Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Grigoryevich Sapozhnikov
Mikhail Grigoryevich Sapozhnikov was born in 1905 in the city of Pishpek. Russian. Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the ranks of the Soviet Army since 1926. Graduated from the Central Asian United Military School named after V. I. Lenin in Tashkent.
Lieutenant Colonel, commander of an anti-tank artillery brigade.
Participant in the Great Patriotic War from the first day until its victorious conclusion.
For his military feats displayed during the years of the Patriotic War, M. G. Sapozhnikov was awarded four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, the Order of the Red Star, and many medals. On October 26, 1943, for the successful crossing of the Dnieper River and skillful holding of the Borodaevsky bridgehead, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Immediately after the war, M. G. Sapozhnikov studied at the Higher Academic Artillery Courses at the Academy named after F. E. Dzerzhinsky, then served again in the Armed Forces. In 1949, he was awarded the title of lieutenant general of artillery, and in 1958, having served in the army for a total of 32 years, he retired and worked as the head of the military department at Saratov University until his last days.
FIREY MILES OF THE BRIGADE COMMANDER
...It was March 1943. Sapozhnikov, who had recently received his next rank—lieutenant colonel—was taking command of the 8th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade in the locality of Merefa, near Kharkov.
Upon meeting Sapozhnikov, the former commander of the brigade, Lieutenant Colonel P. P. Tyutrin, said:
— You arrived at a bad time, Mikhail Grigoryevich; our offensive here has been halted, and we are afraid that we might have to retreat again.
— Why is that?
— You are not informed? Then let me briefly introduce you to the situation. The Southwestern Front failed to properly assess the enemy's actions. In short, the front is retreating under the pressure of the Army Group "South" to the Northern Donets, thereby exposing the left flank of our front, and we just happen to be on it.
That same day, the new brigade commander met with the brigade personnel, which left a good impression on him. Among the officers, he quickly bonded with the cheerful and somewhat dapper head of the political department, Major Zainchkovsky Artem Savelievich.
— You know, brigade commander,— he said, flashing a wide smile. — I am from Odessa, and that means, as the song goes, that an Odessa man "never gets discouraged."
The commander of one of the units, Major V. A. Shubin, appeared to be a daring, reckless type. The commanders of two other units, Majors A. S. Kavtaskin and V. M. Morozov, impressed him as thoughtful and not immediately rushing to carry out any order from above without consideration.
However, the brigade's chief of staff, Major Shapiro, a short Ukrainian in a coat with excessively long sleeves and iron hooks instead of buttons, evoked Sapozhnikov's dislike due to his appearance. He even reprimanded him:
— Listen, Major, go out and tidy yourself up; these are your subordinates, and you?..
The chief of staff was greatly embarrassed, shrinking somewhat and pulling his arms even further into the long sleeves of his coat.
An awkward silence ensued, and when he left the headquarters dugout, Zainchkovsky moved closer to Sapozhnikov and spoke so that only he could hear:
— Don't be too harsh, brigade commander; Major Shapiro is a good specialist, and not everyone is capable of wearing a military uniform; not everyone has prepared themselves for a military career.
Sapozhnikov remained silent; he felt that he had unnecessarily lost his temper.
The words of the former brigade commander Tyutrin turned out to be prophetic; the very next day the brigade had to engage in heavy fighting with enemy tanks. And another day later, the enemy pressed so hard that Sapozhnikov had to call a company of automatic riflemen to his command post twice. Then suddenly communication with the engineering and mortar battalion was lost.
The brigade commander sent a signalman there, and it turned out that the battalion was surrounded. In a fit of anger, he sent a company of light tanks there, which had long ceased to be a company since only a platoon remained from previous battles, and it got stuck somewhere on the way to the target. One thing was reassuring—the political department chief was with the tankers, and for some reason, he believed in Zainchkovsky's lucky star.
And indeed, Zainchkovsky soon reported to him:
— I am with the mortarmen and tankers at the artillery regiment's location. We barely broke through; the fascists are thick all around, it seems they want to encircle us. What is the higher command reporting?
— Come over, and you'll find out,— the brigade commander replied.
And from the army headquarters, there were several inquiries. They were interested in how the brigade was holding up, whether the enemy was pressing hard.
Each time, Sapozhnikov replied that everything was fine, all was normal. He also kept silent about the situation with the engineering and mortar battalion. But by night, in the last communication session, the army headquarters sent an order instructing the brigade to retreat towards the Uda River, if necessary.
What was meant by the words "if necessary" became clear to Sapozhnikov when, a little over an hour later, signals began to come from the brigade's flanking units that there were no friendly forces on either side, and the Germans were encircling them.
The brigade commander tried to contact the army headquarters—unsuccessfully. He sent reconnaissance to the Uda, and the scouts returned with the sad news: "The enemy is there too."
Sapozhnikov felt that the subordinates, who were now waiting for urgent decisions from him, were looking at him reproachfully.
They seemed to say, "Well, with the previous brigade commander, we were not in such a position, and the new one has just taken command and..."
He sincerely confessed his state to Zainchkovsky when he finally arrived at the command post.
— Don't take it to heart, brigade commander. Our people are understanding, and everything will work out. Let's conjure something up together right now,— Major Shapiro was standing not far from them,— and we’ll come up with something.
Shapiro, apparently hearing him, reacted to the last words of the political department head by quickly pulling out a map and unfolding it.
They leaned over the map and studied the situation for a long time. Shapiro was the first to speak:
— We were told to retreat to the Uda, but there are Germans, which means our people are most likely at Chuguev. They couldn't have gone too far yet. Besides, the area around this city is convenient for defense: a branched network of rivers, including the Northern Donets, and forests. Moreover, in all previous army directives, there was a persistent thought that the enemy would not advance beyond the Northern Donets, which means a defensive line has presumably been established there.
Zainchkovsky looked meaningfully at Sapozhnikov, conveying with his whole demeanor: well, see, I told you that our chief of staff is a good guy.
— Perhaps,— Sapozhnikov agreed.
And this "perhaps" was understood by each of his interlocutors in their own way.
Gathering the commanders, Sapozhnikov listened to their opinions.
— We’ll move in small groups—and that’s it, we’ll break through,— Shubin said excitedly.
— No, there are plenty of enemy tanks around. It will be easier for them to pick us off in small groups,— Kavtaskin and Morozov objected.
— And besides,— concluded Sapozhnikov,— right now we are a whole combat unit, but if we scatter—who will we be?
So, we will break through together.
However, later he often thought that perhaps it would have been better to break out of the encirclement in parts, because in moving through the enemy's rear, it was difficult to manage such a diverse organism as his anti-tank brigade.
And still, he led the brigade out after four days to the area between the cities of Chuguev and Zmiev. Immediately after breaking out of the encirclement, the army's artillery commander decided to talk to Sapozhnikov.
— How did you get out?— he asked.— Did you lose any equipment?
The brigade commander did not understand what the commander was getting at. Seeing his confusion, the latter explained:
— We are interested in whether formations like your 8th anti-tank brigade are mobile, and this is best revealed in situations like the one you were in for the last four days.
— Mobile?— Sapozhnikov repeated the question and recalled that managing the brigade during the breakout was difficult. — Perhaps not: diverse branches of troops do not coexist well in such formations.
— Exactly, you hit the nail on the head! And the higher-ups share the same opinion that we need to abandon such brigade organization. So expect a command for reorganization soon.
The reorganization of the 8th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade began in May 1943 in the area of the city of Stary Oskol. It was renamed the 30th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade of the Reserve of the Supreme Command. Instead of its previous complex structure, three artillery regiments were created.
In early June 1943, the reorganized brigade was transferred to the left flank of the 7th Guards Army of the Steppe Front, where it participated in the Battle of Kursk in the Belgorod direction. On August 5, the soldiers of the 85th Guards and 305th Rifle Divisions were the first to break into Belgorod. Following them, the artillerymen of the brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Sapozhnikov passed through. They supported the infantry's advance and ensured its success, and therefore, in the evening release of the Soviet Information Bureau, they were also thanked by the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander.
Eighteen days later, the 30th separate brigade was at the place where its predecessor, the 8th anti-tank brigade, had fought for Kharkov in the spring of 1943. Now Kharkov was once again in the hands of Soviet troops.
On the morning of August 23, the commander of the artillery of the 7th Guards Army, Major General Petrov, invited Sapozhnikov to see him.
— Well, congratulations, Mikhail Grigoryevich,— Petrov began, shaking Sapozhnikov's hand.
— And you too, Comrade Major General,— replied the lieutenant colonel, thinking that the conversation was about the liberation of Kharkov.
— Thank you, but my name is not mentioned there, while yours is.
— What are you talking about?
— Haven't you read?— and he handed the brigade commander a newspaper with an order from the Supreme Commander, where there was a new thank you to the 30th brigade and the name of its commander printed in bold.
— This is a joy for all my eagles,— said the excited Sapozhnikov. — Thank you for it.
— You’re welcome, but we don’t have time for celebrations. We need to move forward. Now—to the Dnieper!
The new task that Petrov set for Sapozhnikov's brigade for the near future was briefly summarized as follows: supporting the infantry, reach the Dnieper in the shortest possible time in the area of Orlik south of Kremenchug, cross it, and capture a bridgehead.
Subsequently, everything for Sapozhnikov literally focused on this unknown settlement of Orlik.
The weather was wonderful. The air was clear and transparent, the forests and thickets shimmered in the most incredible shades of color: from matte green to dark red and bright orange. The sun shone so brightly that it was hard to believe it was autumn.
— What do you think, Savelievich,— he addressed Zainchkovsky, who had also been to the army headquarters and was returning in his car. — Will we have more such days, or is this the end of the warmth?
— What worries you?— said the head of the political department, apparently lost in his own thoughts.
— Well, the Dnieper.
— Ah,— Zainchkovsky drawled, finally breaking away from his previous thoughts. — We will definitely have more. In these places, the sunniest days are in August and September. The Poltava region in Ukraine is considered a beet-growing zone, and for sugar accumulation, the days of August and September are the most golden.
— And we also grow beets in Kyrgyzstan,— Sapozhnikov said thoughtfully. — Only, I can’t remember when we harvest it, because I’ve been away for so long that I’ve forgotten a lot.
He began to recall when that was. In 1926? It seems so. Three years before that, he had left the last grade of the second-level school: it was a hungry time. The following year, he was registered as a pre-conscription and, like all his peers from the village of Chalakazaki, a suburb of Pishpek, he had to go to the assembly point for various activities. That’s where he was accepted into the Komsomol. They gave him a rifle and put him on guard duty at various facilities. In 1926, he volunteered for the Red Army—he was sent to the four-year Central Asian United Military School named after V. I. Lenin in Tashkent.
After graduation, he got married and came to Frunze; he was assigned to the 2nd Turkestan Artillery Regiment as a platoon commander. However, he did not stay in Frunze for long. The regiment was transferred to the European part of the country, where he participated in the war against the White Finns and in the liberation of the western regions of Ukraine and Moldova as part of the 100th Division. In 1941, the 100th Division was stationed near Minsk, where he met the beginning of the war...
Upon arriving at the brigade, Sapozhnikov decided to act as follows: by changing the regiments in the vanguard, he would move day and night towards the Dnieper.
The 1848th regiment was the first to reach the river. It was September 25, but it was blocked by some enemy unit. After engaging it in battle and defeating it, the regiment rushed after the retreating enemy, hoping to break through to the western bank on their shoulders.
However, the guard of the pontoon bridge blew it up along with the Germans who had not managed to cross it.
Sapozhnikov, who was with the main forces of the brigade still on the march, assessed the situation and ordered Shubin to move part of the regiment's forces to the islands opposite the village of Borodaevka at night, and under cover of fire from there, to cross the river.
Shubin did just that. By the morning of the 27th, the signalman, who had been on duty by the radio set, reported to Sapozhnikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, Major Shubin is on the line." Shubin, as always excited, shouted into the receiver:
— We’re almost there, already in position.
— How is the enemy?— the brigade commander inquired.
— Raging.
— Hold on, we are at the target.
Sapozhnikov did not yet know that the close target was at the same time very far away. The 1844th and 1846th regiments of the brigade, which had reached the water, spent two whole days unsuccessfully trying to cross the Dnieper: the enemy's aviation and long-range artillery constantly shelled all approaches to the crossing site. Sapozhnikov appealed to the army headquarters for help with aircraft through Petrov. To Shubin, who was engaged in heavy fighting with the enemy at that time, the brigade commander ordered to organize a smoke screen for those crossing the river. On September 29, both regiments finally crossed to the western bank of the Dnieper and immediately joined the attack to expand the bridgehead. During all the previous days, the units of the 7th Guards Army, which had crossed the Dnieper at several other points in the area of Kremenchug (Mishurin Rog—Domotkan), had already launched such attacks several times. This time they managed to unite many scattered bridgeheads into one common one, which spanned 25 kilometers along the front and 15 kilometers deep.
Even after this, the enemy continued to launch new and new attacks. For twelve days, the defenders of the Borodaevsky bridgehead had to fend them off. The climax came on October 5, when the Germans, mobilizing all reserves, advanced with a huge number of tanks from the village of Proletarskoye. Against individual batteries of the brigade, such as the battery commanded by K. Skachkov, there were up to ten tanks. None of them got past Borodaevka. Several destroyed tanks were credited to the commanders of the guns, Sergeants I. P. Petrashov and K. S. Purgin.
The mass heroism of the soldiers of the 30th separate anti-tank artillery brigade during the crossing of the Dnieper and the consolidation of the Borodaevsky bridgehead was duly recognized by the government. Fifteen of the most distinguished were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Among them was brigade commander Lieutenant Colonel M. G. Sapozhnikov, whose fiery miles stretched afterward through Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.
Since August 1945, already a colonel and commander of one of the brigades of the 1st Far Eastern Front, Mikhail Grigoryevich Sapozhnikov participated in the war against Japanese militarists as part of the 35th Army.
V. DEEV