The article presents the biography and the main victories of the outstanding Soviet commander - Marshal Meretskov Kirill Afanasevich.
In people
The biography of our hero originates in the Russian outback. On June 7, 1897, in the family of ordinary peasants of the Meretskovs from the village of Nazarievo, which was in the then Ryazan province, the future great commander Kirill Meretskov was born. This snub-nosed gray-eyed sturdy guy, like most of his peers, early recognized the price of a penny and the difficult everyday life of peasant life. There was one outlet - the Zemstvo school. The boy eagerly longed for knowledge, but four winters at his desk passed quietly. The boy was 12 years old, and it was decided to send him to his paternal uncle. Ahead was waiting for a big world and the prospect of mastering the craft of a locksmith. Even in Moscow, it was possible to continue their studies, which the inquiring guy took advantage of. The seething maelstrom of the new city life captured Cyril: he attended evening classes for workers, and sometimes his uncle took him to the theater.
Young years and the formation of Meretskov
In 1915, the young man was exempted from conscription into the tsarist army, where he himself did not break. And it was not fear at all. The proletariat was increasingly imbued with revolutionary ideas. Russia waged a heavy war with Kaiser Germany, which the revolutionaries considered unjust. The standard of living fell markedly, and society was torn by numerous contradictions.
Work at the factory, which carried out military orders, not only freed the future Marshal Meretskov from being sent to the front, but also brought him together with Lev Karpov, a chemical engineer by profession and a Bolshevik by political views. He also sent him to Sudogda. There, in the Vladimir province, Cyril met the tsar’s renunciation of power. Here he did not waste time and created a cell of the RSDLP, and at the end of 1917, when the city arose the need to create self-defense forces, he took up a post in the military department.
The first steps in the military field
The civil war was gaining momentum, taking off its plentiful and bloody harvest. The turning point in the biography of Kirill Meretskov Afanasevich is sending to Kazan. Fierce battles with disciplined units of whites, as well as Czech legionnaires, tempered the future great commander. In one of the battles, the young commissar of the detachment, thanks to his example of personal courage, carried the fighters along and pulled out a victory, but he himself was seriously wounded. The management drew attention to the promising commissioner and sent him to the officer courses. Three years of training were not serene: twice he went to various sections of the front, where he received several injuries.
After graduation until 1931 he served in Moscow. He received a transfer to service in Belarus in 1932. Under the leadership of Jerome Petrovich Uborevich, the future Marshal Meretskov honed his skills in operational tactical art. The 1st rank commander was a demanding and outstanding military, and therefore the training in the units was at the proper level, given the realities of the war of that time. In 1935, the hero of our article is sent to the Far East.
Bullfighting over Spain
In 1936, in the colonies of Spain (from Morocco to Spanish Sahara), a rebellion broke out among the military, who held ultra-right views, who were extremely dissatisfied with the election results, in which the Popular Front party won with a minimum margin. The rioters received all-round assistance from Italy and Germany, while France only bashfully turned away, declaring that she did not intend to get into the internal conflict of Spain. The USSR supported the government against the junta by sending advisers and weapons. Meretskov faced several difficult tasks: to keep Madrid, to prepare resistance, to establish and coordinate the work of the General Staff.
The tasks were not easy: the local population, although they fought fiercely, did not understand much in the war. Not enough experience, weapons. The Spanish patriots did not even want to dig in, considering it an occupation of cowards. Meretskov correctly assessed the importance of the Guadalajara direction on the outskirts of Madrid, but it did not get any easier: there was a serious battle with the Italian corps, formed from military personnel and equipped with armored vehicles.
The brilliant actions of aviation and armored units, as well as the competent coordination of all military branches, helped inflict a stunning defeat on the Italians. The USSR government appreciated Meretskov Kirill Afanasevich, having awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner.
Mannerheim Line
The reasons for the Soviet attack on the Finnish Democratic Republic are still among historians cause fierce debate. Two reasons are usually called: ensuring the security of Leningrad and the transformation of an independent democratic state into another Soviet republic. Nevertheless, after the Maynil incident, the Soviet leadership in an ultimatum form demanded that the leadership of a neighboring state withdraw Finnish troops inland. Naturally, the Finns could not agree to such humiliating conditions. The war began, revealing the weaknesses of the Soviet military machine. K. Meretskov was urgently sent to the North-Western Front to command the 7th Army.
Soviet troops had a three-fold advantage in the infantry, four times in artillery and absolute in the air, as well as in tanks. Despite this, the losses on the Soviet side were colossal. Affected by poor training, poor supply and illiterate coordination of actions. The Finns bravely defended their country, but the only thing they hoped for was the help of the Allies, which was minimal.
The Seventh Army was assigned the role of an attack group, which was to reveal the enemy’s defense from the right flank. For the first time with the support of infantry and tanks, the tactics of the fire shaft were used. Such tactics bore fruit: the Mannerheim line fell. Another brilliant victory in the biography of Marshal Meretskov, which not only brought him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but also laid the foundation for future victories in the upcoming war, which was just around the corner.
In the tenacious paws of the NKVD
History remembered Meretskov Kirill Afanasevich as a brilliant, scrupulous and very cautious strategist, able to think outside the box and quickly adapt to the rapidly changing conditions of the theater of military operations. On the one hand, any military man could envy his career, and on the other, Marshal Meretskov constantly balanced over the abyss, like most military men of that period. The worst thing was to get on suspicion of the NKVD casemates, which happened to the commander. He was accused of a military conspiracy and isolated for 74 days. They could have shot, but it didn’t happen: perhaps due to a lack of experienced personnel, or maybe Stalin still believed in his “cunning Yaroslavl”. There are many versions, but the military himself never talked about this.
Fire trails of war
After returning from disgrace, Meretskov leads 4 separate army. He managed to prettyly pat the enemy troops. When creating the Volkhov Front, Kirill Afanasevich was appointed commander. The result of the Sinyavskaya and Luban operations was a disaster: the huge losses of the Soviet troops, the destruction of the second army and the capture of General Vlasov. But the enemy’s plans also failed. According to the recollections of Vasilyevsky A.M., who observed the commander of the Volga Front in the most difficult and critical moments, Meretskov was not a tycoon, but proved to be a cautious strategist, requiring subordinates to solve military tasks with little bloodshed.
The result of Operation Iskra was the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad. When Volkhovsky was abolished, the Karelian Front was formed , which launched a successful offensive, the result of which was the liberation of the north of Norway. On October 26, 1944, Kirill Afanasevich received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Then he is transferred to the Far East. When defeating the Quantum Army, Marshal Meretskov used the same blitzkrieg tactics that the Nazi troops used in the first months of the war. Widely used air and sea landing. A special merit of the Soviet paratroopers should be considered the prevention of the use of bacteriological weapons by the Japanese troops.
Post-war years
In the postwar years he continued to serve in the armed forces. Passed away December 30, 1968. Buried in the Kremlin wall. Marshal Meretskov’s awards should be mentioned separately. The hero of the Soviet Union was repeatedly awarded the Orders of the Red Banner and Lenin, had the highest awards of foreign states, was awarded the orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov, as well as the October Revolution and Victory.
Marshal Meretskov in the hearts of many people will remain a winner, a skilled military leader and courageous defender of his native land.