On April 17, 1944, Stalin sighed: "Unfortunately, I have prepared a marshal dress for him!" On the same day, in Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet soldiers buried Vatukin, a famous general who could have been awarded the title of marshal, and the voices of "Ula" and "Ula" echoed in the sky.
Vatukin's sudden death once disrupted the Soviet plan for a counteroffensive, and also excited German Field Marshal Modell, after all, Vatukin and the German armored general Manstein's old rivals, he repeatedly commanded the Soviet armored mechanical team, defeated the once German armored commander ace Manstein.
As a result, Vatukin became a thorn in the eye of the German commander in World War II, but in the Soviet Army in World War II, Vatukin was known for his mobility, bravery and fearlessness, and he was recognized by the Commander of the Soviet Army as a young and outstanding armored expert. Later generations praised him as an outstanding military figure in the Soviet-German battlefield.
Vatukin was a proud protégé promoted and groomed by a generation of famous marshals Timoshenko and Zhukov, and in the Soviet army, Vatukin was known for his unconventional, flexible and bold tactics.
The Germans even thought he was more difficult and more powerful than Zhukov. However, before the victory of World War II was imminent, Vatukin was bizarrely attacked in Ukraine, and unfortunately he was seriously wounded and died on the eve of victory.
So who was so bold as to sneak up on this famous Soviet general in Ukraine under the control of the Soviet army?
1. The newborn calf Vatukin
Vatukin, whose full name is Nikola Fedorovich Vatukin, was born in December 1901 and was a highly qualified student at the Varasovo Business School, where he worked for several years after graduation. Resolutely gave up stable and generous treatment and joined the "Soviet Army".
Because he was a rare highly educated talent in the Soviet army, he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and in the autumn of 1920, he participated in the first battle of the Soviet army against the "Russian Army", and in the battle he was brave and resourceful, courageous and resourceful, because of the maneuver and flexibility to sneak around the enemy's flanks and sneak attack, annihilating a small group of enemy troops, and the first appearance of the front.
Because of his combat bravery and high academic qualifications, in 1922 Vatukin was recommended for further study at the Infantry Academy in Poltava, where he graduated with honors.
After graduation, Vatukin served as an assistant to the regimental commander and was later appointed platoon leader. Two years later, in 1924, Vatukin was recommended for further study at the Kiev Military Academy.
After graduating, he served as assistant commander of two infantry divisions, became chief of staff of the Mountain Division in 1931, and later studied modern warfare and logistics management again, and after graduation became deputy chief of staff of the Soviet Army in Kiev, Ukraine.
During his tenure as Deputy Chief of Staff, Vatukin became a subordinate of Timoshenko and Zhukov, and the two marshals had a great influence on him, and he followed the two marshals in his work and practice, summarizing a set of mechanized assault and operational theories with obvious Vatukin characteristics.
At the same time, he instilled this theory into the daily training mechanization, achieved good results, and then because of his talent, he was transferred to the Soviet Army Staff as the first deputy chief of staff. Vatukin thus began his short and brilliant life,
2. The Armored Wizard Vatukin
Late on the night of June 21, 1941, Lieutenant General Pulkayev informed the Soviet high command that it was likely that the Germans would launch a general offensive on the 22nd.
Zhukov and Timoshenko received Stalin's first instruction, and the Soviets immediately made preparations for the war. Immediately after the outbreak of war, Zhukov and Timoshenko received the third instruction from Stalin.
Stalin ordered the Soviet army to launch a pincer offensive, and from the 22nd, Zhukov personally went to Ukraine to carry out Stalin's third instruction, so for 4 days between the 22nd and 26th, Zhukov of the Soviet Military Staff Headquarters most of the work was Wattukin, and in just a few days, Vatukin was not afraid of danger, and also assisted General Pavlov in launching a counterattack.
Due to Vatukin's outstanding performance, by the end of June he assisted Woods General Kuznetsov in resisting the Germans. Becoming the first chief of staff of the Baltic Front, he met with General Kuznetsov in a dignified manner and immediately discussed the current grave situation,
After analysis, the two men came to a startling conclusion that the Germans aimed to capture Moscow and Leningrad. Faced with such a situation, Vatukin suggested that the Soviet Northwestern Front immediately throw itself into the defense of Leningrad, and that the small soviet forces in the surrounding area strengthen the local defenses according to the actual situation, block the German army layer by layer, avoid the Mechanized Army of the German Army, quickly invade the hinterland of Novgorod, and ensure the smooth flow of the Moscow-Leningrad railway.
A defensive battle broke out in Novgorod, and Vatukin commanded the only mechanized remnants, using flexible and mobile tactics to confront the armor of the Novgorod Army.
He played the armored flanking clamping tactics taught to him by "teacher" Timoshenko to the fullest, and in the eyes of the Germans, he was more enthusiastic and brave than Timoshenko, and under his command, the Soviet armor seemed to play a flower and rampage on the battlefield.
However, due to various reasons of equipment, personnel and logistics, Vatukin did not hold Pskov in the end, but in Pskov, Vatukin commanded the remaining armored teams, and in the resistance and counterattack, caused huge losses to the Germans.
Let the German armored marshal Manstein, who was once extremely conceited, remember this was particularly memorable of This Wasuddin, who was fierce, cunning as a fox, and like a wild bull on the battlefield.
After the withdrawal of Pskov, Vatukin participated in the major defensive wars of the Soviet Union, the more famous of which were the Defense of Leningrad and the Defense of Moscow.
At the end of September 1942, Vatukin ushered in a glorious moment, he went to Stalingrad and Timoshenko joined forces to formulate a plan to counterattack the German army, for various reasons, Timoshenko left before he arrived.
Vatukin worked with Zhukov to elaborate a counterattack plan, and this targeted plan was very successful, not only surrounded the German 6th Army in Stalin's cabinet, Vatukin also commanded the armored team to repel the manstein rescue, which became the key to the reversal of World War II, after which the offensive and defensive roles of the Soviet-German War changed.
Vatukin's outstanding performance in this battle was also praised by Stalin and Zhukov.
Third, brilliant achievements
In the spring of 1943, Vatukin was the commander of the Front for the first time, in coordination with Zhukov and Timoshenko in the Battle of Kursk, where his main opponent was still the German general Manstein.
However, unlike in Pskov at that time, Vatujin, who had experienced several years of baptism of war, this time the frontal hard manstein did not fall behind, and beat the German army to a gradual defeat, the German army could not withstand the powerful offensive of the Soviet army, manstein had no choice but to concede defeat and retreat.
The battle left Manstein ashamed and his headquarters in Berlin even more mad.
On 12 July, Vatuddin commanded the Soviets and, with great firepower and maneuverable tactics, rampaged through the german defenses of the Donets Basin, and the Soviet vanguard was already approaching the Dnieper.
In the autumn, Zhukov, who was well prepared, was ordered by Vatuddin's armored team to cross the Dnieper River to seize Kiev, but in the first counterattack on the Dnieper River, the Vatuddin armored team was not ideal, and did not achieve the purpose and effect that Zhukov expected.
Therefore, Zhukov studied and reorganized Vatukin's Soviet army and renamed it the First Ukrainian Front. This time Vatuddin and the Soviet commanders learned from the experience and changed their strategy.
Finally, using superior troops and powerful firepower, the German army was divided and encircled in Ukraine, and in one fell swoop, the German army had no choice but to retreat the defense line, and then achieved the myth that Zhukov had to cut more than 40 divisions in a row in The First World War in Ukraine.
Four: Accidental falls
Just as the victory came, no one expected that on February 29, 1944, Vatukin was on his way to the 13th Group when he encountered a sudden ambush.
With only a few aides and a few guards by his side, their convoy, as they passed through Ghoshshansky, suddenly found an ambush of unknown origin, and these people seemed to be prepared.
Vatukin's escort car at the forefront touched the mine without warning and was destroyed, and the guards of the remaining vehicles were trained to return fire immediately. As An aide to Vatukin, Kleinyukov advised him to retreat to safety.
Vatukin refused this suggestion, insisting on fighting to the end, and handed over his documents and information to Kleinyukov to take back to Kiev, where he then threw himself into battle.
Although the battle was won in the end, Vatukin was seriously wounded in the battle, and according to the Soviet surgeon Bordenko at the time, Vatukin's left leg was so badly injured that the wound that was urgently sent to Kiev could not be controlled. Although the best doctors were concentrated, Vatukin refused to amputate his leg, and eventually because the wound could not get better, Vatukin died of wound infection.
On April 17, Soviet soldiers buried a generation of famous generals Vatukin in Kiev, at the same time, Stalin lamented in Moscow, unfortunately, I have prepared a marshal dress for him!.
There was a lot of opinion about who attacked Vatukin, from German special forces to Ukrainian national guerrillas. In 1960, the Soviet Union arrested several senior members of the Ukrainian National Guerrillas, who had been the masterminds of the attack on Vatuddin.
History's evaluation of Vatukin
Vatukin was a famous general who rose up in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union in World War II, and people affectionately called him "Lightning" and "Little Saturn", and later generations praised him as Zhukov and others, as well as excellent generals in the Soviet Union.
Vatukin made a great contribution to the Soviet army, his combing of mechanized operational ideas and theories, for the Soviet Union and future generations has epoch-making significance, he corrected the Soviet Union's cognitive errors in mechanization at that time through practice, and at the same time, together with Zhukov, Timoshenko participated in many major battles, in which he perfected the far-reaching theory of the great depth of the campaign.
As an iron wall in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, the armored torrent under his command unswervingly defended the Soviet Union and successfully defeated the invincible Manstein several times. He was distinguished in the battle for Stalingrad and was a key figure in turning the tide on the European battlefields of World War II.
Unfortunately, his sudden death, both for the Soviet army and the world military theory, was a huge loss, and he was later awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and in 1948 in Kiev, the 8.55-meter-high Vatukin Monument was erected!
With this article, I would like to remember this iron-blooded hero of the Soviet Union!