Azi Aslanov – General Ahead

This year Russia and the whole world mark the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The importance of the historic event is growing year by year. Memories about the war of people of the former USSR are supported by common values. Victory Day is an opportunity to commemorate all the people who fought or worked in behind the lines during the war. Vestnik Kavkaza remembers the people who led the country to Victory.

He went through the war and died when he was 35. He was called ‘Tank Suvorov’ for his ability to win due to his professionalism, incurring minimal losses. There were legends about his courage. He had many times got tanks out of entrapments; he was injured and contused, he was burning in a tank, but he stayed in the line of duty and led soldiers. “I prefer an attack on the flanks of the enemy to a direct attack, even though it can be attractive. Attacking the Germans on the flanks is my basic rule in a fight,” Azi Aslanov said.

The to-be twice Hero of the Soviet Union was born in winter 1910 in the ancient Azerbaijani town of Lenkoran, on the coast of the Caspian Sea near the Iranian border. When he was 13, his father died. To feed the family, Azi worked as a laborer in a brick factory. In a year, the active boy was sent to Baku, the Transcausasian Military Training School, and then to the Leningrad Cavalry School (the former Nikolai Cavalry College).

After five years in school, Aslanov was sent to head a troop of the cavalry regiment of the Third Bessarabia Cavalry Division n.a. Kotovsky, which was deployed in Berdichev, Ukraine. Then he went to advanced tank training courses for officers. Soldiers were steadily being shifted from horses to modern vehicles in the Soviet Union at the time.

In 1933 Aslanov served in an independent armored squadron near the Soviet-Polish border. It was the start of his military career. His first big war was the Soviet-Finnish war. The USSR tried to secure Leningrad, which was situated too close to the border ahead of the Second World War. Aslanov fought on the Karelian Isthmus, and broke through the Mannerheim Line.

The Great Patriotic War began when he was serving as a major on the western borders. In August 1941 his armored division broke through an entrapment. During the defense of Kiev, Major Aslanov personally led a squadron in an attack and was injured twice. However, in the winter, Aslanov fought for Moscow on the Volokolamskoe Front. During one of the fights, he drove a tank and withdrew armored vehicles and trucks with valuable ammunition from entrapment. He was made a Lieutenant-Colonel for the deed and went to fight for Crimea.

During fighting near Kerch he lost all his tanks and attacked the enemy in a tractor which was boxed-off with steel sheets and threatened the enemy by that so much.

In summer 1942 the armored corps of General Wittersheim began the operation ‘Panther’s Leap’ to occupy the pass along the Don and provide a breakthrough to Stalingrad. Aslanov lost 57 tanks in the fighting, but the Germans were repelled from the pass. Moreover, Soviet soldiers captured the bag of a German officer, in which the plan of operation Panther’s Leap was discovered. The documents were taken to the headquarters of the Stalingrad Front, and the operation wasn’t held.

In late autumn 1942 Aslanov’s regiment went to the Stalingrad-Salsk railway and cut it off, joining with the troops of the Southwestern Front and closing the ring of entrapment. 300 thousand soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht were trapped in the ‘Stalingrad Cauldron’. They undertook several attempts to break through the entrapment. ‘Don’ was the largest operation carried out by a group of German troops. They tried to reach the Germans who were trapped near Stalingrad. However, near the village of Verkhekumsky they faced Aslanov’s tank regiment.

As visibility was poor from a T-34, Aslanov often fought with an open manhole. He not only could see the enemy, but also his soldiers could see their commander.

As they were inspired by Aslanov sitting on a tank turret, they didn’t lose confidence even in the hardest moments. And there were many such moments for them and their commander.

When his tank was blown up, Lieutenant Colonel climbed out of it holding a gun and went on the attack with the infantrymen of Mikhail Diasamidze. Aslanov was made a Colonel for the elimination of the group of armies of Don. Moreover, he and Diasamidze were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.

The Battle for Stalingrad is thought to be the crucial battle in the whole of the Second World War. After Stalingrad, the tanks of Aslanov were sent to the West. In early 1943 they fought for Rostov, participating in the breakthrough on the Mius-Front, a defensive frontier of the Wehrmacht. Soviet troops had been trying to break it since December 1941. However, they managed it only in August 1943 during the Donbas Assault Operation. Aslanov was issued the Order of Alexander Nevsky for the operation. During battles in Ukraine, Aslanov was contused, but he continued to command his troops, forcing the Dnepr.

In spring 1944 he was made a Major-General of the Tank Troops. He was sent to fight fascists on the Third Belarusian Front. “Yit’s time to attack Pleshchenitsy” Aslanov told his soldiers. His soft southern “yit’s time” instead of “it’s time” made his soldiers laugh, and he always said this “yit’s time” to boost morale. When they were crossing the Berezina River, the bridge didn’t hold the weight of the tanks and collapsed.

Aslanov crossed the river on the roofs of sunken tanks by car with a squadron of gunners and 50 guerillas. He occupied Plashchenitsy and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.

The blistering attacks of Aslanov’s brigade were accompanied by slogans which were constantly heard on air: Yit’s time to occupy Vileyka! Yit’s time to occupy Smorgan! Yit’s time to go ahead! That was his nickname – General Ahead.

In summer 1944, during one month of fights for Belarus, the 35th tank brigade destroyed 45 tanks, 131 arsenals, 12 mortar batteries, 193 vehicles, 40 airplanes, 15 trains, and about 2600 soldiers and officers of the Werhmacht. They broke through to Vilnius. In the autumn they broke through the enemy’s defense near the Gulf of Riga.

On January 24th 1945, Aslanov fought with an open manhole again near the Latvian town of Priekule. He was shot dead. They said his last words were: “The tanks must go ahead. To victory!” He died three months before Victory Day…