An elaborately pompous grave of a Soviet soldier, made for the money of patrons, near the ruins of Balga Castle (Bagrationovsky district, Kaliningrad region). At the same time, during the construction of this inappropriate memorial, a memorial plaque installed here in the fall of 2014 by the Kaliningrad public in memory of the feat of Red Army soldier Mikhail Markov was barbarously destroyed. The photographs were taken on May 16, 2017 by a military journalist of the Russian FSB system, Grigory ZUEVI.
Let me remind you who the Red Army soldier Mikhail Markov is:
Born in 1925 in the village of Potemkino, Shelomyansky Village Council (now does not exist) of the Krasnoborsky district of the Arkhangelsk region. Russian. A peasant worker. Relatives as of the beginning of 1945: mother – Markova Klavdiya Pavlovna; lived at the place where her son was born.
Education: in 1941 – junior high school in his homeland; in October 1943 - Courses for junior lieutenants of the Arkhangelsk Military District.
During the rally period until December 1941, under Komsomol mobilization, he worked on the construction of defensive structures on the territory of the former Karelo-Finnish SSR for the needs of the active Red Army. He was sent home due to severe physical exhaustion.
He was mobilized for military service on February 18, 1943 by the Krasnoborsky RVC. The first position here is a Red Army soldier of the 33rd reserve rifle regiment of the 29th reserve rifle division of the Arkhangelsk Military District (Arkhangelsk Military Garrison).
In the active army approximately since the spring or summer of 1943. In a combat situation he was wounded. Upon recovery, he was sent to study at the Junior Lieutenants Course of the Arkhangelsk Military District, which he successfully completed in October 1943 with a specialization in the Signal Corps.
In October 1943, junior lieutenant M.A. Markov, while still in Arkhangelsk, committed an offense discrediting the honor of a Soviet officer, for which in the same month the Military Tribunal of the Arkhangelsk Military District was demoted to the ranks with the direction to atone for his guilt with blood in the ranks of the active Red Army.
According to the materials of the Krasnoborsky RVK of the Arkhangelsk region for 1946 (TsAMO: f. 58, op. 977520, d. 45; results of a door-to-door survey), as of October 1943 - a serviceman of the 404th separate linear communications battalion, a Red Army soldier.
Around the spring of 1944, Red Army soldier M.A. Markov is a machine gunner of the 55th Infantry Regiment of the 176th Infantry (later - Masurian Order of Suvorov) Division (II F) of the 32nd Army of the Karelian Front. In this capacity, he distinguished himself during the August battles of the forty-fourth, for which, on the basis of the order of the commander of the 55th Infantry Regiment No. 067 dated August 21, 1944, he was awarded the medal “For Courage” (No. 1202809; certificate No. B249375).
On February 19, 1945, during the battle that the 55th Infantry Regiment fought that day near the East Prussian village of Langendorf (2 km north of the modern village of Kornevo, Bagrationovsky District), he was wounded and evacuated for treatment to the 128th separate medical battalion 176 1st Infantry Masurian Order of Kutuzov Division (II f), but did not arrive there. Due to this circumstance, he was officially registered as missing in action in February 1945.
The remains of the Red Army soldier M.A. Markov were discovered on April 13, 2004 by employees of the counter-terrorism department of the Operational-Investigative Unit at the Western Department of Internal Affairs during the conduct of operational-search activities against representatives of the black arms market in the region in the Bagrationovsky district (northern outskirts of the village of Pyatidorozhnoe).
Based on indirect signs(location of skeletons, weapons, etc.), the Soviet soldier died heroically in an unequal hand-to-hand fight, single-handedly destroying six Nazis, including an officer with the rank of chief lieutenant of the Luftwaffe.
The identity of the deceased hero was identified in August 2004 from the medal “For Courage” No. 1202809 found on him - through a request to the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The next day after receiving the official response from TsAMO, employees of the counter-terrorism department of the ORCh at the Western Department of Internal Affairs, through colleagues from the Krasnoborsky RVK of the Arkhangelsk region, found the relatives of the Red Army soldier M.A. who lived there. Markov and contacted them by phone.
On September 9, 2004, representatives of the leadership of the Western UVDT and the command of the twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet, during a military mourning ceremony, handed over to representatives of the official delegation of the Arkhangelsk region (headed by I.I. Ivlev), which included the nephew of the deceased soldier, V.A. Bazhukov, the remains of the Red Army soldier M.A. Markov for reburial in his homeland.
On September 15, 2004, he was buried with military honors in the cemetery of the village of Krasnoborsk, the regional center of the Arkhangelsk region.
At the request of the head of the Western Department of Internal Affairs, Major General of Police A.I. Chaplygin by the command of the twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet at the end of April 2005 was posthumously nominated for award by the President of the Russian Federation with the Order of Courage, however, unfortunately, this proposal in the summer of the same year was not implemented at the level of the High Command of the Navy.
Immortalized in the Kaliningrad region. So, in the area where the soldier died - near the ruins of Balga Castle - on May 8, 2004, on the initiative of the Nezavisimaya Gazeta journalist, holder of the Order A.I. Ryabushev and the leadership of the Kaliningrad regional military registration and enlistment office, during a meeting organized by the leadership of the Pyatidorozhnaya rural administration of the Bagrationovsky district, for the first time a memorial marble slab was installed: “To the unknown soldier, holder of the medal “For Courage” No. 1202809, who died in an unequal battle with six Nazis in the area of the Balga castle.” in the spring of 1945."
On September 8, 2004, on the initiative of the Military Memorial Group at the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet, also during the rally, this sign was replaced with another: “In memory of the feat of the Red Army soldier Mikhail Alekseevich MARKOV, born in 1925. On 02/19/1945 he died a heroic death in an unequal hand-to-hand fight, destroying 6 Nazis.” The former one was handed over to representatives of the official delegation of the Arkhangelsk region for eternal storage in the museum in the hero’s homeland.
In addition, the name of the Red Army soldier M.A. Markov is immortalized in the 18th volume of the Kaliningrad Regional Book of Memory “Let us call by name” - ss. 400-401 and p. 445.
One of the most significant operations carried out by the Red Army in 1945 was the storming of Königsberg and the liberation of East Prussia.
Fortifications of the Grolman upper front, Oberteich bastion after capitulation/
Fortifications of the Grolman upper front, Oberteich bastion. Courtyard.
Troops of the 10th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Tank Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front occupy the city of Mühlhausen (now the Polish city of Mlynar) during the Mlawa-Elbing operation.
German soldiers and officers captured during the assault on Konigsberg.
A column of German prisoners walks along Hindenburg Strasse in the city of Insterburg (East Prussia), towards the Lutheran Church (now the city of Chernyakhovsk, Lenin Street).
Soviet soldiers carry the weapons of fallen comrades after a battle in East Prussia.
Soviet soldiers learn to overcome barbed wire barriers.
Soviet officers inspect one of the forts in occupied Konigsberg.
An MG-42 machine gun crew fires near the railway station of the city of Goldap in battles with Soviet troops. 
Ships in the frozen harbor of Pillau (now Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region of Russia), late January 1945.
Königsberg, Tragheim district after the assault, damaged building.
German grenadiers are moving towards the last Soviet positions in the area of the railway station in the city of Goldap.
Koenigsberg. Kronprinz Barracks, tower.
Koenigsberg, one of the inter-fort fortifications.
The air support ship Hans Albrecht Wedel receives refugees in Pillau harbor.
Advanced German troops enter the East Prussian town of Goldap, which was previously occupied by Soviet troops.
Koenigsberg, panorama of the ruins of the city.
The corpse of a German woman killed by an explosion in Metgethen in East Prussia.
The Pz.Kpfw tank belonging to the 5th Panzer Division. V Ausf. G "Panther" on the street of the city of Goldap.
A German soldier hanged on the outskirts of Königsberg for looting. The inscription in German “Plündern wird mit-dem Tode bestraft!” translated as “Whoever robs will be executed!”
A Soviet soldier in a German Sdkfz 250 armored personnel carrier on one of the streets of Koenigsberg.
Units of the German 5th Panzer Division move forward for a counterattack against Soviet forces. Kattenau region, East Prussia. Ahead is a Pz.Kpfw tank. V "Panther".
Koenigsberg, barricade on the street.
A battery of 88 mm anti-aircraft guns is preparing to repel a Soviet tank attack. East Prussia, mid-February 1945.
German positions on the approaches to Koenigsberg. The inscription reads: “We will defend Koenigsberg.” Propaganda photo.
The Soviet self-propelled gun ISU-122S is fighting in Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front, April 1945.
A German sentry on a bridge in the center of Königsberg.
A Soviet motorcyclist passes by German StuG IV self-propelled guns and a 105 mm howitzer abandoned on the road.
A German landing ship evacuating troops from the Heiligenbeil pocket enters Pillau harbor.
Koenigsberg, blown up by a pillbox.
Damaged German self-propelled gun StuG III Ausf. G in front of the Kronprinz Tower, Königsberg.
Koenigsberg, panorama from the Don Tower.
Koenisberg, April 1945. View of the Royal Castle
A German StuG III assault gun destroyed in Königsberg. In the foreground is a killed German soldier.
German equipment on Mitteltragheim street in Königsberg after the assault. To the right and left are StuG III assault guns, in the background is a JgdPz IV tank destroyer.
Grolman upper front, Grolman bastion. Before the capitulation of the fortress, it housed the headquarters of the 367th Wehrmacht Infantry Division.
On the street of Pillau port. Evacuated German soldiers throw their weapons and equipment before loading onto ships.
A German 88-mm FlaK 36/37 anti-aircraft gun abandoned on the outskirts of Königsberg.
Koenigsberg, panorama. Don Tower, Rossgarten Gate.
Koenigsberg, German bunker in the Horst Wessel Park area.
Unfinished barricade on Herzog Albrecht Alley in Königsberg (now Thälmann Street).
Koenigsberg, destroyed German artillery battery.
German prisoners at the Sackheim Gate in Königsberg.
Koenigsberg, German trenches.
German machine gun crew in position in Koenigsberg near the Don Tower.
German refugees on Pillau Street pass by a column of Soviet SU-76M self-propelled guns.
Koenigsberg, Friedrichsburg Gate after the assault.
Koenigsberg, Wrangel Tower, fortress moat.
View from the Don Tower on Oberteich (Upper Pond), Königsberg.
On the street of Koenigsberg after the assault.
Koenigsberg, Wrangel Tower after the surrender.
Corporal I.A. Gureev at his post at the border marker in East Prussia.
A Soviet unit in a street battle in Koenigsberg.
Traffic police officer Sergeant Anya Karavaeva on the way to Konigsberg.
Soviet soldiers in the city of Allenstein (currently the city of Olsztyn in Poland) in East Prussia.
Artillerymen of the guard of Lieutenant Sofronov are fighting on Avider Alley in Konigsberg (now Alley of the Brave).
The result of an airstrike on German positions in East Prussia.
Soviet soldiers are fighting in the streets on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front.
Soviet armored boat No. 214 in the Koenigsberg Canal after a battle with a German tank.
German collection point for faulty captured armored vehicles in the Königsberg area.
Evacuation of the remnants of the "Gross Germany" division to the Pillau area.
German equipment abandoned in Konigsberg. In the foreground is a 150 mm sFH 18 howitzer.
Koenigsberg. Bridge over the moat to the Rossgarten Gate. Don Tower in the background
An abandoned German 105-mm howitzer le.F.H.18/40 at a position in Konigsberg.
A German soldier lights a cigarette near a StuG IV self-propelled gun.
A damaged German Pz.Kpfw tank is on fire. V Ausf. G "Panther". 3rd Belorussian Front.
Soldiers of the Grossdeutschland division are loaded onto homemade rafts for crossing the Frishes Huff Bay (now Kaliningrad Bay). Balga Peninsula, Cape Kalholz.
Soldiers of the Grossdeutschland division in positions on the Balga Peninsula.
Meeting of Soviet soldiers on the border with East Prussia. 3rd Belorussian Front.
The bow of a German transport sinking as a result of an attack by Baltic Fleet aircraft off the coast of East Prussia.
The observer pilot of the Henschel Hs.126 reconnaissance aircraft takes pictures of the area during a training flight.
A damaged German StuG IV assault gun. East Prussia, February 1945.
Seeing off Soviet soldiers from Koenigsberg.
The Germans inspect a damaged Soviet T-34-85 tank in the village of Nemmersdorf.
Tank "Panther" from the 5th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht in Gołdap.
German soldiers armed with Panzerfaust grenade launchers next to an MG 151/20 aircraft cannon in the infantry version.
A column of German Panther tanks is moving towards the front in East Prussia.
Broken cars on the street of Königsberg, which was taken by storm. Soviet soldiers in the background.
Troops of the Soviet 10th Tank Corps and the bodies of German soldiers on Mühlhausen Street.
Soviet sappers walk down the street of burning Insterburg in East Prussia.
A column of Soviet IS-2 tanks on a road in East Prussia. 1st Belorussian Front.
A Soviet officer inspects the German Jagdpanther self-propelled gun that was knocked out in East Prussia.
Soviet soldiers sleep, resting after the fighting, right on the street of Königsberg, which was taken by storm.
Koenigsberg, anti-tank barriers.
German refugees with a baby in Konigsberg.
A short rally in the 8th company after reaching the state border of the USSR.
A group of pilots of the Normandie-Niemen air regiment near a Yak-3 fighter in East Prussia.
A sixteen-year-old Volkssturm fighter armed with an MP 40 submachine gun. East Prussia.
Construction of defensive structures, East Prussia, mid-July 1944.
Refugees from Königsberg moving towards Pillau, mid-February 1945.
German soldiers at a rest stop near Pillau.
German quad anti-aircraft gun FlaK 38 mounted on a tractor. Fischhausen (now Primorsk), East Prussia.
Civilians and a captured German soldier on Pillau Street during garbage collection after the end of the fighting for the city.
Boats of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet undergoing repairs in Pillau (currently the city of Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region of Russia).
German auxiliary ship "Franken" after an attack by Il-2 attack aircraft of the Baltic Fleet Air Force.
Bomb explosion on the German ship Franken as a result of an attack by Il-2 attack aircraft of the Baltic Baltic Fleet Air Force
A gap from a heavy shell in the wall of the Oberteich bastion fortifications of the Grolman upper front of Koenigsberg.
The bodies of two German women and three children allegedly killed by Soviet soldiers in the town of Metgethen in East Prussia in January-February 1945. German propaganda photo.
Transportation of the Soviet 280-mm mortar Br-5 in East Prussia.
Distribution of food to Soviet soldiers in Pillau after the end of the fighting for the city.
Soviet soldiers pass through a German settlement on the outskirts of Konigsberg.
A broken German StuG IV assault gun on the streets of Allenstein (now Olsztyn, Poland.)
Soviet infantry, supported by the SU-76 self-propelled gun, attacks German positions in the Königsberg area.
A column of self-propelled guns SU-85 on the march in East Prussia.
Sign "Motorway to Berlin" on one of the roads in East Prussia.
Explosion on the tanker Sassnitz. The tanker with a cargo of fuel was sunk on March 26, 1945, 30 miles from Liepaja by aircraft of the 51st mine-torpedo air regiment and the 11th attack air division of the Baltic Fleet Air Force.
Bombing of German transport and port facilities of Pillau by Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force aircraft.
The German hydroaviation mother ship Boelcke, attacked by an Il-2 squadron of the 7th Guards Attack Aviation Regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, 7.5 km southeast of Cape Hel.
September 1944 – February 1945
On January 19, 1945, I received an order by radio to remove posts, redeploy the platoon to the village of T. and wait for further instructions.
Three months ago we already crossed the border of East Prussia.
One of our army divisions made a hole in the defensive barriers on the border.
Sappers filled up the ditch, destroyed five lines of barbed wire barriers and eliminated another ditch or rampart. Thus, a hole about fifteen meters wide was formed in the barriers, inside which ran a country road from Poland to East Prussia...
A hundred meters later the highway began, there was a forest on the right and left, a few kilometers and the road to the Gollubien farm. It was a two-story house, covered with red tiles, surrounded by all kinds of services.
Inside, the walls were decorated with carpets and tapestries from the 17th century.
In one of the offices there was a painting by Rokotov hanging on the wall, and nearby and throughout the house there were many family photographs, daguerreotypes from the beginning of the century, generals, officers surrounded by elegant ladies and children, then officers in helmets with shakos who had returned from the 1914 war, and very recent photographs: boys with armbands with swastikas and their sisters, apparently students, and, finally, photographs of young SS chief lieutenants lost on the Russian fronts - the last generation of this traditionally military aristocratic family.
Between the photographs hung family portraits of Prussian barons, and suddenly there were again two paintings - one by Rokotov, and the other by Borovikovsky, trophy portraits of Russian generals, their children and wives.
Our infantrymen and tankmen, who visited this “museum” before us, did not remain indifferent to hunting lodge Prussian kings: all the mirrors enclosed in gilded frames were broken by them, all the feather beds and pillows were torn apart, all the furniture, all the floors were covered with a layer of down and feathers. In the corridor hung a tapestry reproducing the famous painting by Rubens “The Birth of Aphrodite from the Foam of the Sea.” Someone, carrying out his revenge on the conquerors, wrote a popular three-letter word across it in black oil paint.
The tapestry, one and a half meters long, with three letters, reminded me of my Moscow, pre-war passion for art. I rolled it up and put it in my captured German suitcase, which had served as my pillow for three months.
I looked out the window.
The farm, which consisted of a traveling palace and brick service buildings, was surrounded by a cast-iron lattice, and behind the lattice, on the green meadows, as far as the eye could see, an incredible number of huge black and white purebred cows wandered, moaned and mooed. A week has already passed since the Germans - both troops and population - left without engaging in battle. Nobody milked the cows.
Swollen udder, pain, moaning. My two telephone operators, former village girls, milked several buckets of milk, but it was bitter, and we did not drink it. Then I noticed the hellish fuss in the yard. One of the signalmen discovered a chicken coop among the brick buildings, opened the cast-iron gate, and hundreds of hungry purebred chickens ran out into the yard. My soldiers seemed to have gone mad. They ran and jumped like crazy, catching chickens and tearing off their heads. Then they found the boiler. Gutted and plucked.
There were already more than a hundred chickens in the cauldron, and there were forty-five people in my platoon. And so they cooked the broth and ate until they all collapsed from exhaustion and fell asleep. It was the evening of our first day in East Prussia.
About two hours later my entire platoon fell ill. They woke up, quickly jumped up and ran behind the chicken coop.
In the morning, a liaison officer from the company headquarters arrived in a truck and unrolled a topographic map.
A few kilometers from the border, and therefore from us, was the rich East Prussian city of Goldap.
The day before, our divisions surrounded it, but there were no residents or German soldiers in the city, and when the regiments and divisions entered the city, the generals and officers completely lost control over them. The infantrymen and tankers fled to apartments and shops.
Through broken windows, the entire contents of stores were dumped onto the sidewalks of the streets.
Thousands of pairs of shoes, dishes, radios, cutlery, all kinds of household and pharmacy goods and products - all mixed up.
And from the windows of the apartments they threw clothes, linen, pillows, feather beds, blankets, paintings, gramophones and musical instruments. Barricades formed on the streets. And it was at this time that German artillery and mortars began to work. Several reserve German divisions threw our demoralized units out of the city almost at lightning speed. But at the request of the front headquarters, the capture of the first German city was already reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. We had to take the city again. However, the Germans again knocked out ours, but did not enter it themselves. And the city became neutral.
We run behind the barn.
Outside, two soldiers from a separate anti-aircraft artillery brigade say that the city has changed hands three times already, and this morning it has become neutral again, but the road is under fire. My God!
See the ancient German city with your own eyes! I get into the car with the former civilian driver, Corporal Starikov. Hurry, hurry! We are rushing along the highway, mines are falling to the right and left of us. Just in case, I duck down, but the firing zone is behind me. And in front, like on trophy German postcards, covered with red tiles, between some marble fountains and monuments at crossroads, there were pointed houses with weather vanes.
We stop in the center of an almost empty city.
Europe! Everything is interesting!
But this is AWOL, we must immediately return to the unit.
All the doors of the apartments are open, and there are real pillows on the beds, pillows in the pillowcases, blankets in the duvet covers, and aromatic seasonings in multi-colored tubes in the kitchen. In the pantries there are jars of homemade canned goods, soups and various main courses, and something I never dreamed of - in sealed half-liter jars (what kind of technology is this without heating?) the freshest butter. Own production wines, and liqueurs, and liqueurs, and Italian vermouths, and cognacs.
And in the wardrobes on the hangers there are new civilian suits and three-piece suits of different sizes. Ten more minutes. We can’t help but change clothes and, like girls, spin around in front of the mirrors. God, how beautiful we are!
But time!
We quickly change clothes, throw pillows, blankets, feather beds, watches, lighters out of the windows. Thoughts are drilling into me. At that moment I remembered how several months ago I came to Moscow for five days.
The shelves in the stores are empty, everything is rationed. How happy my mother was with my additional officer's ration - a can of combined fat and two cans of American pork stew, and even with every lunch that I received on a ten-day travel certificate, somewhere in the officer's canteen in Syromyatniki and brought it home.
And the housemates are half-starved.
What am I talking about? And here. We, half-starved and tortured, are winning, and the Germans lost the war, but they do not need anything, they are well-fed.
I thought about this when Starikov and I filled the back of the truck with pillows, feather beds, and blankets with the goal of distributing them to all our soldiers so that they could get at least three nights of human sleep. They haven’t seen pillows, some for three years, some for six years.
We are not alone in the city. Like us, several dozen soldiers and officers from other military units of our army and trucks are collecting trophies different systems from one and a half to Studebakers and Willis - either thirty, or already forty. And suddenly a German Focke-Wulf appears above the city - such a nimble and terribly maneuverable German reconnaissance aircraft - and within ten minutes the German batteries begin shelling the city. We quickly set off. Shells are exploding in front and behind us, and we are confused in unfamiliar alleys and streets. But I have a compass, we are heading east and, in the end, rushing past our burning abandoned trucks, we find ourselves on the highway along which we arrived, again we come under fire, but we are lucky, and in the evening we approach our company headquarters.
My friend, senior lieutenant Alexey Tarasov, became the commander of our separate company, instead of Captain Rozhitsky, who was promoted in rank and rank and sent as part of several units of the 31st Army to the east. For a whole year there is one orderly for two, one dugout for two, a candidate of technical sciences, an artist. I remember how he mocked the cretin bosses.
Speaks to a colonel or general, stands at attention.
- Yes, Comrade General!
And suddenly it somehow bends imperceptibly. It happens in an instant, and it’s like a different person. His figure and face change, he looks exactly like the person he’s talking to, but he’s a complete idiot: his tongue hangs out of his mouth and hangs out, he’s a freak, but absolutely in character. It is he who parodies army swagger, and sometimes stupid, stubborn straightforwardness. And I see everything, inside my veins are shaking with laughter, with fear for him, because the whole performance is being staged for me. A second - and he again stands at attention, eats with his eyes, reports, and the authorities have no idea about anything.
However, he remembered almost all of Blok, Baratynsky, Tyutchev, I read my poems to him, and how much and what we talked about: everything about ourselves, everything about the country, everything about art, we couldn’t live without each other.
Our quartermaster, senior lieutenant Shcherbakov, stole food, uniforms, exchanged them for moonshine and wine from the population, and supplied companies of higher commanders at the expense of the soldiers. Tarasov and I hated him terribly. When Tarasov became a company commander, he called Shcherbakov and told him everything. And he stopped stealing, but decided to take revenge on us if necessary and restore everything as it was. By the way, it wasn’t just us.
Suspecting nothing, we took a swing at the system. Tarasov was the commander, at his request I was already the commander of the control platoon for two weeks...
But I'm going back.
We come under fire, but we are lucky; in the evening we arrive at our company headquarters. This is a large one-story house.
Officers, telephone operators and telephone operators run out. I give out pillows and blankets. Delight! Blankets in duvet covers! Pillows! For three years we slept with a backpack under our heads, covered ourselves with greatcoats, and in winter wrapped them around ourselves. Evening would come on the way - they lit a fire, lay down on the snow around the fire, close to each other. Winter. One side freezes, and the side facing the fire catches fire. The duty officer will wake you up. You turn over to the other side, and everything starts all over again.
I invite Tarasov, Shcherbakov, and put five bottles of wine with foreign labels on the table. Let's drink to victory. We part ways and go to sleep.
At three o'clock in the morning my orderly wakes me up.
Urgently to Tarasov. I go to Tarasov, and he has Shcherbakov, driver Lebedev, driver Petrov, two signal girls. It turns out that after we parted in the evening, Shcherbakov, in agreement with Tarasov, sent my Starikov, and with him three soldiers and two telephone operators, to neutral Goldap for trophies. And as soon as they reached the city center, a random German mine exploded next to our semi-truck.
Three tires were punctured by shrapnel, and Starikov was wounded by one of the shrapnel.
Dark starless night.
A neutral city, through which both our and German intelligence officers move with caution.
The girls, by the light of a flashlight, bandaged the delirious Starikov as best they could and carried the wounded man to an empty two-story house opposite our damaged car.
Two remained with him, and the rest - a soldier and two telephone operators - walked, after an hour of wandering, they reached one of our advanced units, from there they contacted company headquarters by telephone. The duty officer woke up Captain Tarasov and Senior Lieutenant Shcherbakov, who decided to immediately send two vehicles to Goldap for rescue, transportation to Starikov’s hospital and repair and removal of our damaged lorry.
Tarasov called me because I was the only one who knew the only road to the cleared passage or passage across the border, where about ten meters away the sappers of our army had filled in a ditch and cleared a passage in six lines of barbed wire fencing, next to the border sign marking the entrance to East Prussia.
I get into the car next to the driver Lebedev. Everyone has two machine guns and several grenades. I really remember the road. In front of the city, we rush through a kilometer of bullet-riddled highway at full speed. The city is dark and scary, every now and then you come across broken cars and the corpses of our trophy winners, who were less fortunate than me. With difficulty, we find our car using the license plate number. We scream. A soldier and a telephone operator come out of the house.
While Lebedev and Petrov are rearranging the wheels on the damaged car, we are taking up defensive positions in the house, just in case. Starikov groans. Apart from the wheels, Starikov's car is in perfect order. You can leave in an hour.
I go out into the street, ten meters away there are silhouettes of several cars. I approach: people are killed, cabins and engines are damaged, and the bodies are loaded to the brim with trophies. I order our empty vehicles to be matched with the broken ones and the trophies to be reloaded from the bodies.
Time moves quickly, it begins to get brighter. Hurry, hurry! And so we set off in three cars and drive out onto the highway along familiar streets. Shells and mines are exploding to the right and left of us, but we safely drive into the forest at full speed, then follow the signs to find a field hospital, and at about six in the morning we enter the yard of our headquarters platoon. All sleep. I lie down on the pillow and wake up at ten o’clock.
There are two sentries near the cars. I want to see what we brought, but they won’t let me near the cars. I find Tarasov and ask, what’s the matter? And he turns away, then suddenly with an angry face and an icy voice:
- Lieutenant Rabichev! March all around!
-Are you crazy? - I tell my to the best friend. But my friend is no more. There are trophies and Shcherbakov. Shocked, I can’t find a place for myself. This had never happened during the entire war.
I am writing a report - an application with a request to be transferred to work, instead of a control platoon commander, as a line platoon commander, in order to go with divisions and regiments, away from company and army headquarters.
There is no friendship - there are trophies. Back to Poland.
And here I am again with my telephone operators and telephone operators, with orderly Korolev, on horseback, on foot, in passing cars. Three months. The relationship with Tarasov is purely official, I look at him with contempt, he averts his eyes. My former chaste friend, now the bosom drinking companion of the thief Shcherbakov, who disgusts me. Meanwhile, our troops leave East Prussia, retreat to the territory of the former Polish Corridor and go on the defensive for three months. The Poles are friendly, but their existence is semi-poor. I go into the kitchen. For some reason the walls are black. I want to lean my elbows on the wall, and a swarm of flies rises into the air. And there are fleas in the house. But I have a huge double bed and a separate room. And the old owner retained the memory of pre-revolutionary Russia and the pre-revolutionary Russian ruble. Korolev buys a pig from him for one ruble.
“What are you doing,” I tell him, “this is a blatant deception.” He thinks that this is a pre-revolutionary gold ruble.
I explain to the owner, but he doesn’t believe me and remains convinced that I’m joking. Oh, lieutenant, oh, ruble! The entire army is taking advantage of the situation, and the Poles will understand that the Russians deceived them, after a few months, they will remember this and will not forgive them.
Meanwhile, somewhere at the end of the third month of defense, Tarasov calls me and, as if nothing had happened between us, persuades me to return to company headquarters. The fact is that, as a specialist, he values me extremely; my original proposals for improving the entire system of intra-army communications were highly appreciated, and I personally was thanked in the order at the front, and the order to begin the offensive was already received. East Prussia is ahead again. I saw the old Tarasov, he turned to me for help, the matter was important, and duty demanded it. And I agreed to return to headquarters and again became a control platoon commander.
For two days, depriving ourselves of sleep and rest, Tarasov and I developed eighteen routes for each group of our signalmen for the week ahead. In order to avoid getting into trouble, we coordinated redeployment plans with generals, chiefs of staff of corps and divisions, as well as with the army artillery commander, with a separate anti-aircraft artillery brigade, and consistently brought platoon commanders and company sergeants up to date. This was a new thing for us, at the level of even a separate army company, never practiced by anyone, and it was so beautiful on topographic maps and in the schedules we came up with, lovingly executed and in the orders formulated in advance, printed and sent out in advance, that we felt like either Benigsons or Bagrations.
On the eve of the offensive, they invited Shcherbakov and spent several hours introducing him to their plans. He had six covered trucks at his disposal, and according to the schedule, he had to quickly transfer people, equipment, cables, radio stations, weapons, and food to the designated points on time.
It never even occurred to us that, in order to compromise us in the eyes of the army command that believed in us, and to the detriment of the entire offensive, he would change everything.
He will send vehicles with weapons and equipment to completely different places than people.
I don’t remember all the details, but our company was put out of action for two days, had difficulty getting back into working order, and fell a hundred kilometers behind the advancing divisions and regiments.
This matter was, in the end, fixable.
Along magnificent, completely cleared roads, in cars filled with signalmen, property, ammunition and food, in one column, without stopping, we rushed through burning cities and farmsteads, through the city of Insterburg, burning to the right and left of us. Swallowing hot air, mixed with smoke, with singed eyelashes and in the middle of the second day, completely exhausted and beginning to lose my bearings, I decided to stop at a surviving German cottage located about fifty meters from the highway.
All six vehicles and the RSB radio station for communication with army and front headquarters were at my disposal. Tarasov and Shcherbakov in the company "Willis" fell behind, and not by chance.
Shcherbakov, an orderly and his friend Anya took another twenty-year-old telephone operator from the division headquarters, Rita, and a ten-liter bottle of vodka, and he and Tarasov stopped in some surviving cottage a day ago. In the evening they drank to the offensive, and at night Shcherbakov slipped the luxurious and experienced girl Rita to the half-drunk Tarasov, with whom she had already slept with. Chaste, proud and talented, Tarasov could not live without her on the second day, and on the fifth day he found Rita in the attic with the soldier Sitsukov lying on her.
But that's a different story. By a whim of nature, the puny degenerate Sitsukov’s penis was down to his knees. None of the signalmen, snipers and nurses had read Freud, but they all felt something. Curiosity, unbridledness, or something really surreal, some kind of sensation incomparable to anything in life, but as soon as this long-nosed, protruding-eared man with a small chin and drooping lip gave a sign to any woman within my range of vision, she immediately walked away behind him and remained forever smitten with the dream of Sitsukov.
My former friend, my current boss, Captain Tarasov, having found Sitsukova on Rita in December 1944, climbs into the attic of the German cottage in which our headquarters is located and cuts his veins on both hands. His orderly saved him when he was already on the border of life and death. He put bandages on his hands and took him to the hospital. And in the evening, Rita was pulled out of the noose on which she was already hanging, and barely pumped out.
This is how Romeo and Juliet showed up in our unit. Returning from the hospital, Tarasov called me and ordered me to enlist Rita in my platoon. I knew that I was not deliberately getting close to my telephone operators.
We had a lot of conversations on this topic.
I explained my position to him a long time ago. Yes, I liked many of them and dreamed about them at night. I secretly fell in love with Katya, then with Nadya, then with Anya, who rushed towards me, pressed me, kissed me, or even invited me, pretending that it was a joke. But I knew that this was serious, and I knew myself that if I met him halfway, I would no longer be able to stop, all the statutory relations would go to hell. I will carry it in my arms and will no longer be able to be a self-respecting commander. Since she is given an indulgence, then, in fairness, everyone will, but then how to work and fight?
I must say that the old Tarasov thought and acted the same way as me. But there was another reason.
I understood how difficult it was for these eighteen-year-old girls to exist at the front in conditions of complete lack of hygiene, in clothes not suitable for combat operations, in stockings that either tore or slipped, in tarpaulin boots that either got wet or rubbed their feet, skirts that interfered with running and some were too long and others were too short, when no one took into account the fact that menstruation existed, when none of the soldiers and officers gave way, and among them there were not only boys in love, but also sophisticated sadists.
How stubbornly they defended their feminine dignity in the first months, and then fell in love with a soldier, then with a lieutenant, and the senior scoundrel officer began to harass this soldier, and in the end this girl had to lie under this scoundrel, who, at best, abandoned, and at worst publicly mocked, and sometimes even beat. How she then walked from hand to hand, and could no longer stop, and learned to wash down her forced, crippled youth with her hundred grams of vodka...
This is how people are designed, that everything bad is first forgotten and later romanticized, and who will remember that after six months they left for the rear due to pregnancy, some gave birth to children and remained in civilian life, while others, and there were many more of them, had abortions and returned to their units until the next abortion.
There were exceptions. There were ways out.
The best is to become a PPZh, the field wife of a general, worse - a colonel (the general will take it away)...
In February 1944, the generals of the army headquarters heard a rumor about a signal lieutenant who, to put it simply, modern language, doesn't fuck.
And several PPJ stubbornly cheated on their lovers-generals with green soldiers. And so, by order of the army commander, my platoon was given a new telephone center - six telephone operators who had been at fault in the field of love, six PPZH who betrayed their generals: the head of the army’s political department, the chief of staff, the commander of two corps, the chief quartermaster, and I don’t remember which military leaders.
All of them are corrupted, spoiled by fate and at first helpless in the conditions of a nomadic dugout life.
I appoint as their chief an absolutely positive man of heroic build, a jack of all trades, senior sergeant Polyansky. I know how much he misses his wife and four daughters. His assistant is the elderly family man Dobritsyn. The two of them are digging a dugout. Trees are being cut down. Bunks in two tiers, three rolls, iron barrel– a stove, a table for telephones, a stand for machine guns, shell casings, cartridges, grenades. All the villages around have been burned, so we have to do everything with our own hands.
The girls are foul-mouthed, but Polyansky’s multi-stage hoarse obscenities conquer and pacify them. A week passes, they seem to be fulfilling their mission, but under what conditions? How did the relationship work out? And I’m going to meet them and check their professional suitability, and I’m curious to see, they say they’re beauties.
I ride on horseback for about twelve kilometers along a fascine road laid by army sappers through an impassable and continuous network of swamps. To the right and left are stunted birch trees and water.
Every hundred meters the siding is a small log platform, somewhat reminiscent of a raft. Each log is two and a half meters long, fastened with steel ropes to the adjacent front and adjacent rear, and on the sides there are vertical fixing logs that go deep into the hard layers of earth lying under the layer of water and silt. Both the sidings and the road are laid through deep swamps and quagmires. You can’t drive off the road - you’ll stumble and won’t be able to get out. And in the heated air there are mosquitoes, midges, dragonflies. It’s quite unpleasant to wait at a crossing for the next oncoming car to pass. The horse gets scared and doesn’t stand still.
If you pull the bridle, it starts to back away, and every now and then you have to get off. However, the chain of swamps ends. Along the country road, higher, higher, I take out the compass and look. According to the map, four hundred meters west of the former village.
Indeed, there is a girl with a machine gun on the hill.
I informed about my departure by phone, and they were waiting for me.
Polyansky comes out of the dugout, reports, and five girls are selected.
I get off the horse. Irka Mikheeva, who has been in my platoon twice already in two years, rushes towards me, kisses me and hangs on my neck. This is both a bit of hooliganism and a desire to show our comrades that we are friends. She has been partial to me for a long time, but I hide my pleasure from this public meeting with her. Even near Yartsevo, a year ago, she called me to the nearest forest:
- Let's go, Lieutenant! Why the f... don't you want me?
“I can’t, Irina, and I don’t want to cheat on my fiancée,” I say, and I almost feel feverish, and she shakes her head doubtfully:
- You are some kind of weirdo.
I go down the stairs to the dugout.
The girls dragged feather beds, pillows, and blankets from somewhere. I check the machines, they are all greased and in order, they also understand the telephones. Polyansky taught them how to pull a line, how to eliminate breaks, and how to change batteries.
We shot at empty tin cans. Well done Polyansky - and he taught this.
In the evening I tell them what is happening at the fronts and in the world, and they, without hesitation, tell us who, how and with whom they had affairs, about whom with regret and love, about whom with disgust.
Upstairs there are empty bunks, pine logs covered with a layer spruce branches, I spread out the raincoat, I want to climb in, and on the lower bunks below me Irka took off her tunic and skirt, and took off her panties and stockings.
“Lieutenant,” he says, “you can’t sleep on logs, come, f..., sleep with me!”
I am twenty-one years old, I am neither iron nor stone, and Polyansky adds fuel to the fire:
- Why are you toiling around on logs, go to Irka.
His eyes darkened with excitement. The thought flashes: “In front of everyone?”
And then Anya Gureeva, who studied to be a ballerina in civilian life, cheated on the chief of staff of the army with my radio operator Bollot, sneaked up from behind, hugged me and said in my ear:
- Don’t go to Irka, but to me!
- Girls, f... your mother, stop fucking fooling around! - And I break free from the hot hands, pull myself up on my hands, and onto my raincoat, onto the branches, onto my overcoat. But my heart is beating and my thoughts are a complete mess. And that I, like a eunuch, let it all go to waste, will count to twenty - if Irka calls again, then even if the whole world turns upside down - I will lie down and unite my life with her.
But the world is not turning upside down. I counted to twenty, and she was already asleep, she was tired of being on duty and fell asleep instantly.
I suffer on logs until the morning. What are the temptations of St. Anthony before me?
At six in the morning it is already light. I leave the dugout. Polyansky wakes up and helps me saddle the horse. Melancholy consumes me, I drive along the fascination road, three hours later I get onto the Minsk highway and come under mortar fire, but this fire is not aimed, the mines fall about forty meters from me, a couple of fragments rush past. Opposite Kornilov's post, there, in the dugout, there are only men and not a single coward. The Germans are eight hundred meters away. They have been working in this dugout for three months.
Here mines and shells explode, every now and then the connection is cut off, and we have to go on line, but as long as everyone is alive, God has mercy. They greet me joyfully, but I, as if knocked down, collapse on the bunk and fall asleep.
Sixty-five years have passed.
I am infinitely sorry that I did not sleep with Irina, nor with Anna, nor with Nadya, nor with Polina, nor with Vera Peterson, nor with Masha Zakharova.
Polina bandaged my legs when, in December 1942, I arrived from school at the unit with deep festering dystrophic ulcers, it hurt, but I smiled, and she bandaged and smiled, and I kissed her, and she locked the dugout door on a hook, and I felt paralyzed. We sat like that, huddled close to each other, on her overcoat for three hours.
I was walking with Masha Zakharova on some urgent matter, and we didn’t notice how the day was ending, and we went into the artillerymen’s house, asked permission to spend the night, settled down on the floor, I laid out my overcoat, and covered the Machine with the overcoat. A sweet, yearning girl, Masha, suddenly pressed herself close to me and started kissing me. The duty sergeant was sitting at the table by the telephone, and I felt ashamed to give in to the feeling that was devouring me in front of the sergeant.
What was it?
“We entered Lithuania a few days ago. In Poland, the population speaks Russian quite well. Everything is darker in Lithuania. And the floors are unwashed, and there are crowds of flies, and fleas in packs. However, it seems to me that in a few days all this will be far behind us... True, now I have to sleep very little... A new anniversary is approaching. Where will you have to celebrate it? Allenstein is ahead. Next door to me is a unit that arrived a little early. She was ordered to settle in Konigsberg. Happy journey to her!
Today I received my salary in Polish money at the rate of one ruble - one zloty..."
“Dear Lenechka! The fourth anniversary is approaching, but the war drags on. We both dream of celebrating the New, forty-fifth year with you, but we will have to wait patiently. My dear! Be vigilant and careful.
The presumptuous rabid beast does not stop his atrocities, and we will continue to hope that soon all disasters will come to an end, that we will definitely meet. For now we continue to write letters.
This is the only pleasure. We have nothing new; we don’t receive letters other than yours either. You write that your place is muddy, but we have had a strong winter since November. In December it was 23 degrees below zero, but the weather was good and there was a lot of sun.
In our apartment it is much better than in previous winters - 10-12 degrees Celsius, and this is already tolerable, and if you close the kitchen it is quite warm. On December 31st I will drink to your health (I’m not allowed to drink, but I will drink to your health). I hug and kiss you deeply, your mother.”
East Prussia was an important springboard for the Germans. Heavily fortified, it was considered equally suitable for defense and offense. The borders of East Prussia were shackled in iron and concrete, the border land was cut up with trenches and military engineering structures. To protect East Prussia, the German command had three armies, which were part of Army Group Center and numbered 41 divisions. There were also a significant number of various military units and institutions: police, serfs, training, reserve, technical and logistics, which significantly increased the total number of troops.
In October 1944, after a short respite, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, in cooperation with the 1st Baltic Front, were given the task of defeating the Tilsit-Gumbinnen enemy group and capturing Konigsberg. The 3rd Guards Artillery Division was supposed to support the offensive of the 65th Rifle Corps, which had the task of breaking through the enemy defenses covering the borders of East Prussia, and, advancing along the Great Shelvy - Stallupenen railway, cross the border and capture the city of Stallupenen on the second day.
On the morning of October 16, the troops went on the offensive and, having broken through the heavily fortified enemy defenses in the Insterburg direction, began to slowly move forward, and by the end of the day they came close to the state border. On the second day of the operation, after a powerful artillery fire attack on targets located on Prussian soil, units of the 65th Rifle Corps attacked enemy positions, broke into the territory of East Prussia and occupied several settlements. The fighting went on around the clock; every meter of land had to be recaptured. On October 18, after a short artillery preparation, the corps units again attacked the enemy. The battle for the city of Eidtkunen broke out. By evening he was captured. It was the first German city taken by Soviet troops.
Despite Hitler's stern demand not to leave positions without orders, German troops, under attacks from the Red Army, were forced to retreat deep into East Prussia. On October 23, units of the 144th Rifle Division, with the support of the 7th and 22nd Guards Brigades, entered the northeastern outskirts of the city of Stallupenen. Rifle units captured this city on the night of October 24.
In ten days of intense fighting, from October 16 to 25, the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, wedged into East Prussia, advanced 30 kilometers. The troops captured a number of settlements and, having cut the Pilkallen-Stallupenen railway, reached the line Wilthauten, Schaaren, Myllynen. Here the enemy put up even more stubborn resistance. Soviet troops suspended the offensive and, by order of the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, switched to temporary defense. The 3rd Guards Artillery Division of the breakthrough, after a minor regrouping, occupied battle formations in the Ossinen, Lapishkenen, Gross Dagutelen, Drusken zone. Most of its batteries occupied anti-tank defense.
In November 1944, the General Staff and Headquarters of the Supreme High Command began work on a plan for the 1945 winter-spring campaign. The Red Army was given the decisive task of finally crushing Nazi Germany and victoriously completing the Great War. Patriotic War. By the end of November, the development of the plan for the East Prussian offensive operation was largely completed. According to the plan, its overall goal was to cut off the troops of Army Group Center defending in East Prussia (from November 26, 1944 - Army Group North) from the rest of the German armies, press them to the sea, dismember and destroy in parts.
2 Beginning of the East Prussian offensive operation
On the evening of January 12, it began to snow and a blizzard began. Soviet troops, having taken their initial positions, prepared for the offensive. On the morning of January 13, the shelling began. The artillery preparation lasted two hours. Due to the fog that hung over the troops, air combat operations were excluded, and the pilots were unable to provide assistance to the advancing infantry.
Artillery fire was carried out simultaneously throughout the entire depth of the main defense line. Small caliber guns, firing direct fire, fired at the first line of trenches, destroying manpower and firepower. Medium caliber artillery destroyed the second and third defensive lines. Larger guns destroyed the second echelons, rear areas and areas where reserves were concentrated, located 12-15 kilometers from the front line, and destroyed strong wood-earth and reinforced concrete structures. The Germans stubbornly defended their positions. On the first day of the offensive, the 72nd Rifle Corps advanced only two kilometers, the 65th Rifle Corps advanced about four.
At dawn on January 14, after a powerful artillery barrage, the troops of the 5th Army resumed their offensive and, having knocked the enemy out of their positions, began to slowly move west. The Nazis launched a counterattack dozens of times. But all their attempts to stop the advance of the Soviet troops were repelled by well-aimed artillery fire. The enemy retreated to previously prepared positions.
3 Insterburg operation
The troops of the Red Army, overcoming resistance, approached the intermediate line of enemy defense, based on Duden, Ientkutkampen, Kattenau, where they met such fierce resistance that the infantry had to lie down. The artillerymen quickly launched a ten-minute massive attack on the main centers of resistance, and the advanced units of the army again moved forward. By the end of January 14, the troops captured the heavily fortified settlements of Duden, Ientkutkampen, Kattenau and directed an attack on Kussen.
During four days of bloody fighting, army troops broke into more than ten trenches. Having traveled to a depth of 15 kilometers, they approached the second intermediate line of enemy defense - the Gumbinnen fortified area. It took five days to chew through the positions of the Gumbinnensky frontier, and only on January 17 the troops were able to begin the assault on its main strip. With the capture of this line, a free path to Insterburg opened up for the front troops. The Germans understood this, and therefore they offered truly fanatical resistance. All approaches to populated areas were mined, dug with trenches and surrounded by a dense network of wire fences; each village was turned into a strong stronghold. But the approaches to the highway connecting Kussen with Gumbinnen were especially strongly fortified, covered with a deep anti-tank ditch and various barriers.
On the morning of January 19, after powerful artillery preparation, the troops of the 5th Army again went on the offensive and, overcoming enemy resistance, began to slowly move forward. By the end of the day, the advanced units, with the assistance of artillery, captured several strong points. The 72nd Rifle Corps advanced most successfully that day, advancing more than 10 kilometers. Now his troops came close to the last line of the Gumbinnen fortified area, which ran along the line of Pazleijen, Wittgirren, Mallvishken, Shmilgen and Gumbinnen. The 45th Rifle Corps began the battle for Abschrutten, Ederkemen, and its 184th Rifle Division reached the eastern bank of the Aymenis River in the Uzhbollen area. =
In seven days, the army, having broken through four heavily fortified defensive lines, advanced 30 kilometers and captured hundreds of settlements, including Kattenau, Kussen, Kraupishken. At the same time, the 28th Army (neighbor on the left) also captured several strong points and reached the approaches to the large administrative center of East Prussia - Gumbinnen.
On the morning of January 21, more than a thousand guns and mortars rained down tons of metal on the Insterburg fortifications. The artillery cannonade continued for an hour, after which the rifle divisions, breaking enemy resistance, rushed forward. Under attacks from Soviet troops, abandoning fortifications, the Germans quickly retreated to the city center. The solid front was broken, the pain took on a focal character, then subsiding, then flaring up. On January 22, army troops completely captured one of the largest cities in East Prussia - the fortified city of Insterburg.
On January 23, the enemy, who had lost almost all of his external defensive lines after the surrender of Insterburg, began to retreat to the Baltic Sea. Covered by rearguards, reinforced tanks and self-propelled artillery units, he still continued to snarl.
By order of the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, the 5th Army, changing direction, went to Kreuzburg. On the night of January 23, the 65th Rifle Corps also received a new task: to reach the northern bank of the Pregel River, cross it and develop an offensive on Ilmsdorf on the Plibishken and Simonen front.
By February 1, the advanced units of the 5th Army reached the line of Konigsberg, Kreuzburg, Preussisch-Eylau. Having encountered fierce enemy resistance, they were forced to temporarily go on the defensive in order to prepare forces and means for a new assault.
4 Mlawa-Elbing operation
By the beginning of the East Prussian offensive operation, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front occupied the line of the Augustow Canal, the Bobr and Narev rivers. The bridgeheads were located at Augustow, Ruzhan and Serock. The main blow was to be delivered from the Ruzhansky bridgehead by the 3rd, 48th, 2nd shock armies and the 5th Guards Tank Army on Marienburg. The 65th and 70th armies attacked from the Serock bridgehead to the north-west. The 49th Army attacked Myshinets. There were well-modernized field installations and anti-tank barriers of the German troops there. The old fortresses (Mlawa, Modlin, Elbing, Marienburg, Toruń) strengthened their defenses.
The terrain and defenses of the German troops did not allow a breakthrough in one continuous area. Therefore, between the breakthrough sites there was from 5 to 21 km. In these areas, areas of high artillery density were created - 180-300 guns per 1 km of front.
On January 14, 1945, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front went on the offensive. The Germans put up stubborn resistance, launching counterattacks. But the troops, with the help of two tank and mechanized corps, broke through the main line of defense on January 15, and by the end of January 16 they had advanced 10-25 km and completed the breakthrough of the entire tactical defense of the Nazis. Due to the improvement in weather, Soviet aviation began to operate actively on January 16. During the day she carried out more than 2,500 sorties.
On January 17, the 5th Guards Tank Army was introduced into the breakthrough in the 48th Army zone. During the day, the tank army increased the depth of the breakthrough to 60 km and reached the Mlavsky fortified area. In the first days, up to 85% of the front's aviation forces were involved to facilitate the successful offensive of the tank army. Therefore, several concentrated airstrikes were launched against the railway junctions of Ortelsburg, Allenstein and Neidenburg. The concentration of the main aviation efforts on the right wing of the front made it possible to disrupt the German regrouping and provide effective support to the tank army. The rapid advance of Soviet tanks thwarted the Nazi counterattack, which was being prepared from the areas of Ciechanów and Przasnysz.
Developing the offensive, Soviet troops from the north and south bypassed the Mlava fortified area and by the morning of January 19 captured Mlava. By this time, the troops of the left wing of the front had reached the approaches to Plonsk and captured Modlin. The main forces and reserves of the 2nd German Army were destroyed.
On the morning of January 19, the troops of the center and left wing of the front, with active support from aviation, began pursuing German troops, deeply enveloping the right flank of the East Prussian group. Under the threat of encirclement, the German command on January 22 began withdrawing troops from the Masurian Lakes region to the northwest. However, already on January 25, the mobile formations of the Red Army, having bypassed Elbing from the east, reached Frichess Huff Bay and cut the main land communications of Army Group Center. The Germans could communicate with the troops operating beyond the Vistula only along the Frische-Nerung spit.
On January 26, formations of the 2nd Shock Army broke into Marienburg. By this time, the troops of the left wing of the front had reached the Vistula and, in the Bromberg area, captured a bridgehead on its western bank.
5 Heilsberg operation
On February 10, 1945, the 3rd Belorussian Front began an operation to destroy the largest German group concentrated around the Heilsberg fortified area, southwest of Konigsberg. The general idea of the operation was as follows. The 5th Guards Tank Army was supposed to advance along the Frischess-Haff Bay in order to prevent the retreat of the Heilsbeer group to the Frische-Nerung Spit (Baltic/Vistula Spit), as well as to prevent the evacuation of German troops by sea. The main forces of the front were to advance in the general direction of Heiligenbeil and the city of Deutsch-Tirau.
At the beginning of the operation, the offensive developed extremely slowly. The reason for this was due to many factors: the stretched nature of the rear, the short preparation time for the offensive, the extremely dense enemy defense, and bad weather did not allow the use of aviation. About 20 German divisions resisted our troops here, who were gradually tightening the encirclement. The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front were supported by aviation of the 1st Air Army. The greatest success was achieved by the 28th Army, which was able to capture a large defense stronghold and an important transport hub - the city of Preussisch-Eylau. But this did not change the overall picture. The rate of advance did not exceed 2 kilometers per day.
Particularly fierce battles broke out for the transport hub and powerful defense stronghold of the city of Melzak. The assault on the city lasted four days. Melzak was captured only on February 17th.
On March 13, the 3rd Belorussian Front resumed offensive operations against enemy troops blocked southwest of Koenigsberg. The operation resumed after a 40-minute artillery barrage, with aircraft attacking initial stage It was not possible to connect, the weather did not allow it. But, despite all the difficulties and stubborn resistance of the German troops, the defense was broken through.
By mid-March, Soviet troops came close to the city of Deutsch-Tirau. The enemy resisted desperately and the fighting was stubborn. On the approach to the city, the enemy organized a well-planned defense: to the right of the road at a dominant height there were four anti-tank defense batteries in direct fire, to the left in the forest three self-propelled guns and two anti-tank guns were camouflaged. It was impossible to go around the height due to the heavily swampy area around it. All that remained was to knock the enemy out of the forest and from the heights. At dawn on March 16, the tank company made a breakthrough. In this battle, 70 enemy soldiers, one self-propelled gun and 15 anti-tank guns were destroyed. And a few days later another city was taken - Ludwigsort.
On March 18, after some improvement in weather conditions, aviation from the 1st and 3rd Air Armies joined the offensive. This circumstance significantly increased the pressure on the German defense. The bridgehead occupied by the Heilsbury group was steadily narrowing. By the sixth day of the offensive, it did not exceed 30 kilometers along the front and 10 kilometers in depth, which allowed our troops to completely sweep it with artillery.
On March 20, 1945, the senior military leadership of the Wehrmacht decided to evacuate the 4th Army by sea to the Pillau (Baltiysk) area. However, the Red Army troops, intensifying the pressure, thwarted the plans of the German command.
On March 26, 1945, German troops began to lay down their arms. On March 29, the Heilsbeer group of the Wehrmacht ceased to exist, and the entire southern coast of Frisches Huff Bay came under the control of Soviet troops.
6 Königsberg operation
The German command accepted everything possible measures, to prepare the fortified city of Königsberg for long-term resistance under siege. The city had underground factories, numerous military arsenals and warehouses. In Königsberg, the Germans had three defensive rings. The first - 6-8 kilometers from the city center - consisted of trenches, an anti-tank ditch, wire fences and minefields. On this ring there were 15 forts (built by 1882) with garrisons of 150-200 people, with 12-15 guns. The second defense ring ran along the outskirts of the city and consisted of stone buildings, barricades, firing points at intersections and minefields. The third ring, in the city center, consisted of 9 bastions, towers and ravelins (built in the 17th century and rebuilt in 1843-1873).
The garrison of the fortress city numbered approximately 130 thousand people. It was armed with about 4,000 guns and mortars, as well as over 100 tanks and assault guns. To attack Koenigsberg, Soviet troops concentrated 137 thousand soldiers and officers, over 5,000 guns and mortars, about 500 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 2,400 aircraft in the city area.
On April 2, 1945, the 3rd Belorussian Front, in preparation for the assault on Konigsberg, began an operation to destroy defensive structures and long-term fortified firing points. The massive artillery bombardment lasted 4 days. Aviation from the front and the Baltic Fleet also took part in the operation.
On April 6 at 12 noon, after a powerful artillery attack on the advanced positions of the Germans, the Soviet troops went on the offensive. Formations of the 11th Army of General Galitsky and the 43rd Army of General Beloborodov went on the offensive. At noon, after an artillery and air raid, the infantry rose to attack. By the end of the day, the forces of the 43rd, 50th and 11th Guards Army were able to break through the fortifications of the outer perimeter of Koenigsberg and reach the outskirts of the city. On April 7, fierce fighting for the city continued. By evening, more than 100 city blocks were cleared of the enemy, and 2 forts were captured.
On the morning of April 8, the weather improved, which made it possible to make full use of aviation. 500 heavy bombers of the 18th Air Force rained down a real hail of powerful bombs. Having received air support, the army's assault troops moved steadily towards the city center. During this day, another 130 city blocks were cleared of German troops, and 3 forts were taken. By the evening of April 8, the main station and port of the city were cleared of the enemy.
During the entire offensive, the sapper and engineering units had to do a lot of work. In the city, not only the roads were mined, but also large buildings, the explosion of which would create powerful rubble. As soon as a house or business was cleared from the enemy, sappers immediately began to clear it of mines.
On the night of April 9, the Soviet armies advancing from the north and south united, thereby cutting the Koenigsberg group in two.
On April 9, 1945, the commandant of the fortress, General O. Lasch, gave the order to surrender. During April 9-10, Soviet troops accepted the surrender of the German garrison. However, for several more days our units had to confront enemy units that did not want to lay down their arms.
7 Zemland operation
After the assault on Koenigsberg, only the Zemland task force remained in East Prussia, which occupied the defense on the peninsula of the same name. In total, the size of the German group reached about 65 thousand soldiers and officers, supported by 12,000 guns and mortars, as well as approximately 160 tanks and self-propelled guns. The peninsula was well fortified and abounded with strongholds of resistance.
By April 11, 1945, Red Army troops concentrated to break through German defenses on the Zemland Peninsula. Four armies were involved in the operation: the 5th, 39th, 43rd and 11th Guards, which had over 110 thousand soldiers and officers, 5,200 guns and mortars, 451 rocket artillery installations, 324 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations.
On the night of April 12, front commander Vasilevsky invited the German troops to lay down their arms. There was no response from the German command.
At 8 a.m. on April 13, after a powerful artillery attack, the front troops went on the offensive. Already on April 14, under the pressure of Soviet troops, German troops began to retreat to the port city of Pillau. By April 15, the northwestern part of the peninsula was completely cleared of German troops.
On April 17, a swift attack by the 39th and 43rd armies captured the port city of Fischhausen (Primorsk). By April 20, the remnants of German troops with a total number of about 20 thousand people were entrenched in the Pillau area. Relying on a well-prepared defensive line in engineering terms, the Germans put up stubborn resistance. The Germans fought with the ferocity of the doomed; they had nowhere to retreat. In addition, in its northern part the peninsula was very narrow, which completely neutralized the advantage of the attacking forces. There were fierce battles for Pillau for 6 days. On April 25, Soviet troops still managed to break into the outskirts of the city. By the evening of the same day, the red flag of victory fluttered over the last bastion of East Prussia.
With the end of the Zemland operation, the East Prussian operation also ended. The campaign lasted 103 days and became the longest operation of the last year of the War.
During the German counterattack on Kragau (East Prussia), artillery officer Yuri Uspensky was killed. A handwritten diary was found on the murdered man."January 24, 1945. Gumbinnen - We passed through the entire city, which was relatively undamaged during the battle. Some buildings were completely destroyed, others were still burning. They say that our soldiers set them on fire.
In this rather large town, furniture and other household utensils are strewn on the streets. On the walls of houses everywhere you can see inscriptions: “Death to Bolshevism.” In this way, the Krauts tried to conduct propaganda among their soldiers.
In the evening we talked with the prisoners in Gumbinnen. It turned out to be four Fritz and two Poles. Apparently, the mood in the German troops is not very good, they themselves surrendered and are now saying: “We don’t care where to work - in Germany or in Russia.”
We quickly reached Insterburg. From the car window you can see a landscape typical of East Prussia: roads lined with trees, villages in which all the houses are covered with tiles, fields surrounded by barbed wire fences to protect them from livestock.
Insterburg turned out to be larger than Gumbinnen. The whole city is still in smoke. Houses are burning to the ground. Endless columns of soldiers and trucks pass through the city: such a joyful picture for us, but so menacing for the enemy. This is retribution for everything that the Germans have done to us. Now German cities are being destroyed, and their population will finally know what it is: war!
We drive further along the highway in a passenger car from the headquarters of the 11th Army towards Königsberg to find the 5th Artillery Corps there. The highway is completely clogged with heavy trucks.
The villages we meet along the way are partially heavily destroyed. It is striking that we come across very few destroyed Soviet tanks, not at all like it was in the first days of the offensive.
Along the way we meet columns of civilians who, guarded by our machine gunners, are heading to the rear, away from the front. Some Germans travel in large covered wagons. Teenagers, men, women and girls walk. For everyone good clothes. It would be interesting to talk with them about the future.
Soon we stop for the night. Finally we are in a rich country! Herds of livestock can be seen everywhere, roaming the fields. Yesterday and today we boiled and fried two chickens a day.
Everything in the house is very well equipped. The Germans left almost all their household belongings. I am forced to think once again about what great grief this war brings with it.
It passes like a fiery tornado through cities and villages, leaving behind smoking ruins, trucks and tanks mangled by explosions, and mountains of corpses of soldiers and civilians.
Let the Germans now see and feel what war is! How much grief there is still in this world! I hope that Adolf Hitler does not have long to wait for the noose prepared for him.
January 26, 1945. Petersdorf near Wehlau. - Here, on this section of the front, our troops were four kilometers from Königsberg. The 2nd Belorussian Front reached the sea near Danzig.
Thus East Prussia is completely cut off. As a matter of fact, it is almost in our hands. We are driving through Velau. The city is still burning, it is completely destroyed. There is smoke and German corpses everywhere. On the streets you can see many guns abandoned by the Germans and corpses of German soldiers in the gutters.
These are signs of the brutal defeat of the German troops. Everyone celebrates the victory. Soldiers cook food over a fire. The Fritz abandoned everything. Entire herds of livestock roam the fields. The surviving houses are full of excellent furniture and dishes. On the walls you can see paintings, mirrors, photographs.
Many houses were set on fire by our infantry. Everything happens as the Russian proverb says: “As it comes around, so it will respond!” The Germans did this in Russia in 1941 and 1942, and now in 1945 it is echoed here in East Prussia.
I see a weapon being transported past, covered with a knitted blanket. Not a bad disguise! On another gun lies a mattress, and on the mattress, wrapped in a blanket, a Red Army soldier sleeps.
To the left of the highway you can see an interesting picture: two camels are being led there. A captive Fritz with a bandaged head is led past us. Angry soldiers shout in his face: “Well, have you conquered Russia?” They use their fists and the butts of their machine guns to urge him on, pushing him in the back.
January 27, 1945. Village of Starkenberg. - The village looks very peaceful. The room in the house where we are staying is light and cozy. From a distance the sound of cannonade can be heard. This is a battle going on in Königsberg. The position of the Germans is hopeless.
And now the time comes when we can pay for everything. Ours treated East Prussia no worse than the Germans treated the Smolensk region. We hate Germans and Germany with all our hearts.
For example, in one of the village houses, our guys saw a murdered woman with two children. And you can often see killed civilians on the street. The Germans themselves deserved this from us, because they were the first to behave this way towards the civilian population of the occupied regions.
It is enough only to remember Majdanek and the theory of the superman to understand why our soldiers take East Prussia to such a state with such satisfaction. But German composure at Majdanek was a hundred times worse. Moreover, the Germans glorified the war!
January 28, 1945. - We played cards until two o'clock in the morning. The houses were abandoned by the Germans in a chaotic state. The Germans had a lot of all kinds of property. But now everything is in complete disarray. The furniture in the houses is simply excellent. Every home is full of a wide variety of dishes. Most Germans lived quite well.
War, war - when will you end? This destruction of human lives, the results of human labor and monuments of cultural heritage has been going on for three years and seven months.
Cities and villages are burning, treasures of thousands of years of labor are disappearing. And the nobodies in Berlin are trying their best to continue this unique battle in the history of mankind for as long as possible. That is why the hatred that is poured out on Germany is born.
February 1, 1945. - In the village we saw a long column of modern slaves whom the Germans had driven to Germany from all corners of Europe. Our troops invaded Germany on a broad front. The allies are also advancing. Yes, Hitler wanted to destroy the whole world. Instead, he crushed Germany.
February 2, 1945. - We arrived in Fuchsberg. Finally we reached our destination - the headquarters of the 33rd Tank Brigade. I learned from a Red Army soldier from the 24th Tank Brigade that thirteen people from our brigade, including several officers, had poisoned themselves. They drank denatured alcohol. This is what a love of alcohol can lead to!
On the way we met several columns of German civilians. Mostly women and children. Many carried their children in their arms. They looked pale and scared. When asked if they were Germans, they hastened to answer “Yes.”
There was an obvious stamp of fear on their faces. They had no reason to be glad that they were Germans. At the same time, one could notice quite nice faces among them.
Last night the soldiers of the division told me about some things that cannot be approved at all. In the house where the division headquarters was located, evacuated women and children were housed at night.
Drunken soldiers began to come there one after another. They chose women, took them aside and raped them. For every woman there were several men.
This behavior cannot be condoned in any way. Of course, it is necessary to take revenge, but not like that, but with weapons. Somehow you can understand those whose loved ones were killed by the Germans. But the rape of young girls - no, it cannot be approved!
In my opinion, the command must soon put an end to such crimes, as well as the unnecessary destruction of material assets. For example, soldiers spend the night in a house, in the morning they leave and set fire to the house or recklessly break mirrors and break furniture.
After all, it is clear that all these things will one day be transported to the Soviet Union. But for now we live here and, while serving as soldiers, we will continue to live. Such crimes only undermine the morale of soldiers and weaken discipline, which leads to a decrease in combat effectiveness."
