Since the 80s of the XX century, he assumed the post of General of the Soviet Army. Taking part in a dozen military operations during World War II, the brave Soviet military leader and brave officer, who received the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union in 1983, and the commander of the Southern Front who participated in the Afghan conflict.
Early years and family
Mikhail Mitrofanovich was born into a family of working peasants, his father was an ardent activist in the Tula region of the Chernsky district (formerly the Cherny district in the so-called Tula province) in 1923, November 23. He received his usual secondary education there, graduating with honors from a local school.
His father, Zaitsev Mitrofan Nikitovich, was an ardent activist of the local collective farm, one of the first to promote and profess the so-called “Ilyich Way” (some collective farm reforms). From 1925-1930, he became chairman of the village council due to activist activity, and after that he assumed the post of chairman of the Troitsko-Bachurinsky village council. Working to feed his family, he received an extramural education at a local university at the law faculty, after which he began to work as a judge in his native Tula region. Margarita Ivanovna Zaitseva became the wife of the commander of Zaitsev Mikhail Mitrofanovich and gave birth to two daughters - Galina and Elena, who subsequently gave birth to two boys, grandchildren of Zaitsev.
War times and exploits
As soon as the attacks from Germany began, Mikhail Mitrofanovich went to the front as a volunteer to fight for his homeland. He was sent to special courses for signalmen to improve military discipline and skills, and after graduation he was fully listed as a soldier, starting in 1942. After that, he assumed the post of assistant chief of staff for managing the 113th tank brigade. Such brigades as the 3rd, 6th and 7th Tank Guards Corps were under control. Since the summer, Mikhail Zaitsev Mitrofanovich went to war. He took part in six operations, including the Battle of Kursk, the Berlin and Prague operations.
He showed himself in battles only as a brave and ready to go to the end officer. According to information from the award sheets, he destroyed fifty in one of the battles and at least hundreds of fascist invaders in the other. He was also wounded in the shoulder while he was withdrawing his tank battalion from the hot spot, but did not leave it, but made sure that all tanks were completely out of the fire until the last, and only then went to the hospital for examination. For this feat he received the Order of the Red Banner from the commander of his battalion.
Service after the war, or peacetime
Beginning in 1965, in August, took over command of the tank division, and two years later, already in January, took the post of commander of the 120th division named after the Order of Kutuzov and Suvorov in motorized rifle troops. General Zaitsev Mikhail Mitrofanovich received the military rank in 1980, and three years later, on November 22, he was promoted to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union, as the commander had promised him, issuing the Order of the Red Banner after Zaitsev was wounded.
Afghan criticism and new titles
After that, he was identified and assigned to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Southern direction, under whose control all operations in Afghanistan were controlled, as well as the task of ending the conflict. After that, criticism of another military leader, General Rodionov Igor Nikolayevich, addressed Zaitsev: “The star of the Hero of the Soviet Union sparkled with him in all operations, and anyone understands that he went to manage the 40th division directly to the hot spot to get another“ Star On your chest. I’m still wondering how he was able to be recommended to Gorbachev as a person who can generally find a quick resolution to the conflict or change the situation for the better. ”
The rest of the soldiers and military leaders about Mikhail Zaitsev Mitrofanovich, the army general, responded with pride that they had the opportunity to serve with him, and although he, like any man, made mistakes, he understood them and accepted other points of view, even from ordinary soldiers, which, it would seem, can not oppose anything to the general.
Also, his minus was a big pride, which “directly oozed from him,” but how can you blame such a person, with his merits and the number of awards, for such a trifle as pride? After all, a person who went through more than one war, and even with such a title, simply must be like Mikhail Mitrofanovich.