General Dovator: a biography. General Dovator's Army

In the great history of Russia there are names and events that are the brightest examples of Russian mentality, based on love for the motherland. Gorky is right - the place is always a feat, but in a moment of trials the opportunity to do it for the sake of the Motherland is given to everyone. General Dovator, Karbyshev, Sailor soldier, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Panfilov heroes, young "Krasnodontsy" are people who gave their lives for their Motherland. Their exploits - evidence of the invincibility of our army and the inflexibility of the Russian character.

Distortion of historical facts

General Dovator is the last hero-commander in the long and glorious history of cavalry. At the beginning of Perestroika, which opened a wide road to permissiveness, including the frenzied defilement of historical memory, they wrote that the Red Army had nothing to oppose to the mechanized Reich, except for the outmoded cavalry. All was questioned, the facts were distorted, the exploits of the Russian soldiers were spat and mocked. Thank God, times have changed - to love Russia, to be proud of its history again is considered a worthy and noble affair.

True heroes are needed in modern Russia

Closed earlier archival documents are made available, as a result of which interesting facts are opened, or the previously known to a small circle are now adequately and profitably presented. For example, the fact that General Dovator did not just command a cadmium, but was a great rider and a jiggle master. Thanks to these skills, he replaced Nikolai Cherkasov in the equestrian scenes in the film "Alexander Nevsky". A brilliant Russian officer, clever and handsome, he does not look like a "foolish cardboard", rushing in pathetic madness to the "mechanized Reich." Moreover, there are official documents that give data on the number of enemy equipment destroyed by its Cossacks during raids on enemy lines. "Blond beasts" were afraid of him until he fainted, and a price of 100,000 Reichsmarks was assigned for his head.

The one who really was nothing, but became everything

Who is he, General Dovator? The legendary hero died early, but his life was bright, interesting and saturated. Despite the fact that he was born in a poor Belarusian peasant family (1903), Lev Mikhailovich graduated from the first parish school and a secondary school. Soon after joining the flax mill, he was elected secretary of the Komsomol committee and as a budding on this path in 1923 he was sent (and successfully graduated) to the soviet school. In the army, the future general, Dovator, whose biography is now inextricably linked with the armed forces, is called for in 1924.

Correctly chosen road

Occupying first a purely economic position - the head of the staff (the headquarters of the 7th Cavalry Division in Minsk), Lev Mikhailovich is trained in the Military Chemical courses, which gives him the right to become the commander of the chemical divisions of the division. Further, the future general Dovator, whose biography is inseparably linked with regular studies, finishes the Borisoglebsko-Leningrad Cavalry School with the command staff of the Red Army. Then several years (from 1929 to 1936) in his biography career growth is observed - a promising platoon commander as a result becomes a commissar of a separate reconnaissance battalion. From this post he was taken to the Frunze Military Academy, graduates of which at that time, as a rule, were sent for an internship in Spain. Judging by the nickname "Forester" received by him, Lev Mikhailovich was in the group of SA Vaupshasov, or "Comrade Alfred."

Restructuring of the cavalry

According to some researchers, it was there that LM Dovator studied the tactics of fighting the Moroccan cavalry, who fought on the side of the francists and achieved significant success. On closer examination, it turned out that the "fast", as these Franco supporters called themselves, the cavalry units made motorized rifles, motorcycles with machine guns and armored cars. Only in this composition could cavalry be an effective force. In the maneuverable war of heavy cavalry, the place was no longer there. There is a suggestion that the disbandment of such corps in the Red Army is associated with the return of the Dovator from Spain.

The beginning of the brilliant career of the commander

In 1939, the future general, Lev Dovator with a red diploma, graduated from the Academy. Frunze. A brilliant career opens before him. Since November 1939, he became the chief of staff of the 36th Special Red Cavalry Order of Lenin Brigade named. Stalin MVO, worthy successor to the glory and traditions of the First Cavalry Army. According to some rumors, she was "Kremlin". So it was or not, but the brigade was in sight, almost daily visited by representatives of the authorities, many of whom were from the First Horse. Vasily Stalin, a great lover of horses, was a particularly frequent guest. Visits of distinguished guests forced the demonstration unit to constantly be in shape and full combat readiness, which strained, but also spurred. In 1940, the future general, Lev Mikhailovich Dovator led a cavalry column in parades on Red Square.

Award before the war

Before the war, in March 1941, LM Dovator was awarded the Order of the Red Star. The official wording, for which such a high award was given, is absent. But there are a number of assumptions, among which the most acceptable seems to be the following. LM Dovator, relying on the Spanish experience, proposed the use of cavalry for lightning raids to the rear of the enemy. In addition, he probably introduced the proposal for the creation of partisan bases and warehouses with weapons and ammunition in the possible occupied territories to a depth of up to 400 km, for the consideration of the leadership of the chiefs' meetings by the reconnaissance divisions of the military districts that were held immediately before the war.

Official versions

In March 1941, Dovator received a new appointment, this time to the Belorussian Military District, to the 36th Cavalry Division, to the post of Chief of Staff. According to the official version, Colonel Dovator met the first days of the war in the hospital, which prevented him from coming to a new duty station. Under the same version, in August 1941, at the time when the Red Army retreated and suffered heavy losses, LM Dovator was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for defensive battles on the Solovetsky direction.

Indisputable facts

But the more meticulous researchers of his biography, comparing some facts, suggest that he received this high award for participating in the first successful test of the M-13 missile system, known throughout the world as "Katyusha." It happened on July 14, 1941 at the station Orsha-Tovarnaya. Based on the documents, they believe that, according to Stalin's personal order, Colonel Dovator had to break through to the headquarters of the 16th Army and, having received tanks and infantry at his disposal, to cover the Fleurov battery that produced the very first salvo. Further ensure its successful raid on the enemy's rear and an equally successful return to the territory not occupied by the Nazis.

Who destroyed the 52nd German Medical Regiment

It is assumed that the 52nd German Chemical Regiment was destroyed on July 15 near Sithno by forces that were at the disposal of Dovator, Mishulin, and Kaduchenko. The last two (tankers) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union at the same time as the Dovator . There is no official confirmation of this version - it may not have come yet. Captain Flerov, commander of the M-13 battery, was not awarded at all. And in 1960 he was suddenly introduced to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. There is a very rare picture where the future general, Dovator (photo attached), smiles - he just received the Order of the Red Star.

The horrors of the "fearless"

But his main merit in the Great Patriotic War was the legendary raids on the enemy's rear, conducted by the Independent Cavalry Group, formed from the 50th and 53rd Cavalry Divisions and received under his command. Here are the statistics: 2300 (in some sources - 2500) of soldiers and officers, 200 cars and 9 tanks destroyed by the dodgers, among whom were the circus performers. Unique masters of dzhigitovki, they shot Germans, standing on saddles, or from under the belly of a horse.

Lightning speed, desperate bravery and the magnificent possession of a horse - it was something to terrify the soldiers of the Reich, who playfully captured Europe. Heavy battles in the area of the Bely-Rzhev highway, on the Lama River, in the town of Solnechnogorsk, on the Istra Reservoir were held back by the forces of the Germans on the outskirts of Moscow.

It is ordered to destroy

In August-September, 3000 Cossacks, under the command of a man of desperate courage, terrified "true Aryans", his name was known to every German soldier near Moscow, leaflets with a reward for his head were scattered everywhere. The Germans completely burnt his native village in Byelorussia and created a special military group to destroy it. And the Soviet command for these raids conferred on him the rank of Major-General and awarded the Order of Lenin.

Four awards of the highest dignity for six months

Since November, General Dovator commanded the 3rd Cavalry Corps, which was literally transformed into the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps as part of the 16th Army under the command of Rokossovsky, with which Lev Mikhailovich was associated with respect for soldiers' lives. Showing the wonders of courage, the army of General Dovator, like the Panfilov heroes, died to the death of the capital. Reluctance to spare himself, the desperate courage of the Cossack general caused his death. On December 19, in the vicinity of the village of Palashkino, at the moment when LM Dovator with binoculars was examining the enemy's positions, he and the persons accompanying him were shot from a machine gun. The legendary commander, whose name includes dozens of streets, ships and buildings, died at the age of 38 years.

The urn with the ashes of the hero, posthumously awarded with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, for a long time was in a special vault, and only in 1959, together with the urns of Ivan Panfilov and the pilot Victor Talalikhin, was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in a common grave, which in 1966 was installed beautiful A monument to these heroes who gave their lives for Moscow and the Motherland.