The numerous wars that Russia had to endure were very different, and the course of each of them was often changeable. Russian troops did not always have to storm cities, as we talked about a few days ago in the material "Battle of the Ages: the three bloodiest assaults in Russian history." Much more often they had to just defend their own cities from the storming opponents.
It is physically impossible to even briefly mention all the heroic defenses of Russian cities in the most different periods of history. But still, three of them stand out even in this epic series - this is the battle for Kozelsk in 1238, the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean and Great Patriotic Wars and, of course, the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943.
Let's try to figure out how and why exactly these cities and their defenders showed examples of unparalleled courage and military prowess, and also understand why the enemy rushed here the most desperately.
Defense of Kozelsk, 1238
Everything was going well for Khan Baty, who came to Russia in 1236 with a huge horde, exactly until he came across a small town, even by medieval standards, Kozelsk. Protected Kozelsk was, in fact, only one wooden fortress, in connection with which it seemed to hardened Horde commanders and ordinary soldiers an easy prey.
Indeed, what are about 300 of its defenders, if the Horde troops have just managed to defeat the troops of many thousands of the Vladimir and Ryazan principalities? But the goats practically repeated the feat of 300 Spartans, who were holding back the huge army of the Persian king Xerxes.
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Like the defenders of Thermopylae, the defenders of Kozelsk were greatly helped by the terrain. If the Spartans and their allies deftly used the narrowness of the passage to the Thermopylae Gorge, then the small Russian town was rescued by two rivers - Zhizdra and Drugusna, which reliably covered it on both sides, and even formed a steep cliff in this place, which was not at all for the Baty horsemen to climb from the hand.
Another thing is why Batu himself decided to waste time on the capture of Kozelsk, which has no strategic significance? Why did the light come together like a wedge for him? History does not give an unambiguous answer to this question.
Most likely, the fatal role was played by the stubbornness of the townspeople, who decided to protect their young prince Vasily to the last drop of blood. As a result, the Horde did not succeed in taking possession of the city on the move, and failed on the second, third and fifth attempts. Here, apparently, Batu took a bite at the bit, deciding to take the rebellious city at any cost.
But the Khan's desire was not enough, he had to pull up the reserves in the person of the hordes of Kan and the Storm that operated separately in the cities of Russia. Only together with them, bringing their superiority to many-fold, Batu's army finally managed to defeat the defenders of Kozelsk.
But they won the victory at a high price - according to the estimates of ancient chroniclers, 300 warriors and an unknown number of civilians who probably helped the soldiers, destroyed about 4,000 invaders.
It is not known how much the Batu horde lost in total near Kozelsk, but it is known that under this city it had to trample for seven weeks. This caused a wild rage among the invaders, in connection with which they destroyed in Kozelsk everyone they could reach, including babies. And the 12-year-old prince was drowned in blood. It is not a fact that this is a chronicle metaphor - it cannot be ruled out that this was precisely the cruel act of intimidation for those Russian cities that would have dared to repeat the feat of Kozelsk. Well, the rebellious city of Batu himself commanded to call it "evil".
Defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855
But for other invaders it would be just right to consider the Russian city of Sevastopol as such, and twice.
If we put together those countries that tried to take possession of this city, then there would be practically a bloc of key NATO countries, with the exception of the United States. At first, in 1854-1855, England, France, Sardinia (part of modern Italy) and Turkey tried to take Sevastopol by attack and starvation. A hundred years later, in alliance with Germany, the main base of the Black Sea Fleet was stormed by the troops of Romania.
During the Crimean War, Russian soldiers were expecting a blow to the rear from the then "neutral" Prussia and Austria-Hungary. This was not the only, but perhaps the main reason for Russia's defeat in that campaign.
Due to the threat of a joint campaign of the Western countries, the Russian army was forced to operate in the main Crimean direction with small forces. Which, however, does not justify the indecision of the Russian command in this decisive sector.
The commander of our troops, Prince A. S. Menshikov, did not interfere with the calm landing of the Anglo-French landing near Evpatoria. It is difficult to say whether this was outright bungling or outright betrayal. But instead of trying to attack the allies when they were not yet entrenched on the Crimean coast, the Russian army for some reason passively waited for the enemy at the Alma River.
And she waited - during the battle, the maneuverable group of Anglo-French forces defeated Menshikov's sluggish units. This, in fact, allowed the enemy to begin an 11-month siege of Sevastopol. And with good provisions - the allies in Yevpatoria received warehouses with wheat at their full disposal. It's hard to believe that there was no treason here.
Many strange things happened during the Battle of Balaklava in 1854. To begin with, during it the Russian command set a very local task: to destroy the supply base of the troops besieging Sevastopol, and not to capture Balaklava or unblock the besieged base of the Black Sea Fleet. Having achieved success at the first stage, the Russian General P. P. Liprandi, who was in charge of the operation, did not dare to press the enemy out of all occupied positions, preferring for some reason to send the cavalry into the valley.
Well, there, we must pay tribute to the enemy, the wonders of courage were shown by the Scottish arrows, lined up in a "thin red line". As a result, they managed to stop the attack of the Russian cavalry. And now the case could have ended with the defeat of Liprandi's detachment.
And it would have ended, probably, if it were not for the inconsistency in the Allied command, as a result of which the light British cavalry was actually thrown in a semi-encirclement to repulse its guns previously captured by the Russians. This adventure ended with almost complete annihilation of the colors of the English cavalry. On the whole, a combat draw near Balaklava did not give an advantage to either side, which greatly delayed the course of hostilities.
History almost completely repeated itself in 1942-1943 - this time the garrison of Sevastopol and the Black Sea sailors heroically fought off enemy attacks for about nine months. But, alas, they failed to unblock the besieged city.
Battle of Stalingrad 1942-1943
And nevertheless, Sevastopol played its role - the resistance shown by the Soviet troops until the very last moment did not allow the Nazis to fully launch their general offensive according to the Blau plan in 1942 before July. Perhaps it was this circumstance that prevented them from ultimately taking possession of another fortress city, whose name had long become a household name - Stalingrad.
One way or another, the plans of the Nazi command did not provide for fruitless attacks for a long time on the outskirts of Sevastopol. The Nazis were able to master it only after the use of super-heavy artillery - the systems "Karl" and "Dora". Otherwise, they could not get close to the famous forts.
Therefore, already knowing perfectly well that any missed summer month would later turn into a rout for them, the Nazis did not dare to start an operation to seize the Caucasian oil fields. They did not dare, because in the rear they had the heroic Sevastopol, which, according to Hitler himself, threatened oil production in Romania.
But even after the start of the long-delayed offensive, the Nazi leadership continued to throw about - where is the key area, in the Caucasus or near Stalingrad? As a result, Hitler's headquarters threw the 4th Panzer Army into Army Group "A" to break through to Baku, then into Army Group "B" to capture Stalingrad.
By the way, only this can explain why the Nazi troops rushed to the Volga right here. Why did they try to take possession of this, in general, a provincial city, ignoring losses and not even defending the flanks.
This also explains the stubbornness of Soviet soldiers who fought to the death, fighting in the most literal sense for every house. As a result, not only Stalingrad itself became a symbol of courage and unparalleled heroism, but also the Mamayev Kurgan, which passed from hand to hand dozens of times. This dominant height allowed those who occupied it to control the situation.
"Pavlov's House" - an unremarkable four-storey building, also became a fortress, which the Nazis did not allow her small but heroic garrison to seize.
But even their desperate perseverance would not have saved Stalingrad in the long run, if the Soviet command had not carried out Operation Ring, brilliant in its simplicity of design and precision of execution. Thanks to her, the Red Army finally managed to get even for the bitterness of the boilers of 1941, but the most important thing was to actually turn the tide of the entire war.
Milestones of the heroic path
Of course, Soviet soldiers and commanders performed miracles of heroism not only in the defense of Sevastopol and Stalingrad, but literally from beginning to end of the Great Patriotic War. Well, the first who clearly and clearly showed that the Nazis could not win were, as you know, the defenders of the Brest Fortress. They fought in complete encirclement, not only lacking sufficient ammunition, but also food and water. And they held out to the last.
Actually, the whole war is a path from their inscriptions "I die, but I do not give up" and "Farewell, Motherland!" before the paintings of their followers on the walls of the Reichstag. These are milestones of one heroic path that led the entire Soviet people to the great Victory.
Alexander Evdokimov