The defense of Stalingrad is not just a chapter in the book of the history of the Patriotic War, but a separate book that has collected the exploits of hundreds of thousands of people who stood up to defend the city. There were so many feats and heroic deeds committed not only by the soldiers of the Soviet Army, but also by members of the militia, railway workers, policemen and even service dogs during the battles on the banks of the Volga, that not all of them are heard, but they deserve it, so that the younger generation knows about them and be proud of them.
NKVD defending Stalingrad
As General Paulus wrote in his diary in 1942, the losses of the Germans grew with each step they made towards Stalingrad, and the offensive impulse became weaker. However, with all this, the enemy was very strong, and for this reason, additional resources were required to protect Stalingrad, which became the 10th Infantry Stalingrad Division of the Order of Lenin, which belonged to the internal troops of the NKVD.
The above unit was created in the winter of 1942. It was believed that the detachments formed from representatives of the NKVD were the last reserve sent to the most difficult sectors of the front.
The division originally consisted of five rifle regiments, later several railway units and a detachment of tank destroyer dogs were attached to them. The main task of the fighters of the NKVD unit was to identify saboteurs, traitors, spies, but at the beginning of the attack on the city, their forces were also thrown into an open fight with the enemy.
Enemy offensive
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It was also with the 269th rifle regiment of the NKVD VV, whose task was to ensure order. On the account of this unit, in August 1942 alone, there were more than two and a half thousand detained violators and traitors, including more than one and a half thousand soldiers and about a thousand civilians. However, when the Germans approached, the regiment stood shoulder to shoulder with others to defend the city.
The offensive began on 7 September. Following the clearing of the territories with artillery fire, the enemy sent infantry to attack. The attackers were so strong that the 112th rifle division was unable to repel the pressure and began to retreat towards the city.
Seeing that the unacceptable was happening, the soldiers of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the NKVD regiment, despite exploding bombs and machine-gun bursts around them, stood in the way of the fleeing soldiers, creating a wall. These actions made it possible to stop the soldiers who decided to retreat and assemble them into combat-ready detachments, numbering more than a thousand people.
According to its main activity, the 272th rifle regiment of the NKVD Internal Troops was able to detain about two thousand people only from 28 August to 7 September. The regiment was allowed to take part in hostilities on September 3. On that day, German submachine gunners managed to penetrate the regiment's command post. By order of the battalion commissar I. M. Shcherbins were raised by the staff, the commissar himself personally killed three German soldiers hand-to-hand. The surviving attackers fled.
Over the next six days, the regiment changed tactics to counterattack more than once. During the attempt to capture the 146.1 height, the enemy machine gun did not stop firing, not allowing Soviet soldiers to go on the offensive. The situation was changed by Alexey Vashchenko, who resolutely closed the embrasure of the firing point with his body. This happened a year before a similar feat was accomplished by Alexander Matrosov.
On September 19, the leadership of the regiment passed to Shcherbina, since the entire leadership fell. He understood that the regiment would not be able to hold positions for a long time and wrote a note in which he noted the heroism of his soldiers, asked to take care of his family and expressed regret that he would not be able to destroy more Germans, of whom he had 85 people.
Another example of a hero from the staff of the staff is Sukhorukov, who served as a clerk of the political unit in the 271st regiment of the NKVD Internal Troops. Sukhorukov killed 9 Germans, six with a machine gun and three with the butt of a weapon during hand-to-hand combat. In total, during the battles for Stalingrad in September, the state security sergeant killed 17 enemy soldiers and officers.
Railway workers defend Stalingrad
In September 1942, 84 separate recovery track battalion was attached to the NKVD regiment. The unit was commanded by Major P. M. Shein.
The most difficult battle for the unit took place at the railway bridge over the Tsaritsa River. The railroad workers held back the enemy's advance for ten days, destroying three enemy armored personnel carriers. The Germans responded with an air strike and began to attack. Despite heavy losses, the railroad workers held back the onslaught until September 15, when General Rodimtsev's 13th Guards Division came to the rescue.
For courage and heroism in this battle, the entire staff of the 84th battalion was awarded the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, and Shein was awarded the title of Hero of Social Labor and the Order of Lenin.
The most terrible enemy of German tankers
In the 282nd Infantry Regiment of the 10th NKVD Internal Troops Division there was also a 28 separate SIT detachment, consisting of two hundred people and as many trained dogs under the command of A. S. Kunin.
For German tank crews, dogs were the most terrible weapon. The animals were placed in places where enemy tanks were expected. Behind the dog handlers were the gunners, who, when the enemy appeared, had to open fire and cover the advance of the dogs. TNT was attached to the backs of the dogs. The Germans knew that if a shell exploded near the tank, then the crew would have the opportunity to escape, and if the tank was blown up by a dog, then there was no chance.
On September 15, dogs and their guides blew up six tanks and destroyed more than 30 enemy machine gunners.
In total, in September, the number of SIT tanks destroyed was 32, and more than a hundred German machine gunners were also neutralized. The detachment itself also thinned, in which at the beginning of October there were only fifty-four people and the same number of dogs. Kunin was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and the feat of the SIT detachment was immortalized by the memorial “To the destroyers of fascist tanks, service dogs-demolitionists of the 10th rifle division of the NKVD”.
Anna Ponomareva