In Russian literature on the war, so-called "lieutenant prose" is distinguished. It is distinguished by truthfulness and impartiality in the depiction of hostilities. V. Nekrasov is often considered the founder of this trend, who published the story "In the Trenches of Stalingrad" in 1946. The summary of each chapter helps to understand how terrible this time was in the history of the country.
Start of retreat
The main character of the story is a military engineer, lieutenant Yuri Kerzhentsev. The reader sees with his eyes the picture of the retreat from Oskol to Stalingrad itself and a description of the fierce fighting on the Volga.
In July 1942, the chief of staff unexpectedly gathers battalions and officers. His news is disappointing: on the night of the regiment begins a retreat, which was assigned to cover the battalion Shiryaev (the main character - in his composition). So Nekrasov begins his work "In the Trenches of Stalingrad." A summary of the first three chapters is as follows. The regiment fought only a month and a half, but during this time there were almost no guns or people left. At first, the soldiers who were not yet fired, not accustomed to bombing, were thrown into the defenses near Kharkov. Then there were many other movements. And just dug under Oskol, received an order - to retreat. The fighters were afraid of one thing: has the German already climbed so far?
The regiment leaves at the appointed time. The remaining fighters with five machine guns create the appearance that everything is still. On the night of the second day, sappers mine the shore, and the battalion also moves back. Now their main task is to catch up with their own.
From Oskol to Stalingrad
Pass through the village. Residents silently watch the soldiers, someone gives food. From their dumb questions, the fighters become embarrassed. Shiryaev and Kerzhentsev, having heard that troops had recently passed here, decide: it was their regiment. However, the hero’s meeting with his friend Igor, a liaison officer, shows that things are really bad. The story “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” continues with a brief summary of his story. By the time the messenger left, about a hundred people remained. The enemy with tanks, motorized infantry and machine gunners attacked unexpectedly. Major and commissioner are killed. No guns either. Maximov, as having taken over the leadership, ordered to find Shiryaev with his fighters. But where to go and where is the front now, Igor did not know, he only said that the Germans were about ten kilometers from here.
The story "In the Trenches of Stalingrad," which you read in brief, continues with a description of the battle that unfolded at the sheds, where the battalion stopped to rest. Only fifteen fighters led by Shiryaev come out of it alive. Five more, Kerzhentsev and his orderly Valega, Igor, Sedykh and Lazarenko (he will die from a mine explosion) remain at the sheds to cover the retreat of the comrades. Having got out of the shelter, they join the stream of retreating troops by night. It soon becomes clear: finding your regiment, or rather, what is left of it, is not so simple. One major reports that there are fights somewhere, and advises to get to Stalingrad. A new army is being formed there. Locals ask why our troops are retreating, which is why Kerzhentsev has a strong sense of shame. All that remains is the hope that they will not depart for long - after all, there was Moscow, from which the enemy was thrown back.
In Stalingrad
Finally get to the city ​​on the Volga. There is still peace and tranquility. Igor leads his comrades to the sister of his commander. The soldiers seem to return to their former - pre-war - life, which is not at all like what will soon happen in the trenches of Stalingrad. The summary of chapters 10-13 should be supplemented by the fact that Kerzhentsev and his comrades get a job: to prepare important objects of the city for destruction. This is how August goes.
Although radio alarms are constantly being announced on the radio, peaceful life collapsed unexpectedly. On Sunday evening, German planes first appeared over the city. They bombed continuously for about two hours, after which Stalingrad was engulfed in flames.
At the tractor factory
In the morning, Kerzhentsev and his comrades are sent out of town. There is an urgent need to mine a tractor. Work is complicated by constant shelling that violates the integrity of the wires. In addition, there are not all the necessary devices. People work without rest, but it takes twelve days, and the plant is still standing. The city is bombed almost continuously, and it is almost destroyed. The fighting is on the side of the river where the trenches of Stalingrad are located. Nekrasov — a brief summary of the conversation below — shows how in these difficult months and years for the country true patriotism of people is formed. So, Georgy Akimovich, an electrical engineer at a thermal power plant, in a dispute with Kerzhentsev, argues that Russian troops do not know how to fight, and only a miracle can affect the outcome of a war. At this moment, Yuri recalls the words of one of the fighters who met on the way to Stalingrad. He talked about greasy land, which gives life to seeds, and about the impossibility of giving it to the enemy. The hero remembered the most terrible death: the man who spoke a minute ago lay with his arms outstretched, and a cigarette butt burned out on his lip. From such details, according to the author, the lofty feeling that L. Tolstoy gave the name "the latent warmth of patriotism" is formed.
To the front
Kerzhentsev, Igor and Sedykh receive orders to be transported to the engineering department on the other side of the Volga, to Mamaev Kurgan, where the front line developed. There they are distributed in different divisions. The 184th, where the protagonist falls, immediately falls on the defense of the Metiz plant. Kerzhentsev is appointed commander of the 4th and 5th companies, which are constantly attacked by the enemy. The place for the battle is inconvenient: it is impossible to dig in and hide. The Germans initially launched shelling, but tanks and planes soon appeared. The shelling does not stop almost all day, but the soldiers manage to keep the defense. A lot of wounded and killed. At night it becomes known that a battalion commander was killed in a battle. The chief of staff of the regiment transfers the leadership of the battalion to Kerzhentsev.
"In the Trenches of Stalingrad": a summary of the chapters of the second part
For more than a week, the Nazis continuously attacked the troops defending the Metiz. Then they spread to Red October, giving a little respite.
October has come. The Germans entered Stalingrad. Our troops around the city were not very many, and the battles were fierce. Kerzhentsev’s battalion is being transferred to the most difficult, almost even section between the Metiz and the ravine near Mamayev. The main task is to keep the defense for several months. Thirty-six fighters are redeployed at night to an area of ​​six hundred meters. The place is really inconvenient: here the troops are in full view of the Germans, and you can’t build defensive fortifications during the day. The next night I manage to bring the mines. Soldiers begin to dig trenches, sappers - to install explosive devices. Suddenly, Kerzhentsev was called to the division commander. The colonel sets a new task for the battalion commander: to take a hill fortified by the Germans. Help is just a few scouts and a corncracker. This is how the action develops in the story “In the Trenches of Stalingrad”. Summary (the author’s essay truthfully describes the most terrible moments of the battle for the city) Part 2 shows the stamina and courage of fighters who never forgot their responsibility for what is happening.
Fights for the hill
The height was taken relatively easily. At the appointed time, four scouts determined the position of the enemy, and the "maize" distracted the enemy. Fourteen soldiers led by the battalion commander in pitch darkness drove the Nazis from the hills and began to strengthen. Kerzhentsev understood that the Germans would try to regain height. The shelling did not really stop, and by the end of the second day there were eleven people and four machine guns in the battalion. Running out of water. The night artillery attack was unsuccessful. And in the morning the exhausting fire from the Germans again. The soldiers were exhausted, but continued to shoot. Kerzhentsev felt severe weakness and fatigue: a slight wound to the head affected. At some point, it seemed to him that he was dreaming: Shiryaev stood in front. Recollecting himself, the hero realized that he was able to connect with the detachment on the hill. Kerzhentsev surrenders the battalion to Shiryaev and goes to dig dugouts.
Before the onset
Three days later, mines are brought in, and Yuri is working on a scheme to strengthen the front line. So begins the description of the next episode in the life of the protagonist of the story "In the Trenches of Stalingrad." A summary, analysis of it shows how often the life of soldiers depended on inept leadership and abuse of authority.
November has begun. It was still necessary to mine and build fortifications at night, but it became noticeable that the situation near Stalingrad was changing. For eighty-two days the city was bombed continuously, and suddenly a lull began.
On the nineteenth, on his birthday, Kerzhentsev receives an order from a major to clear the enemy’s fields and his own. Time for everything - ten hours, after which the offensive will begin. The division must take possession of Buck. The sappers cope with the task, after which Kerzhentsev is sent to Shiryaev. In the battalion, everything is ready to fulfill the order, but the chief of staff, Abrosimov, intervenes in the matter. He insists on an immediate attack by Bakov at all costs. The result - almost half of the battalion was killed, Shiryaev himself was seriously injured.
After the battle, a trial was held over Abrosimov, who insisted that his decision was correct, and that someone was simply cowardly and did not want to fight. The major defended the battalion, noting that Shiryaev would have done an excellent job. As a result, people died in vain. The chief of staff was demoted and sent to the penalty area - the author of the novel “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” notes.
Summary in parts: denouement
The next morning tanks come. The new chief of the division is Shiryaev, who escaped from the hospital. A new attack is being prepared in which Kerzhentsev was wounded. After the hospital, he goes to his battalion. On the way he meets Sedykh, then gets to his own. He learns that Igor is nearby. But to visit a friend does not work. Inspired by victories, warriors are once again going on the attack ...