1942 P. I. Sotnik, Soviet 25th Cavalry Division

Combat operations of the 25th Cavalry Division in the Lyuban' Operation
P. I. Sotnik
Former commissar, 100th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Cavalry Division

At the beginning of January, 1942, our 25th Cavalry Division became part of the 13th Cavalry Corps of the Volkhov Front. The corps was commanded by Major-General N. I. Gusev, along with Regimental Commissar M. I. Tkachenko as commissar, and Colonel Kozachok as Chief of Staff. The 25th Cavalry Division was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel D. M. Barinov, while Senior Battalion Commissar Filippov served as commissar. The division consisted of the 98th, 100th and 104th Cavalry Regiments.

At that time, I was the commissar of the 100th Cavalry Regiment and from 25 January to end of June, 1942, I took part in the Lyuban' Operation alongside the regiment.

During the night of January 25th, our division went into the breakthrough at Myasniy Bor. The 98th Cavalry Regiment, with the support of the 366th Rifle Division, destroyed the enemy at Novaya Kerest' and took possession of the town without stopping. Immediately after the battle, on the evening of January 26th, the cavalrymen marched on Glukhaya Kerest', where – on the evening of January 27th – it joined battle with the enemy garrison. On that same morning, the 1st Squadron, 98th Regiment arrived at the Leningrad-Novgorod railway south of Glukhaya Kerest' alongside the regimental sappers and surmounted the embankment, while simultaneously launching a raid on the village of Chauni. Following an intense battle, our 25th Cavalry Division, with the support of the 23th Independent Rifle Brigade and ski troops, captured both Glukhaya Kerest' and Chauni. Among the captured equipment were several mortars, 6 light machine guns, 6 motorcycles, 10 vehicles with supplies and ammunition.

Having captured Glukhaya Kerest' and Chauni, our division crossed the Leningrad-Novgorod railway. The 57th Independent Rifle Brigade along with ski troops assisted the 25th Cavalry Division in capturing the villages of Tesovo and Finev Lug, as well as the railway station at Rogavka. On January 29th, they captured Ogorel'e. The 87th Cavalry Division with the support of ski battalions occupied Ol'khovka on January 27th, followed by Vditsko on the 28th and Novaya Derevnya on the 29th.

Operating in a north-westerly direction, the 59th Independent Rifle Brigade, subordinated to the 13th Cavalry Corps, took Gorki and Radofinnikovo. On February 6th, the brigade took possession of Dubovik, followed by Yazvinka on the 8th and – after intense fighting – Bol'shoe and Maloe Yeglino on the 10th. But, while expanding the offensive in the direction of Kamenka, the the brigade encountered stiff enemy resistance at a defensive line established along the embankment of the Chudovo-Veinmarn railway and switched over to the defense.

On February 18th, the 80th Cavalry Division and the 39th and 42nd Independent Ski Battalions passed through Ozer'e and reached Krasnaya Gorka and on February 19th entered battle with units of the German 454th Infantry Division [probably means regiment]. The 39th and 42nd Independent Ski Battalions were ordered to establish a hold on the Sust'e – Ponyanka – Verkhov'e road, 5 kilometers east of Glubochka and to protect the operations of the 80th Cavalry Division from the west. The 80th Cavalry Division and the 1100th Rifle Regiment, 327th Rifle Division reached the line of the Sychov river and engaged the enemy.

On February 23rd, the 46th Rifle Division and the 22nd Independent Rifle Brigade concentrated their forces on the Sychov river in the vicinity of Krasnaya Gorka.

On February 25th, the 80th Cavalry Division continued the offensive against Lyuban'.

During the first half of February 27th, the 39th and 42nd Independent Ski Battalions along with a battalion of the 22nd Independent Rifle Brigade were engaged in bitter fighting 5 kilometers east of Glubochka. Here, the enemy struck in regimental strength against the flank of the 80th Division, attempting to disrupt its advance towards Lyuban'. As a result, our battalions were forced back towards the east and the 1102nd Rifle Regiment, 327th Rifle Division was thrown in in order to stabilize the situation. A reconnaissance detachment of the 80th Cavalry Division reached the Lyuban' – Ushaki motor road and railway, but was halted by enemy fire.

On the morning of February 28th, following an intense aerial bombardment, the enemy launched a strong counter-attack against Krasnaya Gorka from the direction of the Sust'e clearings and Verkhov'e and succeeded in pushing back our units. By 1800 hours, the enemy had re-established its defenses. As a result, the 80th Cavalry Division and the 1100th Rifle Regiment found themselves encircled. Attempts on the part of the main forces to break through the enemy's defenses were repulsed. The 80th Cavalry Division and 1100th Rifle Regiment, finding themselves surrounded, continued their advance upon Lyuban', dislodging small enemy units along the way. The enemy put up stubborn resistance on the south-western outskirts of Lyuban', then launched a tank attack, which pushed the 80th Cavalry Division and 1100th Rifle Regiment back to the forest. Our units passed over to the defensive and for ten days fought while encircled, while being subjected to systematic aerial bombardment and shelling. The surrounded units had no anti-aircraft defense and communications with the corps headquarters was severed due to a breakdown in the portable radios. Supplies of food and artillery shells were non-existent, and the ammunition ran out. The 80th Cavalry Division and 1100th Rifle Regiment were forced to destroy all of their heavy equipment and during the night of March 8th – 9th, attempted to break through to the main forces armed with nothing but side arms, suffering heavy losses.

Operating on the left flank, the 59th Independent Ski Battalion, 25th Cavalry Division and 25th Rifle Brigade had captured the settlements of Konechki, Savkino 1 and 2, Glebovo, Nesterkovo and Abramovo by the end of February. By the beginning of March, the 25th Cavalry Division along with the 23rd and 25th Independent Rifle Brigades had reached the Oredezh river in the Porozhki – Pristanskoe Ozero sector, and established a bridgehead on the left bank of the river near Nesterkovo.

Attacking in the direction of Lyuban', the 87th Cavalry Division captured Krivino, Tigoda and Chervino, but having encountered bitter enemy resistance at Krapivino, Ruchei and Chervinskaya Luka, became bogged down in unsuccessful fighting.

Soon after, all the cavalry divisions were withdrawn to area of Vditsko, Poddub'e and Finev Lug, where the cavalry corps entered into the front reserve. From there, the divisions began to withdraw from the breakthrough by night and by March 16th, the entire cavalry corps was concentrated on the eastern bank of the Volkhov river.

In June, dismounted cavalry fighting alongside the 65th Rifle Division made repeated attacks upon the enemy near Myasniy Bor in order to protect the withdrawing units of the the encircled 2nd Shock Army.

On June 23rd – 24th, the 2nd Shock Army fought its way out of the encirclement. More than 15 thousand officers and men came out through our combat positions. They were half-dead and barely moving. Their escape took place under heaving bombing and continuous artillery and mortar fire. So many men perished here, that there was nowhere to stand. The whole earth was strewn with corpses and no one could tell who was killed where and where they were buried. On June 26th, when I left the fighting, 11 men remained in our regiment. I witnessed all of this with my own eyes and the offense of careless leadership still weighs like a heavy stone on my heart. The 2nd Shock Army should have been withdrawn in May, but this was not done. The commander of the Leningrad Front, Lieutenant-General Khosin, succeeded in having the Volkhov Front disbanded, but finding himself in Leningrad, he did not understand the situation, did not see the starving soldiers, wandering in waist-deep mud, carrying shells to the forward positions on their own shoulders. When Stavka re-established the Volkhov Front on June 6th, it was already too late. General Khosin, in my opinion, bears the deaths of tens of thousands of 2nd Shock Army soldiers on his conscience.

During the fighting in the Lyuban' Operation, 37 soldiers of the 25th Cavalry Division were awarded the Order of the Red Banner, 44 were awarded the Order of the Red Star, while many more received the Medal for Bravery or the Medal for Military Service.

At the beginning of July, the 25th Cavalry Division was disbanded, and its soldiers joined the 19th Guards Division as reinforcements, taking part in the most active sector of the subsequent operation to break through the Leningrad blockade – the Sinyavino Operation.