The Riga operation is not limited to crossing the lake. This is the most complicated, bloody and at the same time elegant military operation, during which the attack on Riga was carried out from four directions, and the throw across the Kish Lake was just one of the episodes that did not play a decisive role in the capture of Riga, - Felix Artashesovich said to me with indignation ...
A holy place is never empty ... In the Latvian emigration, and since the end of the 1980s and in Latvia itself, versions have spread that assert that there was no Riga operation in terms of strategy and planning at all. And if it did, then it failed to smithereens. Because in the first weeks of October, a large group of the Wehrmacht under the command of General Ferdinand Scherner managed to withdraw from Riga to the "Courland Fortress" with relatively small losses.
Our material is based on the work of military historians and many hours of communication with Felix Thalberg.
On the outskirts of Riga
On September 14, 1944, the armies of the three Baltic fronts launched an offensive operation in the direction of Riga. By this time, the balance of forces in all positions was in favor of the Red Army. In the ranks of the Wehrmacht there were 700 thousand, and in the Red Army - 900 thousand soldiers.The Soviet soldiers were opposed by some of the best armies of the Wehrmacht, the 16th and 18th, and the 3rd Panzer Army attached to them from the Center group. The German Army Group North was led by Colonel General Ferdinand Schörner. Neither the Leningrad nor the Volkhov fronts during the blockade of Leningrad, nor the Northwestern fronts at the Demyansk bridgehead could break the defense of this group.
The Leningrad Front under the command of Marshal Leonid Govorov, which went on the offensive on September 17, in three days of fighting managed to break through the defense line between Lake Peipsi and the Gulf of Finland and already on the 22nd occupy Tallinn. And by September 26, capture almost all of Estonia. The German 18th Army and the forces of the Narva task force were not going to fight and, according to the order, retreated to well-fortified positions on the approaches to Riga, the key strategic center of the region, which had colossal military, economic and symbolic significance.
Further, Govorov was tasked with occupying the Moonsund archipelago until October 5. However, the marshal essentially failed the operation, later dumping the blame on the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. Perhaps he was hindered by the fact that from October 1 he was instructed to coordinate the actions of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts without interrupting the command of the Leningrad Front.
The unfinished operation on the islands backfired at the moment when, having seized the right bank of Riga, the troops of the 3rd Baltic Front rested on the Dvina. The support of the Baltic Fleet ships would be very useful.
The 1st Baltic Front was commanded by the young and, perhaps, the most talented of the military leaders who participated in the Riga operation, General of the Army Ivan Baghramyan. With a powerful blow from the south, his 2nd and 3rd shock armies occupied a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dvina from Jaunelgava to Baldone. From there it was 30 kilometers to Riga. He had the most powerful mechanized forces at his disposal, and he could seize the left bank of Riga on the move ... But he never received the order to take Riga.
If Baghramyan succeeded in occupying the left bank of Riga, this would radically change the whole picture of the operation. Locked on the right bank, two Wehrmacht armies received real Stalingrad. And the beauty of Riga was inevitable destruction ... The Soviet command made a beautiful and extraordinary decision - not to storm Riga, but to throw two armies of Baghramyan to Siauliai and further to Klaipeda. So Scherner's group got the opportunity to retreat from Riga along the sea. And thereby facilitated the task of the armies of the 3rd Baltic Front, gnawing at Riga from the east through the enemy's deeply echeloned defense.
By that time, since April 1944, the 3rd Baltic Front had to break through many - eventually more than a dozen - of the enemy's defensive lines. Approaching the three lines of the Sigulda defense line at the end of September, the front armies were completely drained of blood. In individual divisions, where the staffing table was supposed to be 9,000 fighters, about 400 soldiers remained.
| The brilliant Riga operation has been undeservedly forgotten, the local historian Felix Talberg is sure. | |
By that time, the 1st Baltic Front managed to blockade Klaipeda and on October 10 reached the sea in the Palanga region. Thus, 33 divisions of the "North" group were locked in the Courland cauldron. Although the boiler turned out to be full of holes. Due to the failures of Govorov in the archipelago, the "Kurland Fortress" had excellent sea communication with Germany.
Let's pay tribute to the courage and foresight of Ferdinand Scherner. Without waiting for an answer from Berlin, on October 5, at his own peril and risk, he began the evacuation of Riga. His plan provided for the withdrawal of armies from the eastern lines of the Riga defense to Courland through a corridor along the sea coast, prudently abandoned by the Soviet command.
And we especially note the truly brilliant castling of the armies of the 1st and 3rd Baltic fronts! .. The withdrawal of German troops was an undoubted success of the Soviet troops and their command. And the beautiful Riga was just fantastically lucky. Compared to what awaited her, she escaped with relatively small losses.
Liberation
Few remember that the Soviet offensive on Riga was carried out not only from the side of Kish Lake, but also by the forces of five armies. Simultaneously from four directions.The right to liberate the right bank went to the 3rd Baltic Front. General Romanovsky's 67th Army advanced from the north along the sea coast. After passing Vecaki, she went to the Kish-lake. On the evening of October 12, from the direction of Jaunciems, the crossing of the lake began on amphibians, boats and a "civilian boat of a local patriot". During the night, more than 3 thousand people were transported to the western coast, several guns and mortars. Not meeting resistance, the formations of the 67th Army passed through Mezaparks and Čiekurkalns and reached Dvina. In accordance with the order, an attempt was made to cross the river on the move - already under enemy fire. The operation collapsed under massive fire from the left bank.
Only two detachments operating at the very mouth of the Dvina River and in the Kundzinsala region managed to complete the task. On the night of October 14, the 13th battalion of Captain Frolov crossed from Kundzinsala to the left bank in the Voleri area. There, when repelling enemy counterattacks, the guard sergeant Pavlov distinguished himself by calling mortar fire on himself six times. For this feat, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The 61st Army entered the city through a narrow passage between the Kish and Yuglas lakes. Its rapid passage prevented the explosion of one of the pumping stations of the Riga water supply system. The 1st Shock Army was advancing along the Moscow Highway.
Throughout October 13, each of the three armies went out to the Dvina in their sector and buried themselves in a water barrier. Despite some success, it was not possible to create a serious left-bank bridgehead closer to the mouth on October 13. The offensive was choked up.
Meanwhile, the right bank, where the administrative center of the city was located, was liberated from the Nazis, and on October 13 at 23:00, Moscow saluted the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts with volleys of 324 guns.
After the salute in honor of the capture of Riga, the issue of displacing the enemy from the left bank in the shortest possible time turned from a military-tactical task into a political one concerning the personal fate of the generals in charge of the Riga operation. In this situation, it was clear that the final liberation of Riga depended on the actions of the 10th Guards and 22nd armies of the 2nd Baltic Front on the left bank.
On the morning of October 14, the attention of the Soviet command was riveted on the outskirts of Olaine. Overcoming fierce enemy resistance, the 130th Latvian Corps, which was part of the 10th Army, managed to reach the Riga-Jelgava highway on the outskirts of Olaine and block it. In the evening, the 19th Siberian Corps managed to occupy the Balozhi railway station. At the same time, the 7th Guards Rifle Corps entered the highway north of Balozh, and the 15th by that time reached the southern outskirts of Riga. Together with the 130th Latvian Corps, they managed to break the resistance of the defenders. At three o'clock in the morning, Soviet units broke into Zadvinya. By 6 o'clock in the morning on October 15, the Atgazene area and the entire southern part of Zadvinye were cleared of the enemy.
Parts of the 15th Guards and 130th Latvian rifle corps rushed to the center and northern outskirts of Zadvinye. Every house, lane, street had to be taken with a fight. Many buildings were barricaded and mined ... The last Wehrmacht soldier left the territory of Riga in the first half of October 15.
At the last stage of the Riga operation, from 16 to 22 October, the troops of the 2nd Baltic Army reached the enemy's Tukums defensive line and, together with the troops of the 1st Baltic, blocked it in Courland. Aviation and submarine operations Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga hampered the supply, regrouping and evacuation of enemy forces. Especially after November 24, when Marshal Govorov finally managed to capture the Moonsund archipelago.
Mysteries of the Riga operation
Even a superficial acquaintance with historical sources convinces: the actions of the Soviet troops on the approaches to Riga were a brilliant military operation worthy of glorification and perpetuation in books and monuments. And there were battles, and colossal losses, and the triumph of the winners ... And many questions remained.For example, why Stalin ordered salutes in honor of the capture of Riga on October 13, although he knew perfectly well from General Antonov's reports that by that time soviet troops have not taken possession of all of Riga yet? In military memoirs about the motives of the Supreme is spoken very sparingly: when making a decision, he was guided by "his own considerations." It is not excluded that there were foreign policy reasons that forced to hasten to announce the capture of an important economic and administrative center of the region.
The question remains about the number of deaths on both sides during the Riga operation. The works of Soviet researchers do not give a clear answer to it. The Wikipedia website says that during the entire Baltic operation in September-November 1944, 280 thousand people were killed and wounded from the Soviet side, 23 divisions were defeated on the German side, of which three were completely destroyed. Usually a figure is given that 150 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were killed during the liberation of the territory of Latvia.
But main riddle The Riga operation is not related to military operations. Why did the brilliant operation (what is the brilliant castling of the 1st and 3rd Baltic fronts worth!) Not receive due coverage and recognition in Soviet times, when there were all the possibilities for this? Here's what Felix Thalberg says about it:
- The hiding of this operation remains a big secret. There is one version on this score. When creating an objective history of the Riga operation, the commander of the 3rd Baltic Front, Ivan Ivanovich Maslennikov, turns out to be its real, not the wedding general. His fate was tragic. In 1939-1941, he was the Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR for border and internal troops. He was close to the all-powerful Lawrence Beria and took part in the mass purges of 1936-1938. During the war he commanded many armies and fronts.
In September 1945, for personal courage and skillful leadership of the fronts, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war, Maslennikov commanded the troops of the Baku and Transcaucasian military districts, was the deputy people's commissar of internal affairs of the USSR for troops. After Beria was shot in 1954, Maslennikov shot himself and left no memoirs.
It is noteworthy that none of the generals of the 3rd Baltic did not write the memoirs. Perhaps because of this, the Riga operation in Soviet times remained in the shadows.
Place of the decisive attack
On the side of the Daugavpils highway, before the turn to the memorial in Rumbula, there is a memorial sign in honor of the decisive attack on Riga by the 12th Guards and 122nd Rifle Corps of the 2nd Baltic Front. Over time, the monument looked askew, covered with moss and mud. A group of enthusiasts who decided to clean up the memorial site ran into an obstacle. The granite slab stands on private land, and the owner did not agree to hold a volunteer cleanup.Then one day the guys just drove up and, without any permission, poured concrete into the formwork and cleaned the granite. To stand for another twenty years.
Last line of defense
If you have a photo with a sign on this monument or other information on events, people and memorial signs associated with the Riga operation, please contact by phone 29642746
(from) mikle1
Riga remembers the liberators. For the fourth time, participants in the crossing landed on the shore of Kish Lake in Mezaparks, repeating the path of the soldiers of the 2nd Baltic Front, who began the liberation of Riga from Nazi troops. Baltija.eu
The fighting took place on the territory of modern Latvia. In the operation, units of the 8th German and 12th Russian armies opposed each other. After the crossing of the Western Dvina by German units, stubborn battles began, in which brigades of Latvian riflemen took an active part. By September 3, Russian troops were forced to leave Riga and retreat northeast to Wenden. The losses of the Germans amounted to about 4000-5000 soldiers and officers killed, wounded, captured and missing. During the Riga operation, Russian troops lost up to 25,000 people, of which up to 15,000 were captured or missing. German units were able to capture 273 guns, 256 machine guns, 185 bombs, 48 \u200b\u200bmortars, as well as a significant number of other military equipment. However, the German troops failed to completely destroy the 12th Army.
Encyclopedic YouTube
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✪ Intelligence questioning: Boris Yulin about the events of the First World War in 1917
Subtitles
I welcome you categorically! Boris Vitalievich, good time of the year. Likewise. Long time no see. What about today? Strictly speaking, let's continue with 1 world war ... About what was heard most of all, i.e. the most famous battles of World War I, such as the Battle of Jutland at sea, Brusilov breakthrough, Verdun, Somme, they remained with us in 16 year. And when people study the history of World War I from an excerpt from a film, from a school textbook, then after that, somehow the 17th year is perceived as a lull, like nothing happened, there was nothing. So, in fact, 17 is a very rich year for changing tactics, strategies, for changing the position of the belligerent countries. But there were no global changes in the front line. Those. there were no battles to kill 750,000 at a time? Easy, were. Or was it? It was. And 16 years were surpassed in this regard. What is the calm then? As I say - it is not visible on the map. Here we will figure it out now. As a matter of fact, firstly, in 17 the world war was already tired of everyone, i.e. patriotism has died in all countries, in all but the generals. The generals did not have everything. So, for example, the Russian Empire, with the number of armed forces in 6 million 900 thousand people, by this year, by the end of 16, even under the tsar priest had losses only in the form of deserters 1.5 million people. Those. 1.5 million deserters officially. What are you trying to say? Orthodox people for the faith, the king, and the fatherland did not want to fight, right? Somehow not very much. 1.5 million 1.5 million deserters, that is, strictly speaking ... Out of 7, roughly speaking. Well yes. Those. by 7 million, which are in the army, and of which only 2 million are at the front, because the Russian Empire could not keep more directly at the front for economic reasons. Those. here we had the same problems as the Turks, who also seem to have a lot of people, but it is difficult to keep them at the front, because there is not enough ammunition. The fact is that such problems were not only with us. For example, in Germany, Ludendorff, describing the situation at the end of 16, was just talking about the fact that there are food problems there, with the hopelessness of war. Those. it is not clear what needs to be done to win the war. And he assessed the position of Germany as almost hopeless. This is Germany. And in England, for example, on the other side, so to speak, the English Channel, so to speak, where, it would seem, everything should be smeared with honey, there we have such a stormy movement for peace without victory under the leadership of Lord Lansdowne. Those. for accepting the German proposals in 16 - a world without annexations and indemnities. Like we just stop this war, which got everyone. Wow, i.e. the main adversary (invincible) does not know how to defeat him, Germany? Well yes. But the rest do not really know either, i.e. it is clear that he seems to be heading for victory, but, for example, French Prime Minister Briand at this moment says that this war cannot be continued for a long time, because the people simply cannot withstand such hardships, it is not clear why. I understand correctly that the people will not stand it - a mutiny will rise and the government will be demolished. Dangerously. Dangerously. This is on both sides, so to speak, on both sides of the front line, the problems were quite common. Germany, for example, had a very serious problem with food on the verge of starvation in 16, i.e. reduction of the rate of distribution of bread to 1250 per week per person. By the way, not normal fats were given out at this time, but surrogates, i.e. Germany at this time was the main creator and producer of margarine. That is, in fact, with the addition of ersatz, ersatz coffee, ersatz chocolate, ersatz butter, i.e. the same ... Substitute. It started precisely from World War I, because Germany was in the conditions of a blockade from the sea and a blockade, in general, from the land side, i.e. fronts. However, at the end of 1916, they managed to partially break through this blockade. Those. they defeated Romania, Serbia was defeated by Bulgaria's entry into the war. And as a result, there was a direct route to Turkey, in fact, and the countries that bordered with Turkey. And Turkey, in general, was strained by the Germans and Austrians on the supply of food in the same way as the British and French strained the Russian Empire. Those. weapons, ammunition, military equipment in exchange for food. Those. here the picture was quite general. True, it did not work out much from Turkey, therefore, as - the threat of a specific direct famine, it seemed to move aside, but the Germans lived very poorly, and the Austrians were even poorer, because the Austrians also had to feed the Germans, because the Germans were constantly saving them. Those. Here is such a sad picture. The balance of forces has clearly already shown that the Entente is on the way to victory. True, the victory was assessed as possible militarily for Germany, the British, for example, estimated that it would be possible to defeat Germany either at the end of 18, or in general in 19. But the Entente had 14.3 million people in total of all its forces against 7.3 million forces of the Triple Alliance, i.e. almost double superiority in strength. True, if we start counting guns, airplanes, etc., then suddenly it turns out that the forces are approximately equal. Those. 2 times more people. Those. someone was not armed at the European level, right? Well, many Europeans were not armed at the European level. The same Austrians were armed much worse than the Germans. Well, we, respectively, are much worse than the French and the British. Well, the Turks are worse than both us and the Austrians, that is ... you can also, who was worse armed. On the western front, i.e. where the French and the British with the Belgians against the Germans. There are 4.5 million people against 2 million 800 thousand, i.e. clear superiority. Therefore, at the conference in Chantilly back in 1916, at the end, the Allies planned precisely a series of offensives from the east and from the west with the aim of defeating Germany in 17. Those. the generals, unlike the politicians I have listed and leading generals such as Hindenburg or Ludendorff, they were somewhat optimistic, at least the Entente. Further, the Italian front, where the Allies generally had the most ideal picture. 1 million 700 thousand Italian troops against 750 thousand Austrian troops. Those. superiority by 2.5 times. At the same time, superiority in weapons and in numbers. Well, the Russian front - 6.6 million from our side, i.e. more than 6.5 million, against 2 million 900 thousand Germans, Austrians and Turks. Something somehow turns out badly. What? More than double superiority - not good? I had to win. Here, in our last conversation, up to 16 years ago, we considered the Mitava operation, which took place in January 1917. Why - because, as a matter of fact, the Russian Empire ended there. Those. when our 82 battalions launched an offensive against 19 German battalions, they failed to break through the front, the troops refused to fight normally, 11 regiments rebelled. Those. complete disaster. The Russian imperial army showed its almost complete non-combat capability just during the Mitava operation. Who's to blame? The soldiers fought badly, or the officers could not send the soldiers to fight, inspire and all that? Well, the soldiers fought badly, because they did not want to fight. The officers did not have much leverage to make them fight. The authority of the high command headed by Nicholas II was extremely low. Those. if the predecessor of Nicholas II as commander-in-chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich was popular among the troops and among the generals, then Nicholas II was not popular with anyone. Only those who believed that it was necessary to support the monarch in any situation felt loyalty to him. All the others did not feel the slightest loyalty to him. As a matter of fact, after the Mitava operation, the command of the Northern Front went over to the side of the conspirators, to the side of Alekseev. And in fact, everyone knew about Alekseev's conspiracy. Those. the army knew about him, but there was no loyalty to the emperor. The soldiers did not want to fight. They did not trust either the emperor as commander-in-chief or the officers. Those. they did not understand at all what the war was about. But bouncing a little to the side, on Soviet tanks, for example, soldiers wrote “For the Motherland! For Stalin!". But in World War I, did anyone write on something "For Nicholas II"? For the king-father? There was an official slogan "For God, Tsar, and Fatherland", but nothing went further than that. Didn't they write on the shells? And for a particular king, no one at all. He was a good king. So that's it. In fact, in March 17, after the fall of the Russian Empire and the formation of the Republic, i.e. during the Provisional Government. Let us remind many that the revolution took place in February. So, i.e. just in 17. So, in March 17, for example, there was a small one, i.e. a purely local offensive of German troops - well, the balance of forces for the Germans is not very good. So, they tried to destroy the bridgehead on the Stokhod River. Those. in front of the bridges on the river. The stokhod was a fortified bridgehead held by our troops. The Germans attacked this bridgehead and captured it. Our corps, which was located there, was destroyed, and now we very often like to operate with small losses of the Russian Empire - they say, the Russian Empire lost a little killed and wounded, and the Germans lost much more. So, here, for example, according to the report of the battle on the river. Stokhod: "The corps lost 996 people in killed and wounded." A little bit. And how much is the body? It consisted of about 17,000 at this moment. My compliments. 996 people only. So - 10,376 people were missing. And this is how it is considered? Here are the missing people, that is, on the one hand, a shell hit, the person was torn apart and nothing was left, and on the other hand ... The killed and wounded is about whom there is evidence that these are the killed, but these, let's say they enter the medical unit. And if it broke? You see, the fact is that a missing person is simply when after a battle we try to find fighters, but they are not. Most often they pass into the category that we had on top here at the end of 16 - 1.5 million deserters. So, by the end of 17, there were much more deserters. It's basically like this. Those. these are people - servicemen who took the oath, Orthodox, apparently, yes, they prayed before the battle, right? It was then obligatory to pray before the February Revolution, after the February Revolution it became unnecessary, and therefore 6% of the servicemen attended Matins. I, here I have an idea about it ... Before that 100%, but here 6%. ... from the well-known book about the gallant soldier Schweik, where, in general, well, from my point of view ... I see it this way: in my native Soviet army I had a political officer. I understand that the role of political officer was previously played by a priest. That's how in the Soviet army ... I didn't play. Didn't play? Not, in theory, should have played, but did not play. In the Soviet army, the political officer, he, in addition to talking about the politics of the CPSU, he was engaged in extremely useful things - forging relationships in families, keeping order, even as a teacher ... Well, in the end we also have political officers, at the end of Soviet power ... I did not serve at the end, we had a normal political officer. Yes, but they were beginning to degrade so little by little. But, nevertheless, when ... And here they have already degraded completely. I say - 6% came to matins after it was no longer obligatory. This shows the level of, so to speak, Orthodox enthusiasm. But most importantly - 996 killed and wounded, and 10376 missing. Out of 17. Yes. Those. the body has practically disappeared. They all ran away. And there are few killed and wounded. So, not everyone escaped, perhaps someone was really torn to pieces by a shell and that's it, he is also missing. I just wanted to ask about this. Someone was captured ... About the ratio of those who were really torn to pieces and those who ran away. I think that after all those who have been torn ... 10,000 cannot be torn. I think there won't even be 1000. There, some were captured. But how many were captured and how many escaped - no one knows. This is just a decrease in personnel in the corps. So, this is such an interesting one ... And how many wounded, I'm sorry, I'm something ... There are 996 people wounded and killed together. 996. Of 17 thousand, 11 were out of order. Remaining 6. Cool. Here. One of the private operations of the German troops. As a matter of fact, at this time the number of our army began to grow rapidly, i.e. The Provisional Government increased the number of troops, carried out mobilization after mobilization, and the army seemed to become larger, it exceeded 7 million people, and then reached 8 million. But with a huge number at the front, there are still more than 2 million truly combat-ready troops. could not hold. Because neither feed, nor arm, nor provide ammunition. But what about these - unprecedented economic growth in 13 year, he couldn't cope with it in any way? Well, you and I have already considered in the last program. Many do not watch all the videos, Boris Vitalievich. Approach with understanding. Monstrous growth in 13 year, the Russian Empire took off with a rocket just. For example, in 1917, this is when we will consider the operation further, there are such moments, the same Nivelle offensive, there are more. So, the French considered it very cool to have 200 guns per km of the front. Is that a lot, a little? It's a lot. As a matter of fact, Marshal Joffre said just the same that with 200 guns per kilometer of the front, they did not ask and did not report about the enemy, but reported to what line the advancing troops had reached. So, the Germans had the density of artillery already smaller , i.e. if in 14-15 the Germans with artillery taxied the allies, then here they already got a little worse. But they managed to get 100-150 guns on their km of the front in their offensive operations. For example, in 1917, when there was the June offensive, there was an unprecedented concentration of forces for the Russian army in the breakthrough sector, there were 30-35 guns per kilometer of the front. This is twice the density of artillery than during the Brusilov breakthrough. Those. it is a graphic illustration of a monstrous economic boom aimed at winning. Yes. And at this time we have just half of all our weapons, equipment, ammunition, it came from abroad. Those. this, together with supplies from abroad, was not enough. Across the Pacific Ocean, huh? But why? Through Murmansk. Well, across the Pacific Ocean too, but mainly through Murmansk. Here, by the way, there is such an amusing moment. So, since Russia had a more decent amount of grain than England and France, the allies constantly demanded grain from us in exchange for arms. So, in 15, they demanded 15 million poods of grain, our government managed to send 11 million. 4 million went to the next year. In 16, the Allies increased the requirement to 30 million poods. Not bad. In 17, they made a demand for the delivery of 50 million poods. Not bad. So, when discussing the possibility of fulfilling this requirement at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, it was indicated, I am simply quoting: “a favorable resolution of this issue is now acquiring absolutely exceptional significance for us, since the allied powers expressed their consent to send to our northern ports a specified number of ships with military cargo of primary importance only on condition of ensuring the return voyages of steamers with grain cargo. Like this. And this is what happens, here, for example, the call, yes, and the peasants got along, well, and, probably, there will somehow drop productivity in the countryside, no? We didn’t have a lot of men. It was impossible for us to carry out a full mobilization ... Wait a minute. I'm a stupid spectator, Yoli-Pali, what are you doing? Our population is large, much larger than in Germany or France. And there are also more people under arms, but by no means as much as there is more population. Those. it practically did not affect us, mobilization? It did, but not so much. We could not mobilize everyone, because there was nothing to equip them with. And our foreign partners, was everything bad for them? Why were they so in need of food? Because it was necessary to somehow feed the troops. It was bad for everyone. We, too, in general, it was bad. For example, in 1916 we had a 12-16-day supply of food in the troops, and in 17 it dropped to 6-10 days. Well, just some horrifying numbers. At the beginning of 15, at the end of 50. Well, yes. Well, it's not tons, it's poods after all. Does not matter. A lot, yes. So, in 1917, the troops crossed over with us ... at first we had a bread rate of 1600 grams, at first we switched to 800 grams, and at the end of 17 to 400 grams. Halve twice, right? Yes. Those. reduced by 4 times. Messages were constantly going through the military department that there was food, but there was absolutely no way to deliver it, for example, from Siberia. There are no locomotives or wagons to deliver food. Collected, they can not send. Well, this is the question of how the railways were all built under the king, and how perfectly they functioned. And not only that they were even built. The fact is that the number of locomotives, well, because of the provision of troops at the front, they were not enough. Those. there were even roads, but you need something to drive along them. And the economic take-off of 13 years did not even produce enough steam locomotives. Of course. And by the way, there was an interesting moment here. How General Alekseev, for example, got out of the situation ... When there is no food at the front, it is really a disaster. Those. if there is a problem as a result of, say, a German offensive operation, with the supply of food, then a 5-6-day supply of food will burn out instantly. And here “General Alekseev imposed a sequestration on 1900 wagons of bread prepared for shipment from the southwestern region to Arkhangelsk. Following this, the governor of the Caucasus imposed a ban on the shipment of bread. Nevertheless, by July 1, 17, 2 million poods of grain were delivered to Arkhangelsk from the Volga provinces. Only 1 million 311 thousand poods were sent abroad. The outbreak of unrest on the basis of food difficulties forced to send part of the harvested grain to meet the needs of the population. That is, in fact, Alekseev even created such detachments that intercepted the echelons that were going to Murmansk, drove them in the direction of the front. There was nothing to eat ourselves. But these actions of the government, actions of the command ... Somehow does not fit with the well-known slogan "Everything for the front, everything for victory." Where are you selling this if the soldiers have nothing to eat? Well, in Germany, for example, but there is another problem too. There is a lack of human resources. At the end of 16, the German command put a request to the government, to the Reichstag, to expand military service to ages from 15 to 60 years. Because there is no one to put under arms. Under 60 is good. From 15. So, but, it is true, the Reichstag hacked this law, because then a revolution would immediately break out in Germany. So, they did it like this - they applied these norms only for conscription into auxiliary forces. Purely logistic support. These are the problems. But this is exactly what concerns the problems of the parties. Those. the Germans lack food and population, Austria lacks everything, Turkey lacks, first of all, the economy and industry. We have problems with providing weapons to the industry, and emerging problems with food. At the same time, a significant part of the problems is associated not even with the lack of food itself, but with logistics. So, our allies have problems, again, with food, i.e. food restrictions, etc. Here, by the way, with a restriction on food standards. The fact is that the Germans tried, well, the British were strangling Germany with a naval blockade. The Germans tried to strike back. And in this respect, the most indicative year is 17. The fact is that after the Battle of Jutland, the Germans no longer counted on crushing England at sea with the forces of their fleet, surface ships, and focused on submarines. Those. they declared unrestricted submarine warfare on England. Those. before that, there were some attempts to follow the rules of waging war at sea, i.e. requirements to stop, conduct a search, etc. Later, however, the Germans began to be killed because of the English trap ships. Gradually, incrementally, all these rules of warfare died out. The war became more and more total. Let us remind the citizens what a trap ship is. The fact is that the British, faced with the problem of German submarines, and not having serious means of dealing with them, began to create ships that, as it were, goes like a ship under a neutral flag. A German submarine emerges and demands to stop. The ship stops. And now a German submarine is sending a search party to this ship in order to check ... What are you carrying there. Yes, is there any contraband cargo, which allows either the ship to be seized or drowned. And at this moment the shields covering the guns fall, and the English flag flies up on the flagpole, and fire opens on the standing submarine. The boat usually dies. But at the same time, the British fulfilled such a formal requirement - just before the first shot, their flag was raised. Those. they've done it very well with it. It is clear that after that there is no talk of any normal searches, because the submariners, they are not idiots either ... I saw - swamp. Yes. But for this, so to speak, it is like ... a censure. Vali everyone, the Lord will sort. Here is unlimited submarine warfare - this is when it is officially announced that we will drown everyone. And initially, the Germans, in fact, did not seem to have very many boats, i.e. At the time of the declaration of unrestricted war, they were holding about 40 submarines on the enemy's communications at that time. It's a little, right? Not, well, how, their number gradually increased, i.e. the Germans took part in the war about 400 submarines, of which at the time of Germany's surrender there were still quite a few in service. I always thought that they mostly appeared in WW2. No, in World War 2 they used the experience of World War 1, on an even greater scale. Here is the picture: when unlimited submarine warfare was declared, about 1 million 800 thousand tons of commercial tonnage were drowned in 3 months. Wow. This is a lot. So, it turned out to be so much that Britain faced the threat of famine. Those. their merchant fleet began to shrink. True, taking into account the unleashing of this gradual submarine war, the British turned out to be psychologically ready for this, and they had already worked out some measures and began to apply them. The measures they have taken - the most important thing is the introduction of a convoy system. Those. 2-3 dozen transports are going to, of the same speed they were selected, and under the protection of several warships they make the transition across the ocean. Moreover, the routes of these convoys, they are not numerous, they are all patrolled, i.e. so that submarines ... Submarines were not submarines then, they were diving in essence. Those. the submarine could be under water, actively operate for several hours, it could just hang under water for a maximum of 2-3 days, i.e. until there is enough air. And how was it during World War II? Not much better. Those. the characteristics of the boats improved, they began to dive deeper, they could move under water longer, move at high speeds, the torpedoes became better, but there was no fundamental improvement before the appearance of nuclear submarines. And here the submarine, having discharged the batteries, and, so to speak, having exhaled all the air, had to float up, ventilate, and charge the batteries. Those. most of the time, the submarines were on the surface, so they were vulnerable to attack by surface ships, so a temporary dive was needed. If you drive them and do not allow them to surface for a long time, then most often the boat perishes simply because it was not allowed to surface. And, besides, under water the speed of the submarine was quite low, which did not allow, for example, to normally pursue the convoy in order to attack it. The pursuit could only go on the surface. But such seemingly imperfect submarines, which have only a periscope of observation means, no radars, nothing, they have filled 1 million 800 thousand tons in 3 months. And in total, in my opinion, in 17-18 years they have filled more than 6 million of trade tonnage. Just from spring to summer 17, the successes of German submarines were the greatest. Further the number of submarines grew, but the number of ships perishing began to decline. Firstly, those ships that went in convoys lost less than 1% of what goes in convoys. Not rich. Well, all this was discussed, given that they went several times, these convoys, it was about hundreds of ships, but still much less than before. In addition, the Americans joined in very seriously for the British at this time, who began to build merchant ships in simply colossal quantities, just like anti-submarine ships, which also appeared at that time as a specialized tool. The British introduced a very serious coastal patrol system so that submarines could not roam on the approaches to ports. Their submarines were deployed on the exit routes of German submarines, i.e. British submarines were mainly engaged in anti-submarine missions. In addition, the British laid minefields in huge numbers. The most luxurious barrage they had was a special barrage that they built (minefields) from Scotland to Norway. But. German boats still continued to go out to communications. And what was that - nets, mines, what was it? These were minefields. And, for example, the Adriatic Sea was blocked by both mines and nets so that Austrian boats would not climb into the Mediterranean. Those. approached very seriously, thoroughly. The funds were spent on this colossal, but it made it possible to ensure further supplies in England, and later the transfer of American troops to England when the United States entered the war. By the way, in 1917, the United States was already in a war, but their units have not yet accepted hostilities. Those. they quickly deployed the army, began to transfer, but took an active part in the battles already in 18 year. Therefore, here we are not considering the Americans yet. Those. here is a picture, as it were, the economic background. And then plans begin about how we want to defeat the enemy. The French and the British, well, well, first, Joffre's plan was developed for the exhaustion of Germany by a series of successive offensives. Those. Joffre, in fact, quite correctly determined that until economic power is broken, i.e. until it turns out that the Germans have nothing to fight with, they will not be defeated. Those. victory does not lie in a purely military sphere, but in the economic one, because battles are constantly going on, one or the other is constantly coming, but the question rests on the economy. But Joffre, due to all the failures that were in 16, was removed, they put the hero of the defense Verdun Nivelle. And so Nivelles, he proposed his plan, where instead of a series of successive offensives with exactly the same goal as Joffre's, it was necessary to conduct a general unified offensive, i.e. with one blow, but mighty to crush the enemy, break through the German defenses to the full depth, reach the operational space, and grind the German forces. And when Germany runs out of power, victory will be won. Cleverly thought up. What happened? Well, the fact is that when Nivel began to plan the deployment of his forces, the Germans unexpectedly disrupted the start of the operation a little for him, simply by taking and retreating a fairly decent distance to the prepared line of defense. Those. in some places there was a departure for several tens of kilometers. Those. they knew that ... No, they didn’t, they were preparing simply, taking into account the lack of forces, to defend at more convenient and shorter lines. Therefore, Nivel had to postpone the offensive somewhat. By the way, his offensive was not a secret; the concentration of forces by the Germans was revealed. When the forces were concentrated, and these are 100 infantry divisions, and 10 cavalry divisions, i.e. 1 million 400 thousand people were concentrated for the offensive. So. So, having concentrated these colossal forces, the Allies staged another powerful artillery barrage, having a huge number of guns, just 200 guns per km of the front. And the Germans knew perfectly well where the offensive would be, in which direction. They did not know exactly what forces, but what it would be was known. And since it was known that the main forces of the Germans were concentrated in the rear positions, and not directly on the first lines of the trenches, which were turned into a lunar landscape. And when the offensive of the British and French troops began, they managed to drive a wedge just into the first lines of defense, but they could not break through the entire depth of the German defense. The Germans transferred additional reserves, the allies with colossal efforts advanced tens or hundreds of meters a day. In 2 weeks of fighting, in short, the British lost 80 thousand people, the French 120 thousand people, i.e. 200 thousand people in 2 weeks. The Germans, however, at this time, according to French data, lost even more. Mainly due to the fact that they suffered huge losses simply from artillery fire. Those. the allies lose in the offensive, the Germans from artillery fire. But at the same time, the expenditure of material resources, of course, from Nivelle's side was colossal. By the way, in this "Nivelle massacre", it got the name "Nivelle massacre", because the losses seem to be less than at Verdun, but at Verdun in half a year, and here in 2 weeks. Those. in the calculation, so to speak, for a day of battles "Nivelle massacre" is almost the most terrible battle of the 1st World War. So, there, in the first echelons, it was the Russian troops sent to France, cannon fodder, participated. Those. 20,000 people in Russian brigades took part in the first lines of the advancing troops. Brotherly, yes. It was necessary to pay off with the allies with something. Yes. But the "Nivelle massacre" was bogged down, and moreover, it sharply intensified anti-war sentiments in France, especially in the French army. Those. it got to the point that uprisings began to occur in military units, up to the regiment. Successful war, what can I say. Yes. So, but at the same time this is Nivelle's offensive, it completely drowned. By the way, at the same time there should have been an offensive of the Italian troops. Well, you remember, the Italians had 2.5 times superiority in forces, but Luigi Cadorna, who commanded the Italian troops, decided that he was the most cunning, and decided to wait for the results of the offensive, at that time he did not attack, and then, like that say to succeed by the Italian troops separately. No success. There were several attacks on the river. Isonzo, which all failed, and at the same time terribly demoralized the Italian army. Those. the Italian soldiers also did not want to fight anymore, because during these several offensives, according to the way the Italians themselves noted, the picture was not much better than in the Nivelle massacre. But at the same time, by the way, Luigi Cadorna, when he outlined why the Italian troops have low combat capability, we will move on to the battle of Caporetto, and so, he was to blame for the rebellious propaganda and propaganda poison. Doesn't it look like anything? Note that Lenin is not in Italy, and Trotsky is not. There are no Bolsheviks at all. However, rebellious propaganda and propaganda poison are to blame for the low combat capability of the Italian army. The Italian army is not to blame. The main thing is not the Italian generals, not the Italian government. By the way, in Germany, too, Ludendorff and Hidenburg, but they, however, later, already in 18, accused the German Reichstag and German Social Democrats of the low combat capability of the German troops and of problems in morale. Sounds familiar too, right? Here, in short, the "Nivelle massacre" ended, then there were attempts by the allies to advance to the north, near Ypres, this is actually so, the coast of the North Sea, i.e. area of \u200b\u200bthe Franco-Belgian border. And there was, for example, a unique offensive operation near Messina, it was short, i.e. local such limited offensive. The task was to bring down the Germans from the commanding heights, from which they constantly inflicted large losses on the allies, incurring smaller losses. It was necessary to change places, push the Germans back literally 2 kilometers, capture these heights, and then inflict heavy losses on them. So, in order to break through the German front, 8 km of underground galleries were built, 600 tons of explosives were laid. Wow. And so, in short, they took it all and blew it up. The Germans sat so freaked out in their trenches, it was a complete numbness, so to speak, of the German army that the British broke into the German positions without any problems, took a bunch of prisoners, i.e. the ratio of losses there was almost 4 to 1 in favor of the British, i.e. the Germans lost a lot of prisoners there. But this offensive did not develop further. This is a way of fighting like with fortresses in a field war. Those. to dig under the trenches, and lay camouflages like this. 600 tons of explosives ... I smelled heartily, probably. It's like an earthquake already, 600 tons. This is close to a nuclear explosion. And then there continued fighting generally in the north in the Ypres region, from July to November. By the way, the British succeeded with the light hand of the English journalist, historian Liddell Garth, the Battle of Paschendale, or the Battle of Paschendale. In fact, this many months of struggle, it led to the fact that on a section of about 15 km, the British managed to advance a maximum of 6 km and no more. Those. again about nothing, right? Yes. And at the same time, both sides lost half a million people killed and wounded during these battles from July to November. By the way, you asked about what was it like in 16. Here, at full speed. And when these battles for Paschendale were going on, these are just these, the battle of Caporetto took place. When the Austrians got tired of constantly repelling the attacks of the Italians on the Isonzo River, they decided to strike the Italian troops themselves. At the same time, the Italian army had a double numerical superiority. The Austrians, with the support of the Germans, launched an offensive, broke through the Italian front. The Italians, abandoning their weapons, suffering colossal losses, rolled back deep into Italy. Those. the Italian army virtually ceased to exist as an organized force. During the Battle of Caporetto, the Italians lost 130 thousand killed and wounded, and 335 thousand prisoners. But at the same time there was still an unpleasant picture. The fact is that only about 400 thousand people remained combat-ready, and the rest were incapable of combat, demoralized. Those. they had to be brought to life, i.e. the front was barely able to stabilize. They managed to stabilize, because the Allies still had, or rather, the Austrians and Germans still had problems on other fronts. And what is it to bring to life? Sit down to talk or are there mass executions? I don't know, maybe pour some wine. No, mass shootings are already useless here, because, excuse me, they will immediately rebel. But, however, after this battle at Caporetto, Luigi Cadorna was finally removed from his post. Those. he was already further, so to speak, removed from this post, talking about rebellious propaganda and agitational poison. But, however, in honor of him later ... Well, in 1924 he was promoted to marshal in Italy, and after he died, a cruiser was named after him. Those. such a glorious military man. And just when the battle of Caporetto was just over, the British offensive began at Cambrai. This is a battle where the British were able to immediately break through the entire depth of the German defenses. True, they did not manage to build on the success, and the Germans then restored the front line with counterattacks, but what was there ... It was actually a verdict on the German defense. There, the front was broken through due to the fact that the British for the first time really massively used tanks. Those. the operation used 476 tanks. Stunned. Some of them were used as combat ones, and some were used as support tanks, dragging fascines on themselves to fill up trenches and anti-tank ditches. The tanks advanced in 3 waves. In short, the British were able to immediately break through all 3 lines of defense of the Germans. Actually, the tanks were designed for this. Yes. In addition, they continued to improve here. And what was happening with us at that time - again, in accordance with the plans of the Allies, we were to launch an offensive against the Germans and Austrians in the spring and summer. Well, against the Germans, our offensive never began at all, but against the Austrians, believing that they could be defeated and withdrawn from the war, we had the so-called. July offensive. Those. ours concentrated 42 infantry divisions, 9 cavalry divisions, about 300 thousand people. And this was the offensive of the army of the Provisional Government, which was seriously altered by the notorious General Kornilov. Those. volunteers were allocated from the units - death battalions. So to speak, hello to the film "Battalion", which, in general, was held according to the same program. So, such volunteer shock units were created, which were supposed to set an example to everyone else, and ensure just the success of the offensive. Here it has an effect ... It somehow reminds me of Ukraine. But here, by the way, it is very reminiscent of ... not that it does, the fact is that you served in the army, right? And you perfectly understand that, for example, in any company, in any platoon, i.e. everywhere there are people who can infect with panic, and now you need to prevent them from doing this, and those who are a kind of core, i.e. who can take, say, and be the first to rise to the attack, or, conversely, just extinguish the panic. Or at least not run away. Which are the core. And there are usually only a few such people per company, right? So, the fact is that General Kornilov, he essentially pulled these people out. Those. from all companies and battalions to these shock battalions, to death battalions, he pulled those who are really ready to fight, ready to fight ... Military genius, yes. So, when, in fact, these shock units went on the offensive, they broke through the Austrian front. On the very first day, a large number of Austrian prisoners were taken, a large number of machine guns, artillery, i.e. successes went, victorious reports went. Taking advantage of this, the Provisional Government immediately arranged in Moscow and St. Petersburg the defeat of the Bolsheviks and, in general, any opposition, like here we have. Well that is they decided how - to use the success in the offensive in order to tighten the nuts sharply. A few days later, there were reports of strictly opposite ones. The fact is that all these shock battalions ended very quickly, because they had only a small part of the army. And the rest of the army - either, right during the offensive, they surrender to the Austrians, or bayonets into the ground and went home. Those. the front collapsed even without a serious increase in opposition from the Austrians and Germans. And in the end we, having seized at first a small territory, then gave the Germans and Austrians 3 times a large territory, this is our offensive. At the same time, the Austrians and Germans were not even going to attack, it happened so. And the most important moment of the Bolshevik propaganda, which led to all this? Well, of course, rebellious propaganda and agitational poison, he is everyone's fault. Those. he is also our fault. Those. it was not Kornilov who pulled out of the units all the soldiers who stood at all, and buried them, so to speak, throwing them into the attack in the first echelons. Yes, he managed to break through the enemy's front, but what to do next? But the Bolsheviks are to blame. Yes, serious military, yes. Well, yes, so the Italians have one, right? And the Germans also have the Reichstag to blame. And now it turns out what the picture is by 17. The war at sea led to the intensification of the blockade of England by the Germans and Germany by the British. Those. unlimited submarine war seriously made the British tense, but they overcame it. The blockade of Germany, well, it remained a fairly dense blockade of Germany. At this time, not the Russian Empire, but the Russian Republic could not boast of any successes. She could not even boast of a serious distraction of German forces from the Western Front. On the Western Front, the Allies were constantly active, i.e. they tried to crush the enemy, they seriously exhausted him, they also seriously exhausted themselves, killed a huge number of people, which caused an increase in anti-war sentiment in England and France. Well, and most of all, the Italians distinguished themselves, who, having an advantage of 2.5 times, suffered a crushing defeat. And moreover, this is the battle of Caporetto, well, the fact is that in 17, in fact, the Austrian army was already on the verge of starting to scatter, i.e. the situation in it was even worse than in the army of the Provisional Government in our country. Those. really the Austrian empire on the brink of disaster. There is nothing to feed the people, for which the people are fighting, they do not understand, almost all are mobilized into the army. What was described in "The Adventures of the Gallant Soldier Schweik", it, in general, corresponded to reality, ie something like that. But this is the grandiose victory at Caporetto with a huge number of prisoners, a monstrous number of prisoners, with a huge number of trophies. Those. there the Italians lost about 7,000 guns and mortars. Those. this is more than, say, artillery in the armies of the belligerent countries, except for Germany at the beginning of the war, i.e. generally all. And this victory, for a short time, supported the Austrian Empire, i.e. again a burst of hurray-patriotism, euphoria, and the hope that we will really defeat the enemy now, such a brilliant victory. True, the German command, which watched this victory, did not evaluate it very highly in what respect - the main task could not be solved, they could not develop the success, and Italy remains in the war. If she flew out of the war, it would be a major success. And so he is not principled. This is a tremendous victory that does not change the fundamental picture at all. Well, how, although, of course, changed, because otherwise Austria would have collapsed at the end of 17 years. This is what the 1917 operations are. There were still operations that are very important for our history, although they play almost no role with the T. World War 1 is the Riga and Moozun operation. Those. when the Germans, having organized the interaction of the army and the navy, took Riga, by the way, having 2 times less forces than ours, they conducted an offensive operation and took Riga. And they captured the Moozun archipelago. There is just a very interesting picture of what it was. On the one hand, the significance of Moosund, which is shown, by the way, in the excellent film Moosund. So, they fought heroically, fought against clearly superior German forces, i.e. the Germans had 12 battleships there, we have 2 battleships, 2 old battleships. The rest of the forces were also not in our favor. And there the Germans managed to drive out our fleet, but, however, they could not destroy all the defense forces of the Gulf of Riga, although they set this task. They were able to capture the Moozun Archipelago, but captured it with battles, it took time. Those. the operation, in general, was completely successful, on the one hand, the Gulf of Riga was completely under the control of the Germans, Riga was under the control of the Germans. Our forces went to the Gulf of Finland. But our troops fought, sailors, mostly energetically, courageously, but in very small numbers. That is, for example, at that time we had the rest of the forces of our fleet in the Gulf of Finland, i.e. 4 new dreadnoughts, 2 battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, which sat there at full speed and did nothing. Why? Well, actually there was even a direct order not to release battleships against the Germans, suddenly the Germans would kill them. Yes, really dangerous. Well yes. Those. our fleet in the 1st world war was pretty serious messing around. Those. our, for example, the Baltic battleships did not take part in any combat operation of the 1st World War. Original. Yes. Those. their first skirmish was with the rebel forts, this is already when the Civil War, the Bolsheviks against the whites. A question. The October Revolution happened, did it somehow affect the situation at the fronts? It did, but I would like to tell about it when it’s about 18, because we have just the end of 17 - the beginning of 18, this is Russia's withdrawal from the war, this is the conclusion of the Brest Peace. Which, by the way, very much strained the British and French. But there is simply an important political point that I would like to highlight just along with the rest. And yes, it did. Well, the fact is that at that time the United States was actively replacing the Russian Empire, and Russia's withdrawal from the war still could not solve the problems of Germany. The picture is so big that I don't even know. Well, 17 is completely invisible compared to 16? Yes Yes. Well, it's like you said at the beginning, people who study history by school textbooks , I almost choked, but apparently yes. If you approach it this way, then there really was nothing. Well, because in school textbooks in the 16th year, 4 battles are mentioned, and in the 17th year, none are mentioned. Well done. Although it is clear that the war is going on, it is just escalating. And, by the way, what I wanted to say is interesting about new tactical techniques. Those. not only that the defense system had already passed, so to speak, from a solid front line to defense nodes, the Germans began to use, for example, the so-called. wide trenches up to 5 meters wide. They defended worse from artillery fire, on the one hand, and on the other hand, a tank could not run over them. It helped. Those. combined with anti-tank ditches. The role of anti-tank defense grew. At the same time, the Germans, until the end of 1917, they, well, somehow very disdainful of tanks, and, despite the sufficient military potential, they did not make tanks. Then, when they made them, their tanks turned out to be immediately better, but they made 17 tanks in the entire 1 world war. But ours tried to make tanks, but we failed. This is Lebedenko's tank, an insane monster. Which is it on wheels? Yes. And Porokhovshchikov's tank, which was not a tank, had no armor, and could only drive in a straight line. With this, our experiments on tanks, in fact, closed. The only thing we had of armored vehicles was when we armored the Austin trucks supplied to us by the allies at the Putilov factory, and received the famous Austin-Putilovets armored car with 2 turrets. Ilyich spoke with this? Yes. Some kind of bleak picture. New methods of breaking through the enemy's defense were being developed, i.e. the Germans at this time retrained their infantry, supplied it with trench means ... they relied on, if the allies relied mainly on artillery and tanks, then the Germans focused on assault groups. Those. infantry, armed not with rifles with bayonets, but armed with pistols - lugers, elongated artillery, in which a new magazine for 32 rounds was even developed specially for this. At the same time they developed their famous grenade - this beater here, a potato press with a long handle, turned out to be very convenient in the trenches. For what? Throw or knock on the head? It's convenient to throw. You don't need great skills. The handle is conducive. Yes. Moreover, it was possible to unscrew it and use a grenade without it. And even later, in 18, the world's first normal submachine gun, MP-18, was developed for these assault groups, just for this stupid store for the Lugger, i.e. drum and then such a long part that fits into the pistol grip just. It was now inserted into a special handle protruding into the side of this MP-18. It looked pretty wild, but, in principle, the weapon was not bad. By the way, the first submachine gun was invented by Italians at the end of 16. They had a Pirelli submachine gun, which was ... The first is considered to be German, invented in 18, because the Italian was a very strange design. It had 2 barrels, a trigger, like a machine gun, in the back, a bipod, on which to rest in front. At the same time, the structure was of such length. 2 shops. Rate of fire - 1100 rounds per minute. Oh my God. Those. you take it like that, put it on, press the trigger, and at once everything goes somewhere in that direction. That was such a weapon. Formally the first submachine gun, but formally. Exceptionally educational, yes. And just the preparation made it possible to carry out an offensive already in 18, both countries were quite successful in terms of breaking through the defense. Although the breakthrough methods were completely different. All this was worked out in 17 year. And, by the way, much less than in 16, weapons of mass destruction began to play a role. Those. chemical weapons began to fade away corny simply with the widespread use of gas masks. Not useful, as they say. 1 time they were poisoned, all ... Not once, several times. Well, for the most part that ... Besides Ypres, I, for example, do not know anything. Yes, everything else is much weaker. Yes, somehow it didn't work out that way. And, and yet, in 17, strategic raids, long-range air raids began. Those. if earlier only German airships flew to bomb England, or Paris, which was quite ineffective. Long-range bombers have already begun to fly - both British to Germany and German to England. An amazing example for me. My dearly favorite group Led Zeppelin on the cover of the album Led Zeppelin 2 they are sitting in the background of the German airship that was bombing London, they are sitting in German uniforms. This is how they see the world. I fell into deep thought. You know, it’s like here, I don’t know, we will not name it, they will be photographed in the uniform of the Luftwaffe pilots who bombed Moscow. It’s very strange there in Europe. Or is it necessary? Well, they called themselves zeppelins. And these are German airships. And the airship, in general, did it bring some kind of benefit, no? Or is it not so? Well, to exert more psychological pressure. He's healthy, vulnerable. How many bombs could he bring? Yes a little. It was usually about several hundred kilograms. Those. not tons, not tens of tons, right? It was possible to load a ton or more than a ton, but in this case, the more we load, the lower the flight altitude. And the airship is healthy, and during the war they shoot at it. He must climb higher, otherwise he will be knocked down immediately. Therefore, the load was usually taken relatively small, and therefore the effect of the airship was more psychological, especially since to aim from the airship and hit ... again, throwing a bomb from a horizontal flight, from a great height, without being able to effectively steer the airship, because it is controlled very bad compared to an airplane. We drop bombs in approximately those places. Those. getting into a small town is already a problem. Strong. For example, there was a raid by German airships even before that, at 15 or something, on an English naval base, where they bombed ships. Not a single bomb hit the target. And then, when the planes began to fly better, the airships were already completely helpless and useless. And bomber aviation began to take the 1st place. And, in fact, bombers, which at first also flew horizontally ... They are still better controlled than airships. They were later converted into diving. This is already in the 2nd world. But this is to get even more accurate? Yes. And in World War I, as a bomber, he, firstly, after all, when he dropped the bomb, he dropped it from a lower altitude, because it is more difficult to hit it than an airship, and therefore it can fly lower. So, he is much better controlled, i.e. you can steer to aim, unlike an airship, from which you can just drop a bomb and that's it. By the way, there is absolutely ... one of my favorite films of my childhood, "Big Races". The wheels of number 5 will fall off. Yes. Or a motor. Number 5 is us. Do you remember when they tried to bomb the car from the airship just? Yes Yes. This is where the difficulties of aiming are just to some extent visible. And there it was used something like this - they flew in ... By the way, I have it. I once even bought an American DVD, but never watched it. It was a great childhood joy. Yes. “Who is there, Max? - Children, professor. - Stupid children. Well, we are waiting for 18 years, what do we have there ... And the results of the war. Yes, it happened to the Bolsheviks, and how did it all end. Very interesting, yes. Thank you, Boris Vitalievich. And that's all for today. Until next time.
Before surgery
In February 1917, the February Revolution took place in Russia, Emperor Nicholas II abdicated the throne, the monarchy fell. The Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies (Petrosovet) were formed in the country; in fact, dual power was established in the country. During the February Revolution, the Petrograd Soviet issued Order No. 1, which was originally intended only for the insurgent soldiers of the Petrograd garrison, but spontaneously spread throughout the army. Under the influence of this Order, soldiers' committees began to be created, which began work on the democratization of the army and navy.
In the active army, the number of revolutionary-minded soldiers grew more and more. In April 1917, General MV Alekseev wrote: “A pacifist mood is developing in the armies. In the mass of soldiers, it is often not allowed to think not only about offensive actions, but even about preparation for them, on which basis major violations of discipline occur, expressed in the refusal of soldiers to work on the construction of offensive bridgeheads. "
In addition to democratic processes in the army and navy, combat effectiveness russian army was reduced by layoffs and displacements of up to 60% of senior command personnel of the active army. These measures were carried out in order to establish the control of the Provisional Government over the army.
Position at the front
At the beginning of 1917, an offensive operation of Russian troops was carried out in the Riga region, which led to revolutionary uprisings, including in Siberian units, which were considered the most disciplined. In the summer of 1917, the Russian troops launched an unsuccessful offensive, which did not bring results. These battles showed revolutionary sentiments in the army and a decline in discipline and fighting efficiency. russian troops at the front .
In the Riga region, the defense was held by the 12th Russian army, which, according to Soviet historians, was most susceptible to the influence of the Bolsheviks. After the June offensive, the influence of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries among the soldiers began to decline. Revolutionary and anti-war sentiments, as well as the liberalization of the Russian army, had a negative impact on the combat capability of the Russian troops, including the formations of the 12th Army. The 12th Russian army included the 13th, 21st and 43rd army corps; 2nd and 6th Siberian corps, as well as 2 brigades of Latvian riflemen. However, the number of these units was much lower than the standard. For example, in March 1917, by order of the Minister of War A.I. Guchkov, servicemen over 43 years old were demobilized. According to the military historian, candidate of military sciences, reserve colonel A.G. Kavtaradze, by the beginning of August 1917 the total shortage of the 12th Army was over 30,000 (about 15% of the total). The reinforcements arrived at the front, poorly disciplined and untrained. Between July 31, 1917, a reinforcement of 112 officers and 3192 soldiers arrived in the 36th Infantry Division from the rear, of which 3,084 (that is, about 97%) were completely untrained.
Operation planning and forces of the parties
The German command has long been making plans to capture Riga. Paul von Hindenburg wrote: “We were already in 1915 and 1916. made plans for how we would break through this position. " The chief of staff of the Eastern Front, Max Hoffmann, noted that: "A German offensive on St. Petersburg would now lead to the complete collapse of Russia."
The plan of the German command to conduct an offensive was known to the Russian side, but no active countermeasures were taken. Moreover, the Russian command made it easier general position for the German troops by their actions. So, in July, by order of the commander of the Northern Front V.N.Klembovsky, the Ikskyul bridgehead was abandoned on the left bank of the Western Dvina, and in August the units of the 6th Siberian Corps were withdrawn 12-15 km back.
According to the recollections of the commissar of the Northern Front VB Stankevich, from the testimony of the German defector (a native of Alsace), the Russian command knew the time and place of the impending attack of the German troops. Warnings were sent to the 12th Army units about a possible enemy attack, but no other effective measures were taken.
The capture of Riga and the defeat of the Russian troops in this sector of the front opened the way for the German army to Petrograd. To carry out the Riga operation, the German command attracted the 8th Army (commanded by Infantry General Oskar von Gutier) as part of 3 corps (6th Army Corps under the command of Infantry General Julius Riemann, 51st Special Forces Corps under the command of General- lieutenant Albert von Berrer ru de and the 23rd Reserve Corps under the command of the General of Infantry Hugo von Catena ru en). In total, the German troops consisted of 11 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions (Guards Reserve, 1st Guards Infantry, 2nd Guards Infantry, 1st Cavalry, 1st Reserve, 14th Bavarian Infantry,
/ Riga operation
FROM 08/11/1944 to 08/28/1944 The 265th Infantry Division held defenses on Estonian territory between Narva Bay and Lake Peipsi in the areas west of the outskirts of Mumma-Saar, east of the outskirts of Tambi, west of the outskirts of Lastekolonnia, railway track 500 m west of Haav (second echelon in the Laagna-Asula area).
Combat operations of the 265th Infantry Division in September 1944 in the area of \u200b\u200bthe town of Tarva
Estonia, Valgamaa county, Helme parish
Riga offensive operation, autumn 1944
13.09.44
On the night of September 13 to September 14, the division concentrated in the Pudi, Nauska, Pulga area.
14.09.44
Subdivisions of the division, advancing from the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Tsiglvaste, broke through the defensive zone on the Väike-Ema-Iõge river and fought in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Jigeveste. 
15.09.44-17.09.44
1st battalion 941 rifle regiment advancing in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Ermuse and MZ. Patküla. 16.09. The regiment, advancing in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Anchuse, broke through the enemy's defenses and captured the villages of Jyhoveste, Robbe, Nyakhry, and Kim.
16.09.44
1st battalion 450th reg. advancing in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Pyrsa. Other units attacked the enemy stronghold in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Järve.
17.09.44
The division (including the 2nd battalion of the 450th rifle regiment) began to cross the Okhne River in order to create and hold a bridgehead on its western bank (presumably in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Yanese).
Some divisions of the division (including the division of the 798th regiment) managed to force the river Okhna and gain a foothold on the bank. So 941st rifle regiment first captured the height 66.1, and then, pursuing the enemy, immediately crossed the river.
In the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Robe (Robe), the enemy launched an attack, during the battle he was stopped and thrown back. Our infantry moved forward. The command post of the division was located 300 m west of Tyrsa.
18.09.44 2nd battalion 450th reg. under heavy gunfire, he continued to force the Okhne-Yygi River. 941 pp. advancing in the direction of Chelme in the Patküla area, 951th rifle regiment advanced in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Kura (Juura). On the same day, the enemy attempted a counterattack near the village of Lomba.
18.09.44-19.09.44 Divisions of the division fought fierce battles in the area of \u200b\u200bthe villages of Matets-Savi, Binda and Lolebi.
19.09.44 941 pp. took possession of a strong point in the village of Likhiusme. 951 s.p. attacked west of Ruz, 450 r.p. went on the attack in the area of \u200b\u200bthe MZ. Helme. The command post of the division was in the Ministry of Health. Patküla.
20.09.44 The division fought in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Winkle, crossed the Okhne River.
21.09.44 The division fought in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Hundi.
Offensive on the territory of Latvia
The combat path of the 265th rifle division through the territory of Latvia 09/25/44 - 11/6/44 (maps of the Red Army 1940)
Scheme combat path 265th Rifle Division showing detailed maps of the area (maps of 1930)
25.09.44-26.09.44
The 2265 rifle division was transferred from the Ladi and Järve area (Estonia) to Latvia, to the Tomens, Bremelis, Vitelis and Kokmuiža areas (6-7 km southwest of the city of Valmiera).
29.09.44 The 265th Infantry Division was advancing in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Verskame.
Encyclopedia "The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", Volume Four, Liberation of the territory of the USSR. 1944 year
“By the morning of September 26, formations and units of the 61st and 54th armies of the 3rd Baltic Front liberated the city of Cesis, and then continued their offensive in the southwestern direction. The next day, the troops of the 3rd and 2nd Baltic Fronts reached the Sigulda defensive line. Only 60 km were left to Riga. During September 26-27, the troops of the 1st Baltic Front reached the same line, to the area south of Nitaure to Rembate. His 43rd army approached Riga from the southeast, but was stopped only 20 km from it. " "The attack on Riga by the troops of the 1st Baltic Front from the south, the 3rd Baltic Front from the northeast, and the 2nd Baltic Front from the east was stopped."
Eremenko A.I. The years of retribution. Combat roads from Kerch to Prague
“Three defensive zones were created in front of the 2nd Baltic Front: the first ran along the line of Cesvaine - Lake. Lieezers - Ozolomuiza - the railway to Plavinas and had two defense lines with a total depth of 10–12 km; the second lane - Cesis, Nitaure, Madliena, Skriveri - was located at a distance of 45–80 km from the first and had one continuous trench and equipped firing positions; the third - the Sigulda defensive zone was 25-40 km from the second along the Sigulda - Ogre line and was the most powerful, as it consisted of two defensive lines and three intermediate positions. "
4.10.44
The 265th Infantry Division was on the march along the route of Dravanti, Jeriti, Doles, Lanckas, Dobumi, Klintsenieki. By 3:30 the 265th Rifle Division was concentrated in the Bumbarishi, Yaunviesheni area.
At 22:30, the division changed 229 rifle divisions in the sector:
on the right — Lakstigalast, Ladi (the 941st Infantry Regiment crossed the river near the township of Ladi and Zavada).
left-mz. Nitauri (80 km from Riga, ed.), Silynia, Pelni / isk / Kuzheny
5.10.44
Subdivisions of the division are engaged in engineering work to prepare the bridgehead for the offensive. From the strong artillery fire of the enemy, the division (fired up to 850 mines and shells of various calibers) has losses: 8 people were killed, 38 people were wounded.
In the area to the west of the division's offensive sector, there were several enemy strongholds using the features of the terrain. The lowland on the left bank of the Mergupe River tributary, where units of the 265th Infantry Division crossed, is at an altitude of 115.5 m.On the right bank of the tributary to the west and north-west of Sylynia and Pelnya, there are 136 m (Kuilēni, 2.2 km from Nitauri ) and 130.8 a.s.l. (Viļums, 2.3 km from the Nitauri metro station)
6.10.44-7.10.44
The 265th Rifle Division pursued the enemy retreating westward to the district. Rumble. Without breaking away from the main forces of the enemy, the division destroyed his cover groups.
8.10.44 The enemy was entrenched at the turn of the river. Liela-Jugla and put up strong resistance to the advance of the division's units. Having broken through the enemy's defenses, the 265th Rifle Division reached the Gravas line by the end of the day, mz. Ropazhi, Shkestri. Division units fought in the area of \u200b\u200bthe villages of Laimineki and Vestupi
This area is located south-west of Gravas and south-east of MZ. Ropazhi (about 35 km from the initial positions of the division near the metro station Nitauri 5.10.44.).
During the day, the division has trophies: self-propelled guns - 2 units, narrow railroad cars - 49 units, 75-mm shells - 200 units. The enemy on the battlefield left up to 50 soldiers and officers, 14 soldiers were taken prisoner.
Division losses: killed-5 people, wounded-11 people.
9.10.44
The division crossed the Liela-Jugla River (in the area of \u200b\u200bLaimineki, Vestupi, Lynchlauchi, ed.) And advanced in the area of \u200b\u200bthe villages of Lynchlauchi, Kalpakira, Nedrukalni, Tivulnieks.
During the offensive, the division overcame a series of hills: the first in the Gravas region, the second in the Laimineki, Vestupi region, the third southeast of Ropazi (located 35 km from Riga and Sigulda, 21 km from Ogre.) And the fourth in the Tivulnieks region.
In the Gravas area, there are heights of 88.2 m (west) and 95.2 (southeast). At the place of the division's advance, the Mergupe River flows at an altitude of 78.5 m above sea level.
In the area of \u200b\u200bthe crossing of the Liela-Yugla river (width at the crossing point - 17 m and depth - 1 m, height above sea level - 50 m) there are heights: 57.3 m (in front of the front of the advancing division) and south-west at 68.8 m
In the area south of Ropazha and east of Nedrukalnya, the division's offensive was closed off by approaches with heights of 38.1 m and 43.3 m. In the place of the division's offensive, the left tributary of the Liela-Jugla river flows at an altitude of 28.8 m.
Attacks on Tivulnieks were hampered by the height of 32.4 m, located north-west of this settlement. The Liela-Jugla River in this area flows at an altitude of about 20 m above sea level.
By the end of the day, the 265th rifle division, transferred to the second echelon of the corps, concentrated in the Sturishi, Assari, Rutzgaili, and Kabezhas areas.
During the day, the division from artillery fire has losses: killed - 16 people, wounded - 28 people.
10.10.44
At 4:00 a.m., the 450th RV entered the Myalmuguri line, the 951st RV - Sealy, the 941st RV - mark. / 1143g /.
At 23:00, the division marched along the Myalmuguri route, the junction of the roads, Elia, Kasporini.
The crossing to the left bank of the Z. Dvina was organized in the town of Ogri
11.10.44
The 265th Rifle Division, consisting of the 7th RK, marched to the Skabuli, Majori and Rusini area (all points 4-8 km north and northwest of Vatsmuiža), and by 11:00 concentrated in the Ozoli / Isk / Ozolkalni area.
12.10.44
The 265th Infantry Division was in the former deployment area.
13.10.44
The division was marching along the route of Lachi, Daluzhi, mz. Salgalez, mz. Kulny, pl.mz. Mazvuti, Grini, Kroyavirtzava, Ioti, mz. Jauna, mz Bolu, Dyboti in the region of Jaunzemie, mz. Brambard, mz. Leilsiete (all points 7-12 km south-west of Jelgava) By 22:00 the 265th rifle division was concentrated in the Ropas area, mz. Kozhmar / lawsuit / mz. I'm in pain.
14.10.44
The division was located in the area of \u200b\u200bStapatas, Purvabuchuli and MZ. I'm in pain. 265th Infantry Division from 10:00 was on the march along the route MZ. Kozhmaru, Kolnenki, Street, road fork, mz. Kreia.
The combat strength of the 265th Infantry Division on 15.10.44 consisted of 3989 people. The 265th Division outnumbered the other two divisions of the 7th Rifle Corps.
16.10.44
From 11:00 the 265th Infantry Division was on the march along the route Virkus, Svinti, Brusas, Forks.
Losses from enemy fire: wounded - 1 person.
17.10.44-19.10.44
On the night the 265th Infantry Division was marching along the route of Forks, Lelberze, Berzaini, Apsites.
The division conducted artillery battles in the area west of the MZ. Dobele. Destroyed up to 50 enemy soldiers and officers, 3 machine guns, suppressed the fire of one battery.
Division losses: 1 person killed, 4 people wounded.
L.M. Sandalov Difficult frontiers.
“On the morning of October 16, our troops, together with their left neighbor, launched an offensive along the entire front. The main blow was delivered by the 3rd shock, 42nd and partly 22nd armies from the Dobele region in the western direction. "
“At 6 o'clock in the morning on October 19, trying to restore the lost position, the enemy with forces of up to two divisions, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, launched a powerful counterattack on the troops of our army. Heavy fighting unfolded. At the cost of heavy losses, the Nazis managed to press our units by evening. On October 20, two divisions of the 7th Rifle Corps were brought into battle from the second echelon of the army. But even they, met with strong fire, did not manage to achieve a decisive change. The next day, active operations ceased and both sides went on the defensive. "
18.10-21.10.44 The 265th Rifle Division was in the second echelon in the former deployment area (20.10.44 in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Ausatu metro station).
One regiment took up defensive positions in the area of \u200b\u200bthe bridge, 300 m east of Lutyka, 300 m east of Berzani. The artillery of the division from the Ausatu, Lagzdine area fired at the enemy: up to 35 soldiers and officers were destroyed, self-propelled guns - 1 unit, machine guns - 4 units, anti-tank guns - 1 unit.
Losses from enemy artillery fire: killed - 5 people, wounded - 17 people.
Semenov G. G. Shock is coming.
“On the left wing of the 2nd Baltic Front, a balance of forces was formed. There was no point in continuing the offensive here. In this regard, General of the Army Eremenko decided to regroup the armies even further south, to the Vegeriai region, and prepare a strike from there in the north-western direction - to Saldus "
Relief map for the Dobele and Auce region
22.10.44
The 265th Infantry Division from the night made a 40-kilometer march along the route of Ormani, Karklini, Lizlchukas, Lemtini, Purmali, Kruzhkanes, Trushi.
During the march in the Salkukrogs area (in this area there was a bridge across the Auce river, ed.), One regiment was discovered by enemy aircraft and was bombed: 7 people were killed, 29 people were wounded. One 45-mm gun was destroyed, 6 horses were killed and wounded.
Semenov G. G. Shock is coming.
“The troops of our army had to march for two nights and by the morning of October 23, concentrate in the Vegeriai area. We received an order to break through on October 26 the German defenses in the Yurgashi and Vegerai sector. Then, advancing in the north-western direction, bypassing Auce from the south, in cooperation with the 10th Guards Army, defeat the opposing enemy. "
... units of the 7th and 79th Rifle Corps surrendered their sectors in the Dobele area to the divisions of the 100th Rifle Corps and, under cover of darkness, for several nights redeployed to the southern flank of the army, to the Vegerää area, where they concentrated in readiness to continue the offensive ... Now they received the task of breaking through the enemy's defenses in the Yurgaysh, Vegerai sector, further advancing around Auce from the south and, in cooperation with the units of the 10th Guards Army, to reach the Tevele, Rumbenieki line on the very first day. "
23.10.44
On the night of 24.10, a division of one rifle battalion replaced parts of the 7th Guards. SD at the forefront in the Lankas / 5721v / and Mielikas / 6520g /
24.10.44
The division with one rifle battalion defends the Lankas / 5721v / and Mielikas / 6520g / lines. The division's artillery is at the base in the Zemzori, Kabuzas, Mazmi, Brivkalni area. On the night of 10.25 the 450th and 951st rifle regiments, replacing the units of the 150th Rifle Division, occupied the defensive line of elevation. 81.7 and Lankas.
25.10.44
On the night of 26.10, three reconnaissance groups of the division operated in the direction of Kalna, Vidauchi with the task of capturing a control prisoner. Discovered by the enemy, the groups did not complete their tasks.
Division losses: killed - 3 people, wounded - 6 people.
26.10.44
One rifle battalion of the 450th rifle battalion and two companies of the 951st rifle division defended the line elevation. 81.7 and Lankas.
The division suffered losses from the strong artillery fire of the enemy: 5 people were killed, 28 people were wounded.
27.10.44
With two regiments (951st and 450th rifle regiments), after 80 minutes of artillery preparation at 11:00, the division went on the offensive and at 12:00 reached the line grove / 5820g /, Vidauchi.
In front of the front of the division, the Vadakste River, 6-8 m wide and about 2 m deep, flowed.
The area in front of the river, where the 265th Infantry Division was advancing, is at an altitude of 80 meters above sea level. Approaches to Kalny were impeded by the height in the north of the village with a height of 90.4 m and the height that blocked the approaches to the mine. Vityn from the east, height 91.4. Also exit to the manor. obstructed by two heights of 94.5 and 90 m, located west and north-west of Vityn.
Approaches to mz. Vidauchi was hampered by the height to the east of Auce with a height of 96.9 m and two heights to the north-west and west of the manor at 98.7 and 93.2 m. The latter blocked the exits to the villages of Purmali and Mesteri on the road from Vidauchi (28.11.44).
The 951st Infantry Regiment, broke through the enemy's defenses, crossed the water barrier on the Kalna-Lankas line, then captured the Vityn stronghold. In a bypass maneuver, the regiment saddled the highway northwest of the town of Auce. During the offensive, the 951st Rifle Corps was supported by the subdivisions of 31 TPPs consisting of 11 tanks.
The distance from the initial positions of the division to Vityn is 2-3 km, from Vityn to Vidauchi - 5.2 km.
Predol'e in the area southeast of mz. Vityny
The 450th Infantry Regiment advanced southeast of the town of Auce and captured the town of Kalny. Bypassing the outskirts of the MZ. Auce from the south, also entered the highway in the Vidauchi area, cutting off the Auce-Mazheikai highway and railway.
The 941st Rifle Regiment was attacking in the Auce area.
At 18:00, the enemy with a force of up to two battalions (250 people) in two groups supported by 8 self-propelled guns launched a counterattack from the Zedina area and elevation. 86.0. Counterattacks were repulsed, the enemy suffered losses: up to 150 soldiers and officers were destroyed.
During the offensive, up to 40 machine-gun points were suppressed and destroyed, PTO-8 units, min-batteries-4 units, machine-gun bunkers-4 units, dugouts-12 units, NP-3 units, destroyed trenches-500 shoulder straps. meters. Trophies were taken: 12 machine guns, 4 mortars, 3 guns, 2 radios, 10 telephones and 2 horses.
35 people were taken prisoner, of which 2 officers of the 3rd company of the 174th regiment of the 81st regiment.
Division losses: 44 killed, 163 wounded.
Eremenko A.I.Years of retribution. 1943-1945.
“After a very insignificant pause on October 27, the offensive began with powerful artillery and air preparation, and then the troops of the 42nd Guards, the 10th Guards and the 3rd Shock Armies, in close cooperation with the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, rushed to the attack, broke through the deeply echeloned enemy defenses on front 20 km and on the first day of the offensive moved forward 4-7 km. The next day, the units and formations advanced another 6-7 km, expanding the breakthrough to 50 km. However, in the future, the pace of the offensive began to gradually decrease.
It should be borne in mind that the entire territory where the newly created Army Group Courland had dug in was cut up by defensive structures. Therefore, every meter of land had to be wrested from the enemy in bloody battles. Under such conditions, it was necessary to have an overwhelming superiority over the enemy, primarily in tanks and all types of artillery. In reality, the balance of power was actually not in our favor. "
28.10.44
The 265th Infantry Division, continuing to conduct offensive battles in the direction of Teveli, by the end of the day broke the enemy's resistance (81st Infantry Division) and reached the line of Lini, Bejas, Purmali. The 951st Rifle Regiment captured the stronghold of Mesteri (8 km from Auce, ed.). Artillery and tanks help advance the infantry, destroying enemy personnel and equipment with fire, wheels and tracks.
During the offensive, up to 200 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed.
Suppressed 62 machine guns, 4 min-batteries and 1 artillery battery. 1 self-propelled gun and 12 anti-tank guns were destroyed. Trophies were taken: 3 guns, 13 machine guns, 4 mortars. 7 enemy soldiers were taken prisoner.
Division losses: killed - 45 people, wounded - 74 people.
29.10.44
From 8:30 to 12:00, the enemy, numbering up to 150 soldiers and officers, counterattacked units of the 265th Infantry Division four times from the Tevele, Crumini and Kudzini directions. To repel the enemy, the 941st Rifle Regiment was brought in from the reserve, the offensive of which was supported by 6 tanks of the 31st CI. The enemy counterattacks were successfully repulsed with heavy losses for him. As a result of successfully repelling counterattacks, units of the 265th division captured the highway in the area of \u200b\u200bKundzini (941th rifle regiment) and Kruzini (450th rifle division). Further advance was halted by heavy enemy fire.
The approach to Kundzini and Tevele was complicated by four heights: 95.7 and 99.2 m southwest and west of Kundzini, an altitude of 100 m northwest of Tevele and 102 m on the eastern outskirts of this village. Predol'e was at an altitude of about 92 m above sea level. Tevele is located 8 km from Vityn and 4.5 km from Auce.
During the offensive, up to 250 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed.
Suppressed 14 self-propelled guns and anti-tank guns. 12 remote controls, 4 anti-tank guns, 3 vehicles with ammunition, 2 NP were destroyed. Trophies were taken: 4 guns 75 mm, 1 mortar 81 mm, 1 tractor, 8 machine guns. 8 enemy soldiers were taken prisoner.
30.10.44
During the offensive, the 265th Infantry Division captured Kundzini, Kouki, Krumini, Teveli, Kalpaki, Dekshneki, Deles in the first half of the day and reached the edge of the forest / 6109 /.
In the course of the offensive, up to 200 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed, 2 anti-tank battalions, 31 OT were suppressed.
31.10.44
The enemy conducted strong automatic machine-gun, artillery and direct fire from self-propelled guns on the advancing units of the 265th Infantry Division (the 450th regiment fought in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Pani). The division, with the support of artillery and tanks, breaking the enemy's resistance, reached the forest line west of Ziles / 6405 / by 18:00.
To the north of Ziles in the Kokmuiža region (6 km from Tevele) there is an altitude of 152.6 m.
During the offensive destroyed up to 150 enemy soldiers and officers, 2 anti-tank guns, 10 machine guns.
Division losses per day: killed - 9 people, wounded - 43 people.
Eremenko A.I.Years of retribution. 1943-1945.
“By the strength of resistance, fire intensity and the number of attacks, battles last days had no equal throughout 1944. Troops' actions were significantly hampered by inclement weather - daily rains sharply worsened the road network, which consisted in the front line mainly of unpaved profiled roads, which became impassable, and in some areas impassable. Unfavorable weather conditions, heavy fogs and dense clouds excluded the possibility of using aviation. "
1.11.44
By 16:00 the 941th Rifle Regiment went to the Berzini area (10 km from Tevele, ed.), The 450th Rifle Regiment followed the 941st Regiment, the 951st Rifle Regiment - the reserve of the division commander, reached Kinuli.
2.11.44 The 450th rifle division, overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, reached the Bishkali-Atputas line by the end of the day. He took possession of the settlements of Rukishi (about 4 km south-west of Berzini, ed.), Leineki, Zemturi, Dreimani, Rlina, Kevya, Kaugari, Zakishi, Kanepis. The 941st joint venture reached the forest line south of Kanepis and took possession of the points of Lejas, Kuidzites, Dakshnekis, elevation. 106.7. The 951st joint venture in reserve was located south of Kevya.
Approaches to Kevya, Dakshnakis Kaugari, Zakishi and Kanepis were hampered by two heights: from the north-west of Kevya at 105.4 m and from the north-east of the village at 100.6. Predol'e was at an altitude of about 92 m above sea level.
3.11.44
The 265th Rifle Division continued to advance in the general direction without a name. h. / 6497, Greethany. At 10:30 the division repelled two enemy counterattacks with a force of up to 100 men from the direction of the Yumprovieshi ravine, at 14:45 a third attack from the same direction. By the end of the day, units of the division were fighting on the lines: 450th rifle division - Bishkali and north-west of Bishkali, 941th rifle division - western outskirts of Atputas, 951st rifle division was in the division's reserve and concentrated in the forest east of Atputas 200 m.
4.11.44
The 951st joint venture was drawn into the forest east. Jaunwiganti, 941 cn acted from behind the right flank of the 951 th cv fought for Mazushi, the 450 th cv in the Bishkali region was put in order.
The village of Mazushi was located 9 km north-west of Rukisha and Leias.
5.11.44
The 941st Rifle Division fought for Mazushi from the south and southwest, the 951st Rifle Division - the eastern edge of the forest / 6693a /, the 450th Rifle Division bezym. h. northeast of Purvie.
6.11.44
By night operations, the 941st regiment captured Mazushi and cleared the forest northwest and north of Mazushi from the enemy.
Lisitsyn F.Ya. In those terrible years.
“The offensive by army troops in the Vegerää region, which began on October 27, turned out to be more effective than in the Dobele area. It went on almost without pauses and lasted 10 days. During this time, the formations of the 7th and 79th Rifle Corps, together with the neighboring 10th Guards Army, advanced 40-50 kilometers forward. Only the troops of the 3rd Shock Army liberated 550 settlements here, exterminated over 7 thousand Nazis, and 1176 enemy soldiers and officers were taken prisoner, destroying a lot of enemy military equipment in battles. "
“The ten-day offensive of the 3rd shock troops from the Vegeraya area ended on November 5, 1944. In view of the fierce resistance of the enemy, our left neighbors on the 2nd Baltic Front suspended their advance even earlier. All subsequent attempts by the troops of the two fronts to dismember the enemy grouping pressed to the sea and eliminate it piece by piece were unsuccessful. Although the Soviet High Command was interested in the speedy liquidation of the Kurland grouping, it could not allocate additional forces for this at that time. Therefore, the enemy grouping remained blocked on the peninsula until the end of the war and capitulated only in May 1945. "
9.11-10.11.44
The combat strength of the 265th Infantry Division on 10.11.44 consisted of 2,566 people: officers - 537 people, sergeants - 648 people, privates - 1381 people. After the fighting of the previous days, the 265th division was noticeably inferior in size to the other two divisions of the 7th rifle corps.
Units of the 265th Infantry Division repaired corps roads in the Bishkali-Kadiki-Mazushi sector. On November 9, 300 meters of wooden flooring were laid, on November 10-11 - 900 meters, 300 meters of roads were cleared.
The 265th Infantry Division at 10:00 entered the new concentration area of \u200b\u200bKaugari, Kevye, and aglins.
12.11.44
Units of the 265th Infantry Division repaired hull roads (270 linear meters of wooden flooring were laid)
12.11-18.11.44
Parts of the 265th Infantry Division were engaged in combat training and repairing corps roads.
19.11.44
At 17:00 the 265th Infantry Division concentrated in the 1 km forest area east of Drabnieki.
23.11.44
Parts of the 265th Infantry Division were engaged in combat training. At 17:00, the 941st and 951st battalions redeployed to the forest area northwest of Mazushka 300 meters.
26.11.44
Parts of the 265th Infantry Division were repairing corps roads.
27.11.44
Parts of the 265th Infantry Division were repairing corps roads. The 941st joint venture was relocated to the forest area southwest of Shchelabas 300 meters. The division received the task of redeploying to the forest area north of Subri.
28.11-30.11.44
Parts of the 265th Rifle Division, redeployed to the forest area north of Subri, were engaged in combat training and repaired corps roads.
30.11-1.12.44
The 265th Rifle Division was marching into the concentration area: Zeltini, Kankali, Pettermuizha, Kronyavetsaba (Mitavy district).
1.12.44
At 10:00 am, the 265th Infantry Division marched to the Undzhye, Ligzdas, Dangas area.
2.12.44
The division concentrated in the Unjas region, Dangas.
5.12.44
By 5:00 am the 265th rifle division was concentrated in the area (east of the Jelgava-Platone railway section, south of Jelgava and north of Platone station, editor's note): 450th rifle division - Romas and Poti forest, 941th joint venture - forest east of Zeltyn, 951st joint venture - forest northeast of Kankali. Command post and rear of the division - Kiri and the forest north of Kirp.
6.12-14.12.44
Parts of the 265th Infantry Division were engaged in combat training.
14.12-17.12.44
The 265th Infantry Division was loaded into echelons (6 echelons) at station. Plato.
Latvia, Riga
The territory of Latvia was one of the first among the Soviet republics to be completely occupied by the Nazis. The troops of Army Group "North" occupied Riga on July 1, 1941, and the entire territory of the republic passed to the invaders on July 8. In August 1941, Latvia became a member of the Ostland Reichskommissariat.
In three years soviet armies began the liberation of the Baltic States.
The successful offensive of Soviet troops in the summer of 1944 as part of Operation Bagration created favorable conditions for the complete liberation of the Baltic republics. The German Army Group "North" was captured from the south by the troops of the Belorussian fronts and at the same time pressed against the Gulf of Riga by the forces of the Baltic fronts. The real threat of complete encirclement hung over the German group.
Despite the fact that a significant part of the German headquarters insisted on an early withdrawal of troops from the Baltic to East Prussia, Hitler's intentions remained the same - to retain control over the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea at any cost.
By the end of July 1944, with a series of successful front-line operations, the troops of the Red Army broke through defensive line "Panther" in the regions of Narva, Daugavpils, Ostrov and Pskov. By the end of August, during the Tartu operation, a bridgehead was captured in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Tartu. This further complicated the position of the enemy's Baltic grouping. But even in such a situation, Hitler's position remained unchanged: in conditions of a serious shortage of fuel, it seemed unacceptable to the head of the Reich to lose the established production of synthetic gasoline. Not only resources forced the Germans to literally bite into the Baltic coast. While the key ports of the Gulf of Riga were in the hands of the Wehrmacht, the Soviet Baltic Fleet had its hands tied, and control over the Baltic, in turn, provided the most convenient transport corridors for raw materials from the Scandinavian countries.
To maintain their positions in the Baltic states, the German leadership took a number of measures. In particular, the entire territory under their control was turned, in fact, into one continuous fortified area. To replenish the group with personnel, large-scale mobilization and the formation of new units from the rear units began. The morale and fighting spirit of the army was not disregarded either. The Goebbels office was constantly broadcasting about a new super-powerful weapon that could turn the tide of the War. At the same time, the units were reinforced by employees of the Gestapo, whose duties included the suppression of any form of defeatism and alarmism. Barrage detachments from SS units were deployed in key areas to completely exclude the possibility of retreat.
Preparing for the upcoming offensive in the Baltic and Soviet troops. The units practiced overcoming water barriers and taking well-fortified strongholds. The rear was pulled up, the necessary roads were built. Engineering units were preparing to build bridges and crossings. Very original ways of forcing rivers were also invented. For example, the boss engineering troops Of the 1st Baltic Front, General Vasily Vasilyevich Kosarev proposed to block the Memele and Musha rivers with dams above the site where the crossing was planned. Subsequently, this idea had a significant impact on the course of the campaign.
The active phase of preparation for the autumn campaign in the Baltics began in early August 1944, when a plan for a future offensive, called the Baltic Strategic Offensive Operation, was prepared.
The general concept of the campaign was to strike from three sides with a general direction to Riga with the forces of all three Baltic fronts as part of the Riga operation and a simultaneous strike in the Tallinn direction with the forces of the Leningrad Front.
The initial date for the start of the operation was supposed to be September 4, 1944. But the deadlines had to be shifted by 10 days, when the troops of the 3rd Baltic Front were able to seize a bridgehead in the Tartu region, from where it was planned to strike at the enemy's Narva grouping that was defending Tallinn. Another reason for the postponement of the start date of the operation was the incomplete readiness of the fronts, especially the rear units, for a future offensive. Thus, it was decided to start the attack on Riga on September 14, 1944.
Of course, the Soviet command in every possible way tried to hide the scale and goals of the future offensive, but this was not fully achieved. In particular, the radio intelligence services of both sides studied each other so well that by the radio signal, or, more precisely, by the transmitter power and the style of the radio operator, they could almost accurately determine the location of the enemy's headquarters of any level, from battalion to army.
In confirmation of the above, an amusing incident that occurred with the 22nd Army of the 2nd Baltic Front can be cited. By order of the headquarters, the army was to be redeployed from one wing of the front to another. The march, as it should be, was made at night, at the old place of deployment, some of the radio stations were left, which continued to work as usual. At the new location, the troops were ordered to observe the radio silence, but one of the overly zealous commanders, upon completion of the transition, reported to the headquarters on the completion of the assignment. After that, the new position of the army was immediately revealed, and in the morning a German plane scattered leaflets over the new positions with the inscription "Congratulations to the 22nd Army on a safe arrival!"
By September 10, 1944, the preparations for the offensive were generally completed, and the campaign plan was finalized. At that time, our troops occupied the lines passing through Tartu, Valga and Gulbene (3rd Baltic Front), along the Gulbene-Bauska line (2nd Baltic Front), west of Siauliai, Raseiniai, in the Jelgava region (1st Baltic Front ).
For the future offensive, the following forces were concentrated: 900 thousand soldiers and officers, about 17,500 guns and mortars, about 3,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, over 2,500 combat aircraft (not counting long-range aviation).
German forces in the Baltics numbered 53 divisions with a total number of over 700,000 men, about 7,000 guns and mortars, over 1,200 tanks and assault guns, and 400 combat aircraft. Army Group North was commanded by Colonel-General Scherner. The main forces of the Wehrmacht were concentrated in the area of \u200b\u200bRiga. It was the liquidation of the Riga group that the Baltic fronts were supposed to carry out as part of the Riga operation.
After the German offensive in Eastern Galicia and Bukovina was exhausted (which, by the way, brought territorial benefits only to the Austrians), the German high command continued, taking advantage of the lull in the West, the search for options for offensive operations on the Eastern Front that would deal a strong blow to the Russians and at the same time would give the Germans valuable territorial gains.
The only place where it was possible to strike a short one (otherwise it was impossible due to the low mobility of the German army), but a painful blow for the Russians, was the area of \u200b\u200bRiga. The loss of Riga would be a strong blow for Russia, and for the Germans, Riga would also be a good acquisition in case of further bargaining in the peace negotiations. And it was Riga that was chosen as the site of the last major offensive operation on the Russian Front.
As a result, a short Riga operation (from 1 to 5 September 1917) led to an even more painful defeat for the Russian troops than the retreat from Galicia. And the Russian troops in the north came out of this operation in a much worse condition than the troops Southwest Front... In particular, the material losses were much higher, as was the number of deserters. Also, as a result of the defeat near Riga, the Kornilov mutiny took place, which led to the complete collapse of the Russian army.
This section contains chapters:
In fact, Riga has been one of the most important goals of the German command on the Eastern Front since the summer of 1915, i.e. since the end of the 2nd Siauliai operation. And from the beginning of 1916 to the spring of 1917, the Riga bridgehead was constantly a source of danger for the Germans. But only in the summer of 1917 a sufficiently favorable situation developed at the front to try to eliminate the Riga bridgehead. But since the Germans dreamed for two years of taking Riga and gaining control over the entire Gulf of Riga, it is easy to guess that the plans for the operation had been developed for a long time, and by the time the decision was made to attack near Riga, there was a lot in engineering and the intelligence relation was prepared.
Preparations directly for the operation near Riga started on August 4, when the Germans decided to repeat the great successes in Bukovina in the north. On August 11, when it became clear that an offensive into Romanian Moldova from the north and west was impossible due to the poor state of communication lines in Bukovina, the German command decided to strike a short but strong blow in the Riga area. (Poor communication routes are an excuse for the Austrians, who barely coped with the 8th and 1st Russian armies and themselves were completely unprepared for the offensive.) On August 14, the German Naval Headquarters was connected to work in order to organize a simultaneous offensive on the Western Dvina landing on the island of Ezel (and, possibly, even on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Riga).
To strike at Riga, it was necessary to transport part of the troops that took part in the counteroffensive in Galicia, in particular the 1st and 2nd Guards Regiment of the Regiment. Troops from other sectors of the Eastern Front were also collected. Given the weakness railways (the Germans used only two tracks), the regrouping of troops dragged on almost until the beginning of the offensive, because the first thing the Germans were carrying was artillery and shells for it.