Twenty-two against one. How tanker Kolobanov humiliated the Third Reich

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the early 1990s, a huge amount of literature appeared in Russia, glorifying the exploits of German pilots, tankers, and sailors. The colorfully described adventures of the Nazi military created in the reader a clear feeling that the Red Army was able to defeat these professionals not by skill, but by number - they say, they overwhelmed the enemy with corpses.

At the same time, the exploits of Soviet heroes remained in the shadows. Little has been written about them and, as a rule, questioning their reality.

Meanwhile, the most successful tank battle in the history of World War II was fought by Soviet tank crews. Moreover, it happened in the most difficult wartime - at the end of the summer of 1941.

On August 8, 1941, the German Army Group North launched an offensive against Leningrad. Soviet troops, conducting heavy defensive battles, retreated. In the area of Krasnogvardeysk (this name was then borne by Gatchina), the Nazis' onslaught was restrained by the 1st Panzer Division.

The situation was extremely difficult - the Wehrmacht, successfully using large formations of tanks, broke through the Soviet defenses and threatened to capture the city.

Krasnogvardeysk was of strategic importance, as it was a large junction of highways and railways on the outskirts of Leningrad.

August 19, 1941 commander of the 3rd tank company, 1st tank battalion, 1st tank division, senior lieutenant Kolobanovreceived a personal order from the division commander: to block three roads that lead to Krasnogvardeysk from the direction of Luga, Volosovo and Kingisepp.

- Fight to the death! - snapped the division commander.

Kolobanov's company was equipped with KV-1 heavy tanks. This combat vehicle could successfully fight the tanks that the Wehrmacht had at the beginning of the war. Strong armor and a powerful 76mm KV-1 cannon made the tank a real threat for the Panzerwaffe.

The disadvantage of the KV-1 was its poor maneuverability, so at the beginning of the war these tanks operated most effectively from ambushes.

There was one more reason for the "ambush tactics" - the KV-1, like the T-34, by the beginning of the war, there were not many in the active army. Therefore, they tried to protect the available vehicles from battles in open areas as much as possible.

Professional

But technology, even the best, is effective only when it is managed by a competent professional. The company commander, senior lieutenant Zinovy Kolobanov, was just such a professional.

He was born on December 25, 1910 in the village of Arefino, Vladimir province, into a peasant family. Zinovy's father died in the Civil War when the boy was not even ten years old. Like many of his peers at that time, Zinovy had to join peasant labor early. After graduating from the eight-year school, he entered the technical school, from the third year of which he was drafted into the army.

Kolobanov began service in the infantry, but the Red Army needed tankers. A capable young soldier was sent to Oryol, to the Frunze Armored School.

In 1936, Zinovy Kolobanov graduated from an armored school with honors and, with the rank of lieutenant, was sent to serve in the Leningrad Military District.

Kolobanov received his baptism of fire in the Soviet-Finnish war, which he began as the commander of a tank company of the 1st light tank brigade. During this short war, he burned three times in a tank, each time returning to service, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army was sorely lacking such as Kolobanov - competent commanders with combat experience. That is why he, who began his service on light tanks, urgently had to master the KV-1, so that then not only to beat the Nazis on it, but also to teach his subordinates to do this.

Ambush company

The crew of the KV-1 tank of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov included gun commander senior sergeant Andrey Usov, senior driver-mechanic foreman Nikolay Nikiforov, junior driver-mechanic, Red Army soldier Nikolai Rodnikovand gunner-radio operator senior sergeant Pavel Kiselkov.

The crew was a match for their commander: people were well trained, with combat experience and a cool head. In general, in this case, the merits of the KV-1 were multiplied by the merits of its crew.

Having received the order, Kolobanov set a combat mission: to stop the enemy tanks, so two armor-piercing shells were loaded into each of the company's five vehicles.

Arriving on the same day at a place not far from the state farm Voyskovitsy, senior lieutenant Kolobanov distributed the forces. The tanks of Lieutenant Evdokimenko and Junior Lieutenant Degtyar took up defensive positions on the Luga Highway, the tanks of Junior Lieutenant Sergeev and Junior Lieutenant Lastochkin covered the Kingisepp road. Kolobanov himself got the seaside road located in the center of the defense.

Kolobanov's crew set up a tank trench 300 meters from the intersection, intending to fire at the enemy "head-on".

The night of August 20 passed in anxious anticipation. At about noon, the Germans tried to break through the Luga highway, but the crews of Evdokimenko and Degtyar, knocking out five tanks and three armored personnel carriers, forced the enemy to turn back.

Two hours later, German reconnaissance motorcyclists drove past the position of the tank of senior lieutenant Kolobanov. The camouflaged KV-1 did not find itself in any way.

22 destroyed tanks in 30 minutes of battle

Finally, the long-awaited "guests" appeared - a column of German light tanks, consisting of 22 vehicles.

Kolobanov commanded:

- Fire!

The first salvoes stopped three lead tanks, then the gun commander Usov transferred fire to the tail of the column. As a result, the Germans lost their ability to maneuver and could not leave the firing zone.

At the same time, Kolobanov's tank was discovered by the enemy, who rained heavy fire on him.

Soon there was nothing left of the KV-1 camouflage, German shells hit the turret of a Soviet tank, but it was not possible to penetrate it.

At some point, another hit disabled the turret of the tank, and then, in order to continue the battle, the driver-mechanic Nikolai Nikiforov took the tank out of the trench and began to maneuver, turning the KV-1 so that the crew could continue to fire at the Nazis.

Within 30 minutes of the battle, the crew of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov destroyed all 22 tanks in the convoy.

Nobody, including the vaunted German tank aces, could achieve such a result in the course of one tank battle. This achievement was later entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

When the battle died down, Kolobanov and his subordinates found traces on the armor from more than 150 hits of German shells. But the KV-1's reliable armor withstood everything.

All in all, on August 20, 1941, five tanks of the company of senior lieutenant Zinovy Kolobanov knocked out 43 German "opponents". In addition, an artillery battery, a passenger car and up to two companies of Hitler's infantry were destroyed.

Unofficial hero

In early September 1941, all members of Zinovy Kolobanov's crew were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But the high command did not consider that the feat of the tankers deserved such a high assessment. Zinovy Kolobanov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, Andrey Usov - the Order of Lenin, Nikolai Nikiforov - the Order of the Red Banner, and Nikolai Rodnikov and Pavel Kiselkov - the Orders of the Red Star.

For three weeks after the battle at Voiskovitsy, the company of senior lieutenant Kolobanov held back the Germans on the approaches to Krasnogvardeysk, and then covered the retreat of units to Pushkin.

On September 15, 1941, a German shell exploded next to Zinovy Kolobanov's KV-1 while refueling a tank and loading ammunition in Pushkin. The senior lieutenant was seriously wounded with injuries to the head and spine. The war is over for him.

But in the summer of 1945, having recovered from his injury, Zinovy Kolobanov returned to duty. For another thirteen years he served in the army, having retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, then for many years he lived and worked in Minsk.

A strange incident occurred with the main feat of Zinovy Kolobanov and his crew - they simply refused to believe in him, despite the fact that the fact of the battle at Voyskovitsy and its results were officially documented.

It seems that the authorities were embarrassed by the fact that in the summer of 1941 Soviet tank crews could crush the Nazis so brutally. Such feats did not fit into the generally accepted picture of the first months of the war.

But here's an interesting moment - in the early 1980s, it was decided to erect a monument on the site of the battle near Voyskovitsy. Zinovy Kolobanov wrote a letter to the Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Ustinov with a request to allocate a tank for installation on a pedestal, and the tank was allocated, however, not the KV-1, but the later IS-2.

However, the very fact that the minister granted Kolobanov's request suggests that he knew about the hero-tanker and did not question his feat.

Legend of the XXI century

Zinovy Kolobanov passed away in 1994, but veteran organizations, social activists and historians are still trying to get the authorities to award him the title of Hero of Russia.

In 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defense rejected the application, considering the new awarding of Zinovy Kolobanov "inappropriate".

As a result, the feat of the Soviet tanker in the homeland of the hero was never appreciated.

The developers of the popular computer game undertook to restore justice. One of the virtual medals in the online tank game is awarded to a player who single-handedly defeats five or more enemy tanks. It is called the "Kolobanov Medal". Thanks to this, tens of millions of people learned about Zinovia Kolobanov and his feat.

Perhaps such a memory in the 21st century is the best reward for a hero.