For many of us, a visit to the Black Sea coast is associated only with a summer beach holiday, relaxation and unobtrusive entertainment. However, the surroundings of the cities in this region include many things. By visiting them, you can learn more about the history of the country. One of them is the Malaya Zemlya memorial. Novorossiysk, in the vicinity of which it is located, cannot be called the most popular city for a beach holiday. But excursions to the memorial are organized from many resort villages. The place can be reached by car or public transport. It is located directly on the outskirts of Novorossiysk.
What will the “Malaya Zemlya” memorial tell visitors about? Novorossiysk during the Great Patriotic War was captured by enemies. But on a small piece of land, Soviet troops held a long heroic defense, which later made it possible to develop a counteroffensive and liberate the city. This victory caused significant damage to the enemy and weakened his forces. Historians agree that the liberation of Novorossiysk was one of important stages in the battle for the freedom of the Caucasus. After this, our troops were able to carry out powerful offensive operations.
A small plot of land has an area of less than 30 square meters. km. But it was precisely this that the Soviet landing force was able to recapture during a fierce battle in February 1943. The defense lasted as much as 225 days (from February 4 to September 16, 1943), after which the bridgehead became the starting point for the offensive and helped liberate Novorossiysk. The "Malaya Zemlya" memorial is a symbol of courage, bravery and unity of the Russian people.
On this moment Entrance to the Museum of Military Equipment and the Gallery of Glory, which are located inside the monument, is open to visitors. The composition itself is made in the form warship, on which the heroic amphibious landing was carried out under the leadership of Ts.L. Kunikov. The dynamic image is complemented by bas-reliefs depicting sailors and soldiers.
The Malaya Zemlya Memorial (Novorossiysk) includes the Gallery of Glory, which contains bas-reliefs of a memorial plaque indicating the regiments and troops that took part in the battles for the city. In the center of the gallery there is a sculptural composition with a mosaic panel, where the oath of the soldiers is written, and in the “Heart” capsule there are the names of the victims.
The entire territory of the memorial is protected and is under special protection of the state. There are fragments of guns, ditches and trenches, fortifications and command posts preserved here.
In order to see this place with their own eyes and honor the memory of the victims, tourists visit the Malaya Zemlya memorial. Novorossiysk, the map of which necessarily contains an indication of the location of the bridgehead, most often serves as the starting point on this journey.
The memorial gained particular popularity in the Soviet Union after the publication of Leonid Brezhnev’s book. He published his war memoirs in 1978 and called them “Malaya Zemlya.” Novorossiysk still retains the memory of the fighting on the bridgehead, memories of which Brezhnev described in this book, which sold millions of copies throughout the country.
The name "Small Land" became widely known in our country in the 1970s. and turned out to be connected with the personality of L.I. Brezhnev. The work of the same name, published under the name Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU, became the pinnacle of that mass of military memoirs, research, journalistic and fiction, songs and paintings dedicated to a small coastal bridgehead that existed south of Novorossiysk from February to September 1943.
The scale and obsession of this campaign were so great that they could not help but cause irony and skepticism in society. There was a joke going around the country about how Marshal Zhukov put off deciding on an offensive without calling Colonel Brezhnev, and the phrase about those who sat in the trenches of Stalingrad while the fate of the war was being decided on Malaya Zemlya became a catchphrase. ABOUT Everyday life Soviet soldiers and officers on the bridgehead were spoken less often, although it was their daily efforts that became a real feat. And in order to appreciate it, it is worth remembering where and how the defenders of Malaya Zemlya fought, lived and died.
Between Big and Small Land
The path to the bridgehead began in Gelendzhik. From here to Myskhako, taking into account the bends of the fairway laid among the minefields, it is less than 20 miles - about 37 kilometers. During daylight hours, any watercraft was destroyed by enemy artillery or aircraft, so all transportation was carried out at night. The first ships that were used to deliver troops to the captured bridgehead were medium-sized, by the standards of the Black Sea Fleet, ships and vessels: minesweepers, gunboats and military transports. The gunboats had the opportunity to approach almost the very shore, and other ships and vessels could use the fish factory pier. But the enemy intensively fired at the pier, and it was necessary to switch to a different mode of transportation. With the onset of darkness, ships and ships came from Gelendzhik to the eastern part of Tsemes Bay, to the Kabardinka region. There, people and cargo were taken on board boats, seiners and motorboats, and they delivered them to Malaya Zemlya, managing to make two or three trips per night 1 . The likelihood of warships being killed by artillery fire had decreased, but other threats also existed. Soviet communications began to come under attack from the 1st flotilla of German torpedo boats. On the night of February 28, they achieved their greatest success, sinking the gunboat "Red Georgia" and the base minesweeper T-403 "Gruz" near Myskhako. After this, transportation to the bridgehead began to be carried out exclusively by small-tonnage ships, vessels and boats, soon nicknamed the “tyulka fleet”. But they also continued to die from mine explosions, artillery strikes, aircraft and enemy boats.
Efforts were made to supply the paratroopers by air. In the days of the first battles, the cargo was dropped by Il-2 attack aircraft, but up to half of the containers fell behind the front line or into the sea. And when it was possible to free the area where the runway was located, an airfield team was sent to the bridgehead. In order to prepare the airfield to receive light transport aircraft, craters from shells and bombs began to be filled in, but all efforts were in vain. Continuous shelling by enemy artillery led to the fact that new craters appeared faster than old ones were filled in, and the idea of using aviation had to be abandoned.
People and cargo from Mainland It was necessary not only to transport it to Malaya, but also to unload it ashore. And this is where difficulties arose. The only pier at the fish factory was completely destroyed, and the first paratroopers landed in the coastal waters under enemy fire. In the second half of February, it was possible to build piers where small vessels could unload. The destroyed building of “Red Georgia” became a unique pier in its own way. The received cargo was stored on the shore and then delivered to the troops. They had to be carried manually or transported on donkeys by two mountain pack companies 2 . By the beginning of April, it was possible to create a food supply for seven days on Malaya Zemlya. It was worse with ammunition; there was only one round of ammunition. And only by the end of August the supply of ammunition was increased to two rounds of ammunition, and food supplies for 30 days.
Progress of the message. During the six months of existence of the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead, more than 32 km of trenches were dug there. Photo: Motherland
Who fought on Malaya Zemlya
The main heroes of the landings, including those on Malaya Zemlya, are considered to be the marines. The image of the “black pea coats” turned out to be so vivid that it largely eclipsed the efforts of other small-earth residents. Divisions Marine Corps- assault squad of Major Ts.L. Kunikova, the 83rd Marine Rifle Brigade and the 255th Marine Brigade - really played main role in seizing a bridgehead. True, by the beginning of 1943, no more than half of those from the navy remained in their ranks; its human resources were depleted during the defense of the Crimea and the Caucasus. Nevertheless, the recruits, who came “from the shore” and not “from the ships,” enthusiastically absorbed naval traditions. Following the marines, the 8th Guards, 51st, 107th and 165th Rifle Brigades, the 176th Rifle Division and two more rifle regiments, which were ordinary infantry formations, landed. As a result, by March 1, of the 27 battalions of the Landing Group of Forces, only six represented the Marine Corps. Therefore, in subsequent battles, the degree of participation of the Marine Corps turned out to be lower than generally believed.
There has been a lot of speculation regarding the Kunikovites. One of them was that they were penalty offenders. In fact, the detachment of Ts.L. Kunikov was recruited from the coastal units of the Novorossiysk naval base and the reconnaissance detachment of the Black Sea Fleet. And the 613th penal company of the Black Sea Fleet and the 92nd army penal company were assigned to the main landing forces and landed on the already captured bridgehead. Later, the 91st and 100th separate penal companies of the 18th Army 3 took part in the battles on Malaya Zemlya. But the share of penal soldiers in the Landing Group of Forces remained insignificant, and the tasks assigned to them did not have fundamental differences from tasks solved by simple infantry.
Novorossiysk partisans were also among the land poor. The first of them arrived at the bridgehead, led by their commander P.I. Vasev on February 9. In total, five detachments were sent there - more than 200 people. They were involved in reconnaissance, used as guides in many units, and participated in unloading operations, construction of piers and restoration of the airfield. However, the partisans failed to organize the fight behind enemy lines. Over the course of a month and a half, they tried to get behind the front line 23 times, but almost all of the forays ended in failure. At the end of March the partisans were evacuated to Mainland 4 .
Everyday life of the landless people
In the first weeks of fighting on the bridgehead, all the few buildings were used as shelters: the dilapidated houses of Stanichka and Myskhako, the remains of a fish factory and wine farm, caponiers of the airfield and coastal battery. The openness of Malaya Zemlya to enemy observation and artillery fire forced the construction of field fortifications and shelters to begin. The defenders of the bridgehead would not only fight in them, but also live in them in the coming months. The obstacles in this matter were the hard ground and the lack of building materials and entrenching tools. On April 12, 1943, five days before the start of the German offensive, a check of the state of defense readiness was carried out in the Landing Group of Forces. It turned out that not everywhere the trenches were completed full profile, some of the bunkers and dugouts are not even protected from shrapnel, there are not enough communication passages. "Improvement work engineering structures are proceeding extremely sluggishly and only under great pressure." 5 Nevertheless, on Malaya Zemlya the total volume of work exceeded similar indicators in other sectors of the 18th Army front several times. The Myskhako area became the most fortified section of the North Caucasus Front, the whole city with its own "blocks" and "streets". And it was all done by hand!
In addition to warehouses and headquarters, it was necessary to cover a field surgical hospital. He was located in the area of the wine farm, using its concrete storage facilities as protection. The hospital could provide the most necessary assistance, but the wounded were sent to the mainland to recover. For this purpose, in addition to the hospital, a field evacuation point was deployed.
There were not enough sources on Malaya Zemlya fresh water. It was especially hard for the first paratroopers who fought in Stanichka in early February. For drinking and cooking, they collected rainwater and melted ice from puddles. As the bridgehead expanded, its defenders had several streams at their disposal, but with the onset of summer they dried up, and only one natural source of water remained in the entire Malaya Zemlya. Well digging was organized in all units. The capacity of each of them turned out to be small, but this was compensated by the total number - more than seven dozen.
The lack of water and fuel affected the troops' food supply system. At first, soldiers and commanders could only count on the dry rations they took with them. Subsequently, the basis of the diet became bread, crackers, canned meat, fish and vegetables. Even dolphin meat was used. The consequence of an unbalanced diet and the use of poor-quality water was the spread of night blindness, dysentery and vitamin deficiency among the personnel; these problems became especially noticeable in May - June 1943, but by mid-summer they were dealt with. The means of prevention were pine infusion and the so-called Malozemelsky kvass, prepared on the basis of nut paste and grape leaves. Nutrition has improved, in particular, it was possible to establish bread baking and organize the delivery of hot food to the front lines. The soldiers carried it in thermoses twice a day, at dusk and before sunrise 6 .
Along with food, active units of the Red Army also received alcoholic beverages. For those on the front line and leading fighting, required 100 grams of vodka or 200 grams of fortified wine. As a rule, alcohol was given out before an offensive or on the occasion of a holiday. So, on May 1, officer of the 83rd Naval Rifle Brigade V.G. Morozov noted in his diary the receipt of "chacha", emphasizing the peculiarity of this case 7. The distribution of alcoholic beverages was not without abuse. In a combat situation, this had the most dire consequences: on March 26, the battalion of machine gunners of the 107th Infantry Brigade received two liters of alcohol in connection with the upcoming reconnaissance in force, in the evening the battalion commander organized a drinking party, and in the morning he disrupted the planned operation.
Malaya Zemlya was not without desertion. Already on February 18, the commander of the Black Sea Group of Forces, Lieutenant General I.E. Petrov ordered to send two outposts (100 people) of the 23rd NKVD border regiment to Malaya Zemlya. They were tasked with protecting the piers and combating desertion 8 . The desire to save life also pushed into betrayal. So, on April 8, two soldiers of the 51st Infantry Brigade ran over to the enemy 9 . Therefore, during the April battles, the commander of the Landing Group of Forces, Major General A.A. Grechkin gave the order to comb the rear areas to identify enemy spies and deserters.
The troops on Malaya Zemlya, who lived for more than six months as a garrison of a besieged fortress, required appropriate work with the personnel. Political bodies played the main role in this. They did a lot to ensure that the small-earth people did not feel cut off from the mainland, received newspapers and knew the contents of the Sovinformburo reports. Significant efforts were directed toward promoting heroism and mutual assistance, overcoming interethnic differences, and explaining the peculiarities of combat during a landing. With the end of the April battles, the opportunity arose to improve life and diversify the leisure time of soldiers and officers. The song and dance ensemble of the 18th Army performed several times on Malaya Zemlya, and an amateur art competition was held at the beginning of July.
“One for all, we won’t stand behind the price...”
There is still no comprehensive information about how many Soviet soldiers died on Malaya Zemlya. The paratroopers suffered the most intense losses in the first month of fighting. Of the 37 thousand people landed on Malaya Zemlya in February 1943, 2412 died, 815 were missing, 7645 were injured, 775 fell ill. In total, over 11.6 thousand people, i.e. 31% 10. The losses during the repulsion of the German offensive were significant. 1,124 people were killed, 2,610 were wounded and 12 soldiers were missing. These losses amounted to more than 29% of the 12,764 active soldiers in service 11.
From February 4 to September 10, 1943, almost 78.5 thousand people were brought to Malaya Zemlya. If we subtract from this figure the number taken from the bridgehead, which is 33 thousand people (including about 24.5 thousand wounded), 12 and the 20 thousand that were part of the Landing Group of Forces at the time of the liberation of Novorossiysk, then the remainder will be approximately 25 thousand people. Every third landowner died or went missing.
Another question arises - where and how the dead were buried. Considering the overcrowding of people on the bridgehead, this was a serious problem not only from the moral and ethical side, but also from the sanitary and epidemiological side. It is obvious that the tense situation in the early days of the bridgehead did not allow adequate care for the dead. But even a month later, the order to the troops of the Landing Group of Forces dated March 9, 1943 noted the unsatisfactory state of affairs on the shore: “Dead sick, wounded and corpses thrown ashore are removed and buried untimely” 13. Subsequently, this problem was solved. An analysis of documents on irretrievable losses of the Red Army, collected in the Generalized Data Bank "Memorial", showed that in most cases, burials were made in mass graves at the location of military units. Only in special cases the bodies of the dead were sent to Gelendzhik. Thus, from July 29 to August 8, the 255th Marine Brigade irretrievably lost 31 people. Only one of them, deputy commander for political affairs, Lieutenant Colonel M.K. Vidov was buried in Gelendzhik, and the rest - privates and sergeants - on the southern outskirts of Novorossiysk, in the area of Stanichka and camp 14.
Sacrifices suffered Soviet soldiers and sailors on Malaya Zemlya, forced to think about the significance of the bridgehead. How much it was needed during the war remains a matter of debate. But our article was not about this, but about whether the life and struggle of the small-landers was a feat. It seems that the answer is obvious, because the trials that befell the defenders of the bridgehead were great even by the standards of the Great Patriotic War. The danger of death, everyday problems, lack of food and water, awareness of isolation from the mainland - all this befell those who fought on the bridgehead. But they survived and won. This, perhaps, deserves the memory of posterity.
1. Yurina T.I. Novorossiysk confrontation: 1942-1943. Krasnodar, 2008. P. 238.
2. Shiyan I.S. On Malaya Zemlya. M., 1974. P. 145.
3. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 211. L. 85.
4. Historical notes. Documents from the funds of the museum-reserve. Novorossiysk, 2014. Issue. 6. pp. 39-40.
5. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 162. L. 47.
6. Drabkin A.V. Up to the elbows in blood. Red Cross of the Red Army. M., 2010. pp. 333-334.
7. This is my war: The Great Patriotic War in written and visual ego-documents. Krasnodar, 2016. P. 264.
8. TsAMO RF. F. 276. Op. 811. D. 164. L. 78.
9. TsAMO RF. F. 849. Op. 1. D. 10. L. 1.
10. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 165. L. 35, 37.
11. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 211. L. 45 rev.
12. Battle chronicle Navy. 1943. M., 1993. S. 435-436.
13. TsAMO RF. F. 371. Op. 6367. D. 165. L. 49.
14. Personal list of irretrievable losses of personnel of the 255th Marine Brigade. URL: http://www.obd-memorial.ru/html/info.htm?id=2763071&page=1 (date of access - 07/27/2017)
Under the command of Major Ts.L. Kunikov on the night of February 4, 1943. The defense of Malaya Zemlya lasted 225 days and ended on the morning of September 16, 1943 with the liberation of Novorossiysk. The plan for the landing operation in the Novorossiysk area had been developed since November 1942. Detachment Ts.L. Kunikov, consisting of 275 marines and without heavy weapons, was planned to be landed south of Novorossiysk in the area of the village of Stanichki. His actions were supposed to divert the enemy's attention from the main landing, which was supposed to be to the west - on the Black Sea coast in the area of South Ozereyka. The main landing group consisted of the 83rd and 255th Marine Brigades, the 165th Infantry Brigade, a separate front-line airborne regiment, a separate machine gun battalion, the 563rd Tank Battalion, and the 29th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment.
The amphibious assault was supposed to land under the cover of fire from support ships and air bombardment, suppress enemy resistance on the shore, connect with airborne troops thrown into the depths of the German defense, and then break through to Novorossiysk and connect with the main forces of the 47th Army, which was supposed to begin attack on the city along the eastern shore of Tsemes Bay. The start of the landing operation was scheduled for 1 o'clock in the morning on February 4, 1943. The command of the operation was entrusted to the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky. Significant naval forces were involved in its support, including the cruisers "Red Crimea" and "Red Caucasus", the leader "Kharkov", destroyers, gunboats "Red Adzharistan", "Red Abkhazia", "Red Georgia". The landing of the advanced assault detachment was ensured by MO-4 boats. Due to bad weather and the slow loading of troops in Gelendzhik, the ships' departure to sea was delayed by one hour and twenty minutes. As a result, air and naval strikes on enemy defenses were not simultaneous, fire weapons the enemy was not suppressed. The gunboats, which were supposed to support the landing with fire, could not approach the shore. As they approached the shore, the boats and landing barges were illuminated by searchlights and rockets, and the enemy opened fire from cannons, mortars, and machine guns. Only the first echelon of troops landed, about 1,500 people with a dozen light tanks.
The section of the coast near South Ozereyka was held by units of the 10th Infantry Division of the Romanian Army, and there was also a German battery of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. These guns played a major role in disrupting the Soviet landing, sinking all the landing barges and knocking out a significant part of the tanks that survived the landing. Having decided that the operation had failed, Oktyabrsky ordered the ships with the bulk of the troops to return to their bases. However, in the morning the landing managed to achieve success. A group of marines reached the enemy's flank and rear. The commander of the German anti-aircraft battery ordered the crews to withdraw, having first blown up the guns. The explosion of anti-aircraft guns demoralized the Romanian infantrymen. Some of them fled, some surrendered to the paratroopers. But there was no one to take advantage of the success - the ships with the landing force went east. The German command transferred a mountain rifle battalion, a tank battalion, and several artillery batteries to the South Ozereyka area and, with the support of Romanian units, surrounded the paratroopers. The Marines fought for three days, but without receiving reinforcements and ammunition, they were doomed. Only a few of them managed to escape to the mountains or make their way to Stanichka, where the auxiliary landing force fought.
An auxiliary landing force, which was prepared and coordinated by Rear Admiral G.N. Kholostyakov turned out to be more successful: approaching the shore at the estimated time, the ships opened fire on enemy firing points, laid a smoke screen along the shore, under the cover of which the advanced detachment of paratroopers landed and secured a foothold on the shore. Then the bridgehead was expanded, Kunikov’s paratroopers captured several blocks in the southern part of Stanichka. Marine casualties included three wounded and one killed. At this moment, it was necessary to give an order for the ships of the Black Sea Fleet with the remainder of the main landing party to move to the Stanichka area and land these troops there. Fleet Commander F.S. Oktyabrsky did not make such a decision. Subsequently, he was removed from his post for poor preparation of the operation and inept leadership.
Only after the return of the ships to Gelendzhik and Tuapse, the commander of the troops of the Transcaucasian Front I.V. Tyulenev ordered the remnants of the landing force to land on the captured bridgehead and hold it by any means necessary. Although the moment of surprise was missed, the reinforced paratroopers were able to hold the captured bridgehead at Stanichka. Over the course of five nights, two marine brigades, an infantry brigade, and an anti-tank destroyer regiment were landed ashore, and several hundred tons of equipment were delivered. The number of troops was increased to 17 thousand fighters. Ts.L. himself Kunikov was seriously wounded during the fighting, evacuated from the bridgehead and died in the hospital.
The bridgehead at Stanichka went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War under the name “Malaya Zemlya”. In military literature and documents, the bridgehead is usually called Myskhako after the name of the cape, which serves as the extreme southwestern point of Tsemes Bay, and the village of the same name, which is located near it. After being transferred to the bridgehead near Stanichka additional forces An attempt was made to storm Novorossiysk. However, the 47th Army was unable to break through the enemy defenses east of Novorossiysk. The local successes achieved by the paratroopers in the Stanichka area were not developed, and Novorossiysk could not be liberated in February-March 1943.
The fighters defending on Malaya Zemlya were in unfavorable conditions; its territory did not exceed 8 km from west to east and 6 km from north to south in open, exposed terrain, while the enemy controlled the surrounding heights. Defense was made possible by carrying out sapper work: the occupied territory was dug with trenches, including in rocky soil, 230 hidden observation posts, more than 500 firing points were equipped, underground warehouses were created, the command post was located in a rock shelter at a depth of six meters. Delivery of cargo and replenishment was difficult, the defenders of Malaya Zemlya experienced difficulties with supplies. In order to centralize the control of Soviet troops fighting near Novorossiysk, the 18th Army was created, led by I.E. Petrov. Part of its forces was on the eastern shore of Tsemes Bay, and part of it was on Malaya Zemlya.
In mid-April, the enemy command launched Operation Neptune, with the goal of dismembering the Soviet bridgehead and throwing the paratroopers into the sea. For this purpose, a group of General Wetzel was created south of Novorossiysk with a force of up to four infantry divisions with a total number of about 27 thousand people and 500 guns and mortars. Up to 1,000 aircraft were involved in air support for the offensive. The naval part of the operation (called "Boxing") was to be carried out by three submarines and a flotilla of torpedo boats. These forces were charged with interrupting sea communications between Malaya Zemlya and the Caucasian ports.
On April 17, at 6.30 am, the enemy launched an attack on Myskhako, with the support of aviation and heavy artillery. The bombing of Malaya Zemlya was carried out continuously, since German enemy aircraft had overwhelming superiority. Units of the 4th Mountain Division managed to break into the battle formations Soviet troops at the junction of the 8th and 51st rifle brigades. Reserves of both sides were pulled into this area and for several days the fighting continued with extreme ferocity. Three aviation corps were allocated from the General Headquarters reserve, providing a turning point during the air battles and carrying out bombing strikes on German positions. Soviet aviation managed to destroy two German airfields, after which the intensity of the bombing of Malaya Zemlya decreased. The tension of the fighting began to subside after April 25, when the Germans recognized the futility of continuing offensive operation and began to withdraw troops to their original positions.
The confrontation on Malaya Zemlya continued throughout the summer of 1943. On September 9 of the same year, the operation to capture Novorossiysk began. From the direction of Malaya Zemlya, one of three groups was advancing on the city, blocking and capturing the city. By September 16, Novorossiysk was liberated. This date is considered the date of the end of the fighting on Malaya Zemlya. Future leader of the USSR L.I. In 1943, Brezhnev was the head of the political department of the 18th Army, visited Malaya Zemlya several times, and subsequently spoke about his impressions in his memoirs “Malaya Zemlya.” After this, the Soviet press began actively glorifying the history of the defense of Malaya Zemlya, a majestic memorial was built at the site of the battles, and Novorossiysk was awarded the title of hero city (1973). The excitement around Malaya Zemlya ceased after Brezhnev's death in 1982. In Soviet military historiography, the defense of Malaya Zemlya was considered one of the heroic and noteworthy, but ordinary episodes of the Great Patriotic War.
The Germans threw all their forces against the paratroop detachment - tanks, aircraft, infantry. 260 fighters fought like a whole regiment. On February 4, 1943, Caesar Kunikov’s landing force landed on the fortified coast of Myskhako, the so-called Malaya Zemlya. The heroic defense lasted 225 days and ended complete liberation Novorossiysk.
At the beginning of 1943, the Soviet command planned an operation to liberate Novorossiysk. To create a bridgehead in the southwestern part of the city, two landing forces will have to land: the main one in the area of the village of Yuzhnaya Ozereevka and the auxiliary one near the suburban village of Stanichka (Cape Myskhako).
The main task The auxiliary group was to disorient the Nazi command and distract the enemy from the main theater of action, and then either break through to the main forces or evacuate.
Squad special purpose Major Caesar Kunikov was assigned to lead the landing in the area of Cape Myskhako.
Behind Kunikov were the battles near Rostov, the defense of Kerch and Temryuk. Brave and purposeful, he was able to solve the most complex problems with minimal losses. The major was given 25 days to prepare for the operation, scheduled for February 4, 1943. He also received the right to form the detachment itself.
The group included the best volunteer fighters who had impressive combat experience. Anticipating the difficulties of the upcoming operation, Kunikov conducted intensive, many-hour training every day.
The defenders learned not only how to land on the shore at night in winter conditions, but also how to fire from various types weapons, including captured weapons, throwing grenades and knives from various positions, identifying minefields, techniques hand-to-hand combat, rock climbing and medical care.
And so, on the night of February 4, a detachment of 260 marines approached Cape Myskhako. With a swift blow, the fighters knocked the Nazis out of the coast and gained a foothold on the captured bridgehead.
Major Kunikov sent a report to the command: “The regiment landed successfully, I am acting according to plan. I’m waiting for subsequent trains.” The radiogram was deliberately sent openly - the paratrooper was sure that the Germans would intercept it.
A message about the landing of an entire regiment of Soviet soldiers on the outskirts of Novorossiysk will confuse the enemy and distract the main forces from striking.
By the morning, when the Nazis went on the offensive, Kunikov’s detachment had already taken control of about 3 kilometers railway and several blocks of the village of Stanichka. Tanks, aircraft, infantry - the enemy threw all his forces into the attack. But, despite their multiple superiority, the Germans failed to cut off the paratroopers from the coast or penetrate their defenses.
The enemy, counting the huge losses, had no doubt that a whole regiment was opposing him...
In the first 24 hours alone, the defenders repulsed 18 powerful attacks. All this time, Major Kunikov not only led the battle - he led the fighters forward, inspiring by his example.
Ammunition was dwindling every minute. The situation was getting worse. Then Caesar Kunikov did what the enemy least expected - he led the detachment directly to the Nazi artillery battery.
The surprise attack was a success, and the fighters, having taken possession of German ammunition and cannons, turned their guns against the attackers.
This was the case until the main forces arrived. Due to the failure of the main landing detachment at South Ozereevka, the auxiliary bridgehead captured by the Kunikovites became the main one. Every day they repulsed the enemy’s fierce attacks, cleared multi-story buildings and advanced a lot.
The bridgehead, recaptured from the Germans on Myskhako, was called Malaya Zemlya by the paratroopers. The Soviet command appointed Major Kunikov as senior commander of the bridgehead. Now his responsibilities included protecting the sea coast, receiving and unloading ships, and evacuating the wounded.
While performing these duties, on the night of February 12, Kunikov was wounded by a mine fragment. The commander was taken to a hospital in Gelendzhik, where doctors fought for his life for two days. But to no avail - on February 14, Caesar Kunikov died.
In April 1943, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The bridgehead conquered by Kunikov and his paratroopers saw many more battles. The heroic defense of Malaya Zemlya lasted 225 days and ended on the morning of September 16, 1943 with the complete liberation of Novorossiysk.
But the other landing was successful. Under the command of Major Caesar Kunikov, using a smoke screen, 275 soldiers with light weapons landed from boats in the Stanichka area, near the Sudzhuk Spit. Initially it was supposed to be a false landing, but it was this that was successful and became the main one. Volunteers who had undergone sufficient training took part in the landing. The paratroopers trained for more than a month and studied various weapons. At one o'clock in the morning, the boats of the 4th patrol boat division were ready to land troops. The artillery barrage lasted ten minutes in the area between Cape Love and the Sudzhuk Spit, and the landing began. Speed and pressure made it possible to quickly dislodge the enemy from the shore, capture enemy weapons and ensure the landing of reinforcements. Losses during Kunikov's landing were minimal for such an operation and amounted to several people killed and wounded. It should be noted that the defense was held by German units together with Romanian units and the Romanians were an easier enemy. Having gathered their strength, the enemy desperately tried to drop troops into the sea, but the paratroopers were able to maintain their positions. The enemy, taken aback by the onslaught, left artillery pieces with ammunition on the shore, which provided the landing with artillery. A memorial inscription to the heroic landing on Malaya Zemlya. From the sea, the landing was supported by rocket artillery fire from the minesweeper (KATSCH-606) "Mackerel". It was a mobilized fishing seiner, with a crew of former fishermen under the command of Chief Petty Officer V.S. Zholudev, on which 12 8-charge 82-mm rocket launchers were mounted. A slow-moving minesweeper with rocket weapons was hardly allocated for a diversionary operation. The smoke screen was set up by two torpedo boats. During the landing, one of the boats was sunk by enemy fire and the crew joined the landing party. The remaining boats returned to Gelendzhik for the second batch of paratroopers. Morning was approaching and it was necessary to hurry, and besides, the sea was very rough. By morning, 870 soldiers and commanders had landed in Stanichka. At eight o'clock in the morning the boats left Tsemes Bay, hiding behind smoke screens. The flagship boat of division commander Sipyagin was the last to return to Gelendzhik. Later, the remaining forces of the main landing force made their way to this bridgehead (some sources call the figure only five people). Using reinforcements, the bridgehead was significantly expanded. By February 10, the landing took locality Myskhako and several districts of Novorossiysk. However, the position of the landing party was significantly complicated by the fact that all the dominant heights were occupied by the enemy and the landing positions were in full view, which led to heavy losses. The paratroopers were forced to constantly bite into the rocky soil of the coast.
