[烛光生存狂]-【卫国战争老兵回忆】BICHENKO IVAN

http://www.vor.ru/Victory/Veteranes/Bichenko_eng.html

Ivan G.Bichenko, Lieutenant-General, Retired. A graduate of the Ulyanovsk school of special-purpose military hardware. A commander of a tank platoon. By the time Nazis attacked the Soviet Union he'd been promoted to a tank regiment company commander. Fought at the North-Western Front. After recovering from an injury he was appointed as chief of staff of a heavy tank regiment. After the Soviet army group at the North-Western Front had been broken up, he was made deputy chief of staff of the First Polish Army's armoured and mechanized troops. He was part of the force that made the assault crossing of the Oder river and stormed Berlin. When the war ended, he was chief of staff of the Silesian military district. Currently the chairman of the Council of the North-Western Front veterans.

Mr. Bichenko, you are a regular officer. Just how did you embark on your military career?

Actually all my life is about military service. At 19 I graduated from the Ulyanovsk school of special-purpose military hardware, the first Soviet military school where cadets were taught to use radio communication to control various military vehicles, like planes, launches and tanks. The group of cadets that I formed part of was taught to control tanks by radio. The crew was in a battle tank, while in front of them was a tank without a crew, armed with a flame-thrower, rather than with a cannon, because it was pretty hard to hit a target you can't see from a cannon, while the flame-thrower struck the enemy in a large area, so it was easier to hit enemy strong points, where the enemy could put up resistance. Actually, it was the only military school of its kind. And at that time we had this kind of tanks, a whole battalion of them was used during the war with Finland (1939-1940). Unfortunately, they failed to live up to our expectations, because it was actually impossible to hit the enemy without seeing them. Those tanks were very expensive and technically complicated, but ineffective.

Later on radio communication began to be widely applied in space exploration, reconnaissance planes, small launches, radio-controlled mines, in short it was quite a stride forward in developing radio-electronics.

Where were you sent to serve upon graduation?

- I was sent to the Belarussian military district to command a platoon of ordinary tanks. It was back in 1939, quite a while ago…The Belarussian special military district comprised three Baltic republics, - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. Part of the Soviet troops were deployed in the Belarussian military district, which was the main line of defence by the time the war broke out. As soon as Nazis moved into Poland on September 1st 1939, I took part in what came to be known as the Polish campaign, - a quick military operation by the Soviet troops to liberate the Polish-occupied Western Belarus and Western Ukraine. By then the Second World War had already been in full swing, with Germans having advanced deeply enough into Poland, Czechoslovakia and having almost reached the Soviet border. I had my "baptism of fire" in the operation of liberating Western Belarus. My platoon was in Vilnius when we learnt that the Second World War of 1939-1945 broke out. In Vilnius I commanded a tank platoon, and we were getting ready for war.

Did the German attack on the USSR catch you unawares?

The memory of the start of the Great Patriotic War is very much like a never-healing wound to me, because from the outset everything went very differently from what we thought it would. We had always been told that we would fight in foreign territory, would attack and defeat the enemy in their land and would never yield an inch of our own land. The then Soviet Defence Minister Klim Voroshilov, as well as all Soviet politicians would often state this. So it's in that spirit that the Soviet armed forces were brought up in the run-up to the war. I remember perfectly well that just three days before the war broke out we were told at a meeting in a place in the immediate vicinity of German troops that we should not panic or respond to provocations, that the Soviet and German Governments had just made a joint statement to the effect that the relations of friendship between the two countries were indissoluble and there would be no war. This had a lulling effect on our troops, and although the feeling of imminent fighting was in the air, all the mass media reported about the never-ending friendship between the USSR and Germany.

But on the beautiful warm Sunday of June 22d, 1941 the Sun was covered by the smoke of Nazi bomb explosions. For a moment I even thought it was a military exercise or some unforeseen situation that we had to cope with. But the planes with black crosses on their wings that were flying over us and that we'd never seen before made it clear that war did break out. Unfortunately the Soviet troops were caught unawares both morally and militarily. And although we had all vowed to never yield an inch of our land to the enemy, we started to retreat within the first few days of fighting.

The enemy enjoyed a threefold to a fivefold superiority in the front sectors where they planned to break through our defences, while the unprepared Soviet troops, artillery included, had nothing to counter Nazis' powerful blow with. The Soviet troops were, besides, in a complete mess, since it was impossible to act according to plan, and each commander made what orders he saw fit at the moment. All control of the troops was disrupted, we received contradictory commands, which resulted in a mass disorganized retreat during the first days of fighting. And yet in some areas, where the ground proved conducive to defensive action, the Soviet troops put up fierce fighting. My 46th tank regiment was committed to action on the second day of war, although it was part of the follow-up echelon, and the tank crews displayed feats of courage and heroism, but that was insufficient to stop the thoroughly organized and well-prepared enemy offensive. We started to retreat northwards, to the Baltic republics, and as days passed by, we began to come to our senses on an increasingly larger scale. Our defences were now better organized and we had new commanders to replace those who fell in the first days of fighting. The Germans began to feel the growing resistance of the Soviet troops.

General, do you remember your first battle?

Of course, I do. The Germans seized a bridge across the rivulet Villia, in the vicinity of Ionava, but two Soviet divisions had failed to cross the river yet. So, our 84th tank regiment got the order to recapture the bridge and hold it until all the retreating troops were on our side of the river. But since liaison was disrupted, the regiment commander Yessin (I can still remember how he looked like), personally rushed to the tank crews to tell them about the order. I was tank company commander then, so I ordered my last three tank crews to attack Germans in the area of the bridge…That was actually our last tank attack, - a fiercest battle of local importance and quite a trial for the regiment. We held that bridge for 24 hours until the encircled troops crossed to the northern bank.

A major battle took place near the city Saulai. We began to get reinforcements. Rumours began to spread that the tank division under the command of General Cherniakhovsky had arrived to reinforce us. But there were almost no tanks in the division, because there were only few tanks in the reserve. So, there was the first major battle near Saulai, with almost 1,000 armoured vehicles, personnel carriers and tanks taking part. This was the first major battle that I saw, took part in and still remember. Unfortunately, we had to surrender Saulai and continue retreating further northwards.

What was specific about fighting on the North-Western Front, where you fought?

全文翻译如下

伊万•G•比岑科，退役中将。毕业于乌里扬诺夫斯克特别军事装备学校，毕业后任坦克排长。纳粹德国入侵苏联时已经升为某坦克团的连长。曾在西北方面军战斗过。伤愈归队后担任某重型坦克团参谋长。西北方面军的苏联军队集群被解散后，他被任命为波兰第1集团军装甲机械化部队代理参谋长。他的部队参加了强渡奥得河和强击柏林的战斗。战争结束后他担任西里西亚军区参谋长。目前他是西北方面军老兵协会主席。

---比岑科先生，您是一位正规军军官。您是怎样开始军事生涯的？

---实际上我的一生都是和军队分不开的。我19岁的时候从乌里扬诺夫斯克特别军事装备学校毕业，那是苏联第一所教授学员利用无线电通信来遥控不同载具（比如飞机、汽艇和坦克）的军校。我所在的那一组是学习用无线电遥控坦克的。乘员组坐在一辆战斗坦克里，他们前面是一辆无人坦克，装备的是火焰喷射器而不是火炮，因为要是你不在火炮边上瞄准是很难打中目标的，而火焰喷射器却可以对付一大片敌人，因此更适合消灭敌支撑点。实际上，这种军校独此一家。当时这种坦克我们有很多，其中一整营的坦克参加了苏芬战争（1939-1940）。倒霉的是，这些坦克让我们大失所望，因为实际上看不到敌人就不可能消灭敌人。这些坦克造价高昂、构造复杂却百无一用。后来无线电通信被广泛应用于空间勘测、侦察机、小汽艇、无线电遥控地雷，简而言之，发展无线电使我们向前迈进了一大步。

---毕业后您被送到哪里了呢？

---我被送到白俄罗斯军区指挥一个普普通通的坦克排。那是1939年，很久以前的事情了……白俄罗斯特别军区还包括三个波罗的海共和国——立陶宛，拉脱维亚和爱沙尼亚。苏军驻扎在白俄罗斯军区，这里在战争爆发时成了主要防线。当1939年9月1日纳粹进入波兰时，我参加了所谓的波兰战役——苏军实施的一次旨在解放波兰占领的西白俄罗斯和西乌克兰的快速军事行动。那时第二次世界大战已经爆发，德国人已经深入波兰和捷克斯洛伐克，快要接近苏联国境线了。我在解放西白俄罗斯的行动中接受了第一次“战火考验”。当得知1939-1945年的二战爆发时我正在维尔纽斯。在那里我指挥一个坦克排，我们已经为战争做好准备。

---德军进攻苏联时你是不是出乎意料？

---关于伟大卫国战争开始阶段的回忆对我来说是一种永远无法平复的伤痛，因为一切都和我们以前设想的完全不同。我们总是被教导说我们会在外国领土上作战，我们会在敌人的土地上进攻并打败他们，我们绝不会放弃自己的每一寸土地。那时的苏联国防人民委员克利缅特•伏罗希洛夫（原文为苏联国防部长克里姆•伏罗希洛夫，名字有误，苏联的人民委员相当于部长），还有其他所有的苏联政治家都经常这么说。所以当时苏联武装力量就是带着这样的精神状态匆匆忙忙进入了战争。我清楚地记得战争爆发的三天前接到通知说如果和德军近距离遭遇的话既不要惊慌也不要激怒对方，苏德两国政府已经发表联合声明宣称两国友谊是牢不可破的，不会发生战争。这蒙骗了我们的部队，尽管空气中弥漫着战争的味道，但所有大众媒体都在报道苏德之间地久天长的友谊。

但是到了1941年6月22日这个美丽温暖的星期日，太阳被纳粹炸弹爆炸的硝烟笼罩了。有那么一瞬间我还在想会不会是军事演习或者发生什么意外了。但是头顶上飞过的以前没见过的带黑十字的飞机让一切都再清楚不过——战争已经爆发了。不幸的是苏军在精神上和军事上都毫无防备。尽管我们宣誓说绝不放弃一寸土地，但还是在经过几天的战斗后开始撤退。

德军在计划突破我军防御的地段总是喜欢集中起3—5倍的兵力优势，而毫无防备的苏军包括炮兵在内都无力回击纳粹的猛烈进攻。此外，苏军是一片混乱，因为根本没法按计划行事，倒是指挥员们把接到的命令当成合情合理的。对部队的控制被严重干扰了，我们接到的命令互相矛盾，这导致在头几天的战斗中出现了大规模无组织的撤退。不过在某些地形适合防御的地方，苏军进行了激烈的战斗。我所在的第46坦克团在战争爆发后第二天就受命参加战斗，这只是后续梯队的一部分。我们的坦克手表现出了勇气和英雄主义，但这不足以阻止德军组织和准备十分充分的进攻。我们开始向北边的波罗的海沿岸各共和国退却，随着时间一天天过去，我们逐渐很快地找回了感觉。现在我们的防御组织得越来越好，我们也找到了新的指挥员来代替头几天战斗中牺牲的军官。德军开始感觉到苏军的抵抗越来越坚强。

---将军，您还记得您第一次战斗吗？

---当然记得。德军占领了维利亚河（rivulet Villia）上的一座桥梁，就在Ionava附近。但是我军有两个师渡河没成功。所以，我们的第84坦克团（前面不是第46坦克团吗，这里怎么成84了——译者注）接到命令去夺回该桥并一直守住，直到撤退部队全数过河。由于通信中断，团长叶辛（我至今还记得他的样子）亲自跑到坦克手面前发布命令。当时我是坦克连连长，所以我命令我最后的三个坦克组进攻桥附近的德军……这是我们最后一次坦克进攻，也是具有局部重要性的战斗中最激烈的一次，那对于我们团是相当严峻的一次考验。我们守了24个小时，直到被围部队到达北岸。

在Saulai城附近发生了一次重要的战斗。我们开始得到增援。到处都有谣言说切尔尼亚霍夫斯基将军的坦克师已经来增援我们了。但是这个师几乎没什么坦克，因为用作预备的坦克根本就不多。就这样，Saulai附近的这第一次主要战斗就爆发了，有将近1000辆装甲车辆、人员输送车和坦克参战。这是我亲眼看到、亲身参与并且仍然记得的第一次重要战斗。倒霉的是，我们不得不放弃Saulai，继续向更北边撤退。

---在西北方面军的战斗有什么特别的吗，您在哪里作战？

---嗯，我在西北方面军呆了实际上有900天。可能你会发现要是没地图的话是很难想象得出事态是怎么发展的，但是德军北方集团军群正扑向列宁格勒和博洛戈耶（连接莫斯科和列宁格勒的最大铁路枢纽，位于瓦尔代高地）。从那时起德军就策划从北面进攻莫斯科，从南面进攻列宁格勒。因此，西北方面军就成为二战中唯一的一支在高地掘壕固守然后就从没后退过的军队集群。德军没能突破我军防御到达莫斯科—列宁格勒铁路并将其作为一条主要的威胁方向。

在西北方面军战斗几乎是不可能的。你不能挖堑壕，只要挖10厘米深就见水了。到处都是沼泽。这里根本就没有公路和小径，连走人的都没有，更别说什么卡车和坦克了。实际上你绝对想不到我们是在什么条件下战斗的。杰出的苏联诗人米哈伊尔•马图索夫斯基写了很多有关西北方面军的诗。其中一首这样写道：“从此难见到士兵的书信，从此指挥员们写着‘在战斗中他倒下了……’”。

苏军伐倒树木修建了看起来跟灯心绒一样的道路好让坦克和卡车能抵达前线，也方便向部队运送弹药。不久我被任命为在沼泽地奋战的第38坦克团的侦察分队指挥员。我受伤了，等我伤愈后，我被任命为仅为第3重型坦克团的参谋长……我想不出他们是怎么把这些重型坦克送来的，每辆坦克重50吨，而这里是泥泞的沼泽地。所以灯心绒路又要加固以保证这些坦克能开到“起跑线”（我加了个比喻——译者注）。

当我们团沿着灯心绒路开往起跑线的时候，一位驾驶员兼机械师控制不住自己的车，车向右翻倒掉沼泽的水里没了。这张照片里基座上的就是那辆坦克，那是在许多年后才在沼泽里找到的。

……在西北方面军战斗是很艰难的。根据总参的官方统计，我们损失了450000人，但是瓦尔代高地的苏军一米土地也没让给敌人。当列宁格勒方面军部队在城市被围900天之后发起反攻时，我们方面军也参加了这次战斗。

当列宁格勒的封锁被打破时，西北方面军军队集群沿波罗的海各苏维埃共和国方向发动进攻并解放了苏联西北国土，如诺夫哥罗德州、列宁格勒州、立陶宛、拉脱维亚、爱沙尼亚等等。这就是西北方面军的英雄故事，这是一所学习怎么战斗的完美的学校，尽管我们从没占领什么重要的城市。苏联其他地方进行的主要战斗都是至关重要的，比如斯大林格勒会战和库尔斯克会战，而西北方面军的战斗只有局部重要性。官方的报告也是这么说的。但是这些战斗却造成了将近50万的损失，其中主要是年轻人。现在俄罗斯各地甚至乌克兰和哈萨克斯坦的搜寻队都到以前西北方面军战斗过的地方寻找他们同乡的遗物……你知道，我们是不埋葬死人的……德军大口径炮弹炸开的弹坑通常被用作坟墓。在大冬天我们甚至挖不开哪怕是一个小坑，因为地有一米深都冻上了。夏天我们也不能埋人因为下面全是水。说真的，确实有些高地适合做坟墓，但是这种高地太少，距离我们也很遥远。过去20年里数百支大学组织的、学校里的学生还有成年人的搜索队一直在这一地区寻找他们的祖父辈和父辈，用基督教的方式安葬他们。

---这种艰苦条件下你的军旅生活是怎样的呢？

---冬天时，坦克成员们住在离坦克很近的帐篷里。帐篷是用两件防雨斗篷搭成的，我们把柴油倒进空炮弹箱里，上面放一只灯芯，点燃后取暖。西北方面军这里冬天温度要到-30℃甚至更低。要睡坦克里是不可能的，里面太冷了，会冻死人的。实际上你连坦克都不敢碰一下，否则皮肤就永远粘装甲上了。我们不能挖战壕，所以必须用原木一个一个垒起来。这种匆忙建成的掩体既提供掩护又能保暖。我之前引述过的那位马图索夫斯基写过另一首诗：“这里的铅有土壤那么重，这里洒下的鲜血有水那么多”。这就是他对西北方面军状况的印象。他是完全正确的。

---战争期间您驾驶的是什么坦克？

---1939年我刚服役的时候开的是仿制英国维克斯坦克的T-26，那是当时最先进的坦克，大部分苏联坦克都是T-26。战争爆发时我们首次接收了BT-5坦克，不久换成负重轮很大的BT-7。当沿公路进行长途行军时可以将BT-7的履带取下，利用负重轮快速行军，就跟汽车似的。等接近战场时，乘员们再将履带安回去。BT-7的强大火力是很值得一吹的。不过

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