Surprise and slight bewilderment. Here are the two main feelings that I brought out after visiting the “Little Earth” memorial in Novorossiysk. There is why.
But I will begin all the same with another. With a brief historical retreat. Briefly, because in parallel there will be articles of our Novorossiysk colleague about the events of those days.
As a Soviet man, and even read the "Small Land" by L. I. Brezhnev, he had long wanted to be in this place. It’s very, you know, significant, to be there. They are more and more silent about those events in our country, namely, the battles on the Malaya Zemlya are quite remarkable, both with the military and with historical points of view.
With their heroes and antiheroes.
I’ll say right away that now they don’t start talking to Brezhnev, who allegedly "inflates" the events near Novorossiysk, this is really the machinations of the enemies. And those who promoted. For it is either people who are forced into anti-Sovietism, or simply have not read the “Little Land”, which is not a praise of a single person, but simply half-a-day memories. On the soldiers, officers, political workers.
What was written and processed was all by other people - so not everyone is given. We have lost so many stories because of this ...
So to Colonel Brezhnev - no complaints. In that war, he did not hang his orders to himself. And the tongue-tied, which everyone so liked to mimic, also earned there.
Found a photo of Brezhnev, apparently, 1942 year. The hospital, after the Barvenkovo operation, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
But back to the Little Land.
What essentially was that operation? Diversion maneuver. That is, in fact, Caesar Lvovich Kunikov and his fighters were suicide bombers whose task was to divert the attention of the fascists from the main landing.
About 3500 fighters were supposed to land at the main point, Tanksanti-tank artillery. In the distracting direction - 250 people ...
But things did not go as planned. Admirals of the Black Sea fleet once again showed their failure.
The commander of the operation was Vice-Admiral Oktyabrsky, a group of fire support ships was commanded by Vice-Admiral Vladimirsky, a group of transport ships with troops and airborne assault forces - Rear Admiral Bassisty.
When loading the first group of troops in Gelendzhik because of "bad organization of loading and bad weather," the departure of the ships was delayed by one hour and twenty minutes. Rear Admiral Bassisty informed the group of fire support ships about the delay and asked to postpone the start of the fire preparation for an hour and a half, simultaneously addressing the relevant order to the commander.
Vladimirsky, without waiting for the order, handed an order to postpone the start of the operation on their ships. As a result, the fire support group was forced to be close to the coast, without opening fire, but at the same time unmasking the landing point.
Upon learning of the delay, Oktyabrsky demanded opening fire according to the plan, but his order reached the fire support ships only 45 minutes after the scheduled opening time.
Aviation I didn’t receive any orders to change plans at all, having carried out a bombing strike on enemy positions and a parachute landing in the estimated time.
The main forces of the navy assault reached the landing point only when the fire training, under the cover of which they were to land, came to an end. And the main part of the enemy’s firepower was not suppressed by the ship’s artillery.
As a result, only the first echelon of the landing force landed, about 1 500 people with 16 tanks.
For three days, the landing force fought without receiving reinforcements and military supplies. A small detachment made its way to Stanichka, where Kunikov’s auxiliary force was leading the battle, the 25 man connected with the parachute trooper and were later taken off by ships, several people went into the mountains. The fate of the rest was sad ...
At the Kunikov assault, everything was different. The actions were prepared and coordinated by Rear Admiral Kholostyakov, who turned out to be a more successful military leader. And everything happened at the estimated time, and the fire of the support ships was more efficient, and the smoke screen was installed. An hour later, Kunikivtsi not only landed, but even captured several blocks in the southern part of the village of Stanichka.
If Oktyabrsky and Petrov had given the order that ships with a part of the main landing, which hadn’t landed, landed fighters on Malaya Zemlya, success would have been more significant. But alas, the ships with the landing force returned to Tuapse and Gelendzhik.
Only the direct intervention of the Transcaucasian Front Commander Ivan Tyulenev and his personal order to Oktyabrsky to land the remnants of the assault force on the captured bridgehead and hold it by any means allowed 225 days to fight on the Little Land. But the moment of surprise was already completely lost. And it began what we already got used to see - the lingering grinding of the enemy forces. At the cost of lives paratroopers.
Petrov and Oktyabrsky were removed from their posts, Petrov was also demoted, and Oktyabrsky was sent to command the Amur military flotilla. Tyulenev brought the case to the end, freeing the region from the fascists. Kunikov was seriously wounded in Malaya Zemlya and died in Geledzhik.
What is a small land today?
Impressions are very contradictory. However, judge for yourself.
The ensemble is just a piece of land, not fenced. It’s impossible to understand that you came to his territory, if (as in my case) did not come from the side of the obelisk.
On the one hand, high-rise buildings under construction are steadily advancing, on the other - the temple under construction and the remains of buildings where the “Sea Knot” music festival was held before. Glory of the administration, pop and entertainment event moved to another place.
There is a small museum of military equipment, where children are brought from boarding houses, and people come like that. The museum, of course, surprised. For the first time I saw exhibits welded to rails embedded in concrete. They say that the 90-e museum is heavily dashed into metal. Wildly, of course, in my area have not reached this, which is very good.
Exhibits are dummy, filled with paint to madness. As they say local, it was impossible to unscrew anything. But the exhibition is at least small, but quite interesting by some exhibits.
The territory itself bears traces of some neglect. Yes, “leaving the earth as it is” so that the traces of the trenches are visible - this is a good idea. But in such a small area it would be possible to mow the grass. Especially on the plates.
By the way, it would also be nice to replace the plates. Though they are “made in the USSR”, they will definitely not last forever. It's time to ...
The territory is clean. It is quite nice.
Central Obelisk.
And one more structure, part of the ensemble.
It symbolizes the bow of the ship from which the Kunikites landed. This structure is hollow inside. And inside is another small and very original museum. The exhibition is dedicated not so much to people, as to the parts and connections that fought here.
You go up at the top of the capsule with some message to descendants. What is in the capsule, really no one remembers. But - beautiful.
And the same stairs down. And again the bas-reliefs of heroes and lists, lists of parts.
On the walls of the memorial - the words oath Kunikovtsev.
The stone is a source, in the summer it dries up, and in spring and autumn water still oozes out of it.
And on the territory of the ensemble-memorial - the beach ...
What was unpleasantly surprised was the fact that a patrol of two policemen and one Cossack, dressed in almost police uniform, but in a Kuban and with a whip, passed by and did not react to it at all. For whom then bans? And who should respond to outright disgusting?
In general, there was some impression that this place was a city for the city. It is not that completely neglected, no. But the place of memory is not very similar.
And the matter is not even in how the Small Land was presented at the time of the Secretary General of Brezhnev. In the end, it was not he who gave the order to spread it around the cities and villages on the Lesser Land, it was the lovers who tried to lick it.
“My memories, of course, do not pretend to cover the entire event. The main thing I wanted to convey to the reader on these pages is a feeling of pride that the Communists, our glorious party, always created in the forefront of all the deeds and accomplishments of our Motherland fostered by V.I. Lenin, this feeling of great happiness that I have always been and remain its loyal soldier "(Leonid Brezhnev, from the appeal to the readers of the book" Memoirs ").
The future general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Brezhnev, did not lose this place from the fact that he fought here (and, probably, did it well, judging by the order of the Patriotic War 1 degree). Following Brezhnev, as it were.
Kunikovtsy, and those who came for them, are not to blame for the fact that our policy has changed. Everyone who died here, everyone who went further, they all just did their duty. And completed to the end. And our duty is to ensure that such places remain places of fame and memory, and do not come gradually to desolation.
Not so it should be. The hero-city of Novorossiysk simply does not have the right to make the memorials look so ... amazing and strange.