It was on Myshkove. Lev Larin, a leading researcher of the Museum-Reserve "Battle of Stalingrad"
Volgograd Pravda No. 147 dated September 12, 2015.
Dozens of different rivers flow in our region. Many of them somehow or other have been inscribed in the history of the great battle at Stalingrad, but now only the locals know about the events that occurred at that time on their shores.
But there is among them a small, seemingly small river, the very name of which became a bright landmark of one of the greatest battles of the past century. This is the tributary of the Don river Myshkov, flowing in the south of the Volgograd region.
On the banks of the steppe river
Long before the start of the fighting near Stalingrad, three defensive belts were being erected on the outskirts of the city, covering it from north to south. From the mouth of Myshkova to the station Abganerovo passed the southern front of the external defensive contour.
The Myshkova River itself was a natural boundary. But it had to be adapted for defense. Therefore, since the autumn of 1941, thousands of builders of the 5th sapper army of Brigade Engineer Komarovsky and civilians of the city and the region worked along it. More than 7 million cubic meters of soil were removed and handled in just three months. Work was accounted for 14 hours a day in extreme weather conditions.
The war came to these places in early August 1942. On the way of the 4th Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht, the soldiers of the 64th Army, Major-General Shumilov, rose in a wall. And after about six months, the Germans attempted to unblock in the same areas the Paulus grouping under Stalingrad. December 12 from Kotelnikovo began the offensive of their army group "Goth".
The soldiers of the 51st Army Major-General Trufanov showed courageous resistance to the enemy. The enemy sought to seize the Upper-Kumsky farm, which lies on the shortest path to Stalingrad. An example of courage and fortitude in battles for this settlement is the feat of the soldiers of the 1378th Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Mikhail Diasamidze.
The command of the 51st Army set him the task of preventing the enemy from advancing from the southern and south-western directions. The first onslaught of the enemy on December 13 the soldiers of the regiment repelled successfully. Several German tanks were damaged or blown up by mines. But two days later the enemy strengthened the onslaught. The day of December 18 was especially intense. Three times the enemy approached Verkhne-Kumsky and three times rolled away under the destructive fire of his fearless defenders.
Throw the 2 nd Guards
At dawn on December 19 the Hitlerites struck a junction between the regiment and the neighboring brigade. The valley of the Myshkovs literally shuddered from the ruptures of heavy bombs and shells, the roar of engines and the grinding of the broken armor. Then Mikhail Diasamidze personally led the 2nd battalion of the regiment to attack and was wounded twice. But even lying on a stretcher, he continued to control the battle. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 22, 1942, Mikhail Stepanovich Diasamidze was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Among the distinguished in the battles of the river. Myshkova was the 383rd Anti-Tank Regiment of the Reserve of the Main Command. His men allowed armored monsters at a distance of a direct shot and hit for sure. In these battles, all the commanders of the batteries and fire platoons of the regiment were killed. Only 14 men managed to break through. The commander of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Larionov, also died.
In repelling enemy attacks in the Verkhny-Kumsky region, the tankers of the 55th separate tank regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Aslanov, showed steadfastness and heroism. They managed to destroy thirty enemy vehicles. The tank of the regiment commander caught fire, but Aslanov did not quit the battle, continued to fight and in the burning tank.
Like Mikhail Diasamidze, Azi Aslanov was also awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on December 22, 1942.
But the enemy managed to break through Verkhne-Kumsky to Myshkov. Coming to this line, Erich von Manstein, the commander of Army Group Don, radiated Paulus: "Be sure of success." But this message was premature. The efforts of the soldiers of the 51st Army, paid for at the cost of heavy losses, were not in vain. They allowed to gain time necessary for the approach of the 2nd Guards Army, Lieutenant-General Rodion Malinovsky, with a strength of 90,000 men. In the area of Stalingrad, 150 of its echelons arrived and unloaded. Guardsmen made a nearly 200-kilometer march to the area of the upcoming battles in the war-ravaged terrain. But they overcame difficulties, understanding that the fate of the battle at Stalingrad now depends on them.