Military Leaders From The Soviet Union

"I have dedicated this book to the Soviet soldier. It is with his blood and sweat that the victory over the powerful enemy was gained. He knew how to face mortal danger, he displayed a supreme valour and heroism. There is no limit to the greatness of his exploit in the name of his Motherland. The Soviet soldier deserves that grateful humanity should erect him a monument to stand in the ages to come. Brilliant examples were set by officers of all ranks- from junior lieutenants to marshals- ardent patriots of their country, experienced and fearless organizers of the multi-million strong armed forces in military actions. Those who make a difference between the Soviet soldier and officer make a bad mistake, for equal in origin, way of thinking and acting, they are equally loyal to, and are true sons of, their Motherland."

"At the ceremony of signing the decoration I met Field-Marshal Montgomery for the first time. During the war I had closely followed the actions of British troops under his command. In 1940 the British Expeditionary Corps had sustained a disastrous setback at Dunkirk. Later, British troops under Montgomery's command had smashed the German corps under General Rommel at El Alamein. During the Normandy landing Montgomery had ably commanded the Allied forces and their advance to the banks of the Seine. Montgomery was above medium height, very agile, soldierly, trim and created an impression of a lively and intelligent man. He began to talk about the operations at El Alamein and at Stalingrad. In his view the two operations were of equal significance. I did not want to belittle the merits of the British troops, but still I had to explain to him that the El Alamein operation was carried out on an army scale, while at Stalingrad the operation engaged a group of fronts and it had a vast strategic importance- it resulted in the rout of a major enemy force in the area of the Volga and Don rivers and later, in the North Caucasus. It was an operation that actually marked a radical turning-point in the war and ensured the retreat of the German forces from our country."

"Outwardly Eisenhower impressed me favourably. On June 5 Eisenhower, Montgomery and de Lattre de Tassigny arrived in Berlin to sign the declaration on the defeat of Germany and the assumption of supreme authority in Germany by Governments of the USSR, the US, Britain and France. Before the formal meeting, Eisenhower came to my headquarters to confer upon me a high American military award: I was made Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit. On receiving the award, I immediately called Stalin and told him about it. Stalin said: "We should decorate Eisenhower and Montgomery with Orders of Victory and de Lattre de Tassigny with the Order of Suvorov, First Class." "May I tell them about it?" I asked. Stalin said I could."

"With my new instructions I returned to Berlin. The very day after my arrival I was visited by General of the Army Eisenhower with his numerous retinue, amongst whom was General Spaatz, Chief of the US Strategic Air Command. We received General Eisenhower at the Headquarters of the front in Wedenschlosse. Present at the meeting was A. Ya. Vyshinsky. We greeted each other like soldiers, and, I may say, in a friendly way. Taking both my hands in his, Eisenhower looked me over for a long time, then said, "So that's what you're like.""

"Many indeed were the thoughts that whirled through my head in those minutes of rejoicing! The fearsome battle at Moscow where our troops had made a stand to the death without letting the enemy through to the capital, and Stalingrad lying in ruins but unvanquished, and the glorious Leningrad which had repelled the furious onslaught of the enemy and which had withstood a terrible blockade, and Sevastapol which had fought so heroically against hand-picked Nazi troops, and the triumph of victory at the Kursk Salient, and the thousands of devastated villages and towns, the many millions of human lives sacrificed by the Soviet people who had heroically stuck it out during those grim years. And here at last was the most cherished goal, for the sake of which our people had borne such immense suffering- the complete rout of Fascist Germany, the rout of the monstrous Fascism, and the triumph of our just cause."

"The Battle for Berlin was a life or death struggle. From the very depths of Mother Russia, from Moscow and from the Hero Cities of Stalingrad and Leningrad, from the Ukraine, from Byelorussia, from the Baltic, Caucasian and other republics our men had come here to finish the just war against those who had encroached upon the freedom of their country. Many of them still bore the fresh wounds of previous battles. In Berlin the wounded did not leave the battle-field. They all pressed forward yielding to no one the right of way. It was as if there had been no four years of grim fighting, as if everything had risen afresh in order to accomplish this great deed and to hoist the banner of victory over Berlin. In all actions our soldiers displayed great inspiration and daring. The maturity of our army and its growth during the war years were fully reflected in the Battle of Berlin."

"The Berlin Operation holds a place of special prominence as the final operation of the Second World War in Europe. The capture of Berlin meant the final solution of paramount military-political issues on which largely depended the post-war settlement in Germany and her place in the political life of Europe. In making ready for the last bout with Fascism, the Soviet armed forces meticulously proceeded from the agreed Allied policy of the unconditional surrender of Germany both in the military and economic, and in the political fields. Our major objective in this phase of the war was the complete eradication of Fascism in the social and state system of Germany and to bring all of the major Nazi criminals to book for their atrocities, mass murders, wholesale destruction and outrages upon the peoples of the occupied countries, particularly in our own long-suffering land."

"After the Military Council of the front had looked over the ravaged city, they reported to the Supreme Commander: "The Fascist barbarians have destroyed Warsaw, capital of Poland. With sadistic cruelty they demolished one block of houses after another. The largest of industrial enterprises have been razed to the ground. Dwelling houses have been either blown up or burnt down. Municipal economy is disrupted. Thousands upon thousands of civilians have been annihilated, the rest driven out. It is a dead city." Listening to people from Warsaw tell about Nazi atrocities during the occupation and especially before the retreat, it was hard to understand the psychology and moral make-up of the enemy. Polish men and officers took these stories especially hard. I saw battle-scarred Polish soldiers shed tears and pledge then and there to take revenge upon the fiendish foe. As for Soviet soldiers, we were all embittered and filled with determination to punish the enemy well for the atrocities committed. Boldly breaking down all enemy resistance, the troops were rapidly gaining ground."

"We proceeded from the knowledge that we would have to fight a battle-wise, strong and stubborn enemy."

"I find it rather difficult in the evening of my life to recollect everything that happened as time has erased from memory many things, especially relating to childhood and youth."

"To the Soviet soldier"

"When I am asked what I remember most of all of the past war, I always answer: the Battle for Moscow. A quarter of a century has passed, but these historic events and battles still remain in memory. Under hectic, almost catastrophically complicated and difficult conditions our troops were tempered, matured, accumulated experience and, once the absolutely essential minimum of arms were in their hands, moved from retreat and defensive maneuver to a powerful offensive. Our grateful descendants will never forget the difficult and heroic sacrifices of the Soviet people and the military achievements of the Soviet armed forces during that period. The Battle for Moscow laid the firm foundations for the ensuing defeat of Nazi Germany."

"When we speak here of heroic feats, we obviously have in mind not only our soldiers, commanders and political commissars. What was achieved at the front in October and subsequent battles was made possible by the common and united efforts of Soviet troops and the people of Moscow and the Moscow area, unanimously supported by the entire nation. The wide-ranging activities of the Party organization of the city of Moscow and the Moscow area in rallying the working people in defense of the capital against the enemy took on the character of a heroic epic. The fiery appeals of the Party's Central Committee and of the city and regional Party organizations awakened a deep response in the heart of every Muscovite, every soldier and the entire Soviet people. The working people of Moscow vowed to fight to the last with the soldiers rather than let the enemy through to the capital. And they kept that vow with honor."

"No matter how hard the enemy tried to take Tula and thus open the road to Mosocw from the south, he was unable to do so in the course of November. The city held out like an invulnerable fortress. Tula tied down the entire right flank of the German forces. When the enemy ultimately decided to by-pass Tula, Guderian's army was forced to split its forces, losing the operational effectiveness provided by tactical concentration. That is why Tula and its citizens played such an outstanding role in the defense of Moscow. Tula, ancient city of Russian gunmakers, thus became an unconquerable outpost of the capital thanks to the solidarity and self-sacrifice of its citizens, who fought with or helped our soldiers in every possible way. I don't think I would be far wrong if I said that the glory given to Moscow as a hero city belongs also to Tula and its people."

"Brilliant episodes in the chronicle of those hard days were recorded by the heroic defenders of the city of Tula. Unfortunately, this aspect of the defense has not yet been adequately covered in the Soviet histories of the war. And yet it would be difficult to exaggerate the role that the defense of Tula played in the Battle for Moscow. The city was defended by armed workers detachments and units of the Fiftieth Army that had pulled back to Tula. Particular steadfastness and courage were demonstrated by the Tula workers regiment under A. P. Gorshkov, commander, and G. A. Ageyev, political commissar. That regiment suffered heavy losses, but did not allow the enemy to enter the city. Nor did the workers of Tula lose their nerve when the enemy virtually closed the ring around the city. Together with the troops of the Fiftieth Army they continued to fight until the end, showing a high degree of organization, steadiness and courage. And they did hold out."

"Everyone worked day and night. People literally collapsed from fatigue and lack of sleep. But everyone did all he could at his post- sometimes even the impossible. Driven by a feeling of personal responsibility for the fate of Moscow, the fate of the homeland, generals and staff officers, commanders and political commissars of all ranks demonstrated unprecedented energy and dedication in seeking to organize ground and aerial reconnaissance, the firm control of all forces and a steady flow of supplies, and in promoting political and party work, to raise the morale of troops and to inculcate into every soldier a confidence in his own strength and in the inevitable defeat of the enemy on the approaches to Moscow."

"The second woman had to hurry; her home had also been destroyed and she could not find her shoes and clothes in the rubble. Tears rolled down her cheeks. When asked whether any of our troops had passed through the town, she said that during the night several trucks had driven through toward Maloyaroslavets, followed by horse-drawn carts bearing the wounded. There had been nothing since then. I said good-bye and drove on toward Yukhnov, deeply regretting that there was nothing I could say to console this woman or any of the other Soviet people to whom the war had brought such terrible grief."

"The nature of encounter operations required of the commanders limitless initiative and constant readiness to take the responsibility for military actions."

"If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as it were not there."

"Nazis did not expect Soviet resistance to be so strong. The deeper they moved into this country's territory, the more fierce it became. When Hitler's armies approached Moscow, every man and woman here thought it imperative to resist the enemy. And that resistance grew by the day. The enemy was sustaining heavy losses, one after another. In fact, Hitler's best troops perished here. Nazis believed the Red Army was not capable of defending Moscow, but their schemes failed."

"Generalissimo Stalin directed every move... made every decision... He is the greatest and wisest military genius who ever lived..."

"We will do all we can to insure peace... but if war is imposed upon us we will be together shoulder to shoulder as in the last war to strive for the happiness of mankind."

"West of Maloyaroslavets I met the commander of the local fortified area, Colonel Smirnov, who reported on the progress of fortification work, the availability of worker battalions and the equipment of the military units capable of defending the approaches to Maloyaroslavets. After I had instructed him to organize reconnaissance and to get his fortified area into fighting shape, I drove on to Medyn. I found no one there except an old woman who was rummaging around a house that had been hit by a bomb. "Granny, what are you doing here?" I asked. She stood there with wide-open, wandering eyes and disheveled gray hair and said nothing. "What's the matter, Granny?" Without replying, the woman went back to digging. Another woman, half-dressed and carrying a half-filled sack, appeared from the ruins. "Don't bother asking her," she said, "she won't say anything. She has lost her mind with grief." She told me that two days before German plans had bombed and strafed the town. Many people had been killed. The residents were getting ready to leave for Maloyaroslavets. The old woman had lived in this house with a little grandson and granddaughter. She was at the well getting water when the raid began. She saw a bomb hit her house. Somewhere under the ruins were the bodies of her grandchildren."

"The beginning of October, 1941, I was in Leningrad, commanding the troops of the Leningrad Front. Those days were difficult for all of us who had been through the September fighting for Leningrad. But our forces were succeeding in thwarting the enemy's plans. Because of the unparalleled steadfastness and mass heroism of the Soviet soldiers, sailors and noncommissioned officers and the endurance of commanders and political officers, the enemy was encountering an unsurmountable defense on the approaches to the city. By the end of September pressure was noticeably relaxed on all sectors and the front line had become stabilized. But this is not the place to tell the story of the Leningrad fighting nor of the attempted seizure of the city named for the great Lenin. I mention it only to emphasize that all of us, from the Military Council of the front down to the city's ordinary defenders, in those days lived with but a single thought: to stop the enemy no matter what. Everyone did all he could in his assigned post."

"Here they found real war, but they were not ready for it. They were used to easy victories. This deprived them of flexibility on the one hand, of tenacity on the other. For them, war was merely maneuvers. They have neither cavalry nor skiers, their tanks cannot pass over the snow."

"If the nation only knew their hands dripped with innocent blood, it would have met them not with applause but with stones."

"If they [the Germans] attack, we will defend. If they do not attack until winter comes, then we will and will tear them to shreds!"

"Winning depended to a large extent on the determination of the troops and the officers. The certainty that we were going to win kept up everyone's spirits, from privates to generals."

"The longer the battle lasts the more force we'll have to use!"

"It is a fact that under equal conditions, large-scale battles and whole wars are won by troops which have a strong will for victory, clear goals before them, high moral standards, and devotion to the banner under which they go into battle."

"If you feel that the Chief of the General Staff talks only rubbish, my place is not here. Better to give me a command at the front where I can be of better use!"

"There's no smoke without fire."

"The mere existence of atomic weapons implies the possibility of their use."

"There are things in Russia which are not as they seem."