’s people.
Boys and girls often ask me: “How to determine whether a person is capable of a feat or not? How did you determine this during the war when selecting intelligence officers?” This question is complex, and it is not easy to answer, but it is still possible. First of all, we tried to recruit warriors into the detachment who understood that reconnaissance is not romance, not easy glory, but hard and dangerous work in the name of the Motherland. They took it when they were sure that people were faithful to our cause and courageous. But in today’s peaceful life, don’t we strive to have strong, brave, decisive people living and working next to us, on whom we can rely not only in difficult times, but also in everyday situations? Of course, we strive, because next to them everyone feels more confident and courageous.
Some people consider me an extraordinary person, since I grew from ordinary intelligence officers into a detachment commander, was awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, and the detachment I commanded became a guards unit. To this I answer: I have no special talents, nor do I have any exceptional courage. I was just lucky. But I was lucky not in the sense that the war was easy for me. Enemies maimed me more than once until I learned to beat them myself. I was lucky in another way. I went through a good education school, where I strengthened my will, and entered the war as a prepared person. In the pioneer detachment, I truly understood what friendship is, in the team of the Moscow Caliber plant, where in 1931 I joined the Komsomol, I strengthened my will, developed the best qualities of a young man needed for service, for struggle, for heroism. The crew of the submarine Shch-402, later the Guards and Red Banner, where I sailed before the war as a minder, was wonderful. Finally, the team of our reconnaissance detachment was good. The merits of all these teams and the blood of my comrades in arms are in those stars that I wear on my chest.
Our generation learned from our elders, from the communist-Leninists. Since childhood, our hearts have been filled with love for Lenin, for the first Soviet Country in the world. We admired the exploits of the heroes of the Civil War and the first Five-Year Plans. Our thoughts and feelings were expressed in the address of the emergency plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on January 21-22, 1924 “To the party, to all workers”: “Lenin lives in the soul of every member of our party. Every member of our party is a piece of Lenin. Our entire communist family is the collective embodiment of Lenin.” We were aware of the great responsibility that our Komsomol took upon itself, taking the most honorable name - Leninsky, taking an oath on July 12, 1924 and calling on all the working youth of our country to be faithful guardians of Lenin’s covenants, imbued with a single will and firm determination to learn to live and work like Lenin and fight, implement the behests left to us by Lenin.
Old soldier, I know that a warrior carries the gold of the stars in his soul long before he accomplishes a feat. And our youth are driven to perform daring feats by the moral need to devote all their strength to the cause of Lenin, the cause of the people.
FOR THE CAUSE OF LENIN, IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHERLAND
For me, like for most of my fellow front-line soldiers, the Great Patriotic War did not become history. I began participating in battles in July 1941 as a private reconnaissance officer and went through the entire war. He fought a lot in both the North and the East. I have been behind enemy lines more than once. Face to face with the enemy. I saw his eyes closely, felt his breath. I must say frankly that I had to see courageous actions in the actions of our enemies. But if you think deeply, their courage was different from the courage of our warriors. When performing a bold act, the enemy usually counted on easy success with minimal risk, and for courage he hoped to receive encouragement: a promotion in rank, position, or even the Iron Cross. When he became convinced that it was dangerous and risky to receive the Iron Cross, but a wooden one would be certain, his courage suddenly disappeared - and he retreated.
In July 1941, we captured seven fascist soldiers and officers at a strong point, which they fiercely defended. But when the Nazis saw that we were stubbornly moving forward, that even the girl, our translator and nurse Olga Paraeva, was fearlessly rushing to the strong point, they realized that machine guns would not stop us, and, throwing down their weapons, they raised their hands. During interrogation, the prisoners said that when they were convinced of the hopelessness of the defense, they were afraid that they would be destroyed, and surrendered. When asked why they didn’t surrender earlier, one of them replied: “If we had managed to hold the stronghold, we would have received awards and leave.”
A Soviet soldier, entering into battle, does not think about awards or material benefits; he remembers only one thing: he is a part of his people, an assistant to our Leninist party, a defender of the socialist Motherland. And he holds on until the end. If a Soviet soldier or sailor, having done everything in his power, does not find a way to salvation, he dies courageously and even by his death helps his comrades solve the assigned combat mission. This is the highest embodiment of devotion to the Motherland, a soldier's duty.
In the summer of 1970, a painting by the artist Ilyin “The Feat of Sergeant Major Lysenko” was exhibited in the Exhibition Hall on Kuznetsky Most in Moscow. In this picture, the hero Ivan Lysenko holds a metal cross with wire spirals on his shoulders, and under the wire our scouts are rushing towards the enemy battery. Visitors to the exhibition lingered for a long time in front of this painting, looked with excitement at the image of the hero, and from the expression on their faces it was clear: they believed that this was so. But there were also those who doubted, believing that if such a thing happened, it was only in excitement, in a fit of battle.
I want to answer the skeptics: everything was as the artist depicted it. After all, this happened in our detachment, in the operation to liberate the city of Pechenga.
We then received the task of going to Cape Krestovy and destroying German defensive structures. We made our way to Krestovy the hard way, through the tundra and hills, and only got there on the third day. The night was very dark, and one of the scouts ran into a signal wire. The rocket took off. In front of us was a fascist battery protected by a powerful wire fence. The enemies opened fire. A decisive move is needed. I give the command: “Whoever can, but everyone should be on the battery.” Komsomol member Volodya Fatkin threw his jacket onto the barbed spiral and, rolling over it, found himself in front of the enemy machine gunners. The secretary of our Komsomol organization Sasha Manin did the same. Volodya died from the fire of a coaxial machine gun mount, and Sasha, jumping over the deadly jet, jumped into a concrete machine gun cell and blew himself up along with the German machine gunners.
Next to me was the communist Ivan Lysenko. Noticing my intentions, he shouted: “Commander, you can’t go through the wire, you’ll die, I’ll pick you up now!”
I jumped over the wire and didn’t see what Lysenko was doing. The scouts later said that Ivan threw a jacket over his head, crawled under the crosspiece, tore it out of the ground and, throwing it on his shoulders, stood up to his full height, allowing his comrades to enter the battery. The bullets, one after another, dug into the body of the hero, and, weakening, Ivan whispered:
- Faster, I have no more strength.
“Be patient a little, Ivan, there’s not much left,” one of the scouts asked.
“Then help, otherwise I’ll fall.”
Next to Ivan Lysenko stood the communist senior lieutenant Alexei Lupov. They let all the scouts through to the enemy battery and fell nearby. Alexey Lupov died immediately, and Ivan Lysenko, having received 21 bullet wounds, still lived.
When the battle at the battery ended, I approached Ivan, and the first question he asked me was:
- How's the task?
“We did it, Ivan, thank you,” I replied.
- How many guys died?
“Very few, a few people,” I reassured Ivan.
- Then that's right. If through a wire, there would be more...
These were his last words. Dying, the hero warrior thought about the task that had to be completed, about the comrades who had to live to continue the fight against the Nazis. Of course, this is not combat passion, but a conscious sacrifice in the name of the Motherland, in the name of the happiness of future generations, and this is precisely the greatness of the feat of the communists Ivan Lysenko, Alexei Lupov and other heroes.
One day a group of scouts found themselves in a very difficult situation. We completed a combat mission behind enemy lines, but were cut off from the mainland at Cape Mogilny by significant enemy forces. The enemy used infantry, artillery, and mortars to destroy a handful of scouts. All this power was aimed at the small piece of land that we occupied. We had to fight a defensive battle during the day, and if we managed to hold out for the day, it was only thanks to the courage and courage of our scouts.
During the first period of the battle, there was no danger to us from the tip of the cape. I left one scout, Zinovy Ryzhechkin, there with the task of observing the sea and, if our ships appeared, contacting them and asking for help.
At the height of the battle, it was not our ships that approached the cape, but German ones, and the landing force tried to attack us from the sea.
There was a battle on the isthmus. The scouts repulsed the enemy's furious attack and were unable to provide assistance to Ryzhechkin. He understood this and did not ask for help. With a machine gun, a captured rifle and a large supply of grenades, Komsomol member Ryzhechkin courageously repelled all the enemy’s attempts to stab us in the back. He lasted 40 minutes. Unable to break the resistance of one person, the enemies opened mortar fire, firing more than 50 mines. The scout was completely wounded, his left hand was torn off, but he continued to fight.
The courageous warrior held out until he was replaced by another intelligence officer, Mikhail Kurnosenko. Only then, bleeding, did he begin to crawl into cover. It was scary to look at the wounds of a comrade. Overcoming pain, he told us:
“It’s great, you bastards, they got me off, and I didn’t remain in debt: I beat them enough, so it’s not scary to die.”
Zinovy died in our arms. Later, at our base, we found a note in Ryzhechkin’s Komsomol card. He wrote: “Motherland! I, an ordinary Komsomol member, joining the fighting family of North Sea reconnaissance officers, swear to honestly and completely fulfill my military and Komsomol duty. I will not disgrace the honor and glory of the Komsomol membership won by my senior comrades.”
The brave intelligence officer Zinovy Ryzhechkin kept his oath to the Motherland.
By the end of the day our situation had become very difficult. The ammunition was running low. The Nazis, realizing that at night we would try to break out of the encirclement, launched a fierce attack. Regardless of losses, they climbed forward. Fifteen to twenty meters from us, they installed two machine guns and began pouring flat fire into the small area that we occupied, making it impossible for us to raise our heads and offer resistance.
One of the scouts and I managed to capture these machine guns, and we began the breakthrough, carrying the seriously wounded officer Fyodor Shelavin.
We made our way across the isthmus when it was already dark, and believed that we were saved. But in a small valley that still had to be overcome, the Nazis surrounded us again. Illuminating the valley with rockets, they opened targeted machine-gun fire from the heights surrounding the valley. And we were again pinned to the ground.
Then intelligence officer Yuri Mikheev asked to prepare a bunch of grenades for him - it was necessary to destroy a dugout located on a hillside. We gave our comrade all the “pocket artillery” - the last three grenades, tied them up, and he crawled to the dugout. The enemies noticed the scout and concentrated heavy machine-gun fire on him. Yuri was wounded, but continued to crawl. There were no more than 20 meters left to the dugout when he could no longer move forward. Then, gathering his last strength, Yuri stood up under machine-gun fire and threw a bunch of grenades. The dugout was blown up. When we ran up to the dugout, Yuri was lying, struck by machine-gun fire.
Thanks to the heroic act of the brave warrior, his fellow scouts escaped from the valley and disappeared into the rocks, and a day later they were taken from the coast by a hunter boat commanded by Boris Lyakh, later a Hero of the Soviet Union.
The above example clearly shows that the courageous, proactive actions of soldiers in battle and the achievement of the set goal is a real feat. But the feat can be accomplished not only in battle.
In 1943, three scouts from our detachment - Vladimir Lyande, Anatoly Ignatov and Mikhail Kostin - were sent to Northern Norway on the Varanger Peninsula with the task of observing the actions of the enemy, especially his ships, and reporting everything to the headquarters of the Northern Fleet.
The group was behind enemy lines for nine months and all this time, as soon as enemy convoys or individual large ships appeared at sea, they radioed their exact coordinates. According to this reconnaissance group, submariners, pilots, boat crews and gunners of the Northern Fleet sank more than fifty enemy transports and warships. In addition, intelligence officers systematically reported to the command about the sorties of enemy aircraft to strike our targets. These courageous, courageous and strong-willed people accomplished a real military feat, and without firing a single shot.
Will is one of the qualities that ensures success in battle. It is communist determination and will, boundless love for the mother Motherland that allows Soviet soldiers to perform feats. Such a patriotic soldier can be killed, but cannot be defeated. These are people of indestructible will, which was brought up in them by the Communist Party and the Leninist Komsomol.
THE BRAVE BULLET IS AFRAID
A feat is necessarily associated with courage. Even in work, in days of peace, without showing courage, bravery, bravery, you will not accomplish a feat. Every person can become brave, cultivate this quality in himself, prepare himself for a feat. I don't believe that there are people who are not afraid of anything. There are no such people, and there cannot be such people. Fear is a necessary protective reaction of the body against any accidents, and a person deprived of it can die in the most elementary circumstances, for example, under a tram or car. A person cannot help but fear danger. Another thing is how he will behave at a critical moment. It depends on many qualities that need to be cultivated.
I had to go behind enemy lines many times. And every time I crossed the front line or approached the coast occupied by the enemy on ships, a feeling of fear squeezed my heart, but I defeated it.
True courage lies in finding the willpower to overcome the feeling of fear, even in the face of death, and force yourself to complete the task that stands before you. Many of our paratroopers were truly brave, including Andrei Pshenichnykh. Once, in order to disrupt the landing of an enemy landing force, he rushed along the gangplank towards the enemies and began to clear his way to the boat with his butt. Confused, the enemies were unable to resist the pressure of the brave scout. It is impossible to surround it - the gangplank is narrow, it is impossible to open fire from the deck - it is in the back of our own soldiers, and the boat backed up.
The machine gun of Hero of the Soviet Union Andrei Petrovich Pshenichnykh is still kept in the Museum of the Northern Fleet. The warrior showed real courage, based on a clear understanding of his task, his duty to the Motherland and supported by an indestructible will to fulfill this duty.
Front-line correspondent of the Pravda newspaper, Hero of the Soviet Union S. Borzenko, said that during the Kerch-Feodosia operation, one unit of sailors was tasked with landing with the first landing and defeating the enemy battery. The unit landed and began to act decisively. The enemy was confused. The sailors reached the battery. Ahead there was a minefield and a barbed wire fence, which they could not break through right away. Realizing that every minute of delay increased the danger, since the enemy might come to his senses, the commander rose, calling for an attack. But he died immediately. The party organizer was also hit by a bullet. And then a girl, unit nurse Galya Petrova, jumped up and rushed into the minefield.
“Brothers,” she shouted, dancing, “there aren’t even mines here!”
With a single impulse, the wire fence was crushed and a minefield was passed through. The sailors completed the task.
Sergei Borzenko decided to find this girl and went looking for her. Suddenly a cry was heard from behind the shelter. Looking there, he saw a sobbing girl.
- Galya, are you wounded? - asked Borzenko.
“No,” she answered, “I was so scared that I couldn’t stop crying.”
- So how could you, scared, run into a minefield? And now, having accomplished the feat, you, heroine, cry like a girl.
- What was to be done? After all, I am a Komsomol member and knew that the sailors needed to be raised to attack, but the commander and party organizer died. I knew that male vanity and pride would not allow the sailors to remain in place when a girl, alone, could die before their eyes.
Gala was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
This girl managed to withstand enormous mental, moral and physical stress. Her nerves gave way only when the danger had passed. But I have seen men who did similar things and then smiled. However, at the moment of accomplishing the feat, they experienced the same thing as Galya.
I also remember an incident when our intelligence officer Semyon Agafonov, who became a Hero of the Soviet Union, took advantage of the enemy’s momentary confusion and fearlessly went straight at two machine guns firing at him almost point-blank. When there were a few meters left to the stone behind which the machine gunners had hidden, Semyon rushed at the Nazis like lightning. Then they asked him how he could dare to do such an act. Semyon answered cheerfully:
- What's special? As soon as I looked, I saw that the Nazis were trembling. Well, I think it’s okay, you won’t hit me with trembling hands.
Alone with friends, he admitted that it was scary, that everything inside was cold, but... it was necessary.
These people forced themselves to overcome the feeling of fear, they acted, boldly looking death in the face, and performed feats not for the sake of a desire to become famous, not for the sake of any private motives, but because of higher motives - in the name of the interests of the Motherland, for the sake of a happy life on earth .
KNOWLEDGE IS THE SUPPORT OF WILL
Nowadays, all the activities of a warrior are connected with complex military equipment, and when a soldier participates in tests or takes tests, he shows not only his personal actions, but also the actions of his assistant - equipment or weapons. If a soldier knows his job well, then he approaches a weapon, vehicle, or unit calmly, with firm confidence that they will not let him down. The actions of such a warrior in any situation will be bold and proactive. If the stock of knowledge is small, he has no confidence in success, and, going out to check, he probably thinks: “Everything will work out well today, or...”
This is possible during exercises, but in combat everything is much more complicated. In battle, a soldier meets the enemy with equipment and weapons, and strives to oppose force to force. This means that in order to achieve success, you need a large stock of knowledge, you need to know the enemy, know his weapons and capabilities.
In battle, a soldier will act clearly and confidently only when he believes in success, when his stock of knowledge gives him the opportunity to understand and correctly assess all the difficulties and dangers on the way to the goal. Then he is able to make the right decision, and faith in his capabilities will strengthen his will. But as soon as on the way to the goal he begins to encounter something incomprehensible and the stock of available knowledge does not allow him to assess the current situation, he becomes lost, makes mistakes, his will weakens, and in battle this leads to death.
I’ll tell you about one incident that happened during the war in the Northern Fleet. A squad of sailors under the command of Vasily Kislyakov was tasked with holding one of the hills. The Nazis advanced with forces many times greater than the handful of Soviet soldiers. The fight was brutal. Almost everyone died, the wounded retreated. Kislyakov sent the last healthy person to report that urgent help was needed. Only Vasily Kislyakov remained on the hill. To mislead the enemy, he collected all the weapons of the squad, skillfully positioned them and, alternately firing from different places, created the appearance that there was not one person on the hill, but a whole group. This kept the fascists at bay. Sometimes they still made it almost to the top. Then Kislyakov opened fire with a machine gun, threw grenades, and the enemies rolled down, leaving dozens dead.
But now the ammunition ran out, the last grenade remained. Vasily waited until the Nazis went on the attack again and found themselves on the steepest section of the slope. Then he rose to his full height, threw a grenade and shouted: “Platoon, follow me, attack!” - rushed forward. The enemies fled in panic, and the resourceful warrior, having picked up a large number of German weapons, returned to the hill and held the height until reinforcements arrived.
The bravery of a warrior who did not flinch in the face of mortal danger, his combat training, and resourcefulness allowed him to not get confused in difficult, seemingly hopeless conditions and win.
Kislyakov’s courage and resourcefulness were based on a large stock of knowledge and the ability to use various weapons. In this battle, he used not only his own, but also the enemy’s weapon, and it worked flawlessly in his skillful hands. The squad leader was confident in his strength and knowledge, his will was indestructible, and this gave him courage.
For his accomplished feat, Vasily Pavlovich Kislyakov was the first among the sailors of the Northern Fleet to be awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Skillfully used military equipment and the crew of the Northern Fleet submarine Shch-402. Once the boat successfully attacked an enemy transport, but then was subjected to prolonged pursuit by enemy escort ships. Finding herself without fuel and with dead batteries, she could neither walk nor dive. The situation turned out to be critical. And although it was already dark and the enemy ships stopped pursuing, there was an enemy shore nearby with observation posts and powerful batteries. In this difficult situation, from which there seemed to be no way out, the crew of the submarine did not lose their head. The sailors made a sail from canvas covers, which was raised on the periscope, and the boat moved away from the dangerous coastline. Meanwhile, the mechanics managed to start the diesel engine using lubricating oil instead of diesel fuel. They knew very well the capabilities of 38-K-8 diesel engines. Probably, even the creators of these engines did not envision such an option, but motorists expanded the capabilities of the technology with their knowledge and experience.
Once again touching on knowledge, I will say that all my wounds, which I “suffered” during the war, occurred in its first period, or rather, in the first year of the war. There was little knowledge, little skill, little experience. Then all this came, and then I believed that when meeting face to face with any enemy, no matter how armed he was, I would emerge victorious. The fight with the enemy usually ends before the bayonets are met. Someone loses morally. The enemy must be forced to think in a direction favorable to you and lead him to make a mistake, and then use his mistake for your victory. I believed in my experience and often entered into battle without weapons, thereby forcing the enemy to rush at me as easy prey. This was his mistake, for which he, as a rule, paid with captivity or death.
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, in furious hatred, throws his wounded plane, without ammunition, into an attack on the enemy, and the enemy turns away in fear. Even if the first time it was in a hopeless situation. But experience gradually accumulates, knowledge is acquired, and in further struggle this becomes one of Kozhedub’s fighting techniques.
All these are examples from the war, more than thirty years ago. Now technology has stepped far forward, and the importance of knowledge in educating a strong-willed, courageous person capable of performing various feats in the name of the Motherland has grown enormously.
VOLITIONAL MEANS DISCIPLINED
Sometimes you can hear from young soldiers and sailors that it is in vain that increased demands are placed on them, that now there is no war, but if it breaks out, then we will see who is capable of what. This opinion probably stems from the fact that even some of the veterans believe that during the war, even undisciplined people can be brave in battle.
No, an undisciplined person is not capable of heroic deeds, and, for example, such a person cannot be sent into intelligence. Everything there is built on strict discipline, on the strict fulfillment of their duties by everyone, and the slightest deviation from the general action plan can lead to failure to complete the task and even the death of people. The most that this crazy guy is capable of is to commit a dashing act in the excitement of battle. Sometimes he becomes so distracted that he even forgets what is required of him, destroys left and right, without coordinating his actions with the actions of his comrades. Only a person with high, conscious discipline can be able to curb his impulses and desires, squeeze his nerves into a fist and direct his efforts to accomplish the assigned combat mission.
One day, a group of five reconnaissance officers was dropped behind enemy lines for the purpose of observation. The group was instructed not to reveal itself and only as a last resort, if the “neighbors” found themselves in a difficult situation, to take the blow upon themselves. The scouts were behind enemy lines for several days, everything was going well, but suddenly they could not stand it. Having noticed a group of 60 Nazis walking carelessly along the ravine, they decided to surround them and destroy them. The Nazis were killed, documents were collected, weapons were either destroyed or taken with them.
Having returned without losses, the scouts were counting on the praise of their superior, but instead the group commander received 15 days of guardhouse duty. Why? But because discipline was violated. The group did not fully complete its task - it discovered itself, as a result of which the task of the second group was disrupted. The enemy began a search and discovered a second group, which was forced, without completing the task, to return to its base. And the completion of the task by the second group was much more important than the destruction of 60 fascists.
There were no casualties in this case of indiscipline. But it can be worse.
In the Far East, during the liberation of North Korea from the Japanese imperialists, our detachment, together with a company of Marine machine gunners, was tasked with seizing a bridgehead for the main landing in the Korean port of Seishin. There were more than five thousand Japanese in the city, but we acted decisively, clearly, with skill, and by the end of the first day we had captured the bridges across the river, thereby cutting off the Japanese’s escape route, cleared the city center of the enemy and kept the port under control. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. At night the battle died down. Realizing that in the morning the Japanese would try to destroy us at any cost, clear their way to escape and, if not disrupt, then delay the landing of our main landing force, I decided to act.
He entrusted the defense of bridges, the city center and control of the port to a special detachment. The company, which did not yet have combat experience, had to take up defensive positions along the river in order to prevent the enemy from fording. Fearing that the Japanese would cross the river at night, I ordered the company commander to take his men to the very edge of the water and control the river. One platoon of a Marine company was ordered to guard a small bridge over a canal in our rear.
At night, scouts reported to me that the platoon at the bridge had disappeared and could not be found. It was necessary to urgently, to the detriment of the defense in the main directions, send a group of reconnaissance officers. It turned out that, contrary to my orders, the platoon commander decided to cross the canal and go deeper into the suburban buildings. The platoon was ambushed and killed.
The next day, when a fierce battle broke out in the area of the bridges, I received a report that the company was surrounded. It turned out that the company commander also did not follow my orders. Sparing his soldiers, who were severely bitten by mosquitoes near the water, he took them under the protection of their houses. The Japanese, taking advantage of this, crossed the river and concentrated in the reeds. When in the morning the company commander decided to return to the water, the enemy, well camouflaged, let the company through the reeds, surrounded it, and the company suffered heavy losses. Only thanks to the exceptional courage and skill of the detachment's scouts we managed to break through to the company and lead the soldiers, along with the seriously wounded commander, out of encirclement. In these actions, our detachment also suffered losses that were completely unjustified.
Of course, everything can be justified, as some comrades did after the battle in Seishin, by lack of combat experience, but the main reason for the losses in this case was indiscipline.
From the above examples it is clear what sad consequences indiscipline sometimes leads to and how the courageous actions of a person brought up in the spirit of high demands and discipline can be assessed.
IN A HEALTHY BODY HEALTHY MIND
The more complex the task facing a person, the more difficult the path to the goal, the harder his brain works. In battle, in an attack, a soldier also thinks intensely. If a soldier is strong, seasoned, feels an excess of strength, knows that he can cope with the enemy, then he resolutely moves forward. But what if the soldier is weak? He gets up, but his back hurts, his boots barely come off the ground, the rifle seems heavy. Any opponent will seem like a hero to him, and the thought will probably arise: I’ll probably have enough strength to run, but what will I do next? Such a soldier forgets about the task, begins to think about saving his life, and gives the initiative of battle into the hands of the enemy.
Combat practice convincingly shows that hand-to-hand combat, when both opponents fight with equal energy for victory, does not happen. One of the two will definitely chicken out and retreat, and if there is nowhere to retreat, he will defend himself, saving his life. The second, acting decisively, will complete the task to the end. This second will be the one who has a stronger will, who is physically and morally superior to the enemy. This is the psychological law of combat. I served in a detachment that, operating behind enemy lines, was always inferior to the enemy in numbers, technical equipment, and firepower, but we always won in hand-to-hand combat. Neither the Germans nor the Japanese ever acted as decisively as we did in hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes they attacked, but it was an onslaught of a mass of people, and those who came into close contact with us only defended themselves, with fear in their eyes.
In July 1941, having just arrived in the detachment, I and a group of scouts were landed on the enemy shore to destroy one of the strongholds. The commander, senior lieutenant Georgy Lebedev, decided to attack the strong point from three sides. Our five had to go around two hills, cross a valley, and do it all secretly. We were in a hurry, and I was probably more than anyone, since I found myself about fifty meters ahead of my comrades. He lay down in the bushes and decided to wait. Suddenly, two enemy officers and more than a dozen soldiers ran out from behind a granite ledge and headed straight towards me. I took aim and fired. The officer fell, the others stopped. I shoot at another officer - it misfires. I reloaded and it misfired again. While I was fiddling around, the second officer noticed me, fired his pistol, but missed. Then I jumped up from the ground and rushed forward. The officer didn’t shoot anymore, he ran, followed by all the soldiers. I chased them about seventy meters. I was unable to catch up, as they disappeared into a concrete fortification. I threw a grenade there. Then Nikolai Domanov ran up and we destroyed the entire group. For this first battle, I was awarded the medal “For Courage”.
The idea to rush at the Nazis did not come by chance. I believed in my strength, I believed that I could destroy any enemy in hand-to-hand combat. In other battles, already consciously testing the enemy, my comrades and I sometimes stood in front of the attacker and calmly, decisively walked forward, and the enemy retreated. This became our reliable defense technique, which we often used on Krestovoy.
The detachment in which I began my combat career as an ordinary scout and ended as a commander had great military successes, which was greatly facilitated by the exceptional physical endurance of our scouts. We were once tasked with taking prisoners from a coastal road in Northern Norway. Intelligence spotted a large movement of troops there, and “tongues” were needed to clarify the purpose of this movement. The task was complicated by the fact that the transfer of German units was carried out only during the day, under the cover of coastal batteries and aviation.
We went out on torpedo boats before dark, pretending that we were searching for enemy ships. We calculated how much time convoys spend moving from one point to another. It was determined that one of the convoys would arrive at their destination Vadsø when it was already dark. To deceive the enemy, the boats took the opposite course. Only when it got dark did we turn towards the Vadsø area.
The weather has worsened. A large wave appeared and the boats were unable to approach the coast. The scouts landed in small inflatable boats, spending a lot of time on this. In order to intercept the convoy in time, it was necessary to quickly get to the road, which was more than three kilometers away. We threw away our backpacks and clothes that got in the way and, with only weapons and ammunition, ran through the deep snow to the road. Not every person is able to withstand such a load.
The fight lasted for twenty minutes. We destroyed the headquarters of the anti-aircraft regiment and the guard company, captured prisoners and all the headquarters documentation.
There was alarm on the coast. German reinforcements reached the battlefield, and we again had to get to the shore through deep snow, with prisoners and a large load. In our small boats, almost swimming, we finally reached the boats.
The Nazis later wrote in their reports that the Russians landed a large landing force, but “by the valiant troops of the Fuhrer, the landing force was partially destroyed and partially thrown into the sea.” In fact, 33 scouts took part in the battle, and all returned safely to base.
The sea was stormy for the rest of the night and half of the next day. We chipped ice from the superstructures and decks and pumped out water with buckets. But we were half naked, since all our clothes were left on the coast.
Around twelve we returned to the base, and at exactly twelve we already took part in competitions - in the ski relay, and one of our teams took first place. Not because we had the best skiers in the fleet - there were also masters of sports in other teams, but because the general physical training of the scouts, their will to fight, was very high. We knew how to fight in any conditions until our last breath.
Now you can sometimes hear that in the atomic age physical strength is not valued, everything is done by technology, and if there is a war, it will be a push-button war, and to solve problems you need your head, not your muscles. The head is good, and the technology and buttons are also good, but sailors from nuclear submarines, where there is enough technology and buttons, say: “Before you press the button, you will squeeze your vest five times.” They probably have reason to say so. With the growth of technology, the speed of human actions increases; an instant reaction to rapidly changing events and instrument readings is required. No, the words of the wise saying: “A healthy mind in a healthy body” are not outdated in our atomic age.
BONS OF COMRADE AND FRIENDSHIP
The traditions of military camaraderie in the Russian army have a long history. We always sacredly remember Suvorov’s motto: “Perish yourself, but save your comrade.” Our party has created an army of unprecedented strength of cohesion, such fighting groups where everyone is a friend, comrade and brother to everyone. In battles against the enemies of the socialist Motherland, this brotherhood increased our steadfastness, strengthened our courage, and helped defeat the enemy. For old soldiers who have fought in their lifetime, military camaraderie is a sacred and indestructible concept. And Gogol’s line, as inspired as a song, “There is no bond holier than comradeship!” many of us could use as an epigraph to our combat biographies.
People often ask me how miraculously I managed to survive numerous and dangerous forays behind enemy lines, what talents helped me. And I invariably answer that this miracle, these talents were my faithful comrades who always surrounded me. Their constant readiness to protect, help, rescue and my boundless faith in them gave me strength, vigor, endurance, and helped heal wounds. My friends are the ones to whom I owe my exploits, high awards and life itself. I will always remember the lesson I received from my subordinate, intelligence officer Semyon Agafonov.
After the victory over Nazi Germany, I was transferred from the North as commander of the same detachment to the Pacific Fleet and was allowed to take fifty North Sea reconnaissance officers with me. But there were many more people willing. To refuse someone to go with me means to offend... What should I do? I decided to talk with the guys, with those who have fought a lot and have enough awards that, they say, it’s time to think about rest. I call Semyon Agafonov. Hero of the Soviet Union, three Orders of the Red Banner, Order of the Patriotic War. I advise him to prepare for demobilization. And Semyon, our legendary intelligence officer, looked at me so that I felt ashamed, and very calmly said:
“I’m asking to go to the East because I feel sorry for you and those boys from the Pacific detachment.” They are young, even if not our children, but younger brothers, without combat experience, and the Japanese are insidious, cunning enemies, they will take your head off, and you will kill a lot of these boys. And if we are nearby, who know how the most difficult reconnaissance tasks are carried out, there will be more success, and most importantly, more of these guys will remain alive. They need to live! Live to build communism. Do we fight for glory?
This cannot be forgotten!
I am returning again to the battle at Cape Mogilny, which I already wrote about. A marine battalion was assigned to carry out the task at Mogilny. The reconnaissance group, which I then commanded and which consisted of seven people, was supposed to lead the battalion to the strong point and be the first to break into it to capture prisoners and documents. The remaining groups of the detachment were tasked with covering the actions of the battalion.
The Marines, insufficiently prepared for operations in mountainous conditions and weakly physically hardened, only reached their destination by dawn. Bombarded by artillery and mortar fire, they began to retreat to the landing site.
I was lying among the stones. There was a valley ahead, and behind it was a strong point. The silent scouts watched me with intense attention, and I waited for the signal to begin action, painfully thinking that we were losing precious minutes and could suffer unnecessary losses. When it became clear that for some reason the battalion was stuck (we did not yet know that it was leaving), I decided to act, confident that we would be supported, if not by the Marines, then by our groups.
I didn’t give any commands, I just got up and rushed as hard as I could towards the enemy fortification. All the group's scouts rushed forward at the same second. Other groups in our squad immediately came to the rescue. And the problem was solved.
We had to return, but the enemy had already occupied the isthmus. We could have slipped through his lines, but we had on our hands a seriously wounded junior lieutenant Fyodor Shelavin, one of the group commanders. To free our hands, he tried to shoot himself. I took the weapon from him. We stayed on the cape.
This decision caused confusion among many. Some believed that to save people and captured documents it was necessary to sacrifice one person. But I still think I did the right thing. Leaving officer Shelavin to be dealt with by the enemies meant undermining the intelligence officers' faith in military friendship, military camaraderie, and depriving many of their determination and courage - qualities without which it is impossible to fight.
In our detachment, each scout, performing a feat, recognized that this was the merit of not only him, but also his comrades in arms. The success of one person was associated with the overall success of the detachment.
A feat is a matter for the sake of the team, and in order to accomplish it, you need to think not about how to distinguish yourself in front of your comrades, but about how to help them complete the task, to make their hard military work easier. It is no coincidence that people say: “Alone in the field is not a warrior.” After all, no matter how much a person strives to distinguish himself in front of others, he will not achieve a feat if there is no real friendship, complete trust in each other.
The feat is accomplished by a team, and the one who is better prepared than others performs the most important and most dangerous task. But for him to succeed, his comrades must help him.
In battle, a person acts confidently and courageously only when he believes in his comrades, knows that they will support him, that they are nearby. Risking their own lives, they will do everything to ensure that he completes the task. This is how feats are accomplished, this is how heroes are born.
WILL GIVES INITIATIVE
A person’s initiative and resourcefulness are of great importance in achieving a goal. An initiative and resourceful person will solve a given problem in the most difficult conditions and will more easily achieve success.
Two torpedo boats under the command of now twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Shebalin, with a group of reconnaissance officers on board, went to sea. There they met an enemy convoy, consisting of three transports and fifteen escort ships. Shabalin made a bold decision to attack the transports.
Twice Hero of the USSR Alexander Shabalin
Hitler's escort ships were well armed, so breaking through their formation seemed almost impossible. Three times the boats launched an attack, and each time without success.
The battle distance sometimes reached fifty meters, and sometimes less. The commander of the reconnaissance group, observing the progress of the battle, proposed calling scouts to the upper deck and using their weapons to destroy the artillery crews of the fascist ships. The proposal was accepted. During the fourth attack, the gun crews on the two closest enemy hunter boats were destroyed, and the ships left the battle. A gap opened through which our torpedo boats broke through and sank two transports. Thus, a reasonable initiative helped the boatmen complete their combat mission.
Here's another example. The company attacked the height on which the Nazis fortified themselves. As soon as the infantrymen rose to attack, the enemy met them with heavy machine-gun fire. The platoon commander, Lieutenant Veselov, was seriously wounded, and soon the disturbing news came about the death of the company commander. Sergeant Pogodin remained the senior rank in the unit. He understood that success depends only on moving forward.
Leading a group of four people, Sergeant Pogodin, using a small ravine, crawled around the height. About half an hour later, the soldiers first heard the noise of an engine, and then saw how a tank with crosses on its armor rushed towards enemy fortifications, shooting at firing points from a cannon.
It turned out that a group of soldiers led by Sergeant Pogodin, having gone behind enemy lines, accidentally stumbled upon a fascist tank that stood in the bushes with open hatches. The crew fussed around the car, filling it with fuel. The soldiers rushed at the Nazis and destroyed them with machine gun fire. Pogodin got into the fascist car with the soldiers and rushed to attack the enemy. The company, supported by tank fire, quickly captured the heights.
Initiative, resourceful people are respected, valued, they are trusted with the best technology, difficult areas, unexplored paths, they are trusted. They won't let you down. But why are not all people always able to show initiative and resourcefulness, find a way out in difficult conditions and solve difficult problems?
Probably because initiative and resourcefulness can only be shown by a person who perfectly knows his specialty, masters the technology entrusted to him, who is always cheerful and full of energy, who is disciplined, believes in friendship, believes that his proactive actions will be understood and supported by comrades. It is under these conditions that creativity can manifest itself, which ensures success in work and in battle. It is clear that only a strong-willed person can be proactive and resourceful.
Another example from my combat practice. Our landing force was landed in the Korean port of Wonsan: about two thousand marines. They occupied part of the port. The Japanese had more than ten thousand troops stationed in the city area. A tense situation has arisen. The Japanese avoided hostilities, but did not capitulate, although, as we knew, the Japanese emperor had already signed a decree on surrender. The detachment operated in the city. We destroyed the railway track, thereby depriving the Japanese troops of the opportunity to retreat. They sent officers from the garrison command to their ship. We found out the plan of the Japanese command. It boiled down to the fact that, as soon as all the troops were concentrated directly at the port, attack and destroy our landing force, capture the ships standing at the berths, and leave by sea for the metropolis. I reported this to the landing commander, Captain 1st Rank Studenichnikov. The Japanese soldiers did not yet know about the existence of such a plan, and it was necessary to show them that the garrison had begun to surrender.
I received a written order to force the garrison of the airfield, which was located on the other side of Wonsan Bay, to surrender. There were more than three thousand troops in the garrison, and there were many times fewer of us.
On torpedo boats we approached the spit, where warehouses, hangars and an airstrip were located, and quickly disembarked and took up defensive positions. Now we could influence enemy targets. Our defense was reliable. In front of us is a flat airfield, and behind us are torpedo boats, each with eight heavy machine guns. We waited to see what the enemy would do.
A truck and a passenger car appeared on the airfield, heading towards us. Five officers got out of the passenger car, and two soldiers pulled out chairs from the truck. We were invited to sit down. This invitation was made in a very polite manner, with smiles and bows. We refused to sit down, and I immediately asked:
- When do you think of giving up?
The senior officer, the major, replied:
- I do not have the authority to negotiate surrender; such negotiations must be conducted with the head of the airfield. He's at headquarters and waiting for you.
How to proceed? Refuse - there will be a battle, and it will definitely spread to the port, and the position of our landing force is difficult. Going is risky, but it makes sense. It’s so simple, they won’t kill us right away, but during negotiations we can find some way out.
Ten people went to the headquarters. The detachment under the command of Hero of the Soviet Union, midshipman Alexander Nikandrov, remained in place. On the way to headquarters, Japanese officers politely informed us about the strength of their defenses. We understood that this was a psychological step. I wanted to turn back. A better fight. At least everything is clear, but here it is unknown what the samurai will do when we find ourselves at headquarters.
I left two scouts for communication on the street, and eight people entered the office of the head of the airfield. There were about two dozen officers there. We greeted each other politely, sat down, and the negotiations began. The smiles on the faces of the Japanese officers instantly disappeared, and the head of the airfield, the colonel, sternly asked:
-Where are our officers?
What could I answer? The only way:
- We are on the ship, negotiating.
- I hope they are safe?
“Of course, everything is done voluntarily,” I calmly assured. “We came to find out when you will surrender.”
The colonel stood up, and the rest of the officers jumped up after him:
“We have no right to surrender, and there is no reason to have these conversations, at least until our command returns from your ship.” I have decided to hold you as hostages until our command returns, and let the soldiers who landed with you immediately leave the airfield, otherwise they will all be destroyed.
I looked at my comrades, and it became clear to me that they were ready for decisive action. The Japanese officers waited tensely for an answer. But why, after declaring us hostages, did the colonel not order us to be disarmed? This means he was afraid, afraid of death. And I said:
“I guess we’re ready to die.” But only after you.
Meanwhile, Ivan Guznenkov opened the window, indicating with a gesture that he could jump here. Andrei Pshenichnykh walked up to the door, locked it with the key and put it in his pocket, and Vladimir Olyashev stood at the door with a machine gun. Dmitry Sokolov came close to the colonel, and Semyon Agafonov began to lightly, slowly, toss the grenade, as if it were a child’s toy. The Japanese kept an eye on the grenade and flinched slightly. There was fear in their eyes. The colonel asked to move on to negotiations.
“We agree to formalize the decision and announce it to the unit commanders, but for this we need to hold a short meeting.
“No,” I answered, “you have paper, ink too, write the order.”
“This will be a formal document, we will not be able to convey it to our subordinates,” said the colonel.
“It’s okay, we’ll somehow overcome this task, if only there was an order,” I answered.
The order was signed. I handed it to the major, who was constantly giving some instructions to other officers, and said:
- There are enough phones here, use them. The airfield is visible through the window. As soon as your troops line up without weapons on the airfield, and I receive a signal about this from my comrades, we will leave the headquarters together.
About forty minutes later the troops were lined up, I received a signal from Nikandrov, and we went out into the street.
The soldiers were lined up in groups of four. The column turned out to be too long, and it had to be led around the bay to one of the schools. In order not to disperse the forces of the convoy, we decided to rebuild the column of eight soldiers in a row, but still we were not able to escort such a column. Then I ordered the colonel and major to get into the passenger car with me, all the officers who were at the headquarters to get into the bus, and the troops, under the leadership of their commanders and our supervision, to move to their destination. Moreover, I warned that if even one soldier escapes, the colonel will be destroyed first, then the major, and then the others. The colonel was forced to obey. He himself announced our demand to the troops. Thus we marched to our destination.
The command order was carried out. And immediately after the surrender of the airfield garrison, the surrender of the entire Wonsan garrison began.
Subsequently, I had to read and hear about this operation and such that Leonov with a dozen scouts managed to create the appearance of encirclement of three and a half thousand Japanese troops and take them prisoner. As you can see, everything in life is a little different, perhaps even simpler, if only you had faithful, reliable friends nearby.
THE PATH TO HEROES
I am often asked the question: what do you need to do in order to be able to accurately and accurately perform any task, even the most dangerous? I should have answered simply: cultivate love for the Motherland, skill, will, they will help you accomplish feats, just as they helped our intelligence officers. But I will answer it with one more example. A young sailor, Makar Babikov, arrived in our detachment. He was short, thin and seemed to be completely weak physically. By outward appearances, he did not fit into the detachment, but they took him. They took him because Babikov served as a clerk, which we really needed. He was an excellent clerk. He wrote beautifully and competently, typed, had an excellent memory, and handled his responsibilities well. However, Babikov wanted to be a scout. He came to the commander.
- I need to fight. I know, you will say, I’m rather weak,” he said quickly, seeing that the commander was trying to object. “I’ve already heard this from you and from other intelligence officers.” Only Nikolai Ostrovsky was not very strong, but he did a lot, and your scouts are not all heroes, but they fight well, and I will be no worse than others. From today I will begin to prepare for trips, study everything that a scout needs to know, and take up sports properly. Here I made a little book, wrote everything here - weapons, subversive work, photography, and sports. I ask you to take tests and mark what you passed and how you passed it.
- Well, what about clerical duties, Makar? After all, you are our clerk,” said the commander.
“Well, I’ll do my clerical duties too, I can handle it.”
And Makar began to prepare to take the tests. The commander called me and said:
- You will take tests from Makar on the entire intelligence program. Look, there are no concessions. For each test he has a book, a test book, he made it himself. Rate and sign. I'll ask you.
I really wanted to refuse this assignment, but I said nothing and left. And then it began. Makar pulled himself up on the horizontal bar three times - give him credit. The two-pounder raised - again the test. I slid down the hill on skis - again the test. I studied the captured pistol - a test is required. And I was so tired of these tests that I began to hide from Makar.
One day Makar dug up a Canadian pistol somewhere and demanded that I take a test from him, and I myself was seeing it for the first time. And Makar became so angry that he couldn’t restrain himself and said:
“You, Makar, have already become a professor in intelligence, you know everything better than me.” While I’m fighting, you’re doing cramming, I’ll come, you’re taking tests. You are simply covering yourself with these tests so as not to go on hikes. It's time for you to fight.
Makar remained silent, left, and fifteen minutes later the commander called me:
“Are you doing stupid things, why are you misleading people?” He now demands that he be taken on a campaign, he says, I know everything, Leonov told me about it.
I waited until the commander spoke, and then calmly answered:
- If you order, I will take him on a hike. I only advise you to select a new clerk in advance.
- Why so?
- Because he won’t come back, and you will be left without a clerk.
- Leave it alone. The goal is to let the sailor feel what a real military campaign is like, but he must arrive alive. Makar is a valuable figure for the squad.
I probably felt offended for us, the scouts, and with some shade of irony I said:
- That's right, it's my fault, I forgot, the clerk is really a figure in the reconnaissance detachment. We will try, rest assured, we will lay bones, and we will save the scrivener for you.
A few days later we went on a hike. The hike was going to be easy. Go through the front line, then seventy kilometers behind enemy lines, blow up an object and return back. That's the whole task, but... Each scout took with him about forty kilograms of cargo. This is a bit difficult for a seasoned person, but Makar is completely beyond his strength.
But he walked, was cheerful and even smiled. His comrades made fun of him, and then, seeing that Makar was stumbling, they became alarmed. We decided to help. Semyon Agafonov stated directly:
“I told you, Makar, that you’re weak in the knees, but you’re not, you keep going on a hike, now you see what’s happening.” Give us your load, we will carry it, and you go light.
But Makar stubbornly replied:
“I knew where I was going, I knew what difficulties awaited me, and let me do everything myself.”
And he walked, walked, stumbling, sometimes falling. Then, at the first stop, when Makar was fast asleep, everything heavy was taken out of his backpack, and in return they put cookies, biscuits, spare socks and foot wraps. The volume of the backpack remained the same, but the weight decreased by three times.
We returned from the hike nineteen days later. For two days Makar lay prone on his bed. I reported to the commander that the task of “processing” Babikov was completed, and received gratitude from him. And two days later Makar stood up and came straight to me.
“I,” he says, “felt bad during the hike, it seems worse than others.”
“Everything seems to you,” I answer, “but it doesn’t seem to me.” I know for sure that you would not have made it if your comrades had not helped you.
“And this is because,” Makar objects, “I still don’t train much, I don’t work enough.”
“That’s right, Makar, at least once in your life you honestly admitted that you don’t work enough, so sit down at your desk and work more, believe me, things will work out for you.”
“No, I’ll go hiking more often,” Makar said decisively.
I don’t remember how my conversation with Makar ended, but the sailor captivated me with his determination and desire to become a real intelligence officer. And we began to train him in full. I always took him with me on hikes, kept him with me, watched, suggested, and on vacation I didn’t give him a moment’s rest.
As in many units, our day began with physical exercises, but the exercises were special and difficult. The scouts get up and warm up for ten minutes. There is boxing and jiu-jitsu here. And Makar gets up. And I will give the task to one of the experienced intelligence officers to break his sides so that they will hurt for a week, and for this ten minutes are not needed, two are enough. Makar catches his breath, gets up and goes skiing with everyone else. The scouts will walk thirty or even fifty kilometers along the hills, return, instead of water they will rub themselves with snow up to their waists and have breakfast. And Makar, look, he’ll only come up for lunch. But it will also rub against the snow and go to the dining room. And there was no such case that he did not cover the entire distance that the entire squad covered that day, no matter how difficult it was. If Makar beats someone in the ring or hurts his sides on the mat, he will not leave this scout until he learns to truly resist him.
Makar was not one of the brave dozen, and in a real battle he did not lose face.
In one battle, going to the aid of our group, my best friend Vasily Kashutin died. I saw Vasily lying between the Germans and our group, but I didn’t know whether he was killed or seriously wounded, and I decided to check. I began to prepare for the sortie and suddenly I heard Makar’s voice:
- Comrade Sergeant Major, allow me to do this.
I looked at Makar - pale, sweat appeared on his forehead. Smiling, he told him:
- No, Makar, it’s better to stay here.
But he persistently and decisively stated:
- I am a messenger, this is my duty, and I will fulfill it.
He crawled, was wounded in the leg, but did not turn back. Having reached Vasily, he was convinced that he was dead. The Nazis opened fire. Makar, with his head buried in the ground, froze next to Kashutin without moving. I cursed myself for not being able to stop him. The Germans thought they had killed him and ceased fire. After waiting two or three minutes, Makar suddenly jumped up and ran, limping on his wounded leg, rushed in our direction. While the confused enemies managed to take him at gunpoint, he had already disappeared into the stones and returned to his place.
This is how Makar cultivated the qualities of a scout and strengthened his will.
During the battle in the Korean port of Seishin, we were greatly hampered by Japanese machine guns installed in the recess of the bridge parapet. I instructed Babikov to destroy these machine guns. The attack dragged on, and I went to find out what was going on. When I approached the bridge, I saw Babikov. Blood was running down his face. One of the scouts bandaged his head, and the second, a sailor who had not yet been fired upon, began to report:
“The bridge is under heavy fire, you can’t reach the machine guns and you can’t throw a grenade...
Babikov instantly tore off his bandage and sharply shouted:
“You lie that you can’t get there, you just can’t and you report all sorts of nonsense, well, let’s go together!”
Hastily, sometimes crawling, sometimes running, he moved forward and, having reached a metal pole, pressed himself to the ground. Having caught his breath, Babikov suddenly jumped up and threw two grenades one after another. This was a completely different Babikov. He ended the war as a reconnaissance platoon commander, Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the war, Makar Andreevich Babikov graduated from the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee, held a number of responsible positions in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and now works in the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR.
This is how you need to prepare yourself for a feat, cultivate your will, and develop the qualities necessary for a feat. Babikov was not born a hero capable of performing feats, but his hard work and the help of his comrades made him a real soldier. He learned to selflessly serve his people, fight the Nazi invaders, and now, in days of peace, he works honestly. At the XXIV Congress of the CPSU, S. N. Savin was elected as a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
During the war, the commander of the torpedo boat division of the Northern Fleet, now admiral, Hero of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Nikolaevich Alekseev, once told me:
“Here I have a boy Seryozha Savin, a radio operator, an exceptionally brave and strong-willed person. He asks to be your scout, but I need him myself, I won’t let him go.
“You’re doing a bad job,” I answered, “you have a potential hero, but you don’t give him a chance.”
Sergei Savin did not become a Hero of the Soviet Union, but received many military awards. After the war, he moved to Voronezh, where he began working at a radio components factory. A strong-willed, energetic, knowledgeable man, he became a foreman of electrical mechanics, a Hero of Socialist Labor and performs his feat for the good of the Motherland in peaceful labor.
We veterans really want the younger generation to be like us. Every father wants his son to repeat his path, but to go through this path better, with fewer mistakes. We are offended when we hear from young people that now is a different time, different conditions and different tasks and we, the old people, do not understand everything. Yes, life changes, the conditions of human activity change, but the main thing remains - the defense of the Motherland. This means that people of indestructible will, capable of performing feats, are still needed. The one who is able to adopt our experience, our knowledge, who cultivates an indestructible will in himself, who loves his Fatherland infinitely - he will be in the first rank of fearless fighters for the people's happiness.
These are the kind of people, courageous, disciplined, knowledgeable, physically resilient, with a tempered will, patriots, who are trained by our Armed Forces.
I know the former soldier Evgeniy Tsarkov. He was a disciplined, physically hardened, competent and strong-willed soldier, capable of completing any combat mission. Now Evgeny Tsarkov lives in the village of Rogachevo, Dmitrovsky district, Moscow region. He is a leader of an integrated mechanized unit on a state farm, a Hero of Socialist Labor.
In 1970, at a Komsomol rally of participants in campaigns to the places of military and labor glory of our people in the homeland of the great Lenin, in Ulyanovsk, I heard about a young worker at the Voronezh Mechanical Plant, Igor Sorokin. Voronezh Komsomol members spoke of him with respect, as of their pupil-hero. I was unable to meet Igor in Ulyanovsk, which I regretted later, and decided to go to Voronezh. In the city committee of the Komsomol they told me about Igor as an interesting, hardworking, honest guy, they told me that during his service in the army he received the Order of the Red Star and a medal.
Igor left Voronezh for Leningrad to study at police school. We met. Igor Sorokin turned out to be a really very interesting person. We talked with him about his exploits. Igor clearly understood that feat is not romance, not an instant impulse, but work, hard, sometimes dangerous, but necessary for people. Sorokin received his awards for clearing mines and shells left after the war on Smolensk soil. His military service was associated with constant risk. But he always carried out combat missions calmly and prudently.
I was struck by his mature judgment about will, heroism and the responsibilities of a person living in a socialist society. Igor, when he was a very young Komsomol member, had to meet with his fellow countryman, Hero of the Soviet Union Andrei Petrovich Pshenichnykh, who talked about his comrades, about their skill, about physical training, about friendship, mutual assistance. After these meetings, the desire to be like a fellow countryman and hero appeared.
Igor set himself a difficult task - to be like Andrei Pshenichnykh, but he achieved his goal. He cultivated a strong will in himself, as Andrei Pshenichnykh managed to do during the war years; he learned to suppress the feeling of fear in the face of mortal danger, as Pshenichnykh knew how to do. And I am sure that if he has to cross arms with the enemy, defending his Motherland, he will justify the title of a Soviet man with dignity and honor.
To find out what a person is like, we sometimes ask ourselves the question: “Would you go on reconnaissance with him?” So, I would go with Igor Sorokin. He went because he was mentally prepared to solve the most difficult and dangerous tasks. This is how we, veterans, want to see our youth, to pass on our glorious traditions into the hands of such people. Raising young patriots is the primary task of the party, the Komsomol, and the whole society.
So our conversation about the feat has come to an end, the young defender of the Motherland. You must remember that the soldier’s experience, which helped us win, is even more necessary for you, because with more advanced technology, the fight against the enemy becomes more complicated, moral and physical stress increases, and you need to prepare yourself for this. The army is a school of courage, a school of struggle, so you have to go through it successfully. You are obliged to honorably accept and carry the title of Soviet soldier, to serve your term in such a way that later you will not be ashamed to remember the years of harsh military service. Each of you must strengthen yourself morally and physically in order to be ready to defend the Fatherland at any time.
And the one who, during his service in the army, manages to decorate his chest with signs of military valor, will be better prepared to carry out any task or order. He will be ready for a feat, because he will cultivate in himself the qualities necessary for a fighter. We can say with confidence that in the future of his life, no matter what path he follows, no matter what unit he serves, one will not blush for such a warrior with a real soldier’s heart. He will always find his place in life. Even in the reserve he will be a real soldier, a worthy representative of the generation of young Leninists.
Maxim Gorky said: “There is always a place for heroic deeds in life.” Get ready for heroic deeds today and perform them in the name of our great Motherland! The Communist Party and the Soviet people are calling for this.
The name of the legendary naval intelligence officer, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov (1916 - 2003) is well known among intelligence service professionals. In the West, Leonov is called “the luminary of the Soviet naval commandos” and is compared only with saboteur number one Otto Skorzeny.
Apparently, this is the fate of a scout - the better he masters his skills, the less is known about him. At the same time, perhaps, none of the eminent military leaders carried out such daring military operations as this man, who returned from the war with the modest rank of lieutenant commander, but with two gold stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union on his chest.
In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, Leonov’s detachment not only provided reconnaissance and sabotage activities behind Nazi lines, but also protected the main transport artery of the Second World War. At the same time, in battles and campaigns under his command, the detachment lost only a few people! This is a unique experience of preserving people during combat operations, people of incredible combat skills, invincible in hand-to-hand combat.
Born on November 21, 1916 in the city of Zaraysk, Ryazan province, into a working-class family. Russian. From 1931 to 1933, he studied at the factory school at the Moscow Kalibr plant, after which he worked as a mechanic, combining work with social activities: member of the Komsomol factory committee, chairman of the workshop committee of inventors, leader of the youth brigade.
In the ranks of the Navy since 1937. He was drafted into the Northern Fleet, where he completed a training course in the underwater diving training squad named after S. M. Kirov in the city of Polyarny, Murmansk region, and was sent for further service to the submarine Shch-402.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, senior Red Navy man V.N. Leonov submitted a report on his enrollment in the 181st separate reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet, in which, from July 18, 1941, he carried out about 50 combat operations behind enemy lines. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1942. From December 1942, after being awarded the officer rank, he was deputy detachment commander for political affairs, and a year later, in December 1943, commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet. In April 1944 he was awarded the rank of lieutenant.
In October 1944, during the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation of the Soviet troops, reconnaissance officers under the command of V.N. Leonov landed on the enemy-occupied coast and spent two days making their way to the designated point in off-road conditions. On the morning of October 12, they suddenly attacked an enemy 88-mm battery at Cape Krestovy, captured it, and captured a large number of Nazis. When a boat with Nazi troops appeared, together with the detachment of Captain I.P. Barchenko-Emelyanov, they repelled enemy attacks, capturing about 60 Nazis. This battle ensured the success of the landing in Linahamari and the capture of the port and city.
Thus, Leonov’s detachment, through its actions, created favorable conditions for the landing of Soviet troops in the ice-free port of Linahamari and the subsequent liberation of Petsamo (Pechenga) and Kirkenes. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 5, 1944, Lieutenant V. N. Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 5058) with the wording: “for exemplary performance of combat missions of command behind enemy lines and demonstrated at the same time courage and heroism.”
After the defeat of Nazi Germany was completed, for the front-line reconnaissance Leonov, the war continued in the Far East, where a separate reconnaissance detachment of the Pacific Fleet under his command was the first to land in the ports of Racine, Seishin and Genzan. One of the most “high-profile” cases of V.N. Leonov’s detachment was the capture of about three and a half thousand Japanese soldiers and officers in the Korean port of Wonsan. And in the port of Genzan, Leonov scouts disarmed and captured about two thousand soldiers and two hundred officers, capturing 3 artillery batteries, 5 aircraft, and several ammunition depots.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 14, 1945, Senior Lieutenant V.N. Leonov was awarded the second Gold Star medal.
After the war, V. N. Leonov continued his military service in the Northern Fleet and in the Central Office of the Navy. In 1950 he graduated from the Higher Naval School. In 1952 he was awarded the military rank of captain 2nd rank. He studied at the Naval Academy, completing two courses. Since July 1956 - in reserve.
Leonov dedicated most of his life to special forces. He dreamed that every Russian fleet would have detachments like the 181st. That is why, after the war, Viktor Nikolaevich actively participated in the creation of Soviet special forces.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Red Star, medals, and the Order of the DPRK. Awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Polyarny”.
V. N. Leonov died in Moscow on October 7, 2003 (on the day of the 59th anniversary of the start of the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation). He was buried at the Leonovskoye cemetery in Moscow.
November 2016 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, a true patriot of the Motherland, Captain First Rank Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov. In my youth, I was lucky to meet Viktor Nikolaevich, this amazing man. A legend of Navy intelligence, commander of the 181st reconnaissance and sabotage detachment of the Northern and then the Pacific fleets.
Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov was born on November 21, 1916 in the city of Zaraysk, Ryazan province, now the Moscow region. Since 1937, he served in the Northern Fleet, where he completed a training course in the underwater diving training squad named after S. M. Kirov in the city of Polyarny and was sent for further service to the submarine "Shch-402". With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, senior Red Navy man V.N. Leonov more than once turned to the command with a report on his enrollment in the reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet, where he could meet the enemy face to face. The request of the senior Red Navy man was granted, and in July 1941 the young soldier was enrolled in the 181st reconnaissance and sabotage detachment. This significant moment marks the birth of the intelligence officer, who conducted more than 50 combat missions behind enemy lines. For exceptional endurance, courage and composure in the fight against the fascist invaders in December 1942, Viktor Nikolaevich was awarded the first officer rank, and a year later, in December 1943, he held the position of commander of the 181st special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet.
Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov is a true patriot of the Motherland, a man-legend of intelligence, one of those few heroes who went through the entire war from bell to bell, not even at the front line, but rather behind the front line of defense.
Captain First Rank Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov repeatedly came to our unit, where in a warm and friendly atmosphere he met with sailors, midshipmen and officers, talked not only about exploits at the front, but, above all, instilled in us courage and bravery, love for the Motherland. For us, young people, the stories of the front-line soldier were extremely interesting and instructive. We remembered these lessons of courage for the rest of our lives, as well as the scout’s commandment - to always think with your head and not make hasty decisions.
The exploits of intelligence officers have always attracted the attention of writers, screenwriters and directors. A lot of adventure books have been written about them, hundreds of fascinating films have been made. And, of course, in these films or books, brave heroes always defeat their enemies, skillfully getting out of the most dangerous and incredible situations. Only in life the enemy was not so “stupid”. On the contrary, our enemy was smart, cunning and cruel. He was well trained and excellently equipped for the war in the Arctic, where it was sometimes simply impossible to hide among the bare hills and rocks. And defeating such a strong and worthy enemy is real valor!
It so happened that the name of the legendary intelligence officer, Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov, is mentioned as often as we would like. Apparently, this is the fate of all intelligence officers. However, it should be noted that none of the most eminent military leaders carried out such daring military operations as this courageous man, who returned from the war with the modest rank of lieutenant commander, but with two gold stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union on his chest.
Real front-line reconnaissance soldiers left behind very few memories or memoirs. The more valuable are the meager lines they wrote. And not so many of them, the scouts, survived either. Like the infantry, reconnaissance suffered significant losses. However, there are scout books. Including books written by Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov. For example, the most famous “Face to Face; Get ready for a feat today." To some extent, these are not even memories, but rather a real manual for special forces soldiers.
In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, Leonov’s reconnaissance detachment not only provided reconnaissance activities behind Nazi lines, but also solved an equally important task of protecting the main transport artery - the polar port of Murmansk. It should be noted that the detachment under the command of a young officer lost only a few soldiers during combat operations and directly in battles with the enemy! And this is in intelligence! In fact, Viktor Nikolaevich developed a whole system of how to defeat a strong and superior enemy! His unique experience of preserving people during combat operations, people with excellent combat training, who skillfully acted in close hand-to-hand combat, certainly deserves research and study. Just look at the operation of Leonov's 181st reconnaissance detachment on Cape Krestovy, when after an assault on a strategically important fortified area and a two-day defensive battle, the detachment's fighters still managed to win the unequal battle. In those battles on Krestovoy, ten scouts were killed, and this was the largest numerical loss of the detachment during the entire period of hostilities. Viktor Nikolaevich himself recalls this with sorrow in one of his books: “Prisoned rangers are walking past. The enemies see ten killed Soviet intelligence officers, and they remember how many of their own they buried... The huntsmen rip the caps from their heads, press their hands to their hips and walk past the grave in a formation step.” The scout’s stories are simple, truthful and uncomplicated: “Our detachment, operating behind enemy lines, was always inferior to him in numbers and technical equipment, but we always won in hand-to-hand combat. Neither the Germans nor the Japanese have ever acted as decisively as we have... The psychological law is this: in a fight between two opponents, one will definitely give up. In close combat, you should first of all rivet his gaze to yours - firm and imperious...” And then he continued: “Admiral Golovko gave the order - “the right to select the detachment’s scouts rests with the detachment commander.” So they couldn’t assign anyone to us. I had contact with the personnel department, they sent me those who seemed to be suitable. I talked with the man and watched how he reacted to my questions. The most important thing for me was his eyes and hands. The position of the hands determines the psychological state of a person, his character. I needed my hands not to grab anything, so that they were ready for action, but remained calm..."
In his wonderful book “Lessons of Courage,” which became a “start to life” for many reconnaissance sailors, V.N. Leonov writes: “For old soldiers who have fought in their lifetime, military camaraderie is a sacred and indestructible concept. And many could use Gogol’s line, inspired as a song, “there is no bond holier than comradeship,” as an epigraph to their military biographies.”
During his meetings with sailors, Viktor Nikolaevich repeatedly mentioned that in his youth he dreamed of becoming a poet and entering a literary institute. He wrote poetry and was published. But I had to become a sailor. At first as a submariner, and then as a marine.
V.N. Leonov devoted most of his life to special forces. As a boy, he dreamed that every Russian Fleet would have detachments like the 181st. Even when, as a result of Khrushchev’s reforms, Viktor Nikolayevich did not find a place in the Navy, he continued to actively participate in the creation of Soviet special forces.
In 1956, with the rank of captain of the 2nd rank, he retired, but continued to engage in social work, traveled a lot with speeches around the country... I especially remember the story of a front-line intelligence officer about a smile. As Viktor Nikolaevich recalled, a smile is also a weapon. “When I suddenly came face to face with the enemy, I smiled sweetly at him. He hesitated for a few seconds, and this gave me the opportunity to stay alive and do something.”
Today's boys, like us once upon a time, dream of accomplishing a feat, but they think little about what a feat is? Of course, every courageous act, including in days of peace, is necessarily associated with courage and bravery. Nowadays, young people everywhere are addicted to selfies, for which they sometimes perform dizzying, risky stunts. They think this is real courage and bravery. Thus, they try to assert themselves and arouse the admiration of others with their extreme photography. Sometimes such “heroism” ends in death.
But can every brave act be considered a feat? The famous Czech writer Julius Fucik said wonderfully about this: “A hero is a person who, at a decisive moment, does what needs to be done in the interests of human society.” And this means that a feat is not only a brave act, but, above all, an act that benefits the Motherland! But today’s boys forget about this... So real heroes are replaced by “fictional” ones, imposed on us all from the outside, through colorful American films.
Why are we today somehow embarrassed to talk about mass heroism during the war? In my youth, I sincerely believed that the most ordinary person, like me, like you, cannot become a hero. I believed that heroism is a kind of special gift, and heroes are people with special abilities, such as talented artists, poets, scientists, sports champions.
However, when I had a chance to read wartime archival documents, read award sheets and simply - reports, reports, orders - all this instantly destroyed my harmful delusion. In fact, the message from our grandfathers and great-grandfathers sounds like this: “We did it - and you can too!” We survived - and you will survive! We overcame - and you can overcome!”
Agree, well, there cannot be such a coincidence that 28, 40, 100 or 1000 heroes accidentally gathered in one place and at one time. These are ordinary people who, due to life circumstances, were really able to overcome their fear and accomplish a feat!
What is a feat? Here's how Viktor Nikolaevich talked about it: - Many, very many people see the meaning of their lives in it. I think I won’t be wrong when I say that almost every honest young man dreams of heroism. Even if he does not always think about some special courageous act, fate itself foresaw for him, but at least he passionately dreams of becoming known to the Motherland, the people in work, art, sports and especially in military affairs. Known for the fact that through his work he left people with a memory of himself. When I hear the phrase: “This is a real man,” I remember my peers, twenty- and thirty-year-old guys. All these people are absolutely not outstanding, surprisingly simple, accessible, unperturbed, temperamental in their lively and direct perception of life. But there was nothing in them and there is nothing so special, unaccounted for, or something... All these are people who are family, close to you, perhaps even strangers, with whom fate brought you together for the first time. But these are real men. Because they see, understand the meaning of life and subordinate themselves to it completely, because they stubbornly expose their chests to the headwind and go for themselves, go, no matter how difficult it is for them, towards the great goal of life, without wasting time on trifles, without succumbing to dubious temptations, clouding the great prospect of serving people, serving the Motherland. It was with these people that I went into severe battle. And I was never wrong about them. Where you can rely on a person, where he will not let you down, even if you have to sacrifice your well-being, or even your life itself, in the name of the Motherland, in the name of high goals, that’s where a man begins. A man and a feat are, in my opinion, inseparable concepts. Only a real man, strong and courageous, strong in spirit and body, armed with knowledge and skill, inspired by love for the Motherland, for people, is capable of feats. The path of achievement, I emphasize once again, is steep, winding, difficult and rocky. It requires not only knowledge and physical strength, it requires that a person be psychologically determined to fight victoriously against any difficulties and dangers. And our youth are attracted to this trail! She is eager for her, eager to test her strength. During the Great Patriotic War, I served in the reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet....
Is it possible today in Soyuzpechat kiosks to find sets of postcards with portraits of cosmonauts, with portraits of Heroes of the Soviet Union? What do we see among the huge number of books in stores? You can find memoirs of German generals and soldiers who colorfully talk about how they valiantly killed our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. But finding books about our heroes, oh, is not so easy.
After retiring, Viktor Nikolaevich tried to teach young people courage, perseverance, and endurance. He, like no one else, knew the cost of losing comrades in battle, understood the cost of confusion and cowardice in a combat situation... He spoke without embellishment about the war, about how to fight. Viktor Nikolaevich received his first Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the participation of 181 reconnaissance detachment in November 1944 in the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation of the Northern Fleet. But before starting the operation, the scouts received an order to defeat the strategically important powerful German stronghold at Cape Krestovy...
In a summer as hot as this one, only in 1970, the painting “The Feat of Sergeant Major Lysenko” by artists Alexander Tikhomirov and Joseph Ilyin was exhibited in the Exhibition Hall on Kuznetsky Most in Moscow. In this picture, the hero - scout Ivan Lysenko holds a metal cross with wire spirals on his shoulders, and under the wire our scouts are rushing towards the enemy battery. Of course, there were also skeptics who doubted, believing that if such a thing happened, it was only in a fit of battle. Here’s what Viktor Nikolaevich himself said about this painting: “I want to answer the skeptics: everything was as the artist depicted it. After all, this happened in our detachment, in the operation to liberate the city of Pechenga. We then received the task of going to Cape Krestovy and destroying German defensive structures. We made our way to Krestovy the hard way, through the tundra and hills, and only got there on the third day. On the morning of October 12, we suddenly attacked an enemy 88-mm battery at Cape Krestovoy. The night was very dark, and one of the scouts ran into a signal wire. The rocket took off. In front of us was a fascist battery protected by a powerful wire fence. The enemies opened fire. A decisive move is needed. I give the command: “Whoever can, but everyone should be on the battery.” Komsomol member Volodya Fatkin threw his jacket onto the barbed spiral and, rolling over it, found himself in front of the enemy machine gunners. The secretary of our Komsomol organization Sasha Manin did the same. Volodya died from the fire of a coaxial machine gun mount, and Sasha, jumping over the deadly jet, jumped into a concrete machine gun cell and blew himself up along with the German machine gunners.
Next to me was the communist Ivan Lysenko. Noticing my intentions, he shouted: “Commander, you can’t go through the wire, you’ll die, I’ll pick you up now!”
I jumped over the wire and didn’t see what Lysenko was doing. The scouts later said that Ivan threw a jacket over his head, crawled under the crosspiece, tore it out of the ground and, throwing it on his shoulders, stood up to his full height, allowing his comrades to enter the battery. The bullets, one after another, dug into the body of the hero, and, weakening, Ivan whispered:
Faster, there is no more strength.
Be patient a little, Ivan, there’s not much left,” one of the scouts asked.
- Then help me, otherwise I’ll fall.
Next to Ivan Lysenko stood the communist senior lieutenant Alexei Lupov. They let all the scouts through to the enemy battery and fell nearby. Alexey Lupov died immediately, and Ivan Lysenko, having received 21 bullet wounds, still lived.
When the battle at the battery ended, I approached Ivan, and the first question he asked me was:
How's the task?
Done, Ivan, thank you,” I replied.
How many guys died?
Quite a few, a few people,” I reassured Ivan.
Then that's right. If through a wire, there would be more...
These were his last words. Dying, the hero warrior thought about the task that had to be completed, about the comrades who had to live to continue the fight against the Nazis. Of course, this is not combat passion, but a conscious sacrifice in the name of the Motherland, in the name of the happiness of future generations, and this is precisely the greatness of the feat of the communists Ivan Lysenko, Alexei Lupov and other heroes.
This operation of reconnaissance sailors ensured the success of our landing in Linahamari and the capture of the seaport and city. Leonov's detachment, through its active military operations, neutralized the coastal battery and created favorable conditions for landing troops in the ice-free port of Linahamari, as well as the subsequent liberation of Petsamo (Pechenga) and Kirkenes.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated November 5, 1944, Lieutenant V.N. Leonov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 5058). Several years ago, a documentary film was made about this legendary reconnaissance landing. But they only show it extremely rarely. As they say now - “not a format”. And when you ask a direct question, why don’t we show films about our heroes, you hear in response - no one is interested in this, there will be no rating. Excuse me, what kind of rating do we need if we talk about the exploits of OUR fathers and grandfathers? Love for the Motherland cannot be cultivated from case to case, from one significant date to another.
One of the most significant operations of the Leonovsky reconnaissance detachment was the capture of 3.5 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers in the Korean port of Wonsan. As Viktor Nikolaevich recalled, “There were 140 of us fighters. We unexpectedly landed on a Japanese airfield for the enemy and entered into negotiations. After that, ten of us representatives were taken to the headquarters of the colonel, the commander of the aviation unit, who wanted to make hostages out of us.
I joined the conversation. Looking the Japanese in the eyes, I said that we had fought the entire war in the west and had enough experience to assess the situation, that we would not be hostages, but rather, we would die, but we would die along with everyone who was at headquarters. The difference is, I added, that you will die like rats, and we will try to escape from here... The colonel, forgetting about his handkerchief, began wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand and after some time signed the act of surrender of the entire garrison. We lined up three and a half thousand prisoners in a column of eight people. They carried out all my commands at a run. We had no one to escort such a convoy, so I put the commander and chief of staff in the car with me. If even one, I say, runs away, blame yourself... While they were leading the team, there were already up to five thousand Japanese in it...”
During a bold operation by scouts in the port of Genzan, the sailors disarmed and captured about two thousand soldiers and two hundred officers, while capturing 3 artillery batteries, 5 aircraft, and several ammunition depots. For this operation, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 14, 1945, senior lieutenant Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov was again awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the second Gold Star medal.
Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov died in Moscow on October 7, 2003, on that same memorable day of the 59th anniversary of the start of the Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive operation. He was buried at the Leonovskoye cemetery in Moscow. You won’t find it right away, you have to look. But in a prominent place at the entrance lie some unknown individuals, either swindlers, or “successful entrepreneurs.” Even after death, the good gentlemen from the “Ritual” divided our Memory into those who are “dear” to them and those who simply defended the Motherland, becoming twice Heroes.
We celebrate the 100th anniversary of this courageous Man. He deserves to be remembered ...
He deserved to have a worthy gravestone placed over his grave.twice Hero of the Soviet Union monument!
I appeal to numerous veteran organizations, to the Union of Officers of Russia, to all patriotic forces with a huge request - let's send our petitions to the President of Russia with a request to perpetuate the memory of this Man in an appropriate and worthy manner! Let's together organize an anniversary worthy of the memory of a courageous and brave man, a true patriot of our Motherland!
