Cherepanov Sergey - a famous hero of the Great Patriotic War. With a perfect feat, he forever inscribed his name in history, becoming an immortal model of courage and heroism.
Even after more than seventy years, he is put as an example to the younger generation. The young man, not sparing himself, fought with the Nazi invaders and in battle gave his life for the freedom of his people.
Cherepanov Sergey Mikhailovich: biography
In 1916, in the family of peasants of the Vologda province , Sergey Mikhailovich Cherepanov was born. The date of birth is recorded as July 16, however, some historians considered this an archive error. The family lived well, and so Sergey did not have to work hard in the fields, although he helped the elders daily in daily affairs. In his native village of Pestovo, he attends a local school and leaves without finishing it.
In 1931, the family was sent to New Bor. At first, to get to his feet, Sergey works as an oilseed. Four years later, he decides to take up his own education. Passes courses of machine operators. Thanks to the acquired skills, he works at logging enterprises. Labor takes place in difficult conditions. Huge trees often fell on the workers, which led to serious damage. After some time, Sergey goes to a construction site. Moreover, he takes a very active civic position. In the thirty-seventh year, after the release of a number of new laws, it became part of the local commandant’s office. Two years later he was promoted to the position of inspector. And in the forty-first, he is responsible for the warehouse of fuels and lubricants.
Conscription
In July, the forty-second Cherepanov enlisted in the Red Army to fight the German invaders. Passed training. Then the Soviet troops suffered constant heavy losses. In difficult conditions, the training of recruits was held. Cherepanov Sergey studied for more than a year, and also served in the rear. In January 1943 he was transferred to the front. At this time, a dramatic battle broke out for Leningrad.
Siege of the city
Nazi troops reached Leningrad as early as the forty-first year. According to Hitler, the city should have been taken maximum before the end of winter. It was planned to destroy it, and give the whole part north of the Neva River to Finland. To capture the huge agglomeration, the Nazis were going to establish a tight blockade and systematically destroy the defenders with artillery and aviation fire. But already in the fall of the first year of the war, the German offensive was bogged down in the dense defensive order of the Red Army. However, after a short time reinforcements were sent to the city. A long blockade began.
The city almost immediately began a famine. The Nazis bombed barns and warehouses with food.
In 1942, Cherepanov Sergei Mikhailovich arrives at Leningrad. Natural courage and agility allowed him to become a scout. In the fall, they entrust the whole unit to him. The fighters are faced with a variety of difficult tasks. The dense Nazi ranks do not allow even a few kilometers to approach their fortifications. However, the detachment of Sergei Mikhailovich invariably performs the tasks of the command. At this time, a new member, Sergey Mikhailovich Cherepanov, entered the Komsomol of the Leningrad Region. Photo guy published in a local newspaper. A few days later he was injured in battle.
Return to the front
Cherepanov Sergey again arrived at the front in January forty-third. At that time, fighting for the city was carried out by the forces of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts. Sergey fought on both. At that time, along with Stalingrad, there were the most intense battles. The Soviet command sought at all costs to break the blockade, and the Nazi - to raze the city to the ground. Hitler was obsessed with the idea of taking the ancient Russian capital. In addition to the Germans, Finns, Italians and Spanish volunteers also participated in the battles. It was in the forty-third that they recognized the fury of the Soviet winter. Unaccustomed to the cold, southerners moved with difficulty and were extremely depressed. Soviet intelligence regularly attacked wagons and destroyed the supplies of the invaders.
Cherepanov’s scouts always acted at their own peril and risk. Sergey told his wife and daughters about many events in letters. In trenches near Leningrad, the sergeant found out about the birth of his son, whom he had long dreamed of.
Offensive
In mid-January, a pre-prepared operation began. On a frosty morning on the twelfth of January, Nazi positions shuddered at the most powerful attack of Soviet artillery. Two hours of howitzers, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems compared the position of the Nazis with the ground. After that, two shock armies rushed into battle. On the first day they managed to crush the Nazis and throw them back several kilometers. The situation developed very quickly. The Germans threw all the reserves. Hot battles lasted five days. By the end of January 18th, the Soviet armies were united, thereby opening the way to Leningrad. They immediately began sending food to the city.
However, this did not mean the complete lifting of the blockade. The Nazis still controlled nearby territories and conducted endless shelling of the city. Enemy artillery reached all areas of the city. The situation was such that on many streets there were signs indicating the more dangerous side of the street in case of shelling. The Germans began to build defensive barriers up to twenty meters deep and very dense.
January thunder
In January of the forty-fourth year, the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief conceived a large-scale offensive with the aim of completely lifting the blockade. The German command was aware of this and strengthened the defense. On January 14, the famous operation "January Thunder" began. After artillery preparation, Soviet troops launched an offensive on the front line of seventeen kilometers. In the early days they managed to achieve significant success.
During the “January Thunder,” the Red Army was supposed to occupy the village of Poddubye, which the Nazis turned into a fortified point. Before the start of the large-scale offensive, scouts entered the village. The unit commander Cherepanov Sergey Mikhailovich personally led the operation. As soon as the Red Army men stepped into the village, they opened fire on them from a machine gun. The first house was a machine gun nest. It was impossible to enter Podduby without passing this house. Cherepanov crept up to the building and aptly threw a grenade out the window, destroying the Nazis who had settled there. However, before that, they still managed to injure the commander. Despite the bleeding, Sergei decided to continue the fight. A group of scouts dug in and began to wait for the Germans.
Feat
The Nazis launched several unsuccessful counterattacks. All of them were stopped by a handful of Soviet soldiers, which were several times smaller. To suppress the resistance, the enemy threw all his forces, including heavy equipment. Seeing their losses and the stubborn resistance of Soviet soldiers, the Nazis thought that they had reached a large-scale offensive.
The battle lasted several hours. One by one, all the scouts died. Cherepanov was left alone. He was seriously injured. Nevertheless, he continued to fight alone. He had a machine gun and several grenades. Shooting accurately, he continued to repel enemy attacks. The earth around the commander was dotted with the corpses of the Nazis. After some time, the cartridges ran out. Then Sergey pulled the check out of the grenade and began to wait for the enemies. When the Germans approached Cherepanov, he blew up a grenade, killing himself and the Nazis surrounding him.
Hero's death
The feat of the scouts made it possible to launch an offensive. When the Soviet troops entered the city, they saw a shocking picture - mountains of corpses lay near the dead Red Army soldiers. The Germans paid for Sergey with seventy-two lives.
For this feat, the commander was posthumously presented for the highest award. Cherepanov Sergei Mikhailovich, Hero of the Soviet Union, forever enlisted in the intelligence of the 1249th regiment.