Nikolai Vasiliev is a famous commander of the Soviet period. For military successes, he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The life path of N. A. Vasiliev will be discussed further.
Initial Curriculum Vitae
The future general Vasiliev came from the village of Skacheli, which belongs to the Novgorod region. There he was born in 1900 in a family of ordinary peasants. Upon graduation, Nikolai got a job as a railway worker.
Service in the Red Army
In 1919, Nikolai Vasiliev joined the Red Army. He was admitted to a separate rifle battalion in Novgorod. In 1921, a soldier carries out internal service and guards water transport in Tver, then he is transferred to the same troops in Novgorod. Since 1923, Vasiliev has served as a shooter of the military railway guard.
In 1927, after graduating from the School for the Improvement of Commanding Staff, Vasiliev became a commander, and led the shooting team. In 1935, Vasiliev graduated from the Higher Border School of the NKVD of the USSR and received the post of commander and military commissar in the forces of the NKVD. These units during the war guarded and defended the rear of the army. The main tasks of the NKVD troops were:
- fight against spies, bandits, deserters;
- the elimination of small enemy groups that managed to seep into the Soviet rear;
- collection of military property left behind.
After completing two courses of the Military Academy, Vasiliev took the post of head of staff in the border troops of the Armenian SSR.
War years
With the onset of World War II, Nikolai Vasiliev served as head of the headquarters of the 250th Infantry Division in Vladimir. This unit took part in the Battle of Smolensk, participated in many offensive and defensive battles.
In November 1941, Vasiliev was assigned to command the 298th Infantry Division in Barnaul. Later, the division was transferred to the Western Front, and in 1942 - to Stalingrad, combined with the 4th Panzer Army.
The division under the command of Vasilyev successfully fought with enemy forces in the Gorodishchensky district, inflicting significant blows and destroying military enemy equipment. In the winter of 1942, she participated in the suppression of German forces near Stalingrad, as a result of which N. A. Vasiliev received the Order of Suvorov. The division was reorganized into the guard.
Since 1943, General Vasiliev has replaced the army commander on the Don and Voronezh fronts. In the same period, he commands the rifle corps during the liberation of Kharkov and Belgorod. For outstanding success, he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov.
In September 1943, the units headed by Vasiliev go to the Dnieper River. There Nicholas managed to activate the troops, so that they crossed the Dnieper, capturing the right-bank bridgehead. The Soviet armed forces cut off the Crimean German groups, as a result of which the Germans could not maintain their influence on the Dnieper. For this outstanding operation, Vasiliev received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In 1944, for military successes near Kirovograd, Vasiliev received the next rank of lieutenant general. In May 1944, the troops he led were fighting in Romania.
Since the summer of 1944, Lieutenant General Nikolai Alekseevich Vasiliev has commanded a corps of shooters on the Baltic front. These troops take part in key military operations, in the liberation of the Baltic lands, for which the general is awarded regular awards.
Baltic operation
In this offensive operation, many Soviet troops participated. It was held in the autumn of 1944 in the Baltic states. The purpose of the operation was the liberation of the territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the Nazi troops.
The military action lasted 71 days, the front stretched for 1000 km, its depth was 400 km.
As a result of the operation, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were freed. Only the Courland boiler - the western part of Latvia - remained under German occupation. These lands were released only in 1945, when the victory of the Soviet troops was declared, and Germany surrendered.
Post-war period
After the war ended, Vasiliev continued to lead the rifle corps.
With the onset of the 50s, a conflict erupted between the southern and northern territories in Korea, which grew in the Korean War of 1950-1953. The reason for the war is the opposition of two ideologies: socialist and capitalist. The USSR and the USA intervene in hostilities.
General Vasilyev helps develop a plan for North Korea’s attack on South Korea. Fierce battles have been going on for three years. Military success smiles at one side or the other. But in the end, none of the warring parties succeeded in achieving their goals. To this day, the people of Korea remain artificially divided into two parts - into zones of influence of the USSR and the USA.
Starting from the 50s, Vasiliev was appointed adviser to the commander of the Romanian army. Since 1958, he has served in the GRU of the General Staff as deputy chief. In 1968 he resigns, lives in Moscow.
In 1971, Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolai Alekseevich Vasiliev died. His grave is located at the Vvedensky cemetery, located in Moscow, in the Lefortovo district. Initially, foreigners living in the capital were buried on this graveyard. The cemetery was called German. But later on it began to bury our compatriots. And now there are the graves of many prominent personalities of the USSR and Russia.
Awards
Summing up the successes of General Vasiliev, it should be said about his merits. During his life he was awarded the following awards:
- 2 orders of Lenin;
- 2 orders of the Red Banner;
- order of Kutuzov I step .;
- Order of Suvorov, II stage .;
- Order of Kutuzov II degree .;
- Order of the Red Star.
So, we examined the biography of Nikolai Alekseevich Vasiliev, a talented military leader of the Soviet years, and talked about his achievements.