Recently I watched a program on TV about “Little Land”. I thought that many people had been there, many wrote about him, but it was about Malaya Zemlya and the feat Soviet soldiers There's not a lot of information on it. I want to fix this...
Despite the summer, the scorching heat outside, in memorial museum chills me to the point of trembling.
A patch of land called "Malaya Zemlya"
, really very small. Just some 30 square kilometers. Now standing at the memorial and looking at the bay, it is difficult to imagine the war. There is such beauty, peace and quiet all around.
On February 4, 1943, a landing was launched here with the aim of a counter-offensive on Novorossiysk. But the attempt failed. With the confusion of wartime, the impossibility instant communication, bad weather conditions everything went wrong. And instead of landing troops in two places, they landed in only one, and then in the one that was distracting. The Germans never managed to use the port of Novorossiysk. Ours never gave up the eastern part of Tsemes Bay to the Germans.
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The Nazis were rushing to the Caucasus, to oil. To destroy our group in such a small area of territory, an unimaginable number of soldiers, equipment, and aircraft were involved. Ours died, but did not retreat a single step. The exact number of deaths is still unknown. Every year search teams There are several thousand more names and remains. The list has already “enlarged” from 5 thousand to 15.
The defense of Novorossiysk lasted 255 days. On September 16, 1943, the city was liberated. The liberation of the city was not easy not only for the military, but also for civilians and the city itself. Out of one hundred thousand inhabitants, at the time of liberation there was only one family left!!!
The feat of soldiers on Malaya Zemlya was established huge amount monuments - 80 pieces. These are mostly mass graves. Three large memorials. We visited them all. I felt uneasy in every place. Everyone gets to the core.
The main memorial is located at the end of Lenin Avenue, on the shore of Tsemes Bay, just before reaching Salt Lake. It can be seen very well from the avenue.
The monument symbolizes a torpedo boat that jumped onto the shore from which paratroopers jumped out.
A little earlier, before reaching the monument, there is a monument called by the people “Sailor with a Grenade”. The monument was erected on the front line of the defense of Malaya Zemlya.
The official name of the monument "Sailor Paratrooper". It was installed on the 29th anniversary of the liberation of Novorossiysk at the intersection of Chernyakhovsky Street and Lenin Avenue. A strong, penetrating monument.
But let's return to the memorial. On inside a triangle symbolizing the bow of the boat, the words of the oath of the soldiers of Kunikov’s detachment are written.
Inside is Gallery of Fame.
As we go up and down the steps, we pass granite boards with the names of formations, detachments and groups that fought on Malaya Zemlya.
There are also bas-reliefs with portraits of Heroes Soviet Union who fought and died on Malaya Zemlya. The entire time you are inside, you are accompanied by dramatic music by composer Evgeny Ptichkin.
Having risen to the very top platform of the memorial, we see a gap in the wall as if from the explosion of a grenade or shell.
On May 8th of each year, additional names are added. All this made a strong impression on me, to the point of goosebumps and trembling. And when the music stops and the heart begins to “beat”, tears come to your eyes on their own.
Entrance to the gallery is paid, I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was 70 rubles. Nearby is a museum of military equipment under open air. We didn’t go, somehow after the gallery we didn’t feel like it at all.
There is a protected area around the memorial. There are still remains of dugouts and trenches. For some reason I just wanted to take a walk along the shore. There was a desire to look at the sun and water and just calm down.
We walked around Salt Lake. And I was probably even glad that there was a cheerful monument to Gosha Kazadoev here.
After a walk, we went to the next memorial. In the village of Myskhako, at the turn From Shosseynaya Street to Novorossiysk, a monument to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War was erected.
The memorial includes several monuments. Made the strongest impression on me monument "Explosion".
The monument consists of real fragments of bombs, grenades, shells, mines. Its weight is 1250 kg. For each fighter located on Malaya Zemlya, this is exactly how much the Nazis dropped deadly metal!!! For some reason this thought makes me feel uneasy!!!
In addition to this monument, there is also a Stone Calendar.
9 steles tell about the most hard days defense of Malaya Zemlya.
A three-dimensional layout map with designations of all the places where the battles took place, where our territory was, where the fascists were, where the command posts were located. Very interesting, and very scary.
In addition, a plane tree, personally planted by L.I. Brezhnev, grows in the center.
Here we also saw bus excursions.
But people practically don’t go to the next, last memorial, it’s far away. But in my opinion it is stronger than all the previous ones. This Memorial "Well of Life". It is located on 8th Gvardeyskaya Street in the village of Myskhako. The entire memorial consists of one well, nestled at the foot of the Sorcerer Mountain.
The name "Small Land" became widely known in our country in the 1970s. and turned out to be connected with the personality of L.I. Brezhnev. The work of the same name, published under the name of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, became the pinnacle of that mass of military memoirs, research, journalistic and fiction, songs and paintings dedicated to a small coastal bridgehead that existed south of Novorossiysk from February to September 1943.
The scale and obsession of this campaign turned out to be so great that they could not help but cause irony and skepticism in society. There was a joke going around the country about how Marshal Zhukov put off deciding on an offensive without calling Colonel Brezhnev, and the phrase about those who sat in the trenches of Stalingrad while the fate of the war was being decided on Malaya Zemlya became a catchphrase. ABOUT everyday life Soviet soldiers and officers on the bridgehead were spoken less often, although it was their daily efforts that became a real feat. And in order to appreciate it, it is worth remembering where and how the defenders of Malaya Zemlya fought, lived and died.
Between Big and Small Land
The path to the bridgehead began in Gelendzhik. From here to Myskhako, taking into account the bends of the fairway laid among the minefields, it is less than 20 miles - about 37 kilometers. During daylight hours, any watercraft was destroyed by enemy artillery or aircraft, so all transportation was carried out at night. The first ships that were used to deliver troops to a captured bridgehead were medium-sized, by the standards of Black Sea Fleet, ships and vessels: minesweepers, gunboats and military transports. The gunboats had the opportunity to approach almost the very shore, other ships and vessels could use the fish factory pier. But the enemy was intensively shelling the pier, and it was necessary to switch to a different mode of transportation. With the onset of darkness, ships and ships came from Gelendzhik to eastern part Tsemes Bay, in the Kabardinka region. There, people and cargo were taken on board boats, seiners and motorboats, and they delivered them to Malaya Zemlya, managing to make two or three trips per night 1 . The likelihood of warships being killed by artillery fire had decreased, but other threats also existed. Soviet communications began to come under attack from the 1st flotilla of German torpedo boats. On the night of February 28 they managed to reach greatest success, sinking the gunboat "Red Georgia" and the base minesweeper T-403 "Cargo" near Myskhako. After this, transportation to the bridgehead began to be carried out exclusively by small-tonnage ships, vessels and boats, soon nicknamed the “tyulka fleet”. But they also continued to die from mine explosions, artillery strikes, aircraft and enemy boats.
Efforts were made to supply the paratroopers by air. In the days of the first battles, the cargo was dropped by Il-2 attack aircraft, but up to half of the containers fell behind the front line or into the sea. And when it was possible to free the area where the runway was located, an airfield team was sent to the bridgehead. In order to prepare the airfield to receive light transport aircraft, craters from shells and bombs began to be filled in, but all efforts were in vain. Continuous shelling by enemy artillery led to the fact that new craters appeared faster than old ones were filled in, and the idea of using aviation had to be abandoned.
People and cargo from Mainland It was necessary not only to transport it to Malaya, but also to unload it ashore. And this is where difficulties arose. The only pier at the fish factory was completely destroyed, and the first paratroopers landed in the coastal waters under enemy fire. In the second half of February, it was possible to build piers where small vessels could unload. The destroyed building of "Red Georgia" became a unique pier in its own way. The received cargo was stored on the shore and then delivered to the troops. They had to be carried manually or transported on donkeys by two mountain pack companies 2 . By the beginning of April, it was possible to create a food supply for seven days on Malaya Zemlya. It was worse with ammunition; there was only one round of ammunition. And only by the end of August the supply of ammunition was increased to two rounds of ammunition, and food supplies for 30 days.
Progress of the message. During the six months of existence of the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead, more than 32 km of trenches were dug there. Photo: Motherland
Who fought on Malaya Zemlya
The main heroes of the landings, including those on Malaya Zemlya, are considered to be Marines. The image of the “black pea coats” turned out to be so vivid that it largely eclipsed the efforts of other small-earth residents. Divisions Marine Corps- assault squad of Major Ts.L. Kunikova, the 83rd Marine Rifle Brigade and the 255th Marine Brigade - really played main role in seizing a bridgehead. True, by the beginning of 1943, no more than half of those from the navy remained in their ranks; its human resources were depleted during the defense of the Crimea and the Caucasus. Nevertheless, the recruits, who came “from the shore” and not “from the ships,” enthusiastically absorbed naval traditions. Following the marines, the 8th Guards, 51st, 107th and 165th Rifle Brigades, 176th rifle division and two more rifle regiment, which were ordinary infantry formations. As a result, by March 1, of the 27 battalions of the Landing Group of Forces, only six represented the Marine Corps. Therefore, in subsequent battles, the degree of participation of the Marine Corps turned out to be lower than generally believed.
There has been a lot of speculation regarding the Kunikovites. One of them was that they were penalty offenders. In fact, the detachment of Ts.L. Kunikov was recruited from the coastal units of the Novorossiysk naval base and reconnaissance squad Black Sea Fleet. And the 613th penal company of the Black Sea Fleet and the 92nd army penal company were assigned to the main landing forces and landed on the already captured bridgehead. Later, the 91st and 100th separate penal companies of the 18th Army 3 took part in the battles on Malaya Zemlya. But the share of penal soldiers in the Landing Group of Forces remained insignificant, and the tasks assigned to them did not have fundamental differences from tasks solved by simple infantry.
Novorossiysk partisans were also among the land poor. The first of them arrived at the bridgehead, led by their commander P.I. Vasev on February 9. In total, five detachments were sent there - more than 200 people. They were involved in reconnaissance, used as guides in many units, and participated in unloading operations, construction of piers and restoration of the airfield. However, the partisans failed to organize the fight behind enemy lines. Over the course of a month and a half, they tried to get behind the front line 23 times, but almost all of the forays ended in failure. At the end of March the partisans were evacuated to Mainland 4 .
Everyday life of the landless people
In the first weeks of fighting on the bridgehead, all the few buildings were used as shelters: the dilapidated houses of Stanichka and Myskhako, the remains of a fish factory and wine farm, caponiers of the airfield and coastal battery. The openness of Malaya Zemlya to enemy observation and artillery fire forced the construction of field fortifications and shelters to begin. In them, the defenders of the bridgehead had to not only fight, but also live in the coming months. The obstacles in this matter were the hard ground and the lack of building materials and entrenching tools. April 12, 1943, five days before the start German offensive, a check of the state of defense readiness was carried out in the Landing Group of Forces. It turned out that not all the trenches were brought to full profile, some bunkers and dugouts were not even protected from shrapnel, and there were not enough communication passages. “Work to improve engineering structures is proceeding extremely sluggishly and only under great pressure” 5 . Nevertheless, on Malaya Zemlya the total volume of work exceeded the similar indicators on other sectors of the 18th Army's front several times. The Myskhako area became the most fortified area North Caucasus Front, arose the whole city with its own "blocks" and "streets". And it was all done by hand!
In addition to warehouses and headquarters, it was necessary to cover a field surgical hospital. He was located in the area of the wine farm, using its concrete storage facilities as protection. The hospital could provide the most necessary help, but the wounded went to the mainland to recover. For this purpose, in addition to the hospital, a field evacuation point was deployed.
There were not enough sources on Malaya Zemlya fresh water. It was especially difficult for the first paratroopers who fought in Stanichka in early February. For drinking and cooking, they collected rainwater and melted ice from puddles. As the bridgehead expanded, several streams were at the disposal of its defenders, but with the onset of summer they dried up, and only one remained for the entire Malaya Zemlya natural spring water. Well digging was organized in all units. The capacity of each of them turned out to be small, but this was compensated total number- more than seven dozen.
The lack of water and fuel affected the troops' food supply system. At first, soldiers and commanders could only count on the dry rations they took with them. Subsequently, the basis of the diet became bread, crackers, canned meat, fish and vegetables. Even dolphin meat was used. The consequence of an unbalanced diet and the use of poor-quality water was the spread of night blindness, dysentery and vitamin deficiency among the personnel; these problems became especially noticeable in May - June 1943, but by mid-summer they were dealt with. The means of prevention were pine infusion and the so-called Malozemelsky kvass, prepared on the basis of nut paste and grape leaves. Nutrition has improved, in particular, it was possible to establish bread baking and organize the delivery of hot food to the front lines. The soldiers carried it in thermoses twice a day, at dusk and before sunrise 6 .
Along with food, active units of the Red Army also received alcoholic beverages. For those on the front line and leading fighting, required 100 grams of vodka or 200 grams of fortified wine. As a rule, alcohol was given out before an offensive or on the occasion of a holiday. So, on May 1, officer of the 83rd Marine Rifle Brigade V.G. Morozov noted in his diary the receipt of "chacha", emphasizing the peculiarity of this case 7. The distribution of alcoholic beverages was not without abuse. In a combat situation this had the most severe consequences: On March 26, the battalion of machine gunners of the 107th Infantry Brigade received two liters of alcohol in connection with the upcoming reconnaissance in force, in the evening the battalion commander organized a drinking party, and in the morning he disrupted the planned operation.
Malaya Zemlya was not without desertion. Already on February 18, the commander of the Black Sea Group of Forces, Lieutenant General I.E. Petrov ordered to send two outposts (100 people) of the 23rd NKVD border regiment to Malaya Zemlya. They were tasked with protecting the piers and combating desertion 8 . The desire to save life also pushed into betrayal. So, on April 8, two soldiers of the 51st Infantry Brigade ran over to the enemy 9 . Therefore, during the April battles, the commander of the Landing Group of Forces, Major General A.A. Grechkin gave the order to comb rear areas to identify enemy spies and deserters.
In the troops on Malaya Zemlya, who lived for more than six months as a garrison of a besieged fortress, it was necessary to conduct appropriate work with the personnel. The main role in this was played political bodies. They did a lot to ensure that the small-earth people did not feel cut off from the mainland, received newspapers and knew the contents of the Sovinformburo reports. Significant efforts were directed toward promoting heroism and mutual assistance, overcoming interethnic differences, and explaining the peculiarities of combat during a landing. With the end of the April battles, the opportunity arose to improve life and diversify the leisure time of soldiers and officers. The song and dance ensemble of the 18th Army performed several times on Malaya Zemlya, and an amateur art competition was held at the beginning of July.
“One for all, we won’t stand behind the price...”
There is still no comprehensive information about how many Soviet soldiers died on Malaya Zemlya. The paratroopers suffered the most intense losses in the first month of fighting. Of the 37 thousand people landed on Malaya Zemlya in February 1943, 2412 died, 815 were missing, 7645 were injured, 775 fell ill. In total, over 11.6 thousand people, i.e. 31% 10. The losses during the repulsion of the German offensive were significant. 1,124 people were killed, 2,610 were wounded and 12 soldiers were missing. These losses amounted to more than 29% of the 12,764 active soldiers in service 11.
From February 4 to September 10, 1943, almost 78.5 thousand people were brought to Malaya Zemlya. If we subtract from this figure the number taken from the bridgehead, which is 33 thousand people (including about 24.5 thousand wounded), 12 and the 20 thousand that were part of the Landing Group of Forces at the time of the liberation of Novorossiysk, then the remainder will be approximately 25 thousand people. Every third landowner died or went missing.
Another question arises - where and how the dead were buried. Considering the overcrowding of people on the bridgehead, this was a serious problem not only from the moral and ethical, but also from the sanitary and epidemiological side. It is obvious that the tense situation in the early days of the bridgehead did not allow adequate care for the dead. But even a month later, the order to the troops of the Landing Group of Forces dated March 9, 1943 noted the unsatisfactory state of affairs on the shore: “Dead sick, wounded and corpses thrown ashore are removed and buried untimely” 13. Subsequently, this problem was solved. An analysis of documents on irretrievable losses of the Red Army, collected in the Generalized Data Bank "Memorial", showed that in most cases burials were made in mass graves in position military units. Only in special cases the bodies of the dead were sent to Gelendzhik. Thus, from July 29 to August 8, the 255th Marine Brigade irretrievably lost 31 people. Only one of them, deputy commander for political affairs, Lieutenant Colonel M.K. Vidov was buried in Gelendzhik, and the rest - privates and sergeants - on the southern outskirts of Novorossiysk, in the area of Stanichka and camp 14.
The sacrifices suffered by Soviet soldiers and sailors on Malaya Zemlya force us to think about the significance of the bridgehead. How much it was needed during the war remains a matter of debate. But our article was not about this, but about whether the life and struggle of the small-landers was a feat. It seems that the answer is obvious, because the trials that befell the defenders of the bridgehead are great even by the standards of the Great Patriotic War. The danger of death, everyday problems, lack of food and water, awareness of isolation from the mainland - all this befell those who fought on the bridgehead. But they survived and won. This, perhaps, deserves the memory of posterity.
1. Yurina T.I. Novorossiysk confrontation: 1942-1943. Krasnodar, 2008. P. 238.
2. Shiyan I.S. On Malaya Zemlya. M., 1974. P. 145.
3. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 211. L. 85.
4. Historical notes. Documents from the funds of the museum-reserve. Novorossiysk, 2014. Issue. 6. pp. 39-40.
5. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 162. L. 47.
6. Drabkin A.V. Up to the elbows in blood. Red Cross of the Red Army. M., 2010. pp. 333-334.
7. This is my war: The Great Patriotic War in written and visual ego-documents. Krasnodar, 2016. P. 264.
8. TsAMO RF. F. 276. Op. 811. D. 164. L. 78.
9. TsAMO RF. F. 849. Op. 1. D. 10. L. 1.
10. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 165. L. 35, 37.
11. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 211. L. 45 rev.
12. Battle chronicle Navy. 1943. M., 1993. S. 435-436.
13. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 165. L. 49.
14. Name list irrecoverable losses personnel of the 255th Marine Brigade. URL: http://www.obd-memorial.ru/html/info.htm?id=2763071&page=1 (date of access - 07/27/2017)
The complex was erected in memory of the heroism of Soviet soldiers who fought for Novorossiysk during the Great Patriotic War. A detachment of paratroopers led by Major Ts.L. Kunikov, on the night of February 4, 1943, broke through enemy fire, landed on the shore and captured a small but very important bridgehead, which was called “Malaya Zemlya.” Five days later, on the bridgehead, the length of which did not exceed 8 km from west to east and 6 km from north to south, there were already 17 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers.
For seven months, or rather 255 days, the defense of Malaya Zemlya was carried out. From this place began the decisive assault on the positions of the Nazi invaders, thanks to which Novorossiysk was liberated on September 16, 1943.
Around the monument there is an untouched area, where traces of battles can still be discerned; here you can see trenches, ditches, and trenches overgrown with grass. Nearby is a museum of military equipment and weapons from the Great Patriotic War, and in the center of the parade ground there is a stele with a commemorative inscription.
Composition of the monument
On the shore of Tsemes Bay there is a memorial made of granite and bronze, resembling a nose landing ship, which rushed ashore in a swift rush. Two powerful beams, one of which emerges from the bottom of the bay, intersect at a height of 22 meters.
On right side structure, which emerges from the sea, like on board a ship, there is a frozen bas-relief: the faces of soldiers ready to rush into the attack. On the left is a bronze sculptural group of figures of fighters. The sailor, the infantryman, the commander, and the female medical instructor are united in a single desire; they seem to have frozen a second before the battle. At the very top are the words: “The earth was burning, the stones were smoking. Metal was melting, concrete was collapsing. But people faithful to their oath did not retreat from this land.”
The text of the oath of the soldiers of the paratrooper detachment of Ts. L. Kunikov is written inside the monument, in the gallery of military glory, around a bronze capsule, which contains the names of all the soldiers and sailors who defended these shores: “...We reclaimed from the enemy a piece of land near the city of Novorossiysk that we called Malaya Zemlya. Although it is small, this is our land, Soviet, it is watered with our sweat, our blood, and we will never give it up to any enemy... We swear by our battle flags, in the name of our wives and children, in the name of our beloved Motherland, we swear to stand in the upcoming battles with the enemy, grind their forces and clear Taman of fascist scoundrels. Let's turn Malaya Zemlya into a big grave for the Nazis.".
Gallery of military glory
Inside the monument there is a museum, on two sides of the stairs made of red Karelian granite there are 22 stylized banners on which are inscribed the names of 19 formations and units of the 18th Army and the Black Sea Fleet that fought on the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead. Up the steps, on the right and left, there are 30 bronze portraits of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the battles for Malaya Zemlya and Novorossiysk. The staircase is crowned by the sculptural composition “Oath” with a mosaic panel and the text of the oath; there is also a gilded bronze capsule in the shape of a heart with the names of the heroes who died in the battles for Novorossiysk. The gallery continuously plays the musical poem “Memory” by composer E. N. Ptichkin.
Every year on May 8, a solemn ritual “Memory” is held at the “Small Land” monument. Residents and guests of the city honor the dead with a minute of silence, and the “Heart” capsule contains the names of the fallen, discovered by museum staff this year.
Malaya Zemlya - a piece of terrain on west bank Novorossiysk (Tsemes) Bay in the area of the southern outskirts of Novorossiysk (Cape Myskhako), where during the Great Patriotic War there were battles for the liberation of Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula.
At the beginning of 1943, Novorossiysk was occupied by the Germans and Romanian troops. In February 1943, in a fierce battle, a landing force of soldiers and sailors recaptured an area of about 30 square meters from a greatly outnumbered enemy. km. This small piece of land, which our troops defended for 225 days, was called “Little Land”. The landing operation was preceded by intense combat training.
A landing force was formed in Gelendzhik. It was attended by great forces and even tanks. The main landing force was planned to land in the area of South Ozereyka, the auxiliary one - on the western shore of Tsemes Bay in the suburbs of Novorossiysk - Stanichka.
The landing was carried out by ships of the Black Sea Fleet, and they were supported from the air by the naval air force. However, bad weather and lack of coordination prevented the landing from being assisted, and it ended in failure. The operation began on the night of February 4, but due to a strong storm, it was not possible to land the main landing force in full strength in the South Ozereyka area.
The landing of auxiliary troops was carried out more successfully, the actions of which were unexpected for the enemy.
(Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes, 2004)
Under the command of Major Caesar Kunikov, using a smoke screen, 275 soldiers with light weapons landed in the Stanichka area. Initially it was supposed to be a false landing, but it became the main one. With a swift attack on the move, Kunikov’s detachment occupied a small bridgehead. Two groups landed behind him in succession. The bridgehead was expanded to 4 km along the front and 2.5 km in depth. Later, the remaining forces of the main landing force made their way to this bridgehead. Over the course of a few nights, the 255th and 83rd were landed here. separate brigades Marine Corps, 165th Infantry Brigade, 31st Separate Parachute airborne regiment, 29th Anti-Tank Fighter Regiment and other units - up to 17 thousand people in total, which expanded the bridgehead to 30 square meters. km, released by February 10 settlements Aleksina, Myskhako, 14 southern quarters of Novorossiysk.
On February 12, the command united the 83rd, 255th separate marine brigades and the 31st parachute landing regiment into the 20th Rifle Corps. Subsequently, the command of the 16th landed on the bridgehead rifle corps, 4 rifle brigades and 5 partisan detachments.
Since February 19, the troops operating on the bridgehead were controlled by the task force of the 18th Army, led by Major General Alexei Grechkin. Was held great job on engineering equipment of the bridgehead.
For 7 months, Soviet troops heroically defended Malaya Zemlya, repelling attacks by large forces of infantry and tanks German army and defended the bridgehead. The bridgehead remained until September 1943 and played a role in the liberation of Novorossiysk. On September 16, 1943, together with the advancing Soviet troops, the defenders of the bridgehead completely liberated Novorossiysk.
For steadfastness, courage and heroism, 21 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, thousands of defenders of Malaya Zemlya were awarded orders and medals of the USSR.
Malaya Zemlya became widely known thanks to Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev, who in 1978 published his war memoirs. In the book “Malaya Zemlya,” published in millions of copies, he spoke about his stay in Novorossiysk during the fighting on Malaya Zemlya as the head of the political department of the 18th Army.
After the book was published, this heroic, but insignificant episode in the overall scale of the war began to increase immensely, more was written and talked about about it than about other, truly great battles of the war.
Historian Roy Medvedev once spoke about a number of moments embellished in the book, citing opinions direct participants battles on Malaya Zemlya.
By 1985, the book had gone through several dozen editions in the USSR, with a total circulation exceeding 5 million copies. After 1985, the book was not published until February 2003, when the administration published “Little Land” at its own expense Krasnodar region to be presented to local veterans. The circulation of the publication was 1 thousand copies.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources.
Under the command of Major Ts.L. Kunikov on the night of February 4, 1943. The defense of Malaya Zemlya lasted 225 days and ended on the morning of September 16, 1943 with the liberation of Novorossiysk. Plan landing operation in the Novorossiysk area was developed since November 1942. Detachment Ts.L. Kunikov, consisting of 275 marines and without heavy weapons, was planned to be landed south of Novorossiysk in the area of the village of Stanichki. His actions were supposed to divert the enemy's attention from the main landing, which was planned to the west - on the Black Sea coast in the South Ozereyka area. The main landing group consisted of the 83rd and 255th Marine Brigades, the 165th Infantry Brigade, a separate front-line airborne regiment, a separate machine gun battalion, the 563rd Tank Battalion, and the 29th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment.
The amphibious assault was supposed to land under the cover of fire from support ships and aerial bombing, suppress enemy resistance on the shore, connect with airborne paratroopers, thrown into the depths of the German defense, and then break through to Novorossiysk and connect with the main forces of the 47th Army, which was supposed to launch an attack on the city along the eastern shore of Tsemes Bay. The start of the landing operation was scheduled for 1 o'clock in the morning on February 4, 1943. The command of the operation was entrusted to the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky. Significant naval forces were involved in its support, including the cruisers "Red Crimea" and "Red Caucasus", the leader "Kharkov", destroyers, gunboats "Red Adzharistan", "Red Abkhazia", "Red Georgia". The landing of the advanced assault detachment was ensured by MO-4 boats. Because of bad weather and the slow loading of the landing force in Gelendzhik, the ships’ departure to sea was delayed by one hour and twenty minutes. As a result, air and naval strikes on enemy defenses were not simultaneous, and enemy fire weapons were not suppressed. The gunboats, which were supposed to support the landing with fire, could not approach the shore. As they approached the shore, the boats and landing barges were illuminated by searchlights and rockets, and the enemy opened fire from cannons, mortars, and machine guns. Only the first echelon of troops landed, about 1,500 people with a dozen light tanks.
The section of the coast near South Ozereyka was held by units of the 10th Infantry Division of the Romanian Army, and there was also a German battery of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. These guns played a major role in disrupting the Soviet landing, sinking all the landing barges and knocking out a significant part of the tanks that survived the landing. Having decided that the operation had failed, Oktyabrsky ordered the ships with the bulk of the troops to return to their bases. However, in the morning the landing managed to achieve success. A group of marines reached the enemy's flank and rear. German commander anti-aircraft battery ordered the crews to retreat, having previously blown up the guns. The explosion of anti-aircraft guns demoralized the Romanian infantrymen. Some of them fled, some surrendered to the paratroopers. But there was no one to take advantage of the success - the ships with the landing force went east. German command transferred a mountain rifle battalion, a tank battalion, several artillery batteries to the South Ozereyka area and, with the support Romanian units surrounded the paratroopers. The Marines fought for three days, but without receiving reinforcements and ammunition, they were doomed. Only a few of them managed to escape to the mountains or make their way to Stanichka, where the auxiliary landing force fought.
An auxiliary landing force, which was prepared and coordinated by Rear Admiral G.N. Kholostyakov turned out to be more successful: approaching the shore at the estimated time, the ships opened fire on the enemy’s firing points, laid a smoke screen along the shore, under the cover of which the advanced detachment of paratroopers landed and secured a foothold on the shore. Then the bridgehead was expanded, Kunikov’s paratroopers captured several blocks in the southern part of Stanichka. Marine casualties included three wounded and one killed. At this moment, it was necessary to give an order for the ships of the Black Sea Fleet with the remainder of the main landing party to move to the Stanichka area and land these troops there. Fleet Commander F.S. Oktyabrsky did not make such a decision. Subsequently for poor preparation operations and mismanagement he was removed from office.
Only after the return of the ships to Gelendzhik and Tuapse, the commander of the troops of the Transcaucasian Front I.V. Tyulenev ordered the remnants of the landing force to land on the captured bridgehead and hold it by any means necessary. Although the moment of surprise was missed, the reinforced paratroopers were able to hold the captured bridgehead at Stanichka. Over the course of five nights, two marine brigades, an infantry brigade, and an anti-tank destroyer regiment were landed ashore, and several hundred tons of equipment were delivered. The number of troops was increased to 17 thousand fighters. Ts.L. himself Kunikov was seriously wounded during the fighting, evacuated from the bridgehead and died in the hospital.
The bridgehead at Stanichka went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War under the name “Malaya Zemlya”. IN military literature and in documents, the bridgehead is usually called Myskhako after the name of the cape, which serves as the extreme southwestern point of Tsemes Bay, and the village of the same name, which is located near it. After additional forces were transferred to the bridgehead near Stanichka, an attempt was made to storm Novorossiysk. However, the 47th Army was unable to break through the enemy defenses east of Novorossiysk. The local successes achieved by the paratroopers in the Stanichka area were not developed, and Novorossiysk could not be liberated in February-March 1943.
The fighters defending on Malaya Zemlya were in unfavorable conditions; its territory did not exceed 8 km from west to east and 6 km from north to south in open, exposed terrain, while the enemy controlled the surrounding heights. Defense became possible due to sapper work: the occupied territory was dug with trenches, including in rocky soil, 230 hidden observation posts, more than 500 firing points were equipped, underground warehouses were created, command post was in a rock shelter at a depth of six meters. Delivery of cargo and replenishment was difficult, the defenders of Malaya Zemlya experienced difficulties with supplies. In order to centralize the control of Soviet troops fighting near Novorossiysk, the 18th Army was created, led by I.E. Petrov. Part of its forces was on the eastern shore of Tsemes Bay, and part of it was on Malaya Zemlya.
In mid-April, the enemy command launched Operation Neptune, with the goal of dismembering the Soviet bridgehead and throwing the paratroopers into the sea. For this purpose, a group of General Wetzel was created south of Novorossiysk with a force of up to four infantry divisions with a total number of about 27 thousand people and 500 guns and mortars. Up to 1,000 aircraft were involved in air support for the offensive. Marine part operations (called "Boxing") were to be carried out by three submarines and a flotilla of torpedo boats. These forces were charged with interrupting sea communications between Malaya Zemlya and the Caucasian ports.
On April 17, at 6.30 am, the enemy launched an attack on Myskhako, with the support of aviation and heavy artillery. The bombing of Malaya Zemlya was carried out continuously, since German aviation the enemy had overwhelming superiority. Units of the 4th Mountain Division managed to wedge into battle formations Soviet troops at the junction of the 8th and 51st rifle brigades. Reserves of both sides were pulled into this area and for several days the fighting continued with extreme ferocity. Three aviation corps were allocated from the Headquarters reserve, providing a turning point in the course of air battles and application bomb strikes on German positions. Soviet aviation managed to destroy two German airfields, after which the intensity of the bombing of Malaya Zemlya decreased. The tension of the fighting began to subside after April 25, when the Germans recognized the futility of continuing offensive operation and began to withdraw troops to their original positions.
The confrontation on Malaya Zemlya continued throughout the summer of 1943. On September 9 of the same year, the operation to capture Novorossiysk began. From the direction of Malaya Zemlya, one of three groups was advancing on the city, blocking and capturing the city. By September 16, Novorossiysk was liberated. This date is considered the date of the end of the fighting on Malaya Zemlya. The future leader of the USSR L.I. In 1943, Brezhnev was the head of the political department of the 18th Army, visited Malaya Zemlya several times, and subsequently spoke about his impressions in his memoirs “Malaya Zemlya.” After that in Soviet press Active exaltation of the history of the defense of Malaya Zemlya began, a majestic memorial was built at the site of the battles, Novorossiysk was awarded the title of hero city (1973). The excitement around Malaya Zemlya ceased after Brezhnev's death in 1982. In Soviet military historiography, the defense of Malaya Zemlya was considered one of the heroic and noteworthy, but ordinary episodes of the Great Patriotic War.
