In 1941, the entire multinational Soviet Union rose to defend the Motherland. In the war, thousands of the most incredible events took place and situations developed that even the master of detective stories and science fiction writers could not invent. They are surprisingly diverse, rare, unpredictable, sometimes mystical.
Remembered the sound that brings death
In the summer of 1944, the front line moved westward with fierce fighting. In one of the burned Belarusian villages, the foreman of the anti-aircraft battery of 37-mm air defense cannons, in which Semyon Ranevsky served, picked up the only surviving living soul - a ginger kitten, named him Ryzhik and put him on ration as the seventh member of the crew. The battery covered ferries, airfields and other objects.
The kitten grew up and recovered, became a favorite of the soldiers. The foreman noticed that a minute before the raid, Ryzhik was turning his muzzle in the direction from which enemy aircraft should appear, and growled dully. Apparently, he forever remembered the sound that brought death. Then he disappeared into an unknown direction and appeared only after the air raid was cleared. This ability of Ryzhik was appreciated by the entire battery, and the effectiveness of the rebuff of enemy attacks increased by an order of magnitude. Brought into a combat position and already aimed at the still invisible enemy, the cannons fired accurately and effectively. The soldiers trusted the cat, his authority increased, and the regiment's signalman, who tried to kick him, immediately got in the face.
At the end of April 1945, the battery was resting. Suddenly Ryzhik growled unkindly to the east, although there was a rear, the fur on it stood on end. The cat has long been believed unconditionally. Within a dozen seconds, the battery was put on alert, and the barrels of the cannon were pointed eastward just in case. From there, our fighter appears, followed by a smoky plume, and a German FW-190 hangs on its tail. The battery gave two bursts, and he stuck into the ground half a kilometer from her guns. The fighter on the turn swung from wing to wing and went towards the airfield. The next day, the pilot - all his chest in medals - in gratitude for his salvation brought a suitcase with gifts: alcohol, bacon, etc. He says: "How did you help me so quickly, hit right on target, who should I thank?" He was shown the cat, but he did not believe until the foreman told him about Ryzhik's abilities. The pilot came to the battery again and brought two kilograms of fresh liver for his savior.
Attack plane shot down Messer
Promotional video:
After the assault on the village of Glukhaya Gorushka, from somewhere on the side, shining with machine-gun bursts, the "Messer" enters Talgat Begeldinov's Il-2 and, not calculating the speed, slips past. Then it turns around and again attaches itself to its tail, but Talgat jerked the steering wheel, went sideways and down, the Messer again rushed past and, to slow down, released the landing gear. He began to spin around, but was in the dead zone of "Silt", capable only of a frontal attack. And if you attack yourself? The plan of attack was ripe immediately. Talgat jerked the plane up, gained altitude, and then - in a dive, the German followed him and missed the moment when the "Il" jerked off to the side, and "Messer" was in front, as if in the sight of the attack aircraft. Talgat pressed the trigger, "Messer" enveloped in smoke and flew to the ground, our soldiers ran to him.
On an airplane riddled with bullets, Begeldinov barely made it to the airfield. Of the nine "Ilovs" only four returned from the battle. Talgat did not speak about the fight with Messer. There was a strictest order: not to engage in combat with fighters. In the morning he was ordered to come to the division commander - the hero of the USSR Kamanin. At the headquarters, he left the table and held out his hand to Talgat: “So-a-k, it means that you are senior sergeant Talgat Begeldinov from Kazakhstan. Tell me how you shot down the Messer. This is necessary! During the entire war, there was no such thing as the Il attack aircraft in one-on-one air combat, and shot it down! The artillerymen saw your battle, the state of emergency for the whole army! Well done, well, pilot! Can you imagine what he did? He completely overturned the idea of the possibilities of "Ilov". To face off against the enemy's fighter was out of the question - run, save yourself, at low level. And he took the fight and shot down a reptile, but what? Captain von Dietrich, awarded with crosses for deeds in Spain, France, in the Balkans. In dozens of other combat missions, in front of Talgat's eyes, comrades died, they were wounded, they jumped with a parachute from burning cars, and he was like a conspiracy. He was considered lucky, but Fortune is a capricious lady, and the future twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Begeldinov, still had to be dashing enough.
Rooster cry
Lighting flares were constantly hanging over the scouts, head over heels in the cold spring mud on the loose peasant field. They waited for the right moment to throw at the firing point, which they spotted in advance. They lay at the very German trenches motionless, hour after hour, afraid to move and betray their presence. Under Leonidas, a piece of ice accidentally cracked, and immediately the neighboring dark bump flashed unkindly in his direction with the eyes of the platoon commander. It is not the first time for them to take the “language”, but the long-awaited darkness is not and is not. Behind, in no man's land, their common favorite, Petya, shouted, whom they rescued from German gourmets and took care of him, supplying him with food supplies. Above the scouts, crossing the front line, a maize rattled. He, too, like them, is a night owl. Military pilots usually served on these slugs. Powerful explosions came from the side of the railway siding, and strings of tracer bullets rushed into the sky. With joy, Leonid saw how, clinging to the ground, the brave "maize" returned. The rooster shouted again at the top of his throat, as if advising not to lose the sense of time and get out before dawn. They crawled towards the village. A long night, nervous tension and other troubles so far turned out to be useless. Tomorrow everything will start all over again, no one will take "language" for them. Suddenly, over the houses of the village and the trees, dark sultans of rifts shot up.nervous tension and other troubles have so far been useless. Tomorrow everything will start all over again, no one will take "language" for them. Suddenly, over the houses of the village and the trees, dark sultans of rifts shot up.nervous tension and other troubles have so far been useless. Tomorrow everything will start all over again, no one will take "language" for them. Suddenly, over the houses of the village and the trees, the dark plumes of ruptures soared.
The scout was walled up
A young woman was running bustlingly around the burning house, her hair disheveled, her dress covered in mud, and the glare of the fire danced in her big frightened eyes. Where did it come from? The order to evacuate the civilian population was strictly followed. Apparently she came back to pick up something from the house. The artillery attack intensified, and Leonid ducked into the nearest dug slot, designed for one. Suddenly, something soft and warm fell on him, the same mess that had recently been running through the conflagration. The artillery attack grew, the woman on top was shaking with fear and with force squeezed her wide backside into a narrow gap. At first, Leonid chivalrously endured his inconvenience, then began to choke in a hole sealed like a cork. Despite his desperate attempts to free himself, he could choke in a few minutes. It became quite real not a heroic death somewhere in intelligence or on the battlefield, but, sorry,under … a woman's bottom. Leonid had already lost hope, but the artillery attack stopped, and the woman jumped out of the gap. With what pleasure he absorbed the spring air in half with the smoke! Dawn broke and he noticed a scattering of amber wheat grains. Residents, leaving the village, hid property in the ground, and the shells plowed it up and laid bare secret treasures. Leonid put in his pocket a couple of handfuls for Petya, who can't wait for his breadwinners - scouts.
Second birthday of the battalion commander
In the difficult days of the retreat of 1942, the wounded 18-year-old Red Army soldier Mikhail Alekseevich Pupkov for 13 days, where he crawled, where he leaned on a rifle, left with his unit, until he got to the medical battalion. Then there were fierce battles in Stalingrad and on the Dnieper, the death of comrades and studies at the courses of junior commanders. Near the city of Cherkassy, 30 tanks and several flamethrowers rushed to the company of Captain Pupkov. Five tanks were knocked out by gunners, three were burned by company soldiers, but the rest continued to attack. One of them went directly to the already wounded Pupkov. He threw a grenade with his damaged hand, but did not please. The day was rainy. The tank climbed onto the parapet, the wet walls of the trench collapsed under its weight, and the tank passed through the captain. The soldiers threw grenades at the tank and dug up the bloody commander. He was without signs of life, and in this state he was sent to the hospital. He returned "from the other world" and considered the moment of this fight his second birthday. Soon, Pupkov commanded a battalion that distinguished himself in the Jassy-Chisinau operation, when crossing the Danube in the Budapest region, and then in Austria. In the battles near Vienna, the guards captured the largest arsenal plant, where there were 200 tanks and other equipment. In March 1945, Pupkov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the liberation of Vienna, his battalion fought the last battle at an unnamed height, from which a young, lean captain with a scar on his right cheek and military orders on his chest saw a white flag - a sign of the unconditional surrender of the Nazis.and then on the territory of Austria. In the battles near Vienna, the guards captured the largest arsenal plant, where there were 200 tanks and other equipment. In March 1945, Pupkov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the liberation of Vienna, his battalion fought the last battle at an unnamed height, from which a young, lean captain with a scar on his right cheek and military orders on his chest saw a white flag - a sign of the unconditional surrender of the Nazis.and then on the territory of Austria. In the battles near Vienna, the guards captured the largest arsenal plant, where there were 200 tanks and other equipment. In March 1945, Pupkov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the liberation of Vienna, his battalion fought the last battle at an unnamed height, from which a young, lean captain with a scar on his right cheek and military orders on his chest saw a white flag - a sign of the unconditional surrender of the Nazis.
Valery Kamenev