Without virtue there is neither glory nor honor.

Atheism consumes states and rulers, faith, rights and morals.

(About godlessness). Behold hell, over which madness reigns even stronger at the end of the century. This hell, spreading its jaws to the Alpine mountains, is erecting a new Rome, the foundation of which is near the abyss.

Benevolent generosity is often more useful than a swift military sword.

Heroes need goodness and mercy.

The target closest to the action is better than the one farther away.

Baba hits backwards, forwards, and things go on as usual.

Even an executioner can be polite.

Be sincere with your friends, moderate in your needs and selfless in your actions.

Great adventures come from small reasons.

Rule the happiness, the speed of Caesar, who was so good at taking enemies by surprise even during the day.

Liberty and equality cannot stand for long against faith and power.

Here are my thoughts about people: the sign of fools is pride, people of mediocre intelligence are meanness, and a person of true merit is sublimity of feelings, covered with modesty.

Courageous deeds are truer than words.

Time is most precious.

The whole earth is not worth even one drop of needlessly shed blood.

Above money, time is scary.

Where there are fewer troops, there are more brave men.

Where there is anxiety, there is a road; where there is cheers, it’s time to go there; the head does not wait for the tail.

Heroism defeats courage, patience - speed, reason - intelligence, work - laziness, history - newspapers...

The main talent of a great man is to be able to choose people according to their talents.

The head does not wait for the tail; it will always arrive in due time.

Hunger is the best medicine.

Civic virtues are no substitute for useless brutality in the military.

There cannot be two owners in one house.

The master's work is afraid. And the peasant does not know how to wield a plow - no bread will be produced.

Money should not be left empty.

Money is expensive, human life is even more expensive, and time is most valuable.

Diplomatic language is deceptive duplicity.

One must hurry to do good.

Virtue is always persecuted.

Unity gives consent. Look at the matter as a whole.

If you like hot, be capable of cold too.

Imitation is pathetic, competition is praiseworthy. Imitation is a recognition of the lack of one's own abilities. Competition is the impulse of a noble soul that wants to show the advantage it has disputed.

The one who grabs the heat with someone else's hands will later burn out his own.

When going forward, know how to turn back.

Do you know the three sisters? Faith, Love and Hope. With them glory and victory. God is with them.

Sincerity in relationships, truth in communication - this is friendship.

Art cannot tolerate enslavement.

Truth favors one virtue.

True glory cannot be assessed: it is the consequence of sacrificing oneself for the benefit of the common good.

How painful is indifference to oneself!

The peasant gets rich not with money, but with children. The children give him money.

The one who surprised wins.

Those who are good for the first role are not suitable for the second.

Love true glory.

Laziness is born from abundance. The closest reason for laziness is lack of leadership.

Flattery is like a pie: it needs to be baked skillfully, everything needs to be filled in moderation, not too much salt or pepper.

A proud and unpunished flatterer is the greatest villain.

Mercy covers severity. With severity, mercy is needed, otherwise severity is tyranny.

A wise and meek ruler does not find his safety in the fortress fences, but in the hearts of his subjects.

A wise man does not fight accidentally.

Self-reliance is the basis of courage.

Never throw away an orange while it still has contents.

Do not be flattered by brilliance, but by constancy.

Innocence does not tolerate excuses.

The uncut forest grows again.

Hatred clouds reason.

Continuous science from readings!

There is no land in the world that is so dotted with fortresses as Italy. And there is also no land that has been conquered so often.

There is nothing worse than desperate people.

The leg strengthens the leg, the hand strengthens the arm.

The burden of service is light when many people lift it together.

It is more necessary to have unpleasant news to overcome than to receive pleasant news to console.

It is better to meet danger halfway than to wait in place.

Distinguish between ambition and pride and arrogance.

Command happiness, for one minute decides victory.

Suspicion is the mother of wisdom.

Assumptions and prejudices upset everyone.

What was supposed to not be completed - God's wrath!

Get used to tireless activity.

Once happiness, twice happiness - God have mercy! Someday you need a little skill.

WITH youth learn to forgive your neighbor's shortcomings and never forgive your own.

Speed ​​is necessary, but haste is harmful.

Self-care and self-love are different: the first is commanded by God, the second is initially spoiled by pride.

Self-love is drowned in ignorance of its lot, but it has desires.

Service and friendship - two parallel lines - do not converge.

To sacrifice one's property at all times is the rule of the highest service.

They don't take cities by standing.

Happiness depends on rules, fortune - on chance.

The only sacrament of a strong connection between worthy friends is to be able to forgive misunderstandings and promptly enlighten about shortcomings.

Tactics and diplomacy are nothing without the lamp of history.

A solid oak tree falls not from the wind or itself, but from an axe.

Theory without practice is dead.

He is not yet great who is revered as such.
He is not subtle who is considered subtle.
He is no longer the cunning one about whom everyone says that he is cunning.

The three main virtues of a leader: courage, intelligence, health (physical and mental).

The industrious soul must be employed at his trade, and frequent exercise is as invigorating for it as ordinary exercise for the body.

It’s amazing, really, that you prefer cunning to reason and take the end as the beginning! It is proper to do this only with court jesters.

Surprise - win.

Learned men, with their immortality, are more like gods than anyone else: it is they who carry us to the heights of virtue. Their genius shows us how sweet it is to devote one's life to the public good. They instruct us not to worry about our own person, to despise the vicissitudes of fortune and to sacrifice ourselves for the good of the Fatherland and humanity.

Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Fortune turns happiness like a wheel with spokes.

Fortune has eyes in the back of her head, her hair is short, her flight is lightning fast: if you miss it once, you won’t catch it. (There is another option: Fortuna has a bare back of her head, and long hanging hair on her forehead: if she didn’t grab it... she’ll never come back!)

Although courage, vigor and courage are needed everywhere and in all cases, they are only in vain if they do not flow from art, which increases from trials, with inspiration and confirmation to everyone of his position.

The more conveniences, the less courage.

To the clean - everything is clean.

1. Great is the Russian God! We will go with him along the paths of ancient glory!

   Almighty God! Grant that evil will not be revealed to Russia before 100 years, but even then the basis for this will be harmful.

   The fortress is strong, the garrison is a whole army. But nothing can stand against Russian weapons - we are strong and self-confident.

   He who loves his Fatherland sets the best example of love for humanity.

   Easy victories do not flatter the Russian heart.

   Our slowness will increase the enemy's strength. Speed ​​and surprise will upset and amaze him. The width of the river will not narrow, the height of the banks will not decrease. The Russian God is strong. With Him we will fly a heroic flight, with Him we will win!

   We are Russians, we will overcome everything.

   No army in the world can resist the brave Russian grenadier.

   Nature produced only one Russia. She has no rivals.1

   Try to move this stone. Can't? So the Russians cannot retreat.

   Show in action that you are Russian!

   The Russian is distinguished by faith, loyalty and reason.

   Rusak is not a coward.

   The Russians always beat the Prussians, so what can we learn from that?

   The Russian God is great! The French groan, the Tsars are pacified!

   A Russian must experience everything.

   Death or captivity - it's all the same!

   Where a deer passes, a Russian soldier will also pass. Where the deer won't pass, it's all the same Russian will pass soldier.

   All of Europe will move towards Russia in vain: it will find Thermopylae, Leonidas1 and its own coffin there.

   Die for the House of the Mother of God, for the Mother Queen, for the Most Serene House. The Church prays to God. To those who remained alive, honor and glory!

   The bayonet, speed, surprise - these are the leaders of the Russians.

   In essence, there is nothing more harmful and even more - no one can be as cruel as sentimental people are harmful and cruel as a result of their actions. A man who loves his neighbors, a man who hates war, must finish off the enemy so that after one war another does not begin.

   Prepare in war for peace, and in peace for war.

   Victory is the enemy of war.

   A soldier in peacetime and at war.

   MILITARY SCIENCE

   Attack with what you came with! Stab, chop, drive, cut off, don’t miss! Hooray! - works wonders, brothers!

   Take care of the bullet in the muzzle.

   Save the bullet for three days, and sometimes for an entire campaign, when there is nowhere to take it.

   Be patient in your military work, do not give in to despondency from failures.

   Brothers! Hit with a bayonet, stab with a butt! Don't linger: move forward quickly! Whoa, wave! Shake your head, forward, brothers! Miracle heroes, forward! We are Russians!

   Be discerning, be careful. Have a specific goal. Know how to prevent false and doubtful circumstances, but do not get carried away by local fervor.

   They lie in the office, but they beat you in the field.

   Speed ​​and surprise replace numbers. Pressures and blows decide the battle.

   Speed ​​and pressure are the soul of real war.

   In a field battle there are three attacks: the first is on the wing, which is weaker. It’s not good to be in the middle - they’ll squeeze you. An all-out attack bypassing is good only for a small corps.

   Don't waste time in sieges... An open assault is best. There is less loss here.

   Look! Rapidity! Victory!

   Fight not with numbers, but with skill.

   Military science is the science of winning.

   Military science must be learned in war. Every theater of war is new.

   Military virtues: for a soldier - courage, for an officer - courage, for a general - courage, guided by the principles of order and discipline, governed by vigilance and foresight.

   If obstacles arise, you cannot be distracted by them too much; time is most valuable - you need to be able to save it. Often our previous victories remained inconclusive due to lack of people. The most false rule is the belief that everything is over after the defeat of the enemy, while one should strive for greater successes.

   The highest thing is the eye, that is, the use of the position of the place, hard work, vigilance and comprehension.

   Do in war what the enemy considers impossible.

   Activity is the most important of all military virtues.

   Discipline is the mother of victory.

   One must strive for one main point and forget about the retreat1. Onslaught and blows decide the battle, and an assault is preferable to a siege.

   For a scientist they give three non-scientists. Three is not enough for us, give us six, give us ten for one - we’ll beat them all, knock them down, take them to the full...

   If you want to die in war, then you must want to die in action with glory, like Turenne1.

   You go to beat the enemy, multiply your troops, empty your posts, remove communications. Having beaten the enemy, update according to the circumstances, but drive him to destruction.

   Correct shooting at a target is of great importance: it multiplies the death of the enemy and prevents unnecessary waste of ammunition in action.

   The true rule of military art is to directly attack the enemy from the side that is most sensitive to him, and not to converge, timidly making his way through roundabout roads, through which the attack itself becomes complex, while the matter can be decided only by a direct, bold offensive.

   He who is afraid is half defeated. Fear has big eyes, one for ten will seem.

   He who is courageous and boldly goes straight to the enemy has already won half the victory.

   A local (resident) in his vicinity judges better based on circumstances.

   We owe all our exploits to the unification of the first two armies in Europe into the invincible Russian-Austrian army. And if you start the campaign again, then you need to get closer in systems1. Otherwise there can be neither salvation for humanity nor the restoration of oppressed rulers and religion.

   In war, money is precious, human life is even more precious, time is more precious than anything else.

   You have to beat with skill, not numbers.

   There is no need for methodism, but a military view that is correct.

   The tirelessness of a soldier and the determination of an officer are the leaders to glory!

   Not a single post should be considered a fortress... there is no shame in yielding a post to an enemy superior in number. On the contrary, this is the art of war: to retreat in time without loss. The ceded post can be reoccupied, but the loss of people is irreversible: often one person is more valuable than the post itself.

   There is no way to win any battle in the cabinet.

   Never waste your strength to occupy points. The enemy has bypassed him - so much the better: he himself is going to defeat.

   Nothing - except offensive.

   Don't offend the average person: he gives us water and food. A soldier is not a robber. Holy prey: take the camp - everything is yours, take the fortress - everything is yours. Do not go hunting without an order.

   The infantry should not engage in much firing, but only go with bayonets and take full force.

   Operating plan in a building, in a column. Clear distribution of regiments. Timing is everywhere. In correspondence between military commanders, the matter should be stated clearly and briefly, in the form of notes, without large titles. Future enterprises should be determined a day or two in advance.

   Victory depends on the legs, and the arms are only the instrument of victory.

   The regiment is a mobile fortress, together, shoulder to shoulder, and you can’t take it with a tooth!

   In any case, the most harmful thing to the enemy is our terrible bayonet, with which our soldier works more efficiently than anyone else in the world.

   The ditch is not deep, the rampart is not high. Throw yourself into the ditch, jump over the rampart. Hit with bayonets, stab, drive, take full advantage!!!

   Take care of your gun, breadcrumbs and legs more than your eyes!

   Treat prisoners humanely; he is ashamed of barbarism.

   Sikurs (help), danger and other words serve women who are afraid to get off the stove.

   Death flees from the bayonet and saber of the brave. Happiness crowns courage and bravery.

   Subordination, exercise, discipline, cleanliness, neatness, health, vigor, courage, bravery, victory, glory, glory, glory!

   Death on a bed is not a soldier's death.

   Shoot rarely, but shoot accurately. Stab firmly with a bayonet. The bullet is stupid, the bayonet is great.

   Subordination or obedience is the mother of discipline or the art of war.

   Firmness, foresight, eye, time, courage, pressure, less details and details in speeches to the soldiers.

   Three martial arts: the first is eye, the second is speed, the third is pressure.

   Three will rush in: stab the first, shoot the second, bayonet the third with a karachun. Don't delay in attack.

   It’s hard to study - it’s easy to go on a hike; it’s easy to study - it’s hard to go on a trip.

   An intelligent military man should not act at random, without going to extremes.

   Although courage, vigor and courage are needed everywhere and on all occasions, they are only in vain if they do not flow from art.

   A step back is death. Forward two, three and ten - I allow it.

   Bayonets, speed, surprise!.. The enemy thinks that you are a hundred, two hundred miles away, and you, doubling your heroic pace, arrive quickly, suddenly. The enemy is singing, walking, waiting for you from an open field, and you, from behind the steep mountains, from the dense forests, swoop down on him out of the blue. Strike, constrain, knock over, hit, drive, don’t let you come to your senses.

   With a bayonet, one person can stab three or even four, but a hundred bullets fly into the air.

   ABOUT ENEMIES

   A fleeing enemy is destroyed by one pursuit.

   Beat the enemy, sparing neither him nor yourself, be angry, fight to death, the one who spares himself the least wins.

   Constantly studying the enemy will make you a great commander. It is impossible to win any battle in the cabinet. Know how to use the terrain, control your happiness.

   Bogatyrs, the enemy is trembling from you, but there is a greater enemy: a damned incompetent, a hint, a riddle, a deceitful, crafty, eloquent, curt, two-faced, polite... the incompetent caused a lot of trouble.

   It is no less a weapon to strike the enemy with philanthropy.

   You should not give the enemy time, take advantage of his mistake as much as possible and boldly take it from the weakest side.

   There are no lousier people than the Prussians. Lauzer or lice was the name of their cloak. You won’t be able to walk through the Schildhouse1 or near the booth without getting infected, and their heady stench will make you faint.

   Never despise your enemy, whatever he may be, and get to know his weapons, his way of acting and fighting. Know what his strength is and what the enemy’s weakness is.

   Oh, how this young Bonaparte strides! He is a hero, he is a miracle hero, he is a sorcerer! He conquers both nature and people. He walked around the Alps as if they were not there at all. He hid their menacing peaks in his pocket, and hid his army in the right sleeve of his uniform. It seemed that the enemy then only noticed his soldiers when he rushed them, like Jupiter his lightning, sowing fear everywhere and striking the scattered crowds of Austrians and Piemnians. Oh, how he walks! As soon as he entered the path of military leadership, he cut the Gordian knot of tactics. Not caring about numbers, he attacks the enemy everywhere and defeats him completely. He knows the irresistible force of the onslaught - no more is needed. His opponents will persist in their sluggish tactics, subordinate to cabinet pens, but he has a military council in his head. In his actions he is as free as the air he breathes. He moves his regiments, fights and wins according to his will!
   This is my conclusion: as long as General Bonaparte maintains his presence of mind, he will be a winner. Great military talents were his inheritance. But if, to his misfortune, he throws himself into a political whirlwind, if he betrays the unity of thought, he will perish.

   Give mercy to the rest who surrender: it is a sin to kill in vain. They are the same people.

   The enemy is pushed back - failure. Cut off, surrounded, scattered - good luck.

   Generosity befits a winner.

   The enemy has the same hands, but they don’t know the Russian bayonet.

   The French, and especially the Neapolitan cavalry, shout “Pardon” so that they come over to us.

   The French are hot, they are hot: they beat them a lot, it’s difficult to save them.

   The French are violators of general silence and enemies of general peace. The French rejected Christ the Savior, they trampled on the legitimate government. Fear their depravity... You were happy with your faith - keep it. Treasure your conscience: may it not reproach you for being companions of the oppressors of the faith and people’s rights. Flee from false teachers.

   ABOUT COMMANDERS

   The vigil of the boss is the best peace of mind for his subordinates. His foresight overcomes accidents.

   The general needs to educate himself in the sciences.

   The commander who wages war according to newspapers is pitiful. There are other things he needs to know.

   The commander needs continuing education yourself through science through reading.

   It is necessary for the troops of their leader to understand.

   Learn to obey before you command others.

   A commander in war should not bind himself to anything, but act according to the circumstances and always quickly.

   Don't use the "stop" command. And in battle: “attack”, “cut”, “stab”, “hurray”, “drums”, “music”.

   Constantly sharpening your eye will make you a great commander.

   The nightly defeats of his opponents prove the leader’s ability to use victory not for shine, but for constancy.

   Training is needed, as long as it is succinct and concise. The soldiers love him.

   From severity to cruelty half a fathom, half an arshin, half an inch, half a half an inch.

   Full power to the elected commander.

   Eat your share, and give the soldier's share to the soldier.

   Train the soldiers under your command carefully and set an example for them.

   Keep in your memory the names of great people and follow their example with prudence in your campaigns and actions.

   Follow Aristides in righteousness, Fabrician in moderation, Epaminondas in untruthfulness, Cato in laconism, Julius Caesar in speed, Turenne in constancy, Laudon in morals.1

   ABOUT SOLDIERS

   Without ambition, obedience and good behavior there is no good soldier.

   See in the unit - the family, in the boss - the father, in the comrade - the brother.

   Every warrior must understand his maneuver. A secret is only an excuse, more harmful than useful. The chatterbox will be punished anyway.

   What a soldier needs is useful, but what is unnecessary leads to luxury - the mother of self-will.

   Die yourself, but help your comrade. The Church prays to God for those killed!

   The soldier is dear. Take care of your health, clean your stomach if it’s clogged. Hunger is the best medicine.

   A soldier must be healthy, brave, firm, determined, truthful, and pious.

   You swore an oath. Die for the faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland. Defend the banner to the last drop of blood.

2. A battle is calmer to me than a shovel of lime and a pyramid of bricks.

   My wealth consists of donated diamonds and uniforms made in St. Petersburg and silver spoons recently ordered from Moscow.

   In your letter... the word “retreat” was used in reference to me. I answer that I did not know him all my life, just as I did not know the defensive war, which at the beginning of the campaign cost the lives of over 10,000 people in Tyrol alone, which we did not lose during the entire Italian campaign...

   Your brush will depict the features of my face - they are visible. But my inner humanity is hidden. So, I will tell you that I shed blood in streams. I shudder. But I love my neighbor. I have never made anyone unhappy in my entire life. He did not sign a single death sentence. Not a single insect died by my hand. Was small, was big. With the ebb and flow of happiness, he trusted in God and was unshakable.

   I'm proud to be Russian!

   Take the hero of ancient times as your model. Watch him. Follow him. Get even. Overtake. Glory to you! I chose Caesar. The Alpine mountains are behind us. God is before us. Hooray! Russian eagles flew around Roman eagles.

   Yes, I served as a sexton, sang in bass, and now I’ll go sing with Mars.

   Everyone should have a good name honest man, I personally saw this good name in the glory of my Fatherland. My successes had the sole purpose of his well-being.

   A life as open and well-known as mine can never be distorted by any biographer. There will always be false witnesses to the truth, and most of all, I do not demand someone who deems it worthy to work about me, think and write. This is the scale by which I would like to be known.

   Seek true glory, follow the tracks of virtue. I am devoted to the latter, and I close the former in the service of the Fatherland.

   If I were not a commander, I would be a writer.

   The cabinet ordered me not to take any more fortresses.

   Kamensky knows military affairs, but it does not know it, Suvorov does not know military affairs, but it knows it, and Saltykov neither knows military affairs, nor does it know him.1

   It's better to have your head off than to lose your honor. Through five hundred deaths I learned not to be afraid of death.

   The Prussians accept my tactics, but leave their rotten ones.

   Meanwhile, while the European world and tactics are being renewed, I am numb in shameful inaction, I am exhausted under the burden of an idle and useless life.

   A soldier is dearer to me than myself.

   My tactics: courage, courage, insight, foresight, order, moderation, charter, eye, speed, onslaught, humanity, pacification, oblivion...

   Self-love, most often generated by an instant impulse, never controlled my actions, and I forgot myself when it came to the benefit of the Fatherland.

   Repnin can always talk about Mother Catherine, Suvorov can talk about it sometimes, but Kamensky should never talk about it.

   One minute decides the outcome of a battle, one hour the success of a campaign, one day the fate of an empire. I act not in hours, but in minutes.

   Honoring and unfeignedly loving God, and in him my brothers, men, never being tempted by the alluring song of the sirens of a luxurious and carefree life, I have always handled the most precious treasure on earth - time - thriftily and actively, in a vast field and in quiet solitude, which I delivered to myself everywhere. Intentions, thought out with great difficulty and even more fulfilled, with persistence and often with extreme speed and not missing the fickle time. All this, formed according to the form characteristic of me, often brought me victory over capricious Fortune. This is what I can say about myself, leaving my contemporaries and posterity to think and say about me what they think and say they want.

   True, I didn’t communicate much with women. But while amusing myself in their company, I was always respectful. I didn't have enough time to study with them, and I was afraid of them. Women run the country here, just like everywhere else. But I did not feel strong enough to defend myself from their charms.

   At court, language is filled with hints, guesses, omissions, and double meanings. I, a rude soldier, am not a guesser at all.

   Nature has not given me carelessness, it’s too late to change, I will always be the same.

   I came to Bellinzon1... there are no mules, no horses, but there is Tugut, and mountains, and abysses... but I am not a painter: I went and passed.

   Powder is not gunpowder, letters are not a cannon, a scythe is not a cleaver, and I am not a German, but a real hare.

   For seventy years I have been chasing fame. I stand at the tomb and recognize her dream: peace of soul at the Throne of the Almighty.

   Titles are not for me, but they are necessary for the public.

   Alas for me with my love for the Fatherland - intrigues prevent me from showing it.

   My honor is most dear to me. God is her patron.

   I live in a never-ending dream.

   I now feel my former wounds, but as long as I live, I will serve, although sometimes I will rest. This is the duty of a Christian! Pure mind without knots. My style is not figurative, but natural - with the strength of my spirit!

   Bayonets, edged weapons, attacks, blows - these are my reconnaissance.

   I would legitimately wish to be sometimes in public in a foreign uniform: it is glory to the Great Emperor that his subject deservedly deserved them.

   I was happy because I commanded happiness.

   As a slave, I die for the Fatherland and as a cosmopolitan1 - for the world. I'm waiting for dismissal from the Baltic worldly vanities.

   I'm better than the late Prussian king. By the grace of God I have not lost any battles2.

   I love the truth without embellishment.

   I am not a fan of Demosthenes’ chatter, I don’t like either academicians, who only introduce confusion into sound judgments, or the Senate of Hannibalov. I don't like rivalries, demonstrations, counter-marches. Instead of these childish things - eye, speed, pressure - these are my leaders.

   I cannot give up the 50-year habit of a hectic life and my acquired talents as a soldier.

   I am a soldier, I don’t know either tribe or clan. The field is one of my elements.

   I’m the same, I haven’t lost my spirit. Anyone who wants my last shirt will deceive me in his own interests, I’ll give it to him, I’ll remain naked. Because of this I am not yet small.

   The materials belonging to the history of my military operations are so closely intertwined with the history of my life that the original man and the original warrior must be inseparable from each other in order for the image of one or the other to retain its essential appearance.
   

Suvorov's main rule: Hurry to do good.

On the Guards "Shch-309" Cabo Isaac

DIFFICULT IN STUDYING - EASY IN BATTLE

DIFFICULT IN STUDYING - EASY IN BATTLE

On March 31, 1940, a new commander was appointed to the Shch-309 - Lieutenant Commander Kabo. On May 18, the boat went to Kronstadt, where it was scheduled to undergo scheduled repairs after participating in the military campaign. On May 20, joyful sailors saw the beautiful Kronstadt through the morning haze, the ships moored in the roadstead, and soon fell into the arms of friends. In the six months that have passed since the day the Dolphin left Kronstadt, its crew has gained combat experience and become more mature. New knowledge had to be consolidated in further combat training.

Changes have also occurred in the Baltic. In the summer of 1940, the working people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania overthrew the bourgeois governments they hated and created their own proletarian republics, which voluntarily joined the great brotherhood of peoples - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Red Banner Baltic Fleet received new naval bases and entered the expanse of the Baltic Sea.

The ships of the fleet were faced with an urgent task - to master the naval theater in a short time. Therefore, day and night, in poor visibility and in good, voyages were made to Tallinn, Libau, Riga, Klaipeda, and the adjacent bays and bays. During the voyages, various training tasks were practiced.

And the international situation did not allow a slowdown in the pace of combat training.

The fire of war that had engulfed Europe was approaching the Soviet borders. “The flames of the Second World War are raging over the world,” the Political Directorate of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet wrote in its appeal, “the blood of young men, old men and children is being shed, cities are burning, huge material and cultural values ​​are being destroyed...” The Political Directorate called on the personnel to constant combat readiness, to persistent , with full effort, combat training.

On June 12, 1941, Shch-309 went on another training cruise, this time to the Gulf of Riga. In addition to the regular personnel, there were midshipmen on the boat who were on probation after graduating from college. The purpose of the trip is to practice torpedo firing, which is usually the final stage of the crew’s combat training, summing up their long work. Such exercises test the ability of submarine personnel to covertly approach “enemy” ships, determine the elements of their movement, fire an accurate salvo at a chosen target, and retreat unnoticed.

...Even before dawn, the boat took up a “combat” position and began searching for the “enemy,” who could appear from any direction. There is an almost tangible silence in the compartments. Everyone is extremely focused. At the periscope is the senior assistant commander, captain-lieutenant Semyon Zosimovich Trashchenko. As soon as he discovered the “enemy’s” high-speed ship, a “combat alert” was announced for the ship. The boat began its first torpedo attack on this training voyage.

"Shch-309" moves at periscope depth, which is accurately controlled by boatswain Pronin. The commander of the electromechanical combat unit, engineer-captain-lieutenant Averyanov, prepared to prevent the boat from floating after the release of torpedoes. Midshipman Fokin, who supervised the preparation of torpedo gunners and torpedoes, is worried. Finally the long-awaited commands:

The devices are ready!

Light, one after another, shocks and hissing of the air were felt and heard by everyone in the boat: two torpedoes fired by Petty Officer 2nd Class Malyavkin rushed towards the target.

The minutes of waiting for the results of the attack seemed endless. But then a signal goes up on the foremast of the target ship: “The attack was successful!”

The first was followed by more complex attacks: now the “enemy” had strong security. Torpedo attacks were interspersed with artillery firing, all sorts of exercises to put damaged mechanisms into operation, to fight for the survivability of the ship, and others. The crew of the boat acted harmoniously and confidently during all these exercises.

The personnel cope exceptionally well with their duties in all types of alarms,” noted the usually taciturn Lieutenant Commander Trashchenko. These words could not but bring pleasure to the team: Semyon Zosimovich was too stingy with praise. But now the first mate was pleased, because the success of the exercises is the result of the enormous work he and the commander of the electromechanical combat unit invested in the training of personnel.

The training trip was intense and difficult. However, we returned to base with a big climb. Every officer, petty officer and sailor knew for sure wise rule Russian military art: “Difficult in training - easy in battle.”

After the exercises, Shch-309 was transferred to the first line of warships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. For the successes achieved in combat and political training, the commander of the 6th division, captain 2nd rank M.V. Fedotov, expressed gratitude to the entire personnel of the boat, and foremen of the 2nd article Malyavkin and Petryuk, senior red naval officer Davydov were photographed with the unfurled Banner of the 2nd brigade submarines.