Kolesnikov A.A. It was in intelligence. Memories of the son of the regiment Alexander Kolesnikov (6 photos) Son of the regiment Alexander Kolesnikov. Knight of the Order of Glory, III degree. Combat path - from Slutsk to Berlin

In March 1943, my friend and I ran away from school and went to the front. We managed to climb onto a freight train, into a car with baled hay. It seemed that everything was going well, but at one of the stations we were discovered and sent back to Moscow.

On the way back, I again ran to the front - to my father, who served as deputy commander of a mechanized corps. Where I have been, how many roads I had to walk, travel by passing cars: Once in Nizhyn I accidentally met a wounded tankman from my father’s unit. It turned out that the priest received news from my mother about my “heroic” deed and promised to give me an excellent “lupka” when I met.

The latter significantly changed my plans. Without thinking twice, I joined the tankers who were heading to the rear for reorganization. I told them that my father was also a tanker, that he had lost his mother during the evacuation, that he was left completely alone: ​​They believed me, accepted me into the unit as the son of a regiment - into the 50th Regiment of the 11th Tank Corps. So at the age of 12 I became a soldier.

I went on reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines twice, and both times I completed the task. True, the first time he almost betrayed our radio operator, to whom he was carrying a new set of electric batteries for the walkie-talkie. The meeting was scheduled at the cemetery. Call sign: duck quack. It turned out that I got to the cemetery at night. The picture is terrifying: all the graves were torn apart by shells: Probably more out of fear than based on the real situation, he began to quack. I was croaking so hard that I didn’t notice how our radio operator crawled up behind me and, covering my mouth with his hand, whispered: “Are you crazy, guy? Where have you seen ducks quack at night?! They sleep at night!” Nevertheless, the task was completed. After successful campaigns behind enemy lines, I was respectfully called San Sanych.

In June 1944, the 1st Belorussian Front began preparations for the offensive. I was called to the corps intelligence department and introduced to the pilot-lieutenant colonel. The air ace looked at me with great doubt. The intelligence chief caught his eye and assured that San Sanych could be trusted, that I had been a “shot sparrow” for a long time.

The pilot lieutenant colonel was taciturn. The Germans near Minsk are preparing a powerful defensive barrier. Equipment is continuously transferred by rail to the front. Unloading is carried out somewhere in the forest, on a camouflaged railway line, 60-70 kilometers from the front line. This thread needs to be destroyed. But this is not at all easy to do. The reconnaissance paratroopers did not return from the mission. Aviation reconnaissance also cannot detect this branch: the camouflage is impeccable. The task is to find a secret railway line within three days and mark its location by hanging old bedding on the trees.

They dressed me in civilian clothes and gave me a bundle of bed linen. It turned out to be a homeless teenager exchanging underwear for food. Crossed the front line at night with a group of scouts. They had their own task, and soon we parted. I made my way through the forest, along the main railway. Every 300-400 meters there are paired fascist patrols. Pretty exhausted, I dozed off during the day and almost got caught. I woke up from a strong kick. Two policemen searched me and shook up the entire bale of linen. Several potatoes, a piece of bread and lard were discovered and were immediately taken away. They also grabbed a couple of pillowcases and towels with Belarusian embroidery. At parting they “blessed” me: “Get out before they shoot you!”

That's how I got off. Fortunately, the police did not turn my pockets inside out. Then there would be trouble: on the lining of my jacket pocket there was printed a topographical map with the location of railway stations...

On the third day I came across the bodies of the paratroopers that the pilot-lieutenant colonel had spoken about.

Soon my path was blocked by barbed wire. The restricted zone has begun. I walked along the wire for several kilometers until I came to the main railway line. We were lucky: a military train loaded with tanks slowly turned off the main path and disappeared between the trees. Here it is, a mysterious branch!

The Nazis disguised it perfectly. Moreover, the echelon was moving tail-first! The locomotive was located behind the train. This created the impression that the locomotive was smoking on the main line.

At night I climbed to the top of a tree growing at the junction of the railway line with the main highway and hung the first sheet there. By dawn I hung the bed linen in three more places. I marked the last point with my own shirt, tying it by the sleeves. Now it fluttered in the wind like a flag.

I sat on the tree until the morning. It was very scary, but most of all I was afraid of falling asleep and missing the reconnaissance plane. Lavochkin-5 appeared on time. The Nazis did not touch him so as not to give themselves away. The plane circled for a long time, then passed over me, turned towards the front and waved its wings. This was a prearranged signal: “The branch is marked, go away - we’ll bomb!”

He untied his shirt and went down to the ground. Having moved only two kilometers away, I heard the roar of our bombers, and soon explosions blazed where the enemy’s secret branch passed. The echo of their cannonade accompanied me throughout the first day of my journey to the front line.

The next day I went to the Sluch River. There were no auxiliary boats to cross the river. In addition, on the opposite side the enemy guard's guardhouse was visible. About a kilometer to the north, an old wooden bridge with a single railway track could be seen. I decided to cross it on a German train: I’ll hitch up somewhere on the brake platform. I've already done this several times. There were sentries on both the bridge and along the railway. I decided to try my luck at the siding where trains stop to let oncoming people pass. He crawled, hiding behind the bushes, fortifying himself with strawberries along the way. And suddenly, right in front of me - a boot! I thought it was German. He began to crawl back, but then he heard a muffled report: “Another train is passing, Comrade Captain!”

My heart was relieved. I pulled the captain's boot, which seriously frightened him. We got to know each other: we crossed the front line together. From the haggard faces, I realized that the scouts had been at the bridge for more than one day, but could do nothing to destroy this crossing. The approaching train was unusual: the carriages were sealed, the SS guards. They're carrying ammunition! The train stopped to allow an oncoming ambulance train to pass. The submachine gunners from the guards of the train with ammunition moved to the opposite side of us to see if there were any acquaintances among the wounded.

And then it dawned on me! He grabbed the explosives from the soldier’s hands and, without waiting for permission, rushed to the embankment. He crawled under the carriage, struck a match: And then the carriage wheels moved, and an SS man’s forged boot hung from the running board. It is impossible to get out from under the carriage: What can you do? He opened the coal box as he walked, the “dog walker”, and climbed into it along with the explosives. When the wheels thumped dully on the bridge deck, he struck a match again and lit the fuse.

There were only a few seconds left before the explosion. I look at the burning ignition cord and think: I’m about to be torn to pieces! He jumped out of the box, slipped between the sentries, and off the bridge into the water! Diving over and over again, he swam with the flow. Shots from the sentries from the bridge echoed the machine gun fire of echelon SS men. And then my explosive went off. Cars with ammunition began to break as if in a chain. The firestorm consumed the bridge, the train, and the guards.

No matter how hard I tried to swim away, I was overtaken and picked up by a fascist guard boat. By the time he landed on the shore, not far from the guardhouse, I had already lost consciousness from the beating. The brutal Nazis crucified me: my hands and feet were nailed to the wall at the entrance. Our scouts saved me. They saw that I had survived the explosion, but had fallen into the hands of the guards. Having suddenly attacked the guardhouse, the Red Army soldiers recaptured me from the Germans. I woke up under the stove of a burnt Belarusian village. I learned that the scouts took me off the wall, wrapped me in a raincoat and carried me in their arms to the front line. Along the way we came across an enemy ambush. Many died in the quick battle. The wounded sergeant picked me up and carried me out of this hell. He hid me and, leaving me his machine gun, went to get water to treat my wounds. He was not destined to return...

I don’t know how long I spent in my hiding place. He lost consciousness, came to his senses, and again fell into oblivion. Suddenly I hear: tanks are coming, by the sound - ours. I screamed, but with such a roar of caterpillars, naturally, no one heard me. I once again lost consciousness from overexertion. When I woke up, I heard Russian speech. What if the police were there? Only after making sure that they were his own did he call for help. They pulled me out from under the stove and immediately sent me to the medical battalion. Then there was a front-line hospital, an ambulance train and, finally, a hospital in distant Novosibirsk. I spent almost five months in this hospital. Having never completed treatment, I ran away with the tank crews who were being discharged, persuading my grandmother-nanny to bring me some old clothes to “take a walk around the city.”

“It Was in Intelligence” (1968) - a film (written by V. Trunin, with the participation of S. S. Smirnov, directed by Lev Mirsky) about childhood, mercilessly cut short by the war, about children on whose shoulders the war brought suffering and grief.
The hero of the film is a boy of 10–12 years old, fighting the Nazis like an adult. We do not know his story, we do not know what happened to his parents, we meet the boy in the midst of a fire, in the turmoil and haste of war. As happened in life, the soldiers become attached to a brave boy (played by Viktor Zhukov), who reminds each of them of home, family, and the worries of peacetime, which not everyone will live to see. Platoons and companies “fight” for the boy, for the opportunity to keep him, take care of him, protect him. A safe life behind the backs of caring “nannies” suits the boy least of all, and he rejoices at the moment when he is entrusted with an important task: the result of the big operation planned by the front will largely depend on his dexterity and courage.

The little soldier coolly deceives the Germans, who are unaware of the presence of the young scout in that very dense, green forest where they (along with their carefully camouflaged airfield) feel completely safe.
The young hero manages to escape from the Nazis. The boy has perseverance, without which the difficult soldier’s work will not be completed, but there is also boyish mischief. The daring challenge he unnecessarily throws at an already completely fooled enemy leads to disaster - having completed the most difficult task, the boy still ends up in the hands of the Germans, and we “root” for him no less than the scouts who are trying to help out and recapture their little one from the enemy. a brave helper. The boy's feat is great and reliable: the film is made seriously - you believe in the truth of the characters, and in the truth of the circumstances proposed by the authors.

The film was created based on true events from the combat biography of intelligence officer Alexander Ivanovich Kolesnikov (1931–2001). Alexander Ivanovich himself wrote about his capture by the Germans:

“No matter how hard I tried to swim away, I was overtaken and picked up by a fascist guard boat. By the time it moored to the shore, not far from the guardhouse, I had already lost consciousness from the beatings. The brutal Nazis crucified me: they nailed my hands and feet to the wall at the entrance. They saved me. me, our scouts. They saw that I had survived the explosion, but fell into the hands of the guards. Having suddenly attacked the guardhouse, the Red Army soldiers recaptured me from the Germans. I woke up under the stove of a burnt Belarusian village. I learned that the scouts had taken me from the wall and wrapped me in a raincoat. and carried in their arms to the front line. Along the way, we came across an enemy ambush. Many died in a quick battle. A wounded sergeant picked me up and carried me out of this inferno. He hid me and, leaving me his machine gun, went to get water to treat my wounds. Return he was not destined... How long I spent in my shelter, I don’t know. I lost consciousness, came to my senses, again fell into oblivion. Suddenly I heard: tanks were coming, by the sound - ours. I screamed, but with such a roar of the caterpillars, I Naturally, no one heard. I once again lost consciousness from overexertion. When I woke up, I heard Russian speech. What if the police were there? Only after making sure that they were his own did he call for help. They pulled me out from under the stove and immediately sent me to the medical battalion. Then there was a front-line hospital, an ambulance train and, finally, a hospital in distant Novosibirsk."

A program in which the story of A. Kolesnikov is told and he himself speaks

15.04.1987
Dear Alexander Alexandrovich!
20 years ago I read S.S. Smirnov’s story “San Sanych” in the Pravda newspaper.
This story shocked me, and while working as a teacher at school, I repeatedly read it to the children as an example of the heroic exploits of young pioneers during the Great Patriotic War.
I saved the story. And now, when my young pets have become pioneers, I turned to this story again. My guys decided to meet you and make friends. I was very happy with their decision, and we wrote to Moscow to clarify your address.
For 20 days the children lived in great anticipation. Every day they asked if there was an answer. And what a joy it was when today, right in math class, the senior pioneer leader came in and handed us the answer.
There was so much joy in their eyes and shouts of “Hurray!”
We are glad that you are alive and that there is hope to meet you. After all, they decided to be just as brave, persistent and achieve with their success in studies, behavior and in all pioneering affairs your consent to give the detachment your name:
detachment named after Sasha Kolesnikov.

I kindly ask you to respond to the telegram that the guys composed as a class and sent to you.
The guys will be happy.

With sincere respect, teacher of grade 3 "B"
Pushchino experimental secondary school of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences
Melnik Vera Nikitichna.
____________________________

Alexander Kolesnikov responded, but was unable to come to Pushchino.
Then Vera Nikitichnaya and some of her guys visited the veteran in Moscow.

“Alexander Alexandrovich showed us an album of his military friends - fellow soldiers, albums of meetings with pioneers.
He is a very famous veteran in our country and abroad.
10 squads in the country bear his name. He is known to the guys in Prague and the city of Puchov in Czechoslovakia.
Our meeting lasted 4 hours!
We were touched by the warm welcome of this wonderful family.
Valentina Nikolaevna, A.A.’s wife, and their daughters Katya and Yulia fed us a delicious lunch, and then A.A. walked us to the metro. We took pictures and he promised to come to our gathering.
When we went to the meeting, we were very worried, and when we met, it seemed that we had known A.A. for a long time, it was so easy for us in his family.
Two weeks later we met Alexander Alexandrovich Kolesnikov in the city of Pushchino.
The meeting took place at the Molodost cinema. Children from three Pushchino schools came to the meeting. The meeting was very interesting. In conclusion, the guys watched the film “It Was in Reconnaissance,” which was based on the story of Alexander Alexandrovich, the son of the 50th Guards Tank Regiment of the 1st Belorussian Front."
_______________________

Before the summer offensive of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in 1944, the reconnaissance group was given the task of blowing up the railway line behind German lines through which they supplied this section of the front.
22 people took on the task. The captain of the detachment was warned that there would be another person who was entrusted with his task to cross the front line with them. Imagine his surprise when this man turned out to be a boy of about 12 years old. On enemy territory, the boy immediately disappeared. And he appeared again only on the fourth day.
For sabotage, the captain chose a small siding in front of the river, across which a single-track railway bridge was thrown. Since getting to it turned out to be difficult due to the triple guard, the detachment divided into two groups to look for approaches from different sides.
The captain and his men remained at the crossing.
Then, quite unexpectedly, the boy found them. The captain wanted to order him to go on his way, but at that moment a train with reinforced security approached. All the carriages were closed, apparently containing shells.
The train stood on the track closest to the captain's ambush and waited for the oncoming one.
Soon, a medical train arrived from the front and the guards from the first train approached it to examine the wounded. The next moment the boy demanded explosives and, grabbing the kit, left the shelter. A couple of seconds later he had already dived under the unguarded train. The experienced captain, who did not have time to really figure out anything, now eagerly peered at the figure of the brave and quick-witted boy making his way under the carriages.
After another 15 seconds, the train started moving and the security guards began jumping onto the brake pads. And the young scout managed to hide in one of the boxes under the carriage. The train slowly moved towards the bridge, which was 800 meters away. When the train was already over the river, an explosion was heard, followed by the continuous roar of exploding carriages with ammunition. The carriages were torn as if in a chain, so that the bridge shattered.
At the crossing, panic arose and shooting began.
The captain decided to leave and join the second group.
Three hours later they met a messenger from another detachment, to whom he reported that just before the explosion he had seen a man jump from the bridge into the water. The Germans who noticed him immediately opened fire and bullets smacked around the boy’s head. Then the coast guard boat, turning on the siren, swam at full speed towards him and picked him up from the river.
The commander of the second group decided to follow this ship along the shore. They saw that the soldiers landed near the guard house and dragged the prisoner there. The order was given to attack the Germans and save the little scout. There were 7 enemies and they were dealt with quickly. But the boy was still alive and moaning. His legs were covered in blood, his clothes were torn off. The arms and legs were nailed to the wall.
And one of the tormentors beat his fingers with a hammer.
The scouts quickly took it off, wrapped it in a raincoat and began to leave.
Sanya woke up about a few days later in the underground of a Russian stove on a farm burned by the Germans. Somewhere nearby there was a road, and enemy troops were walking along it. Next to him lay a scout who joyfully said, “He’s alive, Christik?!”
But San Sanych was so weak and exhausted that he did not ask why he was called Christik.
When it got dark, the scout said that he would go to get food, crawled into the darkness and did not return.
Sanya lay there, then losing consciousness, then coming to his senses. It is unknown how many days passed, but one day he heard Russian speech and, gathering his strength, began to scream. He was pulled out from under the stove and sent to the hospital.

Sanya Kolesnikov, a 3rd grade student at a Moscow school, was barely 12 years old when in the fall of 1943 he ran away from home to the front. By trains and passing cars, he reached the front line and, saying that his father was fighting, and he had lost his mother during the evacuation, he was accepted as a student into the 50th Tank Regiment of the 11th Guards Tank Corps. At that time, there were many such children who had lost their parents in front-line units.
His comrades tried to protect the boy from danger. But San Sanych took advantage of every opportunity to get into the battle formations of the tankers. He especially made friends with the scouts and more than once asked them to take him on a mission. At first they just laughed.
But in intelligence, as you know, there are circumstances when an adult, acting in the rear, will inevitably arouse suspicion, while a smart boy will not attract attention to himself and will complete the task much more successfully. That mission, when he joined a group of scouts sent to blow up the railway, was already his third.
After being discharged from the hospital, he returned to the front to his regiment. But he did not say that he blew up a train and a bridge, because he was afraid that he would be considered a braggart.
When the war ended, San Sanych was not yet fourteen years old, and he wore two military orders and five medals on his chest. Including medals “For the liberation of Warsaw”, “For the capture of Berlin”, “For victory over Germany”.
In all the regalia, in the shoulder straps of a senior sergeant, with a soldier's bag over his shoulders and a suitcase of gifts, he came on vacation to Moscow, to his mother, to whom he had never written all these years - he was afraid that he would be sent home from the front.

He later said: for a long time he did not dare to enter his house on Begovaya Street. I was never more afraid of anything than this meeting with my mother. I realized how much grief he brought her! He entered silently, just as I was taught to do in reconnaissance. But my mother’s intuition turned out to be subtler - she turned around sharply, raised her head and for a long, long time, without looking away, looked at me, at my tunic, at the awards.
-You are so small, you defended our homeland! “I’m so proud of you,” she said.
Sashka hugged his mother and they both cried...

23 years have passed since then.
Alexander Alexandrovich lived in Moscow, worked as an installation engineer at the Energougol trust.
He was 35 years old and married. His daughter was 17 years old and his son was 13.
Despite two shell shocks, he was in good health, although he suffered from headaches and memory loss.

And only in a conversation with the writer Sergei Sergeevich Smirnov, who decided to find him, did he find out what happened to him after falling into the water from the bridge.
Only now did he understand why he had barely noticeable scars on his arms and legs - traces of the nails with which he was nailed to the wall, and why the ends of his fingers and toes became unnaturally large, as if swollen. Doctors thought it was a disease, but in fact it was traces of blows from a German soldier with a hammer.

He did not even have a secondary education, but the director of the trust said about him: “He is a very capable and gifted specialist. Kolesnikov made two valuable inventions and several important proposals for improvement.
His modesty is extraordinary - he never even wore order bars in his team."

Friend, the boy in front of you is a hero who was drawn to the front to fight the enemy.
For this, he even violated the will of his father, who said before leaving for war - “Take care of your mother, Sanka!”

Why do you think he did this?
How could the mother feel, thinking that her son was missing?
Why did Sanka return to his regiment after the hospital?
Why was Sanka afraid of meeting his mother?

Friend!
Be obedient to your parents!
Love your loved ones and take care of them!
If you made a mistake, did a bad thing, have the courage to ask for forgiveness.
Learn modesty!
Learn resourcefulness!
Learn to overcome your fears for a good purpose!
Cherish the moment - because one moment sometimes brings victory!
Remember that Jesus Christ gave Himself to be crucified for the sake of victory in the greatest war - between good and evil!

When the war ended, the young partisan hero wore two orders and five medals on his chest. Autumn 1943...

Sergeant Egorov traveled to his unit by passing cars. He was returning from the hospital. On the way, he picked up a boy of about twelve - a fellow traveler. The boy ran away from home to the front. The sergeant initially thought of handing him over to the patrols at the commandant’s office, but the boy had already run away from both the patrols and the commandant, and Egorov decided to take him with him - maybe he would settle down with the tankers.

The further they walked, the more clearly the front became felt. Trucks with soldiers, tanks, and tractors with artillery moved along the roads. Towards - ambulance vans with the wounded... There are fresh craters along the roadsides. The ashes of devastated and burned villages. Sanka walked, trying not to pay attention to the roar of guns. - Uncle Sergeant! Is the front close?

The front is where it is needed,” answered the sergeant.
- What tank did you fight in? - asked Sanka. - On the T-34?
- Which one should you use? Do you know the song about the three tankmen?
- Three cheerful friends?
- Well, yes. This is us, that means: me, my commander Yura Golovin and our rifleman Petro Kolenich. If they like you, it's a done deal. Understood?
- Why don’t you understand? Will they hire you as a tank driver?
“Maybe a tank driver,” Yegorov said through a smile. - How will you show yourself...
The 50th Tank Regiment of the 11th Guards Tank Corps was located in the forest.

When we got to the tankers, the boy couldn’t see anything. It was dark. It was pouring rain. Camouflaged tanks blended into the darkness of the forest.
Sanka and Egorov went into the dugout.
The dim light from the smokehouse fell on the soldiers sleeping in the dugout. They slept in their clothes, sitting on the bunks at random. Half of the bunks were empty.
The sergeant carefully walked around the sleeping people and looked into their faces. Nobody woke up.

In the far corner of the dugout, Egorov noticed a tanker. He sat with his back against the wall, and without blinking, looked with wide open eyes at one point. His eyes were without eyebrows or eyelashes.
- Yurka! - Egorov joyfully rushed to the tanker.
- Who is there?
- Me, Comrade Lieutenant. Didn't you recognize it?
- Yegorushka! He's back!

The lieutenant awkwardly hugged the sergeant and sighed noisily, holding back the lump of tears that rolled into his throat.

Egorov looked at the lieutenant - traces of burns in pink spots were scattered all over his face. Egorov felt uneasy.
- Where is Petro, comrade lieutenant? The lieutenant looked away. The sergeant took off his cap and sat down on the bunk.
- Who else?
- Everyone who remains is here...

Egorov silently looked around the dugout.
- Yesterday they gave us a light, Yegorych... Three of our cars burned down.

Sanka sniffled behind the sergeant’s back...
- Who is that with you? - asked the lieutenant.
“Hello,” Sanka said quietly and looked out from behind.
- Who is this? I do not see. It hurts dark.
- Yes, there’s only one guy. We were traveling in the same train. Smart little guy...
- What?
- Well, the guy... stuck on the road. There are no parents. He lost it, he says... And he went to the front...
- How many years?
“Twelve,” Sanka answered for Yegorov, “and a half.”
“In general, you can give him all fourteen...” said Egorov. “He’s a strong guy.”
- Are you serious?
- Yura, listen!.. The patrols caught him before my eyes. He ran away from them. He will run away another time, and a third time...
- Listen, sergeant! - the lieutenant said sharply. - Now take the boy and stomp back. Do you understand me, Sergeant?
- Got it, Comrade Lieutenant...
- Stop! Well, where are you going? - The lieutenant said looking at the boy. - Your Sanka can barely stand on his feet... And you yourself... Feed him and sleep. I'll take you in the morning. Anyway, I was ordered to the medical battalion...

At dawn, Sanka carefully climbed out of the dugout. I looked around - no one.
There was silence all around. The sun was breaking through the trees, and a light fog shrouded the pine trees.
Far from the dugout, about a hundred paces away, a sentry was moving. He then disappeared behind the trees, then reappeared like a ghost.

Sergeant Yegorov jumped out of the dugout and, looking around, began shouting:
- Sanka! Sanek! Sa-nek! Hey, sentry! Have you seen the boy here?..
- Air! - suddenly an alarm sounded through the forest. - Air!

The hysterical, aching rumble of German planes was approaching.
Sanka hurriedly ran through the forest further and further from the dugout, from time to time looking up at the sky.
The drone of the planes seemed to urge him on. Anti-aircraft guns thundered.
The forest was filled with the howl of dive bombers.
Bomb explosions were heard one after another, first in front, then behind...
Sanka kept running. It seemed to him that the planes had come to bomb only him, Sanka.

It crashed somewhere nearby.
Sanka was picked up by a wave and thrown to the bottom of a deep crater.
He woke up from the cutting sound of a descending plane. The German bomber fell down, leaving behind a black plume of smoke. The white canopy of a parachute hung over the forest.
The German fell into a crater where Sanka lay crouched. The canopy of the parachute covered both of them.
The pilot, seeing the boy at the bottom of the crater, began hastily unfastening his pistol holster.
Sanka, picking up sand in his hands, threw it in the German’s eyes and rushed away from the crater. The blinded German screamed wildly and began to shoot at random.
At that moment, someone jumped over Sanka, jumped on top of the pilot, knocking him off his feet.

Sanka barely dodged the boots of the fighters. Choosing the right moment, Sanka hit the German on the head with a stone. The German twitched and fell silent. Egorov got out from under him. He sat down on the ground and looked angrily at Sanka.
- Alive? - the sergeant asked concerned.
- Alive…
- Run around with me some more...
“I won’t do it again,” said Sanka.
- Are you his? How?
“Oh, with a stone,” Sanka pointed to his weapon.
-Who asked you? - Egorov said angrily. - Who asked you? We should have taken him alive!.. And you? Maybe you think that I wouldn’t get along with him? A?
“No,” answered Sanka. The German groaned and tossed around.
- Alive! - Sanka shouted joyfully.
- I see it myself. Do your trousers hold up without a belt?
- No.
- Doesn't matter. Give me the belt! They tied the pilot's hands behind his back and, getting out of the crater, moved through the forest. A German walked dejectedly ahead, with Egorov and Sanka behind him.

The German pilot entered the dugout under the escort of a boy.
“Hello,” Sanka said, turning to the captain, who was sitting at the table and rolling off an old bandage from his hand.

There were about ten other fighters in the dugout.
The captain looked at Sanka, at the German and, surprised, said.
- Interesting pies with kittens! Hello baby! Where are you from?
“Uncle will come now,” Sanka continued in confusion, “he will tell you everything.”

Egorov flew into the dugout.
- Comrade captain!..
“I see,” said the captain.
“But he took the Fritz,” Yegorov nodded at the boy.

The captain looked at Sanka again. He held up his pants with both hands.
-What's your name, hero?
“Alexander Kolesnikov,” Sanka answered readily, having already become accustomed to the situation.
- How’s your dad?
- Alexander Kolesnikov.
“San Sanych, that means?.. So San Sanych, sit down for now,” and the captain stood up, giving his place to Sanka. - Sit down, sit down. Can you twist a bandage?
- I can.

The captain handed Sanka a bandage, walked up to the prisoner and untied his hands.
Sanka was wrapping the bandage, and he kept glancing at the captain. Will he drive away or not? Well, don’t they all understand that he, Sanka, really needs to be at the front... Or maybe he won’t drive him away? Still, they brought the “language”...

The captain ordered the prisoner to empty the contents of his pockets.
The pilot, looking around cowardly, hastened to carry out the officer's orders.
A leather wallet, a lighter, a pack of cigarettes, a crumpled chocolate bar appeared on the table...

The fighters came closer to the table. One of them took the chocolate and tore off the wrapper. Catching Sanka’s gaze, he handed him the chocolate.
“Thank you...” Sanka nodded and pounced on the chocolate.

And then from somewhere appeared a pot of porridge, pieces of black bread, sugar, a mug of boiling water...
- Eat, eat, San Sanych. The scouts have plenty of food...

Sanka ate and was not shy. And as soon as he looked up from his food and raised his head, the kind, encouraging eyes of the fighters looked at him.

The next day in the evening the scouts had a bathhouse. We washed thoroughly.
Sanka, hiding behind a barrel, splashed cold water from there.
- Hey, Sanka! - they shouted to him. - Don't spoil!..

Two fighters caught Sanka and, laying him out on wooden floors, began to scrub him off with a washcloth.
- Oh, mommies, oh, it tickles! Oh, I can't! - the boy shouted and tried to wriggle out of the strong hands of the washers.
“It’s okay, be patient with the Cossack,” Yegorov said. - Now we’ll douse you with some cold water. You will know how to wet yourself.

When the scouts, steamed and dazed from the heat, rolled into the dressing room, Sanka was confused:
-Where are my clothes? - he asked. All around on the benches lay only military uniforms...

A crowd left the bathhouse. Sanka walked ahead of the scouts. He was wearing a brand new uniform that was neatly tailored to his height.

Egorov mischievously commanded:
- Attention! Similar to Sanka!
- Look, guys, a career military man.

...One day, during a break between battles, the fighters lined up in a forest clearing.
A table covered with a raincoat was set up in front of the formation.
The regiment commander, Major Velichko, called the soldiers out of the ranks and presented them with awards. With a clear marching step they approached the table, received awards, and, like an echo, the words echoed through the forest:
- I serve the Soviet Union!

Before calling the next soldier, the regiment commander paused and, holding back a smile, read with enthusiasm:
- Pupil Kolesnikov!

Sanka stood on the left flank among the scouts. He didn't immediately realize that it was his.
- Pupil Kolesnikov! - repeated the major.

Sanka was pushed out of line.
- San Sanych, stomp!
- I?..

Sanka overcame his excitement and, trying to walk clearly, walked towards the table.
The line fell silent and tensed like a string.
- Alexander Alexandrovich Kolesnikov is awarded the medal “For Courage”!..

Sanka didn’t have enough breath to answer, as it should be in such cases.
The major took a medal out of the box and pinned it on Sanka’s chest. Then he picked up the boy and put him on a stump next to him.

Sanka looked at the soldiers standing in formation... How many of them there were, new comrades, how their eyes smiled and encouraged.
- Comrade soldiers and commanders! We turned to the command for permission to adopt Sasha Kolesnikov in our regiment. Today such permission was received. From now on, Sasha received all types of allowance and was assigned to our regiment!..

So Sasha Kolesnikov became a graduate of the 50th regiment.

At first, when the regiment reached the front line and the offensive began, they tried to protect Sanya from danger. He was sent to “monitor” the repair of tanks at the base, then he was sent on an errand to the corps headquarters. But San Sanych, as all the soldiers and commanders now lovingly called him, took advantage of every opportunity to get into the battle formations of the tankers.

He especially made friends with the scouts and more than once asked to be taken on missions. But captain Serov, whom Sanka met in the dugout, did not want to listen to anything.

Then Sanka decided to act on his own.

One day the scouts went on their next mission.

The captain explained the situation.

Three people went on the mission. It was urgent to give the radio operator, abandoned behind the German lines, batteries for the radio - the power ran out and communication stopped.

Sanka hovered around the scouts, trying to find the right moment to ask for a mission. Captain Serov noticed him and immediately realized that Sanka could escape with the scouts.

Pupil Kolesnikov! - the captain called.

Here! - responded the delighted Sanka.
- That's it, San Sanych! - said the captain. - Take an urgent report to regimental headquarters. Personally to Major Velichko. If something happens, destroy it!

The captain tore a piece of paper out of his notebook. Perched on a tree stump, he quickly wrote something, put it in an envelope and sealed it.
- On the! Instantly!

Sanka flew like a bullet towards the headquarters, hiding from everyone who got in his way.
At headquarters, the major received the report and read it. Then he called the messenger and, handing him a note, ordered: “Make orders there...”
“Let’s go, warrior,” the messenger took Sanka by the hand, like a little one. - Do you want compote?

He brought the boy to his dugout and placed a mug of compote in front of him.
Sanka sat down at the table and suddenly saw a note on the table left by the messenger. “Detain until the morning...” Sanka read.
Moving away the mug of compote, the boy looked at the orderly. He was fiddling with his tunic by his trestle bed...

Three scouts - Lieutenant Kovalchuk, Sergeant Egorov and Private Bragin, leaving behind the front line of our trenches, crawled further and further to the German side. Having passed the neutral zone on their bellies, they approached the barbed wire in single file, one after another.

In one place, sappers cut out a barely noticeable passage. Kovalchuk, letting Bragin and Egorov pass ahead, looked back. A barely perceptible rustle was heard to the side.

Everyone froze, listened, nothing. It seemed...

Here are the enemy trenches. German speech and music were heard. The Germans were apparently playing a gramophone in the dugout. The scouts continued to crawl further.

Suddenly, a suspicious rustling sound was heard again behind them. Kovalchuk signaled to stop. Taking out the Finn, he disappeared into the darkness... He returned, dragging the boy by the collar, like a puppy, who was patiently silent. It was Sanka in his old clothes with a knapsack over his shoulders.

The scouts looked at each other. Kovalchuk was about to give Sanka a good slap on the head... But at that moment, out of the darkness, the figure of a German in a helmet approached them...

Bragin flew up to the fascist in one leap and hit him with the Finn. The German fell.
- Polundra! - Kovalchuk commanded in a whisper, and all four rushed away, rolled into a ravine and lay down...

We reached the town where the radio operator was in a safe house in the evening.
Sergeant Egorov went on reconnaissance. They waited for him for a long time. He returned at about three in the morning and said that he couldn’t get into the apartment. The Germans arrest all men over 15 years old. Roundup after roundup.

They sent Sanka.
Under the guise of a beggar, Sanka walked through the streets, found an apartment, handed the batteries to the girl radio operator and returned to the scouts who were waiting for him at the appointed place.

The task was completed.
And although San Sanych was punished by Captain Serov for his self-will, the command awarded him the second medal “For Courage”.
One day San Sanych was called to the regiment headquarters. Here, in addition to Major Velichko and Captain Serov, there was an aviation lieutenant colonel unfamiliar to the boy.

While Sasha announced his arrival, everyone was silent and looked at him.

Then the lieutenant colonel approached Sanka.

Let's introduce you! Lieutenant Colonel Chuvilov.

“Hello,” Sanka said confusedly.

Captain Serov winked at him encouragingly: “It’s okay, don’t drift…”

We have one thing for you, comrade student...” said the lieutenant colonel and fell silent.

Captain Serov turned away.

The adults seemed to not know how to start an important conversation with this little soldier. And Sanka stood at attention and waited.

The regiment commander went to the window and began to light a cigarette. He was very worried... Finally, Lieutenant Colonel Chuvilov explained the task...

In the summer of 1944, our army beat the Nazis in all directions.

Before the summer offensive of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, the command assigned the regimental reconnaissance officers a special task...

In the rear of the Germans, a railway stretched to the front. According to intelligence reports, it became known that somewhere from this road a small branch built by prisoners of war extends into the forest.

Trains with tanks and ammunition turned onto this branch. Our reconnaissance planes could not detect it from the air. It ran through the forest and was carefully camouflaged from above and heavily guarded from the ground.

And at the end of the branch - apparently in the depths of the forest - there were unloading platforms. There the Germans concentrated equipment and ammunition depots.

All this had to be destroyed before the offensive of our troops. But the pilots still did not know where this mysterious branch began and ended...

Sanka crawled to the highway, got out onto it and, as if nothing had happened, walked towards the junction. A German armored personnel carrier and a direction finder appeared from around the bend. Having caught up with the boy, the cars stopped, and an officer climbed out of the hatch of the armored personnel carrier.
- Hey, boy! - he shouted. - Com, com.

Sanka calmly walked up to the cars. In his old clothes, in worn-out shoes tied with ropes, with a knapsack in his hands, he was no different from the refugee boys begging along the roads of the German-occupied areas.
- You maht do? What were you doing here? You!
Sanka, silently, untied the knot, pointed to the crusts of bread, apple cores...
The officer winced in disgust...
- Go to the house! You! Home! - the officer shouted to Sanka. - Go! And then poo-poo!

The armored personnel carrier slowly moved along the highway.
Sanka turned his back to the cars and walked along the highway as if nothing had happened...
Suddenly he stopped, turned around - no one! Quacked like a duck. And immediately, silently, like ghosts, the scouts in camouflage suits crossed the highway and disappeared into the forest.

Sanka parted with the group of scouts at the river and moved to the railway line on his own. He swam across two rivers and, making his way through the forest, came across barbed wire barriers.

Somewhere here, a branch branched off from the junction that the scouts were looking for...

Carefully hiding from the guards, he walked along the barbed wire for about two kilometers and discovered the final station of the railway line: platforms, tanks, ammunition depots.

Sanka had to climb trees in different places around this area and tie pillowcases on their tops - identification marks for our aircraft. They will fly by early in the morning and if they notice the signs, they will shake their wings.
When it got dark, he climbed the trees and hung up the pillowcases.
Until dawn, Sanka remained in a tree, not far from the railway line. To avoid falling, he tied himself to the trunk and fell asleep.

The little soldier was sleeping soundly.
And dreams, for the first time in all this time, came one after another and carried him away to his childhood, as if there had been no war, no air raids, no bombings...

Sanka sailed over Moscow, along its streets, past his school, past the hippodrome on Begovaya Street, where he ran with the boys from the yard to look at the horses... This is the house in which he lived. He saw his mother in the window... She was telling him something, calling him, but he didn’t hear and kept swimming and swimming...

And everything suddenly disappeared. Sanka rubbed his eyes and looked around: the tops of the trees were rustling all around, rolling in waves from the wind, and above all this sea of ​​greenery the morning sky was brightening.
Sanka listened and in the silence of the morning heard the distant rumble of an airplane. The rumble was getting closer. Sanka remembered that now is probably the time for our scout to fly.
A hawk glided in the dawn sky. He walked away from the forest, then, descending, flew over Sanka, pumping his wings.
"Clear! Understood! - flashed through the boy’s mind. - The task is completed!..”

German anti-aircraft guns began to bark somewhere to the side, but the hawk had already gained altitude.
Sanka needed to leave immediately and as far as possible from this place. Our bombers were supposed to arrive any minute, and then...
Sanka wanted to get down from the tree, but suddenly a German speech was heard very close by.

The soldiers were stationed under the tree. Putting down the carbines and taking off their boots, they rested, talking about something.
One of them lay down on his back, put his hands under his head and looked at the sky... Suddenly he jumped up.
Both listened. The distant powerful rumble of airplanes filled the silence of the morning. The Germans started to flee...
Sanka slipped from the tree and rushed in the other direction.
The forest was buzzing with explosions.

The bombers roared over the forest, freeing themselves from their cargo. Panic-stricken Germans rushed about in the fire.

Sanka reached the railway line and crawled along it, at times sliding into fresh craters to escape bomb explosions.
And the scouts were located about twenty kilometers from the bombing site in an ambush at the railway bridge. They knew nothing about the task that Sanka received, and were preparing to carry out their own - to blow up the bridge...

They lay in the bushes for the second day, watching the guards of the bridge. And suddenly…
- San Sanych! - Egorov gasped, holding back a cry. “Where from?”
- From the other world. Hello! - Sanka smiled. He just crawled out of the bushes.
“Little devil,” Yegorov said joyfully. - I knew he would find us.
- What's this? - the boy pulled a canvas bag towards him.
- Don't touch it! Explosives!
- That’s what I need. Stay healthy...
- Stop!

But Sanka picked up his bag and ran to the crossing in front of the bridge, where two trains stopped. One was a friend. Another, from the front, was carrying the wounded. The freight train's guards were distracted for several minutes, looking at the wounded...

The scouts saw Sanka crawl to the embankment, climb under the freight train and climb into a box under the carriage.
At that same second, the train jerked and, picking up speed, went towards the bridge... The train with the wounded also left the siding.
The freight train passed the line of barriers... The locomotive was approaching the bridge...

Putting the bag on the bottom of the box, Sanka took out the fuse and began to set it on fire. This was not possible right away: it was uncomfortable in the box, and besides, at the joints of the rails the car shook, and the matches kept breaking.

The distance to the bridge was decreasing.
“Will I really not have time?” - Sanka asked himself.
He bit off half the cord with his teeth to make it shorter. Finally lit it. The cord hissed...
The locomotive drove onto the bridge and pulled the train behind it.
Sanka looked down - sleepers flashed above the water...
A small figure fell from the bridge into the water, and shots were immediately heard from the guards. Following them, a powerful explosion drowned out everything - the cars with shells began to explode, flying into each other, falling into the water...
When the smoke from the explosions cleared, the scouts saw that the bridge had disappeared.

Panic began at the crossing.
The guards saw a man fall into the water. And now a group of soldiers rushed to the river.
The scouts stood up to their full height and opened fire on the fleeing Germans...

A boat moved from the opposite bank of the river, disappeared around a bend, and there German soldiers picked up Sanka and pulled him aboard the boat. He was unconscious.
“This is impossible,” said the fascist officer, looking first at the boy and then at the destroyed bridge, where shells were still exploding in the carriages that had collapsed into the water.

The scouts, having crossed the river, carefully crawled to a small house and lay down. They saw how the boat moored to the shore, how the Germans brought the boy into the house and set up guards.
Lieutenant Zavarzin quietly commanded:
- Leave the machine guns. Take only knives. Two are with me, the rest are covering.

Without making a sound, having removed the security of the house, the scouts carefully approached the doors.
Egorov was the first to burst into the guardhouse. What he saw made him scream in horror and hatred: Sanka was crucified on the wall, and the fascist was beating the boy’s fingers with a hammer.

The executioners were dumbfounded by the appearance of Soviet intelligence officers. Before they had time to come to their senses, they were already lying dead on the floor.
Without hiding their tears from each other, Zavarzin, Egorov and Bragin took Sanka off the wall, wrapped him in a raincoat and began to leave.
Sasha Kolesnikov was unconscious. He moaned occasionally and kept asking in a barely audible voice:
- Drink! Drink!

At the river through which it was necessary to cross, the scouts ran into an ambush.
A shootout ensued. While saving the boy, almost everyone died in this battle. Egorov also died.
While the group fought back, two scouts went deep into the forest, carrying Sanka away on a raincoat.

Sanka was treated for a long time in a hospital in Novosibirsk. And when he got stronger and got to his feet, he returned to his unit again.
Our troops have already beaten the Germans in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, completely liberating Soviet land from the fascist invaders.
A graduate of the 50th regiment, Sasha Kolesnikov, walked a lot along military roads. He fought as a radio operator in a tank near Berlin. He was seriously wounded. I ended up in the hospital again.

War is terrible in itself and neither the gender nor the age of the soldier matters. The main thing is his inner core. San Sanych Kolesnikov had it made of steel...

It was one thousand nine hundred and forty-one. German soldiers walked across our land, burned our villages and towns, took children and women captive. Sashka’s father went to the front and told him: “Take care of your mother, Sanka!” The boy really wanted to go to the front with his father, but no one talked to him seriously. Fifth-grader Vovka, who seemed very mature, was leaving for duty in the people's squad, and once advised him: “And you run away...” The red-haired Vovka joked, and Sanka got into the soul. But in the winter his mother fell ill, and he spent all the time with her. I decided: “I’ll finish first grade and run away.” Then another war year passed. Mom completely recovered and worked at the factory. My father wrote letters from the front and kept repeating: “If we win the war, the three of us will get together and never separate again.” Sanka wanted this to come true as soon as possible. And in the spring of forty-three, Sashka and his friend ran away from school lessons and went to war.....

They managed to board a freight train, but were soon caught and sent home. On the way, Sashka ran away from those accompanying him: no one could stop him, he was going to beat the Nazis... Having reached almost the very front, Sasha met tankman Egorov, who was returning to his regiment after the hospital. Sanka told him a sad, fictitious story that his father was also a tanker and was now at the front, and he lost his mother during the evacuation and was left completely alone. The tankman decided to bring Sasha to the commander, and he would decide what to do with him.

When Egorov told his commander about Sashka, how he wanted to beat the Nazis, how he ran away from patrols, how dexterous he was, he asked: “How old is the boy?” Egorov replied: “Twelve.” The commander said: “Such little ones have no place in the army. Therefore, feed the boy and send him to the rear tomorrow!” Sashka almost burst into tears from insult. All night he thought about what to do, and in the morning, when everyone was asleep, he got out of the dugout and began to make his way into the forest. Suddenly the command “AIR” was heard. It was German planes that began to bomb the positions of our troops. Fascist vultures flew directly overhead and dropped bombs. Sashka managed to hear Sergeant Yegorov looking for him in the distance and calling “Sashka! Where are you? Come back."

Bombs were exploding all around, and Sasha kept running and running. One bomb exploded very close and he was thrown by the wave into the crater from the exploding bomb. For several moments the boy lay unconscious, and when he opened his eyes he saw in the sky how a downed fascist bomber was falling, and a parachutist separated from it and landed directly on Sashka. The canopy of the parachute covered both of them. When the fascist saw the boy, he began to take out a pistol. Sashka contrived and threw a handful of earth in his eyes. The fascist lost his sight for some time and began shooting blindly. And then the incredible happened. Someone jumped over Sasha and grabbed the German. A struggle ensued, and when the German began to choke our soldier, Sashka took a stone and hit the fascist on the head. He immediately fell unconscious, and Sergeant Egorov crawled out from under him. They tied up the German and Egorov brought him to the commander. When the commander asked Egorov who took the “tongue,” he proudly replied: “SASHKA!”

So at the age of twelve, Sashka was enlisted as the son of the regiment - in the 50th regiment of the 11th tank corps. And he received his first combat award, the medal “FOR COURAGE,” which was presented to him by the commander in front of all the fighters...

The soldiers immediately fell in love with Sasha for his courage and determination, treated him with respect and called him San Sanych. He went on reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines twice, and both times he completed the task. True, the first time he almost betrayed our radio operator, to whom he was carrying a new set of electric batteries for the walkie-talkie. The meeting was scheduled at the cemetery. Call sign: duck quack. He reached the cemetery at night. The picture is terrifying: all the graves were torn apart by shells... Probably more out of fear than necessary, the boy cackled so hard that he did not notice how our radio operator crawled up behind him and, covering Sashka’s mouth with his hand, whispered: “Have you gone crazy, guy? Where have you seen ducks quack at night?! They sleep at night!” Nevertheless, the task was completed.

In June 1944, the 1st Belorussian Front began preparations for the offensive. Sasha was called to the intelligence department of the corps and introduced to the pilot-lieutenant colonel. He looked at the boy with doubt, but the intelligence chief assured that San Sanych could be trusted, he was a “shot sparrow.” The pilot-lieutenant colonel said that the Nazis near Minsk were preparing a powerful defensive barrier. Equipment is continuously transferred by rail to the front. Unloading is carried out somewhere in the forest, on a disguised railway line 70 kilometers from the front line. This thread needs to be destroyed. But this is not at all easy to do. The reconnaissance paratroopers did not return from the mission. Aviation reconnaissance also cannot detect anything; everything is camouflaged. The task is to find a secret railway line within three days and mark its location by hanging old bedding on the trees.

“This matter, Sanya,” the commander’s voice sounded as if from afar, “we decided to entrust to you.” - And the colonel put his big hand on his shoulder. At night, a group of scouts left on a mission. When everything was ready, the boy was brought to the group commander.

– You will go through the front line with him, and then he has his own task. ...They walked in silence the whole way. The detachment stretched out in a chain so that Sanka could only notice an elderly man and a young lieutenant. Then he was no longer on the same path with them, and they broke up. San Sanych was dressed in civilian clothes and given a bundle of bed linen. It turned out to be a homeless teenager exchanging underwear for food. I made my way through the forest along the main railway. Every 300 meters there are paired fascist patrols. Pretty exhausted, he dozed off during the day and almost got caught. I woke up from a strong kick. Two fascist policemen searched him and shook up the entire bale of linen. Several potatoes, a piece of bread and lard were discovered and were immediately taken away. They also grabbed a couple of pillowcases and towels with Belarusian embroidery. At parting they “blessed”:

- Get out, puppy, before we shoot you!

He made his way along the wire for several kilometers until he came to the main railway line. We were lucky: a military train loaded with tanks slowly turned off the main path and disappeared between the trees. Here it is, a mysterious branch! The Nazis disguised it perfectly. At night, Sanka climbed to the top of a tree growing at the junction of the railway line with the main highway and hung the first sheet there. By dawn I hung the bed linen in three more places. I marked the last point with my own shirt, tying it by the sleeves. Now it fluttered in the wind like a flag. I sat on the tree until the morning. It was very scary, but most of all I was afraid of falling asleep and missing the reconnaissance plane. The plane arrived on time. The Nazis did not touch him so as not to give themselves away. The plane circled for a long time, then passed over Sashka, turned towards the front and waved its wings. This was a prearranged signal: “The branch is marked, go away - we will bomb!” »

Sashka untied his shirt and went down to the ground. Having gone only two kilometers, I heard the roar of our bombers, and soon explosions blazed where the enemy’s secret branch passed. The echo of their cannonade accompanied him throughout the first day of his journey to the front line. The next day I went to the river and, having crossed it, met our scouts, with whom we crossed the front line. From the haggard faces, Sanya realized that the scouts had been at the bridge for more than one day, but could do nothing to destroy the crossing. The approaching train was unusual: the carriages were sealed, the SS guards. They're carrying ammunition!

The train stopped to allow an oncoming ambulance train to pass. The machine gunners from the guards of the train with ammunition moved to the opposite side from us to see if there were any acquaintances among the wounded. Sashka grabbed the explosive from the soldier’s hands and, without waiting for permission, rushed to the embankment. He crawled under the carriage, struck a match... Then the carriage wheels moved, and a German’s forged boot hung from the running board. It is impossible to get out from under the carriage... What can you do? He opened the “dog walker” coal box as he walked and climbed into it along with the explosives. When the wheels thumped dully on the bridge deck, he struck a match again and lit the fuse. There were only a few seconds left before the explosion. He jumped out of the box, slipped between the sentries, and off the bridge into the water! Diving over and over again, he swam with the flow. Several guards and sentries fired at the floating Sashka at the same time. And then the explosives went off. Cars with ammunition began to break as if in a chain. The firestorm consumed the bridge, the train, and the guards.

No matter how hard San Sanych tried to swim away, a fascist boat caught up with him. The Nazis beat Sasha and he lost consciousness from the beatings. The brutal Germans dragged Sasha into a house on the river bank and crucified him: his hands and feet were nailed to the wall at the entrance. The scouts saved San Sanych. They saw that he had fallen into the hands of the guards. Having suddenly attacked the house, the Red Army soldiers recaptured Sasha from the Germans. They took him off the wall, wrapped him in a raincoat and carried him in their arms to the front line. Along the way we came across an enemy ambush. Many died in the quick battle. The wounded sergeant picked up and carried Sasha out of this hell. He hid him, leaving him with his machine gun, went to get water to treat Sashka’s wounds, but the Nazis killed him…. After some time, our soldiers discovered the dying Sasha and sent him to a hospital in distant Novosibirsk on an ambulance train. Sashka was treated in this hospital for five months. Having never completed his treatment, he escaped with the tank crews who were being discharged, persuading his grandmother-nanny to bring him old clothes to “take a walk around the city.”

San Sanych, caught up with his regiment already in Poland, near Warsaw. He was assigned to a tank crew. One day, by chance, he met the same pilot-lieutenant colonel who sent him on a mission. He was very happy: “I’ve been looking for you for six months!” I gave my word: if I’m alive, I’ll definitely find it!” The tankers let Sasha go to the air regiment for a day, where he met the pilots who bombed that secret branch. They gave him chocolate and took him on airplanes. Then the entire air regiment lined up, and San Sanych was solemnly awarded the Order of Glory, III degree. At the Seelow Heights in Germany on April 16, 1945, Sasha knocked out a Nazi Tiger tank. At the intersection, two tanks came face to face. San Sanych was the gunner, fired first and hit the “tiger” under the turret. The heavy armored “cap” flew off like a light ball. On the same day, the Nazis also knocked out Sashkin’s tank. The crew, fortunately, survived completely. On April 29, Sashkin’s tank was again knocked out by the Nazis. The entire crew died, only Sashka survived, he was taken to the hospital wounded.

He woke up only on May 8th. The hospital was located in Karlshorst opposite the building where the German Surrender Act was signed. The wounded did not pay attention to either the doctors or their own wounds - they jumped, danced, and hugged each other. Having laid him down on a sheet, they dragged Sashka to the window to show how Marshal Zhukov came out after signing the surrender. It was a VICTORY! San Sanych returned to Moscow in the summer of 1945. For a long time he did not dare to enter his house on Begovaya Street... He did not write to his mother for more than two years, fearing that she would take him away from the front. I was afraid of nothing more than this meeting with her. I understood how much grief he had brought her!.. He entered silently, as they were taught to walk in reconnaissance. But the mother’s intuition turned out to be subtler - she turned around sharply, raised her head and for a long, long time, without looking away, looked at Sashka, at his tunic on which there were two orders and five medals...

- Do you smoke? – she finally asked.
- Yeah! – Sashka lied to hide his embarrassment and not cry.
-You are so small, you defended our HOMELAND! “I’m so proud of you,” mom said. Sashka hugged his mother and they both cried......

Alexander Aleksandrovich Kolesnikov has lived to this day; a feature film “It Was in Intelligence” was made about him. Be sure to watch it.