Defensive battle near the height of 3234. History of the heroic deeds of the 9th company

It is believed that Soviet troops were introduced into the territory of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) at the request of the then government. Trying to hedge against the emergence of hostile forces on its borders, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to meet its neighbors and in December 1979 to introduce a limited contingent of its troops into the republic. Initially, no one in the USSR expected for many years of opposition, but it took 10 years to fight.

The Mujahideen (rebels) fought with government troops and units of the Soviet Army - the so-called Afghans and other foreigners who joined the armed formations and who underwent special training in the territory of neighboring Pakistan. Their sponsors were the United States, along with some Middle Eastern countries. With their help, the Mujahideen were armed, equipped, and provided financial support. This operation was called "Cyclone".

Prologue

In December 1987, one of the parts of the government troops of DRA was blocked in the border town of Khost (Paktia province) bordering Pakistan. After the withdrawal of Soviet soldiers from these places, local troops proved unable to withstand the strong onslaught of well-armed and trained gangs of Mujahideen. As a result, they not only lost control of the Host-Gardez road, but were also blocked in the Host itself. The command of the 40th Army decided to help the surrounded allies by supplying arms, ammunition and food by air. Subsequently, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces decided to conduct the military operation "Magistral" to unblock the Khost and the road adjacent to it.

It should be noted that this operation was carried out brilliantly. Even before the coming of the new year, both the city and the highway were taken under the control of our troops, and on December 30, 1987, the first supply columns appeared on the road.

The component of "Magistral"

The battle at the height of 3234 (1988) Was one of the components of Operation Magistral. The fact is that in this mountainous area this road was the only link connecting the region with the big earth, therefore it was heavily guarded.

The roadblocks and other types of security guard were constantly subjected to massive shelling and attacks by the Mujahideen. The battle described below for the height of 3234 became the most famous in Russia. First of all thanks to the film "9th company", shot by F. Bondarchuk.

Approximate chronology of events

The battle near the altitude 3234 occurred a few kilometers to the south-west from the middle of the road Goste-Gardez. Defend it was sent to the 9th Parachute Company of the 345th Regiment, consisting of 39 people, led by Senior Lieutenant Sergei Tkachev. As a reinforcement was a large-caliber machine gun with the calculation headed by the senior sergeant V. Alexandrov.

In many respects, the battle for the height of 3234 was won thanks to the work done: for a short time trenches, dugouts, communications were dug, areas of the enemy's probable approach were mined, and in the south side there was a minefield.

The beginning of the battle. First Attack

So, early in the morning on January 7, a defensive battle began at the height of 3234. Without any reconnaissance, as they were called, uneasily, the rebels took the first attack, during which they tried to knock down the guarding established here and open their way to the road. However, they miscalculated. The strong engineering structures built by the paratroopers and the resistance provided did not leave any chances for the transience of the battle. The Mujahideen realized that this nut was too strong for them.

A new wave of offensive

At 15.30 the battle at the height of 3234 continued with shelling, in which grenade launchers, mortars, recoilless guns were used. A few dozen ruptures of rockets were observed. Under cover of the shelling, the Mujahideen were able to go undetected to the positions of the company for 200 meters and go on the attack from both sides simultaneously. However, our fighters were able to fight back. The Mujahideen had to retreat.

However, the respite was short-lived. Regrouping and receiving reinforcements, they continued the battle for the height of 3234 (photo below). It began already at 16.30 and was more severe. To coordinate the attack, the mujahideen began to use walkie-talkies. In some areas it reached melee. The battle lasted about an hour. As a result, the attackers, having lost about a dozen dead and about three dozen wounded, were forced to roll back, not getting close to our positions by a centimeter.

From our side also there were first losses. As in armament, and in personnel. In particular, the large-caliber machine gun "Utes" was completely disabled. Killed the commander of the calculation of ml. Sergeant V. Alexandrov. During this attack on his position, the mujahideen concentrated the fire of all their grenade launchers - he was very much in the way of the attackers. After the machine gun was completely defeated, the commander ordered the fighters to retreat into the defense, and he remained in the masonry, covering the defense area. At the end of the battle, Vyacheslav Aleksandrov's body was found wounded, but the soldier's hands still held the machine, from which he fired. The defenders witnessed the death of a machine gunner. Subsequently, many of them said that the incident had a huge psychological impact on them.

Second Attack

Feeling the weakening of the fire, the mujahideen continued in less than an hour Battle at the height of 3234. The 9th company continued its defense. This time, the area protected by the platoon of Art. Lieutenant Sergei Rozhkov. They managed to replace the lost large-caliber machine gun with the connection of regimental artillery, allocated to help defending paratroopers. Fire corrector Ivan Babenko was able to build her work so competently that the Mujahideen had to once again roll back from the positions of the defending non-sowing chubby. During this attack, Anatoly Kuznetsov perished.

The Third Attack

The long and stubborn resistance of our paratroopers led the dushmans to rage. After a short break, at 19.10 local time, the battle for the height of 3234 (photo One of the episodes taken from the film Bondarchuk) was continued by a massive machine-gun fire-grenade launcher. The new attack turned out to be psychological - the Mujahideen were going full-length, regardless of the losses. However, in paratroopers such a trick called only smirks on tired faces. The third battle at the height of 3234 was repulsed with heavy losses for the attackers.

Fifth attack

The last attack that day, the fifth in a row, began shortly before midnight, at 23.10. She is considered the most fierce. Apparently, the attackers had some changes in the command, as this time the Mujahideen prepared more carefully. Clearing the passages on the minefield, and also using the explored dead spaces, they were able to get close to the positions of our paratroopers by less than 50 meters. In some areas, opponents could even throw grenades. However, it did not help them anyway. The last attack of the rebels on that day, like all the previous ones, was repulsed with great losses for the attacking side.

Last attack

The last, the twelfth in the account attack began at 3 am on January 8. In accordance with the emerging situation, it was the most critical. Not only that the enemy has already begun to appear on certain areas occupied by the paratroopers, so our fighters have practically run out of ammunition. The officers already decided to fire the regimental artillery on themselves. However, this was not required.

The rescue

Salvation came on time. Like in the movies. The reconnaissance platoon headed by Senior Lieutenant Aleksey Smirnov at once joined the battle and literally smashed the Mujahideen who had broken into our positions, and the joint attack with the defending paratroopers, organized along with it, threw the enemy far away.

Arriving reinforcements, which also delivered the ammunition so necessary to the paratroopers, and also the intensified fire of the regimental artillery decided the outcome of the whole battle. Comprehending, finally, what to take the height and get so necessary to them the way will not work, the dushmans began to retreat.

End of battle

Since that moment, the battle at height 3234 could be considered complete. Feeling the change in the layout of forces not in their favor, the rebels, having collected their dead and wounded, ceased their offensive actions.

According to some reports, support for the Mujahideen came even from the Pakistani armed forces. In particular, several helicopters constantly arrived in the neighboring valley, which was from a height of 3234 at a distance of about 40 km. On the territory of Afghanistan, they delivered reinforcements and ammunition, taking back the dead and wounded. Toward the end of the battle, the scouts were able to find a helicopter pad. A blow from the Smerch volley rocket launcher was launched along it. Hit was almost 100%. All helicopters on it were destroyed or damaged. The losses of the rebels proved to be very sensitive. The latter fact also had a positive impact on the outcome of the battle.

The howitzer artillery battery, consisting of three D-30 howitzers and three Acacia self-propelled guns, was of great help to the defending airborne troops. In total, the artillerymen fired about 600 shots. Being in the ranks of the paratroopers, the first lieutenant Ivan Babenko at the most critical moments of the battle managed to put the fire in such a way that the shells that fell close to the positions of our fighters inflicted damage only on the advancing Mujahideen. On the positions of the rebels the artillerymen fired about 600 shots.

Behind all that was happening on the battlefield closely followed by a nearby command, led by the commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant-General Boris Gromov. All the vicissitudes of the battle were personally reported to him by the commander of the 345 OpPD, Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant-Colonel V. Vostrotin.

To the results of the bout

The heroes of this day were paratroopers - 9 companies. The battle for the height of 3234 they won, as they say, clean. Having defended their positions, the guys became real heroes not only of the Soviet army, but also of the army of the Republic of Afghanistan. The battle for height 3234 was included in many textbooks as an example of competent tactical actions and courage.

After all, 39 paratroopers with the support of regimental artillery not only lasted against 200 (according to some - 400) mujahideen for more than 12 hours, bearing minimal losses, but also forced the latter to retreat.

Yes Yes exactly. In the film "9th company" the battle for the height of 3234, the missing persons, to put it mildly, are not fully reliable. However, we will not judge this too severely. It's still a movie. The film left only one person alive. In fact, only 6 people were killed, 28 people were injured, 9 of which were serious.

All paratroopers of the 9th company for combat at the height of 3234 were awarded with military decorations - the Orders of the Red Star and the Red Banner of Battle. The commander of the calculation of a large-caliber machine gun, Junior Sergeant VA Aleksandrov and rank-and-file AA Melnikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

All the Mujahideen, attacking the height of 3234, were dressed in black uniforms with black-red-yellow stripes on their sleeves - the distinctive sign of the detachment Black Stork. According to the encyclopedia, under this name was hiding a subdivision of Pakistani fighter-saboteurs. It was established in 1979 to counteract the Soviet troops deployed in Afghanistan. At different times it was led by Amir Khattab, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden. By the way, the latter also entered battle at height 3234 (photo of the event - in the article) and even was wounded.

According to other sources, people who committed grave crimes against Allah were hiding under this name. These include murder, theft, etc. To redeem their guilt in these cases was allowed only by their own blood. During the Afghan war, Europeans were seen among the participants of this unit. Most often they moved on jeeps Isuzu, in the back of which they installed a large-caliber machine gun.

Epilogue

On February 15, 1989, the last Soviet soldier left the territory of the DRA. However, this did not bring rest to the long-suffering people of the neighboring state. Despite many operations, the civil war there has not stopped. However, this is another story.