Smolensk battle. Battle of Smolensk From the Black to the White Seas

On December 18, 1940, Directive No. 21, better known as the Barbarossa plan, was signed. According to this plan, the German army was supposed to complete its "victorious campaign to the East" in just a few months. Leningrad became one of the cities to which great attention was paid in this regard: in the shortest possible time, the German troops and their allies had to first destroy the Soviet troops in the Baltic states, and then, having captured the ports on the Baltic Sea, primarily Leningrad and Kronstadt, occupy advantageous areas to strike at the troops covering Moscow.

In fact, having captured Leningrad, Germany solved many strategic issues: this was complete control over the most powerful economic base of the USSR, the destruction of the Baltic Fleet, the strengthening of the flanks of Army Group Center, which was advancing on Moscow, blocking Soviet troops in the Arctic.

At the same time, the Nazi elite did not have a unanimous opinion about the future fate of Leningrad: some suggested razing the city to the ground (a similar fate was prepared for Moscow), others believed that the city could not be destroyed - it was enough to deprive it of its industrial, economic and political significance.

The German military command planned that Leningrad would be taken in a short time: the Army Group North, which was advancing on the city, commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb, had an overwhelming superiority. In the first 18 days that have passed since the beginning of World War II, the Wehrmacht's main strike force, the 4th Panzer Army, operating in the Leningrad direction, was able to fight more than 600 kilometers, and by July 9, occupy Pskov, from which there was less than 300 kilometers. Hitler's troops were left with the last throw - through Luga. At that time, work was already underway to create the Luga frontier.

The Wehrmacht launched an attack on Leningrad on July 10, 1941. Almost simultaneously, the German troops delivered several powerful blows in the Luga, Novgorod, Staraya Russian directions.

Already two days after the start of the offensive, the Nazi troops reached the Luga defensive line.

... By the beginning of August 1941, the most difficult defensive battles began on the outskirts of Leningrad. In the second half of the month, the Nazi troops occupied Novgorod, Chudovo, Kingisepp, Tosno.

At the end of August, the Nazi troops reached the line of the Neva and cut off the railway communication between the city and the country.

At the same time, Finnish troops entered the area of ​​the USSR state border in 1939.

A few days after this, Risto Ryti, who was then President of Finland, informed the German envoy that "the Neva would be the best frontier on the Karelian Isthmus." And for such a border to appear, Leningrad had to be completely destroyed.

BATTLE REPORT No. 7 HEADQUARTERS OF THE NORTHERN FRONT 1.7.41 16.00

Cards 100.000 and 500.000

1. 14th army.
135 joint ventures and 23 SD defend the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, repelling the attacks of two enemy battalions on the front of IIVARY, KUTOVAYA.
There was no information about the units of the 14th Rifle Division defending the Titovka area.
The 52nd Rifle Division conducts reconnaissance along the communication line and the road to Titovka and continues defensive work to the east. bank of the river ZAP. PERSONS. 112 joint ventures moved beyond the river. ZAP. PERSONS and the strike group of the division was withdrawn.
42 sc takes its former position.
1.7.41 1.40 18 tanks appeared at the edge of the grove (3490), which were scattered by our artillery fire, one tank was hit.
Enemy aircraft fired machine guns at the echelon at st. VOYTA.
The 242nd brigade advances the 3rd company in the direction of OLANGA and the 3/242nd joint venture in the direction of KUSHEVANDA to assist the 72nd, attacked by the enemy (presumably the 11th Finnish infantry brigade) on the front from LOKIKOLA to TOPOZERO.

2. 7th army.
On the 54th Rifle Division section, the enemy went on the offensive in the morning of 1.7.41 and pushed back our outposts in some areas (see operational summary).
According to the data available by 15.00, the enemy attack in the area of ​​​​the border sign No. 661 (9068) and at MINOZER was repulsed. The outpost near the frontier post No. 655 is fighting in a semi-encirclement.
The situation in other areas is unknown, due to lack of communication.
During the night and in the morning, the enemy bombed the railway with separate planes. PETROZAVODSK-SUOYARVI, but caused no damage.
Two high-explosive bombs were dropped on PETROZAVODSK, resulting in civilian casualties.
There were no hostilities on the rest of the army front.

3. 23 The army defends the former front, the position of all units is unchanged. 19 sk - 142 sd conducts a defensive battle with the enemy, with a force of up to pd, advances on RISTALAHTI to the point, surrounds 1/461 joint venture in Kankala to the point, advances on KIRKONPOULI to the point. The infantry battalion advancing on SYUVYAORO was repulsed and driven back beyond the state border.
115th Rifle Division - the planned enemy offensive at 2.00 1.7.41 was thwarted by our artillery counter-preparation and the enemy retreated from its original position. LAYTILA area up to two infantry battalions and up to a tank battalion in the YAKOLA area up to an infantry battalion.
The shock groups were sent by the commander of the 19th brigade to eliminate the enemy that had broken through the area of ​​\u200b\u200bLake. PARIKAN-YARVI (15 km. N.S.Z. LAKHDENPOKHIA) for a counterattack, together with units of the 19th brigade, is thrown out on the machines of the NKVD border school from SORTAVAL.

4. 8th Infantry Brigade - 30.6.41 23.50 the enemy opened intense artillery-mortar and rifle-machine-gun fire, concentrating it on the LAPPOKHYA area, zhel. road and without. height, 3 km. app. LAPPOKHYA. After the artillery of the brigade and the fortified sector of the VBM opened fire, the fire weakened. The shootout continues.
On the afternoon of 30.6 enemy planes bombarded firing positions of 204 zen. division and 7 batteries 34 Zap. 6 people were wounded, of which 2 remained in service.

CHIEF OF STAFF OF NORTHERN
FRONT - GENERAL-MAJOR (Nikishev)

HEAD OF OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
GENERAL-MAJOR (Tikhomirov)

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TO THE COMMANDER OF THE NORTHERN FRONT

BATTLE REPORTS No. 19 HEADQUARTERS OF THE NORTHERN FRONT
LENINGRAD 8.00 2.7.41. MAP 500000

1. Murmansk brigade air defense area

No communication broken.

2. PETROZAVODSK Brigade Air Defense District

During the night there were 2 single twin-engine enemy aircraft in the area; 1 at an altitude of 400 meters south of Rebola, 2 at an altitude of 4000 meters above Petrozavodsk. The 54th air defense division fired at the first shots, the aircraft, using an anti-aircraft maneuver, lost altitude, and left. 12 shells expended. In Petrozavodsk at 21.28 an air raid alarm was announced, the end was given at 22.16.

3. VYBORGSKIY Brigade Air Defense District

During the night, reconnaissance flights were made in the region by 10 groups of pr-ka aircraft, from one to three aircraft in each, at altitudes from 100 to 3000 meters. Exploration was carried out along the entire front of the isthmus. A link of twin-engine attack aircraft at an altitude of 100 meters and one Heinkel-112 at an altitude of 250 meters were fired upon by wax zen. artillery /241 OZAD/, spent 37 shells. One bomber, pr-ka at 21.45, on the outskirts of the city of Vyborg, was fired on FOR 474 air defense regiments, shot down and burned down in the Lusko region / the fact is being specified /. 19 shells expended. In the district of Raisel at 21.40 our IA shot down a plane of project Yu-88. In the city of Vyborg at 21.45 an alarm was announced and the end was given at 22.45.

4. LENINGRAD HOUSING PVO

There was no aviation project over the city of Leningrad.
At 21.15, a twin-engine bomber of the pr-ka at an altitude of 1000 meters passed along the Antrea-Terioki route, then turned to the north-east, in the Leipyasuo region it was shot down by our IA /the fact is being specified/. AZ were raised from 24.00 1.7.41 to a height of 2000-4000 meters. Fighter aircraft made 58 sorties.
In the rest of the air defense districts of the Northern Aviation Zone, there was no pr-ka.

CONCLUSION:

1. There was an active reconnaissance activity of aviation pr-ka at the front of the entire Karelian Isthmus.
2. Reconnaissance of points was carried out: the city of Vyborg and the city of Petrozavodsk.

Commander of the Northern Air Defense Zone
Major General of Artillery / KRYUKOV /

Zone Chief of Staff
Colonel /CHUMAK/

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TO THE CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF

BATTLE REPORT No. 43 HEADQUARTERS NWF PSKOV 3.7.41. 4 hours 50 minutes
CARD 500.000, 100.000.

11A, after leaving the Gaizhuny area, withdrew and by the morning of 2.7 occupied the position:
23sd - TVERYANTSY, SIPOVICHI, YURSHCHET (10 km. NE VIDZY);
5sd - area 5 km east. VIDZY;
33rd - BLUZHEN (10 km southeast of VIDZY);
126sd - VIDZY;
188sd - TVERICH;
84msd - KOKUTSI, BREWERS, (10 km east. TVERICH);
9 motorcycle regiment 3mk - in the same place;
Shtakor 16 - VIDZY;
Shtarm 11 - POLOTSK.
Connection losses reach:
a/ military equipment - up to 70-75%; heavy machine guns - up to 95% (knocked out). In the human composition - up to 60%. The commander of the 23rd Rifle Division, Major General PAVLOV, was killed. There is no information about the commander of the 84th division.
From the report of the army commander it is clear:
a / the army retreated in difficult conditions: on the way it overcame a water barrier across the river. VILIA with one pontoon park, under the direct influence of enemy aircraft and artillery fire; lack of artillery shells, fuel and food. The retreat was hampered by gangs from Šaulist organizations, German paratroopers. There was no communication with the units.
b/ Army units carry out the tasks assigned by the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army - retreat to the forest north of DISNA.
c / The enemy infantry, as a rule, did not accept our attacks and did not go on the attack. The offensive is carried out methodically, positions are captured when it is cleared of fighters by mortar fire and artillery.
d/ The condition of the parts is morally good. With the replenishment of fire supplies, the units began to conduct defense. After mobilization, they are able to perform any task. The fighters and commanders have received good combat training and will be a good backbone in the army units.
The army commander was ordered to go to the MYAKISHEVO area, where to leave a more full-blooded division for the defense of the area (the area of ​​\u200b\u200bLake KIVNA, (claim.) DUBROVKA, LOVACHI. The remaining forces, by the end of 7.7, leave the NAVEREZHBA area to occupy the defense of the first rear defensive line.

COMMANDER OF THE NWF TROOPS
GENERAL-MAJOR (SOBENNIKOV)

MILITARY COUNCIL NWF
CORPORATION COMMISSIONER (V. BOGATKIN)

CHIEF OF STAFF NWF
LIEUTENANT GENERAL (VATUTIN)

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ACCEPT A SUMMARY OF THE BATTLE REPORT
BECAUSE FOR TECHNICAL REASONS IT MAY BE LATE
THE FIRST ON THE ENTIRE FRONT OF OUR PARTS DURING
ACTIVE INTELLIGENCE SEARCHES WERE GOING ON ALL DAY
BOTH SIDES DOT SECOND ON THE FRONT PANIN
IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LONKA THE ENEMY IS POWERED UP TO TWO MOUTH
THE MOUTH ATTEMPTED TO GO EASTERN
AN ATTEMPT HAS BEEN REJECTED BY RASSOKHIN'S DIVISIONS
THE OUTSIDE OF VAZHENVARA AND THE MANGROUP FROM THE BATTLE AND
WAR FOCUSED ON REBOL
THE DIRECTION OF THE DIVISION OF CHURILOV BORDER ZOSTAVA
KALVASOZERO REJECTED THE OPPONENT
STATE BORDER THIRD ON THE FEDOROV FRONT DURING
THE DAY THE INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS WAS OCCURRED
GROUPS OF BOTH PARTIES AS A RESULT OF WHICH IN THE AREA
KUKOVARA ENEMY INTELLIGENCE GROUP B
5 PERSONS WAS SURROUNDED AND DROPPED IN
LAKE FITTED DRowned THREE CROPS IN THE AREA
TSIPPAKA AS A RESULT OF HAND FIGHT WITH INTELLIGENCE
BY THE ENEMY GROUP THE ENEMY IS DRIVED BEYOND THE STATE BORDER
LOSSING ONE KILLED FOURTH AT THE FRONT
BONDAREV, COMBAT INTELLIGENCE WAS CARRIED OUT ACCORDING TO PRELIMINARY
DATA DURING COMBAT COLLISIONS WITH THE ENEMY
THE ENEMY HAS UP TO 30 PEOPLE KILLED WITH OUR
SIDES LOSSED NO INTELLIGENCE DATA TO BE SPECIFIED
FIFTH DURING THE NIGHT ON THE ENTIRE FRONT
INTELLIGENCE SEARCH WILL CONTINUE
NSHA KRUTIKOV

TRANSMITTED 01 40 4 7 41 D IN THE PRESENCE OF THE COLONEL
KOZLOV HAS BEEN PASSED BY GONIKGENDLER

I ANSWER THE FIRST EVENTS ON THE PANIN FRONT
REFER TO 9 - 11 HOURS BEFORE WAR
UP TO TWO BATAMIONS IN FRONT OF CHURILOV ON A WIDE
FRONT OPERATING APPROXIMATELY UP TO TWO BATTALIONS
AND IN GENERAL ON THE FRONT OF THE UKHTA DIRECTION TO
INFANTRY DIVISION AND ON THE REBOL DIRECTION TO
INFANTRY BRIGADE ON THE FEDOROV FRONT EVENTS
REFER TO 10 - 11 AM AT THE BONDAREV FRONT
FROM 10 TO 15 HOURS GROUPING OF THE ENEMY FORCES ON
OUR MAIN DIRECTION REFERRED AND SAY
ANYTHING SPECIFIC DESPITE OUR ACTIVE
FORCE AND AIR INTELLIGENCE OF CLEAR CONCLUSIONS SHOULD BE DONE
IT'S DIFFICULT TO SAY ON OUR BASIC
DIRECTIONS
ACCORDING TO ALL TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE THE ENEMY
CONTINUES TO BE FOCUSED IN AREAS 5-6 KM FROM
STATE BORDERS COVERING ALONG THE BORDER LINE
BORDER UNITS AND SMALL GROUPS TRANSITION
FIELD TROOP UNITS ALL
TOMORROW I WILL GIVE YOU A DETAILED REPORT IN THAT
THE SAME STATEMENT AS IS REPORTED TODAY BY THE COMMAND
OF THE FRONT BY OUR COMMAND I HAVE EVERYTHING
I REPEATEDLY REPORTED AND ASKED TO SEND ME
Ransomware ALL THE CONFUSION AND FROM HERE AND POSSIBLE
LATE RESULTS IN THE TECHNIQUE OF CRYFRO AND
DECRYPTIONS ARE OBTAINED SO FROM THE PARTS GETTING
NEED TO DECRYPT THEN PROCESS THEN
ENCRYPTION AND THIS TECHNIQUE TAKE THREE CHI HOURS
TIME MAYBE OUR OPERATIONS AND BATTLE
MESSAGES CAN – WAS – WOULD BE TRANSMITTED UNDER THIS
TO THE CLOSED BODO DEVICE
IN THIS CASE, THERE WAS NO LATE AT ALL - WOULD
I THINK THAT THIS QUESTION SHOULD BE POSED
BEFORE TIKHOMIROV I HAVE EVERYTHING

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Comrade STALIN.
Comrade TIMOSHENKO.
Comrade ZHUKOV.

1. As a result of two weeks of fighting, the Armies of the Southern Front continue to hold the line of the river in their hands. Prut and r. Danube, with the exception of the SNYATYN, SHTAKESHTY sector, where the right-flank units of 18 A, retreat to a new defensive line in connection with the withdrawal of the southern wing of the SWF.
To the opponent to the outcome 4.7. managed to force the river. PRUT to transfer to the eastern coast up to six PD and one CD, which forced our units to retreat 20–25 km. The enemy has created for himself a sufficient bridgehead / over 100 km wide. and depth up to 25 km. / to deploy further offensive operations in the general direction of VINNITSA.

2. The course of hostilities, the main grouping of the pr-ka, identified in recent days / BATASHANI-YASSKAYA - up to thirteen PD, one TD, one MD in direct combat contact and presumably in the second echelons and army reserves up to nine PD, up to four MD, up to two TD/ - justify our assumption about the nature, intentions and direction of the main efforts of the pr-ka, set out in my report No. 0012 / op.
The efforts shown by the enemy in the FORD-TARNOPOL and CHERNOVITSY-TARNOPOL, as well as ROVNO-BERDICHES and BELTSY-VINNITSKY directions confirm the plan of the pr-ka with a double concentric blow to surround the main grouping of the South-Western Front and the right wing of the Southern Front.

3. The total number of enemy troops in front of the Southern Front / up to 40 PD, up to 3 TD, up to 10 MD. / gives him a general superiority in manpower by 3-4 times, in equipment - by 2-2½ times, with the existing average the operational density of our troops is one SD per 70–80 km.
In the direction of a possible main attack /in VINNITSKY/ the enemy has the opportunity to create even greater density.

4. The armies of the Southern Front have the ability to carry out the tasks assigned to them by the method of mobile defense based on the UR”s of the river. DNIESTER.
Most likely, the pr-k will strive to bypass the entire SD group /i.e. right flank of the front / from the north, a breakthrough in the direction of BERDICHEVO-VINNYTSIA with a simultaneous attempt to break through the line of the UR in the weakest places / gaps between the URs /

5. Based on the foregoing, the construction of the defense of the army of the Southern Front is conceived as follows:
a / The basis of defense is the line of the UR, reinforced by field installations, which will be occupied by our withdrawing troops;
b/ The main grouping / in particular the front reserves / should be closer to the right flank of the front.

Specifically, the grouping of troops is conceived as follows:

1/ 18 A- border on the left: PASHKANI, KUKONESHTI, SOROKA, SALKOVA - all for 18 A.
189 SD- defends the already prepared line SMOTRICH, GUKOV, with a front to the north-west, covering the grouping 18 A from the north.
96 GSD- reinforces KAMENETS-PODIL'SKY UR.
164 and 169 SD- defend the gap between KAMENETS-PODOL'SKIY and MOGILEV-PODOL'SK-YAMPOL'SKIY UR's.
130 SD.- defends the northern part of MOGILEV-PODOLSK-YAMPOLSKY UR”a / to MOGILEV-PODOLSK /.
196 SD- defends the gap between LETICHEVSKY and MOGILEV-PODOLSK UR "s on the front: LESOVTS, BURNT.
60 SD, 39 TD- army reserve area DUNAEVTSY, MINKOVTSI.

2/ 9 A: – 176 SD- defends the northern part of the RYBNITSKY UR” and tete-de-pon at SOROK.
74 SD- defends the gap between the RYBNITSKY and TERASPOL URs / part of the forces the northern part in front of the lying tet-de-pon /.
30 SD+ 257 - defends the northern part of the TIRASPOL UR”a / excl. TIRASPOL/, part of the tete de pon forces near TIRASPOL.
95 SD- defends TIRASPOL.
150 SD, 2 MK, 2 KK - Army reserve in the area: SLOBODKA, KODYMA, ZHURY, KOTOVSK. 2 MK to have on the right flank of the army.

3 / For the defense of Odessa and the approaches to it, the area within the boundaries - BEREZOVKA, TIRASPOL / claim /, OPAC, r. CHAGA, oz. SASIK, the Black Sea coast to NIKOLAEV / incl. / - the Odessa group of troops is being created, consisting of: 51, 25, 116 SD, the TIRASPOL UR garrison and all units available on the Black Sea coast within the indicated boundaries.
Commander of the Odessa Group - Lieutenant General Chibisov of the Zamkomtroy.

4/ Front reserves: –
227 SD and parts of 18 MK - Zhmerinka district.

[freehand pencil]
6. At the same time, measures are being taken to organize defensive work on the rear front line along the eastern bank of the river. Southern Bug from Vinnitsa to Nikolaev

7. Due to the fact that the LETICHEVSKY UR is located for the most part within the boundaries of the SW Front, I consider it expedient to subordinate it completely to the SW Front, obliging the SW Front to reinforce it with field troops.

8. Headquarters of the Southern Front from 8.7.41. - PERVOMAISK.

Please approve.
COMMANDER OF THE SOUTHERN FRONT
ARMY GENERAL /TYULENEV/

MILITARY COUNCIL MEMBER
ARMY COMMISSIONER 1st RANK /ZAPORIZHETS/

CHIEF OF THE FRONT STAFF
GENERAL MAJOR /SHISHENIN/

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BATTLE REPORT No. 25 SHTAKOR 2 PVO LENINGRAD
05.00.6.7.41 Card 200.000.

1. The enemy did not appear over the Leningrad point. From 19.36 to 19.55 Shlisselburg-Tosno district at high altitude the noise of the engine. Presumably an enemy scout.

2. The EA patrolled in designated areas. 81 sorties were made. Flying 70 hours.
AZ raised from 00.22.6.7.41
03.00. one balloon crashed. Reason: not smooth braking when the balloons are released into the air. The shell was not found - it was blown away by the wind in the direction of Lake Ladoga.

3. 02.50 6.7.41 “Zenith” / in the Toksovo district / stopped working due to a power outage. /The reasons are specified/. 03.30 6.7.41 started work.
From 02.00. Until 02.40, communications within the Toksovo VNOS company were interrupted. From 00.30 to 03.45 communication with the 7th post of the 10th company was interrupted. The reason is that a high-voltage wire fell on the telephone line and disabled it. Communication restored.

At 01.40, it was not known who arrested and took away the head of post No. 0704, district st. Inkel, ml. commander of the TRUSOV reserve, who tried to detain TWO cars without permits. Searches are being made.

Chief of Staff, 2nd Air Defense Corps
COLONEL /Dobryansky/

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MILITARY COUNCIL SWF

BATTLE REPORT No. 0022 STARM 6 KHMIELNYK 7.7.41.
CARD 200.000.

1. The enemy advances along the highway SHEPETOVKA, BERDICHEV. At the same time, the direction OSTROPOL, STAROKONSTANTINOV is advancing.
A group of motorized infantry with 6-8 tanks occupied 7.7 CHUDNOV at 11.00.
At 20.00 6.7 motorized infantry with tanks attacked the OSTROPOLSK UR in the direction of BRAZHNICA, OPATSKOVTSY. At 11.00 7.7 the enemy was driven back.
STAROKONSTANTINOV from 9.00 7.7 is shelled with rare artillery fire.
According to the RO 15 MK at 16.30 up to 30 tanks occupied YANUSHPOL and are moving south.
During the night, the enemy conducted reconnaissance searches at the front OSTROPOL, STAROKONSTANTINOV, MAL. CHERNYATIN.

2. OSTROPOLSK UR is held by units of the 3rd PTABr, 211th Airborne Brigade and two pulbats. Our infantry is scarce on this front.
36 sk - the position of the body is unknown, because there is no connection with him. The liaison delegates have not yet returned. The latest information on the operational summary from 6.7.41.
37 sk - at 23.00 6.7.41 set out from KRASILOV to occupy the defensive line OSTROPOL, STAROKONSTANTINOV. Reports of the occupation of the border have not yet been received. The position of the body parts is specified.
49 sk at 18-20.00 on 6.7.41 was subjected to a sudden raid by tanks and aircraft. In the BOL area. SALIHA 197th Rifle Division fled. The division commander in the ROSOLOVTSY area assembled parts of the division.
The remaining parts of the corps move to the east, their position is being specified.
4 microns until 14.00 7.7 defended the line from the northwest. STAROKONSTANTINOV. From 14.00 7.7.41 in motion in the CHUDNOV area. The position of the body parts is specified.
15 microns set out from the ULANs to the BERDICHEV area.

CONCLUSION: The position of the army is difficult. The difficulty of maintaining communication with the corps due to the lack of technical means of communication, transport and bad roads makes the army poorly managed.
The corps make decisions on the situation and very late report to Shtrm. According to the road conditions, the communications delegates can deliver information or an order in 7-8 hours.
The army does not have the strength and means to parry the enveloping blows of the enemy and cover the direction of ZHITOMIR, BERDICHEV cannot, because. the enemy is moving faster and we cannot regroup at the right time.
The mechanized corps, due to the small number of materiel, have little combat capability.

COMMANDER OF THE 6TH ARMY
LIEUTENANT GENERAL /MUZYCHENKO/

MILITARY COUNCIL MEMBER
DIVISIONAL COMMISSIONER /POPOV/

CHIEF OF STAFF
KOMBRIG /IVANOV/

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BATTLE REPORT. No. 2. 8.7.41, 23.00.

1. On the basis of combat order No. 27 of the Headquarters of the Northern Front dated 6.7.41 and after the personal instructions of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Comrade. PYADYSHEV 237 SD is concentrated in the area: STARITSA, MUTAKYULA, KORPIKOVO, sl. PROLETARIAN.

2. By the end of the day on July 8, 1941, the following fully arrived and concentrated:
a/ 835 joint venture in the area: pos. TAITSY, Mal. TRUE, Bol. PEGGELEVO, headquarters of the regiment figured ledge of the forest 1 km. southern BOL. TAITS. From 16.00, the regiment's units began to carry out defensive work.
b/ 838 The joint venture arrived and concentrated in the area: KORPIKOVO, /isk./ klh. BOL. PARITSY, pl. MARIENBURG, the headquarters of the regiment is located at the crossroads of clearings 1 km. southern settlement ROSHAL. From 16.00 on 8.7.41, the regiment's units began defensive work.
in / 270 ORB completely arrived and concentrated in the eastern half of the forest, which is 1 km. sowing HUNGER. The battalion puts itself in order, organized classes with poorly trained fighters and proceeded to fragment the cracks.
g / Profits 1st and 2nd batteries 5 PTD last settled down: 1st baht. in the area of ​​YULIA PURSKOVO, 2nd Bat. in the area of ​​835 joint ventures.
e / The rest of the units and subunits are on the way and the headquarters of the division has no information about the latter.
e / According to unverified information during the loading period at st. LOYMOLA 691 LAP regiment was attacked by enemy aircraft, there are 6 people killed and 16 people wounded. Exact information will be given additionally after clarification.

CHIEF OF STAFF 237 SD
COLONEL: - / TIMOFEEV /

HEAD OF THE 1st DEP.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL: - / KOZLOV /

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COMMANDER OF THE NORTHERN FRONT.

BATTLE REPORT No. 33 OF THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE NORTHERN AIR DEFENSE ZONE.
LENINGRAD. 08.00.9.7.41. Map 500000.

From 18.00 8.7.41. until 06.00.9.7.41. enemy aircraft carried out reconnaissance flights in the areas where our troops were located and active operations on the railway. dor. nodes.

1. Svir Air Defense Brigade District.
In the Svir air defense region from 18.00 8.7.41. until 06.00.9.7.41. enemy planes did not appear.
At 17.30, a G-1 aircraft landed by warning fire in the vicinity of the KOLCHANOVO station, passing over the restricted area at an altitude of 200 meters and not giving identification marks; spent 8 small. cal. shells.

2. VYBORGSKIY Brigade Air Defense District.
During the night, 3 targets were detected with a number of 1 to 3 aircraft each, making reconnaissance flights over the location of our troops, with a deepening of 30 km into our territory.
At 01.00 9.7 9 enemy bombers bombarded the depot of the ELISENVARA station. As a result of the bombing, one Red Army soldier was killed and three wounded, communications were disrupted and the railway was damaged. ELISENVARA station node.

3. MURMANSK BRIGAD ADVOICE REGION.
From 18.00 8.7. until 06.00.9.7.41. two targets were detected, consisting of 2 and 6 aircraft, performing reconnaissance flights in the area of ​​​​st. SAIDA and SHANGUY crossing with a deepening into our territory for 80 km.

4. PETROZAVODSK Brigade Air Defense District.
From 18.00 8.7. until 06.00.9.7.41. 9 targets appeared on the territory of the region with a number of 1 to 5 aircraft each, at altitudes from 1000 to 8000 meters, with a deepening of 200 km into our territory. All flights were reconnaissance in nature at the locations of our troops and the railway.
The VNOS company, located in the REBOLA area, withdrew to the east, with all the personnel to the ZAP point. MUYOSERO. One horse and two Red Army soldiers lagged behind in the area of ​​vil. Emelyanovka. One car and part of the property were destroyed.

5. LENINGRAD Air Defense Corps.
1. Enemy aviation did not conduct reconnaissance operations in the Leningrad region. At 19.45 8.7.41. 3 enemy bombers dropped three bombs and fired at train No. 114 at station. M. VISHER. The conductor was killed and two soldiers were wounded.
2. AZ at 23.00 8.7. thrown into the air. 15 AZ TANDEM were allocated to cover the Izhora plant.
3. FOR hostilities did not lead.
4. IA made 67 sorties on patrol with a flight time of 65 hours. 26 min.

6. LUGA Brigade Air Defense District.
From 18.00 8.7.41 to 06.00 9.7. enemy aircraft did not show active operations. Two aircraft were observed in the area of ​​the city of LUGA, passing at high altitude in the direction of foreign countries, making single flights to the area of ​​st. WONDERFUL.
As a result of the bombing 7.7.41. at 15.15, at the 257th kilometer of the echelon of the 474th air defense regiment, 4 Junkers-88 produced from a height of 2000 meters, there were losses: 13 people were killed, 24 people were injured, 12 of them lightly. 4 anti-aircraft guns, 4 ZIS-5, 3 GAZ-AA, 1 GAZ-A, 2 kitchens, 2 carriages of shells, a control device, an ammunition depot, workshops, communications property of the 7th battery and a machine-gun company, a regiment club were destroyed. In total, 3 wagons and 9 platforms were destroyed. The wounded were handed over to the medical train, the dead were buried at the crossing of 257 kilometers.

FINDINGS:
1/ Enemy aviation continues reconnaissance and bombardment of railroads. dor. tracks and stations.
2/ Enhanced reconnaissance activity of enemy aircraft on the Karelian Isthmus and the Petrozavodsk direction is noted.

COMMANDER OF THE NORTHERN AIR DEFENSE ZONE
Major General of Artillery /KRUKOV/

CHIEF OF ZONE STAFF COLONEL /CHUMAK/

- - - - - - - - - -

TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE NORTHERN FRONT

BATTLE REPORT No. 1 SHTAKOR 10 mech. COTTAGES / near TOSIKI / 10.7.41. 13.20
card 100.000.

1. I report 21 TDs by 9.00 10.7.41. completely returned to her district, having made 120 km both ways. way - spent refueling fuel.
During these days from 22.6 to 10.7.41. military vehicles made 500–600 km under their own power. way. Of these, 1/3 of motor resources was spent on unnecessary movements.

2. At 9.30 10.7.41. ordered to move again to the PORKHOV area along the previously set route. Movement during the day will bring checkmate. part out of order. The motors are overheating. On the way back, we had to stop because of the oil temperature /90 degrees/ 15 cars have unsoldered fuel lines. If the situation requires moving again to the specified area, I ask you to allow the march to be done at night, after putting the materiel in order and refueling it.

3. Gasoline in 21-TD - one refueling in combat vehicles. You still need a ride in order to take at least 1/2 of the gas station with you, since there are no more containers and vehicles for delivery.
Please take into account the above and do not display a combat mat. part prematurely out of combat.

COMMANDER 10 MK
GENERAL - MAJOR OF TANK TROOPS / LAZAREV /

Sergei Varshavchik, RIA Novosti columnist.

July 1941 is the 23rd month of World War II. With the attack of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet Union, the scale and severity of the battles increased dramatically, and the Eastern Front became the main one for Nazi Germany until the end of the war. The Third Reich for the first time since September 1939 met such a serious and stubborn enemy. But the final victory of the Red Army was still very far away.

Brothers, sisters and commissioners

In July, the German armed forces continued their strategic offensive in all directions, delivering the main blow with the forces of Army Group Center in the Western Front.

The country's leadership recovered from the initial shock caused by the defeats of the Red Army in the border battles and realized the scale of the impending catastrophe. The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Chairman of the State Defense Committee I.V. Stalin broke his silence, which had dragged on for a week and a half after the start of the war, by speaking with some new, unusual for the country, incredibly penetrating intonations. The famous speech on July 3, 1945 began like this: "Comrades! Citizens! Brothers and sisters! Soldiers of our army and navy! I am addressing you, my friends!"

Earlier, Stalin authorized the arrest of the leadership of the Western Front. In July 1941, by decision of the military tribunal on charges of negligence and failure to fulfill their duties, the former front commander, General of the Army Pavlov, his chief of staff, Major General Klimovskikh, the head of communications, Major General Grigoriev, the chief of artillery, Lieutenant General Klich, and several other senior officers. Soon after Stalin's death, they were all rehabilitated.

On the same day, July 3, 1941, Colonel General Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the German Land Forces, wrote in his diary: "It would not be an exaggeration to say that the campaign against Russia was won within 14 days."

One of the measures to strengthen discipline in the army was the revival in the Red Army on July 16 of the institute of military commissars, which was liquidated in 1940 after the Soviet-Finnish war. Another was the appointment of Stalin as People's Commissar of Defense.

Leapfrog in the Western direction

The former People's Commissar, Marshal of the Soviet Union Timoshenko, was instructed to lead the Western Front. However, the situation in this area continued to develop according to the worst-case scenario. By the beginning of July, the Germans in two "cauldrons", Bialystok and Minsk, captured more than 300 thousand people (including several generals) and, having only scattered Soviet units in front of them, were rapidly moving deep into the territory of the USSR. A role in this powerful onslaught was played by the fact that the Center group (unlike the South and North) had two tank groups at once, under the command of Generals Guderian and Goth.

Did not contribute to the improvement of affairs and leapfrog with the commanders of the front. Having burned himself with Pavlov, Stalin "tried" various appointees in the most important strategic direction. From July 2 to July 19, Timoshenko led the front, from July 19 to 30 - Lieutenant General Eremenko, from July 30 - again Timoshenko.

On July 10, the bloody battle of Smolensk began, which lasted until September 1941. After six days of the offensive, on July 16, the 29th motorized division from the Guderian group broke into Smolensk, where stubborn street battles began. Three days later, the Wehrmacht's 10th Panzer Division advanced southeast of Smolensk and occupied the town of Yelnya. As a result, 20 rifle divisions that were part of the 16th, 19th and 20th Soviet armies fell into the operational environment.

The Soviet command tried to turn the tide. South of Smolensk, on July 13, the 21st Army launched a counterattack, the purpose of which was to capture the cities of Bykhov and Bobruisk and go to the rear of the advancing enemy. At first, the offensive developed successfully, but a few days later the command of Army Group Center, hastily transferring infantry formations to the threatened direction, stopped the offensive of the Red Army.

But in general, the blitzkrieg began to slow down. The city of Velikie Luki, which the Germans occupied on July 19, they had to leave on July 21.

However, according to Halder, the Fuhrer was optimistic, believing that by autumn he would reach the Volga and enter the Caucasus. The course of events seemed to confirm his plans. On July 26, after fierce fighting, our troops left Mogilev, and on the 28th - Smolensk. The enemy was still very strong.

First of all, in aviation: the Luftwaffe established complete air supremacy, regularly subjecting the ground units of the Soviet troops to the most severe bombardments. A month after the start of the war, on July 22, German aviation launched its first massive raid on Moscow, which was successfully repelled by fighters and anti-aircraft artillery of the Moscow air defense zone.

From the Black to the White Seas

On the Southern Front in July, a defensive battle unfolded in Moldova, during which the Soviet side steadfastly repulsed the blows of the German-Romanian troops, periodically turning into counterattacks. But there were not enough forces - by order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, three corps and several divisions were transferred to the Southwestern Front.

On July 16, Chisinau was abandoned, on July 21 - Balti, by the end of July, units of the Red Army left Moldova and Northern Bukovina. However, at the cost of heroic efforts, they managed to prevent a breakthrough of the front, which in an organized manner was assigned to the Dniester. The total losses of the Soviet troops amounted to more than 17 thousand people, the Romanian - about 23 thousand (German unknown).

On the Southwestern Front (after the largest oncoming tank battle near Lutsk-Rivne-Brody in June), the battle for Kyiv began on July 7th. On July 19, in Directive No. 33 to the Wehrmacht High Command, Hitler ordered the southern flank of Army Group Center to turn to Ukraine in order, in cooperation with the northern flank of Army Group South, to encircle and defeat the 12th and 6th Soviet armies, preventing their departure for the Dnieper. However, in the next directive, dated July 30, the Fuhrer actually reversed his decision, ordering the tank groups of Guderian and Goth, which were pretty battered in battles, to rest and replenish with personnel and equipment. The strike to the south was temporarily postponed.

In the zone of Army Group North, the Germans, using the forces of the 41st and 56th motorized corps, developed an offensive against Leningrad. Having occupied Pskov on July 9, the next day the 41st Corps ran into stubborn resistance from the Soviet troops near the city of Luga.

On July 14, the 11th Soviet Army launched an unexpectedly strong counterattack, as a result of which the main forces of the German 8th Panzer Division and part of the 3rd Motorized Division, which were part of the 56th Corps, were surrounded.

The situation was restored by the SS division "Totenkopf", which helped most of the personnel of the 56th Corps to escape from the deadly "embrace" of the enemy. However, having buried themselves in the Luga defensive line, on July 19 the command of the "North" group suspended the offensive for three weeks until the main forces approached. Thus, giving the necessary respite to the defenders of Leningrad.

The most favorable situation for the Red Army developed on the Northern Front, where in the conditions of the Far North the Germans could not use armored forces en masse. After fierce fighting, the German offensive against Murmansk was halted at the turn of the Western Litsa River. The German troops and their allies, the Finns, also failed to reach the Murmansk railway in the Kondalaksha and Loukh directions. Until September 1941, there was an operational pause here.

Subsequently, the writer Konstantin Simonov in the novel The Living and the Dead wrote: "The generals of the German army, which was still victoriously advancing on Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv, in fifteen years will call this July of the forty-first year the month of deceived expectations, successes that did not become a victory."

The State Defense Committee adopted a resolution on the formation of the High Commands of the Troops:
Northwest Direction(unified the troops of the Northern and North-Western fronts, the Northern and Baltic fleets. Abolished on 27.8.1941). Commander-in-Chief - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov;
Western direction(led the operations of the Western Front and the Pinsk Flotilla, then the Western, Central and Reserve Fronts. Abolished on September 10, 1941, re-created on February 1, 1942 and existed until May 5, 1942 on the basis of the Western and Kalinin Fronts). Commanders-in-chief: Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K., Timoshenko (July - September 1941); Army General G.K. Zhukov (February - May 1942);
southwestern direction(led the actions of the Southwestern Front - the entire period, the Southern Front - from July 10 to September 26, 1941 and from October 16, 1941 to June 21, 1942, the Bryansk Front - from December 24, 1941 to April 1, 1942 fronts The Black Sea Fleet was subordinate to him until April 1942. Abolished on 2/6/1942). Commanders-in-Chief: Marshals of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny (July - September 1941), S.K. Timoshenko (September 1941 - June 1942);
North Caucasian direction(directed the actions of the Crimean Front, the Sevastopol defensive region, the North Caucasian military district, the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla. Abolished on May 19, 1942). Commander-in-Chief - Marshal of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny.

The State Defense Committee adopted a resolution on the transformation of the Headquarters of the High Command into the Headquarters of the High Command, headed by I.V. Stalin.

The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted the Decree "On the organization of local air defense in cities and towns of the RSFSR." Responsibility for organizing the MPVO was assigned to the regional and regional executive committees, the councils of people's commissars of the autonomous republics, and in the cities - to the city executive committees.

The troops of the 14th Army of the Northern Front, with the support of the ships and aviation of the Northern Fleet, fought stubborn defensive battles against the enemy troops, who launched an offensive in the area of ​​the river. Big Face.

The defensive operations of the troops of the 7th Army began in the Olonets and Petrozavodsk directions against the "Karelian" armies of the Finns.

The battle for Leningrad began. Defensive and offensive operations of the troops of the Northern, Northwestern, Leningrad, Volkhov, Karelian and 2nd Baltic fronts, the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega military flotillas lasted 900 days. The fighting covered both distant and near approaches to the city, frustrated the plans of the German command to capture Leningrad on the move, pulled back large forces of German troops and the entire Finnish army. They ended by the end of January 1944 with a breakthrough and the lifting of the blockade of the city, became a legendary page in the heroic history of the Great Patriotic War.

The Battle of Smolensk began - a two-month battle of Soviet and German troops in the Western direction, which included defensive and offensive operations of the troops of the Western, Reserve, Central and Bryansk fronts. In the course of fierce battles, covering a space of up to 650 km along the front and up to 250 km in depth, the Soviet troops disrupted the calculations of the Nazi command for a non-stop movement towards Moscow, for the first time forced the enemy to stop the offensive in the main direction and go on the defensive, which allowed the Soviet command to gain time to prepare for the defense of Moscow and the subsequent defeat of the enemy in the battle for the capital.

The troops of the 22nd Army of the Western Front fought defensive battles on the front of Idritsa, Drissa, Vitebsk. Units of the 11th Army continued to retreat across the front of the 22nd Army, having suffered significant losses in previous battles.

The troops of the 5th Army of the Southwestern Front launched a counterattack from the southern sector of the Korostensky fortified region in the direction of Novograd-Volynsky and Chervonoarmeysk.

The landing force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet occupied the islands of Horsen, Kugholm, Starkern, Elmholm.

Under the High Command of the Western Direction, the Operational Training Center was created and operated until 15.7.1942 - the school of the Central Committee of the CP (b) B for training personnel for reconnaissance, sabotage and underground work in the occupied territory of Belarus.

German troops occupied the cities of Valga and Vyru in Estonia; in Belarus - Gorodok, Luninets; in Ukraine - Lisichansk.

From the Decree of the State Defense Committee on the Headquarters of the High Command

The State Defense Committee decided: ... to transform the Headquarters of the High Command into the Headquarters of the High Command and determine it as part of: Chairman of the State Defense Committee Comrade Stalin, Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee Comrade Molotov, Marshals Timoshenko, Budyonny, Voroshilov, Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff Army General Zhukov.

Chronicle of events in Leningrad

For more operational management of the fronts, the State Defense Committee formed three Main Commands of strategic directions: North-Western, Western and South-Western. Marshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov was appointed commander of the North-Western direction, to which the troops of the Northern and North-Western fronts, the Baltic and Northern fleets are now subordinate. The very next day he arrived in Leningrad.

Parts of the 4th Panzer Group of the enemy resumed the offensive today in the direction of Luga and Novgorod. It is still quiet on the Luga frontier itself, but fierce battles are going on in the air. Only the pilots of the 154th Fighter Aviation Regiment shot down 16 Nazi aircraft that day. Lieutenant Sergei Titovka, having used up ammunition, still did not leave the battle. In a heavy, unequal battle over the village of Gorodets, Titovka rushed to the leading Junkers and crashed into him with his plane. Destroying the enemy, the hero himself died ...

The 1st division of the people's militia, went to the front. Seeing off the militias resulted in a crowded rally, at which the division was handed the banner of the Kirov District Party Committee. The division has more than 12 thousand people, every fifth volunteer is a communist or Komsomol member.

They left the city to take their places in the fortified areas, and 10 machine-gun and artillery battalions formed from volunteers.

Those leaving for the front face heavy fighting. Those who remain in the city will have to work for themselves and for those who have taken up arms. At the shipbuilding plant named after A.A. Zhdanov, after the volunteer regiment formed here went to the front, the turner A. Goosenok did not leave the shop for a whole day. Turner P. Skorodumov blocked the daily norm by two and a half times.

On July 10, Leningrad enterprises received a difficult task - in the near future to produce 100,000 anti-tank grenades and daily supply troops with 9,000 bottles of combustible mixture to set fire to enemy tanks. On the same day, mass production of these glass grenades began at enterprises and in a number of workshops of educational institutions of the city - in particular, at Leningrad University, the Textile Institute, the Herzen Pedagogical Institute, and the Institute of Communications.

Schoolchildren also took part in this work. At the call of the city committee of the Komsomol, they collected more than a million empty bottles in a short time.

Memoirs of David Iosifovich Ortenberg, editor-in-chief of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper

A note about the rare success of military scouts under the command of junior lieutenant Melashchenko is printed in bold type. They received an order to get the "language". Returning, Melashchenko reported:

- The task was completed and even exceeded: instead of one “language”, twelve were captured.

Here is another message, which now, after decades, may seem implausible to some. Returning from the rear to the firing positions of his battery, the tractor driver Fedyunin found that she was surrounded by German machine gunners. Without thinking, he moved his "Komsomolets" to the lying fascists, began to crush them with heavy tractor tracks. Fedyunin was wounded three times, but continued to distract the enemy until help arrived. What doesn't happen in war?

Another example: Lieutenant Slonov, on a single-seat fighter, took out his wingman from the enemy rear, shot down in an air battle.

At other times, such cases would be called sensational. But then none of us used this word. What kind of "sensation" is there when blood is shed, people die?

Then there was a different concept in use - “weekdays of war”. Therefore, probably, in the newspaper, many of the brightest heroic deeds are sometimes presented too casually.

However, this is not the only reason.

I remember that at Khalkhin Gol, when we learned about the feat of Sergei Gritsevets, the first to receive the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, three writers rushed to him at once - Lev Slavin, Boris Lapin and Zakhar Khatsrevin. Now there are no such opportunities - the scale of the war is different. About Slonov, who repeated the feat of Gritsevets in more difficult conditions, there are only a dozen lines.

During the Patriotic War, especially in its initial period, which was notable for the changeable situation on the fronts, it was difficult, and sometimes completely impossible, to keep up with events. They floated, layered one on top of the other. And besides, the number of heroes increased. In order to somehow brighten up the meager information about them, we increasingly resorted to the help of poets. Whatever the poems, some are better, others are worse, their emotional impact on the hearts and souls of a front-line soldier is invaluable.

A short message about the feat of Senior Lieutenant Kuzmin was supplemented and strengthened by the ballad of Mikhail Svetlov:

The cartridges were shot, Kuzmin was wounded,
The red falcon has only one way out:
Our homeland is larger than life, the road -
Kuzmin decided to ram the enemy...

And the Soviet city from enemy forces
He shielded his chest with his life.
And as he fell, he heard above him
Distant air raid alert.

And the message about the tank destroyer Dolgov was reinforced by the poems of Semyon Kirsanov:

Shells dig the ground
our batteries...
Gives birth to the battle of heroes,
creates rich people.

In a hot whirlwind of steel
the hills sway
ordinary people have become
powerful people!

With a rattle and a clang
the tank of enemies rushes,
to him with a grenade bundle
crawling fighter Dolgov.

Threw. Shard Volcano!
Donkey fascist tank...
Dolgov thought only:
"Everyone will be like this!"

From the leading article of the Red Navy newspaper "Krasny Chernomorets" about the heroic deeds of pilots in the first days of the war

The pilots of the Black Sea Fleet already in the first days of the war wrote more than one heroic page in the history of the struggle of the Russian people against the fascist aggressors. Everyone knows the exploits of the fearless falcon Captain Korobitsyn and the pilots he trained Maksimov, Shalov, Khomutov, Gogmachadze and Borisov. Air fighters mercilessly beat the fascist vultures in the air, on the ground and on the water. Day and night, in the rays of searchlights, under the fire of fascist anti-aircraft guns, brave falcons confidently fly combat aircraft to targets and destroy enemy wasp nests. More than once, pupils of Korobitsyn met in air battles face to face with a strong and vicious enemy and always came out victorious. Enemy "Heinkels", hit by well-aimed bullets of air fighters, fell to the ground or ingloriously fled from the Soviet pilots attacking them.

From the well-aimed fire of Korobitsyn and his fighting friends, 6 enemy "Heinkels", a fascist monitor and more than one hundred enraged fascists who tried to set foot on the sacred Soviet soil with their dirty bloody paws were killed.

Black Sea falcons suddenly fall on the enemy. The fascist bandits did not expect the Soviet bombers to attack on one of the rainy nights. The sky was covered with thick clouds and it was raining. But difficult meteorological conditions did not prevent the experienced pilot Sovin and navigator Libanidze from bringing the formidable combat vehicles to enemy territory and dropping tons of deadly cargo on the heads of the Nazis.

The fascist vultures, who the other day tried to fly into Soviet territory and accomplish their vile deed, hiding in the clouds, could not carry out their bloody plans. Lieutenant Lebedev, having risen as part of a link towards enemy aircraft, entered the clouds and with a keen eye found fascist predators. Gaining a favorable height above them, he, imperceptibly crept up to the vultures, rushed at the enemy, and shot down the leading aircraft. "Heinkel-111" caught fire and flew down. With well-aimed sniper fire, Lebedev quickly dealt with the second fascist aircraft.

In a battle with four fascist predators, Lebedev emerged victorious. Seeing the assertiveness and invulnerability of the Soviet pilot, the 2 fascist aircraft that remained intact quickly fled from the Soviet shores.

Under the most difficult conditions, Soviet pilots show composure, resourcefulness, courage, and heroism, and come out of battle victorious.

Recently, the crew of Lieutenant Abasov, having perfectly completed a combat mission, could not continue flying on a wrecked fascist plane. The damaged aircraft splashed down at sea 50 miles from the enemy border. The pilots, under the guidance of their commander, managed to pull out everything they needed from the sinking plane, inflated the rubber boat and went on it to their native shores.

The brave pilots sailed in the open sea for a long time. Nothing broke the morale of the brave falcons, they safely returned to their unit and again smash the enemy.

Twice an order bearer with rich combat experience, pilot Lobazov, repulsing numerous attacks of fascist fighters, brought his plane to the target and destroyed it with well-aimed fire. Gunner-radio operator Lavrov was seriously wounded, but did not stop firing at the enemy. In battle, he shot down a fascist fighter and drove more than one vulture away from his plane, saving the pilot's life. From the hurricane of enemy fire, the plane of Lobazov's plane caught fire. To save the lives of the crew, the pilot entered the combat vehicle into the clouds, knocked out the flames and safely reached his airfield on one engine.

Many times the senior political officer, pilot Kostkin, flew aircraft on a combat mission. Day and night, in any weather, he leads air fighters in an attack on enemy military installations and returns unharmed to his territory. Fighting heroically against enemies, Kostkin finds time to carry out educational work with young pilots...

Morning message 10 July

During the day on July 9 and on the night of July 10, large booms continued in the Polotsk and Novograd-Volynsk directions.

On the Ostrovsky direction, our troops repelled all enemy attacks with heavy losses for him.

Stubborn battles continued in the Polotsk direction. Our troops are conducting decisive counterattacks.

In the battles in the Lepel direction, our troops destroyed a motorized division of German troops, up to 40 guns, a large number of transport and special vehicles.

In the Borisov direction, our units inflicted a serious defeat on one of the enemy divisions.

In the Bobruisk direction, our troops are firmly holding their positions.

In the Novograd-Volynsk direction, our troops are holding back the offensive of large enemy forces.

On the Bessarabian sector of the front, the enemy offensive is met with strong opposition from our troops.

There were no major hostilities in other directions and sectors of the front.

Our aviation destroyed up to 100 enemy tanks in the afternoon of July 9 and on the night of July 30 continued combat operations against enemy troops in the Ostrovsky and Novograd-Volynsky directions.

On the night of July 9, the German Junkers-88, accompanied by Messerschmitts, flew out to prepare for the offensive of their units on the Ensky sector of the front. Soviet pilots met the Nazis on the way to the bombing site and rushed to the German planes from a great height. At the first attack, the formation of the bombers and the fighters accompanying them was upset. Taking advantage of the darkness, the commander of the German bomber formation tried to change course. The ploy failed. All enemy planes were destroyed. Some time later, the second and third echelons of German aircraft appeared. Air combat flared up with renewed vigor. Courageously attacking the enemy, Soviet pilots shot down one German plane after another. Trying to get away from the fire of our fighters, many fascist pilots used the old method. They staged a fall, so that after exiting the dive, they would flee at low level. But many of them failed to do so. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the enemy. 33 enemy aircraft were destroyed. Soviet pilots lost five aircraft. Their crews escaped by parachute.

On one of the sections of the Soviet-Finnish border, the White Finns tried to bypass and surround a group of Red Army soldiers. The brave machine gunners Corporal Doshmatov and the Red Army soldier Osechkin repelled the onslaught of the enemy for several hours. The enraged fascists, in order to break the resistance of the red fighters, laid a forest near our firing point with a flamethrower and began to accumulate for an attack. The Soviet fighters did not allow the White Finns to approach the line of attack and boldly moved to the counterattack. The counterattack was supported by the commander of the neighboring unit, Lieutenant Ryzhov. The White Finns, having lost 12 officers and about 50 soldiers killed, were driven back.

Corporal of the Ensky Infantry Regiment Kvashin acted heroically in battle. Under heavy shelling, he broke the enemy's connection. With the departure of the company from the battle, Kvashin with well-aimed machine-gun fire held back the onslaught of the Nazis. The last to leave the battlefield, the fearless corporal carried the wounded company commander, Lieutenant Avakov, on his back.

The battery changed its firing position. Junior sergeants Breev and Popeyko and corporals Tereshchenko and Kachaev were filming the telephone line. At this time, they were attacked at a strafing flight by two fascist aircraft. The soldiers took cover and opened fire on the enemy with rifles. One plane was shot down, the second escaped.

The outpost of Lieutenant Demin successfully repulsed the enemy's sortie. The enemy suffered heavy losses and was driven back. The shooting stopped, but the Red Army vigilantly followed every movement in the camp of the enemy. The observer reported that three enemy soldiers were crawling towards the wire fence. The commander ordered to let them in and be ready. One German soldier, who reached the fence, fastened a piece of paper to the wire and immediately crawled back. On the sheet was an inscription in German: “Down with the bloody Hitler! The German people do not want to fight the Soviet Union!

From the observation post of the Ensky unit at 18 o'clock on July 8, a small group of Finnish soldiers was seen. The detachment of junior sergeant Verov sent forward delayed the approaching Finns. Toivo P., who led the Finnish soldiers, announced the desire of their company to go over to the side of the Red Army. At 2 o'clock in the morning on July 9, the Finnish company in full strength voluntarily crossed over to Soviet territory. The company handed over all the rifles, ten machine guns and mortars, a large amount of ammunition, as well as four associated shutskors, including one lieutenant and three non-commissioned officers. The soldiers spoke about the plight of the Finnish people. “The last crumbs are taken from the Finnish people,” Toivo P. says, “we have already forgotten when we ate our fill. The entire population of Finland is starving. The miserable remnants of grain and cattle have been taken away for the German army.”

Every day of the Patriotic War brings wonderful examples of labor prowess and new labor exploits. At one Leningrad plant, the site of the senior master of the mechanical shop, comrade. Shakhnovich received the task to make critical parts. In peacetime, this work took about 8 days. Through the joint efforts of all workers, a complex and urgent order was completed in 15 hours. Turner of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant comrade. Wartkin completes the daily task by 500 percent. Driller of the container shop of the Gomel timber processing plant comrade. Petrenko gives 800 or more parts per shift at a rate of 510.

At the station N., the foreman of the locomotives comrade. Vershilov noticed a man dressed in a paramilitary uniform. The questions that he asked the passengers seemed suspicious to the foreman. The stranger was arrested. He turned out to be a fascist saboteur. Among various documents, three Soviet passports were found on him. The vigilance of Soviet patriots helps to expose all the tricks of the insidious enemy.

Evening message 10 July

During the day, our aircraft attacked enemy motorized units in the Ostrovsky and Novograd-Volynsky directions, destroyed enemy troops at crossings across the river. Zap. Dvina and attacked enemy aircraft at its airfields.

In air battles and actions on airfields, our aviation destroyed 28 German aircraft, losing 6 of its aircraft.

Large enemy tank forces launched a fierce attack on the right flank of the Ensk formation. Immediately put into action, our artillery opened heavy fire on enemy tanks. Unable to withstand heavy fire, the enemy retreated, leaving up to 70 broken tanks on the field. Embittered by the failure, the enemy, after shelling our positions, went on the attack a second time. From the fire of artillery and Soviet bombers, the enemy lost several dozen more tanks, but the rest managed to form a breakthrough and push our units a little. An infantry division of the German troops rushed into the gap that had formed. Our tanks and motorized units, which arrived in time, surrounded the fascist division, preventing it from turning around. After the battle, in which our air forces took part, the German division was defeated. Our units captured 28 serviceable guns. 8 powerful anti-aircraft guns, many machine guns and automatic weapons, 30 cars and 54 motorcycles. Over 3,500 killed and wounded German soldiers remained on the battlefield. About 2,400 German soldiers and officers were captured.

The well-camouflaged tank of senior sergeant G. Naidin stood at the edge of the forest: Soviet tankers were tracking down the enemy. A column of fascist tanks appeared on the road. Letting them get closer, Naidin knocked out the front tank with the first shot. The engine of the enemy vehicle stopped working, and the tank blocked the narrow road. The German drivers tried to turn back, but Naidin also knocked out a German tank coming from behind. 10 out of 12 tanks were squeezed into a ring: tanks were burning in front and behind, and there was a deep swamp on the sides. Taking advantage of the confusion of the German tankers, Comrade Naidin and the turret gunner Kopytov sent shell after shell at the enemy. So one Soviet tank destroyed 12 fascist tanks.

The White Finns were preparing a landing force against our troops. On one of the islands of the bay, they began to accumulate their forces. The soldiers and commanders of the Ensk coastal part of the Baltic Sea were ordered to prevent the landing and destroy the White Finns. Without a road, through boulders and rocks, the Soviet soldiers dragged the guns to a new firing position. The White Finns were destroyed by the artillery fire of the Baltics: more than 350 were killed and wounded on the island, the rest fled.

The heroic resistance of the Red Army arouses the frenzied anger of the German fascists. They are trying to take out their anger on the wounded Red Army soldiers. German fighters, like kites, hunt even for individual orderlies picking up the wounded on the battlefield. In the mountains Postavy, a fascist light bomber shot from a machine gun the orderlies who carried out the wounded Red Army soldiers on a stretcher, despite the fact that the German pilot clearly saw the clear identification marks of the Red Cross on the orderlies. The fascists deal especially cruelly with the wounded Red Army soldiers captured. Sergeant I. Karasev, who escaped from the nightmarish Nazi captivity, witnessed the savage massacre of the Nazis over four seriously wounded captured Red Army soldiers. One wounded soldier, who categorically refused to answer questions of a military nature, had his hands cut off and his eyes gouged out by order of an officer. The remaining three Red Army soldiers, exhausted from loss of blood, were scalded by the executioners with boiling water, and then stabbed with bayonets.

80 kilometers northwest of the city of N., a partisan detachment crept up at night to a village occupied by the Germans. Silently removing sentries, the detachment attacked the soldiers of the motorcycle unit that was spending the night in the village. Only 12 German motorcyclists managed to escape. 74 soldiers and 2 officers were killed. Having destroyed 62 motorcycles, the partisans left the village.

On July 9, after a counterattack by our troops against large enemy formations in the Ensky direction, the orderlies picked up more than 100 wounded Germans on the battlefield. Among the wounded was a group of soldiers of the German engineering units. After the soldiers were fed and given medical care, they said that their unit was on the northern coast of France, where last year they were preparing for the landing of German troops in England. “Two weeks before the start of the war on the eastern front,” says soldier Peter K., “we, along with other troops, were transferred to the eastern front. In the first days of the war, officers assured the soldiers that the Germans would deal with the Bolsheviks in ten days, and then in August they would dine in London. However, the calculations of our officers shattered into dust. Not only our units arrived on the eastern front, but also large engineering units from Saint-Omer. And the end of the war is not even in sight.

According to reliable data received, the German command removed all troops from the German-Swiss border, replacing them with the elderly and the disabled.

The multimillion-strong Soviet intelligentsia rose to the defense of the motherland. But on the initiative of the doctor of technical sciences comrade Filonenko, professors and teachers of the Ivanovo Energy Institute decided to work at the industrial enterprises of the region during their vacation time. The Kharkov Medical Society, the oldest in the Soviet Union, in response to Comrade Stalin's speech, sends many qualified specialists to the infirmaries and hospitals of the Red Army. Prominent scientists address the Board of the Society every day with proposals to use their knowledge. Among these patriotic scientists are professors Shevandin, Yudin, Marzeev, Gofung, Gasparyan and others. Over a thousand students of the Moscow Timiryazev Academy work on collective farms as agronomists, combine and tractor drivers. In the Kazakh Republic, 80 thousand students and secondary school students went to agricultural work.

Young patriots help the NKVD to catch Nazi spies and saboteurs. The city of K. was plunged into darkness. Only in one window of the local hotel and in the windows of two other houses located in different parts of the city, light appeared. Students from Vladimir Kosinsky's platoon tracked down the enemies who were signaling and informed the police. Three enemy posts were immediately eliminated. When walking around the site on the outskirts of the city, two combatants of this platoon noticed a man hiding in the bushes and reported to the policeman. The stranger, who turned out to be a saboteur, was arrested.

BATTLE ORDER OF THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE 22nd ARMY TO THE COMMANDER OF THE 214TH RIFLE DIVISION TO ORGANIZE ANTI-TANK DEFENSE IN THE INTERLAKE DEFILE 10.07.41 01.00 Map 200,000

1. The enemy FORCED the river. The Western Dvina on the front of Ulla, Beshenkovichi, his tanks in the amount of 100-160 units concentrated in the Sirotino area, with the further goal of moving in the general direction to Nevel.
The commander ordered:
Immediately leave the occupied area and by dawn on 10.7 take a defile between Lake Ordolo, Lake Ozerishche (20 km south of Nevel), having at least two regiments in reserve (one of them behind the right flank).
2. Organize a strong anti-tank defense in the defile using anti-tank mines, explosives and local materials.
3. Organize reconnaissance in the direction of Gorodok, Sirotino.
Your checkpoint is in the Boroch area.
Send two delegates at my disposal.
4. Keep in mind that our anti-tank division, a platoon of tanks, was sent forward in the direction of Gorodok, and at the turn of the railway. the village of Polotsk, Vitebsk, our 186th rifle division is fighting with the enemy.
5. Detain all departing from the front, form teams and send back to the front.

Nashtarm Major General Zakharov

F. 376, op. 3735cc, l. 10, ll. 21, 22. Original.

BATTLE ORDER No. 15 STARM 20 10.7.41 2 hours 15 minutes Map 500,000

In connection with the development of the enemy's strike on Orsha, I order:
To cancel my order No. 18, 5 microns, strike at the rear of the enemy, acting against 1 md directions:
1. Oboltsy, Mortyukhovo, Zadrovye and further along the highway;
2. Smolyany, Grebenevo, Shamberovo, st. Flocks. By the end of 10.7, the corps should concentrate in the area of ​​Nuts, Selecta, Vysokoe.
KP - High. Start of action - 10.00 10.7.
Ensure the entire operation from the south.
Commanders of 73rd Rifle Division and 1st Rifle Division to link their actions with 5th Rifle Division and destroy the enemy acting against 1st Rifle Division and forward units of 73rd Rifle Division; in addition, the commander of the 73rd rifle division should organize the passage of the MK through the location of the division.

Semenovsky

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 33, l. 79. Original.

On the night of July 10, in connection with the capture of Vitebsk by the enemy, the commander of the 20th Army, who fought in the Lepel direction, DECIDED TO REFUSE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTERSTREAM, withdraw the 5th and 7th mechanized corps from the battle and concentrate them in the areas , occupied by them before the start of hostilities, in order to strengthen the defense of the rifle corps of the first echelon of the army.

Commanders 69 sk, 7 mk

BATTLE ORDER No. 19 STARM 20 10.7.41 4 h. 05 m.
Card 500 000

In connection with the breakthrough of the enemy north of the river. Zap. Dvina and the capture of Vitebsk, in a change to my order No. 18 of 9.7, all parts of 69 sk, including 153 and 229 sd, RETURN TO THE OUTCOME 10.7 TO THE MAIN DEFENSIVE POSITIONS, the front edge of which should be drawn along the river. Luchesa and further south.
Support a short strike of 7 microns on Beshenkovichi with your advanced units, located at the location of 7 microns, and then leave them (advanced units) as barrier detachments for the defense of the foreground.
7 MK from 10.00 10.7, with the support of advanced units of 69 sk, with strong forward detachments, deliver an energetic blow to the flank and rear of the enemy in the direction of Beshenkovichi, after which they withdraw through the location of units of 69 sk and by the end of 10.7 concentrate in the area of ​​Poddubie, Korolevo, Boyars.
Headquarters - Korolev.
The commander of the 69th Rifle Corps should organize the passage of units of the 7th MK through the location of the 153rd and 229th Rifle Divisions in such a way that the advanced infantry units would remain in place.

Commander of the 20th Army Lieutenant General Kurochkin
Member of the Military Council Corps Commissar
Semenovsky
Chief of Staff of the 20th Army Major General Korneev

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 33, l. 74. Original.

In accordance with the order received by the army commander, the commander of the 7th mechanized corps, in his decision to fight on July 10, determined the following tasks: with strong forward detachments of tank divisions, deliver a sudden short blow to the flank and rear of the enemy advancing in the Vitebsk direction, then under their cover with the main forces withdraw along two routes through the battle formations of the 69th Rifle Corps and by the end of the day concentrate in the area of ​​Korolevo, Krynki station, Liozno.
On the morning of July 10, the forward detachment of the 14th TD, consisting of the 14th motorized rifle and 27th tank regiments, attacked the enemy in a north-western direction, and then withdrew to Striga, where, before dark, repulsed the attempts of the enemy pursuing him to capture the crossing.
In the first half of the day, the stubborn defense of 18 infantry regiments and repeated counterattacks by tank regiments held back enemy attempts to break through the line it occupied along the Obodianka River in an easterly direction.
In the 5th mechanized corps, the intended strike on the flank of the enemy advancing in the Orsha direction by the forces of tank regiments of the 13th TD and the reinforced motorized rifle battalion of the 109th Motor Rifle Division was also thwarted as a result of a four-hour raid by enemy aircraft.
Thus, by the middle of the day on July 10, the formations of the counterattack army group finally abandoned the resumption of the offensive.

INTELLIGENCE REPORT No. 28 HEADQUARTERS OF THE WESTERN FRONT
SMOLENSK K 8.00 10.7.41 Card 500,000

First. The enemy during the second half of the day on 9.7 and at night on 10.7 in the Lepel-Vitebsk direction with large motorized mechs. and infantry units (up to two AK) FORCED THE R.ZAP.DVINA AND SEIZED THE CITY OF VITEBSK.
ON THE BOBRUISK DIRECTION, FOCUSING A LARGE GROUPING, LEAD PREPARATIONS FOR THE FORCING OF THE DNEPR R..
In the Borisov direction - battles of a local nature with large enemy motorized units.
Second. Sebezh direction.
The enemy, with a force of up to three infantry divisions (3rd, 28th and 121st infantry divisions), a tank regiment, with aviation support, fought fierce battles during the second half of 9.7 and the night of 10.7. SEBEZH GOT POSSESSED THE MAIN FORMS AND WENT TO THE FRONT SEBEZH, LAKE OSVEISKOE, MOUTH (7 km north-west of Drissa).
Third. Polotsk direction.
The enemy, with a force of up to two divisions (14 MD and 51 RD) and one tank division, fought on the Borkovichi, Polotsk front during the day on 9.7.
Fourth. Lepel-Vitebsk direction.
The enemy with forces of 8 and 39 ak (motorized) crossed the river. Zap.Dvina in the area of ​​Ulla, Beshenkovichi, developed an offensive in the directions of Sirotino, Vitebsk, by dawn 10.7 WAS OUT OF THE FENCE, OBOL, SIROTINO, VITEBSK.
The withdrawal of the enemy from the Senno area (28 km southeast of Beshenkovichi) noted on 8.7 was a maneuver to evade the motorized parts of the project from the battle until the reserves approached from the depths.
9.7 large motorized parts of the pr-ka fought the west. Senno, having provided his left flank with a strong anti-tank area at the turn of Chernogosti, Ozero, Novoselki and supported by the actions of bomber and dive aircraft and heavy artillery.
Fifth. Borisov direction.
The enemy consisting of 4 ak (4, 10 md, 18 td and part of 7 td) fought on our intermediate line of Kokhanovo (33 km west of Orsha), r. Drut. As a result of the battle, the enemy lost a significant number of tanks and manpower. Separate detachments, consisting of up to a motorized infantry battalion, up to a company of tanks, one or two artillery battalions and a sapper unit in each, advanced in the direction of Shklov, at the same time regrouping troops from the Borisov region to Mogilev.
Sixth. Bobruisk direction.
During 9.7 and the night of 10.7 the enemy continued to concentrate large forces of 24 ak (motoriz.) consisting of 3, 4 TD, MD and 265 PD on the western bank of the river. The Dnieper in the Vishchin area (15 km north-east of Rogachev), Rogachev, Zhlobin, Proskurin, and by the end of 9.7 and the night of 10.7, conducting artillery fire on the location of our units, PREPARED FOR CROSSINGS IN THE SECTION OF ZBOROVO, ZADRUTYE, ZHLOBIN, PROSKURIN.
Conclusion:
The main intensification of the actions of the pr-ka is noted in the Lepel-Vitebsk direction and the concentration of a large group in the Bobruisk direction, where FORCING THE DNIEPER RIVER IS POSSIBLE IN THE NEAR TIME.
In the Borisov direction, the enemy, fighting on our intermediate lines, goes to the river. Dnieper.
On the Sebezh direction, the enemy continues to capture the Sebezh area.

Chief of Staff of the Western Front
Lieutenant General Malandin
Chief of the Regional Headquarters of the Western Front
Colonel Korneev

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 5, ll. 161-163. Typewritten copy.

Morning message from the Soviet Information Bureau

During the day of July 9 and on the night of July 10, major battles continued in the POLOTSK and NOVOGRAD-VOLYNSKY directions.
In the OSTROVSK direction, our troops repelled all enemy attacks with heavy losses for him.
Stubborn battles continued in the POLOTSK direction. Our troops are conducting decisive counterattacks.
In the battles in the LEPEL direction, our troops destroyed a motorized division of German troops, up to 40 guns, a large number of transport and special vehicles.
In the BORISOV direction, our units inflicted a serious defeat on one of the enemy divisions.
In the Bobruisk direction, our troops are firmly holding their positions.
ON THE NOVOGRAD-VOLYNSKY direction, our troops are holding back the offensive of large enemy forces.
On the Bessarabian sector of the front, the enemy offensive is met with strong opposition from our troops.
In other directions and sectors of the front, there were no major hostilities.
Our aviation destroyed up to 100 enemy tanks in the afternoon of July 9 and on the night of July 10 continued combat operations against enemy troops in the Ostrovsky and Novograd-Volynsky directions.

BATTLE ORDER No. (missing) START 19 CROWS. 10.7.41 9:10 a.m. Card 500,000

1. The enemy captured the west during 9.7. the outskirts of the mountains. Vitebsk and tete de pon in front of the railway bridge.
On the night of 9/10/7/41, the enemy succeeded in capturing Ulanovichi.
Approached on the night of 9 to 10.7.41 units of 220 motorized rifle divisions, the enemy was attacked in the morning of 10.7.41 and successfully thrown back to the west. bank of the river Zap. Dvina.
2. The army, together with 20 and 22 armies, destroys the enemy in the area of ​​​​Sirotino, Beshenkovichi, Vitebsk, takes possession of the eastern bank of the river. Zap. Dvina and firmly holds him.
3. 25 sk with all available forces 162 and 134 sd to force the river. Zap. Dvina in the Prudniki, Sinkovo ​​section, destroy the enemy s.-z. bank of the river Zap. Dvina, capture and firmly hold the Kozlovichi, Pechishche, Art. Losvida, push forward units to the Gorodok line, Lake. Losvid.
Border on the left - (suit.) Pegs, south. shore of the lake at Slobodka, par. 6 km north Vitebsk, (suit.) Smalki.
4. 23 MK (220 msd) with reinforcement units to seize the city of Vitebsk, capture and firmly hold the west. bank of the river Zap. Dvina, pushing intelligence to Smalki and Beshenkovichi.
The border on the left is Rudnya, Vitebsk, Beshenkovichi.
5. On the 34th cc, concentrate all available forces in the Skulovichi area, Zabolotinka station, Krinki station, Liozno and firmly defend the indicated area, being ready to provide support to the 23rd microcombat squadron.
6. Attack start:
23 MK - 9.30 10.7.41,
25 sc - 11.00 10.7.41
7. KP - Crows.

Commander 19 Lieutenant General Konev
Member of the Military Council div. Commissioner Sheklanov
Head of Staff Rubtsov

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 36, ll. 81, 82. Original.

Top secret

ORDER OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE RED ARMY No. 114/NGSH TO THE COMMANDER OF THE TROOPS OF THE WESTERN FRONT ON THE CREATION OF THE FRONT RESERVES IN THE NEVEL AREA, VITEBSK
July 10, 1941

In view of the clear threat from Ave. 22 A, I ask you to urgently create front reserves in the region of Nevel and Vitebsk.
At the same time, the Headquarters demands to influence the avenue near Beshenkovichi, where it is mainly to burn it with aircraft fire and hit it with artillery.

F. 208, op. 2454ss, d. 2, l. 28. Typewritten copy.

Top secret

ORDER OF THE COMMANDER OF THE FORCES
WESTERN FRONT № 0053
TO DESTROY THE ENEMY FROM THE AIR
COMBUSTIBLE SUBSTANCES
July 10, 1941

In order to destroy the motorized mechtroops and infantry of the enemy, I order:
Destroy tanks, manpower, logistics and gasoline tanks, air bases and aircraft by flamethrowing from the air, for which immediately organize an attack on the main and most dangerous enemy groupings from the air with groups of aircraft equipped with granular phosphorus, thermite balls, bottles of "KS" in RAP's and buckets of Onisko, as well as ampoules with the substance "KS".
The task is to track down targets and use covert exits from different heights, depending on the situation and covert approaches, to deliver devastating strikes.
Actions to be carried out in conjunction with the air forces of the armies with the actions of ground troops and independent strikes by front aviation.
Commander of the Air Forces of the armies and the front from 10.7 to begin action on enemy tank units using fuel and incendiary substances.
The military council of the armies to check the implementation of this order and report on all activities.

Commander of the Western Front Marshal of the Soviet Union Tymoshenko
Member of the Military Council Army Commissar 1st Rank Mehlis

F. 208, op. 10169ss, 4, l. 223. Original.

In the afternoon, formations of the 5th and 7th mechanized corps of the 20th Army BEGAN WITHDRAWAL to the areas of concentration indicated by them.
By the end of the day, the tank divisions of the 7th mechanized corps reached the front line of the main defensive line of the army: 14th TD - in the Pesochanka area, 18th TD - Bogushevskoye.
Subsequently, the 7th Mechanized Corps was reassigned to General I.S. Konev, commander of the 19th Army (transferred from near Kyiv), and led a mobile defense in the directions of Vitebsk, Smolensk, and the 5th Mechanized Corps, acting together with the 1st Motor Rifle Division and 57th division, during July 15 and 16 he participated in the counterattack of the 20th Army in the area of ​​Krasny.
In view of the losses previously incurred by the formations and the haste in preparing the counterattack itself, its goal was not achieved. The counterattack grouping suffered significant losses, and the enemy, who crossed the Dnieper River, continued to develop an offensive against Smolensk from the south.
Nevertheless, by the end of the initial period of the war, as a result of the defensive operation of the 20th Army in the Lepel direction, the strike groups of Army Group Center suffered significant losses, lost the high rate of advance achieved in the first days of the war, and could not provide the main forces with the opportunity to timely carry out assigned combat mission.
In general, although the tasks assigned to the counterstrike grouping were not fully completed, its combat operations testify to the high activity of our troops during the period of defense in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. Holding important tactical and operational lines, repelling numerous enemy attacks, pinning down large forces of his tank strike groups in strategically and operationally important areas, inflicting significant damage on them, all this contributed to achieving a certain success in the defense of the Soviet troops and objectively influenced the increase in its stability.

BATTLE ORDER No. (missing) STARM 13 FOREST 12 km ON THE MOGILEV, ORSHHA HIGHWAY 10.7.41 14:05 Map 200,000

In a change to the combat order of Shtarm 13 No. 09 dated 8.7.41, point seven, the army commander ORDERED:
First. 137th rifle division, leaving it in its reserve, concentrate at an accelerated pace on the river. Resta to the area of ​​Samulki, Voynily, (claim.) Lyubovino, Vileyka by the evening of 10.7 s/g.
Second. Forces of the division and the local population to prepare a defensive line along the river. Resta on the front of Gladkovo, Drachkovo, Voynila, Stalka, Ostrovy.
Third. Prepare directions for counterattacks, having achieved the readiness of the divisions to move in any direction after the signal after 40 meters:
1. Samulki, Voynily - in the direction of Mogilev.
2. Voynily, Nov. Will - the direction of Sidorovichi.
3. Voynily, Lyubovino to the Islands, Gryazivets, Bovin, Nov. Bykhov.

Chief of Staff 13 A brigade commander Petrushevsky
Head of the Operations Department Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 21, l. 89. Original.

As you can clearly see, on this day there was a sharp aggravation of the situation on the Western Front:
The 2nd Panzer Group of the Germans at that time crossed the Dnieper south of Smolensk;
The 3rd Panzer Group of the Germans captured Vitebsk;
The 17th and 18th Panzer and 29th Motorized Divisions of Guderian from the south, and the 7th Panzer Funka and the 20th Motorized Divisions of Gotha from the north took SMOLENSK INTO PLIERS.

Guderian wrote of that day:
“On July 10, in the middle of the day, a message was received from the 24th Panzer Corps that the corps had succeeded in crossing the Dnieper near Stary Bykhov (Bykhov). In the afternoon I went once more to the 47th Tank Corps to make sure of the fighting efficiency of the troops and to inspect the area of ​​the starting position.
General Shtreikh withdrew troops to the line of his outpost on the site of the Russian bridgehead to the west of Orsha.
To the north-west of Orsha, another combat guard group was posted under the command of Colonel Uzinger. The reconnaissance battalion of the 29th motorized division established contact with the SS division "Reich" on the right.
The 18th Panzer Division was in the area of ​​its starting position, the 17th Panzer Division by 10:00. with its forward detachments, it reached the highway near Kokhanovo. Parts of this division were already fighting on the western bank of the Dnieper, southwest of Orsha.
The 29th Motorized Division reached the area of ​​its starting positions. I once again explained to the division commander that a quick exit to Smolensk after a successful crossing of the river was extremely important.
So, on the front, the 47th Panzer Corps also managed to complete the difficult task of concentrating troops and taking up their starting position. I confidently walked towards the events of the coming day.
For the offensive, after forcing the Dnieper, the following tasks were set:
The 24th Panzer Corps advances along the Propoisk (Slavgorod), Roslavl highway. The corps itself provides its right flank from possible enemy attacks from Zhlobin, Rogachev and its left flank from Mogilev.
The 46th Panzer Corps advances through Gorki, Pochinok towards Yelnya, securing its right flank from Mogilev.
The 47th Panzer Corps Advances on SMOLENSK (this was its main task) and additionally secures the left flank from the Dnieper between Orsha and Smolensk.
In addition, the enemy at Orsha to the west and northwest of the Dnieper was monitored by the cover groups of Shtreich and Uzinger.
On the evening of July 10, my headquarters was visited by the Italian military attaché, General Marras, whom I had met back in Berlin. He was accompanied by Captain 1st Rank Byurkner. I invited them both to accompany me the next day when I crossed the Dnieper at Kopys. In addition to these visitors, Lieutenant Colonel von Belov, Hitler's adjutant in the air force, appeared that evening at my place to get acquainted with the situation on the front of the tank group.

On this day, the fierce battle of Smolensk began, which was a series of defensive and offensive actions of the Soviet troops against the German Army Group Center and part of the forces of the Army Group North in the main Moscow direction.
For two months (from July 10 to September 10, 1941), fierce fighting continued over a vast territory: 600-650 km along the front (from Idritsa and Velikiye Luki in the north to Loev and Novgorod-Seversky in the south) and 200-250 km in depth (from Polotsk, Vitebsk and Zhlobin in the west to Andreapol, Yartsevo, Yelnya and Trubchevsk in the east).
At different times, they took part: from the Soviet side - ground forces and aviation of four fronts (Western, Central, Reserve and Bryansk), as well as aviation of the 3rd long-range bomber corps of the RGK, from the German side - troops of the Army Group "Center", part of the forces Army Group "North" and aviation of the 2nd Air Fleet.

101st TD participated in the battle of Smolensk. It became its baptism of fire and, from mid-July to the end of August, the division fought fierce battles in the Smolensk region, releasing the encircled armies of the Western Front.

Evening message from the Soviet Information Bureau

DURING JULY 10, NOTHING SIGNIFICANT HAPPENED AT THE FRONT.
During the day, our aviation delivered strikes against enemy motorized units in the OSTROVSK and NOVOGRAD-VOLYNSKY directions, destroyed enemy troops at crossings across the river. Zap. Dvina and attacked enemy aircraft at its airfields.
In air battles and actions on airfields, our aviation destroyed 28 German aircraft, losing 6 of its aircraft.

OPERATIONAL REPORT No. 31 By 20.00 10.7.41 ZAPFRONT HEADQUARTERS Card 500,000

First. During the day 10.7, the troops of the front fought stubborn battles with the advancing enemy units in the areas of Sebezh, Osveya, Borkovichi, Gorodok, st. Varsuki and Borkolobovo.
The enemy of an unidentified force (according to intelligence, parts 8 and 39 of the ak) BREAKED THE FRONT OF THE 22nd ARMY IN THE SITE OF ULLA, BESHENKOVICHI AND, DEVELOPING THE OFFENSIVE IN THE NORTH-EAST DIRECTION, OCCURRED VITEBSK.
The main effort of the front is aimed at eliminating the offensive of the enemy's Vitebsk grouping.
Second. 22 army. Parts of the army during the day fought fierce battles with superior enemy forces, FLOWING around the flanks of the Sebezh and Polotsk URs.
51 sk: 170 sd by 10.30 10.7 fought on the front of Kremenets, Kuznetsovka, Selyava, Lyakhovo, Teplyuki, Osveyskaya;
112th Rifle Division suffered heavy losses during 9.7 and by 10.30 10.7 retreated to the Ignalino front (on the northeastern shore of Lake Osveyskoye), Lake. White, Lyasno, along the eastern bank of the river. Svolna, Volyntsy;
98 rifle division by 11.30 10.7 continues to hold the northern bank of the river. Drissa in the Volyntsy, Ignatovo, Vladychino sector, repelling two enemy attempts to force the river. Drissa in the areas of Gorovtsy, Ignatovo.
62 sk: 174 sd (with units of 126 sd on the right flank) by 10.30 10.7 fought on the entire front. On the right flank, the enemy managed to penetrate into the junction of 98th and 174th rifle divisions, capture 6 pillboxes in the area (claim) Vladychino, Kushliki. The rest of the division's front is unchanged;
186 sd. On the site of Ulla, Beshenkovichi, the enemy crossed the river. Zap. Dvina. In the afternoon of 10.7 he continued to develop the offensive to the northeast, captured Gorodok and the northwestern outskirts of Vitebsk. There is no data on the position of 186 sd sharm.
Headquarters 62 sk - Proceedings.
179th Rifle Division - 215th Rifle Regiment with a tank battalion 48th Rifle Division by 11.30 10.7 was finishing its concentration in the Idritsa area. The rest of the division in the Nevel area.
50 rifle divisions are allocated to the Velizh area for staffing.
Third. 20 army. Army units are engaged in stubborn battles with enemy tank and motorized units, which are developing an offensive against Vitebsk and Orsha.
Established a concentration of motorized and tank units of the enemy in the areas of Lepel, Senno, Tolochin.
In the area of ​​​​Bochkarevo, Shilki, an enemy airborne assault consisting of 200 people was thrown out.
The mobile units of the army after the battles with the motorized and tank units of the enemy occupy the areas: 14 TD - Teplyaki, Koborevo, 18 TD - Lugi, Bogushevskoye; 13 td - art. Klimovichi; 17th TD - Belitsa, its two battalions with an artillery division in the Tolochin area are fighting surrounded by enemy tanks and motorized infantry.
1st Motor Rifle Division together with PO 73rd Rifle Division - at the turn of Russian Selets, (claim) Lisuny.
The 2nd Corps retreated behind the front line and is concentrating in the Chemodany area.
Parts of the 19th Army, consisting of 220th MD and 23rd Rifle Division, together with 153rd Rifle Division of the 20th Army, went on the offensive in the Vitebsk direction and are pushing the small enemy forces that have crossed to the eastern bank of the river. Zap. Dvina.
Fourth. Parts of the 13th army during the night and day 10.7 continued to strengthen the eastern bank of the river. The Dnieper and the bridgeheads simultaneously carried out a partial regrouping and change of units.
AT 10.30 10.7 AFTER ARTILLERY AND AVIATION PREPARATION, THE ENEMY WENT ON THE OFFENSIVE AND FORCE THE DNEPR R. IN THE AREAS OF ST. BADSUKI AND BORKOLOBOVO, BOMBING THE EASTERN SHORE OF THE DNEPR R. IN THE BUINICHI SECTION, ST. BYKHOV.
61st Rifle Corps in the same composition repelled an enemy attack with a force of up to two infantry battalions in the direction of Shklov, the enemy was thrown back to its original position.
45 sk in the same composition fought with enemy units that had crossed over in the area of ​​Barsuki, Borkolobovo. At 13.30 enemy tanks were seen on the highway Mogilev - Nv. Bykhov, and small groups of infantry in the Lykovo area.
Shtakor - grove h. Chervony.
20 microns - in front of the front of the corps, the enemy conducted enhanced reconnaissance during the night, FORCEED the DRUTH R. in small groups, leaked into the area of ​​Kuta, Coal, Khanovo, violating the supply routes of microns.
The corps held the previous line, no information was received on the day of the battle.
Enemy aviation railroad. messages Mogilev - Chausy interrupted.
Fifth. 21 army during the day 10.7 defends along the eastern bank of the river. Dnieper at the front (claim.) Nv.Bykhov, Loev.
According to aerial reconnaissance and observation of ground forces, the enemy, starting from 09:00, is regrouping motorized troops in the direction of Mogilev.
The movement of motorized columns along the highway St. Dorogi, Bobruisk, Mogilev and from the Pobolovo area to Nv. Gorodok was established.
In front of the army front, the enemy did not conduct active operations.
During the day, reconnaissance searches were carried out by small motorcycle groups.
Sixth. 19 army. Parts of the army continue to concentrate.
The 220th Motor Rifle Division from 03:00 10:00 is fighting with enemy motorized units that have broken through in the northwestern outskirts of Vitebsk.
On the 25th, the arriving units from 11.00 10.7 went on the offensive on the Prudniki, Senkovo ​​front. The results of the battle of 25 sk and 220 motor rifle divisions have not yet been reported.
Shtarm 19 - Ravens (6 km east of Vitebsk).
Seventh. The 4th Army continues to staff and reorganize units in the areas indicated in the operas. summary number 292.
Eighth. The air forces of the front on the day of 9.7 bombarded enemy tanks and motorized infantry in the areas of Beshenkovichi, Lepel, Kamen, Berezino, Bobruisk; on the night of 10.7 they destroyed enemy aircraft at airfields; operated on crossings in the areas: Beshenkovichi, Ulla, Dzisna.
For 9.7, enemy aircraft were shot down in the air - 20 and destroyed on the ground, according to preliminary data - 49.
Our losses: shot down in the air - 7, destroyed on the ground - 4 and did not return to their airfields - 20 aircraft.

Chief of Staff of the Western Front, Lieutenant General Malandin
Chief of the Operations Department, Major General Semenov
F. 208, op. 10169ss, d. 7, ll. 126-129. Script.

BATTLE ORDER No. 20. START 20. 10.7.41 21:00 Map 500,000

1. The enemy, in small tank units, approached the defensive line of the army, feeling for weak points in the defense. The main efforts are concentrated on the directions of Senno, Vitebsk; Orsha, Red; Kopys, Shepelevka.
2. Right along the river. Zap. Dvina, Luchesa is defended by the 19th army. The border with it is (claim.) Rudnya, District.
Left along the river The Dnieper is defended by the 13th army. The border with it is (suit.) Pochinok, Shklov, Cherven.
3. The 20th army, concentrating its main forces on the right wing, continues to firmly hold the line of defense along the river. Luchesa, Moshkovo, Orsha, (suit.) Shklov, Gorki, r. Mereya, (claim.) Rudnya.
4. 69 sk (153, 229, 233 sd) on the night of 10 to 11.7 take to the border of the river. Luchesa, Zaprudye (15 km north Orsha), bring it into a tank-inaccessible state and firmly defend it, preventing enemy tanks from breaking through in the direction of Babinovichi, Rudnya, st. Staki, Red. According to the concentration of 153 sd on the river. Luchesa, hand it over to the commander of the 19th Army.
Border on the left - Art. Krasnaya, (claim.) Buda, (claim.) Dam, Smoleny.
5. 7 microns on the night from 10 to 11.7 concentrate in the Korolevo area, art. Krynki, Liozno. Upon concentration in this area, be placed at the disposal of the commander of the 19th Army.
Escape routes:
a) Bogushevskoe, Vysochany, Art. Pots;
b) Klyukovka, Babinovichi, Otter.
6. 5 microns on the night from 10 to 11.7 concentrate in the area of ​​Nuts, Selishche, Osinostroy.
7. 1 Motor Rifle Division with units of 57 TD, stubbornly holding the occupied line, ensure the exit of 5 microns beyond the main line of defense.
8. 73rd Rifle Division, continuing to firmly defend the occupied line and letting through parts of the 5th microdivision, to prevent the enemy tanks from breaking through in the direction of Orsha, Krasnoe.
Make a section of the highway Moshkovo, Vysokoye inaccessible to tanks.
The border on the left is Trigubovo, Dubrovno, r. Dnipro, Orsha.
9. 18th Rifle Division to firmly defend the line of the river. Dnieper, preventing enemy tanks from forcing it. Particular attention to the directions of Orsha, Dubrovno, Kopys, Gorki.
10. 144 sd area of ​​​​concentration and tasks are the same.
11. Army engineer to prepare all bridges on the Luchesa, Orshanka and Dnieper rivers for explosion. Prepare motorway Orsha, Krasnoye to bring it to a tank-inaccessible state.
KP of the army - in the Orekha region.

Commander of the 20th Army Lieutenant General Kurochkin
Member of the Military Council Corps Commissar
Semenovsky
Army Chief of Staff Major General Korneev

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 33, ll. 75, 76. Typewritten copy.

PRIVATE BATTLE ORDER No. 039 STARM 13 FOREST 12 km ON THE HIGHWAY Mogilev, ORSHA 10.7.41, 21.40 Map 200,000

1. To complete and put in order parts of 20 microns on the night of July 10 to 11, withdraw 20 microns from the front line and concentrate in the area of ​​​​Kiselka, Kamenka, Kochurin by the morning of 11.7.41; after a day's work, by the morning of 12.7.41, go to the forests of Mal. Bushkovo, Kirkory.
2. To carry out the shift unnoticed by the enemy with the forces of 172 rifle divisions, for which purpose forward detachments should be moved to the line of Karchenko, Ponizovie, Badgers and only after that change 20 microns.
3. I personally assign responsibility for the shift to the commander of the 172nd division. Change to issue reports. Parts operating in the direction of art. Badgers, withdraw on the night of 12.7.

Commander 13 A Lieutenant General Remezov
Member of the Military Council Brigadier Commissar Furth
Chief of Staff Brigade Commander Petrushevsky

F. 208, op. 3038ss, d. 21, l. 82. Original.

Taking into account the changing situation, the State Defense Committee had to take new urgent measures. With the threat to Smolensk, the danger for Moscow also increased many times ...

DECISION OF THE STATE DEFENSE COMMITTEE No. 83 ON THE CONVERSION OF THE STAFF OF THE HIGH COMMAND INTO THE STAFF OF THE SUPREME COMMAND AND ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE COMMANDERS IN CHIEF OF THE DIRECTIONS 10 July 1941

The State Defense Committee decided:
To appoint Comrade K. Voroshilov Marshal of the Soviet Union as commander-in-chief of the troops of the North-Western direction with the subordination of the Northern and North-Western fronts to him.
TO APPOINT THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE TROOPS OF THE WESTERN DIRECTION, MARSHAL OF THE SOVIET UNION PEOPLE'S COMMISSIONER OF DEFENSE S.TIMOSHENKO, WITH THE TROOPS OF THE WESTERN FRONT SUBJECTING TO HIM.
Appoint Marshal of the Soviet Union comrade S. Budyonny as Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Direction, with the Southwestern and Southern Fronts subordinated to him.
Transform the Headquarters of the High Command into the Headquarters of the High Command and define it as part of:
Chairman of the State Defense Committee Comrade Stalin, Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee Comrade Molotov, Marshals Timoshenko, Budyonny, Voroshilov, Shaposhnikov, Chief of the General Staff General of the Army Zhukov.
Subordinate the reserve army to the Headquarters of the Supreme Command, so that later, when it is brought to full combat readiness, subordinate it to the commander-in-chief of the troops of the Western direction.
To oblige the commanders-in-chief to indicate in a special order to the front and army command subordinate to them that the observed facts of unauthorized withdrawal and surrender of strategic points without the permission of the high command dishonor the Red Army, that henceforth, FOR AUTHORIZED WITHDRAWAL THE GUILTY COMMANDERS WILL BE PUNISHED BY SHOT.
To oblige the commanders-in-chief to turn more often to the troops of their direction with an appeal to stand firm and selflessly defend our land from the German robbers and enslavers.
To oblige the commanders in chief to more often scatter small leaflets from aircraft in the rear of the German troops with their signatures calling on the population to smash the rear of the German armies, tear bridges, unscrew the rails, set fire to the forests, join the partisans, all the time disturb the German oppressors. In an appeal to indicate that the Red Army will soon come and free them from German oppression.

Chairman of the State Defense Committee I. STALIN

RTSKHIDNI. F. 644. Op. 1. D. 2. L. 1, 1v. Script.