CITY: Rzhavets village, Ryazan region, Kaverinsky district DATE OF BIRTH: 11.11.1923 DATE OF DEATH: 15.07.1965 HISTORY: Title: Captain. Type of troops: Artillery. Subdivision: 102nd Infantry Far Eastern Novgorod-Severskaya Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division. The combat path of a soldier (from the memoirs of Abashkin NN): “I was handed a summons to appear at the military enlistment office, which I had been expecting for a long time. For many of my comrades had already fought, many were not alive, and some managed to return from the front without arms and legs. A messenger with good news to the house - to arrive at the military registration and enlistment office exactly at two. In the summons received it was written: I order the recruit born in 1923, Abashkin Nikolai Nikolaevich: to appear at two o'clock in the afternoon at the Kovezhensky district military enlistment office to be sent to the front. You should have two pairs of underwear for six days of food, as well as a spoon and a mug. From my village Rzhavets I was called up alone. I ended up in the 95th reserve regiment. The regiment occupied a large territory of the now former Volga camps. In this regiment, military recruits were trained in various military specialties. In this reserve regiment we studied only mortar business, we shot every day so that by the end of the day we would all be hoarse. Only one could hear: "three mines - rapid fire, five mines - fire !!!" We have mastered this kind of shooting well, learned how to shoot military mines at targets. Time was allotted for an hour or two both for drill and political training. Especially the assistant platoon commander pressed the bayonet fight. And this study to some extent was useful to me later, already being at the front. Study in the reserve regiment continued until July 25, 1942. According to the conclusion of the expert commission of the same number, it was recognized that they had mastered the program well, the time had come to send to the front. Numbers August 11-12, 1942, our echelon, which numbered up to five thousand soldiers, arrived at the Vyazniki station to form the 316th Guards Rifle Division, the same Panfilov Division, which lay with bones, and did not let the enemy into Moscow. In one of the settlements where the headquarters of the legendary division was located (although I still do not know if the commanders or soldiers who fought to their death in the area of Dubasekovo station remained), there was a distribution of new reinforcements among the regiments. The day has come to be sent to the front. And then one day, on September 5, 1942, the regiment was raised on alert and within five or six minutes left the location and left in an unknown direction for the soldiers. And only in the morning, when we settled down for a halt, we all learned that near the Vyazniki station, loading on wagons for sending to the front would soon begin. We were marching in a direction unknown to us, when a halt was made about an hour later. The command immediately followed: "All officers - to the battalion commander!" After some time, I was also called. The battalion commander informed me that the platoon commander, junior lieutenant Semiglazov, was leaving to carry out a special order, and I would stay with him. All commands concerning the platoon commander must be strictly followed. When I returned to the platoon, I was surrounded by soldiers asking why they called me, where did our platoon leader go, what would happen next, would we go to the front or dig trenches all day again, and at night we would go back to the old place? At about eleven o'clock the echelon was fully loaded and the regiment headed for the Stalingrad front. During the movement, our train was bombed three times, but the experience of the old locomotive driver and his daring maneuvers yielded results. Not a single bomb hit our structure, the regiment did not lose a single soldier, although many of the carriages were heavily riddled by fragments of bombs and bullets. The regiment moving behind us, at one small station, came under heavy bombardment, where, according to the officers of our company, there were significant casualties. Despite repeated enemy air raids, our echelon safely reached the city of Kamyshin. An urgent unloading of personnel took place. We were taken eight to ten kilometers into the steppe, cut by numerous ravines and ravines, where, after a 2-3-hour rest, the regiment set out on a marching march to help the defenders of Stalingrad. By the end of the third day, we began to approach closer to the front, where rifle and machine-gun and artillery firing was clearly audible, and at night and during the day, the glow of burning Stalingrad and the surrounding villages and villages became visible. Movement during the day stopped, as German planes began to fire and bomb not only the columns, but also individual soldiers. Now we walked only at night, and during the day we scattered across the steppe in ravines or bushes, or even just in stubble, immediately went to bed, despite the heat and thirst. We really didn't feel hot or thirsty. For three days of continuous march, the soldiers were so tired that the first day (and in September it lasts 14-16 hours) slept like dead, and disguised themselves so that the commander of one or another soldier could not always immediately find it. Finally, we have reached the front, it remains to meet with the enemy and begin to pay for all the suffering inflicted on the people and the country.On the sixth day of the march, on the night of September 14, 1942, the regiment entered the front line of our defense, half a kilometer from the Kotlubana station. While still standing in the company columns, as the commanders received the task, a mass of artillery and mortar shells fell on us. It seemed that the Germans had found us, but it turned out to be an accidental raid. The ranks of the mouth trembled, a slight panic began, and how not to be in this panic, because these were the first explosions of shells that we heard. During the shelling, our company stood not far from the place where the battalion commander assigned the task to the officers, and I well heard his words about the shelling: "This is good, baptism of fire is normal, this is in favor of our soldiers." Even then I thought: "What is the use of ours, battalion commander, if we are beaten?" But a little later, when our battalion went on the offensive, I understood the words of the battalion commander. By the morning of September 15, our company, battalion, and then the regiment took up defensive positions in the recently mown wheat field. In the ravine where our platoon was defended, there was a combine harvester with a full bunker of selected wheat, and to the right and left, as far as the eyes could see, there were heaps of uncleaned straw. This front was then called Donskoy. On September 16, at night we left the trenches we had already inhabited and went to the starting positions for the offensive, and in the morning we already saw the Germans, and felt on our own skin what war is. I remember, like now, the morning of this sunny day. At about six o'clock the company foreman brought breakfast and had just gathered the assistants of the platoon commanders, managed to divide the bread, when about 20-25 enemy aircraft appeared in the air and began to thresh our battle formations. We barely managed to scatter into the cells when the battalion's defense area turned into a continuous hell. Dust covered the entire horizon, it seemed that night had come, and the planes continued to pour cast iron rain on us. The losses were insignificant, and even more wounded, but one memory remained from breakfast. Before the planes had time to fly away and the dust had scattered, a command flew along the chain: "Prepare for the offensive." After 1-2 minutes, the regiment, and then the entire division, went on the offensive, which was tasked with taking the dominant height in the surrounding area. Soon the regiment captured this height with small losses. But then we were forced to abandon her again, as the enemy launched a counterattack with the support of a large number of tanks. The battle for the height did not stop all day. This unfortunate height passed from hand to hand three times during the day and still remained with the Germans. A lot of military equipment was burnt out. Our valiant Katyusha, which stood out from other weapons with its special design, also came under fire. There were also charred tanks with broken tracks and lowered trunks, they at the same time seemed both very terrible and at the same time very pitiful. Many soldiers were killed, both ours and the Germans. During these three fighting days, i.e. On September 14, 15 and 16, as we were told, there were local battles. A general offensive was planned for September 18. And then the day came. The task of this offensive was to capture the heights and the Stepnoy farm, with a further offensive on the Gridonsky farm in order to connect the Don Front with the Steppe Front, thereby encircling the German troops in the Stalingrad area. On the night of September 18, a Komsomol meeting was held in the company, at which the company's political instructor said that this offensive was responsible, and you, as Komsomol members, should go not only in the front ranks, but also captivate others with your example. He also said what and how much technology will support us. At 4 a.m. on September 18, 1942, artillery preparation began on a front of about four kilometers, which lasted about two hours. The front edge of the Fritzes was in continuous fire and smoke, it seemed that after such a fire not a single living creature would remain there. But it only seemed to be. As soon as our artillery moved the fire deep into the German defense, our infantry rushed to the first trench of the enemy. But before reaching ten or fifteen meters to the trench of the Germans, as they rose from the trench drunk, with their sleeves rolled up, they launched a counterattack. The ranks of our companies did not flinch, the Russian soldier was not afraid of the bandit-looking fascists. The Russian bayonet crossed with the German one, the test of the moral qualities of the two nations began. Thus began the first hand-to-hand combat in my front-line life, which almost turned out to be the last. In the midst of the battle, I somehow awkwardly twisted my leg and, having lost my balance, fell, and at that time the German's butt was brought over my head. Fortunately for me, not far from me was Sergeant Fetisov, the commander of a submachine gun platoon squad, who with a short burst from a submachine gun outstripped the German, and he fell down next to me before the rifle butt he had brought him down to the ground, with which he intended to smash my head. And when I saw this red face lying next to me on the ground, for some reason it became disgusting for me to be with him, he still smelled of wine fumes and I wanted to hit him again.Meanwhile, Fetisov came up to me, helped me up and told me not to count the crows anymore, but to watch the enemy and neighbors more vigilantly, to come to the rescue at any moment. And the battle continued. The battle is hot and merciless in nature, everything is mixed up, you don't know where yours are, where are the others. Artillery stopped firing on both sides, only occasionally rifle or submachine gun shots were heard. But the characteristic blows of butts on human heads and shoulders were distinctly heard. How long this fight lasted, I cannot determine. But the Germans in the end could not stand this terrible battle and began to retreat in disarray. On their shoulders, in the literal sense of the word, we broke into the second trench of the Germans. But the further offensive failed. Tanks came out of ambush to the aid of the Germans, their artillery opened fire. We urgently went over to the defensive, managed to change the firing positions of the mortars and artillerymen. German tanks were stopped by artillery fire. There was a kind of pause without a single shot from both sides. After a 10-15 minute pause, our artillery and mortars attacked the enemy with renewed vigor. Our tanks and aircraft entered the battle. The battle formations of the soldiers of the Steppe Front were already visible, who also hurried to our aid. But I was not destined to embrace the comrades from the Steppe Front, the bullet of the fascist who had lodged in the tank knocked out on the eve of the battle wounded me in the right shoulder. Inflamed by the battle and burning with the desire for revenge for the dead comrades, I did not feel my wound, and as other comrades ran forward and shouted: “Hurray! Forward! For the Motherland! For Stalin! For Stalingrad! " Ahead, the figures of the Steppe Front soldiers flashed again, no more than two or three kilometers left to them. The mood of the attackers rose. We have further increased the pace of the offensive. But then it happened to me, which is what I was afraid of. On the field of the greatcoat, I saw blood that had not yet been absorbed by the gray cloth. I stopped to find out where the blood came from, but in the same second the rifle fell out of my hands, it darkened in my eyes, and I sat down on the ground. Only then did I realize that I was wounded. I tried to take the rifle in my hands again, but my right hand did not obey me, my fingers were swollen, I could not connect them together or clench them into a fist, I could not lift it up. I was losing my strength, apparently I lost a lot of blood. I felt a little offended that at such a difficult moment I was leaving my fighting friends and Sergeant Fetisov, who had saved my life, although I was not sure that he was still in the ranks. I have repeatedly heard at the front when someone is wounded, they say the lucky one, at least he will have a little rest now. But for some reason I was not happy about it. I cried. And the Russian "Hurray!" farther and farther carried away from me, and I lay in the swan and shed blood and tears. Artillerymen galloped past me, changing firing positions, hurrying, dousing me with tanks, three fighters swept very low overhead, and all this was where the blood of fighting friends was shed. I was lying and thinking how to stop the bleeding, when suddenly the voices of the soldiers came to me. As it turned out later, these were orderlies, who apparently decided to wait a little while the firestorm subsided. At that time, the regimental intelligence approached me, in which my fellow countryman Seryogin fought, it was he who bandaged me and helped me get to the first-aid post, and from there on horseback, accompanied by an orderly, to Sanrota, where they really treated my wound and fed me. Lying in the crack, waiting for twilight, I saw an air battle between three Messerschmites and our two YAKs, as all of us, the wounded, prayed to God to help ours, and it seemed to us that he heard us. A few minutes later one "Messer" caught fire and fell three hundred meters from the sanrota. Some cook killed the pilot with a parachute. The second Messerschmitt fell after, the pilot was taken prisoner, the third reptile nevertheless escaped. How glad everyone was who saw this fight. How glad they were that ours took. Who are these fearless falcons? We didn't know, but we both shake their hands tightly. At nightfall, with a group of wounded, I was taken to the medical battalion, which was located in the administrative buildings of the Kotluban state farm. And finally, on September 23, our group, which had formed in the village of Nikolskoye, entered the city of Kamyshin, where, following the numerous signs placed along the streets and crossroads, we easily managed to find a transfer and dressing point. After treating the wound, which had already managed to multiply worms, I was assigned for further treatment in the city of Gorky. But I refused to go there, since the city of Gorky is far away, and I did not want to hide in the rear, and my request was respected and assigned to the city of Nikolaevsk, which was not far from Kamyshin. By evening we were already in the hospital. Sanitation. A full haircut and I'm in the ward. We must pay tribute to the doctors of this hospital - despite the late hour, we were examined right there in the wards, appointed an hour to turn up for dressing and did everything so that we could really rest.And at about 11 o'clock on September 24, I was already lying on the couch in the doctor's office, where they told me that the hand should be taken away, since gas gangrene had already spread, and further stay in this state threatens death. The hand really looked scary. The shoulder was very swollen, blue, if you press your finger, there was a hole. But I didn’t agree to amputate my hand. Then another doctor began to treat me, with some lotions, they bandaged my whole hand in soaked green liquid and began to give some injections. As a result, on the third day, the tumor subsided, the temperature dropped from 39-40 to 37 degrees. I began to get out of bed and eat. Whether these medical gadgets, or a still young organism, or maybe all taken together, soon put me on my feet. Time passed, my wound healed. The entrance hole was already tightened, but it still remained, as if a blind eye was watering where the bullet had exited. Our brother was not allowed to sit for a long time, and it is clear why, the front demanded new soldiers, the enemy was still strong, and he had to be beaten and beaten to see how he would release his last spirit. On October 23, 1942, the medical commission recognized that I was fit to be sent to the front, and on October 24, with an unhealed wound, with a group of soldiers I was sent to the transit point, which was located in the same city of Nikolaevsk, to be sent to the front. Now my dream was coming true, now I will again shoulder to shoulder to beat the fascist invaders with the valiant defenders of the city of Stalingrad; Volga. But alas! My dreams did not come true, the command of the transit point smashed them. From here I was sent to study at the front courses for junior lieutenants. The training center for the courses of junior lieutenants was located in the village of Dyakovka, Krasnokutsk district, Saratov region. This area was previously called Nemce Povolye. February has also come, which has brought a lot of joy to our people. Our valiant army has finished forever the German army at Stalingrad. Here, on the banks of the Volga, the enemy was stopped, and then smashed to smithereens. The Soviet people and their Armed Forces celebrated yet another victory over the German invaders. On April 26, an order was read to us to confer the military rank of junior lieutenants. I became an officer in the Soviet Army, and on April 27, 1943, with a group of 18 people, accompanied by a tactics teacher, Captain Rtishchev, entered the city of Yelets, to the location of the 70th Army, which was defended in the Oryol-Kursk salient. Here, in the city of Yelets, we were given officer's cotton uniforms and shoulder straps. Here they were assigned to whom in which division. On April 29, I, junior lieutenant Anisimov, and junior lieutenant Bugayev went in search of the headquarters of the 102nd Far Eastern Rifle Division, where we should arrive. From the headquarters of the regiment, both of us with ml. Lieutenant Bugaev (Anisimov was seconded to the 16th regiment) was sent to the mortar company of the 2nd rifle battalion, where he was assigned to the second mine. platoon 82 mm. mortars. Fedya Bugaev began to command the first platoon. The 3rd platoon was commanded by Lieutenant Neretin. The company commander was Lieutenant Tkachev. The platoon, regiment and the entire 102nd division were fully formed in the Far East and only in March 1943 arrived at the front. All personnel are from border guards. But in the March and April battles of 1943, she lost twenty percent of the personnel at the height at which the first rifle battalion now occupies positions. Before I joined the company, the platoon was commanded by Art. Sergeant Gorbatenko, he was also the platoon commander and the commander of the first crew, the second crew was commanded by Sergeant Mamonov, the third - Senior Sergeant Gorbachev. The platoon and company were now fully staffed, with the exception of the households. department, where there was only one pair of horses, and that was from a rabid breed of Mongolians, and they did not know how to walk in a chaise at all. Well, if they walked, then only backwards. Our second battalion took up defensive positions along the Rzhav River, the firing positions of the company's mortars were two hundred meters south of the village of Studenka. The other two battalions took up defensive positions in the second echelon. When I entered the company, it was fully prepared for defense. The firing positions were opened in a full profile, the soldiers knew the material part and its use in battle well. However, in order to test my knowledge, I asked the company commander for permission to fire a nomadic mortar. This meant that, having identified the target the day before, from a temporary OP to fire to destroy it, without giving out their main firing positions. Within a week, I checked all three calculations for accuracy in this way. Indeed, my soldiers knew how to shoot well, and chose the right firing positions. With my light hand, roaming mortar fire spread throughout the regiment. This innovation, introduced in the division, cost the Fritzes dearly. Now they could not walk with impunity not only along the front line, but also in the depths of their defense.From the fifteenth of May, platoons and companies began to withdraw to the rear for practical exercises. In addition to the main task, which was to work out the interactions of the combat arms, this training, reinforced by mortar and machine-gun platoons, performed the task of imitating the accumulation of troops, i.e. false display of troop concentration. Such companies, after compulsory training, secretly had to go to the rear for twenty to thirty kilometers in a predetermined direction, then camp, light a fire for each soldier and sit until the appearance of German reconnaissance aircraft. With the advent of these aircraft, the company and reinforcement platoons must create an artificial panic, i.e. to create the impression that we were discovered and scattered along the previously indicated routes, raising as much dust on the roads as possible and more often turning metal objects towards the sun. So, imitating the accumulation of troops in one or another sector of the front, our command led the German command into error. In fact, the concentration of forces was carried out in a completely different sector, and not in the defense area of our division. So days went by. The time was approaching when the Germans were to launch their general offensive in the Oryol-Kursk direction. This day, as it became known to our command from undercover sources, the Germans planned for June 5, 1943. But then this day has come. Artillery preparation began at exactly four in the morning. The Germans unleashed hundreds of tons of deadly cargo on our combat positions. Hundreds of tons of cast iron and steel were mercilessly kneading the earth, which saved the soldiers from death, but which could not become a grave for him. Our heavy artillery immediately entered into a counter-fight with the German artillery. About twenty minutes before the end of the artillery preparation, clouds of their bombers appeared in the sky. The intense density of mortar and artillery fire and aerial bombs set up the idea that all living things should die not only in the first trench, but also two to three kilometers deep in the defense. There is no doubt that the Germans, to some extent, were counting on this, but they miscalculated. Strong engineering structures could not suffer from every shell and, thereby, save soldiers from certain death. Ten minutes before the end of the artillery preparation and its transfer to the depths of our defense, our artillery and mortars opened a hurricane of fire on the enemy's front edge. The red-star "YAKs" rose into the air, which with the speed of lightning crashed into the battle formations of German bombers and scattered their formation, and the flying tanks, the so-called IL-2 attack aircraft, began to iron the front edge. This, in the most literal sense, affected the disorganization of the enemy's battle formations and thereby the pace of his advance. But the German artillery shifted the fire deep into our defenses. The infantry also went on the offensive, supported by a large number of "tigers", "panthers". This steel avalanche seemed unstoppable. Some of the fighters hesitated. Yes, there really was something to hesitate about. The tanks marched in three columns along the front, no less than three to three and a half kilometers along the front. But then, like a battle cry, a command flashed through the chain: “The riflemen should not enter the fight with tanks, let them go to the rear. This is the task of the gunners. " Of course, this command had an effect on the fighters, since everyone knew where the artillery was located and how much of it. Meanwhile, the steel avalanche is getting closer and closer to the front edge. With direct fire, the tanks have already disabled several combat points, and they began to iron the trenches. The second, no less terrible, column of the Ferdinands followed the Tigers, followed by another, third column, consisting of light tanks. The tanks of the first column, not meeting resistance in the first trench, rushed to the rear. The battle broke out behind the first trench, and with the approach of the second column of tanks the Germans took it. At this time, artillery and tanks that were hitherto in ambush entered the battle with the tanks of the first and second columns. One after another, the Nazi tanks began to flare up, the arrows were inspired, the battle flared up with renewed vigor, the German infantry lay down. But soon the Nazis again went forward and again with the support of a large number of tanks. Our regiments were forced to retreat into the second, and here and there into the third trench. This was the end of the first day of the great battle. The next day the Germans attacked our positions with renewed vigor. Again, new tons of steel and cast iron fell on the heads of the Soviet soldiers. But only as a result of incredible efforts and the death of a large number of manpower and equipment on the fourth day of fighting, the Germans managed to wedge into our defenses for two or three kilometers, i.e. capture two or three trenches of the forward line of defense. In further battles in our sector, the Germans could no longer advance a meter, they were forced to go on the defensive. And they just did not stop for a minute methodical fire from guns and mortars at our positions, to which we also responded in kind. On the neighbors on the right and on the left, the Nazis began to throw their units into the offensive with even greater zeal.Particularly strong tank battles broke out in the area of the Panyri station. At least three hundred tanks participated in the battle on both sides. Having used up their ammunition, they went to ram, tore at each other's tracks, the strong turned the weak over. Sometimes it got to the point that the tanks would raise one another on hind legs and both of them ran out of fuel and they crawled again and remained standing next to them until they were pulled apart in tow or delivered to some lucky fuel. As a result of fierce seven-day battles and with huge losses, the Nazis still managed to advance deep into our defense in some areas from seven to twelve kilometers. And the enemy is exhausted. He began hastily to go on the defensive. Having exhausted the main forces of the enemy, inflicting great damage on him in manpower and equipment, our troops launched a counteroffensive. On June 12, 1943, our 102nd Far Eastern was also ordered to go on the offensive. To break through the front edge of the Fritz defense, an assault group was created, which included one rifle company, reinforced with a machine-gun platoon, a mortar platoon of 82 mm mortars and a battery of 45 mm cannons. This assault group included me and my platoon. This group was commanded by the deputy. com. 30th Khasan Rifle Regiment in the combat unit Major Fedorov. At three o'clock on the 12th of June, using an uncleared field of rye, our group, unnoticed by the enemy, came close to the front edge and soon, with the support of a battery of self-propelled guns, captured the first trench of the enemy. The main forces of the regiment immediately entered the battle. After a short but stubborn battle, the regiment occupied the villages of Rzhavchik and Muravchik, then the village of Aleksandrovka. This allowed the other two regiments of the division to be brought into battle. The Germans retreated to the second line of their defense. In the battle for the village of Aleksandrovka, the company commander, Lieutenant Tkachev, the commander of the 1st platoon, Lieutenant Bugayev, and the commander of the 1st crew of the first platoon, Art. Sergeant Yaroshchuk and several soldiers. In subsequent battles, the commander of the 2nd platoon, Lieutenant Neretin, was also killed. I was the only one in the company of the officers. The next day, developing an offensive in the direction of the city of Dmitry-Orlovsky, our division also broke through the second enemy zone and, pursuing the enemy, started a battle on the outskirts of the city. The enemy stubbornly defended himself on the outskirts of the city of Dmitry-Orlovsky. In the area where our battalion was advancing, the advance of the infantry was slowed down by a 37 mm automatic cannon. I was ordered to destroy her. On my bellies, I managed to crawl pretty close to the cannon and open fire from the mortars of the entire company. After the third volley, the servant of the gun was disabled, only one fascist did not want to leave, he was lying near the gun with a cooling body, he was killed. And our infantry rose and shouted "Ours takes!" rushed forward, and soon with parts of the 65th army rushed into the city, and by the end of the day the city was completely cleared of enemy soldiers. On the sixth day, strong battles unfolded on the outskirts of the large settlement of Lepeshinskoye, where the Germans concentrated large forces of infantry and tanks. The approaches to the village were mined, and it was risky to take it on the move, without preliminary processing with less losses. Soon the artillery was brought up, tanks approached and after a 30-minute shelling, and during this time the sappers made passes in the minefields, the infantry started fighting on the outskirts of the village, and a few later the battle was already in the center of the village. The Germans could not withstand the onslaught of the Khasanovites and retreated, leaving up to three dozen killed soldiers and officers on the battlefield. At the height of the battle in the center of the village of Lepeshinskoye, I was wounded a second time during the war, in the right leg below the shin, in the temple and in the chin, but leaving the battlefield at such an hour would be a crime, and I continued the offensive until the very liberation of the village. And only when, at a height outside the village, we took up positions for a further offensive, I went to the dressing station, where the military assistant lieutenant Gorelov made a dressing for me and gave me directions to the ambulance to send me to the hospital. But I did not agree to go to the hospital. It was not the time, and the wounds seemed insignificant. After the capture of the village of Lepeshinskoe at an altitude of 134.6 I was accepted as a candidate for membership in the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. It was June 28, 1943. For breaking through the defense, for the destruction of the cannon servants, the liberation of about a dozen n / points and the city of D-Orlovsky, like many of my comrades in arms, I was awarded the medal "For Military Merit". In the battle on the Oryol-Kursk Bulge and the breakthrough of the enemy's defenses, the beginning of the mass expulsion of the German fascist invaders from the borders of our Motherland was laid. Every day, village after village, village after village, city after city again entered the fraternal family. This offensive led me, our regiment, to the ancient walls of the old Russian city of Novgorod-Seversky. It was these ancient walls on the banks of the Desna River that night caught us. It