Regarding the most arduous battles of World War II, in addition to the well-known Defense of Stalingrad and the Siege of Leningrad, another remarkable battle was the heroic Defense of Moscow. In this battle of life and death for the Soviet Union, a heroic unit recorded in the annals of World War II was born, the Soviet 316th Infantry Division, and its other well-known name was the "Panfilov Guards 8th Infantry Division".
Even if there are rumors about whether this force really exists, some people even doubt the authenticity of the hero. But as peace-loving people, we must not forget the heroes who gave their lives for victory, because it was they who gave us a good life.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, he was ordered to go to the front line when he was in danger</h1>
In June 1941, Nazi Germany launched the "Barbarossa Plan" against the Soviet Union, and the German army armed to the teeth gathered many forces and rapidly advanced from the western part of the Soviet Union to the soviet hinterland. Due to the haste of the battle, the Soviet army initially suffered a terrible defeat, and many important towns and fortresses were lost. As the Germans advanced, the pressure on the defensive lines in the capital, Moscow, multiplied, and the city of Moscow was shrouded in the clouds of war, and the Soviet Union was in danger.
At this critical juncture, the Soviet government decided to send reserve forces and support forces to defend Moscow's security. Almaty, located in Central Asia, also responded to the call to form an infantry unit mainly Kazakh, supplemented by Russians and other ethnic groups. In charge of the formation of the plan was Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, then political commissar of the Military District of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Under his careful selection, on July 12, 1941, this unit was officially formed and named the "316th Infantry Division of the Soviet Army". Under the jurisdiction of the 1073rd, 1075th, 1077th Infantry Regiment, as well as the 857th Artillery Regiment and the 597th Engineer Regiment, all of them were officially assembled on August 1 of that year, and a dozen days later they embarked on the train to the Moscow front.
Soon after arriving at the front line, the soldiers of the 316th Infantry Division fought with the Germans, and after the run-in, every soldier of the infantry division was fully trained in actual combat. In September of the same year, all the soldiers were incorporated into the Soviet 52nd Army to await orders for battle, and the brutal battle that awaited them was imminent.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, tenacious resistance, heroic martyrdom</h1>
In early October, the ready German army began to make an official march to Moscow, and the soldiers of the 316th Infantry Division, led by division commander Panfilov, arrived at the operational area on October 11. Upon request, the 316th Infantry Division was placed under the command of the 16th Army under The command of Lieutenant General Rokossovsky (then a rank) and was responsible for defending the road along the Luza River to Volokolamsk. To strengthen the defenses, an infantry regiment and two anti-tank regiments of the 126th Infantry Division also joined in to help the 316th Division.
On 15 October 1941, all the division's officers encountered for the first time the German front-line forces 30 km southwest of Volokolamsk. The fierce German attack once put the soldiers of the 316th Division in a passive position, and Volokolamsk fell into German hands for a time. But under the strong resistance of the soldiers participating in the battle, the Germans could not continue to move forward, and had to face off with the soldiers of the 316th Division on the outskirts of the city, which was less than 40 kilometers away from the capital Moscow.
In order to ensure the safety of Moscow, the headquarters of the 16th Army required all the soldiers of the 316th Division to hold their positions and not to let the Germans move forward one step. Under the command of division commander Panfilov, all the soldiers fought fiercely with the enemy for more than 4 hours, during which they paid huge casualties, but still firmly held the position in their own hands.
On 16 November, the 4th Company of the 1075th Regiment of the 316th Infantry Division, under the command of trainee commissar Krochkov Diev, was tasked with blocking German tanks. In the battle, the soldiers were brave against the German tanks, and when the anti-tank grenades ran out, they used Molotov cocktails and cluster grenades to paralyze the enemy tanks. Some heroic soldiers even hid in the crater with cluster grenades, and when german tanks passed by, they pulled grenades and died with the enemy... After the fierce fighting, all but 5 of the 28 brave soldiers were martyred, including commissar Kryuchkov Diyev.
The heroic feats of 23 soldiers shocked the 316th Division, and the remaining officers and men engaged in fierce battles with the Germans throughout the defensive line. The 11 engineers of the 1077th Regiment, led by platoon commander Firstov and instructor Pavlov, successfully repelled the German attack after 5 hours of fierce fighting. During the battle, only one platoon leader remained of the 11 soldiers, and after destroying an enemy tank, the platoon leader was captured by the enemy and brutally executed shortly after. On November 17, in recognition of the bravery of the 316th Infantry Division, the Soviet High Command decided to award the division the title of Guard and a "Red Banner Medal".
A day later, just as all the soldiers of the 316th Division were fighting against the Nazi German attack, the founder of the division, Panfilov, the commander of the division known as "Daddy", was killed by a shell fragment while commanding the battle at the front command post, at the age of 48. On November 23 of the same year, the 316th Infantry Division was officially appointed as the "8th Infantry Division of the Guards Red Banner Panfilov" to express the deep remembrance of the division commander Panfilov. Under the heroic resistance of all soviet soldiers, the defense of Moscow ended in a comprehensive victory of the Soviet army, and the sacrificial soldiers, including the division commander Panfilov, were awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". This heroic force has undergone the baptism of the defense of Moscow and transformed into an invincible heroic force.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, history will not forget</h1>
After the end of the Battle of Moscow, the 8th Infantry Division of the Guards Panfilov was transferred to the Northwestern Front and took part in the battle at Jemiyansk. For their outstanding combat performance, the High Command awarded them the Order of Lenin on March 16, 1942. Later, in the Battle of Kaluga-Novgorod, the division also had a very prominent performance. In July 1944, the 8th Infantry Division of the Guards Panfilov, in cooperation with friendly forces, successfully liberated the strategic town of Liezhşa, for which it was awarded the honorary title of "Liezhşa Division".
From September to October 1944, as part of the Baltic Coastal Front, the 8th Infantry Division of the Guards Panfilov achieved numerous proud achievements in the battle neutrality of the three Baltic coastal countries. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, more than 14,000 officers and men of the division made various military achievements, of which 33 were awarded or posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union".
After the war, the division was reorganized as a motorized infantry division and was later sent to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia as a subordinate division of the 17th Army of the Turkestan Military District. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the division was taken over by the Kyrgyz army until it was disbanded in 2003, and in 2011, at the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the division, the Kyrgyz army revived the designation of the unit, and now the "Panfilov Division" has become an important military unit in the country.
Recently, the question of whether the "8th Infantry Division of the Guards Panfilov" is real has caused widespread discussion, and some people have believed that the unit is only a cover for official propaganda according to the so-called "official information", and the doubts about the division commander Panfilov and the 28th Warrior have not stopped.
As a heroic force with outstanding achievements, such a bad act of denying the achievements of victory in World War II can never be tolerated, and the warriors who gave their lives for the just cause should not be forgotten and tampered with. As one official put it: "Even if the story is made up from beginning to end; even without the character of Panfilov; even if the whole thing does not exist, it is still a sacred legend that cannot be violated." Those who will do this are ugly and unforgivable."
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
As a heroic unit, the injustice suffered by the "8th Infantry Division of the Guards Panfilov" deserves our deep consideration, a great unit with the title of hero, its history should not be arbitrarily erased and doubted, as a party of justice, any blasphemy and denial of heroes is the greatest impact on justice, and the deeds of heroes should not be forgotten or denied.
Resources:
1. The Military Encyclopedia of the USSR
2. "Volokolamsk Highway"
3. "Moscow Behind Us"
4. "The Hero's Panfilov and His 316th Division"