On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany tore up the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact, together with a number of vassal states, gathered 5.5 million troops, 4,900 aircraft, 3,700 tanks, 47,000 cannons, and 190 warships, and launched a blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union in the north, center, and south, and the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union broke out in full swing.
Due to the german surprise attack, the Soviet Red Army was caught off guard, defeated and retreated, and suffered heavy casualties. One of the Red Army officers, Oktyabryskaya, was killed in battle, and his wife, Maria, who learned of her husband's death more than a year later, was so sad and angry that she made a major decision: sell all her property to buy a T-34 tank, join the Red Army, and avenge her husband.
Maria joined the Red Army and went to war as she wished, so how did she end up?
In 1905, Maria. Vasilievna. Oktyabryskaya was born into a farming family on the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine, where she had ten siblings. She did not read much, but she was confident and brave, grew up working as a worker in a cannery, as a telephone operator, and met Ilya Fedotovich Riyakenko, a veteran of the Civil War and a cadet of the Cavalry School, and the two developed a romantic relationship and entered the marriage hall at the end of 1925.
Maria was an avid learner, influenced by her husband and interested in the military, joining the "Military Council" and learning to operate weapons, drive vehicles, and receive medical training.
In Maria's view: marrying a soldier means that you also become a soldier, and military affiliation is not only an honor, but a responsibility, and it is our common obligation to defend the country.
Looking at This realization of Mary, I know the cuteness and respectability of the military sister-in-law.
In order to commemorate the October Revolution, the couple changed their surnames to "Oktyabryskaya", which means "October" in Russian.
In 1940, Maria followed her husband to Kishinev, the capital of Moldova in the Soviet Union, where she served as commissar of the artillery regiment.
After Germany launched a war against the Soviet Union, Maria and many of her military dependents were evacuated to Siberian Tomsk, far from the front. Like many of her military dependents, she feared the peril of her country and her relatives fighting on the front lines.
After reaching the rear, Mary received a letter from her husband, in which he was convinced that victory would come and fascism would eventually perish. Maria was infected by her husband's high fighting spirit and looked forward to the moment when the fascists were driven away and the husband and wife were reunited. She waited for news from her husband, but never.
In 1943, Maria, who had been inquiring about the news, learned that her husband had died in Ukraine on August 9, 1941. She was so sad that she thought she could do something.
After careful consideration, Maria decided to avenge her husband and continue to fulfill her husband's last wish to drive the fascists out of the Soviet Union.
Maria applied to join the army, but she was a 38-year-old "elderly" woman, and her physical condition and age limited her desire to join the army. Three applications for enlistment were rejected three times.
In the autumn of 1941, the Soviet government called on the general public to actively support the Red Army and donate money to buy planes and tanks, and Maria took advantage of this to come up with an idea: buy tanks and then enlist in the army.
Maria sold her family property, plus the money she earned from needlework with her sisters, and finally scraped together a huge sum of 50,000 rubles, bought a T-34 medium tank from the tank factory and donated it to the Red Army, but there was one more request: to become the driver of the tank.
The T-34 was a legendary Soviet tank and was recognized as the best tank of World War II. We can often see the T-34 tank in World War II war films.
In 1941, when the German army first encountered the T-34 tank, it was shocked, it was maneuverable, firepower, good protection, durability, in the series of battles that followed, the German army could not find a tank to compete with, they used as much as possible captured T-34.
The total production of T-34 tanks of various types exceeded 50,000 during World War II, which was a major guarantee of victory during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union.
It has to be said that Maria's vision of buying the T-34 tank is very good, and her determination to oppose fascism is also very strong.
In March 1943, the Moscow Kremlin received a special telegram with the following general content:
Dear Joseph. Comrade Stalin:
My husband died in the battle to defend his mother's mother. For the sake of my lost husband, for the sake of the thousands of Soviet people I lost, I applied to buy a tank, and I could drive it myself, and use it to repay the blood debt from the fascist lackeys and fulfill my wish for revenge.
Stalin quickly called back and said, "Thank you, Maria, for caring so much about the armored units of the Red Army. Your wish will come true soon. ”
In the spring of 1943, when Maria, who was middle-aged, finally got her wish, the National Defense Commission agreed to her enlistment and enrolled her in the Red Army Omsk Tank School, where she was given a 5-month training, which was a special care for her. Because in the urgent state of war at that time, the training of ordinary tankers was only basic and quick, and sometimes they were sent to the front line in just a few days.
As a middle-aged woman and as a representative of the Soviet people's active opposition to the Nazis, Maria naturally paid special attention to her.
In September 1943, Maria finally completed her training mission and was assigned to the 26th Guards Tank Brigade, joining the team with the T-34 tank she named "Girlfriend of The Battle".
However, at first, the aura of Mary in the army did not work, but became the object of ridicule of many soldiers. There is no doubt that the Soviet male soldiers have a natural prejudice against this Soviet big mother female soldier, thinking that she is just a flashy flower shelf, and may be frightened and cry when she goes to the battlefield.
However, Mary punched her face and laughed at her male comrades.
On October 21, 1943, the 26th Guards Brigade engaged the Germans in Smolensk, and Mary drove her "fighting girlfriend" to increase the throttle, and was the first in the artillery fire to break through the enemy line. She wasn't all passionate and courageous, she also had skill, and she didn't look like a new recruit on the battlefield for the first time.
In this battle, Maria took out her courage and courage to avenge her husband, protect the Soviet people, and drive away the fascists, riding the "fighting girlfriend" rampage, destroying six or seven self-propelled anti-tank guns and several machine gun positions in succession, leading the 26th Guards Tank Brigade directly into the heart of the German army.
Maria became famous in the first world war and became the "desperate third lady" in the army, she was promoted to sergeant out of the box, and she had a well-known nickname "Reckless Mary".
A month later, Maria took part in an attack on a Nazi stronghold. During the fierce fighting, a sudden shell hit the side track of the "Fighting Girlfriend". Comrades-in-arms advised her to wait for the tank repair vehicle to arrive before acting, but she was anxious, to know that this tank is not only her entire possessions, but also her comrades-in-arms, hopes, revenge tools, and even children, watching the "fighting girlfriend" injured, she can't calm down.
So Maria decided to repair her tank herself. While letting the turret gunner cover herself, she opened the cockpit cover and carried her tools out of the hatch. Bullets whizzed by on the battlefield, but she couldn't take much care of it and threw herself into the repair of the tracks.
Fortunately, Maria quickly picked up the tracks, returned to the cockpit in a panic, and rushed to the German soldiers in a "fighting girlfriend".
Mary's spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice inspired the soldiers, and the male soldiers no longer dared to underestimate her, and she proved to her comrades with strength that women can also go on the battlefield to kill the enemy, drive a good tank, and charge into battle.
Maria's story is known to more and more people, but she is not complacent and drives her T-34 tank to continue to defend her family and avenge her husband.
By 1944, Nazi Germany was in full swing, boosting the morale of Maria and her comrades, and the armored forces were advancing towards Berlin.
On the night of January 17, 1944, when it was still cold, Mary and her comrades were ordered to carry out a night attack. After the attack signal was issued, Maria rode her "fighting girlfriend" in front of the other tanks, and she quickly destroyed a self-propelled anti-tank gun and ran through the two trenches crowded with Germans.
The "Girlfriend of The Fighting" was so conspicuous that it also became the target of indiscriminate bombardment by the Germans, unfortunately its tracks were once again interrupted. Maria, as she did last time, jumped out of the cockpit to repair the damaged tracks. However, this time good luck did not take care of her, and a shell exploded next to her, and the sharp shrapnel hit her head, and she fell in front of her beloved tank.
However, the disaster was not over, and then the second shell directly hit Maria's tank, instantly exploding and catching fire.
Maria was taken to a field hospital near Kiev. However, she lost a lot of blood, high fever, very weak, often in a coma, the situation is very bad, although the doctors tried their best to rescue, after nearly two months of efforts, still failed to pull her back from the ghost gate.
On March 15, 1944, Mary was killed. In August of the same year, she was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". "Hero of the Soviet Union" is one of the most honored awards in the Soviet Union's system of awarding and rewarding.
Throughout the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, there were some very typical heroes, such as the female guerrilla Zoya, the female pilot Lilia, the female sniper Pavlyutchenko, etc. The female tanker Maria was one of them, but it was not the same as them. The first few were all enlisted in the army at the right age, receiving more formal training, etc., while Maria joined the army at the age of 38 with a T-34 tank she bought after selling all her belongings, and she had the courage and sacrifice spirit of not losing other heroines.
Perhaps, every time Maria drives a T-34 tank to kill the enemy, the biggest spiritual pillar in her heart is her sacrificed husband. Loyalty to the country and revenge for her husband are the most legendary places for her.