Battle at Kryukovo station. Battles for Kryukovo. The main line of the Panfilov division. Counterattacks of the Red Army

The next anniversary of the Red Army's counteroffensive near Moscow, which began on December 5, 1941, is a good reason to objectively look at the true scale of the feat of the soldiers and commanders of the Panfilov division.

Photo: Georgy Zelma/ ITAR-TASS

The efforts of the “myth-fighters” led to the fact that the “anti-legend” they created obscured the space of real history in the perception of many of our fellow citizens. Recently, much has been written about the battles of November 16-17, 1941 in the Dubosekovo-Shiryaevo-Nelidovo area, when during the German offensive on Moscow several thousand Panfilov men showed truly massive heroism, steadfastly fighting Nazi tanks. But we should not forget that the Panfilov division defended the capital for about two months, starting from the October battles near Volokolamsk until the beginning of December, when it held a dramatic defense at Kryukovo. This is exactly how Muscovites perceived Panfilov’s men back then: as those heroes who, in mortal combat, stopped the invaders at the last defensive line and defended Moscow. Important details about these events were found in the archival funds of the Commission on the History of the Great Patriotic War of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

By the beginning of the battles for Kryukovo, Panfilov’s men were already called that quite officially. On November 18, 1941, on the day of the death of Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, the 316th Rifle Division, which he commanded, was reorganized into the 8th Guards Rifle Division; On November 23, the division received the honorary name "Panfilovskaya". And the then Kryukovo, a village and a station, has long been, since 1970, located within the boundaries of Moscow, in Zelenograd. In 1941, it was believed that this area was located 22 kilometers northwest of the capital. And yet the circumstances of the place are very alarming...

On November 30, after several days of bloody defense in the village of Sokolovo, the remnants of the Panfilov division retreated to a new line - to Kryukovo. The battles here lasted for a week - from December 1 to 8. As Kazakh Baltabek Dzheptysbaev, a participant in those battles, recalled, “there are few old Panfilovites left.” Another Panfilov member, L.N., recalled why this happened. Kurganov: “The regiment is battered. Of the 2.5-3 thousand, about 600-700 people remain in the regiment.” In the 1073rd regiment, command of which was taken by senior lieutenant Bauyrzhan Momysh-Uly, there were only about 200 people left.

On December 2, the Germans still managed to break into Kryukovo. Fierce street battles broke out, Panfilov’s men fought for every house. The commissar of the 1073rd regiment, Pyotr Logvinenko, said in December 1946: “Kryukovo was changing hands. From December 1 to 7, we went on the attack every day. At four o’clock, as a rule, we went on the attack.” .

Both sides used mainly melee weapons: machine guns, grenades, and artillery - direct-fire anti-tank and regimental guns. The Germans, having captured the village, immediately created a powerful defensive unit. The attempt to drive the Germans out of Kryukov on the night of December 2-3 was unsuccessful. The enemy, concentrating two infantry battalions and up to 60 tanks, put up stubborn resistance. German tanks were in ambush in destroyed houses or were buried in the ground, conducting aimed fire at our advancing units.

These days, severe frosts began near Moscow, the temperature dropped to minus 37. Hitler's aircraft attacked Panfilov's positions from the air. “What’s the worst thing: we cursed the clear weather near Moscow, we hated clear weather. But here (near Kryukovo) there’s a blizzard and a blizzard, but they still fly and hit and hit,” said Dmitry Potseluev-Snegin, in those days commander of the artillery division of the 857th artillery regiment.

Panfilov’s memories of Kryukovo are the harsh reality of an unimaginable feat, once again confirming the inexorable correctness of the poet Mikhail Kulchitsky, who died at the front: “War is not fireworks at all, but simply hard work.” This is what participant A.S. said about those battles in October 1942. Trefilov: “I reached a stone building, through a curtain of fire. There was mortar shelling. I ran through a field, ran up to the building. There was an ambulance cart. They were killed. I saw one guy killed, whom I had seen alive the day before. I went down into the pit. There a torn man lay there. I buried him. into the snow."

There were also episodes that later ended up in the famous Soviet song about the village of Kryukovo based on the verses of Sergei Ostrovoy: “All the cartridges are gone, there are no more grenades.” Panfilovka Z.A. Bondarina said in August 1942: “Near Kryukov, our division fought a long and difficult battle. The front line of the defense occupied brick sheds, these brick sheds will forever be remembered by Panfilov’s men. People dropped out, sometimes there was not enough ammunition. After the battles, remembering them, we they loved to sing “Ten rifles for the whole battalion”... But they held on tight and didn’t move away.”

The song about ten rifles to the melody of “The blue ball is spinning, spinning” was performed for a front-line film collection in 1941 by Boris Chirkov. The poems of Vasily Lebedev-Kumach were not at all ceremonial:

Ten rifles for the entire battalion,
Each rifle has the last cartridge.
In torn overcoats, holey bast shoes
We beat the Germans on different routes.

But even in such extreme conditions, people fought ingeniously, baffling the Nazis. Here is the story of Panfilov’s P.V., recorded in December 1946. Tatarkova: “Reconnaissance Protasov especially distinguished himself. We had to take an observation post at the brick factory in Kryukovo, and observe from here. Protasov, despite the fact that this place was cut off by the Germans, German machine guns were firing in crossfire, he climbed into the chimney of the brick factory. With "A number of soldiers from the infantry and other battalions climbed through him. From there he conducted observation and transmitted the command."

The ending of the story about Panfilov’s battles near Kryukovo turned out to be optimistic. On December 4, by 17:00, the division received reinforcements in the amount of 380 people. Commissioner Logvinenko recalled: “Selected people were sent to us - Siberians. There were 80 of them in the regiment, I would have given two thousand of any other people for them. (...) We didn’t even have time to write down the names of all of them, because they came in such a a situation where there was no time to write or read, all that was left was to shoot.”

On December 5, soldiers from the Momysh-Uly regiment managed to capture the oven and the very same sheds of the brick factory. And a day later, the position of the Nazis became vulnerable. Here is the story of A.M., recorded in December 1946. Vinogradova: “On December 6, 1941, at 12 o’clock at night, we began artillery preparation for Kryukov, and the Headquarters of the Main Command gave us solid reinforcements. The Eresov units appeared for the first time, and they provided us with a very great service. Each division, each battery was assigned a certain a map of the field, a certain area, and this battery must literally mix into the ground everything that is there - both living and dead."

Panfilovets F.D. Tolstunov in October 1944 briefly described the victorious outcome of those December battles: “On the night from the seventh to the eighth we went on the offensive. We knocked out the Germans from the Kryukovo station, captured 18 tanks. There were many Germans killed. After this victory of ours over the Germans at the Kryukovo station, drive the Germans and drove them to Istra."

As Commissar Logvinenko recalled, after the division had already been sent to the reserve for replenishment, a ceremonial meeting was held in Kryukovo, and those few Panfilov men who did not manage to receive awards for the October battles and remained alive in November-December were awarded their combat orders

On the approaches to Moscow

The general public has probably heard more about the actions of General Panfilov’s rifle division during the defense of Moscow than about any other episode of the Great Patriotic War. But the true details of how the 316th Infantry Division fought are known to few. Unfortunately, many of the materials written on this topic reflect primarily the position of the authors, who use a certain number of facts known to them, at best, as decoration. Based on operational documents of the Western Front, 16th Army, 316th/8th Guards Rifle Division, 1st Guards Tank Brigade and other units of the Red Army, as well as combat logs of the 5th Army Corps, 2nd Tank Division and the 35th Wehrmacht Infantry Division, the article restores with high accuracy the picture of the battles of the “Panfilov” division in November 1941.

Results of the October battles

On the table lay an issue of a magazine where an essay was printed about Panfilov’s men, about the soldiers of the very regiment commanded by Baurdzhan Momysh-Uly.

He abruptly pushed the magazine towards the lamp - all his movements were sharp, even when he threw the match after lighting a cigarette - he leafed through it, bent over the open page and threw it away.

I tried to argue, but Baurdzhan Momysh-Uly was adamant.

- No! - he snapped. “I hate lies, but you won’t write the truth.”

(c) Bek A. A. Volokolamsk highway.

The defensive battles near Moscow in the fall of 1941 are rightfully considered one of the most important battles of the Great Patriotic War. In addition to the political significance of the capital of the USSR, Moscow was also the main industrial center of the country and the most important communications hub, primarily railway. Its possible loss actually divided the front into two loosely connected parts. This was perfectly understood both in Moscow itself and in Berlin.

Many articles and books have been written about the participation of the 316th Rifle Division, and since November 18, Panfilov’s 8th Guards Rifle Division in the defense of Moscow. For example, in the collection of tactical examples “Combat Operations of the Rifle Division” published after the war, the defense of the 316th in October 1941 was taken as one of such examples.

The commander of the 316th Rifle Division (later the Guards) Major General I. V. Panfilov (left), Chief of Staff I. I. Serebryakov and senior battalion commissar S. A. Egorov discuss the plan for combat operations on the front line waralbum.ru

And this glory is well deserved - during the defense of Volokolamsk, Panfilov’s division successfully fought against several German divisions at once. But it is not always indicated that the successful defense of the division largely depended on the supporting 316th artillery:

"The division was reinforced by four cannon artillery regiments of the RVGK, three artillery and anti-tank regiments; Part of the artillery of the DD artillery group of the 16th Army, as well as the artillery of the 302nd machine gun battalion and the 1st division of the artillery regiment of the 126th Infantry Division, were supposed to operate in the division zone. In total, these units and groups had 153 guns."

The division was also supported by tankers.

“On 10/17/41, a separate tank company, placed at the disposal of the commander of regiment 1075, entered into battle with enemy tanks in the grove area southwest of the village of Soslavino (in 674 map m 1:100000), as a result of which 2 enemy tanks were destroyed from total number 5; the rest retreated towards the southwest. "

Panfilov’s men defended Volokolamsk until the end of October. Usually on these dates the detailed story about the actions of the entire division somehow collapses on its own. When it comes to the battles in November, as a rule, only the “battle of twenty-eight heroes” at the Dubosekovo crossing is described in more or less detail. Meanwhile, it was the battles in mid-November that became one of the most difficult for the entire 316th Infantry Division.

German convoy on a snowy road during the attack on Moscow waralbum.ru

But first, let's return to the end of October - to Volokolamsk.

"On 26.10, enemy attacks by division units in the southern sector were repulsed; the enemy on that day mainly pulled up forces and conducted force reconnaissance, but in the direction of the junction of the cadet regiment with the 1077th Rifle Regiment, the enemy was successful and forced the division commander to abandon 26.10. Alferyevo district, Spas-Pomazkino battalion 1073 from the [rifle] regiment, which restored the situation, but died as a reserve of the division commander. The division commander had only 1.5 companies of the 1073rd Infantry Regiment left in reserve.

On 27.10 the enemy launched an attack in the direction of Porokhovo and Volokolamsk with two infantry regiments supported by small groups of tanks. The attack was carried out in the area of ​​the 690th Infantry Regiment.
After strong air preparation and artillery and mortar fire, the enemy broke through the front of the 690th [rifle] regiment at 10.00 on October 27 and broke into the city at 13.30. By 16.00 on 27.10 the city was completely in enemy hands. Tanks for the most part did not participate in the attack on Volokolamsk and only entered the city at 22:00 on October 27.

By the morning of October 28, there were up to two infantry divisions and up to a hundred tanks in the city.
Simultaneously with the attack of the 690th Rifle Regiment by enemy infantry, the 1075th Rifle Regiment was attacked by two infantry battalions with 17 tanks, and the 1077th Rifle Regiment - [units] of the 110th Infantry Division. Attacks in the area of ​​the 1077th and 1075th rifle regiments were repulsed.

10. The 690th Rifle Regiment did not provide adequate resistance to the enemy attack and retreated in a disorderly direction to the east and northeast. There were no street battles organized in the city, and only isolated groups of Red Army soldiers tried to resist the enemy in the city. But this was only random resistance.

The disorganized units of the 690th Rifle Regiment were delayed and gathered northeast of Volokolamsk, and the remnants of this regiment organized a new front at the Gorki-Cheptsy line.

Units of the 1075th and 1077th from the [rifle] regiments held the occupied front and only retreated to a new line by order.
The division commander with the breakthrough [defense] of the 690th [rifle] regiment tried to restore the situation<…>throwing their reserve (1.5 companies) into a counterattack, but this counterattack was not successful: 1.5 companies were carried away by the wave of retreating fighters of the 690th rifle regiment and were unable to restore the situation.

11. As a result, the city was lost, up to 62 guns were lost, and 13 were completely removed from anti-tank guns.

The commander of the 690th [rifle] regiment, Captain Semiglazov, and the regimental commissar, battalion commissar Denisenko, lost control of the regiment, did not take measures to restore order in the regiment, and did not try to detain the enemy on the southern outskirts of the city or organize street battles in Volokolamsk."

The 690th regiment, temporarily subordinate to Panfilov, was a composite regiment made up of the “encirclement” that had broken through. A couple of weeks later, its new commander wrote: “Due to the lack of material weapons (mounted and light machine guns), lack of shoes, warm foot wraps and warm uniforms (there are cases of frostbite), lice makes the regiment unfit for combat.”

In an operational report dated October 30, the headquarters of the 316th Infantry Division stated that the division's total losses were 50%. Every second fighter of those who began their first battle in October on the outskirts of Volokolamsk was killed, wounded or missing.

Counterattacks of the Red Army

If the enemy had retained the ability to attack, the losses could have been greater - but by this time the Germans themselves were already pretty exhausted, and the onset of the autumn thaw forced the divisions that had pulled ahead to starve rations. The front line temporarily froze a few kilometers from the city. The condition of the roads is more than eloquently evidenced by the order of the Western Front headquarters dated October 26 on the issuance of horses to liaison officers “due to the deterioration of the condition of the roads and the impossibility of using vehicles as a means of transportation.”

German soldiers push out a stuck car on a road near Moscow waralbum.ru

The Soviet command was not at all inclined to allow the Germans to calmly pull up forces and replenish fuel and ammunition supplies. The first target of Rokossovsky’s 16th Army was the so-called Skirmanovsky bridgehead - the German 10th Tank Division, which occupied it, could at any moment intercept the Volokolamsk Highway and go to the rear of the 16th Army. The initial attack by the 18th Infantry Division was unsuccessful.

The Germans knew how not only to attack, but also very quickly organized a strong defense. Skirmanovo and neighboring villages - Kozlovo and Maryino - were turned into strong points with a single fire system. For the success of the offensive, Rokossovsky had to assemble the most valuable parts of his army - anti-tank artillery regiments, three Katyusha divisions and three tank brigades - the 27th, 28th and 1st Guards. By November 15, the Skirmanovsky bridgehead was cleared of the Germans, but the losses of the advancing units were very sensitive. For example, in the 28th Tank Brigade, out of 31 tanks (4 KV-1, 11 T-34 and 16 T-30), only 15 remained (1 KV, 4 T-34 and T-30).

However, the very fact of seizing the initiative and successful offensive inspired the command of the 16th Army to take active action. The next target was Volokolamsk, the attack on which was scheduled for November 16. The role of the main striking force was assigned to the 58th Tank Division, which arrived from the Far East, where there were almost two hundred tanks - although only light ones.

The 316th Division was assigned a supporting role in this offensive. After the battles for Volokolamsk, its battered regiments received marching reinforcements, but it was clearly premature to talk about a complete restoration of combat capability.

"3. The 316th Rifle Division with 768 and 296 anti-tank artillery regiments, 2/14 guards artillery regiment and 1/2 guards artillery regiment supports the attack of Dovator’s strike group and cavalry group with all types of fire. With units of the 58th Tank Division and 126th Rifle Division reaching the line: Ivanovskoye, Gorki, the 1073rd and 1075th Rifle Regiments attack the enemy in the Vozmishche, Nelidovo sector and, developing an attack on Zhdanovo, the southern outskirts of Volokolamsk, together with units The 20th Cavalry Division and the 58th Tank Division capture Volokolamsk.

4. The 1073rd (without 1/1073) rifle regiment with 768 and 296 anti-tank artillery regiments of the 1st engineer company of the 597th OSB supports the attack of the 126th Infantry Division and the 58th Tank Division with all types of fire. When they reach the Ivanovskoye and Gorki line, attack the enemy in the Gorki, Vozmishche sector with units of the 20th Cavalry Division and the 58th Tank Division, and capture Volokolamsk from the southeast.

Starting position – occupied defense line by 9:00 on 11/16.

5. The 1075th rifle regiment with the 1/857th artillery regiment (without one battery) battery of the 768th anti-tank artillery regiment of the 2nd engineer company of the 597th OSB supports the attack of Dovator’s cavalry group with fire of all types. When they reach the Ivanovskoye and Gorki line, attack the enemy in the area: Muromtsevo, Nelidovo, developing an attack on Zhdanovo, the southern outskirts of Volokolamsk, together with units of the 20th Cavalry Division, to capture Volokolamsk from the South.

Starting position - occupied defense line by 9.00 11.16."

Of particular interest in this document is the list of artillery units that were supposed to support the attack of Panfilov’s regiments - they would play the role of the backbone of the anti-tank defense the next day. The 768th and 296th anti-aircraft artillery regiments were armed with 37-mm anti-aircraft, 76-mm anti-tank and 85-mm anti-aircraft guns - the Soviet analogue of the famous German “aht-aht”. The artillery regiments were positioned in the most tank-dangerous direction, blocking the Volokolamsk highway, but, as can be seen from the document, their fire capabilities were quite sufficient to support the 1075th regiment, which occupied positions south of the highway, with fire. According to the report of the chief of staff of the 768th artillery regiment, after the retreat from Volokolamsk they managed to retain three 85 mm and four 37 mm guns. It was not possible to find data on the 296th artillery regiment, but judging by the layout, it retained at least two 85-mm anti-aircraft guns and three 76-mm cannons.

By the standards of the fall of 1941, this was quite a lot, but compared to the steel roller that was about to move towards the 316th Division, it was very little.

Scythe on a stone

The main enemy of the Panfilovites was again supposed to be the German 2nd Tank Division, familiar to them from Volokolamsk. One of the oldest units of the Panzerwaffe, whose commander was once the “fast Heinz” Guderian himself, entered the battle on the Eastern Front relatively recently. On November 11, the division's tank regiment included 31 PzKpfw II, 82 PzKpfw III, 13 PzKpfw IV and 6 command tanks. In addition, according to some reports, a company of flamethrower “twos” were transferred to the division before the start of the offensive. The “Vienna Division” (the 2nd Panzer received this nickname shortly after the Anschluss of Austria) was supposed to begin the last stage of the attack on Moscow. Following it, the 5th and 11th tank divisions, as well as the 35th and 106th infantry divisions, were to enter the battle - they were required to finally “clear” the area after the tanks struck.

What a strike is like with the participation of even one German tank battalion against a Soviet rifle division can be seen, for example, from a fragment of the Military Operations Journal of the Western Front.

"82nd Rifle Division - having been attacked on 2.11 by two infantry regiments with 70 enemy tanks along the Mozhaisk highway, it was scattered. The commander and staff lost control.

By the morning of November 3, up to 3 battalions were assembled in Trukhanovka, Lyakhovo; up to 2 battalions of the 210th Infantry Regiment gathered in Boldino and up to 200 people of the 601st Infantry Regiment in the Lyakhovo area."

The “close-range” objective for the 2nd Tank was to be the heights east of Volokolamsk. It was planned to attack them from the south in the “classic” style of German tank attacks - attacking the flank and then “rewinding” the enemy’s defenses.

A group of German soldiers after receiving winter camouflage on a village street near Moscow waralbum.ru

Although both our and the German offensives were scheduled only for the morning of November 16, reconnaissance in force began already on the 15th.

"1075th Infantry Regiment - occupies the previous defensive site. In Shiryaevo, one company fought with the enemy advancing from Morozovo to Shiryaevo. At 14:00 the enemy, operating with 6 tanks, occupied Shiryaevo with strong mortar artillery fire. At 17:00, the enemy was driven out of Shiryaevo by the 5th company, a group of machine gunners and a fighter squad. Losses: 6 killed, including the PTR platoon commander, 8 wounded.

... PTRs were used in Shiryaevo, one tank was knocked out, which was towed away to Morozovo. They were not used in other areas."

The first battle of the last German offensive on Moscow began the next day, November 16, 1941.

"Chief of Staff of the 16th Army.

Combat report No. 22 of headquarters 316 Shishkino

by 13:00 11/16/41 Map 100.00–38

1. At 8:00 the enemy on the left flank of the 316th Infantry Division launched an attack on Shiryaevo, Petelino. By 10:00 he captured Nelidovo and Petelino. At 11:00 Bolshoye Nikolskoye was captured. At 11:30, the enemy left 5 tanks in Bolshoye Nikolskoye and an infantry company, leading an offensive in the area of ​​​​height 251.0.

3. The division commander decided:

Persistently defend the area of ​​the station. Matryonino, Goryuny, not allowing the enemy to break through to the Volokolamsk, Novo-Petrovskoe highway.

4. The division commander asks to speed up the offensive of Dovator’s group, the 126th Infantry Division and the 58th Tank Division".

As can be seen from this document, Panfilov was most worried about a possible German breakthrough along the highway to the east. However, the German task on the first day of the offensive looked different.

In the operational report of the Western Front headquarters, this day looked like this:

"16th Army.

Developing the offensive with his right flank, he fights with advancing enemy tanks and infantry at the junction of the 316th Infantry Division of Dovator's group.

Striking a blow with its right flank, the army captured Borniki, Sofievka, Bludi and is fighting on the line of Khrulyovo, Davydkovo.

In the Volokolamsk direction, the enemy, on the morning of November 16, went on the offensive to two battalions of the 109th infantry regiment (35 infantry division) with 25 tanks from the Gorki, Vozmishche line; to an infantry regiment with tanks (2 TD) from the Zhdanovo, Krasikovo line; over an infantry regiment and up to 40 tanks (5 tanks) from the Sosnino, Novopavlovskoye line and up to a company of tanks (5 tanks) from the Nemirovo, Pritykino area.

By the end of the day he had mastered: Lystsovo, Rozhdestvenno, Yadrovo, Bol. Nikolskoye, Detilino, Shirshevo, Ivantsovo, school 1 km south of Danilkovo, Shchelkanovo. The fight continues.

In front of the front of 316 infantry divisions and 50 cavalry divisions, the enemy went on the offensive in the morning of November 16, from the line of Gorki, Zhdanovo, Vasilyevskoye, Novo-Pavlovskoye, Shchelkanovo and by 15:00 reached the line of Yadrovo, st. Matrenino, Matrenino."

The report of the German tank crews, as expected, was presented in more rosy tones.

"7:40* Battle group 2 reached Nelidovo. Few enemies.

There is no support from the 5th Panzer Division; it must be provided by the 11th Panzer Division. But this will not happen before noon on November 16th.

8:00 Combat Group 1 occupied Morozovo and Shiryaevo. Enemy resistance is still small.
9:13 Combat group 1 reaches Petelniki.

9:45 Message from battle group 2: Enemy positions north of Potinki have been taken. The southern outskirts of Nikolskoye have been reached. The enemy's defense line is north of Nikolskoye. The offensive continues.

10:12 Combat group 1 reached the edge of the forest 1 km north of Petelniki.

10:30 Message from the 74th artillery regiment: The front line in front of combat group 1 is 300 meters on the edge of the forest north of Shiryaevo. The enemy is in the forest. Patrols are looking for passage.

13:30 Current report to the 5th Army Corps: Combat Group 1 in battle with the enemy, who is stubbornly defending on the edge of the forest south of the road, on a line north of Shiryaev - 1.5 km south of Petelniki. Combat Group 2 advances 2,600 meters north of Nikolskoye, preparing to engage the enemy in the forest south of the Bessovka River. Combat Group 3 clears the area west of Nelidovo-Nikolskoye.

Impression: A not very strong enemy stubbornly defends himself using the forest south of the road.

Combat Group 2 reports: A battalion with 2 companies attacks the front line 800 meters south of the road to Yadrovo. Tanks ensure crossing of the Bessovka River. From Nikolskaya - only a weak enemy.

13:20 Combat group 1: Enemy positions in the forest north of Petelniki have been broken through. The advance is held back by tree debris and mines. The 1st and 2nd Battle Groups will be informed that the enemy is attacking with tanks from Bordinka in the direction of Peskalkov.

14:00 Battle Group 1 reached Rozhdestvenno.

14:15 Combat group 2 took Yadrovo. The streets are mined. The battalion clears the forest around Yadrovo. Reconnaissance was sent in a northern direction.

15:15 Combat group 1 occupied Lystsevo"

*German documents indicated Berlin time.

The villages mentioned in the German report were precisely the target of the day's offensive for the 1st Battle Group. The 2nd Tank reached the milestones planned for the first day. But can she move forward?

The 1075th Infantry Regiment took on the blow of the German tank division. At the same time, the Germans attacked not from the west, from Volokolamsk, but from the flank, from the south. Panfilov's men retreated deeper into the forest, using the rubble on the mined roads for defense. After the battle with the 1075th regiment, the Germans flanked the next one. The “front line south of Yadrovo” belonged to the 1073rd regiment - and in Yadrovo itself there were guns of the 296th anti-tank artillery regiment. The 85-mm anti-aircraft guns of the 768th anti-tank artillery regiment could also fire at the advancing Germans. Rubble and minefields on the roads in the forest were part of the defense system of the 1073rd regiment, which it began to create on November 1.

Battalion Commissar of the 1073rd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Guards named after. Panfilov rifle division P. V. Logvinenko waralbum.ru

"Combat order No. 18 shtapolk 1073 village Yadrovo 11/1/41

Map 100000–41

1. Enemy units are operating in the division and regiment zone: the 106th Infantry Division, the 29th Motorized Division, the 35th Infantry Division and the 2nd Tank Division, which in the coming days are preparing a decisive offensive, completing the concentration of division units in front of the front.

On the right is the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 1075th Infantry Regiment. Border with it: Nadezhdino, Pokrovskoye, Goryuny (excluding height 251.0), Muromtsevo.

2. The 316th Rifle Division, relying on anti-tank areas - Yadrovo, height 251.0, Goryuny - stubbornly defends the line: (excluding Popovkino), Maleevka, height 248.8, Chentsy, height 251.0, Petelino, Dubosekovo crossing. The border of the military outpost on the line Bolshoye Nikolskoye, Shiryaevo.

The 1073rd rifle regiment with an anti-tank rifle platoon, 6 guns of the 296th artillery regiment, 7 guns of the 768th anti-tank artillery regiment, a mortar company and a machine-gun platoon of a barrier detachment defends the site - (without height 141.4), the western edge of the forest, which is 2 km to the west Yadrovo, (excluding height 251.0), with equipment of anti-tank areas in the village of Yadrovo and Goryuny, PP 1073 - 1 battery of the 857th artillery regiment.

The 1st Infantry Battalion, 1075th Infantry Regiment operates jointly with the 1077th Infantry Regiment.

2nd combined battalion with an anti-tank rifle platoon, two 76-mm PA guns, two 45-mm battery guns, 1 - 120-mm mortar, a mortar company and a machine-gun platoon of a barrier detachment, stubbornly defend the area (without height 141.4), western edge forests, which are 2 km west of Yadrovo (excluding height 251.0). Pay special attention to the joint of the neighbor on the left.

The battalion commander is to arrange rubble in the forest at the junction with the 1075th Infantry Regiment and on the highway 300 m east of the booth.

Bury the entire battalion’s defenses deeper into the ground, build dugouts, stop all movement during the day, maintaining strict camouflage, deliver food in the dark, and do not light fires.

The regiment engineer, junior lieutenant Krasnousov, will draw up a work plan for the creation of anti-tank areas and provide his leadership with the work on barricading and equipping anti-tank areas in the Yadrovo and Goryuny areas.

Pay attention to the destruction of the road, the installation of anti-tank mines and anti-tank rubble to the west and east of the outskirts of Yadrovo and the roads leading to the highway from the south. Report progress of work daily by 18:00.

The chief of staff of the regiment shall organize control over the implementation of this order.

The rear of the 2nd echelon of the regiment is in the forest 1 km east of Shishkino.

K. P. Yadrovo.

Submit reports every 2 hours.

Alas, a miracle did not happen here either. An incomplete rifle regiment with several “artillery regiments”, and in actual numbers - anti-tank batteries, could only slow down the advance of the tank division, but not stop it. The battalions that came under attack were cut up and retreated in parts.

On the last frontier

In fact, on the first day of the enemy offensive, the first line of defense of the Soviet troops in the Volokolamsk Highway area was destroyed. Before the German divisions - the 2nd Panzer was now supposed to be joined by the 5th and 11th Panzer and two infantry divisions - the path to Istra... and to Moscow was opening.

German Pz.Kpfw.III tank on the outskirts of a burning village near Moscow waralbum.ru

The danger of a breakthrough on the left flank of Panfilov’s division was well understood at Rokossovsky’s headquarters. But the commander of the 16th Army did not have much money to patch up the resulting hole and give the soldiers of the 316th Division, who had already experienced a German blow, the opportunity to retreat and somehow get a hold on the next line. At the last stage of the battle for Moscow, both the attackers and the defenders “gave their all.” All that was left was to do everything possible - and try to accomplish the impossible.

"Particularly important, hand over immediately to Efremov

11/17/41 03:30 front headquarters ordered 18 anti-tank rifles with personnel and ammunition to be immediately loaded onto vehicles and sent to Rokossovsky via Iskra to Novopetrovskoye and further to Chismena. Execution to convey"

Urgently

To the commander of the 316th Infantry Division

The army commander ordered:

1. Immediately regroup anti-tank artillery in order to place it in more tank-dangerous directions.

2. Group all anti-tank rifles you have in tank-hazardous directions.

3. At your disposal in Denkovo ​​18 anti-tank rifles from the 33rd Army should be used, which [should] be used in more tank-dangerous directions on your left flank.

Report execution.

5 hours 30 minutes 11/17/41"

Crew of the Soviet anti-tank rifle PTRD-41 in position during the Battle of Moscow waralbum.ru

However, it is unlikely that anyone at the 16th headquarters hoped that two dozen anti-tank rifles would be able to seriously delay the advance of the German tank divisions. In this sense, the tool that had already been tested in battle - tank brigades - inspired much more hope. But this was already the level of command of the front, which had enough other worries - the Germans were breaking through not only at Rokossovsky, but also through the defense line of the neighboring 30th Army.

To the commander of the 23rd Tank Brigade.

Combat order No. 26 Army headquarters 4:00 11/17/41.

Card: 100.00

1. Based on the telegraph order of the Commander of the Western Front No. 048/op 23, the tank brigade is transferred to the reserve of the Commander of the 16th Army.

2. The commander ordered:

Upon receipt of this, the brigade will immediately move to the Denkovo ​​area to interact with Dovator’s cavalry group and the 316th Infantry Division...

Upon arrival in the Denkovo ​​area, organize a anti-tank defense with a front to the south and southwest.

3. The platoon of tanks assigned to the 78th Infantry Division should be temporarily left under its subordination.

4. The second echelon of the brigade will echelon to Istra.

5. Report the time of the performance and departure to the Denkovo ​​area.

6. Upon arrival in the Denkovo ​​area, send liaison officers to the headquarters of the Dovator Cavalry Group - Yazvische and to the 316th Infantry Division in the Gusevo area.

5.30.17.11.41.."

By this time, the tank brigades of the 16th Army had long been drawn into the battle. So, at 10 am the 27th Brigade received an order to send its motorized rifle battalion forward in vehicles to drive the Germans out of Morozovo. Towards evening, Katukov’s 1st Guards Tank Brigade joined Panfilov’s men.

"Enemy tanks and infantry, having occupied Petelino, appeared [at] Matryonino station by midday on November 16, 1941.

To destroy the enemy at Matryonino station and subsequently defend it, at 17:00 on November 16, 1941, a combined NKVD battalion with 6 tanks was sent from the 1st Guards Tank Brigade.

By the time the battalion reached the station area, the enemy had been driven out from there by units of the 316th Infantry Division.

Having occupied Matryonino station, units of the brigade positioned themselves:

a) Combined battalion of the NKVD - defends the highway line 0.5 km north of the Matryonino station, Matryonino station, mark 231.5. The 6 tanks assigned to the battalion from the tank regiment are located in ambushes in the highway area km north of Matryonino station, Matryonino station.

b) The remnants of the tank regiment, having a tank ambush in the Yazvische area, concentrated with the rest of the tank in Pokrovskoye.

c) The remains of the motorized rifle battalion are unchanged, in the area southeast of the edge of the grove north of Yazvische.

d) The anti-aircraft division at firing positions in the area of ​​Chismen, Grydy, covers the brigade's location from the air.

Brigade headquarters with reconnaissance company - Chismena."

Matryonino station was defended by the 1st battalion of the 1073rd Infantry Regiment, under the command of Senior Lieutenant Barudzhan Momysh-uly. According to his report, the battle for the station began at 12:00. The abandonment (deliberately in panic, with the aim of misleading the enemy) and recapture of the station is described by him in his memoirs. The battalion held the station for three days, from November 18 - in complete encirclement.

In fact, on the first day of the German offensive, only the 1077th and 690th regiments remained relatively intact. As noted in the report of the headquarters of the 316th division the next day:

" The 1077th and 690th rifle regiments occupy their previous position. They fire at the enemy's position. The 1077th Infantry Regiment created a perimeter defense in its area."

Moreover, the 1077th Regiment managed to repel an attack by units of the 35th Infantry Division.

"WITH holding the enemy's advance, being surrounded on three sides, he suffered losses of 50% of his personnel killed and wounded; 2 anti-tank guns, one 45 mm cannon, 3 heavy machine guns".

The defense of the 1077th regiment was “propped up” by 6 tanks of the 28th Tank Brigade, but this support did not last long - by the evening of the next day, 5 of them were knocked out. And the 690th regiment was surrounded.

On November 18, the 316th division received the honorary title “Guards”. On the same day, its first commander, I.V. Panfilov, was killed during a mortar attack. However, the part that went to his successor could be considered a division very conditionally.

"1075th Infantry Regiment - from November 16 to November 18, fought with enemy tanks and infantry in the [area] Bolshoye Nikolskoye, Shishkino, Gusenevo, during the days of fighting the regiment destroyed up to 1,200 infantry people and 4 tanks.

As a result of the battles, the 8th GCSD suffered losses and as of 11/19/41 has:

1077th Infantry Regiment - 700 people.

1075th Infantry Regiment - 120 people.

1073rd Infantry Regiment - 200 people.

690th Infantry Regiment - 180 people."

On this day, the lines of the song approached the 1075th and 1073rd regiments: “the remnants of the company that remained from the regiment.” But the 8th Guards “Panfilov” division continued to fight.

On November 21, the 11th Panzer Division reported that it had 11 PzKpfw IIIs, 10 PzKpfw IVs and 3 "twos" ready for combat. Judging by the report, a significant part of the tanks were out of action due to mines. The 2nd Panzer Division on November 28 reported 13 combat-ready PzKpfw II, 39 PzKpfw III, 2 PzKpfw IV and 2 command tanks. Instead of quickly breaking through the front line and dashing to Moscow, the Panzerwaffe had to break through the defenses of Soviet units again and again, exchanging kilometers for people and equipment, and most importantly, for time. The time that the Soviet command used to prepare reserve armies.

On November 30, the 2nd Tank Division captured Krasnaya Polyana. The 11th Tank, 35th and 106th Infantry Divisions operating nearby in early December again met their “old acquaintances” - Panfilov’s division and Katukov’s tank brigade - at Kryukovo station. There were two dozen kilometers left to the Moscow outskirts - but the Germans failed to overcome them.

Sources :

In preparing the article, operational documents from the headquarters of the Western Front, 16th Army, 316th Rifle Division (8th Guards), 1st Guards Tank Brigade and other units were used (from the “Memory of the People” website). The combat logs of the 2nd Panzer Division, 35th Infantry Division and 5th Army Corps of the Wehrmacht were also used.

This poignant song was written by Sergei Ostrovoy and Mark Fradkin in memory of the feat of the Red Army soldiers, who at the cost of their lives held the last line before Moscow.

On the Leningradskoye Highway at the entrance to Zelenograd the Hill of Glory rises. It was here, near the village of Kryukovo, that the onslaught of the fascist invaders was stopped and a turning point occurred: defense turned into an offensive. Marshal Rokossovsky later called the battles that took place on Zelenograd soil “the second Borodino.”

In November-December 1941, two fascist German groups, one of which had previously operated in the Volokolamsk direction, and the other in the Klin direction, broke through to the area of ​​​​the village of Kryukovo. The battle was fought by soldiers of the 8th Guards Division named after I.V. Panfilov, the Second Guards Cavalry Corps of General L.M. Dovator and the First Guards Tank Brigade of General M.E. Katukova. They fought for every house and every street...

When the enemy occupied the villages of Peshki and Nikolskoye and approached the village of Lyalovo, the command post of the Soviet 16th Army was moved to the Kryukovo station.
On the afternoon of November 30, Soviet troops launched attacks along the entire defensive front of the 16th Army. Particularly fierce battles took place in the area of ​​​​the villages of Kryukovo and Peshki. The village of Kryukovo changed hands 8 times. The enemy made Kryukovo his stronghold. The enemy turned the stone buildings into pillboxes, and between the buildings there were German tanks dug into the ground in ambush. The Nazis sought to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops at all costs and reach Moscow.

In early December, the troops of the 16th Army, Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky stopped the advance of German troops and went on the defensive. In the area of ​​​​the Kryukovo station, the fighting did not stop for a minute. The 354th Rifle Division defended the Leningradskoye Highway and the northern outskirts of Kryukovo.

The fierce battle began at 10 am on December 7th. Shell fragments covered the entire Kryukov land. At the Kryukovo station, Soviet troops lost thousands of soldiers and officers, but by the evening of December 8, the enemy was broken. The best units of the enemy were defeated and put to flight. Thanks to the massive heroism of Soviet soldiers, the Nazi groups were unable to break through to Moscow.

On June 24, 1974, at the 40th kilometer from the center of the capital along the Leningradskoe Highway at the entrance to Zelenograd, a monument to the “Defenders of Moscow” was opened. On a roadside mound, erected on a mass grave where more than 760 people are buried, stands a gray obelisk. Three closed forty-meter bayonets symbolize the steadfastness of three military units - rifle, tank and cavalry. At the foot of the obelisk there are three marble steles. On one of them is written:

"1941 Here the defenders of Moscow, who died in battle for their Motherland, remained immortal forever.”

On the eve of the next anniversary of the Battle of Moscow, which became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the site recalls history day after day. The battles took place in the places where modern Zelenograd grew decades later. How did ordinary people, residents of Kryukovo and surrounding villages survive this time - families in which men went to the front or joined the militia, children who are 80-90 years old today? What was December 6, 1941 like for them?

"December 6. Saturday. 4th overnight stay of German soldiers. Heavy fighting occurs in Kryukov and fires"

Motherbut - Alabushevo. From the memoirs of Vera Grigorievna Konkina, nee Ustinova (based on the book by A.N. Vasilyeva “Countrymen”, a collection of memoirs of residents of Kryukovo and surrounding villages):

Retreating Germans set fire to a Russian village, late 1941

“When the war began, my mother [Maria Grigorievna Ustinova] was only 32 years old, but she already had six children (from one year to 14 years old). The family lived in the village of Matushkino. My father was an ideological communist, and therefore refused his armor and volunteered for the front in October 1941. Died... Three sensations remained from childhood: fear during the fighting, hunger, cold, hard work to survive and the bright image of the mother. I'll try to reproduce these sensations.

The fighting was approaching our village of Matushkino, which found itself at the epicenter of the struggle for the strategically important Leningradskoye Highway. Knowing that the Germans, having occupied populated areas, were beginning to destroy communists and members of their families, the mother and her children, fearing treason, hid their entire family with their grandmother in the village of Alabushevo. But the Germans arrived there even earlier, and my grandmother’s house burned down.

We found a new shelter in the village of Alabushevo - an unoccupied house. It was very cold, and nearby houses were burning in the cold, logs were crackling from the big fire, ... sparks were flying... And suddenly, right at me, ... a cow ran out of the fire (apparently from a burning barn). I will forever remember this scene: the fire, the cow and tears flowing from her eyes... It became creepy from the feeling of hopelessness.

The second feeling that remains from the war is the feeling of hunger and cold. During the fighting, many houses in Matushkino were destroyed or burned down. The Germans burned the surviving houses during their retreat. When residents who had taken refuge in different places returned to the village, they found burnt corpses in the ashes of their houses. There was nothing to feed the children, all supplies were destroyed, the corpses of horses were used as food... From this ashes it was necessary to revive life and raise children. All this fell on the shoulders of women.”

Kamenka - Barantsevo. From the diary of Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharov, who lived in a forest dacha between the villages of Kamenka and Barantsevo, on the Goretovka River, and kept notes on a desk calendar:

• November 29, 1941 Saturday. First night in the dugout. There were fires in Kryukov.
• November 30th. Resurrection. Night and day there is a battle of guns. Strong wind and snowfall. Fires in the village Barantsev, Kryukov, Bakeev, Brekhov.
• December 1. Monday. In the morning at 5 o'clock there was a fire in the village. Barantsevo.
• December 2nd. Tuesday. In the evening there was a fire in the dugout. With hard work, we managed to extract three burnt victims. The mother-in-law, wife and son Alexei spent the night at home, and during the day - in a dugout.
• December 3. Wednesday. 1st day. Overnight in the house of German soldiers.
• 5th of December. Friday. 3rd night and day, and the next morning the German soldiers left for Kryukovo. Others took their place.
• December 6. Saturday. 4th overnight stay of German soldiers. Heavy fighting takes place in Kryukov and fires occur.
• December 7th. Sunday. 5th day of German troops being in the house.
• December 8th. Monday. 6th day of German soldiers. In the morning, the theft of the harmonium was discovered under the pretext that the officer needed it temporarily. On the morning of the 8th at 5 o'clock my house was secretly abandoned by German soldiers. Items stolen: an axe, a harmonium, a Matador lamp, a sled, a meat grinder No. 5.
• 9th December. Tuesday. The night passed peacefully. German troops are retreating back at tremendous speed.
• December 10. Wednesday. There were strong battles in the direction of Zhilino. There were no fires. There is silence in the house.

Red Army soldier in the village of Kamenka near a German tank

Victor Kinelovsky, 1942 / mosoborona.ru

Kryukovo - Vodokachka. From a letter from political instructor Nikolai Fedorovich Omelchenko to a resident of the city of Zelenograd, participant in the battles for Kryukovo, Silina Erna Alekseevna (1960s):

“Hello, Erna! I read “Borodino 1941” in Pravda, where O. Popov talks about the battle for Kryukovo and your feat. I took part in the battle for Kryukovo in the 8th Panfilov Division in the regiment of commander Major Shekhtman, Commissar Comrade Korsakov, as a company political instructor. My company was ordered to take up defense to the right of the water basin (Vodokachka) from which there was a water supply to the Kryukovo station (this is on the right side of Moscow).

The unit, which was ordered to defend the water basin on December 6 at night, around 8 pm, did not reach the starting line, and our right flank was open. German intelligence officers, numbering five machine gunners, came to our rear through the frozen pool. My orderly Mikhail Petukhov and I were in the ditch where the water supply to the Kryukovo station ran. There was a picket fence on both sides. The Germans were 8-10 meters behind us.

My orderly Petukhov had a rifle and grenades, and I had a pistol and grenades. We shot two at point-blank range with a rifle and a revolver. One fired a burst of machine gun fire, but it went above us. We fired more shots, threw grenades and killed the rest. But this is not the main thing I want to ask you to tell me, but the main thing is something else.

After this battle and reprisals against the Germans, my orderly and I moved in the same place to a house made of burnt brick, in which a woman of about 25-30 years old was lying on a Russian stove with a sick child. There were two more boys in the room, approximately 4 to 6 years old, and possibly younger - these were the sons of the woman who was lying on the stove with the sick child.

At approximately 3-4 o'clock in the morning on December 7, 1941, the child died. This woman took him to bury him, somewhere nearby, in a trench or bomb shelter. At five o'clock our counter-offensive began and the artillery began working. There was no mother. The orderly and I fed these two boys. Leaving them, he went to raise the company on the offensive. He raised the unit and opened mortar fire. Somewhere 50-60 meters from the house I was wounded in the right shoulder by a mine fragment.

When I got up, I saw these two boys running towards me, undressed. I grabbed them and dragged them into the house, after which the mother came. Leaving them, she sent me to the hospital, through Moscow, to the city of Ivanovo. […] I’m very interested in whether these little brother boys are alive, and whether their mother is alive...”

Erna Silina (Yankus), a 17-year-old resident of the village of Aleksandrovka (the current 14th mirodistrict of Zelenograd), became a nurse in the Panfilov division on December 5, 1941 - during the battles for Kryukovo, she herself turned to the command with an insistent request to accept her into medical service. “She made bandages under fire on the battlefield, and also pulled the wounded out of the battlefield, placing a raincoat under the body of the Red Army soldier,” said Erna Alekseevna’s daughter. “So she went with the division until the spring of 1944.”

And the fate of the little brothers and their mother, mentioned in the letter, was found out at the Kryukov school, which was engaged in search work - its director since 1946 was Leonid Arkhipovich Sinyuk, political instructor of the engineer battalion of the 7th Guards Division, participant in the battles for Kryukovo. Nikolai Omelchenko’s letter was sent to this school - Erna Silina by that time no longer lived in Zelenograd, after a search she was found in Murmansk. About the woman and boys, the heroes of the letter, it was only possible to find out that they remained alive. Erna Alekseevna Silina and Nikolai Fedorovich Omelchenko met at the Kryukov school on the anniversary of the 30th anniversary of the victory near Moscow in 1971.

On December 6, the Klin-Solnechnogorsk offensive operation began, the goal of which was to advance Soviet troops by 30-40 km. In the Kryukovo-Matushkino area, fighting continued that day, but without any special movements of military units - it was a day of preparation.

In Kryukovo, “...during December 4, 5 and 6, a thorough reconnaissance of the enemy’s location in their occupied defense areas was carried out,” wrote Major General Revyakin, commander of the 8th Guards Panfilov Division. But this was reconnaissance in force - units of the division were assigned offensive tasks.

“Before dawn on December 6, the commanders and staff members of the rifle units and our brigade gathered at the Panfilov headquarters, in a hotly heated hut,” recalled the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, General Katukov. - Everyone was worried about one question: how to carry out the army commander’s order. “Your proposals, comrade commanders.” I took the floor. The essence of my proposal was as follows. Dispersing tanks along the entire attack front will not bring the desired result. What does it mean when attacking, one vehicle per company, or even per battalion!

“Isn’t it better,” I said, “to concentrate the main forces of the brigade into a powerful fist and strike with them at the most vulnerable point of the enemy’s defense. Tanks should not accompany the infantry, but lead them to storm enemy fortifications.” The debate became heated. As a result, they decided to take the group into pincers. But, first of all, it was necessary to organize a thorough reconnaissance.”

Commander of the 4th Tank (1st Guards) Brigade, Major General Mikhail Efimovich Katukov with officers at the map. Winter 1941-1942

Zelenograd Museum of History and Local Lore / waralbum.ru

During December 6 and on the night of the 7th, reconnaissance searches were carried out, and artillerymen spotted targets. A group of volunteer tankers penetrated deep into the enemy’s defenses, studied the route of the upcoming offensive, and marked firing points. On the way back, the tankers set up an ambush and took a “tongue”, which helped clarify the fire system and weak points in the enemy’s defense.

From the political reports of the political department of the 8th Guards Rifle Division (Archives of the Moscow Region, f. 1063, on. 1, d. 100, l. l. 190-191): “During December 6, 1941, there were no changes in the location of units in the division. During the day, the enemy regrouped and concentrated its units in the area of ​​​​the Kryukovo and Kamenka stations, and pulled up infantry and tanks to the front line. 1077 SP occupies the defense at elevation. 186.5 Red October, Brick. The enemy conducted periodic mortar fire on the front line throughout the day. 1075 SP occupies the defense of Kirp. northern, Kirp. southern, saddles the Kryukovo-Matushkino, Kryukovo-Savelki roads. The enemy concentrated infantry and tanks at the Kryukovo station and periodically fired mortars. Shot down: 1 enemy passenger car and 1 truck. 1073 JV occupies the same position. The enemy fired mortars and machine guns at the location of our units. Artillery fire destroyed up to 150 soldiers and officers.”

The Panfilov regiments received “young communist replenishment” - new fighters, party organizers and commanders who replaced the wounded and dead and inspired the rest with their personal example. “Already on the first day of fighting, a group of this reinforcement knocked out an enemy tank,” the political report stated. - Comrade stands out especially. Kamenshchikov, who during the battle replaced the wounded party organizer and led the company. He taught people the rules of running and throwing grenades. Red Army soldier Zubarev behaved courageously and bravely in battle. While in the school building, at the most difficult moment, he cut a hole in the wall and led several guardsmen out through it. Comrade Tarakanov, commanding a platoon, organized a strong defense. Personally, he himself knocked out 3 tanks and 1 armored vehicle with an anti-tank rifle, and destroyed the crews of these tanks and armored vehicles with a light machine gun. Soldiers Dudkin and Likhachev noticed camouflaged enemy tanks. Armed with anti-tank guns, they knocked out 2 tanks.”

On this day, the troops of the Western Front under the command of Zhukov (30th, 1st shock, 20th, 16th and 5th armies - a total of 100 divisions) went on a counteroffensive near Moscow. “Halder would later say that on December 6, 1941, the myth of the invincibility of the German army was “shattered.” With the onset of summer, Germany will achieve new victories, but this will not restore the myth of its invincibility,” writes A.V. Suldin, author of the chronicle “The Battle of Moscow.”

“After December 6, a soldier of the 32nd Infantry Regiment, Adolf Fortheimer, sent the following letter: “Dear wife! It's hell here. The Russians don't want to leave Moscow. They began to advance. Every hour brings terrible news for us. It's so cold it freezes your soul. You can't go out in the evening - they'll kill you. I beg you, stop writing to me about the silk and rubber boots that I was supposed to bring you from Moscow. Understand - I’m dying, I’m going to die, I feel it.”

Zelenograd.ru continues to remember history day after day. The battles took place in the places where modern Zelenograd grew decades later.

How did ordinary people, residents of Kryukovo and its environs - families in which men went to the front, children who are now 80-90 years old - survive this time? What was December 2, 1941 like for them?

Soldiers in camouflage suits go on the attack to a village near Moscow occupied by Nazi troops.

Vladimir Rumyantsev: “The Germans ruled the village of Kamenka for eight days”

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev, as a teenager, survived the period of the German occupation of the village of Kamenka near Kryukovo, which German troops occupied on December 1. In his memoirs “Fighting in Kamenka. The view of a teenager" (from the book by A.N. Vasilyeva "Countrymen", a collection of memories of residents of Kryukovo and surrounding villages) he says:

“The front was getting closer every day. […] Our family moved to a bomb shelter dug into the mountain on our property. Nine people sat on the bunks and warmed themselves with an iron stove, which was heated around the clock. They melted snow on it to get water for a newborn sister who was born amid the roar of cannonade in “Rukavishka” - that’s what everyone called our hospital [after K.V. Rukavishnikov, who built it near Kryukovo at the end of the 19th century, now it is the Moscow Regional Hospital for war veterans].

Sappers were stationed in our house. They mined the railway. They came in the evening tired and hungry. Mom cooked potatoes for them and gave them tea. There were six of them. One day only four came. From their conversations, we understood that two of them were blown up by their mines when German planes began to bomb them.

The population was given flour and kerosene using ration cards. Flour helped us out a lot later. For eight days, while the Germans ruled the village of Kamenka, we baked unleavened cakes on the stove, washing them down with boiling water from melted snow.

On the evening of November 30, green figures of Germans appeared at the edge of the forest. He fired up a machine gun from the Kamensk hill, and they quickly disappeared into the forest. Obviously this was reconnaissance. My grandmother's big house was occupied by militias. They were in civilian clothes, workers from Moscow factories, all of a respectable age. Grandmother set up the samovar, my brother and I helped her as best we could. I remember how one of the militia said: “Here, mother, defend Moscow, they gave us a dagger and a rifle for both of us.”

Soviet officers at dinner in a village near Moscow, winter 1941-1942.

We went into the dugout, and at night there was shooting. On the morning of December 1, the Germans were in charge of Kamenka. Engines hummed in the yard. The German field headquarters was located in my grandmother's house. Our small house was destroyed by a direct hit from a mine. For seven days and nights we sat endlessly in the dugout - nine people, my brother and I - boys and my nine-day old cousin, the dog Alma - under the bunks. At night, our door to the dugout was fired at from a machine gun by a German sentry guarding a field telephone cable in the ravine. The iron stove and saucepan that stood at the corner near the door were pierced by bullets.

On the morning of December 8, there was heavy shooting. When the shooting died down a little, we got out of the dugout. The first thing we saw were our soldiers in white sheepskin coats, with machine guns in their hands, running towards Andreevka. One of our people asked a passing Red Army soldier: “Can the Germans return?” He replied: “They can.” “What should we do?” He said: “Go away,” and ran further, catching up with his people.

Villagers emerged from the cellars and dugouts, from whom we learned that the Germans had shot Lesha Razbitsky for running from house to house, that they had shot the collective farm chairman Yaroslavtsev on a denunciation, and had executed my uncle’s friend Grisha Gorchakov under the bridge. He had a medal "For courage" in the Finnish war. He was a tanker, and we boys looked at him as a real hero.

German clearing of a village, 1941

They said that in Kamenka there was a White Finnish battalion that fought on the side of Germany. Everyone was betrayed by a “German” - a German language teacher who lived in an apartment in our village with a huge German shepherd. No one really knows when and where it came from.

Grandmother's house was blown up, ours was destroyed by a mine - the adults decided to leave the village. The gathering was led by my grandmother. They made a sled out of my skis, loaded it with a bag of flour and some linen suitable for diapering my newborn sister. Under fire, we left the village and walked across a snow-covered field towards the village of Kutuzovo.

On the field we saw the corpses of our soldiers already covered with snow - the result of a morning head-on attack on the village of Kamenka. While climbing the Kutuzovsky hill, we came under artillery fire, fell into the snow, and the tops of pine trees fell on top of us. Then we walked for a long time along the road towards Firsanovka. I don’t remember the name of the village where we ended up at the military unit. We were placed in a hut, warmed, and fed buckwheat porridge. We boys were given a lump of sugar. Then the commissar gathered the adults and, using their words, wrote an act on the atrocities of the Nazis in the village of Kamenka, which was signed by members of our family - the Toloknovs, Pavlovs, Rumyantsevs. The act was published in central newspapers and broadcast on the radio.[…]

A Soviet soldier next to a destroyed German Pz.Kpfw.III tank in the village of Kamenka, January 1942

FROM THE ARCHIVE OF THE ZELENOGRAD MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND LOCAL LORD / WARALBUM.RU

Then we were loaded onto a car and taken to Khimki, from where we took a train to Moscow. An evacuation point was organized at the Leningradsky station, where we were given directions to the Tomilino station and settled in an empty house, in which we lived until the end of February 1942.

On the twentieth of February we returned to our native village. Our neighbors, the Tarasovs, sheltered us in their surviving house, where we lived for several months as one big family. On the streets of the village of Kryukovo and the village of Kamenka there were cars and tanks abandoned by the Germans.

In Kamenka, in the clearing behind the fire shed, where we played football before the war, the corpses of our soldiers lay in stacks covered with a tarpaulin. There was no way to bury them due to severe frosts; only in the spring they were put in a large hole in a burnt collective farm vegetable storehouse and covered with earth.

This is how a mass grave was formed, over which now stands a monument to the defenders of Moscow. Then the corpses of our soldiers found in the forest and ravines were buried there.

Now, when I come to a mass grave and, having wiped off the dust from the memorial plaque, re-read the 35 names engraved on the marble slab, I involuntarily remember those distant days. I remember how these names were read, removing pieces of paper from the black boxes of soldiers’ medallions. Only 35 families received sad news. The rest (and there are ten times more of them) were buried as unknown...

On December 1, 2 and 3, troops of the 16th Army fought with the main group of German troops advancing along the Leningrad and Volokolamsk highways. The German strike groups were concentrated, including in the area of ​​Lyalovo, Alabushevo, Kryukovo, Bakeevo - the 5th, 11th tank and 35th infantry divisions.

“During December 2 and 3, the enemy, through extreme exertion of forces and means, managed to capture Kryukov, where fighting took place in the streets. But in other sectors of the front, all the enemy’s attempts to break through the position of our units ended in failure, and he suffered heavy losses,” Marshal Shaposhnikov wrote in a 1943 study.

After the Germans captured Kamenka on December 1, the regiments of the Panfilov division and the 44th cavalry division occupied the defense line of the village of Krasny Oktyabr and the Vodokachka pond (now School Lake) - Kryukovo station, Skripitsyno - the Kryukovka river (between Kamenka and Kutuzov), as Zelenograd historian Igor writes Bystrov. Dovator's 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps was transferred to the reserve of the 16th Army and was located in the Elino-Nazaryevo-Dzhunkovka area.

On December 2, the enemy furiously attacked Panfilov’s positions, trying to capture Kryukovo and bringing into the battle fresh reserves of infantry and dozens of tanks from Aleksandrovka and Andreevka, with air support. At 13:15, a group of 18-20 aircraft bombed the positions of the 1075th regiment, and it began to retreat, losing up to 50% of the soldiers in the battalions. Two battalions were surrounded.

“In the village of Kryukovo, the regiment […] wages bloody battles continuously for 6 days, three times the companies are surrounded by the enemy in stone buildings, more than once a tank landing rushes against the enemy...”, later wrote the commander of the 1073rd regiment, Baurdzhan Momysh-uly, about events 2, 3 and 5 December.

The correspondence between the formation commanders was preserved in the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense - it was written on pieces of paper from a school notebook:
- “Comrade. Katukov. I urgently ask you to support 1075 SP with your reserve. The enemy is pushing him hard in the direction of Andreevka. Major General Revyakin."
- “Major General Revyakin. I move three tanks from Kutuzovo into the grove to the east. Malino to repel tanks from Kryukovo. The enemy launched an attack on my left flank in the Ladushkino area, and directed his entire reserve there. Major General Katukov. 2.12.41 13.50.”

Commander of the 4th (1st Guards) Tank Brigade, Major General of Tank Forces Mikhail Efimovich Katukov (far left in the foreground) at the observation post

Alekseev’s 354th Rifle Division fought for Matushkino, Savelki and Bolshiye Rzhavki - it arrived at the Skhodnya station on the night of November 30 from reserve and immediately came under bombardment by enemy aircraft, which kept the railway under control. Rokossovsky, to whom Alekseev reported his arrival, was glad to see the new addition. However, it turned out that the division arrived in summer uniforms and was very weakly armed: for more than 9,200 people there were only about 400 rifles, 19 machine guns and 30 cannons. Felt boots and warm underwear arrived in the division only on December 7th. Between December 1 and 6, it lost more than 1,100 people, including from frostbite.