Sadykov Sagit Mansurovich
Rank: Sergeant. _x000D_
Branch of troops: Artillery. _x000D_
Division: 80th Cavalry Division. _x000D_
From the diary of my hero-grandfather:_x000D_
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“Even though our Division carried out many combat missions successfully, the war was like a war, there were some casualties. We lost many fighters, and many people faced a dramatic outcome. I will give an example of our unsuccessful completion of the operation. It was at the beginning of 1944 ... _x000D_
After a mission we were given some rest, but the rest was short-term. The command hastily assigned a new mission. This time there was no front breakthrough. We were in a forest area of Ukraine, not far from the city of Dubno. We were told to pack up quickly and advance. Evening came. We were on horseback, and ammunition, mortars and other necessary things on a cart drove into the forest. It was only our 29th Cavalry Regiment. We moved forward along the forest roads without noise, like ghosts, but with great speed. We moved all night, moving along narrow country roads, forward and forward. _x000D_
By morning we came out into a clearing, and in front of us we could see some buildings, either a village or a city, it was not clear yet. Suddenly, a shell flew and exploded behind our column. Then a second round flew by, making a gap in the front. So we hit the "fork"! And according to all the laws of military theory, the third shell must explode in the middle of the column. Therefore, we quickly took action: dismantled the mortars, took the horses away, the squadrons went forward in a chain, and we set up mortars and began shelling. _x000D_
The Germans went on the offensive. About an hour passed, and our squadrons gradually moved forward, and we, mortar-men, fired at. So we reached the outskirts of the city (it was the city of Dubno) and occupied one street. Suddenly the shooting halted, but not for long. Soon, the Germans went on the offensive again. It was evident that the Germans had more forces and reinforcements, and we had to retreat. We occupied a nearby cemetery, creating defenses there and repelling German attacks. Sometimes the Germans came so close that they approached the outskirts of the cemetery. But we continued to fight successfully, because the whole day passed in an unequal battle. By the evening, our ammunition was almost gone. The Germans destroyed all our stocks with cartridges and mines in the forest. Both people and horses were killed. We held out with great difficulty for another day, many were killed and wounded. There was no one even to provide medical assistance. The mines were practically over, and many mortars were simply out of order. _x000D_
I heard that the Regiment Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Simbukhovsky, was killed by an enemy bullet. The situation was turning critical. The Germans continuously attacked and strenuously attacked. Five meters from our mortar, a mortar was destroyed by a direct hit from a mine or a shell, and the entire crew perished. There were fewer and fewer of us ... Many killed and wounded lay nearby, we barely held back the German attack. It was already going towards evening, then we decided to collect all the surviving machine guns, get together and create a small detachment. Some soldiers were ordered to delay the attackers until their last breath, and the rest were ordered to run to the lake, which was behind us at a distance of 300-400 meters. We quickly moved to the lake and entered it. And the remaining group with their machine guns showed desperate resistance to the Germans. We slowly began to move along the lake, the water first reached to the waist, then to the chest. _x000D_
At this time, the Germans had already broken through our barrier and began to shoot at us from machine guns and machine guns from the shore of the lake. Mines began to fall and explode. Just now, with difficulty, soldiers were walking on the water, and a minute later many were gone. It was already dark and the surviving soldiers could hardly move forward. I don't know how long we walked, we lost track of time. Finally the German shooting halted. They probably thought that everything was over with us. _x000D_
Exhausted, drenched, barely keeping our feet, we reached the opposite bank. We scrambled together. The Lieutenant, the commander of our platoon, Malyugo, had survived. He counted us, 32 fighters were around, besides him. It was the remainder of the entire regiment ... (there were at least 1500-1600 people in the regiment). It was a complete crushing defeat, the death of our glorious 29th Regiment. _x000D_
While still in the lake, we heard the roar of shells exploding and machine gun fire in the east, where we had been two days ago. Later it was explained to us that while we were fighting in the rear of the Germans near the city of Dubno, a big Soviet offensive had started. Being in the rear of the enemy, our regiment distracted them, and our comrades, starting an offensive from the front, "pressed" the Germans, and they were forced to retreat. So the death of the 29th Regiment helped our troops to capture the city of Dubno and move on. _x000D_
After reorganization, when our Ddvision was revived, we had to participate in similar operations several times. Many raids of our division behind enemy lines ended successfully, and the command highly appreciated our actions. The surviving soldiers were awarded orders. And I was awarded the Order of Glory. There were some not very successful campaigns to the rear of the enemy, but they were not very serious. _x000D_
Our Division had to carry out an operation to destroy the Banderaites. The front line had already gone far, there were combats on the territory of Poland and Romania. And in the rear, in Western Ukraine, militants of the so-called Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) raged. It was a large gang led by a Commander named Bandera. This gang robbed the population, killed representatives of the Soviet regime, and smashed the family of the Red Army soldiers. Their combat mission was to declare Ukraine an independent republic, establishing a bourgeois order. _x000D_
And so we were sent to the rear for 400 kilometers. Our combat mission was to defeat this army of bandits. For a whole week we stormed forests and villages, catching militants who were well disguised. The main parts of the UPA were destroyed, the rest were hiding. The threat of an attack on us from the rear was eliminated. _x000D_
As part of my 80th Division, I had passed Poland, Romania, Hungary. We entered the territory of Czechoslovakia. And so, on May 8, not far from the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague, in the forest, the end of this great war was announced. After several days of rest, we made a long campaign, on horseback we went through the territory of Czechoslovakia, Poland and arrived in the city of Rovno. We stood there until the end of the year. Demobilization had gradually started. First, fighters of the older generation (born in 1905) went home, and at the beginning of December 1945 it was the turn of the teachers. Along with others, I was demobilized ... "
