Person attributes
Mikhail Grigoryevich Efremov - Soviet military commander, Lieutenant General (1940), Hero of the Russian Federation (1996; posthumously).
He was born in a middle-class family. As a child, he helped his father at the mill, then worked as an apprentice at the Peter Ryabov manufactory in Moscow, was an apprentice to a master engraver. Later he studied at the Prechistensky working courses. Participant of the First World War. In September 1915, he was mobilized for military service and enlisted as a private in the 55th Reserve Infantry Battalion. In November, he passed the test for a volunteer of the 2nd category at the 5th Moscow Gymnasium, after which he studied in the training team of the 55th Infantry Regiment. In December 1915, he graduated from the training team and was sent to the Telava School of ensigns. Upon its completion in June 1916, he was sent to the front and enlisted in the 1st Ivangorod Separate Artillery Division, ensign. As part of it, he took part in battles on the Western Front. In January 1917, he was wounded and evacuated to Moscow. In the Red Guard since October 1917 . As part of the 1st Zamoskvoretsky Red Guard detachment, he participated in the October armed uprising in Moscow.
In the Red Army since February 1918, instructor in the heavy artillery division of the 1st Moscow Soviet Infantry Division. After its transformation into a Special Moscow Separate Infantry Brigade, he commanded a company, a consolidated battalion, and a detachment. In August 1918, together with the brigade, he left for the Southern Front, where he participated in battles with the troops of General A.I. Denikin. In March 1919, he was appointed head of the Shipping Protection and Defense of the Astrakhan Region. In May of the same year, he joined the command of the 13th separate Astrakhan Infantry Regiment, at the same time since September he was the head of the external guard and railway defense forces of the 11th Army. The regiment under his command participated in the defense of Astrakhan, and from January 1920 in the North Caucasian Operation and the liberation of the Caucasus. In April 1920, Yefremov was appointed head of the combat section of the railways of the 11th Army. He is the author of the world's first "deep breakthrough" on rails. April 27 , 1920 During the Baku operation that began, 4 armored trains with troops under his command broke through the Petrovsk-Baku railway to Central Azerbaijan and captured Baku within 23 hours, anticipating the enemy in destroying oil reserves. During the 300-kilometer dash to Baku, his fighters paralyzed the readiness of the 30,000-strong Musavatist army to resist. Then, leaving 2 armored trains on the cover of Baku, he headed with two others to the Ganja region, where he participated in the defeat of the Musavatist troops. For "brilliant execution of the combat order for the capture of Baku" Yefremov was awarded a gold nominal saber, and by the Resolution of the Revkom of the Azerbaijan SSR of 13.6.1920 and the order of the People's Military and Maritime Commissariat of the Azerbaijan SSR of 14.11.1920 - the Order of the Red Banner of the AZSSR for No. 1. A month later, for suppressing the counterrevolutionary rebellion in Ganja, he was awarded the 2nd Order of the Red Banner of the AZSSR. In May 1920, Yefremov was appointed commander of a separate consolidated brigade as head of the division, and in June of the same year - head of the guard and defense forces of the railways of the AzSSR. Since September 1920 - commander and commissar of a Special separate corps, which was stationed in the area of Grozny, the Terek and Sunzha rivers. In this position, he participated in the suppression of the uprising in Chechnya. Since February 1921, Chief and Commissar of the 33rd Rifle Division.
In July 1921, Yefremov was appointed head and military commissar of the 2nd Moscow command courses, since December he was simultaneously commander and military commissar of the 1st Moscow Separate Brigade. Since December 1921 - Commander of the Karelian combat section of the southern curtain. The following year he participated in the suppression of the Karelian Uprising of 1922 . From May 1922 - Assistant commander, then commander and commissar of the 14th Infantry Division. In March 1924, he was appointed commander and commissar of the 19th Tambov Rifle Division of the Moscow Military District. Since December 1926, he was at a special gathering at the Military Academy of the Red Army named after him. M.V. Frunze, then was a military adviser in China (Canton). Upon his return to the USSR in November 1927, he was appointed commander and commissar of the 18th Yaroslavl Rifle Division of the Moscow Military District. In December 1929, M.G. Yefremov was sent to study in Leningrad at the Military-Political Academy of the Red Army at a special faculty of one-liners. While studying, at the same time he was appointed commander and commissar of the 3rd Rifle Corps. In December 1930, he was enrolled as a student at the Military Academy of the Red Army named after M.V. Frunze, after completing his studies in May 1933. He was appointed commander and commissar of the 12th Rifle Corps of the Volga Military District. In 1935 he received the title of commander. Then M.G. Efremov commanded the troops of a number of military districts: from May 1937 – Volga, from November – Trans-Baikal, from July 1938 - Oryol, from June 1940 - North Caucasus, from August – Transcaucasian. In 1938, he was summoned to Moscow, where he was taken under house arrest by NKVD officers on suspicion of having links with the "enemy of the people" M.N. Tukhachevsky. However, after two months of interrogations, he was released. In February 1939 Yefremov was awarded the military rank of commander of the 2nd rank, and on June 4, 1940 – Lieutenant General. In January 1941, he was appointed First Deputy Inspector General of Infantry of the Red Army.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant General M.G. Efremov was appointed commander of the 21st Army, which, as part of the Western Front, fought fierce battles in the Mogilev direction. At the end of July, the army formations chained significant forces of German troops to themselves and delayed their advance to the Dnieper. On August 7, 1941, Lieutenant General Yefremov was appointed commander of the Central Front. Until the end of August, the front's troops under his leadership held back the enemy's offensive, preventing him from striking the flank and rear of the Southwestern Front. In September, Yefremov was appointed deputy commander of the Bryansk Front, and from October 1 to October 17, 1941, he headed the 10th army.
General M.G. Efremov
In October 1941, Lieutenant General Yefremov was appointed commander of the 33rd Army. Near Naro-Fominsk, the army was being replenished, Mikhail Grigorievich arrived on October 23, 1941. Here he formed a combat-ready operational military association from scattered units, most of them consisting of hastily trained militias. In late November - early December 1941, the 33rd Army, in conditions of direct contact with the enemy, took up defense in a strip of 32 km along the Nara River. The army lacked strength and resources. To the north, the 5th Army of Lieutenant General of Artillery L.A. defended. Govorova (50 km strip), and to the south – the 43rd army of Major General K.D. Golubev (32 km strip).
On December 1, 1941, the command of the German Army Group Center (Field Marshal von Bock) made another attempt at a frontal breakthrough to Moscow in the Aprelevka area (25 km southwest of Moscow). The 20th Army Corps was tasked by the command of the 4th Field Army to dismember and destroy the troops of the 5th and 33rd armies by strikes from the districts of Zvenigorod and Naro-Fominsk in the direction of Kubinka and Golitsyno, and then, acting along the Kiev and Minsk highways, reach Moscow.
On the morning of December 1, after heavy artillery and aviation training, the Germans launched an offensive. In the band of the 5th Army in the Zvenigorod area, the 78th and 252nd Infantry Divisions advanced only 1.5-4 km and went on the defensive. But north-west of Naro-Fominsk, the German 292nd and 258th Infantry divisions, using more than five-fold superiority in forces, broke through the defenses of the 222nd Rifle Division of the 33rd Army in the Tashirovo area, the village of Novaya and, introducing up to 70 tanks with motorized infantry into the breakthrough, reached the Naro-Fominsk–Kubinka highway by 14 o'clock. By 12.30 on December 2, the main enemy forces - the 478th Infantry Regiment with 15 tanks - passed Yushkovo and occupied Petrovskoye and Burtsevo.
To defeat the Germans who broke through, M.G. Efremov created a tank group (5th tank Brigade, 136th and 140th separate tank battalions) with the attached 18th rifle Brigade under the command of Colonel M.P. Safir. The commander of the Western Front, Army General G.K. Zhukov, gave an order to M.G. Efremov: "... I order a group... consisting of 18 SBR, two ski battalions, one tank battalion and an additional 15 tanks, one PT regiment, reinforcing it with RS artillery, to strike at the enemy in the direction of Yushkovo. Have a further task to rapidly advance in the direction of the Head and restore the situation. Strike in the morning 3.12. The leadership of the group is entrusted to you personally - Zhukov".
In order to carry out the order of the front commander, the operational group of the 33rd Army, headed by Lieutenant General Yefremov, developed an action plan to destroy the enemy that broke through. This group included the head of the armored forces of the army, Colonel M.P. Safir and the Deputy chief of Staff of the army, Colonel S.I. Kinosyan. General Yefremov entrusted the direct leadership of the battle on December 2 to Colonel Safir, setting him the task of "completely restoring the original position." According to Safir's memoirs, about 120 tanks, a rifle brigade, an NKVD regiment and two ski battalions took part in the operation.
During December 2, the 136th separate tank battalion and units of the 76th NKVD Rifle Regiment with varying success knocked the Germans out of Petrovsky. On December 3, with the support of the 18th Rifle Brigade, the tankers completed the defeat of the 478th infantry regiment of the enemy, which, having suffered heavy losses, was forced to retreat. "The blow of our units on December 3 in the Yushkovo area was so strong and unexpected for the Germans that they already on December 4 in the morning, refusing to enter the Mozhaisk highway ... hurriedly retreated to their starting position...". After successful actions on December 3-4, the commander of the 33rd Army M.G. Efremov decided to build on the success. As a result of further actions, the tank group of the 33rd Army, having defeated the German offensive group on December 3-5, restored the situation on the Nara River.
During the counteroffensive that began on December 6, 1941 near Moscow, the 33rd Army completely liberated Naro-Fominsk by December 26, Borovsk on January 4, 1942, and Vereya on January 19. By this time, the 33rd Army needed to be replenished with personnel, equipment and ammunition. Therefore, the order received on January 17, 1942 from the commander of the Western offensive on Vyazma was a complete surprise. During the Rzhev-Vyazma operation, the offensive of the troops of the Western Front (33rd Army, 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and 4th Airborne Corps) on Vyazma, which began on January 26 in cooperation with the 11th Cavalry Corps of the Kalinin Front, was not successful. The enemy inflicted strong counterattacks on the communications of the 33rd, 39th and 29th armies that advanced, whose troops were forced to go on the defensive in early February.
During the second half of February and March 1942, the 43rd Army unsuccessfully tried to break through the corridor to the 33rd Army. On April 14, the 50th Army of the Western Front was advancing towards the breaking parts of the Belov group. But already on April 15, when no more than 2 km remained to the encircled army of Efremov, the Germans threw back parts of the 50th army, and the offensive choked. The front commander G.K. Zhukov ordered Efremov to break through the partisan areas in the general direction of Kirov, Kaluga region. That is, his units, drained of blood in the battles, had to go about 180 km along the enemy's rear.
General Efremov, believing that the way to Kirov was too long for his tired group, radioed directly to the Headquarters with a request to allow him to break through by the shortest route - through the Ugra River. I.V. Stalin immediately called Zhukov and asked if he agreed with the commander's proposal. Zhukov replied with a categorical refusal. But Stalin said that Yefremov was an experienced commander and that we should agree with him. Stalin ordered to organize a counter strike by the forces of the front. Such a strike was prepared and carried out by the 43rd Army, but there was no action on the part of General M.G. Efremov's group.
According to the memoirs of G.K. Zhukov, the Germans discovered parts of Efremov while moving to the Ugra River and defeated him. However, as V.M. Safir notes, "from the very beginning, the group operated in an environment and no one was going to "detect" it, since the fire impact on it from the Germans practically did not stop." The unfavorable outcome of this operation was initially predetermined by the fact that "... the commander of the Western Front ... sent one instruction after another, but these instructions were not supported by any additional forces and means...". Grueling fighting, food shortages and virtually no ammunition exhausted the army. However, modern researchers note the high spirit in the army. In two and a half months of fighting (from February 2), the army personnel destroyed 8,700 enemy soldiers and officers, 24 tanks, 29 guns and other military equipment. The irretrievable losses of the army during the same period amounted to more than 8 thousand people, including about 6 thousand fighters and commanders during the withdrawal from the encirclement. Realizing the catastrophe of the situation, the Headquarters of the VGK sent an airplane for General Efremov. However, he refused to leave his exhausted soldiers and sent the battle flags of his army and the wounded by plane.
Since the evening of April 13, 1942, communication with the headquarters of the 33rd Army has been lost. The army ceased to exist as a single organism, and its individual parts made their way to the east in scattered groups. Only 889 people were able to break through to their troops in small groups.
On April 19, 1942, Commander Yefremov was seriously wounded in battle. Not wanting to be captured, and when the situation became critical, he called his wife, who served as his medical instructor, shot her, and then put a bullet in himself. Major General P.N. Ofrosimov, the commander of the army artillery, and almost the entire army staff were killed together with him. Yefremov's body was first found by the Germans, who, having deep respect for the courageous general, buried him with military honors in the village of Slobodka on April 19, 1942.
Immediately after the liberation of the district in March 1943, the son of the commander, Captain Efremov, arrived in the village of Slobodka, where the general was buried. The grave was opened, and the captain identified the father. Under the rifle volleys, he was again betrayed to the spring earth. And then the villagers told about how the commander was buried.
"... When Yefremov's body was brought from the forest, a high-ranking representative of the German command, who came to the village accompanied by numerous guards, wanted to make sure of the death of the Russian general. A deep grave was dug at the village church. German soldiers were built on one side, Soviet prisoners of war on the other. German General said that the soldiers of the Fuhrer need to fight for a greater Germany in the same way as Russian General fought for Russia. The Germans gave him military honors."
Monument to General M.G. Efremov.
In 1943, the remains of Lieutenant-General Yefremov were solemnly reburied in the city of Vyazma at the Catherine Cemetery. In 1946, a monument by sculptor E.V. Vuchetich was erected on one of the squares of Vyazma, named after the general.
During his service, Lieutenant General M.G. Efremov was awarded the Order of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, 2 Orders of the Red Banner of the Azerbaijan SSR, the medal "XX Years of the Red Army", the honorary revolutionary weapon of the Azerbaijan SSR, twice a firearm award weapon, as well as a gold nominal saber. By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 31 , 1996 "for the courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," Lieutenant General Mikhail Grigoryevich Efremov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
