Kaluga region, and previously the province, is located southwest of Moscow. This explains that not a single conqueror who went to seize Moscow and the Motherland did not pass these places. All enemies of Russia appeared, as a rule, from the west or south. It began in the 13th century, after the attack of the Tatar-Mongols. On the banks of a small river stood two troops: Tatar and Russian. The Tatars could not stand the confrontation and left without accepting the battle. So Russia in the Kaluga fields was forever freed from the yoke. But the attacks of the Crimean Tatars began. Then, along the old Kaluga road, the French went to Moscow, and along it they ran back in fear. Recent fights were held in the midst of the trials of World War II. The terrible beginning of the Great War is the Zaitsev Mountain. Kaluga region, as always, stood in the center of military events.
The beginning of the tragedy
Near Zaitseva Gora, our soldiers, disregarding the victims, tried to block the approaches to the Warsaw highway - the direct route to Moscow. For almost a year, military operations were conducted. It was a very difficult time for our fighters, who were practically surrounded and cut off from the main forces. Zaitseva Mountain is an elevation of 275.6 m. That is what it was called in headquarters maps when fierce continuous battles took place here. She promised all sorts of advantages to the one of the opponents in whose hands she will be. Heavy fighting saw Zaitseva Gora. Kaluga region helped the Soviet Army with all that it could.
Height benefits
Zaitseva Gora blocked the path along the highway to Yukhnov.
It created a threat to the roads to Baryatin and Kirov and the Smolensk-Sukhinichi railway line.
Therefore, the enemy fiercely held each settlement located nearby, and having lost it, sought to return it. The stronghold of the resistance of the Germans is Zaitseva Gora. Kaluga region gathered all its forces to suppress their resistance.
Power distribution
Our soldiers on this sector of the front line were more than twice as many, but the Germans had long-term field fortifications with minefields and full-profile trenches in several rows and aviation prevailing in the sky. It happened that in a few days of heavy fighting, our regiments lost half of their strength. The feat of soldiers is Zaytseva Gora. Kaluga region was already all occupied by enemies. Ours were in the ring.
In other words, each side made every effort not to lose operational advantages, and this led to new and new losses. But not every battle crippled the Nazi war machine.
Tasks of the Soviet Army
The soldiers of the 50th Army were faced with the task, in cooperation with units of the 49th Army, to free Yukhnov and move towards Vyazma. The first part of this task was to clear the Warsaw highway from the Ressa River to the village of Milyatino.
The 4th German Field Army operated in the Yukhnovsky direction. And the road Rosslavl - Kuzminki - Zaitseva Gora - Yukhnov connected this army with the rear. Each settlement on the approaches to the highway was adapted for all-round defense. The key to all German positions on the highway was Zaitseva Gora. Kaluga region, the history of battles on its land keep the memory of the wonderful people that we lost along the way.
At the end of winter, a swift blow, knocking the Germans out of the village of Lensky, part of the division rushed to the highway and were completely surrounded. They fought for two weeks, not receiving any support, deprived of supplies. One thing remains - to break through. And there was more than one battle ahead. To the fierce resistance of the enemy was added spring thaw. Clay soil has become limp. Movement on vehicles stopped. The Germans had at their disposal the Warsaw highway. Day and night, not only ammunition and food were delivered along it, but also army reserves came up. Local skirmishes with the enemy could not solve the main problem: to get out of the encirclement into the Vyazma region as soon as possible. And in order to cope with such a task, it was necessary to take Zaitsev Mountain. And this had to be done immediately, until the spring thaw would have thwarted any offensive.
Zaitseva Gora was entangled in wire fences, dotted with artillery batteries, strewn with mines. Nobody expected a quick bloodless victory.
A decisive battle for height, not a battle, but one swift offensive. The sappers erected snow shafts to protect them from enemy fire. The infantrymen equipped the positions for machine guns. There was no hope for tanks and artillery - snow saturated with water made their approach impossible.
The morning of April 14 began with a massive bombing of our positions on Zaitseva Mountain. From the air bombed cars with black crosses. Our units, advancing, defended themselves from tanks. Soldiers rushed under enemy tanks with bundles of grenades. The assailants moved in an avalanche. In the battle for Zaitsev Mountain, heroism was massive. By the end of the day a red banner had hoisted above the height. The will to win prevailed.
Everlasting memory
At the top is the Zaitseva Gora Museum. Kaluga Region carefully collects and stores all relics found in battlefields. The museum itself opened on May 9, 1972. The first visitors were veterans. Now the museum has large exhibition areas and five thousand exhibits.
Immediately after the exile of the Nazis, Zaitsev Mountain became a mass grave. “Those who are in grief, all see breakouts, they need clean air so much! ..” The monument above the mass grave is a monumental figure of a soldier. So the memorial complex was formed . Around were planted young trees - birches, fir-trees, hazel bushes, in which in the spring nightingales and roses sing in every way. Cornflowers and daisies bloom in the fields. Swallows fly quickly over the memorial, cuckoo cuckoo. Later, the Eternal Flame was lit near the memorial . Mass graves on Zaitseva Mountain are replenished with the remains of fighters found in the surrounding deciduous and spruce forests and in swamps. The search is complicated by the rainy climate of the region, the eternal lead clouds in the sky. Fine days are rarely issued.
“The mountain remained a mountain, but the soldiers from under it do not stand up alive. The mountain itself is their shot chest. Flowers, like wounds, were brightly baked, and, worshiping those flowers, they did not tear them: they were intertwined with a living wreath ”(author of the poem V. Pukhov).