The Defense of Moscow (1941~1942), as an important battle in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War and World War II, has been permanently recorded in history. Revisiting some of these true stories can allow us to once again appreciate the resourcefulness and bravery of Soviet soldiers and civilians in the battle to defend Moscow. Story One: Two against nine, defeating more with less. On December 2, 1941, 10 true stories of Soviet pilots Ryazanov and Shikov piloting two fighter planes in the western district of Moscow. At that time, they encountered nine German Messerschmitt BF-109 fighter jets in the Pavshno district. Although they were fighting against many, the two pilots relied on their superb driving skills to deal with the enemy planes tenaciously, successfully safeguarding Moscow's air security and shooting down an enemy plane. Story 2: Cavalry PK tanks, creating war myths. On November 29, 1941, when liberating the village of Pyatnica on the outskirts of Kasila, the First Guards Cavalry Corps of the Red Army led by Major General Belov destroyed 16 German vehicles Tanks created the war myth of cavalry PK tanks. Story Three: Release water to break the ice and block the enemy's pursuit. The 78th Division of the Soviet Army led by Colonel Belobrov once built a defense line 3 to 4 kilometers away from the city of Istria to cover the evacuation of the 16th Army. At that time, the German army had already begun to catch up through the thick ice on the Istria Reservoir and took a shortcut. At an extremely critical moment, the 16th Army headquarters ordered the reservoir gate to be opened. The 3-meter-high water rushes down the Istria Valley for hundreds of kilometers. Reservoir water levels dropped sharply, causing the ice above to collapse rapidly. The German army was forced to stop its advance and delayed its fighter planes for several days. By this time, the Soviet army had already occupied a new favorable position. Story Four: Armored Trains Go to the Frontline On the night of November 28, 1941, the German 7th Tank Division occupied Yakhromoma and a bridge over the Volga River, and dispatched 10 tanks to the east bank of the Volga River. Lieutenant General Kuznetsov, then commander of the 1st Assault Army of the Soviet Army, ordered Armored Train No. 73 to go out to meet the enemy. As a result, these Soviet railway troops also showed extremely strong combat effectiveness, annihilating 10 German tanks and more than 700 soldiers in one fell swoop. Story Five: 43 Fallen Martyrs On November 16, 1941, the German army used two tank corps to attack the forward positions of the Soviet 316th Infantry Division. Near the Dubsekovo railway station, political instructor Klochkov led 28 anti-tank soldiers to repel the attack of 50 German tanks and destroyed 18 of them. All 28 brave Red Army soldiers died on the battlefield and were later awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. On the same day, in the Petelino district 1.2 kilometers away from Dubsekovo, 15 soldiers were martyred after wiping out 5 German tanks and about 1 platoon of German troops. Only the political instructor Vikhlev was killed afterwards. Earn the title of hero. These tenacious Red Army soldiers used their flesh and blood to forge a solid defense line, buying valuable time for the retreat of the large forces. Story Six: The "Feather Letter" that Saved Moscow. After the fall of Krasnaya Polyana, Moscow was completely within the range of German heavy artillery. From November 30, 1941, the German army began to dispatch artillery units to Krasnaya Polyana, with a range of up to 20 kilometers. Yelena Gorokhova, a female teacher at a local school, secretly sent a note to the Soviet command headquarters, which accurately marked the specific location of the German artillery positions. After the note was sent to the frontline troops, the Soviet officers and soldiers felt like they had found a treasure and quickly organized an artillery counterattack, taking down a German artillery battery in one fell swoop. Story No. 7: "Soviet version of Wang Xiaoer" On December 11, 1941, Ivan Petrovich, an old horse breeder in Moscow's Serebryanno-Prusk District, sent a team of 40 cars to The German convoy was brought into the Grand Canyon. As a result, the German army was "stranded" at the bottom of the valley and was in a dilemma. The angry Germans brutally killed Ivan. Story 8: A Wonderful Balloon Journey During the Battle of Moscow, in order to interfere with German bombers, the Soviet army placed hundreds of balloons over Moscow. On December 6, 1941, the balloon rope at a sentry post suddenly broke. Sergeant Dmitry Virigula, who was in charge of guarding, reacted quickly and grabbed the broken part of the rope. After a few minutes, he rose with the balloon to an altitude of 1,500 meters. At that time, the temperature dropped to -38 degrees Celsius at night, but with tenacious perseverance, Virigula climbed up the rope to the air bag, unscrewed the special air valve, and after deflating, the balloon began to fall slowly, and finally landed 110 kilometers away from the original sentry post. Landed smoothly in the place. In recognition of Virigula's valuable spirit of defending the valuable property of the army to the death, his superiors awarded him the Order of the Red Banner. Story No. 9: Fighting alone and shocking the enemy. During the defense of Moscow, the most incredible tank battle took place in the village of Nefedovo, two kilometers away from the city of Dedovsk. On December 7, Lieutenant Pavel Gudzi drove a KB-1 tank and exchanged fire with 18 German tanks. KB tanks destroyed 10 enemy tanks. The remaining enemy tanks fled in panic. Pavel was awarded the Order of Lenin for his brilliant military service. Story No. 10: "Two Zoyas" Zoya is a Soviet heroine that everyone is familiar with. She was a scout of the 9903 Special Forces Unit of the Soviet Army. She was arrested and killed by German soldiers on November 29, 1941. On February 16, 1942, Zoya was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In fact, on November 29, a Soviet female scout and Zoya's comrade-in-arms Voloshena also died heroically. But it was not until 1994 that Voloshena was posthumously awarded the title of hero.