Leonid Govorov was one of the most prominent military leaders of the Great Patriotic War. He led the battles with the Germans in different regions of the country, and in 1944 freed Karelia from the occupation of the Finns. For his many achievements, Govorov received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
early years
The future Marshal of the Soviet Union Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich was born on February 22, 1897 in the Vyatka province - a remote bear corner of the Russian Empire. Butyrki (his native village) was an ordinary provincial town. The life of a military man is very similar to the life of his peers, whose youth and youth fell on the First World War, Revolution and Civil.
Leonid Govorov childhood passed in Yelabug, where his father worked as a writer. In 1916, the young man graduated from a real school and even entered the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. However, in the same December he was drafted into the army. The First World War was on, and the state drew the last human resources from the rear. After the February Revolution, Leonid Govorov received a new title. The second lieutenant in the Russian army met in October 1917. The Bolsheviks who came to power signed a peace with Germany, and most of the military were demobilized. The second lieutenant returned to Yelabuga to his parents.
Civil War
In the fall of 1918, Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich joined the White Army. At this time, his native land was under the control of Kolchak supporters. The officer took part in the White Spring Offensive. He fought near Ufa, Chelyabinsk and in Western Siberia. Soon the Kolchakites began to retreat east. In November 1919, Govorov defected. In January, he joined the 51st Infantry Division of the Red Army.
There, Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich met with another future marshal - Vasily Blucher. In 1919, he commanded the very 51st Infantry Division, and during the Stalinist repressions he was shot. Under the leadership of Blucher Govorov received in his leadership an artillery division. At the final stage of the Civil War, the future second lieutenant was in Ukraine, where the last large white opposition group remained. It was the army of Wrangel. In those battles of 1920, Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich received two wounds - one near Kakhovka, the other in the Antonovka area.
Peace period
After the Civil War, Leonid Govorov began to live and work in Ukraine. In 1923 he was appointed artillery commander in the 51st Perekop Rifle Division. His subsequent career growth in the army was due to professional education. In 1933, Govorov graduated from courses at the Frunze Military Academy. But that was not all. After learning the German language and passing the relevant exams, he became a military translator. In 1936, the military entered the recently opened Academy of the General Staff, and shortly before received the rank of brigade commander. After graduating, he began to teach at the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy.
In 1940, the war with Finland began. Govorov was appointed chief of the artillery headquarters in the 7th Army. She took part in the battles on the Karelian Isthmus. The brigade commander was preparing a breakthrough of the Finnish Mannerheim defensive line. After the signing of the world, he was already a major general of artillery.
The beginning of World War II
On the eve of World War II, Leonid Govorov was appointed head of the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy, which he himself had recently graduated from. As soon as the German offensive began, he was sent to lead the artillery of the Western Front. I had to work in conditions of disorganization of the army, lack of communication and blitzkrieg of the enemy. The artillery of the Western Front was no exception to this rule. The chaos of the first months of the war did not allow the Germans to stop in Belarus or Ukraine.
On July 30, Govorov received the artillery of the Reserve Front. Major General began organizing defensive operations in the central direction of the Wehrmacht offensive. It was he who prepared the counterattack near Yelnya. On September 6, the city was liberated. Although this success was temporary, it allowed time to stretch. The Germans got bogged down in the Smolensk area for two months, which is why they were on the outskirts of Moscow only in winter.
Fights near Moscow
In early October, Govorov was on the Mozhaisk defense line, preparing its infrastructure. On the 15th due to the wound of Dmitry Lelyushenko, he began to command the 5th combined arms army. The decisive role in the appointment was played by Georgy Zhukov, who personally signed the corresponding order. This formation led bloody defensive battles near Mozhaisk. On October 18, due to an enemy breakthrough, Govorov convinced the Headquarters that it was necessary to leave the city. Further delay could end in the encirclement of the entire army. Good was given. The troops retreated.
In early November, the 5th Army took up defensive positions on the outskirts of Moscow. Fights here went for every kilometer. Soviet troops were supported by artillery barriers and anti-tank detachments. Having stopped at the approaches to the capital, the Red Army began to prepare a counterattack near Moscow. November 9, Leonid Govorov became lieutenant general.
The critical moment came on December 1, when the Germans managed to break through the front in the sector occupied by the 5th Army. The artillery commander personally led the defense. The enemy was able to advance only 10 kilometers and was soon driven back. On December 5, the Soviet counter-offensive near Moscow began.
New appointment
In April 1942, Leonid Govorov fell out of action for a short time due to an acute attack of appendicitis. At the head of his 5th army stood Ivan Fedyuninsky. April 25 recovered Govorov received a new appointment. He went to the Leningrad Front, where he began to command an extensive grouping of Soviet troops (it included the 55th, 42nd and 23rd armies). Once in a new place, the lieutenant general with special zeal began to fulfill his duties.
From scratch he created the Leningrad Artillery Corps, designed for counter-battery combat. Thanks to the pressure of the commander, new aircraft and fresh crews arrived at the front. At the approaches to Leningrad, Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich (1897-1955) created five new fortified field regions. They became part of a continuous trench system. They were equipped with just-equipped machine gun and artillery battalions. For a more reliable defense of Leningrad, a front reserve was formed. Govorov in his decisions was guided by the rich experience gained during the battles near Moscow. He was especially attentive to the creation of barrage units, maneuver groups, and other operational formations.
The main artillery directorate of the Red Army began to supply the city with large-caliber shells. Thanks to this, it was possible to begin the destruction of the enemy siege batteries, causing the greatest damage to buildings and residents. Govorov had to simultaneously solve two complex problems. On the one hand, he had to organize a defense and think about breaking through the blockade, and on the other, the military leader tried his best to help the starving Leningraders.
Attempts by the Red Army to drive the Germans out of the vicinity of Leningrad failed. Because of this, Mikhail Khozin (front commander) was deprived of his post. In his place was appointed Leonid Govorov. Throughout the summer of 1942, he prepared the Nevsky task force and the 55th army for the Sinyavsky offensive operation. However, already in the fall it became clear that the Soviet Army in this region simply did not have enough strength to clear the approaches to Leningrad (that was the main strategic goal of the event). October 1, Govorov received orders to retreat to their original positions. The decision was made at Headquarters after much discussion. Nonetheless, โlocal battlesโ continued. So in the reports were called small-scale active actions. They did not change their position at the front, but noticeably exhausted the enemy, who found himself in trenches far from their homeland. Under Govorov, Leningrad was divided into sectors. Each of them had its own permanent garrison. The combat units formed at the enterprises were combined into battalions.
Attempts to Break the Blockade
An artilleryman by training, Govorov received an army at his disposal, which included troops of all possible types. But this did not stop him from quickly getting on the course. He knew how to instantly assess the situation and knew by heart the location of the Soviet and German units on any sector of the front. Leonid Govorov always listened carefully to his subordinates, did not interrupt them, although he did not like empty verbosity. This was a man of strict self-organization, demanding the same from others. At the Leningrad headquarters, such a character aroused reverent respect. Party leaders (Zhdanov, Kuznetsov, Shtykov, etc.) treated him with reverence.
In January 1943, the Leningrad Front again began to move. On January 18, the siege ring of the Northern capital was broken. This was possible thanks to two counter strikes of Volkhovsky (under the command of Kirill Meretskov) and the Leningrad Fronts (under the command of Leonid Govorov). The enemy group was cut up, and the Soviet units met south of Lake Ladoga.
Even before the final breakthrough of the blockade, Govorov received the rank of colonel general. In the summer of 1943, the 67th Army, which he commanded, took part in the Mginsky operation. Its task was to establish control over the Kirov railway south of Lake Ladoga. If communications were freed from the Germans, Leningrad would receive a reliable and convenient channel of communication with the rest of the country. These were hard fights. Due to a shortage of forces, the Soviet troops could not fulfill all the tasks assigned, and by the fall the Mginsky ledge remained practically unchanged. Nevertheless, time worked for the Red Army, and the Wehrmacht was experiencing ever greater difficulties.
Liberation of Leningrad
In the fall of 1943, preparations for a new Leningrad-Novgorod operation began at Headquarters. November 17, Leonid Govorov became army general. At the beginning of the new 1944, troops under his leadership broke through the enemy defenses around Leningrad. On January 27, German units were already a hundred kilometers from the city. The blockade was removed completely. On the same day, Govorov, on a Stalinist order, ordered the celebration of fireworks in the liberated city.
However, there was not much time for the celebration. Quickly returning to the performance of his duties, Leonid Govorov led the troops of the Leningrad Front towards Narva. In February, the Red Army crossed this river. By spring, the counterattack had advanced 250 kilometers. Almost the entire Leningrad region, as well as part of neighboring Kalinin, was liberated.
Fights with the Finns
On June 10, front forces were sent north to conduct the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation. The main enemy in this direction was Finland. At Headquarters, they sought to withdraw from the war an ally of the Reich. Govorov began the operation with a deceptive demonstrative maneuver. On the eve of the offensive, Finnish intelligence tracked the preparation of the strike in the Narva area. Meanwhile, the Soviet fleet had already deployed the 21st Army to the Karelian Isthmus. For the enemy, this blow was a complete surprise.
In addition, before the offensive, Govorov ordered the conduct of artillery training and a series of air strikes. Over the next ten days, the forces of the Leningrad Front broke through three defense lines on the site of the former Mannerheim Line, which was restored during the occupation. Leonid Govorov participated in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940. He knew this region and the features of the enemy army well.
The result of the rapid offensive of the Red Army was the liberation of Vyborg on June 20, 1944. Two days earlier, Leonid Govorov became Marshal of the Soviet Union. The title was a reflection of the merits of the military. He took part in organizing many important operations: he repulsed German attacks at the beginning of the war, defended Moscow, liberated Leningrad, and finally fought with the Finns.
After the restoration of Soviet power in Vyborg, battles were transferred to the Karelian Isthmus. Almost the entire Finnish army acted here (60 thousand people). The Soviet offensive was complicated by the impassability of these places. Water obstacles, dense forests, lack of roads - all this slowed the release of the isthmus. The losses of the Red Army sharply increased. In this regard, on July 12, the Stavka issued an order to go on the defensive. The further offensive continued with the forces of the Karelian Front. In September, Finland emerged from the war and joined the allied countries.
In the late summer and fall of 1944, Marshal Govorov developed operations to liberate Estonia. In October, he also coordinated the actions of the armed forces in the liberation of Riga. After the capital of Latvia was cleared of the Germans, the remaining forces of the Wehrmacht in the Baltic were blocked in Courland. The surrender of this group was adopted on May 8, 1945.
After the war
In peacetime, Leonid Govorov began to occupy the top leading military posts. He was the commander of the Leningrad Military District and the commander of air defense. Under his leadership, these troops survived a significant reorganization. In addition, new types of weapons (jet fighters, anti-aircraft missile systems, radar stations, etc.) began to be adopted. The country created a shield against the alleged attacks of NATO and the United States in the context of the nascent Cold War.
In 1952, at the last Stalinist XIX Congress of the CPSU, Leonid Govorov was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee. In 1954, he begins to combine the post of air defense commander and deputy defense minister of the Soviet Union. The busy work schedule and stress negatively affected the health of the marshal. Leonid Govorov died on March 19, 1955 from a stroke, while on vacation in a sanatorium Barvikha.
Today, streets in the largest cities of the former USSR (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Kirov, Donetsk, etc.) are named after the marshal. Especially carefully cherish his memory in the former Leningrad, liberated thanks to the operation undertaken under the leadership of Govorov. Two buildings have memorial tablets, and the square on the embankment of the Fontanka River bears his name. In 1999, a monument to L. A. Govorov was erected on Stachek Square.
Awards
The long battle path of Leonid Alexandrovich was accompanied by a variety of medals and honorary titles. In 1921, after two wounds, future Marshal Govorov received the Order of the Red Banner. He was awarded this award for courage and courage shown during the Perekop-Chongar operation, when the Wrangel army finally surrendered the Crimea. After the end of the Soviet-Finnish war, Govorov received the Order of the Red Star.
In the most difficult days of the Great Patriotic War, when the Wehrmacht troops stood near Moscow, it was Leonid Aleksandrovich who was one of the leaders of the defense of the capital. November 10, 1941, on the eve of the counterattack, he received the Order of Lenin. The next award awaited him after breaking the blockade of Leningrad. Govorov Leonid Aleksandrovich, whose biography is a biography of one of the prominent military leaders of the Great Patriotic War, received the honored order of Suvorov I degree.
He managed to have a hand in many of the successes of the Red Army during the liberation of the USSR from occupation by Wehrmacht troops. Therefore, it is not surprising that on January 27, 1945, Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Govorov also became a Hero of the Soviet Union. Among his awards there are also numerous medals that were awarded for the liberation or protection of large cities.
May 31, 1945, a few weeks after the surrender of Germany, Govorov was awarded the Order of Victory. Over the entire existence of this sign, only 17 people have been awarded this honor, which, of course, emphasizes the importance of Leonid Aleksandrovich's contribution to the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. It is noteworthy that, in addition to the Soviet ones, he received foreign awards: the Order of the Legion of Honor (France), as well as the American Order of the Legion of Honor.